NBA Draft 2012: 2nd-Round Sleepers with Star Potential

This year’s rough is filled with diamonds.

The 2012 NBA draft class is the deepest to enter the league since 2003. There aren’t enough first-round picks to sweep up all of the potential stars this summer. Here are four second-round prospects that possess stud potential.

4. Khris Middleton (SF, Texas A&M)

High flyers and three-point specialists are a dime a dozen. Players with a consistent mid-range game, on the other hand, are rare and deadly offensive weapons. And mid-range shooting just happens to be Khris Middleton’s strength.

The 6’8” wing is drawing comparisons to Richard Hamilton thanks to his smooth stroke.

3. Tyshawn Taylor (PG, Kansas)

There isn’t a more physically gifted point guard in the draft than the 6’4”, explosive Tyshawn Taylor. With that athleticism, he’s capable of getting to the rim at will. It also allows him to lock opposing point guards down defensively.

If he improves his jump shot and decision making, the sky is the limit.

2. Kevin Murphy (SG, Tennessee Tech)

Kevin Murphy can’t see his hand in front of his face because he shoots the lights out. He averaged an impressive 20.4 points per game last year for the Golden Eagles and shot 41.6 percent from downtown. Murphy combines that scoring prowess with solid athleticism and length at 6’6”.

Coming from a smaller school, it’ll take him a bit to adjust to the pro game, but when he does, he’ll take off.

1. Orlando Johnson (SG, UC Santa Barbara)

While Middleton and Murphy are great shooters, Orlando Johnson is a great scorer. Sure, he’s a phenomenal shooter from three-point land at 42.7 percent, but that isn’t all he did to drop 19.7 points per game with the Gauchos. The 6’5” Johnson is an elite athlete, and his 6’11” wingspan helps him finish at the rim with the same effectiveness as his perimeter shooting.

Like Murphy, Johnson didn’t play the greatest competition, but side-by-side in workouts with other prospects that did, he’s killing it.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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