The day after the 2021 NBA Draft is the first official day of the 2022 NBA Draft speculation. It's like waking up to a big mess in your kitchen after having guests over the night before.

Sam Vecenie of The Athletic posted his way-too-early 2022 NBA Mock Draft this morning and it includes a number of items relevant to Duke fans.

A few news and notes:
- Vecenie starts by saying he likes Paolo Banchero and Chet Holmgren a lot, but he would put them below the top 4 taken in the 2021 NBA Draft. That seems reasonable to me given that we haven't seen either play college ball yet. There's still a lot of time to reevaluate them and the entire class. It also is an indication that the draft class for 2022 is not as well-regarded as the 2021 crop.
- Paolo Banchero is #1 with Vecenie praising his basketball IQ, his perimeter skills and ability to take players off the dribble, and his improved jumper. He does have a slight concern about Banchero's lateral quickness, but obviously thinks very highly of the Duke freshman.
- AJ Griffin is #10 and Vecenie notes that he is a tough evaluation at the moment. Griffin physically looks the part at 6'6-7" and a 7'+ wingspan with a good-looking jumper and is athletic and nifty around the rim. But he hasn't played organized basketball for most of the pandemic. He could be a top 5 guy or a late 1st rounder depending on how things go for him this year in an organized team setting.
- Mark Williams is at #38

The ACC as a whole is under-represented. There are no players from UNC, Virginia, Florida State, Syracuse, Louisville, or any other program besides Duke in the top 50. I am a little surprised that Keve Aluma isn't in the Top 50. Aluma is a pretty good shooter at 6'9" and does a lot of little things well. I suppose that he's older and isn't a great shooter or great at any one thing.

As far as talent relative to the rest of the conference, Duke is head and shoulders ahead of the pack.