Re-grading the 2022 NBA Draft: Jackpots and a potential whiff

The 2022-23 NBA season has long passed, the 2023 draft has come and gone, and we’ve reached more than two weeks since the end of summer league. In simpler terms, fans are in the midst of the doldrums of the NBA offseason. The only hope for content these days is that teams reach a resolution on a Damian Lillard/James Harden trade or that one of the few superstars playing in the FIBA World Cup right now gives us a cool highlight.

Spurs fans in particular have let their attention drift toward October, when basketball will be back and they finally get to watch Victor Wembanyama make his NBA debut. Imagine it’s Christmas morning; it’s like fans of the Silver & Black have just opened up the number one gift they asked for and have completely forgotten about all of their other toys. They just want to play with the new one (rather, watch Wemby play).

Let us not forget, however, about some other recent gifts that the Spurs franchise have given their fans. 2022 draft picks Jeremy Sochan, Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley, and undrafted center Dominick Barlow are in the midst of their first real NBA offseason. Draftees have historically spoken about not getting enough time between the draft and the beginning of the season to make the transition from college/other leagues to the NBA.

Fans got to see three of the four guys named above play solid minutes in this year’s summer league (with Sochan sitting out to avoid injury). All four have plenty to work on in their sophomore years as they look to find a long-term role on the Spurs, a job made easier by the addition of the Frenchman to the roster. 

About halfway through last season, I did an exercise where I redrafted the 2022 draft for the good guys. Here I’ll do something similar, but assign grades to each selection instead of finding a better player or fit. From the lowest drafted to the highest…

Undrafted: Dominick Barlow

Spurs fans didn’t get to watch much of the 6’9” forward out of Overtime Elite in his rookie season, although he showed flashes when he did see the court. He spent a lot of time in Austin, where he DOM-inated (sorry, not sorry for that). Following his recent re-signing with the team on a two-way contract, Barlow may play the majority of his minutes with the G-League team for a second consecutive season. 

However, that doesn’t mean that the Spurs don’t see a future with Barlow. There are simply too many players on the team right now to give Dominick one of the 15 full contracts that the team is limited to. As the front office makes deals and the roster thins out over the course of the season, there’s a strong chance Barlow gets a standard deal. Plus, after watching his play in summer league, it’s within the realm of possibility that the team sees Dom as the long term big next to Wemby.

Grade: B+. He was a free investment and already appears to be paying dividends.

25th Pick: Blake Wesley

Air Alamo’s own Roberto Araiza recently wrote a piece covering Blake Wesley’s development, which I really enjoyed. Let’s start with the positives— Blake is one of, if not the, fastest player in the NBA with the ball in his hands. That’s fun as hell. The issue coming out of summer league is that his decision making did not seem to improve too much year over year. This was especially true in fast break situations and, more importantly, in the clutch. 

To make a bit of a criticism sandwich, Wesley did noticeably put on some weight this off-season, which is an important development for his defense and finishing around the rim. The good news is that he, along with every other player I’m writing about, is still just 20 years old. Plenty of time to improve, even with the rising expectations for 2023-24 and beyond.

Grade: C-. There's a lot of room for development, but it needs to come semi-quickly if he wants a spot in the long term rotation.

20th Pick: Malaki Branham

If I was to grade this pick solely based off of the month of February, when Branham looked like one of the most prolific scorers in the league, I’d give an A+. It’s been pointed out before, but Malaki’s rookie developmental arc pretty closely mirrored his freshman season at Ohio State. After a slow start to the season—he didn't truly play until December, and even then only started to receive consistent minutes in February—he grabbed hold of a top eight role in the rotation, and never let go.

Similar to Blake Wesley, Branham has had some issues tuning in his aggressiveness; at points he’s too passive and other times he won’t even look towards his teammates. Spurs fans who watched the second of the two Wemby games in summer league definitely remember Malaki (who was, at the time, 1-16 from the field) pulling a three with the game on the line. It did not fall. That said, Malaki seems to be a bit of a gym rat, and is always striving to get better. I’m buying his stock.

Grade: B. I could see this grade skyrocketing in the first month of the season as Victor’s gravity provides the shooters on the team a lot more space to work with.

Side note— this is not an indictment on either Branham or Wesley, but for the Spurs to have made two selections at the guard position and for neither to be Jaden Hardy (who went 37th to the Dallas Mavericks) definitely knocks those grades a bit. As of this writing, Hardy is by far the most polished prospect at point guard—a position of need for the Spurs—and has an argument to be the most talented of the three (the debate there is between him and Malaki).

9th Pick: Jeremy Sochan

The second half of the newly formed “Space Invaders," Jeremy was everything that the team hoped for and more during his rookie season. He was a burst of energy that Alamo City desperately needed, but showcased his humility alongside that. I don’t know how many 19 year old rookies would be willing to change their free throw routine halfway through the season.

Add in his potential to be an elite wing defender, and the Spurs seem to have found a keeper with their highest draft selection since Duncan (pre-Wemby). His personality may be his biggest strength, evidenced in the fight clip linked above and further shown anytime he logs on to Twitter or Instagram.

San Antonio has been off of the radar of most NBA media since 2017, so it was pretty crazy seeing a Spur named as the “player correspondent” for the entire National Basketball Association at this year’s draft. We have Jeremy’s energy and eccentricity to thank for that bestowment. There are things to improve on the court (mainly shooting), but I have no doubt Sochan will continue trying to prove any naysayers wrong.

Grade: A. Outside of Wemby, there is not a question who has the highest potential on the team. Sochan figures to stick for a long time, regardless of what skills he develops.