HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

Earlier today Luke Byrnes took a look at the winners of the 2011 NBA Draft and, of course, if there are winners then there has to be losers. It’s impossible to accurately grade a draft class less than 24 hours after picks have been made, so what this list is more about is players who didn’t land with ideal fits or teams who reached for a player when there were better ones on the board. Ultimately how good everything is will be decided on the court, but for now here’s a look at some players and teams who aren’t as well of as others after draft night 2011.

Derrick Williams – Selected 2nd Overall By The Minnesota Timberwolves
Since the draft lottery all we have heard is talk about how the Minnesota Timberwolves were actively seeking a trade for the number two pick. They were in a tough position because they knew that Williams was clearly the second best player in the draft, but they have much bigger needs than a small forward/power forward with forwards Kevin Love and Michael Beasley on their roster already. At some point in time they had conversations with every team in the league from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Philadelphia 76ers regarding a potential deal for the pick.

However, in the end they were not able to find a trade to their liking so they did what they had to do: select Williams. Now the self-proclaimed most-NBA ready player in the draft will be forced to play behind Minnesota’s two best players.

Minnesota is not a terrible place for Williams; it’s just not the best fit. Had a team been able to work out a deal with Minnesota he would have been brought in as a centerpiece with a significant role waiting for him. He’ll have to be much more patient with the Timberwolves. In time there is the potential that, if he plays well enough, he could force them to make a move to free up more time for him. That won’t happen immediately, though.

Chris Singleton – Selected 18th Overall By The Washington Wizards
Even on the eve of the draft there was speculation that Singleton could go as high as nine to the Charlotte Bobcats. Nearly every team had him ranked as the premier defender in this draft class and according to reports he showed off an improved offensive game during pre-draft workouts. Yet he slipped much lower than he was expecting to, ending up the last guy in the green room.

Singleton is the kind of player who will use his freefall as motivation. He stated as much during his post-draft interview.

The problem is that Washington is pretty forward heavy now after drafting Jan Vesely with the number six pick. At 6’11 with ridiculous athleticism Vesely fits more along the lines of what the Wizards are looking for at small forward. They also have veteran forward Rashard Lewis who is going to take a good chunk of minutes at the three.

Kyle Singler – Selected 33rd Overall By The Detroit Pistons
One thing that we learned on draft night this year is that 2,300 points, over 120 wins and a national championship does not equal becoming a first round pick in the case of Kyle Singler. Singler passed on a guaranteed spot in the first round last year to stay at Duke in hopes of repeating as national champions, only to come up short in that quest and fall to the second round of this year’s draft.

In Detroit he’s going to be in a battle for minutes against the likes of Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers and potentially a veteran if the Pistons choose to add one during the offseason.

It’s hard to fault a player for staying in school, but Singler’s stock obviously took a hit from that choice. Sitting and watching less accomplished small forwards like Jimmy Butler, Jordan Hamilton, Tobias Harris and Chris Singleton chosen before him had to be tough.

{AUTHOR_BOX}Tyler Honeycutt – Selected 35th Overall By The Sacramento Kings
Despite two fairly underwhelming seasons at UCLA all Tyler Honeycutt was told up to the night of the draft was that he was a first round pick. Unfortunately, that didn’t turn out to be the case. He tumbled all the way to 35 and probably couldn’t have helped but wonder why he didn’t decide to stay in school for one more year.

Honeycutt has great potential. At 6’8 he’s very long and quite pesky defensively. What really hurt him, though, was his lack of assertiveness and the intensity he plays with.

UCLA would have been his team next year had he stayed. He could have answered a lot of those questions and turned himself into a lottery selection. Now he’ll have to work his way onto the Kings, who already have John Salmons, Omri Casspi and Donte Greene at his position.

Jeremy Tyler – Selected 39th Overall By The Charlotte Bobcats (Traded to Golden State)
If Brandon Jennings’ selection in the 2009 draft lottery justified his decision to play overseas instead of the NCAA, then Tyler’s choice to leave high school as a junior and do the same was proven to be the wrong one by how far he fell.

Had Tyler not left the states with so many question marks about his character that were only magnified by his rough stint in Israel he may not have fallen so far. He actually seemed to be getting on the right track towards the end of the year in Japan, but that wasn’t enough to outweigh all the damage he did to himself in the past.

The path from high school to overseas remains an intriguing one that players can benefit from, but Tyler wrote the handbook on how not to conduct yourself if you want to keep your stock high.

The Miami HEAT
It was no secret that the HEAT were looking to add a point guard in this year’s draft and they were in a position to find someone who could help them with the 31st overall pick. Instead of staying there they moved up to select Cleveland State’s Norris Cole.

Cole was one of the draft’s most productive players. Over the last four years at Cleveland State he consistently improved, but rarely played against quality competition and always had the ball in his hands.

With the HEAT he’ll be relegated to a spot up shooter most of the time, which isn’t a strength of his. There were better options on the board for the HEAT, like Shelvin Mack, Charles Jenkins and Andrew Goudelock.

If It Was Any Other Team….
The San Antonio Spurs would be a part of this list. They had a real head-scratcher of a night as they traded away head coach Gregg Popovich’s favorite player George Hill to Indiana for Kawhi Leonard, Davis Bertans and the draft rights to Erazem Lorbek. Then with the 29th pick they made a real stretch for Cory Joseph, whose camp expected him to go 40th at the highest.

When it comes to the draft, though, the Spurs have a proven history of knowing what they are doing. Even when it seems like they’re making a mistake they end up doing far better than most expected. So, they aren’t officially one of the “losers” of the draft, but they definitely don’t have the kind of optimism surrounding their moves that they typically do.

Leonard is undoubtedly one of the draft’s best prospects. At 15 he was an absolute steal, but it’s going to be interesting to see how he fits into the Spurs’ system. His jump shot is his biggest weakness, and Pop’s offense regularly has the three man spotting up in the corner for threes. What probably drew them to him was his defensive potential, which is great.

Bertans could end up being a steal. He’s one of the draft’s best scorers and could be an impact player a couple of years down the line when his contract allows him to come to the NBA.

Joseph is the real wild card that will make or break this draft for them. He didn’t have an incredible freshman year at UT by any means. But, if there’s a situation he can thrive in it’s with the Spurs under Popovich’s tutelage with All-Star guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili to learn under.

Yannis Koutroupis is a senior NCAA and NBA analyst for HOOPSWORLD.com. You can follow him on twitter.