Evaluating a draft usually doesn't make sense until years after the fact. However, some teams certainly took advantage of their draft situations and some others didn't. NaismithLives.com senior writer Adam Stanco takes a look at which teams should be commended and who should be scolded...

LOSERS

New York Knicks
Mike D’Antoni’s system is largely dependent on a heady, crafty point guard who controls almost every possession of their up-tempo offense (see: Nash, Steve). Current starter Chris Duhon shouldn’t be given the keys to the Bentley. So, in a draft rich in point guards, what do the Knicks do? They take Arizona forward Jordan Hill, a Chris Wilcox-esque athlete who can run and jump, but doesn’t possess a ton of skill and struggles to defend in man-to-man settings.

For the Knicks to pass on Jennings is understandable, but it would have been relatively easy for them to move up and select another high quality lead guard. For instance, had they traded with the Washington Wizards for the fifth overall pick -- before Minnesota did – they would’ve been able to choose between Ricky Rubio, Jonny Flynn, and Stephen Curry. But they didn’t make a deal, stayed put, and, consequently, lost out on selecting a point guard who could have been the maestro of D’Antoni’s offense and face of the franchise.

Sacramento Kings
The Kings obviously love Tyreke Evans and, to be fair, there’s a lot to love. He has great size, a freakish wingspan, a scorer’s mentality, and virtually unmatched confidence.

The former Memphis point guard will score and score often in the NBA, but he won’t necessarily make his teammates better. His assist-to-turnover ratio is atrocious and his defensive lapses are well-known. Interestingly, Evans is at his best when he’s playing the point and dominating the ball. He’ll be a successful scorer, but will struggle as a distributor and, thus, crush the confidence of his teammates. It is reminiscent of another talented, high-scoring, long armed guard who dominated the ball and probably made his teammates worse… Allen Iverson.

While Evans might not score at A.I.’s pace, he will score. But he probably won’t please anyone he plays with. And the Kings needed a point guard who would energize the team, not infect it.

On the flip side, the Kings other two picks, Israeli forward Omri Casspi (No. 23) and Arizona State’s Jeff Pendegraph (No. 31), will be solid contributors. They also traded for Jon Brockman of Washington, a sturdy post player and great rebounder who is somewhat undersized at power forward.

Minnesota Timberwolves
At first it appeared as though the Timberwolves looked like the smartest team in the draft. Already possessing the sixth pick, new Minnesota GM David Kahn traded Randy Foye and Mike Miller to obtain the No. 5 pick. The thinking appeared to be that the T-Wolves would package their newly acquired pick with one of the two picks they had later in the first round to move up and select their main target, Ricky Rubio. The T-Wolves didn’t move and, as it turned out, they didn’t have to. Rubio was available when they were on the clock with the fifth overall selection and that’s who they obviously picked.

However, after nabbing Rubio, they immediately selected Syracuse point guard Jonny Flynn. Oddly, Rubio and Flynn are each pure point guards. They are better distributors than they are scorers. Both are probably better at shooting the basketball than they’ve been given for, yet they wouldn’t seem to mesh well. Besides, not only was this a head-scratching move from a personnel standpoint (especially considering Sebastian Telfair is already on the roster), but it makes even less sense considering Minnesota doesn’t have a coach. Hard to imagine any coach would ask for a backcourt featuring two point guards, but that’s exactly what Kahn has laid out for his future clipboard holder.

Now Rubio’s father says the 18-year old wants to stay overseas for a couple of years. If Rubio wasn’t excited about the prospect of living in a frigid state to begin with, he certainly must’ve been furious with Minnesota’s very next pick. Kahn should’ve been smarter than to risk upsetting the only player in this draft with leverage.

And, speaking of leverage, there is now talk that the T-Wolves may trade Rubio or Flynn, but the team probably won’t get full value in return, especially since others teams know Minnesota is now somewhat desperate to move one of them.

Indiana Pacers
Many people, including NBA scouts, are really high on Tyler Hansbrough. But even those who love him will readily admit his ceiling in the NBA isn’t all that high. At best, he’s a less athletic David Lee without the rebounding skills.

Does that sound like a player worth taking with the 13th pick?

This pick has much more to do with setting a standard for the future of the Pacers than it does for Hansbrough’s upside. The Pacers are still reeling from the public relations mess after the 2004 brawl in Detroit. The team has been revamped and the days of Stephen Jackson and Jamaal Tinsley waking up the Pacers’ coaching staff with late night calls from holding cells are over. Larry Bird and the rest of the Indiana executives want a team of solid individuals who work their tails off and the former Wooden Award winner certainly fits that description.

The problem with selecting Hansbrough that high is that there were potentially more productive players available. Indiana won just 36 games last season (finishing 11-30 on the road) and needs as much production as possible.

In the second round, the Pacers selected Connecticut point guard A.J. Price with the 52nd overall pick. A good spot for Price who, ironically, sat out a year after stealing laptops. He also suffered a brain hemorrhage and a torn ACL during his turbulent UConn career.