Lakers Draft Grade: A

The Los Angeles Lakers are entering a new era without their coach Phil Jackson. After a four game sweep at the hands of the eventual champions Dallas Mavericks, the Lakers were exposed with several weaknesses.

Those weaknesses included a lack of depth at certain positions, namely at point guard and a lack of a sharp shooter, who the Lakers could kick it out for a key three-pointer.

In Thursday's draft, the Lakers addressed both these needs, though they were armed with only four second round draft picks.

Previously, the Lakers gave up a first round choice in the Sasha Vujacic trade.

With the 41st pick in the draft, the Lakers drafted Michigan point guard Darius Morris, who could be the steal of the second round.

The underclassman had a great year last year running the point for a very young and up and coming Michigan team.

Morris knows how to handle the ball, push the ball in transition, and find the open man, helping his teammates make a play. He also has a decent mid-range shot.

Areas for improvement including his three-point shot which has improved year over year from his freshman to sophomore year. At the NBA level, he will also need to improve his defense, which he should be able to with his impressive frame.

For a point guard, Morris has good size at 6'5 and 190 lbs.

Morris will fit right in with the Lakers learning from veterans guards like Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher, which is an ideal situation.

The Lakers other significant draft pick was Andrew Goudelock, who comes as a high school senior from the state of Georgia.

Goudelock is a flat out shooter with excellent deep range. He is more than capable of getting hot from behind the three-point line as a catch and shoot sharp-shooter.

He slipped in the draft likely because of his smaller size at 6'3 200 lbs, he has the build of a point guard.

But if he is going to be successful in the NBA, his initial role will be the sharp shooter off the bench, so he will likely have to play the shooting guard position to spell Bryant.

As for the Lakers other two picks in the second round, they traded one of them, Chu Chu Maduabum and drafted another big center from Australia, Ater Majok, with the third to last pick in the entire draft.

Majok who stands at 6'10 225 lbs is a project, but has good size and should be a D-League player. If he is successful in the D-League, he can possibly make the jump to the NBA as a backup.

All in all, with only second round picks at their disposal, the Lakers did well in the draft.

They got perhaps the best two players in the second round, who were absolute steals with Morris and Goudelock. Morris and Goudelock also fill areas of need for the Lakers.

So for maximizing the second round of this year's draft, the Lakers get an A.