NBA Draft 2018: 5 potential second round steals

This NBA Draft class is incredibly deep. Who are some potential second-round sleepers to keep an eye on?

The hype around the NBA Draft usually surrounds the players taken in the lottery — heck there’s a whole two-hour show on ESPN about it. However, the draft goes on past the first 14 selections and at times, the most impactful choices are made in the second round.

Names like Manu Ginobili, Draymond Green, Tony Parker, Nikola Jokic, DeAndre Jordan, Dennis Rodman, Marc Gasol, and Isaiah Thomas (No. 60 pick in 2011) are just some of the star players that have been selected in the second round of previous drafts. There are always talented players available after the first round. In 2016, the Rookie of the Year, Malcolm Brogdon, was drafted in the second round.

This year doesn’t offer as much top-end talent as we saw from the 2017 draft class last season, but it isn’t lacking in depth. With an influx of early entrants, there will be prospects that were once thought to be first-round picks that end up sliding into round two on draft night. This bodes well for teams as hitting on second-round picks brings talent on cheaper deals.

We saw Golden State buy their way into getting contributors like Patrick McCaw and Jordan Bell; two players who will continue to be important as the foursome of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, and Draymond Green start costing more over the next few seasons.

Below we will take a look at five players that could potentially pick up the mantle as the latest second-round steals. These players either possess the tools to be immediate contributors or have bundles of untapped potential waiting to be unleashed. Either way, it’ll take the right franchise drafting them for them to capitalize on these assets.