The Phoenix Suns finished second in the NBA's Pacific Division, but it's pretty clear that position is in jeopardy. Young talented teams like the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Clippers are (slowly) starting to parlay their years of misery into some pretty interesting rosters while the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers are complete mysteries. We look at the results and grades from the 2011 NBA Draft of the the Suns' division foes which now includes the newest King, Jimmer Fredette.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers are a team going either a) no where b) down fast c) right back to the top. There's really no telling what they will do with Mike Brown taking over Phil Jackson's sideline throne. One thing we can say for sure, the 2011 NBA Draft isn't going to make much of an impact for them.
The Lakers had four second picks but traded one and with the 56th pick took a guy (Ater Majok) who will never play in the NBA. They did grab a couple of guards with their better picks that may or may not ever see the Staples Center floor outside of pregame ball boy duties.
The Lakers took point guard Darius Morris (41) and shooting guard Andrew Goudelock (46). You know how it goes with second round picks. Sometimes you get Gilbert Arenas and sometimes you get...Gilbert Arenas.
Grades for the Lakers seem to range in the C to B area. We give them a W for whatever.
Golden State Warriors
The Warriors used the 11th pick to take Washington State shooting guard, Klay Thompson. Fans of Pac-10 basketball know what kind of shooter this guy is and also know that he's not much of defender. Ergo, he's a perfect fit for the Warriors playing the exact same role Dorell Wright played.
In the second round the Warriors picked wunderkind turned disaster, power forward Jeremy Tyler (39). Using the Suns' pick that was traded to Chicago in the Hakim Warrick deal before being shipped to Warriors, point guard Charles Jenkins (44).
The Warriors earned a solid B from Chad Ford and a D+ from Tom Ziller. I'm with Tom, D+
Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers had the first round pick in the 2011 NBA Draft but traded it away as a bribe to the Cavs to dump Baron Davis. That earns them an A+ in my book.
Oh, they also took Trey Thompkins (37), Travis Leslie (47) but who really cares.
Sacramento Jimmer Kings
Jimmer Fredette to the Kings with the 10th pick earns them an immediate A. No questions asked. This is a scary team with a ton of talent. If they can figure it out and get on the same page and get a bit of the Jimmer magic, they will win 50 games the next time the NBA has a full 82-game schedule.
That the Kings insanely agreed to take back the horrible contract of John Salmons as the price of moving down three spots in the draft and moving Beno Udrih earns them an F. Overall grade, AF.
Jimmer Fredette of BYU received the 2011 Naismith Trophy Presented by AT&T at the NABC Guardians of the Game Awards Program. He was always destined to be a King. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)