Why is the 2022 NBA Draft being held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn?
The long standing home of the NBA Draft will once again play host to the league’s big event, but what’s up with that and how about the Nets themselves?
With the arena having been the home of the NBA Draft for more than a decade now, it came as no surprise when it was announced that once again it would play host to the league’s big event.
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Barclays Center is the long time home of the NBA Draft
According to an official league announcement, the Barclays Center will host the 2022 NBA Draft on Thursday, June 23rd. As fans will know, aside from the 2020 NBA Draft which was held virtually as a result of the covid-19 pandemic, Barclays Center has been the host arena for the NBA Draft each and every year since 2013. Prior to that, the annual event was held at the Prudential Center in Newark for two years. If you’d like some perspective,
it was actually at the 2011 NBA Draft held in Newark, when the now iconic Kyrie Irving was selected No. 1 overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Incidentally, it’s not the first time that the Nets’s home has had hosting duties. Back when they were the New York Nets and playing at the Continental Airlines arena, the now Brooklyn Nets played host to what is considered by many to be the greatest NBA Draft of all time being held in Brooklyn. It was the famous 1996 NBA Draft that saw the likes of generally Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant and Stephon Marbury all drafted into the NBA.
How are the Nets looking in the 2022 Draft?
If you take a moment, you will recall that just a year ago the Nets selected some five players in the 2021 NBA Draft. Suffice to say they won’t have anywhere near that quantity of picks this year, with their highest pick registered at No. 22 via the use of the 76ers unprotected first rounder. The Nets - despite no official word on when they have to make a decision - could well opt to hold on their pick until 2023′s NBA Draft in a move that would essentially be part of the James Harden for Ben Simmons trade. With all of this said, it should be noted that there is no firm standing on who the Nets should select.
One interesting thing to note about the 2022 NBA Draft is that on the whole it is not seen as a particularly spectacular class. While it is true that the top of the group are seen as quality players, it must again be said, not spectacular. “...The middle of the lottery has an enormous number of questions. There is more uncertainty regarding players in the back half of the first round than I can remember in a draft,” the Athletic’s Sam Vecenie recently wrote.
There is one big change in this year’s NBA Draft: Malika Andrews
As has always been the case in the NBA Draft, the format will follow a scheme wherein players will be able to hear their names called, walk across the stage, where they will then pick up their team’s draft cap in the symbolic moment that indicates their acceptance of their new careers in the NBA. If there is one change we can look out for in the 2022 NBA Draft it’s that of who the host for the night will be. In a historic move the NBA announced that Malika Andrews would be taking on hosting duties on Thursday night and in so doing will become the first woman ever to host an NBA Draft.