NBA Draft 2012: First-Rounders That Would Fill Holes for Prospective Teams

The NBA draft often makes or breaks the future of a franchise.

An organization can either add a Greg Oden to their roster or draft a Kevin Durant, and that's just one draft that sent two franchises in opposite directions.

The draft is the perfect time for teams to fill huge holes in their rosters, which is exactly what a few teams in the 2012 rendition need to do if they want to make their way to the top of the league.

Here are two players who would fill the needs of their prospective teams.

Washington Wizards: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

The No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 picks in this year's NBA draft have been interchangeable in most projections and mock drafts throughout the Internet, with Bradley Beal, Thomas Robinson and Kidd-Gilchrist making up the trio of interchangeable parts.

If MKG falls to the Wizards at No. 3, they cannot pass him up.

The Wizards have two quality players on the roster in John Wall and Nene, but they don't have much of an identity as a team. In most games last season, their offensive game plan consisted of Wall going careening into the paint to either finish with an acrobatic layup or make a decision that made you question how he got this far.

That's not to say that Wall wasn't the Wizards' best player last year. In fact, he was one of the best young players in the league. But he needs some more help if he is going to take that next step to make the Wizards a contender in the Eastern Conference.

Kidd-Gilchrist would be the perfect addition to complement Wall. Wall is a one-man fast break, with speed that is unparalleled by most. But he needs a running mate to turn that aspect of his play into a transition game. Kidd-Gilchrist is the perfect guy to do that. He struggles shooting from the perimeter, but he can finish at the rim thanks to his solid frame and athleticism.

Say what you want about Chris Singleton at the small forward position, but he's not going to become more than an average bench player, barring an unforeseen quantum leap.

That's where MKG comes in. He plays lockdown defense on the perimeter, meaning there will be plenty of opportunities for him and Wall to get out and running on the break. Reserves regarding his offensive game are warranted, but he plays defense with a very high intensity level.

Wall and MKG both played under John Calipari's dribble-drive offense. The dribble-drive offense involves shots being created through spacing on the perimeter that lead to open shots provided by kick-out passes from penetrating guards.

Kidd-Gilchrist already has the transition and defensive part of his game polished, so if he can improve his perimeter shooting, the Wizards will find themselves in the playoffs soon enough. Even if it takes him a couple of years to start knocking down outside shots at a high clip, the transition game in Washington would lead the team to success.

New Orleans Hornets: Austin Rivers

It would be nice if we could stop beating the dead horse that is Anthony Davis being take No. 1 overall and move on to the next pick that the Hornets have in the draft at No. 10.

Shooting guard Eric Gordon might be on the outs this summer, and the restricted free agent could prove to be too expensive. If that winds up happening, the Hornets will thank their lucky stars that they drafted Austin Rivers at No. 10.

Rivers would give the Hornets a dead-eye shooter on the perimeter to complement Davis on the inside. Not only that, but Rivers has some experience at the point guard spot, and he could figure out the pick-and-roll with Davis in due time.

He's a bit like Kobe Bryant in the way that he creates space for himself. I'm not saying that he's the second coming of "The Black Mamba," or that he will even amount to anything resembling one of the greatest scorers this league has ever seen, but his crossover and jab step show shades of Bryant's ability to create for himself.

Speaking of Kobe, Rivers isn't afraid to shoot from anywhere inside the gym. At Duke, he shot three, four and five feet behind the three-point line, and his range is only going to increase as he gets stronger from his time in the league.

Oh, you want another Kobe comparison? Rivers is hot-handed, cold-blooded in the clutch. We saw that much when he hit a buzzer-beating three to beat North Carolina back in February.

Before I get torn apart for these Kobe comparisons, refer to the sentence that says he's not the second coming of Bryant.

His intermediate game has no boundaries, other than his questionable left hand. Rivers' running floater is hard to stop because of his 6'5" frame. A lot of guards who incorporate the mid-range tear drop into their game are closer to six-feet tall, but Rivers has that extra couple inches to get the shot off over taller defenders.

He's quick into the paint and a crafty finisher with a lightning-quick crossover. Teams would have a huge problem figuring out how to play defense against Davis, who can shoot from a reasonable distance as well as from the post, and Rivers, who can hit a shot from anywhere on the offensive side of half court but can also attack the rim.

The future looks bright for the Hornets, and the crop of young players that are on the horizon will help to change the course of the franchise in the coming years.