Fantasy Basketball's Deep-Sleepers From NBA Draft Round 2: Bruce Thornton, 2 Others
The NBA Draft has now concluded, leaving 60 players with their professional dreams just beginning. Wednesday Night, the 2nd round took place, and unlike the night prior, it found players with lesser expectations chasing their ultimate upside. Can any player(s) build roles for themselves? That depends on their willpower to be great and on their team's depth chart. With that in mind, these are 3 big winners of the 2nd round in particular.
31st, Bruce Thornton, Rockets
Ohio State's all-time leading scorer earns himself a home, which can be very lucrative should Fred VanVleet be on his way out. It seems increasingly likely. In such a world, Reed Sheppard would slide in to be the starting point guard with the dynamic Thornton playing right behind him.
Thornton's other competitors at the guard position include Amen Thompson, who starts, and Josh Okogie. Playing time will be there, even if VanVleet stays.
Thornton certainly has a pathway to 20+ minutes per game. If he continues to prove to be great, which is always a big "if" when it comes to 2nd-round picks, Thornton could all of a sudden have a meaningful role on a Rockets team that strives to be top-5 in the Western Conference.
37th, Ryan Conwell, Heat
In the Heat's latest trade with the Bucks for Giannis Antetokounmpo, the depth chart opened up. The Heat got rid of Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Kasparas Jaukicionis. Their guard depth chart now sits with Davion Mitchell, Dru Smith, and Pelle Larsson. While all 3 of those players are solid, none have locked-down roles.
Conwell is projected to be the Heat's backup shooting guard, and he will definitely earn playing time. Conwell is a handcuff entering the 2026-27 fantasy basketball season.
50th, Jaden Bradley, Raptors
Bradley is purely a high-upside player in the years to come. The Arizona guard is a high-IQ player who shots 39.4% from 3-point range. He is going to be a trustworthy backup point guard who is 80.9% at the free-throw line. In Toronto, Bradley just has to compete with Gradey Dick as the backup shooting guard. Good news for Bradley: Dick is in the final year of his rookie contract, having proved very little in his early NBA career.
Look to Bradley to carve out a role for himself, and if he builds on even better basketball in 2026-27, Bradley may find himself of great use in years to come.
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Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.