NBA Draft 2011 Concludes, Full of Future Bench Players

Kyrie Irving was selected 1st by the Cleveland Cavaliers, much to nobody's surprise. Derrick Williams was selected 2nd by the Minnesota Timberwolves, again to nobody's surprise. Then things immediately got weird. Enes Kanter of Turkey was selected 3rd by the Utah Jazz, Tristan Thompson was selected 4th by the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Jonas Valanciunas of Lithuania was selected 5th by the Toronto Raptors. Of the ESPN Hype Machine players, Brandon Knight was selected 8th by the Pistons, Kemba Walker was picked 9th by the Bobcats, Jimmer Fredette was picked 10th by the Bucks, and the Marcus twins were picked 13th and 14th by the Suns and Rockets. Fredette was later traded in a 3-team deal to the Sacramento Kings, which sent several Bobcats players to the Bucks, including the nefarious Stephen Jackson.

On my own team's draft day, it was pretty below average. The Lakers made the best they could with their first two draft picks, picking Darius Morris 41st and Andrew Goudelouk 46th. At this point, both are expected to be bench players as Mike Brown re-evaluates the team, but Morris could potentially be the starting point guard some day if his defense improves. The Lakers other 2 draft picks are vintage Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss however, picking Chukwudiebere Maduabum 56th and Ater Majok 58th. C.M. will be sent to the Denver Nuggets, probably in exchange for cash (UPDATE: He was traded in exchange for a future 2nd Round Draft Pick), while Majok will more than likely only see playing time in training camp and in the preseason. There were actually plenty of players left in the draft with plenty of future bench player talent, notably Isaiah Thomas who was picked dead-last, and other players who went undrafted, like Ben Hansborough.

This draft in general was pretty shitty, seeing only 2 notable trades, George Hill of the Spurs sent to the Pacers and Rudy Fernandez going to the Dallas Mavericks. If any big trades are going to happen later, they're probably going to be sign and trades as players are getting ready for an intense legal battle against the NBA with the impending lockout.

UPDATE: Here is the full list of Draft Day Trades Made:

Blazers-Nuggets-Mavericks Trade

• Blazers get Raymond Felton from Denver; rights to Targuy Ngombo, the 57th Pick, from Dallas
• Nuggets get Andre Miller from Portland; rights to Jordan Hamilton, the 26th Pick, from Dallas; Future 2nd Round Draft Pick (2013 or 2014) from Portland
• Mavericks get Rudy Fernandez from Portland; rights to Petteri Koponen, the 30th Pick in the 2007 Draft originally from Philadelphia 

Bobcats-Bucks-Kings Trade

• Bobcats get rights to Bismarck Biyombo, the 7th Pick, from Sacramento; Corey Maggette from Milwaukee
• Bucks get rights to Tobias Harris, the 19th Pick from Charlotte; Stephen Jackson from Charlotte; Shaun Livingston from Charlotte; Beno Udrih from Sacramento
• Kings get rights to Jimmer Fredette, the 10th Pick from Milwaukee; John Salmons from Milwaukee

Rockets-Timberwolves-Bulls Trade

• Rockets get Jonny Flynn from Minnesota; rights to Donatas Motiejunas, the 20th Pick, from Minnesota; Re-Acquisition of the 38th Pick, used to select Chandler Parsons
• Timberwolves get Brad Miller from Houston; rights to Nikola Mirotic, the 23rd Pick from Houston; rights to Norris Cole, the 28th Pick from Chicago; 2013 1st Round Draft Pick
• Bulls get rights to Nikola Mirotic from Minnesota

Pacers-Spurs Trade

• Pacers get George Hill from San Antonio, 2005 2nd round Pick Erazem Lorbek
• Spurs get rights to Kawhi Leonard, the 15th Pick; rights to Davis Bertans, the 42nd Pick

Nets-Celtics Trade

• Nets get rights to Marshon Brooks, the 25th Pick
• Celtics get rights to JaJuan Johnson, the 27th Pick; 2014 2nd Round Pick

Knicks-Hornets Trade

• Knicks get rights to Josh Harrellson, the 45th Pick
• Hornets get Financial Considerations, believed to be between $700,000-$750,000

Timberwolves-Heat Trade

• Heat get rights to Norris Cole from Minnesota
• Timberwolves get rights to Bojan Bogdanovic, the 31st Pick; Future 2nd Round Pick; Cash Considerations

Warriors-Bobcats Trade

• Warriors get rights to Jeremy Tyler, the 39th Pick
• Bobcats get Cash Considerations

Magic-Cavaliers Trade

• Magic get rights to Justin Harper, the 32nd Pick
• Cavaliers get 2 Future 2nd Round Picks

Nuggets-Lakers Trade

• Nuggets get rights to Chukwudiebere Maduabum, the 56th Pick
• Lakers get a Future 2nd Round Pick

In all, not many significant trades were made, but a lot of people are talking about Rudy Fernandez going to Dallas, Jimmer Fredette going to Sacramento, and the Knicks buying a very low draft pick for more than 700k. Fernandez strengthens an already strong team, making the Mavericks strong contenders for next year. Fredette to the Kings delivers some much-need star power and hope that fans will come to see the great potential the team has. The Knicks' purchase of the 45th pick is really mind-boggling. Draft picks being sold is not a new thing, but such a low pick being sold for such a large amount really makes little to no sense.


John Hollinger of ESPN, known mostly for his Hollinger Power Rankings, determined by a series of formulas that make no sense in basketball, therefore giving bias to teams ESPN loves to cover, has said that the Kings trade to get John Salmons and Jimmer in exchange for Beno Udrih make no sense. I personally have always though Hollinger was an idiot, but for him to say that getting right of Udrih in exchange for a known sure thing in Salmons and the star-power of Fredette is down right retarded.