2022 NBA draft

The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The 2022 edition marked a return to the draft's normal June date after postponements were made in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This draft was the first of at least three straight NBA drafts that consisted of only 58 picks instead of the typical 60 due to the loss of a second-round pick for both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat for violating the NBA's tampering rules during free agency. The first pick was made by the Orlando Magic, who selected Paolo Banchero from Duke. Banchero went on to win Rookie of the Year.

These players were not selected in the 2022 NBA draft, but have played at least one regular-season or playoff game in the NBA.

Prior to the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of draft picks between teams.

Draft-night trades are made after the draft begins. These trades are usually not confirmed until the next day or after free agency officially begins.

The 8th G League Elite Camp took place May 16–17, from which certain participants will be selected to join the main draft combine. Of this year's 44 participants in the Elite Camp, seven players were chosen to continue on to the main draft combine: Jared Rhoden, Tyrese Martin, Kenneth Lofton Jr., Bryson Williams, Darius Days, Jalen Wilson, and Marcus Sasser.

The primary portion of the 2022 NBA Draft Combine was held from May 18–20 in Chicago, Illinois.

The NBA draft lottery was held on May 17.

The draft is conducted under the eligibility rules established in the league's 2017 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with its players' union, with special modifications agreed to by both parties due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous CBA that ended the 2011 lockout instituted no immediate changes to the draft, but it called for a committee of owners and players to discuss further charges.

• All drafted players must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft. In term of dates, players who were eligible for the 2022 NBA draft must have been born on or before December 31, 2003.
  • This draft could have possibly been the first in which high school players of any nationality would have been eligible for selection after their graduation as the two associations sought at first to lower the minimum age back to 18 and end the need to wait one year after their high school class graduated, also called the "one and done" requirement, as discussed in 2019. If approved, the current CBA might have to be amended and the amendment ratified. However, the ineligibility for the draft shortly after high school remained in place, as reported in 2020, unless there were further discussions about its repeal.
• Since the 2016 draft, the following rules are, as implemented by the NCAA Division I council for that division:
  • Declaration for the draft no longer results in automatic loss of college eligibility. As long as a player does not sign a contract with a professional team outside the NBA or sign with an agent, he retains college eligibility as long as he makes a timely withdrawal from the draft.
  • NCAA players now have 10 days after the end of the NBA draft combine to withdraw from the draft. Since the combine is normally held in mid-May, the current deadline is about five weeks after the previous mid-April deadline.
  • NCAA players may participate in the draft combine and are allowed to attend one tryout per year with each NBA team without losing college eligibility.
  • NCAA players may now enter and withdraw from the draft up to two times without loss of eligibility. Previously, the NCAA treated a second declaration of draft eligibility as a permanent loss of college eligibility.

Players who were not automatically eligible had to declare their eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than at least 60 days before the event. For the 2022 draft, the date fell on April 24. Under the CBA a player may withdraw his name from consideration from the draft at any time before the final declaration deadline, which usually falls 10 days before the draft at 5:00 p.m. EDT (2100 UTC). Under current NCAA rules, players usually have until 10 days after the draft combine to withdraw from the draft and retain college eligibility. They must have withdrawn on or before June 1, 22 days prior to this draft.

A player who has hired an agent retains his remaining college eligibility regardless of whether he is drafted after an evaluation from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee. Players who declare for the NBA draft and are not selected have the opportunity to return to their school for at least another year only after terminating all agreements with their agents, who must have been certified.

"Redshirt" refers to players who were redshirt seniors in the 2021–22 season. "Graduate" refers to players who were graduate transfers in 2021–22.

International players that declared for this draft and did not previously declare in another prior draft could drop out 10 days before the event, on June 13.

Players who do not meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:

• They have no remaining college eligibility.
• If they graduated from high school in the U.S., but did not enroll in a U.S. college or university, four years have passed since their high school class graduated.
• They have signed a contract with a professional basketball team not in the NBA, anywhere in the world, and have played under the contract.

Players who meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:

• They are at least 22 years old during the calendar year of the draft. In term of dates players born on or before December 31, 2000, were automatically eligible for the 2022 draft.
• They have signed a contract with a professional basketball team not in the NBA within the United States, and have played under that contract.

The NBA annually invites players to sit in the so-called "green room", a special room set aside at the draft site for the invited players plus their families and agents. This season, the following 20 players were invited (listed alphabetically).

• List of first overall NBA draft picks
• NBA records

• Official site