10 best active NBA Superstars who were second round Draft picks

NBA scouts are paid big money to do what they do best: track the best young talents in the world and find which ones will not only have the best effect on their franchise now, but also identify the talents who have the most potential for future success. Every NBA draft, intrigue, excitement, and hype follows the top picks, with interest petering away late into the First Round. By the time the Second Round rolls around, most casual fans have already moved on, showing little or no concern for fringe players set to play fringe roles around the league.

Manu Ginobili

But, as year after year of surprise success stories have proven, there are always several talents that go unnoticed or underestimated by the scouts, and are picked up in the Second Round to find themselves in just the right situation to succeed. Moreover, teams who add in second round picks in trades are doing more than dealing with empty numbers: depending on their side of the bargain, several of these lost picks could come back to haunt or reward them.

Although there have been a lot of great Second Round picks in the past, here are the 10 best ACTIVE players to have been picked in the Second Round, presented to you in the draft order they were picked. They are the league’s diamonds in the rough, the ones who proved that it doesn’t matter where you start in the league, it’s about where you finish.

With the 32nd pick of the 1998 draft, the Seattle Supersonics pick… Rashard Lewis

You may now see him merely as a bit backup polishing his championship ring in Miami, but there was a time when Rashard Lewis was one of the most explosive scorers and shooters in the league. The Supersonics had the 32nd pick in the draft’s second round in 1998 from a trade via Detroit and selected Lewis directly out of High School. He spent his first nine years in Seattle, and also played for the Magic and Wizards before joining the Heat. Lewis made two All Star teams, helped the Magic get to the 2009 Finals, and became a champion with the Heat last year.

Carlos Boozer

With the 35th pick of the 2002 draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers select… Carlos Boozer

As the Cavaliers bumble top five picks over and over again in recent years, it’s tough to believe that they had a rare stroke of luck back in 2002 with Carlos Boozer at 35th. A year later, they hit the jackpot and added LeBron, and if the two had stayed together, maybe the King could’ve brought the crowd to Cleveland. Boozer played for the Cavs and the Jazz before joining the Bulls. In Derrick Rose’s absence, he is Chicago’s most potent offensive threat in the low block. In Utah, he played for two All Star teams and made the 2008 All NBA third team.

With the 40th pick of the 2005 draft, the Golden State Warriors select… Monta Ellis

Seeing the way he’s been blowing past opponents for nearly a decade, it’s a shock that Monta was passed 39 times before the Warriors finally took a chance on him. Maybe it was his ‘hybrid’ guard style of play that kept teams suspicious. Although he hasn’t been an All Star yet, Ellis has scored nearly 20 points a game for his career and was the 2007 Most Improved Player. He led the league in minutes played in 2010 and 2011, and scored nearly 25 ppg those years – not bad for a 40th pick! He moved from Golden State to a disappointing stint in Milwaukee, but now finds himself a perfect fit playing his most efficient basketball in Dallas.