Wesley Johnson has found a new home with the Los Angeles Lakers. (GETTY IMAGES)

Wesley Johnson has never lived up to expectations after being drafted fourth overall in the 2010 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, Tuesday night, he scored 14 points in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 108-94 win over the Utah Jazz in a preseason game at Staples Center.

Last year in Phoenix, he averaged 13.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game as a starter in 21 games (29.2 minutes per game), but coming off the bench he averaged 4.1 points and 1.9 rebounds in 11.7 minutes. He showed some improvement, but the Suns ultimately let him walk as a free agent.

After signing him, the Laker front office went as far as to say he could be a Michael Cooper-type defender.

“He [Mitch Kupchak] thinks Wesley can develop into a Michael Cooper- or Trevor Ariza-type player” Lakers public relations director John Black told Lakers.com. “Mitch will probably be mad at me for sharing that with you guys publicly. But I think all Laker fans would be very happy if something like that were to happen, as would we.”

At 26 years old, Johnson has an opportunity to still show he’s a good player. “Wes was outstanding” Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni said after Tuesday’s game.

The bench play was outstanding, which is great news after the unit struggled last year and was among the worst in the NBA. They scored 74 points and converted 23 of 40 field goals (57.5%). Jordan Farmar nailed back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with a game-high 20 points (5-of-7 shooting) and dished out three assists.

Farmar scored 13 of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter. Jodie Meeks scored 15 points (5-of-9 shooting), grabbed three rebounds, had three assists, and swiped two steals. Jordan Hill added 10 points and five rebounds. No starter scored more than nine points.

It’s only a preseason game but there were encouraging signs against the Jazz. Laker fans should be excited about the improved bench play, which will only get better when Kobe Bryant returns to the starting lineup.

Darren Jacks is a regular contributor to OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter at djroxalot.

Former Houston Rockets Goran Dragic and Luis Scola now wear the colors of the Phoenix Suns. (GETTY IMAGES)

The Phoenix Suns traded Steve Nash to the Los Angeles Lakers in the offseason. It was a stunning move since the Lakers are a huge Pacific Division rival, but it was also a necessary move.

The Suns are focused on rebuilding so they settled for a couple low-level first-round picks in 2013 and 2015 and a couple of second-rounders. After negotiating that trade, the Suns went out and added players left and right as they showed a willingness to field a competitive team this season.

They signed guard Goran Dragic, bringing him back for a second go-round. He will run the point and he did a pretty good job for the Houston Rockets last season when Kyle Lowry went down with an injury. Dragic averaged 17.8 points per game and 7.9 assists in 28 starts. They already have a solid big man in Marcin Gortat (15.4 points and 10 rebounds). Dragic will probably be running the pick-and-roll with him a lot.

Luis Scola was surprisingly amnestied by the Rockets and the Suns swooped in and picked up a solid 15-point, eight-rebound guy. Dragic and Scola were teammates in Houston, so this should bode well in terms of team chemistry.

They also picked up Michael Beasley, a volume shooter with a very questionable attitude. This was a bit perplexing to me. I thought starting Jared Dudley would have been a better idea. He’s a better defender than Beasley and can score. PJ. Tucker could’ve used 13-15 minutes per game as a backup to see what he could do or if he has a future with the Suns. And they could have saved the money they spent on Beasley.

They traded Robin Lopez to Minnesota for Wesley Johnson and another first-round pick. Johnson hasn’t played as well as many expected when he was drafted fourth overall by the T-Wolves, but he is a solid defender.

The Suns drafted North Carolina product Kendall Marshall, and he should be a solid backup to Dragic. Sebastian Telfair may find it hard to make the team, or find minutes if he does make the roster. Marshall may eventually replace Dragic as the starter within a few years. The kid has some major potential.

The Suns will most likely go with a starting lineup of: Dragic, Johnson, Beasley, Scola, and Gortat.

Doesn’t exactly strike fear in the opposing team, but it should be a decent enough team to compete while they learn to play together and gel as a cohesive unit. This is a young team whose average age is 26.6 years old. Maybe that’s why they added veteran Jermaine O’Neal to backup Gortat.

Projected finish in the Pacific Division: Fourth (may win 35-38 games)

Darren Jacks is a regular contributor to OneManFastBreak.net. Send him an email at: djroxalot@hotmail.com

Dion Waiters was the fourth player taken in the 2012 NBA draft. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

There is a lot of like about Dion Waiters. He brings a lot of toughness, having grown up in Philadelphia, and plays with an edge. Some NBA scouts believe Waiters will be a star at the pro level.

There is also a lot to dislike about Dion Waiters. He wasn’t a starter last season at Syracuse, doesn’t have great measurables, and didn’t play a lot of man-to-man defense in college because Jim Boeheim prefers the 2-3 zone.

You have to wonder what the Cleveland Cavaliers there thinking when they selected Waiters with the fourth overall pick in Thursday’s 2012 NBA draft. It was easily the most stunning move of the night given the recent history of Syracuse players in the Association.

Syracuse players in the Boeheim era are more likely to fizzle in the NBA than thrive. That is a proven fact. It happened to Dwayne “Pearl” Washington, it happened to Billy Owens, it happened to Lawrence Moten, it happened to Adrian Autry, and it happened to Gerry McNamara, it happened to Hakim Warrick, it happened to Jonny Flynn, and it happened to Wesley Johnson.

Flynn was the fifth overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves 2009 and it was THE WORST first-round pick that year. Flynn was a fish out of water and is now struggling to hook up with a team — any pro team. The Timberwolves obviously didn’t learn their lesson with Flynn because the follow year in 2010 they selected Wes Johnson, another first-round bust out of the Boeheim program.

There are a few exceptions. Derrick Coleman, Rony Seikaly and Sherman Douglas all had long, good NBA careers and Carmelo Anthony is one of the 15 best players in the league.

Waiters is hoping to have a long productive NBA career, and he seems to embrace the challenge. He is a good player and certainly deserves to go in the first round of the draft. But to be selected fourth overall is beyond surprising. Even Waiters was stunned he was picked that early.

“I’m very surprised. Top five. That’s every kid’s dream,” Waiters said. “I’m very thankful.”

Waiters said he had a tough time transitioning from high school to college because he never came off the bench until he got to Syracuse. He often clashed with Boeheim, but he says the “tough love” and made him into a better player.

The Cavs had a multitude of options with the No. 4 pick. They could have gone with Kansas’ Thomas Robinson, North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes, Connecticut’s Jeremy Lamb, or even Duke’s Austin Rivers. Talent-wise, Rivers may be the second-best player in the draft behind Anthony Davis and the Cavs would have had a lethal Duke-and-Duke combo with Rivers and Kyrie Irving.

Instead, general manager Chris Grant decided to roll the dice on a player who will have the added burden of being the fourth player taken in the 2012 draft.

OneManFastBreak Editor and Publisher Joel Huerto rates the 10 best prospects in the 2010 NBA Draft (all measurements were taken from the draft combine in Chicago):

10) KEVIN SERAPHIN, C, FRANCE (6-9, 258): This 20-year-old Frenchman is the most intriguing prospect on the draft board. He is raw but has a lot of athletic ability for a center. He rebounds well and is a very good shot-blocker, but only averaged 15 minutes a game in the French league. Because of the recent success of his fellow countrymen, such as Tony Parker, Boris Diaw, Mikael Pietrus and Nicolas Batum, NBA teams will surely take notice of France’s newest import.

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9) EKPE UDOH, C, Baylor (6-9, 240): Udoh is a specialist with limited offensive skills but has a 7-5 wingspan. He was a tremendous shot-blocker (3.7) and above-average rebounder (9.8) for Baylor. At 23, he’s a bit older than some of the other prospects so it gives him an advantage in terms of off-the-court maturity and his interviews went extremely well. Even though his offense is way behind his defense, he can face up and shoot a mid-range jump shot.

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8) COLE ALDRICH, C, Kansas (6-9, 236): Though he is listed at 6-11, Aldrich measured at 6-9 at the combine. The height difference may cause some NBA GMs to shy away from Aldrich, which would be a mistake. Aldrich is a hard-nosed player who defends and rebounds extremely well. He has a very similar game to former Jayhawk Nick Collison, who has done pretty well playing center and power forward in the Association.

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7) AL-FAROUQ AMINU, SF-PF, Wake Forest (6-7, 216): Aminu is a tremendous athlete who can finish at the rim. Teams that need a small forward or wing player will love Aminu. He is an excellent leaper and runs the floor extremely well, making him really valuable to up-tempo teams such as the Golden State Warriors and the New Orleands Hornets. Aminu doesn’t have much of an outside shot, so most of his points are on put-backs, dunks, layups or short jumpers.

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6) WESLEY JOHNSON, SF, Syracuse (6-6, 206): I’m still on the fence with Johnson. When he’s good, the Big East player of the Year is a smooth player who can jump out of the building and drain an outside shot from behind the arc. But when he’s bad, he gets pushed around and gets timid when the game gets physical. With exception of Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse players under Jim Boeheim have traditionally not fared well in the NBA. Johnson could either develop into Rudy Gay or become another Hakim Warrick.

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5) GREG MONROE, SF-PF, Georgetown, (6-10, 247): Monroe is the most versatile big man in the draft and has a game similar to NBA All-Star Chris Bosh. He posted decent stats during his sophomore year at Georgetown despite playing in the rigid Princeton Offense. Monroe is a very good passer for a big man and is very comfortable playing around the perimeter. The Sacramento Kings worked him out and were thoroughly impressed with his shooting range. He was dropping threes from the NBA line. Georgetown players usually do well in the NBA – ex. Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo and Allen Iverson – and Monroe should continue that Hoya tradition.

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4) DERRICK FAVORS, PF, Georgia Tech (6-9, 245): Favors was the MVP of the 2009 McDonald’s High School All-American Game, which included Lance Stephenson, DeMarcus Cousins, Xavier Henry, Avery Bradley and Keith “Tiny” Gallon. Favors shared the spotlight at Georgia Tech with Gani Lawal, another 2010 draft prospect. Favors, 18, can play with his back to the basket or face up and shoot from the free throw line. He added 20 pounds of muscle during his one year at Georgia Tech, and that shows he’s got a great work ethic. Some compare Favors to Amare Stoudemire.

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3) EVAN TURNER, G-F, Ohio State (6-6, 214): A lot of experts compare the 2010 NCAA POY with Portland’s Brandon Roy because of his cool demeanor. Turner is probably the most polished prospect in the draft and could start for most teams right now. He has an NBA-ready mid-range game and can play point guard, shooting guard or small forward. The knocks on Turner are that he appears to be soft and is not a great athlete. But then again, some had those similar reports about Roy.

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2) DEMARCUS COUSINS, C, Kentucky (6-10, 291): Almost all mock drafts have Evan Turner as the second-best player on the board, but I disagree. Cousins has the size and strength to play center in the NBA and could to be a dominant pro. If it wasn’t for his “attitude problem,” he could very well be the No. 1 pick. Cousins is a true low-post player and tenacious rebounder. But there’s a warning label with Cousins. He could be the next Moses Malone or the next Mel Turpin. Most draft boards have Philly selecting Turner, but the Sixers already have a boatload of perimeter players in Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young, Lou Williams and 2009 first-round pick Jrue Holiday. Don’t be surprised if new head coach Doug Collins takes a chance on Cousins.

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1) JOHN WALL, PG, Kentucky (6-3, 195): Wall is an absolute freak: a unique blend of size, speed and athleticism. TNT’s David Aldridge compares Wall to a quicker and more athletic Gary Payton. He just has the “it” factor. He can create his own shot, is fearless going to the basket and has a 6-9 wingspan. His mid-range game and 3-point shot still needs a little work, but so does 90% of the guards in the Association. Wall is brilliant with the ball in the open court and should thrive in an up-tempo system. The Wizards can easily slide Gilbert Arenas to shooting guard and hand the PG duties to Wall and let him run.

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MORE DRAFT OPINIONS:

— Overrated – ERIC BLEDSOE, G, Kentucky (6-0, 191): He’s not a point guard and he’s not a shooting guard. In short, he’s headed for the D-League.

— The best Wildcat other than Wall and Cousins – PATRICK PATTERSON, SF, Kentucky (6-8, 239): More of a power forward than a small forward, but should be a lottery pick.

— Should have stayed in school – DANIEL ORTON, C, Kentucky (6-9, 269): Orton barely played in his one year at CSFP (Calipari School For Pros) and would have greatly benefited is he played another season.

— Potentially great or potentially disastrous – RYAN RICHARDS, PF-C, England (6-10, 230): Did well during the combine, but his lack of experience still scares many scouts.

— Sleeper picks – JON SCHEYER, PG, Duke (6-5, 180) and GREIVIS VASQUEZ, PG, Maryland (6-5, 195): Scheyer is a big-game player who has great size for a point guard. Think J.J. Redick with better handles. Vasquez is a tough, gritty player who won’t back down from a challenge and plays with a chip on his shoulder.

— Best shooter – XAVIER HENRY, SG, Kansas (6-5, 210): Henry and Oklahoma State’s James Anderson are the two best shooters in this year’s class. Henry shot a better percentage from behind the arc and feels more comfortable playing in a halfcourt game.