NBA Draft 2012: Rookies Who Will Shock During Their First Season

Every year during the NBA draft there are players who are expected to be impact players in the NBA. Inevitably, there are also players that are drafted without much fanfare but end up shocking people with their consistent play.

The San Antonio Spurs seem to do this every year—draft a player in the late first round or during the second round that ends up being a key cog on the team. But it's not just the Spurs. If you look up and down past drafts you will see players who should have been selected higher with hindsight.

Here are the players in the 2012 NBA draft who will end up shocking us with their performance.

Mock Draft

Here is the first-round mock draft. Since the draft lottery has yet to take place, lottery teams will be listed in reverse order of how they finished. Also, since some players will be expected to shine, those players won't be highlighted in the slides. This slideshow is about players that should shock us with their performance. Those are the players that will be highlighted in the slides and they'll be earmarked with an asterisk next to their name in the mock draft.

1. Charlotte Bobcats—Anthony Davis, PF, Kentucky

2. Washington Wizards—Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, SF, Kentucky

3. Cleveland Cavaliers—Thomas Robinson, PF, Kansas

4. New Orleans Hornets—Bradley Beal, SG/PG, Florida*

5. Sacramento Kings—Harrison Barnes, SF, North Carolina

6. Portland Trailblazers—Andre Drummond, C, UConn

7. Golden State Warriors—Perry Jones III, PF/SF, Baylor

8. Toronto Raptors—Austin Rivers, SG, Duke

9. Detroit Pistons—John Henson, PF, North Carolina

10. New Orleans Hornets (via Minnesota and L.A. Clippers)—Jared Sullinger, PF, Ohio State*

11. Portland Trailblazers—Jeremy Lamb, SG, UConn

12. Milwaukee Bucks—Tyler Zeller, C, North Carolina

13. Phoenix Suns—Terrence Jones, PF, Kentucky

14. Houston Rockets—Arnett Moultrie, PF, Houston, Mississippi State

15. Philadelphia 76ers—Terrence Ross, SG, Washington

16. Houston Rockets (from New York)—Damian Lillard, PG, Weber State

17. Dallas Mavericks—Kendall Marshall, PG, North Carolina*

18. Minnesota Timberwolves (from Utah)—Dion Waiters, SG, Syracuse

19. Orlando Magic—Meyers Leonard, C, Illinois

20. Denver Nuggets—Moe Harkless, SF, St. Johns

21. Boston Celtics—Quincy Miller, SF, Baylor

22. Boston Celtics (via OKC and L.A. Clippers)—Fab Melo, C, Syracuse

23. Atlanta Hawks—Andrew Nicholson, PF, St. Bonaventure

24. Cleveland Cavaliers (from L.A. Lakers)—Royce White, SF, Iowa State

25. Memphis Grizzlies—Tony Wroten Jr., PG, Washington*

26. Indiana Pacers—Marquis Teague, PG, Kentucky

27. Miami Heat—Draymond Green, SF, Michigan State

28. Oklahoma City Thunder—Jeff Taylor, SF, Vanderbilt

29. Chicago Bulls—Festus Ezeli, C, Vanderbilt*

30. Golden State Warriors (from San Antonio)—Evan Fournier, SG, France

Bradley Beal, SG/PG, Florida

Beal played shooting guard at Florida, but has the tools to be one of the better point guards in this class. He's got the ball handling and quickness to handle the point. Plus at 6'5", Beal has the type of size that could cause mismatches for opposing teams.

If Beal somehow doesn't pan out at point guard, he's enough of a scorer to easily play shooting guard. With his shooting range he can knock down open shots from all over the court, and he's got the speed to blow by defenders that try to take away the outside shot by playing up on him.

With Beal's skills, he'll be an impact player and he might shock people with how easily he handles the point.

Jared Sullinger, PF, Ohio State

Sullinger seems to be thought of as one of those players that dominated college but won't have the same success in the pros. This is mainly because he's a bit undersized to play the 4 in the NBA and because he's not an explosive athlete. However, all Sullinger did in college is produce and that's exactly what he'll do in the NBA.

Sullinger was a dominant rebounder in college and rebounding is a skill that generally translates to the NBA. Beyond his ability to rebound, Sullinger should be a productive offensive player in the NBA. He may be undersized in terms of height, but at 280 pounds, he's heavier and stronger than most power forwards he'll be going against. That should give him the positioning needed to get some high-percentage shots.

He also shot 40 percent from three-point range. Even though he's unlikely to keep that up in the NBA—where the three-point line is deeper than in college—it shows that he's got the ability to score outside of the paint.

Kendall Marshall, PG, North Carolina

For all of the knocks on Marshall lacking the explosiveness or quickness to succeed as a point guard in the NBA, he's got all of the other skills to make him a success at the next level. Marshall's got a strong basketball IQ, indicated by his 9.8-to-2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio. His 9.8 assists per game also shows that he's got good court vision and is a willing passer.

You can have the quickest point guard in the world with excellent ball-handling skills, but if he lacks the basketball IQ and isn't a willing passer then he won't translate to the NBA.

On top of that, what Marshall may be lacking in quickness, he makes up for with his 6'4", 188-pound frame, which should make him bigger than most point guards in the NBA.

Tony Wroten Jr., PG, Washington

Wroten Jr. is either feast or famine. He will either be an excellent player or his lack of consistency won't allow him to succeed. I tend to think he'll be the former rather than the latter.

He tends to make questionable decisions with the ball at times. He's also not a consistent shooter, allowing defenders to play off of him to take away his ability to penetrate.

Those are areas that Wroten can improve with hard work and proper coaching. He's got all of the talent needed to succeed and he has more than enough size to play the point in the NBA. He is 19 years old, so it would be ludicrous to expect him to be close to a finished product. However, he's got the physical tools to succeed right away.

Festus Ezeli, C, Vanderbilt

Ezeli is not a flashy player and he's not a force on the offensive end, so he tends to get overlooked. But Ezeli has what's needed to have a very long and successful career in the NBA.

At 6'11", 255 pounds, he has the size needed to play center in the NBA. Not only that, he's got the necessary skills to utilize that size. Ezeli is an excellent post defender and is a very good shot-blocker. Those skills alone should give him a chance to compete from the start.

If Ezeli can develop some semblance of an offensive game then he is a sure-fire All-Star. Even if he can't, he can step in as an above-average defender from the get-go. That alone should make him a steal at the end of the first round.