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Orlando Magic 2022 NBA Draft: 3 rising, 3 falling after the NCAA Tournament

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Ochai Agbaji and Kansas celebrated a national championship and made a statement ahead of the NBA Draft. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
Ochai Agbaji and Kansas celebrated a national championship and made a statement ahead of the NBA Draft. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jaden Ivey, Purdue Boilermakers
Jaden Ivey’s quiet in Purdue’s elimination game raised some questions for the NBA Draft’s top guard. Mandatory Credit: William Bretzger-USA TODAY NETWORK /

2022 NBA Draft: 3 Rising and 3 Falling after the NCAA Tournament

Falling: Jaden Ivey, Purdue

This NBA Draft is full of forwards at the very top. It is full of big players who can work off the dribble and cause mismatch problems. It is short on guards and so the best guard in the draft should stand out in some way.

To be sure, Jaden Ivey does stand out — he finished his sophomore season averaging 17.3 points per game on a 53.3-percent effective field goal percentage. He is an explosive scorer who can get to the basket and finish. He is being dubbed as a poor man’s Ja Morant (although he has similar explosiveness, he is not nearly the playmaker or overall scorer as Morant was at Murray State).

In the first tier of prospects without any guards, Ivey has the chance to stand out just by being different. And guard play is still vital to any team’s success, even with the advent of playmaking bigs.

So it is fair to say that Ivey’s NCAA Tournament left something of a bad taste, raising questions about what he can be if his scoring does not translate to the league.

Ivey averaged 16.3 points per game, 5.0 rebounds per game and 2.0 assists per game with a 43.8-percent field goal percentage. His play got worse deeper in the tournament though — scoring 22 in the opening game against Yale, 18 against Texas, and then just nine points against St. Peter’s.

This should not be a knock against the 15-seed St. Peter’s, who did a good job defending Purdue as a whole and turning Purdue into a one-dimensional offense. But Ivey was at his worst in the biggest game of the year for his team. He scored just nine points on 4-for-12 shooting, missing five of his six 3-pointers.

That game was begging for Ivey to take over. And Purdue, as a whole, just did not seem engaged or playing with urgency to win until late. Ivey hit a couple of shots late when the Boilermakers were desperate to come back. But it was too late.

The question with Ivey will be what can he do if he is not on the ball or if he is not the lead scorer. Those questions only got louder with his tournament performance.

This was a game Ivey should have made his statement. He did not make that case during the tournament.