With 41.3% of the vote, A.J. Griffin is next up off the board. He joins Dyson Daniels, Bennedict Mathurin, Keegan Murray, Jaden Ivey, Shaedon Sharpe, Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren and Jabari Smith Jr.
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 5 AM tomorrow. The next one will begin shortly thereafter. We will go roughly 20 picks deep.
Sochan, again…Defense, cutting, play making upside.
Sochan for me again too. He can already come in and give something the team needs on Day 1 – Defense from the wing position. I feel at his young age and being around playmakers like Sabonis and Fox, he’ll get good shots and open looks, which should help his offensive development.
Development. A curse word here in Kings country.
Today’s a new day! We can turn this development thing around!
Sochan or Eason at this point.
I’ve recently rethought my selection of Sochan here. He’s going to be in the NBA for a long time, but I just don’t see enough upside with his limited shooting and playmaking on the offensive end. I see a rotation forward, and I’d rather take a bigger swing at this point in the lottery.
For that reason, I’d go with Dieng. He’s a smooth, long, wing who has tremendous passing feel and can guard 1-3, and maybe 1-4 one day. He’ll need to add some weight and improve his shooting percentages, but I buy the mechanics. If he can do that, Dieng is one of the last remaining players I believe has star potential.
Dieng is intriguing, but his shooting is legit terrible. He’s 6’9″ which presumes he should be able to get good looks from the paint and midrange, and his FG% is under 36%. That’s concerning.
It’s all a crapshoot, but just in comparison to Sochan, Dieng doesn’t shine much. Sochan is a far better rebounder, has a better assist rate than Dieng, who is discussed as a point forward TS%/EFG% both favor Sochan, and he also gets to the line at about three times Dieng’s rate. One of the knocks on Dieng is that he avoids contact at the rim, which is a real problem when your shooting numbers from the field are pretty bad.
It’s all apples and oranges, of course, they’re different kinds of players, competed against different levels of talent, and no team is likely to be looking at both with the same level of interest. I do think Dieng has a real opportunity to have a nice career, but as with Sochan and many others, it’s incredibly difficult to project what he may become in the NBA.
Sochan’s shooting is also pretty bad, but he shows a lot of promise in several other areas. If he stays aggressive going to the hoop, with his strength and bounce, he can still contribute early in his career.
Dieng improved massively the 2nd half of his season, the first 11 game split vs back 11 are incredible.
From Denver Stiffs blog:
“In his first 11 games with the Breakers he only put up 4 points per game, 2.1 rebounds per game, 0.9 assists per game, and 0.3 steals and blocks per game. He did this on just 24.6% from the field and 15.4% from 3.
In the last 11 games of his season he increased his averages to 14.2 points per game, 4.4 rebounds per game, 1.4 assists per game, and 1.6 steals and blocks per game. All while shooting 48.4% from the field and 35.7% from 3
I think looking at the 2nd half probably is more realistic for a kid his age.
All this being said I think this is still to early for him, I’m thinking mid to late teens for Dieng.
Yup. And with that demonstrated growth against a higher level of competition, I’m really buying the upside. If he could replicate those 2nd half numbers in the NBA and defend at the level he already does, he’s gonna be a two-way stud. Not many guys left in this draft past #10 that I think you can say the same for. To me, he has one of the highest ceilings in the draft period.
I figure by #10, you’re looking at a player who will be something of a project, and not a quick fix. On that criteria, I take Sochan. He’s got a lot of work to do, but he seems like he could become very good in several different facets of the game. In the meantime, he hustles on defense, and that’ll work as a foundation until he adjusts to the NBA.
At 10 they need to get something from a draft pick. If that means a good defender with some playmaking upside, then at least it is a rotational piece. Not someone like Papa G, Justin Jackson, etc.
Once again, I’m going w/Sochan for his defense & playmaking.
I can’t believe that we let Eastern Conference Champion Nik Stauskas go.
Kangz.
And NBA Champ Justin Jackson last year!
Sac just holdin’ them back!
Davis – I think he’d be much higher on everyone’s lists had he not injured his ankle late in the season. Played through it, too.
He is next for me. I think he will be a guy that has people wondering why they evaluated him low over the course of the next few years.
35% usage and their best defender. Hard to keep that up for an entire season.
He’s next on my list after Sochan.
I was shocked by his rebounding numbers when I looked at them the other day. I could see a team like OKC hoping he’d drop to 12.
Hey now! I was just reading the other day (I forgot where) that there my be a team or two sold in the coming months as there is speculation of expansion coming. The idea was to buy into the club before there was another spike in valuations due to expansion and revenue from that.
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1532439222958837769
I’m glad Seattle is a front runner on the list of locations being considered.
Definitely less enthused that LV is the other front runner, for a number of reasons.
I’d prefer Vancouver to LV. I’m guessing that the people who are bidding to become owners will probably be as important as the markets they represent.
Yeah, I’m not of fan of Vegas either. My dad has lived there since 1990 so I’ve been been there a lot and find the place a bit soul sucking. I’d imagine more than half of the seats in the arena would be owned and/or comped tickets from casinos. I think it would lack a true fan experience.
The one thing that would be interesting to see how it plays out is the media rights to Vegas by the Lakers and Clippers. Anyone putting a team there is gonna have to pay fortune to get those rights. Vegas is basically an extension of the L.A. market.
I’d personally like to see Seattle and Vancouver come back, but that is more for personal reasons. It helps the NBA right some wrongs and gives Canada another team. Maybe then the League could move Minny and Memphis to the Eastern Conference.
If they’re as successful as the Golden Knights, 🤮 they’ll have a true fan experience (though it’ll be weirdly different).
I also hope that Seattle & Vancouver are the expansion cities. However, they could only move 1 team to the East if they put 2 teams to the West. Minny’s the biggest outlier in the West, so moving them to the East should be the top priority.
Agreed. Plus, Minny would make for good rivalries with the Bucks and Bulls being so close.
Yeah, they’re natural rivals in the NFL & it seems like they’d be natural rivals if the NBA put them in the same division.
I don’t know if the NBA is that eager to get back into the Vancouver market. I don’t know what it is, but my sneaking suspicion is the market was somewhat lukewarm to the Grizzlies from the beginning and the horrible basketball management killed whatever real interest there was long term. The NBA has never really tried to get back there.
I’m guessing things could go differently if a Vancouver team had a good FO. Like Toronto, there are a lot of immigrants in Vancouver & I bet they’d like basketball.
I can guarantee you that nobody owns those rights. Vegas is a separate market. It’s not like either the Lakers or Clippers are moving to Vegas so the issue is moot.
New Orleans, the Texas teams and OKC would also probably prefer to be in the Eastern Conference, too. But as it happens, sometimes teams start in one conference and end up in another. Conference switches happen pretty much every time there’s an expansion team, and usually it’s because a team wants to end up in the Eastern Conference. The last team to switch conference was the New Orleans (then) Hornets in 2004 when the (then) Charlotte Bobcats were an expansion team in the Eastern Conference and the Hornets went into the Western Conference.
Vegas is currently in the LA tv market in terms of basketball. Every Lakers and Clippers game is shown there. Any team going there would be taking away that tv revenue from the LA teams.
That doesn’t mean that the Lakers & Clippers have territorial rights to LV.
Is there any way for LA to claim that Las Vegas is a local market of theirs? It’s not like Las Vegas is Temecula or San Bernadino or Bakersfield. It’s not a local market, and nobody can claim a place 250 miles away is part of the market.
They televise there because there are a lot of SoCal expat’s in LV and that seems to be the biggest market there on local TV. But it’s not a territory of either LA team, I can assure you.
OTOH, this does not apply to MLB, but then again there are also 6 teams that claim LV as a local market (all 5 CA teams plus AZ– huzzah anti-trust exemption!). So don’t use that as your reasoning either. MLB just has stupid territorial restrictions to begin with.
It looks like NBA teams can generally claim territory that’s 150 miles away from them.
https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2016/02/22/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/NBA-territory.aspx
Since LV’s more than 150 miles away from LA, it sounds like it shouldn’t be part of their territory.
I’ve spent a ton of time in Vegas (far too much time) and Cox Cable carries all the Laker games with local advertising as sponsors of the Lakers. There is definitely a contact there for those games. If a new team moves into that area they can no longer show the Lakers games on local cable affiliates. Any team going there would likely have to pay to break those contracts.
It may not be territorial rights, but the Lakers are currently in contract with Vegas carriers.
Maybe they arrange expansion there for when those contracts are up?
This isn’t important. Las Vegas is not part of the LA market. However you slice it.
While I could see a contract for the Lakers and Cox, I’m sure there are contingencies such as an expansion team.
The Lakers cannot make a credible market claim in LV no matter how popular they are there.
Presumably there’s a clause that addresses expansion. Also, there’s a possibility that Cox could carry the games for a NBA team in LV & sponsor that team.
“Presumably and possibly,” but all I can tell you is Las Vegas airs every single Lakers game with local sponsors on their cable affiliate.
I’m not saying anything is certain, but I’d imagine the Lakers and the Clippers would have point (and money) to make if Vegas got a team.
The Giants do the same thing in Carson City. I’ve seen as much when I’m in Tahoe and Reno.
No matter how cute you are about it Adam, Carson City ain’t never gonna be Frisco.
Yes, I realize that’s not the best example necessarily, but it does happen. Hell, the Giants have a local radio affiliate in Hillsboro OREGON. You know where HIllsboro is? It’s a suburb of Portland, for those unaware.
Again, I know MLB is different than the NBA in every way. My point here is that just because there are local sponsors for Lakers games doesn’t mean the Lakers have territorial rights. It means the Lakers are a heavily saturated very popular team (as you would expect) and their tentacles reach very far. That’s about all it really means.
Is there anyway for you to show that shit speculation you spew is true?
A NBA team’s territory only extends for 150 miles unless there are special circumstances that don’t seem to apply to the LA teams & LV.
https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2016/02/22/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/NBA-territory.aspx
This explains where they can market their team. This does not explain if any team has any claim to the LV market.
Easily done. Care to show that anything you just said is factual?
Whoa. That’s a lot of $ for the Blazers.
And Jody Allen, in her infinitismal greedy way, will try to get 3 billion.
$2B is already more than I’d expect her to be paid for the Blazers. $3B is ridiculously greedy.
That’s Jody Allen. And they are selling the Seahawks, too.
Should she try to set the market price lower?
I wouldn’t push my luck if I was her. $2B is already more than I’d expect someone to pay for the Blazers.
If she can get $3B why not? The NBA and the owners want her to keep the price high as well.
Basic
I doubt she can get $3B. I can’t imagine anyone other than Knight being willing to pay $2B for the Blazers, much less $3B.
Only one way to find out.
If I was Knight I’d lower my offer to 1.5 billion just to say “Fuck you and you Seattle asshole Vulcan motherfuckers. You be the assclowns that let the Blazers leave PDX for your greed.’
But I’m a spiteful guy. And I know how uncomfortable the Vulcan-Blazers dynamic has always been. People outside of Portland and Seattle rarely understand that.
Sochan all the way. He’s my 2022 draft crush. 😍
instant fan favorite in Sacramento with a ton of upside. Kings fans notoriously love players that hustle and play HARD. I think that’s Sochan. All these guys need to get better at everything. Sochan included. The thing is, Sochan is already better at many many things than almost all these guys being mentioned in this range. The fact that he doesn’t have very good shooting from deep is the one and only thing keeping him outside of the top 7. If he was shooting 35% from 3 he might even squeak into the top 5.
That said, I have more faith in a guy improving his deep ball shooting to 35% than a guy who lacks hustle, absolutely sucks on D and isn’t much of a creator. If I’m choosing between good shooting only or well rounded player that needs to work on his shot I’m going with the latter all day every. Twice on draft day. 😉
I think Sochan has all the makings to be a Draymond Green type. Emphasis on type. Lock down defender of multiple positions, intense motor, good creator, someone who loves to do the dirty work and get physical.
sign me up!! Well worth the gamble.
Ten would be too high, but I think EJ Liddell could become the Draymond-type player you discuss. Very good facilitator, good on-ball defense, and also has the range to spread the floor when he isn’t beating up defenders in the paint. He’s also a very effective shot-blocker, particularly for only being 6’7″.
Not that any of this has anything to do with anything.
Liddell is #12 on my board. Think he makes an impact immediately and his defense, shooting, and playmaking makes him an extremely intriguing frontcourt player.
A draft would have to be really deep for a Draymond-like player to be its 10th best player.
I dunno, Draymond-like isn’t Draymond, and even he couldn’t crack the first round, let alone the lottery. If these guys don’t manage to be consistent scorers, but can anchor a defense, you’ve got a Matisse Thuyblle on your hands. Probably not a lottery pick, but certainly an important part of a good team.
I don’t think Liddell is going to have much trouble scoring and rebounding in the NBA, he’s been very consistent against high-level competition.
Ah. I thought Draymond-like meant having the potential to have a Draymond-like impact in games (though I don’t think that’d be the most likely outcome for Liddell & it sounds like his game won’t necessarily be like Draymond’s game). Draymond would be a lotto pick if his draft was redone.
I went Sochan. Mostly because so many here seem to think he’s got a ton of upside. I’m way out of my prognostication comfort zone at this point but what little I’ve read on him seems to be consistent with what’s being said here, so…chan.
Quick add –
I see a lot of folks talking about what person x could bring to the Kings from day 1 and I feel like this is going a little outside of the assignment. Meaning the Kings aren’t picking 10th, so this pick wouldn’t ever see the light of home team locker room, hypothetically speaking, since we have the 4th pick. So I haven’t necessarily been considering a particular candidates fit with our team, just ranking them in order of who I think are the better players, 1-10 (which is about as far as my knowledge goes on this class, really.)
Just an observation / critique on how some folks seem to be approaching this.
Of those listed, I chose Jalen Duren. He is young (the youngest?) and has Man Body. The comparisons on the boards for him are Dwight Howard, Andre Drummond, DeAndre Jordan.
Kings Comparison: A taller Brian Grant(?)
I do think Duren is going to become a very good player in the DeAndre Jordan mold, which some may take as a criticism, but it’s not meant to be. He’s going to anchor a pretty good defense one of these days, and if he can be surrounded with shooters, that’s a team that could make a lot of noise.
Duren will certainly be a good player but he’s a dying breed. If this were the early 2000s then Duren is probably getting talked about as No. 1 overall. Not sure how much impact he’ll have in the modern game when guys like DJ, Dwight, Drummond, Whiteside, etc. all get spot minutes these days.
DeAndre Ayton, Kevin Looney, Clint Capella, Robert Williams III are all getting heavy talk as Playoffs and Free Agency are intermixed. There is a place on a team – maybe not as the focal point, but still important as shooters need rebounders and defenders.
He’s not a dying breed. A guy that can clean up the boards and play interior defense always has value. Have you watched Looney in the playoffs?
Looney is a bad example, as GS would be much better off, (and maybe won last night) had they cashed-in Wiseman, Moody, Kuminga, for a win-now trade. Looney may cost them another ring because he is not a starting caliber center. Oops!
It’s interesting, though, because Joel Embiid is certainly a starting-caliber center, All-NBA, and All-Star.
Looney has more rings, though. He’s the kind of center that GSW needs. Never needs the ball on offense, rebounds and defends well, and focuses on the things he does well, and which contribute to team success.
I’d imagine that Embiid would be very good as a Warriors player, although even Kevin Durant being on the roster couldn’t guarantee a title. Looney isn’t the main cog, but he frees everyone else up to do what they do so well. Sometimes fit is more important than talent.
Embiid would be great on any roster to say the least and did you really say Kevin Durant couldn’t guarantee a title. You might check the record on that one. Very confusing post to put it politely.
To me, this is wisdom. The very good and great teams find ways to make their puzzle pieces excel to complete and compete. The contending teams are not a collection of All-Stars. Higher level talent, but it all needs to fit.
Winning teams make winning players.
When you have a talent poor team and poor management (Owner-GM-Coaching) they are tasking players to perform above and beyond their skill levels. It is my concern for any draft choice that Sac makes. I believe GM McNair agrees and chooses the Haliburton, Mitchell players he has (lucky with Hali, of course, as he dropped).
My room temperature hot take.
Yet, there are only two teams still playing. One is giving Looney 20+ minutes a game and the other got there giving Robert Williams III around 30 minutes a game. The simple fact that we’re discussing their performance at this point in the season contradicts the idea that players in that role are obsolete.
Well given there are payroll limitations, I think Looney at $5 million is pretty good value and to suggest his skillset is obsolete is ludicrous.
What is the community take on this draft? Weak, Average, Above Average?
It seems a “less than” grouping than the last few years, particularly after the top 6-7 (Smith, Holmgren, Banchero, Ivey, Murray, Mathurin, and then Sharpe. Of course, who knows how many will be the Giannis, Klay, Devin, Draymond, DeJaunte or Jokic of this draft.
And given that whomever the Kings select has to make their way through a Sacramento system that has more failures and disappointments than successes and surprises through the Ranadive regime.
If Sac can keep GM McNair, HC Brown for an extended period – four or more years, I am optimistic that if that grouping can also have a player development system which extends to the Stockton team as well, that the Kings can progress to a winning franchise. Amazingly, despite consistently poor outcomes, Ownership can’t make this happen, can’t learn from their mistakes. They hire children with no experience, they hire advanced stat people and they wonder wonder wonder. Do these draft choices matter when it’s either a home run or a strike out? And you are 0-16 when at the plate (0-9 with Vivek)? Sigh.
You don’t like the past couple of first-rounders? The credit may all be McNair’s, but he didn’t just show up one day and move into the GM’s office.
I speak from experience: They do not like it if you try that.
The top of the draft seems a little below average, but the middle-late 1st round seems better than usual. The Kings have made many mistakes WRT the draft, but they aren’t 0 for their last 16 when it comes to 1st rounders.
It’s loaded with PFs, especially at the top of the draft. Otherwise it’s okay, not spectacular.
This years draft is even more underrated than last years. Star-studded from top to bottom. The NBA is purging. Griffin is the new prototype. Duren & Ivey=nice rotation players, unless they learn to shoot from distance. Griffin will out-shine them even if no other skills develop.
Sochan again
I like Johnny Davis.
He got defense.
Beautiful stroke on mid range numbers.
He can slice too.
He can be better than Golden State”s Poole in 2-3 yrs if he signs up with a good system.
I heard/read some talk about the Pistons potentially trading their 16th pick and either Bogi or Huerter for Grant.
I honestly think Barnes is a better player than Grant and only what, one year older? Would both sides be into a Barnes for the 16 and Huerter? I think I’d love that from our side.
With the 16 take a flyer on Nikola Jovic or Dieng if he drops a bit.
Thoughts? I love that there are so many avenues for Monte to work.
I’d do that, but I would have traded Barnes years ago.
Do you mean before the best seasons in his career, or during the best seasons of his career?
I would definitely do that deal and it makes some sense for Atlanta as well. At least to me.
I was on my soap box a couple of weeks ago constantly pointing out that Barnes HAS TO BE TRADED. he’s gone after this season. Even if he stays for the 2022/23 season and the Kings somehow get the 6th seed in the playoffs I don’t see why Barnes would want to stay. He is a good player, so trade him for something good on a longer contract or something decent plus a future 1st round pick. I don’t think it’s that hard of a sale. If Monte doesn’t trade Barnes before the start of the season I would see that as a pretty big failure on his part.
Barnes is worth more at the deadline.
Eason — articulate, charismatic, athletic, pesky defender, Jonathan Isaac without the glass body.
Eason is my next pick behind Sochan.
I, too, find Eason intriguing.
He’s intriguing, but I have a few prospects ahead of him.
For sure. I wouldn’t say he’s a better prospect than Johnny Davis, but I think Eason fits better on the roster than Davis.
I voted for Eason. I think slots 9 to the entire second round is going to have so much variance. No one has really separated themselves from their peers.
I have changed my mind about Ivey. He does look better than a 7. I give myself credit for recognizing this and nobody here influenced me in any way.
good to hear that………..
and it is so happy that we could very probably end up with Ivey
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