Six NBA Draft Sleepers

Every year the NBA Draft signifies an opportunity for franchises around the league to bring in the next player to help shape their team.

The teams at the top of the draft are usually down on their luck — excluding the Boston Celtics this season who, performed trade wizardry in 2013 and wound up with the top pick in this June’s draft. Clubs with top-end draft picks have the chance to bring in a player that they hope turns into an eventual franchise cornerstone.

As the draft unfolds throughout the night, however, teams will often be on the search for an under the radar talent who can come in and make an impact sooner rather than later. Usually, these players will have a few years of collegiate seasoning under their belts — an attribute that, for better or for worse, keeps productive amateur players from being selected higher — and as a result can operate with more poise and effective impact for a team looking to contend past the regular season.

Last June the Milwaukee Bucks selected Malcolm Brogdon with the No. 36 pick. Despite being an accomplished player at the University of Virginia, at 23-years-old Brogdon wasn’t considered an elite draft prospect due to his age.

Regardless of concerns, Brogdon ripped off a successful rookie campaign and averaged 10.2 points and 4.2 assists through 26 minutes a game, all while shooting 40 percent from downtown.

As a result, Brogdon became an integral part of Milwaukee’s playoff run that saw them take the Toronto Raptors to a six-game series. Along with postseason success, Brogdon was also named a finalist for the Rookie of the Year award. All in all, the Bucks’ second-round selection proved to buck trends and become a diamond in the rough.

With this year’s installment of the draft quickly approaching, let’s take a look at some players who are candidates to become next season’s Brogdon.

Sindarius Thornwell

After playing four seasons at South Carolina, Thornwell established himself as a legitimate two-way player, culminating with a Final Four run during this past NCAA tournament.

During his senior campaign, Thornwell was named SEC Player of the Year and averaged 21.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. But the defensive end of the ball is truly where he began to stake his claim as a legitimate pro prospect. Turning in an 89.3 defensive rating and being a thorn (no pun intended) in the side of guards like Duke’s Grayson Allen and Luke Kennard in the second round of the NCAA tournament elevated Thornwell’s draft stock for this year.

Currently projected on DraftExpress to be taken 57th overall, Thornwell can be a candidate to step in right away and provide viable wing defense for a ball club. He also shot 39 percent from three-point land last season, so his shot certainly has the chance to develop into a reliable stroke from NBA-range and make him potentially one of the coveted “3-and-D” players that draw attention in today’s league.

Josh Hart

When it comes to accomplished players in college basketball, few fit the bill better than Josh Hart.

Throughout his career at Villanova, Hart racked up numerous accolades. From Sixth Man of the Year to Big East Player of the Year, to Big East Champion, to National Champion, Hart nearly did it all at the college ranks.

Next up, he’ll be looking to take his championship pedigree and poise to the next level in hopes of using his savvy play to become effective.

At 6-foot-6 with a 6-foot-8 wingspan, Hart is a legitimate off-ball guard and possesses the defensive skill to disrupt opposing wing players. Hart also demonstrated superb efficiency at the collegiate level, partly as a result of learning under one the nation’s premier coaches in Jay Wright, shooting over 50 percent for his career. His decision making should translate well to the next level.

Mocked at No. 54 on DraftExpress, Hart could be a player that is viewed in a few years as one of the draft’s best value picks if he can translate his defensive capabilities and experienced decision making to the professional level.

Jordan Bell

Jordan Bell really helped his case during this past season’s NCAA tournament, just like Thornwell.

During Oregon’s run to the Final Four, Bell averaged a double-double of 12.6 points and 13.2 rebounds per game as well as tallying three blocks per contest. The low-post prospect really displayed his motor going for rebounds and defending at a high level when the lights were shining their brightest.

A knock on Bell, however, is his size and shooting. At 6-foot-9 Bell isn’t small by any means, but his lack of outside shooting (just 3-of-16 from downtown over the course of three seasons) really pigeonholes him into a low-post role in a league that is asking their forwards to develop more of a shooting stroke at an increasing rate.

But a motor like Bell’s is a good attribute to have for a player that feeds down low. At the same rate, Bell looks to translate as the type of player who will hustle down the loose ball and fight for second chance opportunities as they arise, and those qualities usually have a place in the NBA.

Currently projected as the No. 35 pick by DraftExpress, Bell could develop himself into an impact player for a club in the second round should he extend his shooting range just a bit outside the paint.

Harry Giles

Harry Giles’ talent is hard to keep under the radar, and barring a couple of knee injuries in high school, the former top player in the 2016 recruiting class would probably be projected as a top-5 pick in this June’s draft.

But that isn’t the reality Giles will face on draft night. Instead, the freakishly athletic forward will be hoping a team in the second half of the first round takes a flier on a kid who didn’t look like his high school phenom self during his lone season at Duke.

However, should Giles’ bill of health stay clean and his game that had scouts buzzing during his high school AAU circuits return, he could wind up being the steal of the draft.

While the numbers for Giles’ freshman season are wildly underwhelming at just 3.9 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, he wasn’t given a very heavy workload as he was still mending his knee back to full strength as the season went on.

Recently, Giles proclaimed his health was “100 percent” and that he would be ready to go for next season.

Should Giles take a tumble in the first round and is snatched up by a team who isn’t looking to apply the pressure of him being a lottery selection, Giles may have the best chance to succeed in the league out of any of this year’s elite talents.

Derrick White

Derrick White finds himself in a peculiar position for an NBA draft prospect. Once a Division II player at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, White eventually moved on to the big leagues to play in Boulder after two standout seasons.

At 6-foot-5 White possesses the skills and size to be a combo-guard at the next level. He averaged 18.1 points per game while shooting nearly 40 percent from deep during his lone year at the University of Colorado. Along with scoring in bunches, White also dished out a team-leading 4.4 assists per game.

He checks in at 22-years-old on draft night and will turn 23 in early July. Along with his advanced age for a draft prospect, White only has one season of production at a Division I level. Despite his clear production in the PAC-12, it still is a relatively small sample size for a player that doesn’t have the benefit of being just 19 years old.

Projected as a fringe first-round pick, currently No. 33 on DraftExpress, White will look to bring some solid backcourt skills to whichever team drafts him. Should that team be at the end of round one, White should have the chance to sit on an experienced club that won’t be asking the world of him while his skills develop.

From Division II basketball all the way to the NBA, White looks poised to be a productive player at the world’s highest level of competition.

Frank Jackson

The second Duke product on the list, Frank Jackson cemented his draft status after a stellar showing at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago back in May.

After displaying an array of scoring and decision-making skills in the five-on-five scrimmage portion of the camp, Jackson blew NBA personnel away with his 42-inch vertical leap.

Just 19-years-old, Jackson endured an up and down year at Duke that saw him average just 10.9 points per game on a roster that had a few other guards with more experience. However, he did manage to shoot 39 percent from beyond the arc. That shooting stroke coupled with his athleticism should have teams chomping at the bit to bring Jackson on board.

After a solid combine, Jackson suffered an injury to his foot that required surgery, and he isn’t expected to be back in action until July. That timeline would make Jackson questionable to participate in Summer League, a valuable learning experience for rookies.

That development, along with his lack of earth-shattering production at Duke, could cause Jackson to slip a bit in this month’s draft. DraftExpress currently has Jackson as the No. 39 pick. But, once heralded as a premier prospect in his freshman class, Jackson seems to have all the tools necessary to succeed in a league that thrives off shooting and athleticism.

With father time on Jackson’s side and the absence of pressure a 19-year-old athletic freak usually faces from the NBA Draft, the guard should have every opportunity to become a valuable player at the next level.