2017 NBA Draft: 5 potential first round sleepers
By Max Holm
Every team is hoping come time for the 2017 NBA Draft, they find a sleeper that puts them light years ahead of their front office peers.
The word “sleeper” is a hot reference around the NBA Draft, especially with just three weeks remaining until the 2017 NBA Draft. In a lot of cases, sleepers or steals have a correlation to diamonds in the rough.
In recent years, that conversation has manifested itself in the form of second round picks who became All-Stars. From Manu Ginobili to Draymond Green, these players take the center stage of this narrative.
However, those are rarer cases. Most steals on draft night come in the first round. Think Paul George, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Devin Booker. All three players were strong prospects and now we can’t figure out how they fell into the teens.
When it comes to draft sleepers, it’s not just the second-rounders or players who fall outside the lottery. Often it’s those who made the right decision in the lottery. This holds especially true to this draft class. On paper there are 10-12 remarkable prospects with little separating the 2-10 range, at least relative to most drafts. That means players are going to slide. Teams are going to make better calls on their lottery selection than others.
That’s why when looking at potential first round sleepers this year, we need to look through a vacuum of the entire first round, not just players who may go in the teens or 20s. With that in mind, here are five potential sleepers for the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft.