23' draft steals/ hidden gems with high end potential being overlooked??

[Ghost of Kleine]

Are there any players that are being seriously overlooked or undervalued currently that have high end potential and possibly even star potential that are flying really under the radar in the 2nd round? And what elite attributes, talents, or skillsets do these players have/ exhibit validating these potential outcomes?

[Duke4life831]

Adem Bona. I see a bunch of mock drafts that have him mid and late 2nd. Dude is a freak athlete at 6’10 with solid defensive instincts. Ya he’s never going to be a star, but you don’t pass up someone with that kind of athletic profile.

[The-Power]

Impossible to answer without knowing where teams actually rank players. But if you look for a star in the 2nd round, it has to be either someone with outlier improvement or evolution (shooting transformation, growth spurt etc.), or someone whose game unexpectedly (especially due to lack of size or athleticism) translated extraordinarily well to the NBA level (i.e. players who were really good at lower levels already but had big question marks as to how that production would translate). Back then, you also had under-scouted/-appreciated players (especially international prospects) that could break out but that has become less and less likely these days.

We can have a look at those kind of players once the draft happened. But for now, it's not really useful for me to drop 2-3 names that some people have mocked in the 2nd round without any kind of confidence that this is how teams view them, too.

[basketballRob]

Kobe Bufkin

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[76ciology]

Marcus Sasser. this guy should be in the lotto. I see him sliding as low as late first to 2nd round just because he’s 22-23yo.

[eminence]

Barring some non-Wemby international I just haven’t seen (a la Jokic), I don’t really see any.

Wemby/Scoot/Miller/Walker and maybe the Thompsons (I don’t particularly believe myself, but I can see how others might) are the guys I see with star potential, and they’re all lotto mocked, most in the top half.

[76ciology]

Daron Holmes is another guys who is very underrated. Plus offensive player who can score multiple ways, can protect the rim and move his feet.

[ItsDanger]

If Ricky Council & Jordan Walsh can develop shooting, they are seriously undervalued currently. I include Zach Edey, one of a kind gamble in recent years. Taran Armstrong is also someone who has big upside but has to shoot better. Don't think Leonard Miller is in 2nd round, probably late 1st currently, but he has bigger upside than many think.

[Big J]

Mouhamed Gueye. He will be a Siakam type in a few years.

[WargamesX]

If Ricky Council & Jordan Walsh can develop shooting, they are seriously undervalued currently. I include Zach Edey, one of a kind gamble in recent years. Taran Armstrong is also someone who has big upside but has to shoot better. Don't think Leonard Miller is in 2nd round, probably late 1st currently, but he has bigger upside than many think.

I think Council is definitely a NBA player and Walsh might want to do another year of college.

[clyde21]

hard to know who the steals are before the draft, if Ricky Council drops to the 2nd he'd def be a steal, but I have him currently top20 and think he'll likely go top 25 imo.

Noah Clowney and Kel'El Ware are two insanely toolsy freshmen that could end up doing some damage when they get a little more development.

Judah Mintz to me seems to be the most underrated guy in the class, DaRon Holmes is another 2nd round big that's very toolsy and mobile and has been crazy productive so far

Andre Jackson Jr always gets a call out from me in threads like these, Oso Ighodaro is another but just made a thread about him

[Ghost of Kleine]

All really good names given and thank you to everyone for their insights so far! I probably should've phrased it better as highly underrated currently or possibly being overlooked but with potential elite outlier traits? Regardless, great input for consideration and a deeper look too.

[Coeur]

Anton Watson Gonzaga forward is exactly what the nba likes at F. Can defend and move in a special way for that size. He’s just scratching the surface of the player he’s going to be.

[165bows]

Marcus Sasser. this guy should be in the lotto. I see him sliding as low as late first to 2nd round just because he’s 22-23yo.

Seems like a poor man’s Lowry to me, in a good way. Also like Jacquez as a maybe bigger Dillon Brooks kind of guy.

[CP War Hawks]

Guys with high end potential just aren't being overlooked these days unless it's some poor teen never seen before in South America, Asia, or Africa somewhere.

I do like Tomlin and Bilal.

[165bows]

Guys with high end potential just aren't being overlooked these days unless it's some poor teen never seen before in South America, Asia, or Africa somewhere.

That’s just not the case. Celtics drafted Bane at 30 two years ago and traded him for a couple future seconds.

[HiDef]

Shannon Jr., Strawther, Sills, Malik Hall. Strawther especially seems like the obvious "who let this guy go #29" for 2023

[EvanZ]

There are ZERO "hidden gems" that have star potential.

[eminence]

There are ZERO "hidden gems" that have star potential.

Hey man, I really really believed in Gary Clark.

[eminence]

Guys with high end potential just aren't being overlooked these days unless it's some poor teen never seen before in South America, Asia, or Africa somewhere.

That’s just not the case. Celtics drafted Bane at 30 two years ago and traded him for a couple future seconds.

Yeah, agreed, I don't really see any this year, but it obviously still happens. Kessler from last draft would obviously go much higher in a redraft right now and is flirting with allstar potential (impact, if never actual achievement, it's hard as a defense first big).