What would a 2022 expansion draft look like? Part 3

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Wait... Poland?: The Poles get a shocking upset to propel themselves to the EuroBasket semifinals.

Wrapping things up: Breaking down the last ten teams in our hypothetical 2022 expansion draft.

France and Poland move on to EuroBasket semifinals

What happened: Poland, who have no current or former NBA players on their roster, came through with the huge upset over Luka and Slovenia while Rudy Gobert and France took down a fiesty Italy squad in overtime. The two teams are now set to play for a spot in the EuroBasket Finals.

Why it's important: Two words, Mateusz Ponitka. The 29-year-old Polish forward who plays for Zenit St. Petersburg put up the game of his life against Slovenia with just the fourth triple-double in EuroBasket history. On the other end of the court, he and his Polish teammates did an impeccable job of getting Luka in check, holding him to just 14 points while forcing six turnovers. Ponitka's incredible effort sends them to the EuroBasket semifinals for the first time since 1971.Check out his highlights below and tell us you wouldn't want to see him in the NBA.

As for France, they have to be seeing medals in their dreams considering Luka, Giannis, and Jokic are all out. But they can't look past this Cinderella Poland team, and will still have a tough matchup with either Franz and Schröders Germany or the always-impressive Spain in the finals (if they even make it that far).

Detroit Pistons

Keepers: Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Saddiq Bey, Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart, Marvin Bagley III, Killian Hayes, Hamidou Diallo

Notable Unprotected Players: Nerlens Noel (Taken by Vegas), Kelly Olynyk, Alec Burks, Kemba Walker

The Pistons are all-in on rebuilding around their young pieces, so it only makes sense that they'd prioritize youth over everything in an expansion draft. With Jalen Duran and Isaiah Stewart locked up as Detroit's long-term center options, journeyman center Nerlens Noel becomes an expendable piece. Noel would be a great fit in Vegas as a defensive anchor in the paint and a PnR partner for former teammate Russell Westbrook.

Toronto Raptors

Keepers: Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes, Fred Van Vleet, Gary Trent Jr, OG Anunoby, Precious Achuiwa, Christian Koloko, Dalano Banton

Notable Unprotected Players: Malachi Flynn, Otto Porter Jr, Chris Boucher (taken by Vegas)

The Raptors have a solid six no-doubter protections, followed by a handful of interesting debates. We decided to protect reigning PAC 12 DPOY Christian Koloko for his defensive chops and second year guard Dalano Banton for his positional versatility. Otto Porter Jr. may seem like the best pickup for an expansion team in a vacuum as trade bait to dangle in front of contending teams, but Chris Boucher ends up being the pick because he has three years left on an affordable contract and can provide solid rim protection and spacing for a backup big. Not only do the get a great player, but also one with an incredible story.

Houston Rockets

Keepers: Jalen Green, Kevin Porter Jr, Jabari Smith Jr, Alperen Sengun, Tari Eason, Jae'sean Tate, Josh Christopher, TyTy Washington

Notable Unprotected Players: Usman Garuba, Kenyon Martin Jr (taken by Seattle), Garrison Matthews, Eric Gordon

The Rockets have one of the most exciting young cores in the league, but very little of their young talent ends up slipping through the cracks of their expansion draft protections. One small exception to that is Kenyon Martin Jr. The son of K-Mart Sr. flashed some potential over his first two seasons as an efficient inside scorer with a dash of floor-stretching.

Martin Jr. is apparently in search of a bigger role and wants out of Houston, and what better place to get more minutes than on an expansion team?

San Antonio Spurs

Keepers: Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, Josh Primo, Jakob Poeltl, Tre Jones, Blake Wesley, Malaki Branham

Notable Unprotected Players: Josh Richardson, Doug McDermott, Zach Collins (Taken by Seattle), Isaiah Roby

Let's be real, San Antonio is most likely going to be more concerned with getting Victor Wembanyama than playing winning basketball next season. That bring said, it only makes sense to protect all the players who will help years down the line rather than prioritize short-term success. Josh Richardson and Doug McDermott might be enticing options for expansion teams looking for a bit of extra quality, but it's Zach Collins who ends up getting the nod. He may have been grown up in Vegas, but Collins played his college ball at Gonzaga and his first few seasons in Portland. He knows his way around the Pacific Northwest and will be a great pickup for a Supersonics team looking for overlooked potential anywhere they can find it. It's been five years since he's played in Washington, and he didn't do too bad in his last few games.

Phoenix Suns

Keepers: Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Deandre Ayton, Mikail Bridges, Cam Johnson, Cameron Payne, Landry Shamet, Jock Landale

Notable Unprotected Players: Jae Crowder, Torrey Craig, Damion Lee, Josh Okogie (Taken by Vegas)

Talk about slim pickings for an expansion team. Phoenix have a great squad for making a deep playoff run, but aren't much help when it comes to a new team looking for a bargain. Their unprotected players are either veterans on one-year deals or two-way players with little NBA experience. Josh Okogie has struggled on offense in his first four NBA seasons, but the fifth year wing is a physical specimen on defense and might be worth one more chance to make an impact.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Keepers: Shai Gilgious-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Luguentz Dort, Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams, Ousmane Dieng, Kenrich Williams, Aleksej Pokusevski

Notable Unprotected Players: Tre Mann, Darius Bazley (taken by Seattle), Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

There aren't many downsides to drafting multiple players in the first round every year, but one is that you can't protect them all in an expansion draft. Sam Presti and OKC will probably have to learn that the hard way whenever the league does decide to expand, and it'll cost them a key rotation piece in this hypothetical. Darius Bazley has started well over 100 games for the Thunder during his first three seasons in the league, and is just the type of high-upside guy an expansion team would be more than happy to give 30+ minutes a game to.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Keepers: Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert, Anthony Edwards, D’Angelo Russell, Jaden McDaniels, Kyle Anderson, Jaylen Nowell, Wendell Moore Jr.

Notable Unprotected Players: Jordan McLaughlin, Tauren Prince, Naz Reid (taken by Vegas)

The Wolves are in playoffs or bust mode, and play it safe by protecting the top seven guys in their rotation plus their 2022 first round pick Wendell Moore. That leaves a couple vets in McLaughlin and Prince available, plus intriguing 24-year-old center Naz Reid. Reid is a plus defender who's averaged almost 20 points and nine rebounds per 36 minutes in his time in Minnesota. As the starting center on an expansion team, he'd have the minutes to truly shine.

Portland Trail Blazers

Keepers: Damian Lillard, Anfernee Simons, Jerami Grant, Jusuf Nurkic, Nassir Little, Josh Hart, Shaedon Sharpe, Gary Payton II

Notable Unprotected Players: Jabari Walker, Trendon Watford (taken by Vegas), Drew Eubanks, Keon Johnson

Portland have built themselves a more versatile defensive-minded identity this offseason and they emphasize maintaining that new look by protecting essentially their eight best players. Reigning Summer League Championship MVP Trendon Watford showed lots of promise last season in extended minutes on a tanking Blazers squad, and he'll hopefully carve out a larger role for himself on a fresh Vegas team. Just look at these Summer League highlights and tell us you wouldn't want him off your bench.

Golden State Warriors

Keepers: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins, Kevon Looney, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody

Notable Unprotected Players: James Wiseman (taken by Seattle), Patrick Baldwin Jr., Donte DiVincenzo

No team would have a tougher call to make in this expansion draft than the defending champs. The Warriors have an exceedingly rare breed of roster that is both championship-level and has a host of hot prospects. As a result, a big part of their present or their future will have to depart. Seeing as they just won a ring, we think the Warriors will go with a more present-minded strategy and opt to let go of one of their three recent top ten picks Wiseman, Kuminga and Moody. We decided to leave the former second overall pick Wiseman unprotected because of his spotty injury history. He immediately gets picked up by Seattle and becomes, hopefully, a franchise cornerstone.

Washington Wizards

Keepers: Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porzingis, Kyle Kuzma, Rui Hachimura, Deni Avidja, Johnny Davis, Daniel Gafford, Corey Kispert

Notable Unprotected Players: Will Barton (taken by Vegas), Vernon Carey, Monte Morris

The Wizards are already going to have time competing for a playoff spot in a tough Eastern Conference this season, and an expansion draft would only damper their already slim odds. Even after protecting seven of last seasons rotation pieces plus last year's tenth overall pick Johnny Davis, Washington still leaves new acquisitions, Will Barton and Monte Morris, unprotected. Morris is on the better contract but, with Vegas set at the point guard position they decide to bank on Barton having a big first half in 2922-23 to inflate his value and go with him to fill out their roster. Also he was part of one of the sickest sequences in NBA history.

Final Rosters

Seattle Selections:

Guards: Payton Pritchard, Victor Oladipo, Talen Horton-Tucker, RJ Hampton, Cam Thomas, Andrew Nembhard

Wings: Cedi Osman, Jalen Johnson, Marcus Morris Sr, Cam Reddish, Kenyon Martin Jr.

Bigs: James Wiseman, Zach Collins, Paul Reed, Darius Bazley

Vegas Selections:

Guards: Jevon Carter, Coby White, Terrence Davis, Russell Westbrook, Jaden Hardy, Devonte Graham

Wings: Gordon Hayward, Will Barton, Josh Okogie, Trendon Watford, Peyton Watson

Bigs: Nerlens Noel, Chris Boucher, Xavier Tillman, Naz Reid

Which of these expansion teams would you rather be the GM of? Let us know in the poll below.

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Allegations of racism and misogyny within the Phoenix Suns: Inside Robert Sarver's 17-year tenure as owner - Baxter Holmes (ESPN)

That's all for this Fridays edition, let us know if you enjoyed our little expansion draft experiment over on twitter @enjoyBBall.

Until next time.

-Spencer Poole

Trivia Answer: Celtics legend Larry Bird was the last player to win three MVPs in a row! The all-time great forward won the award every year from 1984 to 1986.

Trivia Question: Nearly a decade before the NBA even adopted the three pointer, this Hall-of-Famer attempted nearly seven of them per game in the rival ABA, eventually becoming the leagues all-time leader in made threes. Who was he?