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2021 Kings Herald Draft Board: Pick No. 14

Kai Jones is off the board.
By | 41 Comments | Jul 23, 2021

Mar 7, 2021; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns forward Kai Jones (22) dunks during the second half against the TCU Horned Frogs at Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

With 28.8% of the vote, Kai Jones takes the 13th spot on the Kings Herald Draft Board.  He joins Jalen Johnson, Zaire Williams, James Bouknight, Alperen Şengün, 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 on Monday.  We will go roughly 20 picks deep.

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KingsFanKrish
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July 23, 2021 8:32 am

If the Kings could trade back to #14 and still land Kai Jones I would be all for it.

andy_sims
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July 23, 2021 8:44 am

Took Keon mainly for his defensive abilities, and him having the length to play the wing. He’s like most of the rest at this point: There are holes in his game, and his shot needs work, but he’s probably the second-best athlete after Jalen Green.

He’s basically Gerald Wallace as a rookie, and there are worse places to start an NBA career.

BestHyperboleEver
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July 23, 2021 9:38 am
Reply to  andy_sims

I’ve seen a couple mocks with Keon dropping into the 20s. Which is a bit crazy to me. I honestly think with an offseason or two to work on footwork, both his shot and his separation ability are going to leap. I think I’ve said elsewhere, that if I’m looking a small wings, I’d take Keon over Bouknight.

Hamlet1989
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July 23, 2021 9:44 am

I agree based on what I’ve seen he looks like an NBA player (makes me think of D. Wade). His passing and overall feel for the game are being overlooked here. He isn’t JUST an incredible athlete.

jwalker1395
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July 23, 2021 10:19 am

I’ve had Keon as a 15-20ish guy in this draft ever since people were talking about him as top 8. I think you’re right that he could be good, but I wouldn’t be willing to take on a project based purely on athleticism until the back end of the first.

BestHyperboleEver
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July 23, 2021 10:30 am
Reply to  jwalker1395

Yeah, I get the hesitation, but that’s kinda where we are. I have no idea who you’ve voted for or plan to, but Kai Jones just went off the board. Garuba is on it. Both those guys are at least as much of projects based purely on athleticism as Keon. I’ll also point out that Keon is a MUCH more skilled and polished player than Mitchell was at the same age. Heck, he’s a much more skilled and polished player than Mitchell was last year.

I should add for reference that I did say IF I were targeting a small wing, I would take Keon over Bouknight. But I probably wouldn’t take either of them before this mid-teens range in the draft.

Last edited 2 years ago by BestHyperboleEver
richie88
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July 23, 2021 11:35 pm

It’s easiest for me to imagine Garuba being an elite defender.

Hamlet1989
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July 23, 2021 8:49 am

Jerry Reynold’s and I think Mitchell should have been off the board a long time ago. Obviously he has his flaws but, is there anyone out there willing to actually take up the case for why he isn’t a lottery pick?

Hamlet1989
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July 23, 2021 8:50 am
Reply to  Hamlet1989

“You can always trade talent” J.R.

Hobby916
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July 23, 2021 8:55 am
Reply to  Hamlet1989

Measured 6’0 with a 6’4 wingspan. Hard to draft a PG in the lottery that is undersized these days. Not saying he won’t be good, but I think most teams bank on the bigger players and their projected potential. I think last year there were somewhere around 30 players that were 6’0 and under. The path to becoming really good at that height is very difficult. (Chris Paul does so many things exceptionally well and he is the outlier in this scenario)

Hamlet1989
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July 23, 2021 8:59 am
Reply to  Hobby916

Well done! It still sounds like rationalization when the numbers that matter are on the scoreboard.

Hobby916
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July 23, 2021 9:05 am
Reply to  Hamlet1989

I don’t get the sarcasm being added here. I merely answered by providing what I have heard and seen. He very well might be good. I have no opinion on whether he will be or not.

Hamlet1989
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July 23, 2021 10:12 am
Reply to  Hobby916

I didn’t mean to be sarcastic. I thought you gave a strong, concise opinion which I happen to disagree with. I appreciate your take and I like that you gave #s to back it up, I just don’t think those are the #s that matter.

BestHyperboleEver
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July 23, 2021 9:21 am
Reply to  Hamlet1989

There are heaps of players that put up as good or better college careers than Mitchell and didn’t succeed in the NBA. Heck, the winningest college player ever is Przemek Karnowski. Our own (NBA Champion) Justin Jackson won 92 games in 3 years (to Mitchell’s 93 in 4), made the championship twice, and won it once.

Hamlet1989
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July 23, 2021 10:21 am

I don’t see J.J. as a relevant comp.. What your saying is true , and Mitchell could bust sure, I think that, as Jerry says “He’ll find a way.”
One thing I think we may be able to agree on is the Kings don’t have a defender at the point of attack who will get into a defenders chest and play physical the way Mitchell did at Baylor. We’ll see if it translates, or not.

Hamlet1989
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July 23, 2021 10:43 am
Reply to  Hamlet1989

I see where you are going with the J.J. comp. as upper-classmen who won NCAA championships, but that’s where the comp. ends. J.J. is a completely different player with a completely different (and always questionable) role. Mitchell is a point guard. J.J. always had questions about how he would fit in the NBA. Never really was an NBA body, didn’t look the part. Mitchell is a bit undersized, but there are guys with his body type who are currently All-Stars, and with his level of physicality and athleticism, I don’t believe he’ll fail to be a good player despite the size disadvantage.

BestHyperboleEver
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July 23, 2021 11:04 am
Reply to  Hamlet1989

Oh, they’re absolutely different players. That was a response to your statement that it’s the numbers on the scoreboard that matter. Though I’m not sure I’d agree that Mitchell has any more of an NBA body than Jackson. Obviously in very different ways. Without looking, I would guess there are more players succeeding in the NBA at Jackson’s size than there are at Mitchell’s size. I’m certainly not saying Jackson was a great prospect. In fact, I think if you dug through the annals (the second n is vital) of the site that shall not be named, you’d find that I was probably the low man on Jackson as a prospect. He was only presented as an example of college team wins not being a good measure of NBA potential.

Hamlet1989
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July 23, 2021 10:26 am

As I scroll through the comment section, I usually stop at your posts because they are some of the most insightful and well-founded. Thanks for your reply.

BestHyperboleEver
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July 23, 2021 10:32 am
Reply to  Hamlet1989

Thanks. appreciate your approach as well. Ultimately, I think this is more about just what I look for in a prospect simply doesn’t match up all that well with Mitchell’s profile.

Last edited 2 years ago by BestHyperboleEver
Hamlet1989
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July 23, 2021 11:16 am

I think this is as strong an argument as any, and perhaps revealing. It’s more the type of answer I would expect. I think Tyrese just didn’t quite match the profile GMs were looking for last year and so he fell even though almost everyone had him as a top 5 talent. Some passed on him having him as top 2-3 on their board. Everyone was surprised he fell so far, but as high as he was on everyone’s list, he wasn’t #1 on anyone’s until it got to the Kings. None of the GMs who let him fall so far chose to say it was right for him to fall so far. And I didn’t really expect anyone to justify Mitchell falling all the way out of the lottery. I more expected “Well he just wasn’t what I was looking for” So it’s interesting.

Hamlet1989
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July 23, 2021 11:20 am
Reply to  Hamlet1989

By revealing, I mean it may prove prescient and point to a fall for Mitchell on draft night.

BestHyperboleEver
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July 23, 2021 11:22 am
Reply to  Hamlet1989

All true. The the interesting thing is that Tyrese and Davion are kind of polar opposites as PG prospects. And personally, Haliburton falls right in line with what I generally look for in a prospect.

Hamlet1989
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July 23, 2021 11:28 am

I see this as an argument for his fit with the Kings. He may work as a third guard who brings a different element of toughness off the bench. The one really worrying critique of a Fox/Haliburton back-court is the lack of physicality.

BestHyperboleEver
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July 23, 2021 8:58 am
Reply to  Hamlet1989

The fact that he’s an undersized, one-position PG that doesn’t show much high level facilitation ability? I generally also give a little side-eye to huge jumps in shooting percentage as a senior, but even if you believe in his shooting, the pathway to being a high impact player for a 6’0 3-and-D PG isn’t especially clear.

Hamlet1989
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July 23, 2021 9:00 am

I guess we will see!

Hamlet1989
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July 23, 2021 9:02 am

“I like him because he can stay in front of you and you can’t stay in front of him, and sometimes it’s that simple!” J.R.

BestHyperboleEver
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July 23, 2021 9:31 am
Reply to  Hamlet1989

Eh, I love Jerry, but it’s rarely that simple. Especially the way NBA teams lean on PnR and hunt mismatches these days.

Look, I don’t dislike Mitchell. He’s a fun guy to watch and incredible likable as a player. I just think the case against him as a lottery talent is pretty easy to make.

SuperShaka
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July 23, 2021 9:38 am

I don’t know that he’s a one position player. He showed the ability to effectively guard larger players like Moses Moody and Cade Cunningham among others.
An interesting measurement to me is that Davion’s standing reach is only 0.5 inches shorter than Keon Johnson’s. Not that it means anything.

BestHyperboleEver
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July 23, 2021 10:13 am
Reply to  SuperShaka

It means something. But no, not much, especially on the perimeter where wingspan means more than standing reach.

As for guarding Cade and Moses, he showed some flashes of being able to hassle them on the perimeter. That said, Baylor and Mitchell didn’t really slow Cade down. Moody certainly struggled with him, but Moody struggled equally against Oral Roberts. Moody had a handful of games through the season where he did that. He specifically struggled with quick defenders that get up into his body on the perimeter (Keon also really got to him).

I’m not really challenging Davion’s perimeter 1v1 defending. With his quickness and mentality, he can stay with anyone. The question is what happens when he’s dealing with NBA size/skill combinations and NBA offensive actions.

Hobby916
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July 23, 2021 10:17 am

I remember hearing when IT was with the Kings that other teams yelled “just shoot over him” during games. IT was smaller than Mitchell, but I think the same premise will apply when he gets switched onto the longer wings/forwards. Hand in the stomach is not as good as hand in the face when contesting a shot.

BestHyperboleEver
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July 23, 2021 10:36 am
Reply to  Hobby916

I mean, Davion will be a much better defender than IT. I think he’ll be a useful rotation player in the NBA. I’m just afraid that his ceiling is probably a quality back-up PG and defensive specialist. IF he’s going to be a decent starter on a good team it means, A) you have to have a non-PG primary ballhandler. And probably another non-PG ballhandler on the court as well. B) your other perimeter players have to be versatile multiposition defenders. and C) you have to have smart, quick bigs that are able to help on the inevitable defensive mismatches.

Hobby916
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July 23, 2021 10:20 am
Reply to  SuperShaka

We also just saw what the Bucks did with their length. Holiday, Middleton, Giannis, Portis, Connaughton, Lopez are very long for their position, and they take up lots of space on the court. The size simply makes running around the court for the offense much more difficult because there is less open space to go through.

Hamlet1989
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July 23, 2021 9:20 am

If I have the pick at #9, I’m taking 1 of the top 5 or Moody, Barnes, Mitchell, or if I’m not impressed with either Johnson’s workout/interview, then I look at trading down and taking the best big to fall between Jones, Sengun, Garuba.

andy_sims
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July 23, 2021 10:46 am
Reply to  Hamlet1989

If anyone wants to work out with Johnson, you can reach me via Craigslist.

RAP87
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July 23, 2021 9:48 am

Now that JJ and Kai is off the board. At pick 14, I’m willing to take a shot at Josh Giddey. Probably has the biggest potential aside from Keon. 18 year old with an exceptional basketball IQ, passing skills and looks like a player who loves to play winning basketball.

jwalker1395
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July 23, 2021 10:18 am

Y’all are gonna put some RESPECK on Davion Mitchell’s name!!!!

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TheGrantNapear
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July 23, 2021 10:26 am

According to Stein, the W’s looking to trade 7 and 14 in a deal for a star. I don’t think they have the ammo to trade for a star. They’d be better off using the two picks separately to obtain a starter/rotational player.
I still think Barnes for 14 and salary makes sense for both teams.

andy_sims
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July 23, 2021 10:48 am
Reply to  TheGrantNapear

I think they’d definitely need to throw in someone already on the roster if they expect to get upper-end talent for those picks.

Carl
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July 23, 2021 12:30 pm
Reply to  andy_sims

Agreed. They’re going to have to include Wiseman to even have a chance, assuming Curry, Thompson and Green are off the table.

eddie41
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July 23, 2021 1:51 pm

Most overrated and overhyped draft class in nba history.

richie88
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July 23, 2021 11:43 pm
Reply to  eddie41

The Wiggins/Parker draft class was probably the most the most overhyped draft class (Embiid & Jokic prop it up, but Jokic lasted to the 2nd round).

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