Sharpe, Washington and Tshiebwe included in new ESPN mock draft

Kentucky continues to have two top-ten picks in the latest 2022 ESPN mock draft, with a third emerging as an early second-rounder. As we come down the final stretch of the regular season with just four games to go, Shaedon Sharpe is UK’s highest-rated potential draft selection, with ESPN projecting him to go No. 8 overall to the San Antonio Spurs. From there, TyTy Washington is projected to be selected No. 10 overall by the Portland Trail Blazers, followed by Oscar Tshiebwe at No. 43 overall to the Charlotte Hornets.

Sharpe, Washington and Tshiebwe are the only three Kentucky players listed in the 58-man mock draft. This would leave the likes of Sahvir Wheeler, Keion Brooks Jr., Daimion Collins, Bryce Hopkins, Lance Ware, Dontaie Allen and CJ Fredrick all projected to go undrafted with the option of returning to school.

Kellan Grady and Davion Mintz have exhausted the entirety of their NCAA eligibility, with their professional basketball clocks starting at the conclusion of the season regardless.

Jonathan Givony’s 2022 draft order is based on ESPN BPI projections as of Monday, Feb. 21:

1. Detroit Pistons – Chet Holmgren (Gonzaga)
2. Orlando Magic – Jabari Smith (Auburn)
3. Houston Rockets – Paolo Banchero (Duke)
4. Indiana Pacers – Jaden Ivey (Purdue)
5. Sacramento Kings – A.J. Griffin (Duke)
6. Oklahoma City Thunder – Jalen Duren (Memphis)
7. New York Knicks – Johnny Davis (Wisconsin)
8. San Antonio Spurs – Shaedon Sharpe (Kentucky)
9. Portland Trail Blazers – Keegan Murray (Iowa)
10. Portland Trail Blazers – TyTy Washington Jr. (Kentucky)
11. Washington Wizards – Bennedict Mathurin (Arizona)
12. Memphis Grizzlies – Dyson Daniels (G League Ignite)
13. Charlotte Hornets – Ochai Agbaji (Kansas)
14. Atlanta Hawks – E.J. Liddell (Ohio State)
15. Houston Rockets – MarJon Beauchamp (G League Ignite)
16. Oklahoma City Thunder – Tari Eason (Baylor)
17. Minnesota Timberwolves – Kendall Brown (Baylor)
18. San Antonio Spurs – Walker Kessler (Auburn)
19. Indiana Pacers – Ousmane Dieng (NZ Breakers)
20. Brooklyn Nets – Jean Montero (Overtime Elite)
21. San Antionio Spurs – Nikola Jovic (Mega Mozzart)
22. Dallas Mavericks – Jaden Hardy (G League Ignite)
23. Milwaukee Bucks – Mark Williams (Duke)
24. Chicago Bulls – Trevor Keels (Duke)
25. Denver Nuggets – Patrick Baldwin Jr. (Milwaukee)
26. Memphis Grizzlies – Justin Lewis (Marquette)
27. Miami Heat – JD Davison (Alabama)
28. Golden State Warriors – Kennedy Chandler (Tennessee)
29. Memphis Grizzlies– Jeremy Sochan (Baylor)
30. Oklahoma City Thunder – Blake Wesley (Notre Dame)

Givony highlighted Tshiebwe in his post-mock roundup, saying the Kentucky center has done a “great job of changing the narrative around his pro prospects” with his ability to impact winning.

“Tshiebwe not only leads college basketball with his 15.2 rebounds per game,” Givony wrote, “he’s posting the highest rebounding numbers in modern college basketball history both on a per-game and per-minute basis thus far, eclipsing Xavier McDaniel (14.8), Shaquille O’Neal (14.7) and Tim Duncan (14.7) in the process. While the correlation between gaudy college rebounding numbers translating to NBA success (or even carving out any real role in the NBA) is dubious at best historically, the improvement Tshiebwe has made in other areas does bode well for his chances of bucking that trend.

“While undersized for a center at 6-foot-8 without shoes, Tshiebwe’s exceptional wingspan (7-foot-4) and chiseled frame allows him to play much bigger than his height. While unconventional, and perhaps not as modern a big man as NBA teams tend to prefer recently, Tshiebwe has done a great job of changing the narrative around his pro prospects by sheer will, productivity, and most importantly, impacting winning.”

To read ESPN’s complete mock draft (picks 1-58), click here.