With 43.1% of the vote, Kingston Flemings is off the board for the Kings Herald Community Draft Board. He joins Darius Acuff Jr., Darryn Peterson, Caleb Wilson, Cameron Boozer and AJ Dybantsa off the 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.
It’s Wagler here. Great shooter, good passer, solid size, overall just seems very poised for such a young player (Best player on a vet Illinois team that went to the Final 4). If he can become an actual lead guard a la Tyrese he’ll be even better.
After this though it becomes a lot murkier for me.
Agreed, I think there’s a clear top 7. In the past if we picked 7 it would be a clear top 6 so at least that’s an improvement.
I read a report on him written mid college season. It basically said he come to Illinois not slated to be a starter. He was a 4 star recruit they figured would grow to contribute or start by his sophomore year. Turns out he earned the starting gig fair and square before the season began.
As Jerry mentioned in of the podcasts, there is just something about the lightly recruited late bloomers who weren’t pampered in AAU systems since they were pre-teens. Different kind of attitude and game that I like.
I’m going with Yaxel. I know he’s old (23) but he’s a two-way player with decent size who can rebound and he went all the way.
If we were in a better state I would agree with you. I just don’t think we’re in a spot to be taking someone who is going to be 24 years old by the time the season starts.
Fair point!
Hard for me to ignore that he is only the 2nd player in Division 1 history to average 600+ points, 400+ rebounds and 150+ assists in a single season. The other guy was named Larry Bird.
I still have him at 7 after Wagler and Acuff. supply and demand.
Guards, guards everywhere.
Exactly, that’s why I want to stay away from them. I see value in Wagler and a little in Acuff, but the defense scares me a bit. At least Wagler is taller.
Trade down is the best solution, so as to get two first-round picks. I want Ament and Yaxel with one of the picks. It’s tough to find a good 3/4 in the NBA and that’s the most important position, espcially on defense (perimeter and around the basket). The 7th pick has good tier 2 players, but trading down would give us a chance to get 2 tier 2/3 players that aren’t guards.
The age thing isn’t something that is easy to overlook. I like him, but I like him at 12-14 range. Too many young guys that can play on the board still.
Proven winner with an uncoddled backstory. He faced a lot of adversity and transfers throughout college and dealt with a lot of different systems but still ended up on top. I think his maturity and ability to adapt and still win would be an asset. Whether that outweighs the advantage of youth of someone three years younger…who knows.
I also like Yaxel, just I think he’s going to drop around 10-12 range due to his age. If I was considering drafting Yaxel, I would consider trading down for the OKC picks.
I certainly wouldn’t mind more picks in that suggested scenario especially because it means we’d have to dump more of the dead weight in the offseason since our roster is overcrowded and overpaid. The overpaid part will be a problem though.
Yep, the thought of getting Yaxel at 12 and then reuniting him with Mara with the next OKC pick seems really interesting to me.
Agreed on the choice. OT, I’m 72 and to me 23 is very young. I think of him as being a little more mature than the 19 and 20 year olds.
Most definitely.
Voted Wagler again. Shooting, passing, the hair, etc.
Still lobbying for Ebuka Okorie: ACC scoring , ACC 1st team, etc. Height concern mitigated by wingspan.
I went Wagler also.
I would like to hear more about Okorie. I mean, if we’re talking undersized guards …
Yeah, Wagler is the clear option here for me. The only one close for me is Brown, but I tend to shy away from injury issues unless it’s at an extreme value and low stakes.
He’s good and might be worth a first round pick in the 17-30 range. I have seen some draft with him being in the top end of round 2.
With our defense so porous,
Think it’s Burries now for us!
I again will repeat on
my preference for Keaton
he doesn’t dunk.
sorry, couldn’t resist. Still like his game and have him in my top six.
That’s weird, right? 6’6 with a 36 inch vertical and he doesn’t dunk? Not even on breakaway plays with a wide open runway.
Maybe he just isn’t a flashy player and goes for the simple sure thing in a layup. He does draw fouls at a good rate and shoots well from the line, so that’s a good thing.
I’m not saying it’s bad that he doesn’t dunk, it’s just kind of odd for a player his size.
Is there no more sure thing than pushing the ball down through the cylinder?
I think a layup is far less sure than a dunk.
Maybe he just isn’t a flashy player and goes for the simple sure thing in a layup. He does draw fouls at a good rate and shoots well from the line, so that’s a good thing.
Drive right to the hoop? He basically only goes left, with no counters, and that will be easy to stop at the NBA level.
His handle is just okay, which causes him to stop his dribble too early, leaving him in tough situations.
He has to get better at navigating screens, especially since he will probably be more of an off-guard in the NBA.
All that being said, he should still be a good player. I just don’t see “primary initiator” role in the NBA for him.
Most analyses I’ve read/seen say he’s most likely a secondary initiator, but there are several I’ve seen which say he might develop into a primary initiator.
Brown Jr. for me, again. The upside is there.
Waiting on Wagler.
If I’m taking a swing here, I’m taking Brown, Jr. But I think that I’m taking Wagler. At 7, homerun swings become a bit of a fool’s paradise, and I think that Wagler is the better overall prospect. Burries also deserves some consideration.
One thing seems certain: this appears to be a draft where someone taken outside of the top 7 is going to make more than a few front offices look foolish.
Going Burries here. Wagler isn’t a bad choice but he seemed a little overwhelmed in college at times. Burries never did. Brayden Burries shot nearly 50/40/80, was the leading scorer on a final 4 team, solid ballhandler and playmaker, and was in the 99th percentile in RAPM defensive statistic which is elite. He can guard 1-3. Solid rebounder for a guard. His athletic numbers and measurables at the draft suggest a huge upside player too. I’d probably take him at 3 or 4 TBH.
If this upside is there, then we need to bring him in for a workout twice. Same with Brown and Wagler as bigger guards with upside are better than players, like Acuff and even Flemings. This is why I value Yaxel orAment– we need taller, lengthy players who can defend and shoot. The NBA’s best player are 6’5 or taller and the 6’8-6’11 range with those skills is even better.
Wagler for me.. the game seems to come to him or doesn’t speed up on him. I think he can be a better distributor than most expect it would require us having another Goode ball handler on the floor because he’s not a pure point guard yet. But I hold out hope that some team will take LaVine off our hands at trade deadline
Jayden Quaintance. Understood that he is coming back from a knee injury. However I trust surgeons more to fix so we can have serious rim protection and wing defense. His ceiling is far higher than the guards remaining in the draft.
Once again, I’m voting for Wagler. I consider him the 5th best prospect in the draft. His significant improvement from HS to college makes me think he has a lot of potential.
Mikel Brown Jr. is tempting here, but it’s Wagler for me.
I still like Yaxel for the pick. And maybe it’s trading with the Hawks and getting #8 and #23 for 7 and then picking Yaxel. This assumes Acuff is off the board and basketball experts don’t see a star from who remains. By taking Yaxel it moves Keegan to the three and helps take rebounding and defensive duties off Domas. He can also pass, shoot the three, and we already know his floor. The age doesn’t bother me because it means he’s tied up on a rookie deal through age 27. We can decide what to do with him after that depending how he plays and fits. But a front court of Domas, Yaxel and Keegan with Maxime and Plowden off the bench is pretty good. There are so many guards in this draft that it’s likely to push a decent ball handler off a lineup (better than Denis), or maybe with pick #23 (assuming we can make that deal) we pick up Okorie, Stirtz or Anderson. Then dump as much salary as possible. Again, this all assumes Acuff is not available when we pick and we don’t have a point guard who projects to be a star available at 7.
I agree 100%. Two first-round picks are the best path forward– take Yaxel and maybe trade the second first-rounder to move up a bit and get rid of Monk.
Badge Legend