2011 NBA Draft Grades: 5 Teams Whose Picks Just Missed the Mark

There were a few teams in the 2011 NBA draft that absolutely killed it with their picks.

Others, though, were not so lucky with how the players fell, or they just made bad decisions.

There is nothing worse than watching your team make what you consider to be a bad pick. It is truly a helpless feeling.

Here are five teams that just missed the mark with their picks in the 2011 NBA draft:

5. Houston Rockets

Marcus Morris is a very solid pick at No. 14 but there is one glaring problem in the equation.

Kawhi Leonard was still on the board!

Leonard was projected by almost everybody to within the top 10, and I don’t think that it’s a stretch to say that he has top five talent.

Leonard was arguably the most athletic player in the draft, yet the Rockets decided to pass up on him in favor of a guy who will be solid at best.

That didn’t make sense to me.

4. Portland Trail Blazers

Nolan Smith in the first round!?

There is just no way that I can fully get behind this pick especially considering that almost nobody had Smith projected in the first round, and if they did most people thought they were crazy!

Smith is a good player, but he is just not first-round material I can all but guarantee you that.

His ceiling is going to leave a lot to be desired for Portland, and at the best they just drafted a good bench player.

3. Cleveland Cavaliers

Kyrie Irving going No. 1 overall to the Cavaliers was expected and it was necessary. There is really no way that you can bust their chops on that pick.

The No. 4 overall pick, though, can be highly scrutinized and honestly I have no idea what the Cavaliers were thinking here!

Tristan Thompson No. 4 overall?!

Obviously the Cavaliers feel very strongly about Thompson, and they better, considering European big men such as Jan Vesely and Jonas Valanciunas were still on the board.

2. Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers came out of this draft looking pretty bad, and I wouldn’t stretch to say that they are not improved whatsoever.

They didn’t have a first-round pick so they had to settle for two in the second, and settle they did.

The Clippers drafted Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie both out of Georgia.

The only problem is that many people believe that neither of the two actually lived up to their potential in college.

Not a good look for a struggling franchise.

1. New York Knicks

Honestly I think Knick fans have to be a little bit disappointed with this draft.

To give the Knicks credit, they did do the best they could with the players available, but none the less this is still a pretty weak draft.

Iman Shumpert is a great perimeter defender, which benefits the Knicks, but as of now he doesn’t have what it takes to run a NBA offense or consistently shoot.

Josh Harrellson, on the other hand, does not have enough talent to make much of a difference.

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