11) Portland Trail Blazers-Egor Denmin
All things considered, the Portland Trail Blazers have had a successful season thus far and have been far more competitive than most expected them to be. They still don't have a clear-cut star in the making on their roster but at least have enough building blocks to be on the right track.
With them picking outside of the top 10, they could take a swing on BYU's Egor Denmin. The 6'9 guard has strong comparisons to Chicago Bulls player Josh Giddy. The comparison is fair, with Denmin having a similar size and playmaking chops, though he is probably less of an athletic version of Giddy.
To his credit, while he is only shooting 27% from three at BYU, the form on his jumper looks good, and if that ever became a reliable weapon, then he could be worth the roll of the dice at 11 for the Blazers.
If he can't, then he may struggle to carve out a significant role in the NBA given some of his limitations. After all, he is unlikely to thrive playing without the ball and unlikely to land in the spot where he can be the primary playmaker.
Even so, the talent is there, and outside of the top 10, it tends to be anyone's guess who will actually emerge and become a good NBA player. Denmin has the potential to be a very good player at the next level, but there is enough risk to keep him from going as high as he otherwise could.
12) Houston Rockets (via Suns)-Ben Saraf
With the Houston Rockets currently being fifth in the Western Conference despite being one of the younger teams in the NBA, it's safe to say that the Houston Rockets are ahead of schedule in terms of their rebuild. They have taken a huge step forward this season thanks to their young talent.
While they would need to consolidate some of their young assets to build a more sustainable roster going forward, they can add to their young core with the 12th pick in this year's draft. Based on that, Ben Saraf should be their choice at number 12.
With the Rockets not necessarily having a long-term answer at point guard once Fred VanVleet's contract expires, they should invest in Saraf and hope that either he or Reed Sheppard will emerge as their future starting one.
Saraf is a terrific passer who is skilled at manipulating defenses and throwing off defenders with his unpredictability. He is also impressive at getting to the rim and has a reliable mid-range jumper to fall back on. Nevertheless, his 3-point shooting will be key to his development as an NBA player, with him currently being below average in that regard.
Defensively, there are some question marks about his game. Still, there are enough positives to outweigh the negatives, and he could certainly fill a role on a team that may be very good for the next decade if they play their cards right.