Earlier this week, ESPN’s NBA draft insider Jonathan Givony reported that Purdue guard Jaden Ivey is being evaluated by the Houston Rockets as an option at No. 3 overall in the 2022 first round.
But there’s a wide gulf between consideration as part of due diligence and Ivey actually becoming the pick. Most mock drafts have Duke forward Paulo Banchero going to the Rockets with the third pick, and in an extended interview with Givony, he expanded on his reporting.
“Teams that I talked to don’t expect that to happen,” Givony said of Ivey and the Rockets. “At this stage, it feels like Houston is comfortable with Paolo. That’s the overwhelming expectation around the league.”
Givony is projecting Auburn’s Jabari Smith to Orlando at No. 1, followed by Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren to Oklahoma City at No. 2 in the first round. Yet, he notes that many around the league do rate Banchero as the superior prospect, and Givony opined that it could potentially give Rockets general manager Rafael Stone some trade options, as well.
“A lot of NBA teams still think (Paolo) is the number one player in this draft,” Givony said as part of an extended conversation with ESPN’s Jorge Sedano, Kevin Pelton, and former Nets executive Bobby Marks.
“It’s not a consensus here that Chet or Jabari are number one,” Givony said. “More people have that than not, but Paolo has a lot of fans.”
