NBA Draft Projections: Teams That Will Land Stars in 2nd Round
Second-round picks are gold.
The 2012 NBA Draft class is the being labeled as the deepest since 2003 brought the league LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Because of that, second-round gems won’t be rare like they’ve been in years past. Here are the three teams that will land stars after the first round if they play their cards right.
3. Washington Wizards
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is likely to fall to the Wizards at No. 3. While that would fill their need at small forward, they'd still have a gaping hole at shooting guard, but have no fear. Washington will have plenty of quality choices with the 32nd overall pick.
Jared Cunningham, Will Barton and Doron Lamb are all possibilities, but John Jenkins is the most likely prospect to land in D.C. Jenkins is one of, if not the best pure shooter in the draft. He’d be an instant upgrade to Jordan Crawford and would help spread the floor for the penetrating John Wall.
2. Charlotte Bobcats
Charlotte is expected to select a scorer with their No. 2 pick, such as Bradley Beal or Thomas Robinson. With the Bobcats’ 31st overall selection, their best bet is to simply choose the best available player. That will most likely be Jeff Taylor. Let’s just say he’s a candidate to get signed by Air Jordan.
Taylor is a freak athlete. At the NBA Combine, he recorded a 40-inch vertical leap and 15 reps of 225 pounds on the bench. Taylor is also one of the best on-ball defenders in the draft.
1. Cleveland Cavaliers
What the Cavs do with the 33rd and 34th overall picks will depend on who they select in the first. If Cleveland selects Harrison Barnes and Fab Melo, Cleveland would fill their hole at shooting guard with Doron Lamb. If they select two wings in the first, though, Festus Ezeli is an option.
Lamb is a lights-out shooter and shot an amazing 46.6 percent from downtown last season for Kentucky. Ezeli is a seven-foot defensive force and has plenty of room to grow after coming to the U.S. from Nigeria. Adding either or even both players would give the Cavs’ rotation a huge boost.
David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.
