NBA Draft 2012: 10 Players with the Most Bust Potential

No college basketball player wants to become a bust and no NBA team wants to draft one, yet somehow every NBA draft class ends up having its fair share of players who fail to live up to expectations. 

There are plenty of players who could be the rough surrounding the diamonds in the 2012 draft class. 

Please note that I'm only saying that these players have the most bust potential, not that they won't become solid players. In the case of at least a few of them, I don't think they'll truly flame out at all. 

Read on to discover the men who populate this unfortunate list. 

Harrison Barnes

Team: North Carolina

Position: Small forward

Year: Sophomore

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 17.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.4 blocks, 1.1 steals

As talented a scorer as Harrison Barnes may be, he still has trouble creating his own shot sometimes and relies on the passing skill of Kendall Marshall to get shots off. 

Harrison's lack of talent as an assist man concerns me as well, and his on-ball and off-ball defense aren't really anything to write home about. 

This guy was supposed to be a candidate for the No. 1 overall pick, but he hasn't improved much as a sophomore. 

John Henson

Team: North Carolina

Position: Power forward/Center

Year: Junior

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 14.0 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 3.1 blocks, 0.6 steals

John Henson is most likely going to be picked in the lottery portion of the 2012 NBA draft and he's going to blossom into a solid starting option in the NBA. 

However, Henson lacks the offensive skills necessary to become a star at the next level. In a class this loaded, why exactly would you draft a guy who has a lower ceiling than some of the other players around him? 

In any other year, Henson wouldn't find himself on this list, but he just happens to be coming out with plenty of other studs. 

Terrence Jones

Team: Kentucky

Position: Forward

Year: Sophomore

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 12.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.9 blocks, 1.3 steals

My main problem with Terrence Jones is his on-and-off levels of intensity. One game, he'll be motivated and dominate across the board, standing out as the second-best player on the Kentucky Wildcats. 

The next game though, he'll look uninvolved and sulk on the bench after he's been pulled from the contest by John Calipari. 

Jones has enough talent to succeed in the NBA, but he's going to have to get his head screwed on straight. Much like Harrison Barnes, he's one of the guys on this list because of their "potential" to be busts, not because I think he'll flop at the next level. 

Kendall Marshall

Team: North Carolina

Position: Point guard

Year: Sophomore

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 6.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, 9.7 assists, 0.2 blocks, 1.3 steals

I'd be much more impressed with Kendall Marshall if he was racking up double-digit assists while playing with teammates like Scott Machado plays with in Iona. But when you dish it off to Harrison Barnes, John Henson and Tyler Zeller, among others, it's almost hard not to generate plenty of assists. 

Marshall is a defensive filter. And by that I mean that he's a filter with abnormally large holes that allows almost everything to go through. 

Plus, he lacks NBA-level scoring ability. 

I just can't see him becoming anything more than a low-level starting point guard on a bad team. 

James Michael McAdoo

Team: North Carolina

Position: Forward

Year: Freshman

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 5.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 0.3 blocks, 0.6 steals

To the North Carolina fans out there, I'm sorry that we're only five slides in and you've already had to see four Tar Heels on this list. 

Unfortunately though, this team reminds me a lot of the 2004-2005 squad that won a championship and was supposed to be stacked with future pros. 

Marvin Williams, Raymond Felton, Sean May and Rashad McCants were all drafted in the 2005 lottery, and David Noel and Reyshawn Terry were taken in the second round of later drafts. But of those players, only Felton has been able to avoid becoming a total bust. 

If we're comparing the two teams, I can't help but pair James McAdoo with Marvin Williams, and we all know what that means. 

Fab Melo

Team: Syracuse

Position: Center

Year: Sophomore

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 7.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 3.1 blocks, 0.4 steals

Much like John Henson, Fab Melo lacks the offensive upside necessary to become a gem in this draft class. 

Plus, we have yet to determine how much of his defensive success is a product of his talent and how much is a product of the ridiculous zone defense employed by Jim Boeheim's Syracuse Orange. 

I tend to think that Melo really is that good on defense but that he'll never become even close to the offensive player the NBA's 'Melo currently is. 

Arnett Moultire

Team: Mississippi State

Position: Power forward

Year: Junior

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 16.0 points, 10.7 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.8 blocks

Arnett Moultrie looks like an NBA player, both in terms of physical appearance and game. When he's on the court, he moves like an NBA player and typically dominates. 

But then there's his attitude off the court. 

No comments better represent that than the ones he uttered after a disappointing loss to Alabama. The following is a quote from the USA Today about the issue: 

"

More alarming for MSU, perhaps, was Moultrie's avenue for guidance in troubling times. MSU's leading scorer and rebounder (16 points, 10.7 rebounds per game) said he turns to his former high school coach for support and not his teammates because "everybody has their own agendas."

Moultrie then called out his teammates, who spoke of making a run to the Final Four during preseason gatherings with local reporters.

"I see how they come up here and say how bad they want to win and how bad they want to go to the Final Four," said Moultrie, "but everybody doesn't work as hard as they say, with as bad as they want to win."

"

No one wants a teammate who isn't going to stick by his team. 

Mason Plumlee

Team: Duke

Position: Power forward and center

Year: Junior

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 10.7 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.5 blocks, 0.8 steals

See, North Carolina fans, I'm going to pick on Duke too. 

Mason Plumlee is universally projected as a first-round draft pick in the upcoming 2012 NBA draft. 

But seriously, when was the last time you watched Plumlee play in a Blue Devils game and thought to yourself, "Wow, that guy is going to be a great pro"?

Hell, when was the last time you even thought, "Hmmm, maybe that guy could be a decent backup one day"?

I'm not sure I ever have. 

Marquis Teague

Team: Kentucky

Position: Point guard

Year: Freshman

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 9.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 0.3 blocks, 1.0 steals

If the Kentucky Wildcats don't take home the title at the end of March Madness, it's most likely going to be a result of the inconsistent play of this freshman point guard. No pressure, Marquis Teague—none at all. 

The younger brother of mid-level Atlanta Hawks point guard Jeff Teague, Marquis has insane athleticism but he really hasn't fully honed his basketball skills yet. He's still prone to playing out of control and making poor decisions. 

Teague's draft stock has already slipped from sure-fire lottery pick to borderline first-rounder in the opinion of some, but he may never make it in the NBA if he can't make strides in every aspect of his game. 

Patric Young

Team: Florida

Position: Power forward and center

Year: Sophomore

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 10.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.0 blocks, 0.6 steals

Just stare at the picture to the left for a few seconds. Do you know how many NBA players wish that they were blessed to have the size, stature and athleticism that Patric Young possesses? 

The answer is all of them, except for LeBron James and Dwight Howard. 

No list of potential draft busts is complete without the token "NBA body, but maybe not NBA skill" guy. And that's where this sophomore member of the suddenly reeling Florida Gators squad comes in.