The NBA Development League is still in the local tryouts stage of the offseason. The next step was decided on Tuesday night at the D-League coaches meetings in Denver, Colo. when the 2011 D-League Draft order was determined (by random drawing) for the annual conference call scheduled to take place on Nov. 3.

In a bit of irony, Los Angeles D-Fenders coach Eric Musselman will have the first overall pick in the 2011 D-League Draft for the second season in a row after selecting Nick Fazekas with his first pick as head coach of the Reno Bighorns last season. It's an interesting twist considering Coach Musselman traded away the Bighorns' first round pick in this year's draft -- Reno ended up with the 13th overall pick  -- in order to improve last season by picking up Patrick O'Bryant.

The draft order isn't necessarily as important in the D-League as it would be in most leagues, though, as it operates in the serpentine format seen in most fantasy sports drafts. For example, the Springfield Armor will pick last in the first round, but the New Jersey Nets owned team also has the first pick (17th overall) in the second round.

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Let's get this clear right off the bat: the NBA lockout is by no means a good thing in any way, shape or form. That said, if somehow there are no regular season games missed, an addition of a third round to the annual NBA Draft would make the lockout seem a lot less pointless than it currently stands with the main argument centered around billionaires and millionaires making more money.

I've suggested the NBA adds a third round to the NBA Draft for quite a few years, most recently summarized in this post from July, but former ESPN writer Chris Sheridan reports that the NBA has actually proposed a few options regarding extending the draft during the current collective bargaining talks.

Unfortunately, it seems that adding a third round could be a quite convoluted set-up -- at least compared to the easiest solution of simply tacking on another 30 picks to the end of the second round -- if Sheridan's sources aren't simply spit-balling.

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Greg Smith was one of the more surprising players to go unpicked in the 2011 NBA Draft. Being just 20 years old and possessing an NBA-ready frame, it was a bit surprising to see an NBA team not take a flier on the Fresno State rookie sometime during the second round. It might be even more surprising, however, that Smith has decided to begin his professional career in Mexico with Soles de Mexicali in the LNBP.

Smith played two seasons with the Bulldogs before declaring himself as an early-entry candidate for the most recent draft. The reputable sites apparently agreed with this decision as the 6-foot-10, 250-pound center was placed somewhere in the second round of most mock drafts. When all was said and done, however, Smith was passed over so that players like Ater Major, Chukwudibiere Maduabum and Tanguy Ngombo could hear their names called on that Thursday night.

A few months later -- without having the opportunity to find an NBA roster spot via Summer League due to the NBA lockout -- Smith has decided to begin his career south of the border alongside names just as vaguely familiar as those that were selected ahead of him on June 23.

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Over the next couple of months, I will be a writing a series of articles exploring the depth charts of NBA teams, and more specifically, where the rookies from the 2011 draft fit into those depth charts. Thanks to MTD for the idea. Also, for the sake of my sanity, I will be writing as if there will actually be a season this year.

Previous Installments: Cleveland, Minnesota, Utah, Washington, Charlotte
Just a few short years ago, the Detroit Pistons were amongst the NBA's elite, perennial playoff contenders. Now they find themselves in the midst of a massive rebuild. Saddled with a couple of bad contracts, the only way to get back to where they were is to have patience and build through the draft. And that is exactly what they are doing.

As a reminder, the Pistons' rookies include Brandon Knight out of Kentucky, Duke's Kyle Singler and Florida's Vernon Macklin.

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Nikola Vucevic did wonders for his draft stock from March, when he was slated to be a pretty good second round pick out of USC, up until the NBA Draft in June.  Vucevic stood out at the NBA Combine in May, individual workouts after that and eventually ended up being selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 16th overall pick after being rumored as a possible lottery selection.

The Montenegrin won't start his post-college career in the NBA, however, as he has instead decided to be the first first round pick to head overseas rather than wait out the NBA lockout. Vucevic inked a deal with Buducnost, a Euroleague team based in Montenegro, for the upcoming season. The move had been rumored for a few days, but became official on Monday when the Euroleague reported the deal on its website.

Vucevic is also planning to play for the Montenegrin National Team at the upcoming Eurobasket tournament so this is probably more a move related to convenience more than anything else, but because of that, it makes a lot of sense.

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The NBA lockout has already caused its share of casualties, but one group that is probably a bit overlooked is the incoming rookies. The rookies perhaps need more guidance than most considering that they are heading into their first professional seasons, but with lockout rules prohibiting teams from talking to players, a handful of rookies will instead get their first lessons in professional basketball while playing in Europe.

With the recent news that Orlando Magic draft pick Justin Harper (32nd overall) and Keith Benson of the Atlanta Hawks (48th overall) have both signed with teams in Europe, there are now -- by my count -- six drafted players who will play at least the first part of their first pro season in Europe rather than the States.

It isn't uncommon for a couple of second round picks to sign in Europe if they -- or the team that drafted them -- believes the player will be better served beginning his career overseas as opposed to being cut in training camp by his new NBA team, but the lockout has caused a few more players than usual to take their talents to Europe.

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Over the next month or so, I will be a writing a series of articles exploring the depth charts of NBA teams, and more specifically, where the rookies from the 2011 draft fit into those depth charts. Thanks to MTD for the idea.

Previous Installments: Cleveland, Minnesota, Utah, Washington

The Charlotte Bobcats have gone through a massive roster overhaul over the past year. The first step was firing head coach Larry Brown and replacing him with Paul Silas. The second step was trading away their two most talented (and oldest) players Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson. The latest step in the rebuilding process was to add youth in the form of two lottery picks in the 2011 NBA Draft.

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While plenty of NBA players are rumored to be interested in taking their talents to Europe during the NBA lockout, it's become the undrafted free agents actually following through with this plan. The latest, as the title should have led my lovely readers to believe, is Penn State scorer Talor Battle joining Cholet for Euroleague competition next season.

For those unfamiliar with Battle, apparently you haven't watched a lot of the Nittany Lions for the past few seasons. Battle was the face of the team and a four-year starter, culminating during his senior season when the six-foot guard averaged 20.2 points while playing nearly every minute of every game.

Battle shouldn't have too many adjustment issues playing in France with Cholet next season as the team has already added a few former solid American imports with Derrick Byars, Robert Dozier and Robert Hite -- all of which were either selected in the NBA Draft or have played in the world's best basketball league at some point of their career.

I would lament about what this is doing to the NBA training camp crop as well as the NBA D-League rosters for the upcoming season, but it seems worrying about anything NBA is probably not worth it after Monday's meetings.