NBA Draft 2012: The Biggest Hole in the Games of the Top 10 Prospects

There is nothing more devastating to an NBA team than drafting a player early in the first round and having them wind up a bust. This type of catastrophe can set a franchise back years in their development.

The shining example, of course, is where the Portland Trail Blazers are in comparison to where the Oklahoma City Thunder are. Five years ago, one franchise drafted a bust and is headed to the lottery once again. The other nailed their pick and most recently was playing the NBA Finals. 

While flat-out busts are a rare occurrence early on in the draft, many players do have holes in their game. Even the greatest can't-miss prospect will have weaknesses exploited in the NBA. The top prospects in the 2012 NBA draft all have the potential to have successful careers at the next level, but teams should take note of each player's weaknesses. 

(Disclaimer: This is not a mock draft. These are the top 10 prospects, in no particular order.)

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

Playing with a variety of star athletes in college served as both a blessing and a curse for Michael Kidd-Gilchrist's development as a player. He is a jack of all trades on the basketball court, which is a perfect style for the college game.

The issue here is those players tend to fade away in the NBA. The major difference in the big leagues is that everyone is great at something, where in college you can get by being average at a few things.

This makes the big hole hard to find with his game. Still, Kidd-Gilchrist needs to work on his assertiveness on the offensive end in order to become a star at the next level—that is where he will make his money.

With improved range on his jump shot and more consistent slashing, he'll become an asset.

Bradley Beal

Bradley Beal's outside shot is one of the best singular weapons this draft has to offer. However, in order for that weapon to showcase itself, Beal needs to team up with a great distributor.

The Florida product needs to work on his isolation game. The NBA has been trending in recent years to a more isolation-based offensive league. To be an elite scorer at the next level, you need to be able to create your own shot. This is something that Beal has yet to show consistently. 

It starts with your ability to beat a man off the dribble, but Beal doesn't have the greatest handle. This flaw is like a bad disease and will spread throughout a player's game. If he cannot create his own shot, then he is hindering his teammates who need him to draw double-teams to get open.

Many great shooters in the league had dynamic offensive games at one point in their careers; Beal needs to find his. 

Andre Drummond

Andre Drummond has been tagged with a label that so often is placed on big men with a lack of an offensive game: lazy.

Drummond has a tendency to appear disinterested in games, and his stats—while impressive—could have been eye-popping. As a freshman and far superior athlete to everyone on the Huskies team, Drummond only managed 10 points per game. He also earned his way to the charity stripe fewer than three times a game.

He needs to improve his offensive drive. Being a great defender will only get you so far at the next level. Drummond needs to develop a consistent move or two on the block. There will be far fewer opportunities for putbacks and alley-oops in the NBA. 

The "inconsistent drive" label is a massive hole to have in a top prospect's game. When you stop attempting to improve yourself, it spells the end of a once-promising career.

Harrison Barnes

Like Bradley Beal, Harrison Barnes lacks a solid isolation game. The difference is, Barnes has been attempting this more.

The chances are good that Barnes will not be playing with a Kendall Marshall-type distributor in the NBA. He could end up with a combo-guard running the point. Unfortunately, Barnes relied a lot on Marshall's skills in getting him the ball. That is why Barnes couldn't take over and push the Tar Heels to the finals after his point guard got hurt.

Barnes shot a paltry 32 percent from the floor in the NCAA tournament. He plays offense with a lot of wasted movement. When facing up with a defender, he is unable to get by him in one or two moves. That is something the top small forwards can do in the NBA.

His hole, like that of Beal, lies in the isolation game.

Thomas Robinson

Thomas Robinson may be the most athletic player in the draft this year. That athleticism has allowed him to get away with mediocre offensive tools throughout his time at Kansas.

Robinson's biggest hole will be his lack of a consistent jump shot. As a player, he is not big or strong enough to play the way he did in college in the NBA. Banging down low all game will destroy him when the bodies match up with his physicality. 

The overwhelming majority of those points he scored, particularly in the NCAA tournament, were a direct result of his speed and athleticism. This has kept Robinson from developing the kind of offensive tools, like a jump shot, that will help him succeed when the players get bigger and faster.

His frame will not allow him to withstand the type of punishment that is sure to come. He needs to develop somewhat of a Kevin Garnett/Tim Duncan jumper—and soon.

Jeremy Lamb

The scary truth is that if Jeremy Lamb cannot add some bulk and strength to his 6'5" frame, there is little chance of him succeeding in the NBA.

The most worrisome statistic to look at during his college season is that he averaged under four free-throw attempts per game, while playing more than 37 minutes on average.

It isn't crazy to say that his lack of size has made Lamb shy away from the contact that occurs at the rim. He is not a good enough outside shooter to alleviate the concerns that he won't get to the line. 

At just under 180 pounds, the Georgia native doesn't have the size that allows long-term success in the NBA. Very rarely do you see a player that light have a lengthy professional career.  

With added bulk, he will gain confidence in his ability to handle contact and become more of a driving guard/forward.

Anthony Davis

Anthony Davis has been the consensus No. 1 pick for months now. He is, however, not without flaw.

Davis is as exciting a player to watch as you will find in the 2012 NBA draft, but there is still a decent-sized hole in his game. That hole comes on the offensive side of the ball. 

For all the benefits that his late growth spurt supplied the Chicago native, it is also a hindrance. Davis has the skills of a guard, because he was one in high school. His athleticism and ball-handling carried over with his outrageous height gain. Unfortunately, his lack of a strong post game carried over as well.

Davis lacks a repertoire of inside moves that will allow him to score consistently in the NBA. He needs to get bigger and stronger early on in his professional career.

Sampling some of the top bigs in the NBA, you notice that their weights average out at about 260 pounds. In other words, Davis will regularly be battling players with 40 pounds on him, making it exceedingly difficult to score inside. This will affect all aspects of his game, including wearing him down on the defensive side, where he is so talented.

Meyers Leonard

Illinois' Meyers Leonard has snuck into the top 10 prospects in this summer's NBA draft. The big man has been impressing with his legit NBA size and length during the lead-up to the draft.

Leonard needs to get more comfortable in the painted area in order to play in the NBA. Despite how much is made over jump-shooting centers, their real role is down on the block. This is an area Leonard avoided in college. 

The center would often catch the ball down low in the post and wind up being forced into a 12-foot fadeaway. To succeed in the NBA, he will have to take that ball straight into defenders and face the contact that will come.

He will need to bang down low in the pros, and to do that, it will take some more bulk on his thin 7'1" frame.

Damian Lillard

Damian Lillard has been skyrocketing up draft boards over the past couple of weeks. The young point guard has shown very well in his pre-draft workouts.

The biggest hole in Lillard's game lies in his position. He is a point guard who cannot make other players better. He scored in bunches for mid-major Weber State, but even a shoot-first PG needs to be able to improve his teammates at the next level.

The best illustration of this fact is that Lillard's team could not earn a bid to the NCAA tournament. To justify being a prospect rated this highly—particularly as a ball-dominating point guard—he should have been able to make his teammates good enough to get in.

The point guard position in the NBA is one of a leader, and Lillard didn't do a very good job leading a successful college team.

Dion Waiters

Dion Waiters will enter the NBA fairly undersized for his position at shooting guard. Standing at 6'4" will hinder Waiters, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.

NBA defense is not just about intensity and diving into passing lanes. The amount of isolation run in the league means defenders have to be able to body up to bigger offensive scorers.

This hole in his game went relatively unnoticed during his time at Syracuse, where he played mostly in a zone defense. Jim Boeheim's scheme works superbly in college, but doesn't aid in producing legit NBA defenders.

Waiters will not be joining a vastly talented crop of former Orange stars in the NBA, and a lot of that can be attributed to their inability to defend one-on-one.

The zone meant that Waiters was rarely responsible for standing up and stopping an opposing 2-guard, most of which will be bigger than he in the NBA.