With 27.7% of the vote, James Bouknight takes the 10th spot on the Kings Herald Draft Board. He joins Alperen Åengün, Franz Wagner, Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga, Scottie Barnes, Jalen Suggs, Jalen Green, Evan Mobley and Cade Cunningham.
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 Monte McNair 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.
This poll ends at 7 AM tomorrow. The next one will begin shortly thereafter. We will go roughly 20 picks deep.
Ya’ll have seen me argue for Ziaire Williams for a few picks now lol. He’s still my pick.
A lot of these guys on the list are on a similar tier for me. Waffled between Ziaire, Keon and Jalen. Tie goes to Ziaire since Bryant likes him. Probably voting for the other two guys next.
Jalen Johnson……………..
not that impressed with the remaining players on the list.
I went with Jalen Johnson, but he scares me a bit. He has the physical tools and I like his defensive potential, I just wonder if he bails on teams if he doesn’t like his situation or the going gets tough (and it will if we take him). Multiple HS teams and he bailed on Duke. He also has the talent to be this year’s Haliburton where he makes the league question how he could drop to us in the mid lottery. Could playing with Hali and Fox help with his approach or will being coached by Luke and the Kings current environment make him want to bolt early?
Yeah, Jalen is terrifying. Especially for people like us that don’t really have the connections or resources to vet him. But on pure talent and physical profile, he’s probably in that 3rd tier with Barnes and Kuminga.
I see a Rudy Gay/Derrick Williams hybrid. Jalen is less springy than those two, but maybe a better ball handler (?) I don’t like that with the 9th pick.
He’s a significantly better passer, ballhandler, and rebounder, and is significantly stronger than either of those guys at the same age.
Not to mention, Rudy Gay would be an exceptional outcome for a #9 pick.
Off-court issues aside, I think the tape on Jalen Johnson just isn’t as good as others believe. I see the transition ability as a grab and go guy, but he can’t really shoot, can’t really defend, and the traits that are receiving all the hype – passing and handling – are only good enough to make him a terciary playmaker at best. I see a lot lower of a ceiling on Jalen than I think we’re all projecting simply because of his terrific frame and solid athleticism. Add all the off-court drama and I’m shoving away from the table.
Yeah, I simply disagree. His shooting is fine for a 6’9 19-year-old. He certainly needs some minor mechanical adjustments and reps, but his release position is nice and his touch is decent. His biggest issues in his shot are the types of things that regularly get fixed. Primarily footwork and release timing. His defense is also fine. He creates events (steals and blocks) at a good rate and has the tools to defend 3-5. And, of course, getting tertiary playmaking out of a 6’9 forward is extremely positive.
There’s no doubt about Jalen Johnson’s abilities on the court. Its the mental aspect that worries a lot of people. He could easily be top 5 in this draft if he probably didn’t quit on Duke and on his H.S team.
I said the same thing above. This conversation was “Off-court issues aside.”
My bad. Didn’t read the first sentence from Jwalker about the “Off-court issues aside”.
Keon and on and on¦
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ZW this time. Keon was a close second. Not sold on Jalen Johnson this high. Maybe in the 20s.
Jalen-Ziaire-Keon or Kai
I like each of their defensive abilities/potential. First two have the skills to blossom in a few years, next two have the athleticism and hopefully develop more offensively in their first few years.
But I really like Moody or Wagner at 9 for us and hope one will be on the boardðð½
I’m super sleep deprived today, so I don’t remember if I voted yet. Usman garuba, if not. I’d like the kings to get him and ziaire with a trade down or trade back in.
If Ziaire impressed during his workout you take him!
Now that Wagner and Bouknight are off the board, give me Ziaire. Extremely high ceiling and perhaps a higher floor than a lot of us believe. Also would’ve argued Sengun here (an 18-year old MVP in a decent league of grown men is not something to sneer at). I see a lot of Jokic in his game – not the quickest, but good footwork and ball skills paired with a bruising strength that always creates just enough separation for the finish/slip pass.
My resistance to DMitchell has gone down considerably, but you have to take ZW at this point.
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