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The opening tip

Paolo Banchero, projected to be a top pick in the NBA draft, has led Duke to the No. 2 seed in the West region. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

By Ben Golliver
with Jeremy Gottlieb

The best NBA draft prospects in the NCAA tournament

The NBA draft landscape was splintered in 2020 and 2021, with LaMelo Ball playing overseas professionally, with Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga signing up for the G League Ignite and with international prospects like Josh Giddey and Killian Hayes emerging as lottery selections.

By comparison, the 2022 class is shaping up in more traditional fashion. When the draft is held June 23, it's possible that the top 10 picks will have all come through the NCAA ranks, something that has happened just once since 2014. This consolidation of talent will turn the NCAA tournament into a singular showcase. Even better, the top three projected picks — Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren and Jabari Smith Jr. — all play for title hopefuls.

With March Madness set to open this week, here's a look at five leading prospects for NBA fans to track.

1. Paolo Banchero (Duke)

The Blue Devils (28-6) have stumbled into the West region's No. 2 seed after losses to North Carolina in Coach Mike Krzyzewski's final home game and to Virginia Tech in the ACC title game. Banchero, though, has mostly delivered on the considerable hype that built during his prep career, averaging 17 points and 7.8 rebounds per game to claim first team all-conference honors as a freshman.

The 6-foot-10 Seattle native is a polished scorer and shot-creator who displays a controlled pace and strength on the ball when he works in his preferred isolation situations. Banchero, 19, projects as a Tobias Harris-type power forward unless he can demonstrate considerable growth as a playmaker for his teammates.

2. Chet Holmgren (Gonzaga)

The 7-foot, 195-pound Holmgren leads his class in intrigue, even though the 19-year-old freshman is just one cog in Gonzaga's well-oiled machine. The Bulldogs (26-3) enter the tournament as the West region's No. 1 seed with five players averaging in double figures, granting them the luxury to use Holmgren as a lob finisher and a floor-spacer rather than as a go-to scorer.

The Minneapolis product has fit in well with the perennial powerhouse, averaging 14.2 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game while establishing himself as a major difference-maker on the defensive end despite his skinny frame. If Gonzaga and Duke both advance, Holmgren and Banchero will square off in an Elite Eight showdown.

3. Jaden Ivey (Purdue)

In a class headlined by three frontcourt players, Ivey has become one of this year's most coveted guard prospects by leading the Boilermakers (27-7) to the East region's No. 3 seed. The 20-year-old sophomore hails from a family of professional athletes — his father and grandfather were NFL players while his mother was a WNBA player — and it shows in his relentless desire to attack defenses off the dribble.

Blessed with a smooth handle and an improving jumper, Ivey has averaged 17.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists as the leading scorer for Purdue's elite offense. Much like Donovan Mitchell, the 6-foot-4 Ivey is wired as a scoring guard rather than a pure point guard, and he's at his best when he's getting downhill to the basket.

4. Bennedict Mathurin (Arizona)

The Wildcats (31-3) enter the tournament with real momentum, having won 15 of their last 16 games to claim the Pac-12 conference title and the South region's No. 1 seed. Mathurin, a 19-year-old sophomore guard, has blossomed into their driving force, capping his Pac-12 player of the year campaign by posting 27 points and seven assists in a conference title game victory over UCLA.

A native of Canada whose family hails from Haiti, the 6-foot-6 Mathurin has modeled his all-around scoring game after Bradley Beal, seeking to generate opportunities from hard drives to the hoop and from beyond the three-point line. Less heralded and less polished than the highest-profile members of this class, Mathurin nevertheless has worked his way into the draft lottery by averaging 17.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.

5. Jabari Smith Jr. (Auburn)

The 18-year-old Smith checks many of the most important boxes to be the No. 1 overall pick: He's a long, athletic and confident scoring forward with dependable three-point range and versatile defensive potential. The 6-foot-10 freshman standout has averaged 17.1 points and 7 rebounds per game while shooting 42.8 percent from beyond the arc for the Tigers (27-5), who claimed the Midwest region's No. 2 seed.

Smith's size and shooting stroke evoke Rashard Lewis, and he should enjoy a smooth transition to the NBA given his scoring range and two-way ability. Auburn hasn't turned to Smith for much ballhandling or offense initiation, leaving scouts to decide whether he is capable of greater responsibilities or if he is best suited to a wingman role alongside a lead guard.

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The best of #NBATwitter and R/NBA

The Nets and Sixers' relentless pursuit of making us pay attention to them at all times continued last week when Brooklyn traveled to Philly for the first game between the two teams since the James Harden-Ben Simmons trade. How would Sixers fans treat Simmons as he sat on the Nets bench? How would Harden fare in a big game with a huge spotlight? Would Kevin Durant and Joel Embiid jaw at each other again? Would someone grab the PA mic, jump up on the scorer's table and bellow, "Are you not entertained?"

The answer to the final question, sadly, was no. But for a game that was over before halftime, this one lived up to the hype.

The Nets played like a team possessed. The Sixers played like a team that is depending on Harden and coached by Doc Rivers. You can probably deduce from there that Philly was the team that got blown out. The final score was 129-100, and it wasn't that close. The Nets scored 72 in the first half, 102 through three quarters and were galvanized by the fans' reaction to Simmons, which started with boos and chants earlier Thursday outside the team bus and continued basically until the game was comically out of reach.

As for Harden, well, we've seen this before. He was not at all interested in that smoke, which is pretty on brand for him in a game of this magnitude. He did pass Reggie Miller for third on the all-time three-pointers made list early in the game, but that milestone was completely blotted out by the final outcome.

It was just one game and the Sixers righted the ship Sunday night with a comeback win over the Magic. But the red flags will keep flapping until the Sixers get through a playoff matchup against another contender with a win. No matter how game Embiid is — and he came to play Thursday — he alone is probably not enough to cut through all the bad big game vibes swirling around the Sixers.

As for the Nets, Durant and Kyrie have taken these sorts of tests plenty of times and know how to pass them. They're good enough, and have a strong enough supporting cast (hello Seth Curry and Andre Drummond) to withstand any of Simmons's playoff demons should he be back on the court come the postseason.

Thursday's game told us a lot more than your average early March matchup. It was also as potent a reminder as any of why we just can't get enough of the Nets and the Sixers.