NBA Draft 2017: 5 potential second round steals
There is value to be had with everyone of the 60 picks in the NBA Draft. Here are some potential second round steals.
The 2017 NBA Draft is just weeks away and while the majority of excitement revolves around who will be picked in the lottery, there are plenty of quality players to be acquired later in the draft. Fans of teams who struggled last year are seeking a rejuvenated hope in their roster and front office, they want to be confident in what is to come and everyone loves feeling like their team got a steal in the draft.
The good teams in the league remain at the top because they are able to do much with little in terms of the draft. For example, last season the Golden State Warriors had picks No. 30 and No. 38. They snagged Damian Jones with their first round pick, but it was their second round pick of Patrick McCaw that stood out as he’s earned some quality minutes both in the regular season and now into the playoffs. The Milwaukee Bucks also hit pay dirt with their second round pick of Malcolm Brogdon (No. 36) as he appeared in 75 games, starting 28 of them as well.
The younger, higher upside players who have potential to be superstars will go in the first round. Each team has different goals as well with some taking draft-and-stash options due to roster crunches, some taking extremely risky picks in an attempt to vault their franchise to the next level and some simply play it safe. The second round is normally for question marks. These are normally older players viewed with a considerably smaller upside, but in many cases their floor is higher than a younger, riskier pick because there’s a larger sample size to glean information from.
Each and every season there are a few guys who standout as second round steals. Three years ago it was Nikola Jokic, two years ago Josh Richardson and Norman Powell and last year it was Brogdon and McCaw. So, who are this year’s second round steals to watch for?
5. Frank Jackson
Jackson had an underwhelming freshman season at Duke where he averaged 10.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists in almost 25 minutes a night. The highly-touted freshman had to battle for minutes — and shots — with Grayson Allen and Luke Kennard for most of the season and with Allen returning and Trevon Duval’s commitment to Duke, he opted to stay in the NBA Draft. Jackson just turned 19-years old, so he’s one of the youngest players in the pool this season.
Jackson was one of a handful of players who’s stock rose substantially after the NBA Draft Combine where he posted excellent measurements, and played well to boot. Jackson is 6-foot-4 with a 6-foot-7.5 wingspan, so he’s got quality size for a lead guard. His athleticism really stands out as he had the second-highest max vertical jump at the combine at 42 inches, the fastest shuttle run time at 2.7 seconds and the fifth best standing vertical at 35.5 inches.
Right now, Jackson is a scoring guard. He didn’t really have the opportunity to show off his pure point guard skills at Duke and he still has plenty of work to do in terms of decision making with the ball in his hands. His shot selection can leave something to be desired from time to time, but when he attacked the basket he fared very well. He made 63.2 percent of his shots at the rim last season, per Hoop-Math, which was better than Grayson Allen, Luke Kennard and Jayson Tatum. Jackson also showed the ability to knock down 3s as he hit 39.5 percent (3.6 attempts per game) which only boosts his stock as a potential combo guard in the NBA.
He’s out until July after undergoing foot surgery so he may miss NBA Summer League as well, but Jackson could easily be a steal for a team in the early second round, as he has first round youth, talent and upside.