The 3 biggest sleepers in the 2015 NBA Draft

Quality role players manage to slip into the late first or second round of the NBA draft almost every year. Sometimes those players even become All-Stars. Produce for long enough, and players who once fell on draft night often become among the most sought after free agents on the market.

This summer includes a handful of those draft steals: DeMarre Carroll (No. 27) and Danny Green (No. 46) from 2009 will enter unrestricted free agency, and restricted free agents include Jimmy Butler (No. 30) from 2011, and Draymond Green (No. 35) and Khris Middleton (No. 42) from 2012. Some of these players will even draw max contracts.

But who will be this year’s steals? Here are three players who have the tools to exceed expectations:

If you’re looking to find the next Khris Middleton in this year’s draft, look no further than Anthony Brown. The Stanford senior is one of the elite spot-up shooters in this class, draining 44.1 percent of his threes. He is excellent at relocating off-ball and shooting on the move, which bodes well for his ability to shoot off screens.

Like Middleton, Brown enters the NBA as an average athlete. But what teams overlooked with Middleton -- effort and basketball IQ -- are the same attributes they will find in Brown.

“I fit in pretty well as a 3-and-D guy,” Brown told SB Nation at the combine. “You see a lot of 3-and-D guys today that are pretty successful, whether it’s Danny Green or Khris Middleton. That’s something I’m definitely hoping to start off on and be right away.”

Brown has a deep understanding of who he is as a basketball player, which will only help his career as a role player. In time, Brown could develop in the same way Middleton did to become one of the league’s premier 3-and-D wings.

There are no doubts about Michael Frazier’s shooting ability. He drained 43.2 percent of his 526 career shots at Florida. He’s a savvy shooter who reads the floor very well, uses J.J. Redick-like fakes to run through screens, and is as capable shooting off the dribble as he is off the catch.

But Frazier gets knocked for being only 6’4 with 6’8 wingspan, certainly undersized for a starting shooting guard. But the mistake there is classifying him as a shooting guard in the first place. Frazier showed at Florida that he is capable of running secondary pick-and-rolls at a very high level, so much so that he may be able to play point guard in the NBA.

Frazier consistently delivers accurate passes out of the pick-and-roll and is very good at spotting the open man for kick outs or dump offs. His assist-turnover ratio was underwhelming, but that’s largely due to the talent surrounding him, which missed countless open shots like the one in the video above. The team that drafts Frazier would be wise to develop his pure point skills, making him into a versatile combo guard.

Having size has its benefits in the NBA, especially for point guards. But small guys can still ball, too -- just ask Isaiah Thomas, the 60th pick in the 2011 draft. This year’s “IT4” could be Joseph Young. The product of Oregon has an outstanding first step and is a superb athlete. But it’s his skills as a pick-and-roll playmaker that bode well for his pro prospects.

As you can see in the three clips above, Young can make defenders pay by quickly pulling up and seamlessly shooting from all over the court. He shot only 35.7 percent from three, but that was largely due to shot selection. He is also excellent at splitting defenders and uses change of pace dribbles to create space for himself, but also as a distributor due to his solid passing ability.

Young is also very good off-ball, as he excels running off screens and shooting off the catch. He could become a major weapon for creative head coaches for “after timeout” play calls. He could potentially be a liability in some matchups on defense, but, like Thomas, there is always a need for sparkplug scorers regardless of how they defend.

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To find more potential steals before Thursday’s NBA Draft, click here for my full top 60 big board or download my draft guide below: