You’ve voted and now the 2022 Kings Herald Community Draft Board is set in stone. Without further ado, here’s what the Big Board looks like as chosen by you, the fans:
- Jabari Smith Jr., F, Auburn
- Chet Holmgren, F/C, Gonzaga
- Paolo Banchero, F, Duke
- Shaedon Sharpe, G/F, Kentucky
- Jaden Ivey, G, Purdue
- Keegan Murray, F, Iowa
- Bennedict Mathurin, G, Arizona
- Dyson Daniels, G/F, G-League Ignite
- AJ Griffin, F, Duke
- Jeremy Sochan, F, Baylor
- Tari Eason, F, LSU
- Johnny Davis, G, Wisconsin
- Jalen Duren, C, Memphis
- Nikola Jovic, F, Serbia
- Ochai Agbaji, G/F, Kansas
- Ousmane Dieng, F, New Zealand
This is our third draft board over at the Kings Herald, but we have been doing this since 2008. You can check out last year’s board as well as links to our old boards by clicking here.
What do you think of this year’s big board? Have you learned anything from doing more research on prospects that would have changed one of your earlier votes? f I had to guess, the Shaedon Sharpe hype has probably calmed down a bit after that initial surge. Let us know in the comments and thank you to everyone who participated.
Sharpe over Ivey? Wow.
I think that opinion has changed by now for most Kings fans.
Unless there are some group workouts that Sharpe attends (not happening).
None of the top guys are likely to do anything real at this point. Nothing beyond individual workouts.
Personally, I just don’t find Ivey all that impressive. But keep in mind, I tend to lean towards more well-rounded skillsets, BBIQ, and positional size. As such, I have a few guards above Ivey.
Curious, what guards do you have ahead of Ivey? I do as well, but would like to compare
Sharpe, Daniels, Mathurin (yes, I see him as a SG), Davis. Honestly, I may also slide Jalen Williams in there, but I don’t expect anyone else to.
Mostly with you on this as well. I would have Davis higher than Mathurin, im not as high on him as most myself. I have Ochai higher than him on my wish list.
That wasn’t meant to be in order. Mathurin would be my lowest of that group.
Not too mention that Ivey is one of the worst players in the draft, defensively. Like bottom 20 percentile in most categories.
That has the potential to be one of those 10 year look-backs where we go, “um, yeah, we were all drunk back then.”
Just know that if you’re getting Ivey, you’re also getting his cheesy Tweets. Not saying it’s a dealbreaker, but it’s another data point.
https://twitter.com/IveyJaden/status/1536355021398323200?s=20&t=dz7xAnVyacTGNC2c9QB0pQ
Yeah, that guy is clearly a monster.
I prefer Keegan Murray, but I have no say in the matter.
FWIW Here’s my Big Board: https://fanspo.com/nba/draft-big-boards/XAdlbeeqr3UAvO
Here’s mine.
JK, here’s mine.
https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/7KT9GUTZIvk6pwvuStl28w–~B/aD03MDE7dz05MDA7YXBwaWQ9eXRhY2h5b24-/http://media.zenfs.com/en/homerun/feed_manager_auto_publish_494/cdf37bfc0b3dc28764bcce0475fd7976
Pain.
“The Vladfather”
“
LawyersGMs can steal more money with a briefcase than a thousand men with guns and masks.”-Don Vito Corleone
Ah ha! So the pick is MATHurin…
https://giphy.com/gifs/sizSKlTSJCp5UNatIT
Mine is pretty close. I don’t have any real strong opinions on this draft, which is unusual.
Wow. You went 61 deep.
Individual workouts and pro days are not as important as actual games played and the footage of a guy competing in a basketball game.
At this point, I think interviews may be more informative than individual workouts and pro-days.
What about a “gut feeling”?
Where does that rank on importance?
Or an opinion about a draft prospect’s father?
“I’ve been thinking with my guts since I was 14 years old and, frankly speaking between you and me, I have come to the conclusion that my guts have shit for brains.” – Rob Gordon
“I had a better shit two days ago.” — Vlade Divac’s guts
There is still ten long days of waiting…
Agents to push, Pundits to alter, Sports sites to generate clicks. Smoke. Mirrors.
The Top 3 + 1 have stayed the Top 3 +1 (Jade Ivey is the +1 btw) since Lottery Day revealed the order. Murray on the fringe, Sharpe moving from fringe to later in the first round and his one consistent assessment is “Mystery Man”.
Keegan Murray has remained a Kings favorite from the start, if outside the Top 3.
Shuffle the rest.
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1536385675582267392?s=20&t=Cm358tVznAZMHD5iQ_6zig
Oooo, I wonder who they’re targeting at #30.
Interesting that they would do this deal now.
I haven’t looked, but i wonder if Green has an odd option date. Otherwise they may be looking to package the #30 with something else.
Edit: As Rob just mentioned.
It might be OKC just kicking the asset can down the road. They have so many picks that it’s practically impossible for them to use them all. Green is a P.O. that he might be willing to opt out of, or his $8M deal might be used in a trade they have planned. I’m sure Presti has something up his sleeve on this one.
If Green opts out, the deal won’t happen.
He agreed to opt in as a condition of the deal
Green is treated as a FA until the PO is resolved. He had to have opted in.
Presti understands the draft and he understands that at some point he needs a team that is not 100% rookies or second year players.
He has draft picks to trade for legitimate and known players.
He must have picked it up because they couldn’t trade him otherwise. Player Options are treated like FAs until the option status is resolved (player picks up option, or opts out and becomes a FA).
It’s also possible that they are announcing things ahead of time but Im guessing Green picked up his option.
Or if they are trying to package the 21 & 30 to move up a little further.
Breaking: Kings trade #4 and receive #’s 21 & 30
*walking out of the draft with Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Kofi Cockburn*
Hehe…suckers…
PBJ + Cockburn. Sounds like one hell of an afternoon.
I’ve heard of a foot fetish, but never a food fetish.
He should watch the jif.
Also…Green has a $10M non fully guaranteed deal that come up 7/1. Depending on what is guaranteed, what is the price of a mid 20’s first round pick these days? Someone with the cap space may be able to pick up another first rounder to eat Green’s deal.
https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1536412668290121729
He wouldn’t be the worst guy in the world to have on the roster for a season for the chance to pick up someone like Jalen Williams, Jovic, Eason, Koloko, or whoever your personal second half of the round crush is.
I don’t think anyone would keep him. He just tore his ACL and likely won’t be back. You make the trade just for the pick and then waive Green and eat whatever is left of his partial guaranteed deal.
Oh, yeah. Forgot about the ACL. According to a couple sites none of his 2022-23 money is guaranteed. Which would mean they wouldn’t just be looking to unload Green. They’d want a useful player in return. Holmes for Green and #23? That actually makes a decent amount of sense for both teams.
Cool by me. Holmes, at his best, is likely worth a late first rounder, but are this looking for a center who makes starter level money to play behind Embiid? I’d think they would want wings. TD and Harkless?
Morey does not like to pay backups as much as Holmes is getting paid. I think it would be smart for the Sixers to have a good insurance plan for when Embiid ultimately misses time with an injury. Paul Reed, Drummond, Niang, etc just don’t seem like the types of guys you want out there when Embiid is out for weeks, or needs to be on limit restriction.
I would do this deal in a heartbeat if I were the Kings.
Monte would have to really like someone near the end of the first round, otherwise he’d just be giving Holmes away. I’d imagine any deal wouldn’t happen until draft night.
He isn’t really making starter level money.
He’s the 14th highest paid center in the league. He’s slotted right in between Brook Lopez and Dwight Powell.
Put it this way, he’s the highest paid non-starting center in the league.
True and also a fact that Holmes is better than Powell .
He also makes more than Robert Williams III and Poeltl. I think it’s the main reason a team doesn’t trade for him to be a backup behind a star center.
I feel he’s best suited as a mid-priced starting center on a team full of maxed out wings and guards. Hornets and Mavs come to mind.
Nikola Jovic lol I missed that prospect name up until now
I think Jovic could go higher than 30 tbh.
I think they pick either Roddy or Laravia.
I’d rate Jovic as a mid-1st rounder.
I picked Sharpe over Ivey and I still think Sharpe could be one of the best players in this draft. Ivey is a lot better than I thought after I did some scouting. My problem with Ivey is that I project him out to be a slightly more athletic Fox and there’s a lot of talk that Fox might never reach all-star level. What makes that more certain for Ivey? I just don’t see it, personally but he’s fun to watch, for sure.
Now, after doing some additional scouting, my problem with Sharpe is that he doesn’t look very engaged on the floor with his teammates, lacks a little passion. Maybe he was bored playing HS hoops, but not playing at the college level at a premier school for a premier coach kinda adds to that concern a bit. However, I still maintain that this kid has some serious tools to work with and could be the steal of the draft for whoever snatches him up.
He also could be a complete bust.
Agreed, still on the Sharpe train. Only way this team gets anywhere is by drafting a true star. I share your exact concern, and frankly I’m not sure his BBIQ is all that great either. But we aren’t getting a true star in FA any time soon. Need to get one in the draft. (Counterargument is to build a respectable 8th seed team and then convince a star that if they join, they take center stage and have all the surrounding tools to go for the ship). Ivey is at best Russell Westbrook, and Russell’s play style just doesn’t cut it for championships.
Counterpoint: It seems that the difference between Ivey and Sharpe is that Sharpe is much more of a complete unknown. We have tape on Ivey, and all we know about Sharpe is how he did in high school. So it seems that we are elevating Sharpe based on the lack of opportunity to pick at his game, while Ivey has provided us with actual game tape to look at.
Ivey had pretty good numbers this year in catch and shoot situations, and I believe that he has something like a 6-9 or better wingspan. He’s a shooting guard that can handle a little bit. I think that the Westbrook comp is way off the mark, though I would take prime Westbrook in a heartbeat. The championship bar is ludicrous, in my opinion. I think that he is more like Anthony Edwards than Westbrook. Heck, I think that he is more like Donovan Mitchell than Westbrook.
6 -9 wingspan? So -3 wingspan?
WHAT IS THIS. A MUSEUM FOR ANTS???
It’s the erratic play within 12 ft of the hoop that sends shivers down my spine. Ivey isn’t half the passer/facilitator that Westbrick is. I just can’t buy the Anthony Edwards/D-Mitch ceiling comps because Ivey is not a refined shooter, even from 3. His contested three is weak! And agreed that there is some bias in relying on the little we have with Sharpe. But the smooth stroke/shooting form we can’t deny–screams Paul George. Still stuck on whether he has the fire to refine his lane D and of course his overall engagement. FWIW, there are reports from folks who watched him practice with his Kentucky teammates and he was allegedly “easily the best player on the floor.” Look, for any of us to be sold on any of these prospects is ludicrous. We have like 5% of the insight into these guys that one would need to make a draft day decision. The big question, which may never be answered, is how much access our scouts have into the backchannels with Sharpe. Hoping our history of KY drafting gives us enough proximity to make an educated decision. I trust that if Monte passes on him, there were too big of red flags to surmount.
FIFY: But the smooth stroke/shooting form we can’t deny–screams
Paul GeorgeBen McLemore.Hahahah touché. Was curious so lookie here:
Combine / Draft Factoids
Bennie Mac: Height 6′ 3.5” | wingspan 6′ 7.75” | 42″ vert | weight: 189.2 lbs. (2.44 lbs/inch) | age at draft 20 yrs 4 months
Paul George: Height 6′ 7.75″ | wingspan 6′ 11.25″ | 39″ vert | weight: 214 lbs. (2.61 lbs/inch)| age at draft 20 yrs 1 month
Shae Shae Sharpe: Height 6′ 4.25″ | wingspan 6′ 11.5″ | 49″ vert | 201 lbs. (2.56 lbs/inch) | age at draft 19 yrs 1 month
Just putting this out there as a reason to consider the physical specimen that Shae Shae is and that Bennie Mac was not. As a previous commenter posted, top of the head really doesn’t matter in basketball but height does matter to get a sense of the player’s presence on the court. Shae seriously jumps out with these measurements coupled with his smooth like butter shooting.
That 49″ vert is unofficial & should be treated with skepticism.
Absolutely. Though he’s clearly an elite vertical athlete. The precise vertical leap measurement isn’t all that important.
Mitchell is a career 36% shooter from 3. Edwards 34%. The are 44% / 43% from inside the arc, respectively.
Ivey was 7/24 in March Madness games. Yikes!
That’s obviously very small sample size. His issue is that he needs a ton of time and space to shoot his 3. Perhaps there was less of that in the tourney, but more likely it’s just small sample size hijinks.
We taking the micro or macro here when we determine our draft pick. And for what it’s worth, those seven makes are seven more than Sharpe has in his collegiate career.
And 17 more misses. Regardless, good to be aware of fundamental attribution error.
Sure. So continuing down that path, Ivey was a Wooden All-American. Sharpe didn’t log one minute of playing time.
I’m not stumping for Ivey here, to be clear. I just have not been able to place Sharpe above Ivey on my list based on anything tangible. Sharpe is a unicorn, in my opinion. It is what we don’t know about him that makes him appealing.
Sharpe may wind up being better than Ivey when it is all said and done. But what we know about Ivey right now is based on performance, while Sharpe is more of a wish and a prayer. To me, Sharpe is a desperation pick. But as I always add, I could be 100% wrong.
Hoop Intellect on YouTube does a great job of putting together scouting reports with fair to solid analysis for incoming players and I was surprised by the amount of footage they had on Sharpe, considering there was “so little footage available.” Sharpe is very fluid and has a way better shot than I thought, above average athleticism. Things that Ivey also has, tho Sharpe’s 7′ wingspan for a 6’5 / 6’6 player is a noticeable advantage. Ivey may be more motivated, tho. Who knows. I’m hoping that one of the top 3 falls and we don’t have to worry about it.
To me –
You have the Top 3 – whatever order you like- alphabetically it’s Banchero, Holmgren, Smith, Jr.
Next, I look at them as
Sharpe – The Vivek pick. The let’s swing for the fences so I can show everyone what a genius I am pick. He was at Kentucky (“Did I tell you that I have traded Shaka’s with John Calipari?”) and the analytics make him the next Kobe/Anthony Edwards (“Did you know that I have also done Shakas with Adam Sandler?”). That’s who the Kings should pick. And Aneel agrees. And so does Anjali, they’ve both been to his work outs. I bet Drake likes him too.
Murray – The McNair pick. Tried, true, has tangible skills, mature, high ceiling. Fits the roster that he’s been tasked to build to win an additional 16 games in one season with a new Head Coach.
Ivey – The Pundit pick. He’s Ja Morant/Russel Westbrook/Donovan Mitchell. He’s a mover and a shaker. We have determined, by consensus, that Sacramento must make this pick. If they make this pick, we will give them a grade of C+. If they don’t we will give them a grade of C-.
Yep, “it is what we don’t know about him that makes him appealing.” Because we don’t know anything bad, he must not have weaknesses like the guys we have tape on! Agents take advantage of this kind of thinking all the time. Does anyone really think lots of these prospects skip pre-draft workouts solely because of injury fears?
What? Sharpe’s apparent weaknesses have been discussed at length. Including but not limited to:
I get that he’s scary, but it isn’t like he just arrived on the planet and nobody has ever seen him play a game before. The one and done rule is relatively young. It wasn’t that long ago that players were regularly being drafted with roughly the same amount of exposure as Sharpe.
Comps are always tough. I mean, Westbrook is such an outlier in terms of development, role, and style that he’s probably excluded from comps altogether. That said, Ivey hasn’t shown any hints of Westbrook’s rebounding or passing. And Westbrook without elite rebounding and high level passing simply isn’t a very good player. As for Mitchell and Edwards, I get that we’re talking about recent hyper athletic combo guards, so they come to mind. But both of them showed flashes of the high-level pull up threat that has become a hallmark of their NBA effectiveness. Ivey hasn’t shown the propensity or shooting mechanics to suggest he’s likely to develop that pull-up game any time soon.
Which makes me wonder if someone like Sexton isn’t a better comp.
I have seen Oladipo as a comp. However, Oladipo was a really solid defender, and Ivey is kind of just a body on the floor at times who occasionally swoops in for a highlight block.
Adding, style of play & execution of play being two vastly different things, I think that Ivey’s style of game could mimic Ant and/or Donovan, but I don’t have a clue if Ivey will be able to execute (and grow) at the NBA level.
Sexton is a very fair comparison under that umbrella.
I’ve spent a lot of time arguing against Sharpe at #4, but I like him better than Ivey. Ivey just makes no sense for the Kings, as he is, unless he reaches his absolute ceiling. Sharpe also has defensive potential.
Again, I cannot find anything anywhere that would appropriately target Sharpe as having better defensive potential. He has a longer wingspan, but there is absolutely no way to determine his defensive chops against anything other than HS competition and a chair.
Can a player with a low BBIQ ever become a true star in today’s NBA? The spacing, off-ball movement, and fast pace that define the modern game all place a premium on it, as does the defensive scheming required to counter those features. How many prospects with sky-high raw “potential” paired with questionable BBIQ have we seen bust here in Sac alone in the past decade? Bagley and McLemore immediately come to mind. Any player who has BBIQ (and work ethic/focus) concerns should be an automatic Do Not Draft, regardless of how high they can jump two times in a row.
I picked Sharpe>Ivey b/c of the upside that you mentioned. However, I now have Ivey>Sharpe b/c I think Sharpe’s really risky (though I have them in the same tier). Of course, I have Murray ahead of both of them at the top of that tier.
Off topic but just finished the book Built to Lose by Jake Fischer and it was a great read especially right before draft time.
Not off topic at all. Watched Hustle on Netflix over the weekend — now I’m researching which prospect is a single dad with a little girl at home he has to fight for.
Haven’t seen Hustle yet, but heard Dave Joerger is in it.
Yep, about three seconds of screen time but it counts. The professor made quite the cameo. Made me wonder why on Earth J-Will has not been hired to teach our players how to dribble/pass.
Because he’s a passing savant. J-Will has no idea how he does what he does. He just does it. But that doesn’t help you teach it to others.
LOL true.
Can pass the ball. 🙂
Can’t pass the knowledge. 🙁
Those that can’t teach, do…
Haha haven’t seen hustle yet but it was nuts seeing what happened with picks and how their trajectory was affected by shit off the court so much. The butterfly effect was insane on some of those sizers drafts.
Sharp’s name that high hurts my eyes.
In retrospect, I think he went a little high, but I think Eason’s the guy who went way too high.
I will be happy with any of the Top 6, because most Mocks have those players rated that highly. In other words, ALL of them are players we would have HOPED dropped to us had we stayed at 7.
That’s how I’m taking this draft. It’s not 2018, where we completely jumped into a different Tier of prospects. This year we went from ‘last pick’ in the 2nd Tier to ‘first pick’ in the 2nd Tier. It’s like having house money at this point.
Yeah sure, the FO can ‘maximize value,’ like trade back a slot AND still pickup Murray, but if we took Murray straight up at #4, I won’t be complaining.
I’d say the Kings went from the 1st pick in the 4th tier to the 1st pick in the 3rd tier.
I can live with this board even with Sharpe that high as a “swing for the fences” pick. I just hope Banchero doesn’t fall…can’t afford another TRob or Bagley Rex.
Banchero’s WAY more skilled than TRob or Bagley. I think his skills make him the 2nd best prospect in this draft. The only concern I’d have if the Kings drafted him is that I think a Sabonis/Banchero combo would probably make the Kings’ perimeter defense even worse.
This. Banchero has next to nothing in common with TRob or Bagley as a player.
How about Jabari Parker ? Former sure thing no. 2 pick from Duke .
I think of him as a poor man’s Julius Randle with better passing. He could even end being better than All-Star Randle but I’m not a huge fan of his. I hope he’s taken early.
Agreed, got the same concern, which is why I hope he doesn’t fall to the Kings.
Now that the board is done I hope there’s going to be some deep dives into the 2nd rd to find some hidden gems. Right now, my short wish list is Orlando Robinson, Isaiah Mobley (bigs who can shoot and stretch the floor), and backcourt snipers Hyunjung Lee and Tevin Brown. Lee has already worked out for the Kings and the thing about Lee and Brown is that they don’t need to constantly have the ball in their hands…they’re good off screens and in transition.
Using the most recent Athletic mock draft as a guide to who may be available after 37:
Jaylin Williams
Alondes Williams
Jordan Hall
Gabriele Procida
Trevion Williams
David Roddy
Gui Santos
I wouldn’t mind taking a flyer on Caleb Houstan from Michigan. 6’8″ swing man showed some potential in his one year, lots to work on but a wing with size who can shoot, dribble, grab some boards and make some plays when needed. Kinda reminds me of a cross between MPJ and Mike Dunleavy. He def needs some development but has the frame and solid skill base that could blossom into a solid NBA player.
If we’re still looking for a help on D, his teammate Moussa Diabate might be a better option, he was a do it all versatility machine that complimented Hunter Dickenson extremely well. Reminds me a bit of Lamar Odom in frame and with his Swiss Army Knife skillset. Needs polish but a high motor, high integrity player.
My community is derelict but I love me
Maybe we should be calling it the Kings Herald community dart board?
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