2012 NBA Draft: Playing "Boom or Bust" with Incoming Prospects

The 2012 NBA Draft has sure things, diamonds in the rough and fool’s gold. The hard part is figuring out which one a prospect actually is.

A wasted lottery pick can set teams back years at a time, while a rookie revelation can accelerate a franchise’s growth in surprising fashion.

Top-five picks like North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes, Kansas’ Thomas Robinson, Florida’s Bradley Beal and Kentucky’s Michael Kidd-Gilchrist might have secure draft spots, but their futures aren’t necessarily secure.

Mid-tier players such as Weber State’s Damien Lillard, North Carolina’s Kendall Marshall and Baylor’s Perry Jones III could wind up anywhere in the lottery and are especially hard to peg.

Then there are those guys like Connecticut’s Jeremy Lamb, Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger, Illinois’ Meyers Leonard, Syracuse’s Dion Waiters and Kentucky’s Terrence Jones. They could make the lottery, or barely make it out of the Draft’s first round.

Join NBA Featured Columnist, Joel C. Cordes, and NBA Assistant Editor, Ethan Norof, as they play “Boom or Bust.”

You can also find these guys on Court Vision’s “Basketball by Association.”