With 75% of the vote, AJ Dybantsa is first off the board for the Kings Herald Community Draft Board!
This is the readership’s opportunity to create a democratic draft board which represents the order in which we as a collective would like the Kings’ draft board to look like. It does not represent the desires of individual writers or fans, but some semblance of the community’s collective thinking.
When a choice comes up, pick who you’d want the Kings to pick given all the players remaining. Note: THIS IS NOT A MOCK DRAFT. This is a draft board, a ranked list of prospects you’d like to see the Kings pick. In other words, if we were the Kings front office, when our pick came up, we’d take the top name left on our board. So pick your choice, not who you think Scott Perry or anyone else would choose in a slot.
Explain your choice in the comments, and lobby for who should be added to the next pick’s choices. We’ll be doing this every weekday morning over the next few weeks.
Going with Cam Boozer here. I have had Darryn Peterson #2 for a lot of the time but I can’t ignore that almost every statistic shows that Cam Boozer is the best player in this draft, and I’m a little worried about Peterson’s injury history. But again this is why I was so hopeful for landing in the top 4 this year because any of these guys would have been absolutely awesome. So of course we screw ourselves down the stretch by winning some meaningless games. Glad we’re building a “winning culture” though.
Same. I also don’t think it’s just Peterson “injury history,” it’s also the narrative around it. Debilitating whole body cramps because of excess creatine that required hospitalization? There is more to the story then is being let on, IMO.
He’s also just a true SG that hasn’t shown the abilities to facilitate make those around him better. I’m not too high on that skillset of players these days. He may eventually lead the league in scoring like a Tracy McGrady or Carmelo Anthony type player, but do those dudes win in today’s NBA?
IMO, Peterson may become the falling knife of this draft. The night before the draft in 2013 ESPN had Ben McLemore going #1 and being touted as the next Ray Allen. He fell to the Kings at #7 and we all know how that went.
Going with Boozer.
Peterson’s style of play reminds me a lot of…Zach Lavine! Scores and basically nothing else. Peterson is probably a better defender than LaVine (it’s hard NOT to be).
DP situation is weird all around. Arguably most talented player in the draft but was KO’d multiple times by creatine. Bill Self was beyond frustrated but he had teammate support. He played as a SG but is saying he’s a PG. Too many question marks for me.
what would you do if Peterson falls to 7?
Flip side, Hali fell to 12th. It all depends on whether you catch the knife by the handle or the blade.
I too have Boozer here. I have trouble digesting the notion that the youngest player in this draft lacks upside. Players can play. And this kid is a player.
Fair point, but I don’t think Hali “fell.” Just like Kobe and Giannis didn’t fall. I was stoked to get Hali back in 2020 as he was high on my board, but I don’t think anyone had him mocked at #1 or #2 like Peterson is now.
I will say, our community here at TKH, if I recall correctly, had Hali at #5 on our board. Love you all!
Yeah, I know. Maybe I’ll feel good knowing that we won meaningless games at the end of last season while watching all of these other dudes blossom into superstars. I’ll always remember those meaningless games.
Look. I’m sucker for a beautiful floater.
Peterson.
He is nice with it, that’s for damn sure
I am going with Boozer.. he is a smart player and he can hit the 3, good passer and excellent footwork. Wilson is next
Boozer. Seems like a steady presence on the court. Does a bit of everything. Smart player. He can probably be penciled in for 18pts/10rebs/3ast each game.
The Kings can’t afford to swing and miss on another high draft pick. They at least need to hit a double in the draft. Boozer seems like a sure bet to have a high floor.
From where I am
It’s gotta be Cam!
At #2
Cam just won’t do.
Don’t be a loser, pick up Boozer.
BoooooooZerrrrrrrrrr
Cam Boozer. Even though we have Domas and Max, Boozer is too talented, developed, and accomplished to push further down the draft board. A lower ceiling than Caleb Wilson but 2 floors higher as it stands now.
One thing that gives me pause on Wilson is that he has some fundamental flaws on defense when it comes to technique. He has been able to mask those shortcomings with his crazy length and athleticism to this point, but the NBA is a different game than College and High School.
I see the vision and “potential”, and I have seen that play out many times, often poorly. I would still take him because he could be an amazing player. But the risk is there, for sure.
No doubt. Goes back to the classic “athlete” vs “player” debate. Wilson is obviously much more than just an athlete, but his player canvas still has more white space than Boozer. I just think he has a bigger canvas than Boozer. Risk/reward. Just matters which GM is holding the paintbrush. Unfortunately for Wilson (and most players ever drafted), who they are meets the reality of the franchise drafting them. Rarely is a 19 year old’s future impervious to the organization selecting them.
We are an unstable organization that struggles with developing talent. Golden State is a stable organization that struggles with developing talent. Spurs/OKC are stable and successful with developing talent. I’m not sure who is unstable but successful at developing talent, but my overall point is…in the right situation he should flourish. Still always a gamble.
Its Boozer to me. Just an all around player that will make everone around him better. A Domas with longer arms and can shoot better.
I’m going with Wilson because of his upside and how I think this organization should be planning for 3-4 years from now. But Peterson is probably next because he’s very Kangzy and would fit great with the organization.
OT: interesting wrinkle. Utah is to work out Mikel Brown Jr. by the end of this week. This is the first workout of a projected top 10 pick, and it’s with the Jazz who pick #2.
So your saying that they feel gracious and are going to swap picks with us and it will only our 7th, 45th and Carter … of course the dismissive little chap will still pick ACUFF
LOL, no, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Ainge is looking at getting a pick between #7-#12 to select a guy like Mikel.
Those picks belong to the Kings, Hawks, Mavs, Bucks, Dubs, and OKC. We know Utah has had Lauri on the block for years. I bet Ainge would dangle Lauri for one of those picks and more. This is especially true if the Jazz select Boozer at #2. Any of those teams would listen to an offer for Lauri, but as I said yesterday, I’d like to get JJJ for the #7
one of my basketball junkie friends who has been watching Louisville games his whole life has Mikel Brown ranked 4 on his board.
Ainge is as smart as they get. Remember, he traded the #1 pick for the #3 back in 2017 to land Tatum. The dude basically built a title team with Garnet, tore it down, and built another one with Tatum all in the same span while the Kings sat on their thumbs.
I wouldn’t put anything past him, and I’d hate to negotiate a trade with him.
JJJ would be a perfect fit next to Sabonis
OT: Mike Brown thanking Vivek for firing him in the classiest way (“giving me an opportunity…just didn’t work out”).
On the inside, he probably meant “You are an idiot for firing me, letting go of my staff, and losing Fox for an untradeable contract. Look where Foxy and I are now? Hahahaha, you buffoon of an owner.”
“Those two fools are still working, while I am in the middle of yet another extended vacation. Crazy like a fox? In the words of my late great mentor Ernie Pantusso, ‘Crazy like a doorknob!'”
What a punchable face!
I’m kind of disgusted by how some people in the (local) media are now acting as if Brown was the greatest coach the Kings ever had and how completely devastated they were when he was let go.
Also, I think many people do not understand the size of the talent gap between the Beam team and the current Knicks team.
It’s like they forgot how frustrated they were with Brown’s rotations, and how players would get in the “dog house” for weeks, then suddenly play 30mpg for the next 4 games, followed by DNP-CDs.
Voting Wilson because his camp has been posting all of these clips of him hitting threes like crazy in shootarounds. I think he has been putting in a lot of work on his three while injured.
I am wary of shootaround clips after seeing Sauce Castillo shoot what was it…30 treys in a row? We all know how that turned out
Let’s not forget that sword has 2 edges, tho. People really should have paid more attention to Haliburton’s clips. His shooting form was super suspect and the media talked all month before the draft about how it was a hinderance to his ability to be enough of a scorer. Meanwhile his workout highlights on youtube were just nothing but makes for days; dribble pull ups, turn-arounds, set shots, 3’s, mids, shooting lights out. Turns out his ugly ass form works just fine for him.
Haliburton shot well during his college career. He had ugly form with proven results. Wilson made 7 threes over 750 minutes played. His workout videos might be more akin to Ben Simmons.
At #2 the only player with the upside of the #1 pick IMO is Caleb Wilson. He already looks like a young Jermaine O’Neal. He moves like a young Shaun Kemp at times. He’s got potential for days. And yeah, it comes at a decent enough risk. And I could just take Cam Boozer and be happy for the next 10 years with the guy we want Keegan Murry to be (kinda, sorta, you know what I mean.) But man, Jer’Shawn Kemp’Neal is about all you could want for a franchise cornerstone 4/5. I’d take a chance on the health aspect for the gains should he pan out. That’s playoffs for days if you find him a rock of a pg, no pun intended.
How young?
Badge Legend