NBA Power Rankings: Post-Draft, Ranking Every Team from Worst to Best

With the 2011 NBA playoffs and the 2011 NBA draft behind us, let's take a look at the first set of power rankings for the 2011-2012 season—if, of course, it happens.

After jockeying for position during the title race, teams shifted their focus towards the incoming crop of collegiate and international talent, hoping to add vital rookies to their rotations. Some teams fared better than others on draft day, as they landed great players who filled needs, while others swung for the fences and may very well have missed.

There's still a long way to go during the offseason, as free agency and the inevitable trading have yet to really begin, but this is a start.

Read on to find out how the 30 teams in the NBA stack up thus far.

30. Toronto Raptors

With soft big man Andrea Bargnani already in place, the Raptors chose to bring in another European player who likely won't make any contribution in his first year after being drafted. After all, he may elect to stay overseas for at least this next season.

Jonas Valanciunas may blossom into a terrific player, but he won't help Toronto morph into a contender.

29. Cleveland Cavaliers

With the addition of Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson, this young team is definitely on the rise. They just won't be that close to fulfilling Dan Gilbert's title promise quite yet.

There's a lot to like in Cleveland—just not a lot to love.

28. Minnesota Timberwolves

The prospect of Derrick Williams joining forces with Kevin Love is scary, but you have to remember that he is almost the same player as Michael Beasley.

I'm a little bit worried that David Kahn may be changing his reputation for ill-advised moves after this draft, but Minnesota is still far from elite.

27. New Jersey Nets

The Nets got even more tantalizingly talented for Deron Williams when they added two great players in Marshon Brooks and Jordan Williams.

Brooks has drawn comparisons to Kobe Bryant, but the shooting guard somehow slipped all the way to No. 25. I expect him to be absolutely great.

In the second round, New Jersey selected Maryland's Jordan Williams, a big man with some serious potential at the center position.

26. Detroit Pistons

Brandon Knight may have seemed like a steal at No. 8, but he plays the same way as current combo guard Rodney Stuckey, so I'm hesitant to say that he's actually going to help the Detroit Pistons improve much.

Similarly, Kyle Singler and Vernon Macklin could be useful off the bench, but neither will develop into a game-changer during his rookie season in the NBA.

25. Charlotte Bobcats

Michael Jordan may have actually had a good draft!

Bismack Biyombo can be an immediately useful player in the paint on the defensive end of the court, while Kemba Walker is impossible to bet against.

After Walker led his Connecticut Huskies to the Big East Championship and the NCAA championship, can he keep the run of success going?

24. Sacramento Kings

Thanks to Sacramento's up-tempo style of play, Jimmer Fredette could become a great player, provided that he manages to ever get the ball from Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton.

With those three players, fellow incoming rookies Tyler Honeycutt and Isaiah Thomas and DeMarcus Cousins, this could actually be a good young team.

23. Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks traded away John Salmons and Corey Maggette, but they also drafted Tobias Harris and Jon Leuer.

The result of those moves may be a decrease in short-term wins but a boost in long-term results. I wouldn't expect to see the Bucks back in the playoffs for the next few years though.

22. Utah Jazz

Enes Kanter gets to team up with Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap while Alec Burks pairs up with Devin Harris in the backcourt. 

What is there not to like about this team again? Other than the fact that the Jazz haven't proven they can win games without Deron Williams yet, of course.

21. Washington Wizards

By adding Jan Vesely to the quartet of John Wall, Jordan Crawford, Nick Young and JaVale McGee, the Wizards became the most exciting team to watch in basketball in my opinion.

Bringing in Chris Singleton makes this very young team even better. The Wizards may even be a dark horse playoff contender.

20. Los Angeles Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers took two players from the University of Georgia, forcing them to move all the way across the country in order to continue to play basketball.

Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie now join the youth movement in Los Angeles, giving the Clippers two more talented players to throw out there with Blake Griffin, Eric Gordon and DeAndre Jordan.

Thompkins is incredibly talented, and Leslie is as athletic as he is raw. Both could wind up being second-round steals for the improving Clippers.

19. Golden State Warriors

As if Mark Jackson's new team needed help scoring, it acquired not only Klay Thompson, a sharpshooting guard from Washington State, but also the high-scoring Charles Jenkins from Hofstra.

Mixed in, though, was Jeremy Tyler, a center with the ability to be the defensive presence that the Warriors so desperately need.

But will Monta Ellis remain a member of the team or not when it's all said and done?

18. Houston Rockets

Marcus Morris and Chandler Parsons could both make impacts during their rookie seasons, but Donatas Motiejunas will still be playing abroad, so he most certainly will not, making his selection a rather interesting decision for a Rockets organization that needs to win now.

The biggest question this offseason though, both literally and figuratively, is whether or not to re-sign Yao Ming for another season in Houston.

17. Phoenix Suns

The aging Phoenix Suns will receive an infusion of youth when Markieff Morris lines up at power forward for them and makes an immediate contribution.

Steve Nash still has a few more good seasons in him as well, and it will be interesting to see whether or not Marcin Gortat can continue putting up All-Star-quality numbers for the duration of a season with the Suns.

16. Indiana Pacers

The Indiana Pacers already have an incredible number of young players on their team, so they decided to trade for San Antonio Spurs backup point guard George Hill instead of draft another young talent.

In my opinion, this was a good move for an Indiana team that appears to be on the rise.

15. Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers only got better when they filled their one gaping hole by drafting 7'0" USC center Nikola Vucevic with their one and only first-round pick.

In the second round, the Sixers decided to draft hometown favorite Lavoy Allen, but that seemed to be more to appease the fans than anything else.

Expect Vucevic to outperform his draft position of No. 16.

14. New York Knicks

Spike Lee was left confused yet again by the New York Knicks' draft selection of Iman Shumpert. The athletic, defensively talented point guard from Georgia Tech may make an impact for most teams, but he doesn't really seem to fit in well with the Mike D'Antoni system.

Josh Harrellson also seemed to be a bit of a stretch in the second round, as this team seems to be content to remain mediocre until the Chris Paul sweepstakes of 2012.

13. Orlando Magic

With all the questions swirling around the ridiculously broad shoulders of Dwight Howard remaining unanswered, the Orlando Magic selected Justin Harper, a talented power forward from Richmond.

Harper should make contributions pretty soon, but it can't be soon enough for the Magic, who are desperate to win now.

After a first-round playoff loss to the Atlanta Hawks, the Magic seem to be on the decline for sure.

12. Portland Trail Blazers

With Rudy Fernandez going to Dallas by trade and Brandon Roy's knees permanently on the decline, Portland elected to add two guards during the draft: Duke's Nolan Smith and Ohio State's Jon Diebler.

Both guards should be able to make an impact from the get-go. Smith will be a good all-around backup while Diebler will be a great three-point specialist. After all, he shoots them better than anyone else in this draft class, even better than Jimmer.

11. New Orleans Hornets

New Orleans didn't make a single move on draft day, either by trading or drafting.

Instead, the Hornets opted to bide their time and wait for free agency. After pushing the Lakers much further than expected in the playoffs, this is probably the last chance that New Orleans has at making noise in the postseason before Chris Paul leaves for another team.

But for now, it remained right where it was before.

10. Denver Nuggets

Whether or not Nene Hilario remains a member of the Denver Nuggets, the team had a great draft by landing rebounding stud Kenneth Faried and the high-scoring Jordan Hamilton.

Both Faried and Hamilton should be able to contribute immediately in the Mile High City and may both prove to be draft-day steals for the Nuggets.

9. San Antonio Spurs

I don't ever doubt the things that Spurs management chooses to do during the offseason.

Going into the draft, I thought that Kawhi Leonard would certainly be a bust, but the Spurs ended up with him, and I guess I have to re-evaluate my opinion of the do-everything forward.

San Antonio also essentially swapped backup point guard George Hill for soon-to-be-backup point guard Cory Joseph and added a few good players for down the road in Adam Hanga and Davis Bertans.

The Spurs may still have one stellar season left in them.

8. Boston Celtics

The Boston Boilermakers, I mean Celtics, must think of Purdue as a feeder program.

Danny Ainge selected not one, but two Purdue players in JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore. Johnson was the biggest sleeper in the draft in my opinion, and Moore could develop into a very solid player. 

They have great mentors to learn from in Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.

7. Atlanta Hawks

You better sit down before you read the following sentence.

The Atlanta Hawks actually drafted for need!

By taking the Oakland Golden Grizzlies' Keith Benson, the Hawks added a talented young center to their team, thereby allowing Al Horford to shift over to his more natural position at power forward.

With Jeff Teague looking like the point guard of the future, the Hawks may finally soar next season if they keep the rest of their lineup in place.

6. Memphis Grizzlies

The Memphis Grizzlies didn't have many needs to fill, or that many draft picks to fill them with, for that matter. As a result, they elected to select the most talented player left at No. 49, risks be damned.

Josh Selby was the pick, and he has as much talent as any top-five pick. He just has some major character flaws that need to be straightened out after his time with Kansas.

If he pans out, though, Zach Randolph and the rest of the Memphis squad could easily see their successful playoff run carry over into the next season.

5. Oklahoma City Thunder

I'm not sure what general manager Sam Presti was thinking when he drafted Reggie Jackson, a score-first guard from Boston College. After all, don't the Oklahoma City Thunder already have a good one of those in Russell Westbrook?

But then again, the Thunder are one of the rare teams that don't need much success in this draft to improve. Westbrook, Kevin Durant, James Harden and Serge Ibaka should all continue to develop and make this team even more potent.

4. Los Angeles Lakers

By selected Darius Morris and Andrew Goudelock in a span of five picks, the Los Angeles Lakers ensured that they would have a talented point guard ready for when Derek Fisher finally leaves the team. As talented as Morris is, that could be as soon as this year.

The Lakers also drafted Chukwudiebere Maduabum and Ater Majok, but neither will help them out anytime soon.

Los Angeles made a big splash during the draft despite only picking during the second round and could continue to make important moves during free agency.

3. Chicago Bulls

The owners of last season's best regular season record didn't do much to improve their playoff chances next season.

Chicago's one big need was shooting guard, but instead they elected to draft Nikola Mirotic, a talented forward who will spend at least the next few seasons in Europe, and complete the rags-to-riches story of Jimmy Butler, who will have to compete for playing time with all the other good forwards on the Bulls' roster.

This draft really didn't make too much sense to me.

2. Miami Heat

The Miami Heat had two positions to address after losing to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.

One was the center position, which remains unaddressed, although that will likely change during free agency.

The other is the point guard position, but drafting Norris Cole, a talented scorer from Cleveland State, should help alleviate that concern. He should pair up with Mike Bibby and Mario Chalmers to form a decent group there.

1. Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks opted to use their No. 26 draft pick as a trade chip, and with it they landed Portland Trail Blazers guard Rudy Fernandez.

Fernandez is a known commodity and a much safer option than whatever the defending champions could have gotten with the draft pick. Now, Dallas' options at the guard position are even better than before, as Fernandez, J.J. Barea, Jason Kidd and Rodrigue Beaubois are all in the mix.

It's possible that Dallas had one of the best draft days without making a single pick.