NBA Draft grades 2013: Kings, Blazers and Jazz all solid with their picks

The 2013 NBA Draft grades are out and, for the most part, it sounds as though there were very few teams that made terrible picks on Thursday night. Only a few teams really did well, though.

By Scott Schroeder Jun 28, 2013, 10:00am EDT

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The 2013 NBA Draft included a slew of surprises with Nerlens Noel falling, Anthony Bennett rising and a huge trade between the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets that actually didn't even effect anything on Thursday night (though it will with many drafts going forward).

The real fun starts now, though, as NBA experts from around the world have weighed in with their draft grades less than 12 hours after all 60 picks were chosen. The SB Nation NBA Draft grades were published Friday morning and, although we might be biased, they're probably the best. Around the web, CBS Sports did their grades pick-by-pick, Chad Ford was pretty comprehensive with everything he did and USA Today was nice enough to break their grades down by conference.

Dallas Mavericks: Dallas sounded like it didn't want to be involved in this year's draft at all, but wound up with Miami's Shane Larkin and Ricky Ledo from Providence after trading down a couple of times in the first round and giving up last year's first rounder -- Jared Cunningham -- in the process. For their efforts, the Mavs earned Bs from CBS Sports and USA Today while ESPN was a little bit harsher, giving them a B-. SB Nation gave the Larkin pick an A for fit, B+ for immediate impact and a C+ for upside.

Denver Nuggets: The Nuggets' new front office wasn't able to make the splash they likely wanted as they traded the 27th overall pick for the 46th pick and cash while also dealing last year's starting center (Kosta Koufos) for the Memphis Grizzlies' backup power forward (Darrell Arthur). The Nuggets didn't do too bad in getting Erick Green and Joffrey Lauvergne, but that still gave them a C from ESPN and a C- from USA Today. CBS Sports gave the Green pick an A+, but it was another C for the Lauvergne pick.

Golden State Warriors: The Warriors made a flurry of moves to get back into this year's draft, buying the No. 26 pick and then trading down to 29 and then again to 30 before selecting Nemanja Nedovic while getting Minnesota's Malcolm Lee in the process. Ford believes Nedovic will come over right away, giving the pick a B- and USA Today followed suit. CBS Sports wasn't as kind, however, giving the pick a D. SB Nation gave the pick B in terms of fit, a B- for upside and a lowly C- for immediate impact.

Houston Rockets: The Rockets were without a first round pick and, surprisingly, stayed pretty quiet on Thursday night. No trades, just the selection of Isaiah Canaan with the No. 34 pick. Ford gave the choice a B+, USA Today gave it a B- and CBS Sports gave it a B-.

Los Angeles Clippers: The Clippers made their big move last week when they acquired Doc Rivers from the Boston Celtics and, as such, were relatively quiet on Thursday night. They made a nice move in getting Reggie Bullock with the 25 pick, though, and were rewarded with a B+ from ESPN, a C+ from USA Today and a B- from CBS Sports. SB Nation went with an A for fit, a B+ for immediate impact and a B- for upside.

Los Angeles Lakers: The Lakers didn't have a first round pick, but went with Duke Blue Devils standout Ryan Kelly in the second round. Kelly was a pretty good deal at the 48 pick, too, as ESPN and USA Today gave the choice a B+ whereas CBS Sports was much harsher with their C- grade.

Memphis Grizzlies: The Grizzlies made the trade for Kosta Koufos in exchange for Darrell Arthur and one of their three second round picks. Memphis chose "Tony Allen 2.0" Jamaal Franklin and draft-and-stash prospect Janis Timma with their other two picks, earning a B+ from USA Today, an A from Ford and a B/D grade from CBS Sports on the pair of picks.

Minnesota Timberwolves: The Timberwolves were very active, trading the No. 9 pick to the Utah Jazz for the 14th and 21st picks, selling their 26th pick and then using the 52nd and 59th picks to select a total of four prospects on Thursday night. Shabazz Muhammad, Gorgui Dieng, Lorenzo Brown and Bojan Dubljevic were acquired with the picks, eliciting a B+ from USA Today, a B- from ESPN and grades ranging from an A- to a C- from CBS Sports. SB Nation graded the Muhammad pick a B for immediate impact, a B- for upside and a C for fit while giving Bs across the board to the Dieng pick.

New Orleans Pelicans: The Pelicans made the biggest move of the night when they selected Noel with the sixth pick, but shifted him to the Philadelphia 76ers for Jrue Holiday and the rights to Pierre Jackson -- while giving up next year's first rounder, too. The Pelicans were given an A- for their draft-night efforts by USA Today, a B+ from ESPN and an A from the Pelicans -- though that was before the pick was traded, apparently.

Oklahoma City Thunder: OKC was active on Thursday night, picking Steven Adams with the 12th pick, moving up to grab Andre Roberson with the 26th pick and then grabbing Alex Abrines with the 32 pick in the second round. CBS Sports wasn't impressed, though, giving the Adams pick an F while ESPN gave them a B+ and USA Today met in the middle with a C. The Thunder weren't looking on highly by SB Nation as the Adams pick graded out to a B+ for upside, but Ds for both fit and immediate impact. The Roberson pick was given Cs for upside and immediate impact, but a lowly D for fit.

Phoenix Suns: The Suns were in a tough spot when they ended up being able to choose between the two consensus No. 1 picks at the No. 5 spot. They eventually ended up choosing Alex Len over Noel and then acquiring Archie Goodwin and Alex Oriakhi with later picks. CBS Sports gave the Len pick an F, too, whereas CBS Sports was kinder with grades of B-. SB Nation gave the Suns' pick an A- for upside, C for immediate impact and a C- for fit.

Portland Trail Blazers: The Blazers made a ton of picks on Thursday night, getting C.J. McCollum in the first round and then Allen Crabbe, Jeff Withey, Grant Jerrett and Marko Todorovic in the second round. That elicited a B+ grade from USA Today, a solid A from ESPN and an A+ from CBS Sports for the McCollum pick. SB Nation gave the McCollum pick a B+ for immediate impact, a B- for upside and a simple C for fit.

Sacramento Kings: Sacramento was given a gift when they had the option to choose Ben McLemore with the seventh pick. They took that gift too, before adding Detroit's Ray McCallum in the second round. It was essentially a Best Available Player pick in both rounds, but it worked as ESPN and USA Today gave them an A- while CBS Sports hit Sacramento with a solid B. SB Nation was very high on the McLemore pick, too, giving Sacramento's new player an A for upside, A- for immediate impact and a B for fit.

San Antonio Spurs: The Spurs did a very Spurs thing in drafting Frenchman Livio Jean-Charles with their first round pick before taking Deshaun Thomas with the 58th pick in the second round. That ended up being a good thing for the Spurs as USA Today gave the Spurs an A-, ESPN gave them a C and CBS Sports went with an unfortunate D-. SB Nation liked the Jean-Charles pick for the most part, too, giving it B grades for upside and fit ... but an F in the "immediate impact" category.

Utah Jazz: The Jazz traded their two mid-first round picks to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Trey Burke and then made a move back into the first round for Rudy Gobert at the 27 slot. Free agency isn't going to be quite as tricky with the two new players in tow and, because of that, ESPN gave the Jazz a B+, USA Today gave them an A and CBS Sports was split -- giving an A to the Burke deal and a C for Gobert. The Burke pick elicited As in the fit and immediate impact category from SB Nation, but a lesser B for upside. It was more across the board for Gobert, though, as we graded his upside a B, his fit a C and his chances of making an immediate impact a D.