Not sure if "luck" is the right word to describe this. "Conspiracy", maybe... Definitely not "luck". Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

When it comes to the 2012 NBA draft, there’s one word the experts throw around to describe it: Deep.

And with college greats like Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd Gilchrist, Thomas Robinson, Harrison Barnes and Jared Sullinger all available to whichever team wants them in the top five, it’s hard to argue that this isn’t one of the deepest drafts in history.

It’s at least the deepest in recent memory.

2003 saw LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwayne Wade all go in the top five. Solid players like Chris Kaman, David West, Kendrick Perkins, Leandro Barbosa and Josh Howard were all taken in the first round, too.

The best draft class ever, though, was probably 1984′s.

Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Alvin Robertson, Otis Thorpe, Kevin Willis, and John Stockton were all taken in the top 16. There were, however, seven players taken in the first round who did not play a single game in the NBA.

The 2012 NBA draft will probably look more like ’84 than ’03.

I think there are five to seven future All Stars in this year’s draft, and even a few that will have a shot at the Hall of Fame.

Anthony Davis is a future All Star. Based on what he did with one year of college ball, he very well could be a Hall-of-Famer, too. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Harrison Barnes, Kendall Marshall, Thomas Robinson, and Perry Jones all look like future All Stars to me. Dion Waiters, Bradley Beal and Andre Drummond all have that potential too.

The class of ’84 had four Hall-of-Famers (Jordan, Barkley, Stockton, Olajuwon) in it.

2003 definitely gave us two future Hall-of-Famers (James and Wade) and maybe three (Carmelo Anthony or Chris Bosh).

Will the class of 2012 live up to all the hype?

All signs point to a resounding “yes”.