[Game] Kings vs Spurs 7/15 (Summer League)
- Thread starter SLAB
- Start date
This may disappoint you but I have other things going on in my life than read your notes. Also, I have noted your angry tone and I usually do not respond to notes of that sort. I'm too old for that. I literally am burned out on the sniping that goes on here and elsewhere. Do not count on me to have read all your notes.
"It's in the other thread." What do you want me to do with a comment like that?
"It's in the other thread." What do you want me to do with a comment like that?
If it's "in the other thread" as you pointed out, why did you need to repeat it here in the game thread? Seems to me Glenn made a valid point. Your comment here, on its own, didn't really say that much.
But whatever. It's certainly not worth a big long post...or even another little one.
Have a nice night.
But whatever. It's certainly not worth a big long post...or even another little one.
Have a nice night.
Honest question, do you even follow any draft prospects?
Papagiannis is unathletic and slow. Why would we take him with our lottery pick when we have Cousins? Why? His conditioning looks extremely bad at this point and for his entire career, he'll most likely only be limited to Cs. So why would we draft Papagiannis at 13 when the entire message has been to Cousins, we're going to build around you! We're going to be winning! But first, let us draft this raw unathletic, overweight, slow footed, 7fter who doesn't fit next to you, and is probably going to replace you if we decide to trade you.
Nope, let's not go for a PG(Baldwin) that we desperately need, nor a talented SG(Valentine) who's NBA ready. Why not opt for the extremely young and talented PF(Ellenson) who would fit extremely well alongside Cousins? No, let's go for the fat slow man from Greece who most people didn't even see being taken this high.
Richardson is raw. Why do we take Richardson when the entire message has been trying to finally surround Cousins with talent? Richardson is extremely raw. In college, he was extremely underwhelming. Terrible shot selection. Terrible decision making. Terrible chucker. Can't finish at the rim. Defense is suspect. Yet... we drafted him why? Because he can handle the ball and create his own shot? Why? Because he's 2 years away from realistically helping out our team? Why? So we could put him on the depth chart behind Afflalo, McLemore, and Temple?
Again, let's not go for the PG(Murray) that we desperately need, nor PFs(Johnson) (Siakim) who would be able to fit alongside Cousins, and will actually be able to contribute. No, let's go for the selfish inefficient SG from Syracuse who's a 20yearold Freshman.
Labissiere is extremely raw. Here we go again. The entire message has been trying to finally build around Cousins. Let's take a guy who was barely able to crack 15mins for Kentucky and had one of the worst seasons I've ever seen a top 5 recruit have for Kentucky. The guy who got dominated on defense by college bigs. The guy who was barely able to stay on the floor. The guy who only showed legitimate basketball skills every 3 games. The guy who Kentucky fans pulled out their hair over because he was absolutely terrible. THERE'S A BIG reason why he fell from being mocked #1 overall by Draftexpress in October, into almost completely falling out of the 1st ROUND. It's not because teams overlooked him. Anyone who says that BS has obviously not watched a single tape of him this year.
Again, let's continue not to go for the PG(Murray) that we desperately need. Let's draft the 20yearold soft PF who was dominated by college bigs who have no chance at making a NBA roster.
Papagiannis is unathletic and slow. Why would we take him with our lottery pick when we have Cousins? Why? His conditioning looks extremely bad at this point and for his entire career, he'll most likely only be limited to Cs. So why would we draft Papagiannis at 13 when the entire message has been to Cousins, we're going to build around you! We're going to be winning! But first, let us draft this raw unathletic, overweight, slow footed, 7fter who doesn't fit next to you, and is probably going to replace you if we decide to trade you.
Nope, let's not go for a PG(Baldwin) that we desperately need, nor a talented SG(Valentine) who's NBA ready. Why not opt for the extremely young and talented PF(Ellenson) who would fit extremely well alongside Cousins? No, let's go for the fat slow man from Greece who most people didn't even see being taken this high.
Richardson is raw. Why do we take Richardson when the entire message has been trying to finally surround Cousins with talent? Richardson is extremely raw. In college, he was extremely underwhelming. Terrible shot selection. Terrible decision making. Terrible chucker. Can't finish at the rim. Defense is suspect. Yet... we drafted him why? Because he can handle the ball and create his own shot? Why? Because he's 2 years away from realistically helping out our team? Why? So we could put him on the depth chart behind Afflalo, McLemore, and Temple?
Again, let's not go for the PG(Murray) that we desperately need, nor PFs(Johnson) (Siakim) who would be able to fit alongside Cousins, and will actually be able to contribute. No, let's go for the selfish inefficient SG from Syracuse who's a 20yearold Freshman.
Labissiere is extremely raw. Here we go again. The entire message has been trying to finally build around Cousins. Let's take a guy who was barely able to crack 15mins for Kentucky and had one of the worst seasons I've ever seen a top 5 recruit have for Kentucky. The guy who got dominated on defense by college bigs. The guy who was barely able to stay on the floor. The guy who only showed legitimate basketball skills every 3 games. The guy who Kentucky fans pulled out their hair over because he was absolutely terrible. THERE'S A BIG reason why he fell from being mocked #1 overall by Draftexpress in October, into almost completely falling out of the 1st ROUND. It's not because teams overlooked him. Anyone who says that BS has obviously not watched a single tape of him this year.
Again, let's continue not to go for the PG(Murray) that we desperately need. Let's draft the 20yearold soft PF who was dominated by college bigs who have no chance at making a NBA roster.
I wouldn't call ElRey's post a random single comment. Continual bearers of bad tidings get tiresome. If half of what you projected in post #66 is accurate, then Vlade has failed. I don't think he has failed, I think he did what he said he did, he restocked the cupboard that was getting mighty lean on youth. In this case, I hope he is mightily correct and you very much wrong. Time will tell.
No no. Every bit of information we gain puts us in a better place to judge than we were before. You don't just keep on working off of pre-draft predictions after you have had a draft and a summer league. You don't just keep on working on summer league info once you've had a training camp. you don't keep on working on training camp info once you are into the regular season and so on.
Drafts always have an element of crap shoot, with guys everybody KNOWS are going to be studs falling on their faces every year (see Ben McLemore or Thomas Robinson), and guys everybody KNOWS will be busts, blowing up anyway (see Andre Drummond or Thon Maker as a possibility this year). This year Skal certainly looks like a possibility for the second sort of status. We've now seen him post-college, and whatever the issues he had in college become less important. He's in a new system, he's older, and he looks like he has the potential to be a BRILLIANT #28 pick. Calling him "extremely raw" after seeing him shine with an advanced skillset in SL is just being dogmatic.. He could easily turn out to be the steal of the draft.
Similarly at a lesser level, Malachi also showed good potential for a #22 level pick. Only the Big Papa pick can really be assaulted right now based upon LATEST information, and on that front it feels like we sort of got trapped into it. Our preferred guys were gone, we didn't believe in Chriss, so we traded back. Then #13 comes up and we STILL didn't like our choices and tried to trade back again with Detroit, but couldn't get a deal done. So we took Papa. That's the pick/thinking you can go after with Baldwin or whoever.
If we had wanted GUARANTEED help this year we should have just traded the pick. Even if we had kept our original #8, Chriss was the accepted choice at our spot, and he's as raw as the rest.
Drafts always have an element of crap shoot, with guys everybody KNOWS are going to be studs falling on their faces every year (see Ben McLemore or Thomas Robinson), and guys everybody KNOWS will be busts, blowing up anyway (see Andre Drummond or Thon Maker as a possibility this year). This year Skal certainly looks like a possibility for the second sort of status. We've now seen him post-college, and whatever the issues he had in college become less important. He's in a new system, he's older, and he looks like he has the potential to be a BRILLIANT #28 pick. Calling him "extremely raw" after seeing him shine with an advanced skillset in SL is just being dogmatic.. He could easily turn out to be the steal of the draft.
Similarly at a lesser level, Malachi also showed good potential for a #22 level pick. Only the Big Papa pick can really be assaulted right now based upon LATEST information, and on that front it feels like we sort of got trapped into it. Our preferred guys were gone, we didn't believe in Chriss, so we traded back. Then #13 comes up and we STILL didn't like our choices and tried to trade back again with Detroit, but couldn't get a deal done. So we took Papa. That's the pick/thinking you can go after with Baldwin or whoever.
If we had wanted GUARANTEED help this year we should have just traded the pick. Even if we had kept our original #8, Chriss was the accepted choice at our spot, and he's as raw as the rest.
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Do I pay attention to the college players or whatever you said? Indeed I do. This year I thought any player picked #8 to 30 was a crap shoot. They could be a success or a bust and anyone who thinks they can separate one from the other is simply mistaken. There was nobody after pick 7 that was guaranteed to be a success. Even Skal who at one point was thought to be extremely skilled showed he couldn't beat and bang with big guys. I doubt if he ever will. He could spend the next decade beefing up and all the time eating would be a waste of food. He plays well outside. What position did he play at Kentucky? Any attempt to try to turn him into a center was foolish.
My first thought covers it. From pick #8 to pick #30, the eventual players who are a bust or are a success simply cannot be determined at this incredibly early time in their career.
I am happy you don't mind being ignored.
My first thought covers it. From pick #8 to pick #30, the eventual players who are a bust or are a success simply cannot be determined at this incredibly early time in their career.
I am happy you don't mind being ignored.
The guy is seeking for attention. Who publicly announces that they want to ignore somebody? Extremely unnecessary that adds no insight to conversation. I'm here to talk basketball. It's not my fault the guy doesn't like what I have to say because I've actually watched and scouted these guys since October while on the other thread he tried to claim one of the most prolific 3pt shooters last year in college can't shoot.
You see, I have no problem with Brick's comment above because even though our opinions may differ, he has valid points. I don't mind that at all. I just find it a bit weird someone decides to waste a comment space to announce to everyone on the thread that he's going to ignore me?
I never mind being wrong at all. I've been wrong numerous times. I thought Stauskas was going to be a good NBA player...but the guy doesn't even look like a basketball player at this point. I thought Booker wouldn't be as great as he is right now because of his lack of athleticism and defense. I wouldn't mind being wrong at all in this case. I want the Kings to be good again.. we can't be good if we've whiffed on 3 1st round picks in 1 draft. That's arguably the biggest reason on why we've sucked for so long now. So yes, I hope I am wrong. I hope Skal/Richardson/Papagiannis end up better than Murray/Ellenson/Valentine/Hermagomez/Baldwin/Bembry/Zizic/Luwawu/Johnson/Siakim/Korkmaz(draft and stash). I really do. Skal has one of the highest upsides out of any of these guys. It'll be up to the Kings to develop him now.
You see, I have no problem with Brick's comment above because even though our opinions may differ, he has valid points. I don't mind that at all. I just find it a bit weird someone decides to waste a comment space to announce to everyone on the thread that he's going to ignore me?
I never mind being wrong at all. I've been wrong numerous times. I thought Stauskas was going to be a good NBA player...but the guy doesn't even look like a basketball player at this point. I thought Booker wouldn't be as great as he is right now because of his lack of athleticism and defense. I wouldn't mind being wrong at all in this case. I want the Kings to be good again.. we can't be good if we've whiffed on 3 1st round picks in 1 draft. That's arguably the biggest reason on why we've sucked for so long now. So yes, I hope I am wrong. I hope Skal/Richardson/Papagiannis end up better than Murray/Ellenson/Valentine/Hermagomez/Baldwin/Bembry/Zizic/Luwawu/Johnson/Siakim/Korkmaz(draft and stash). I really do. Skal has one of the highest upsides out of any of these guys. It'll be up to the Kings to develop him now.
It's a crapshoot, I'm not arguing with your points at all because I actually agree with some of them. My biggest turn off from this draft is the fact that Vlade isn't really showing a very clear direction of where he wants to go with this roster and the team moving forward. At 13, he drafts Papagiannis who doesn't compliment Cousins at all, and they can't coexist. Did we really draft a backup C at 13? Or was this a draft move for insurance in case Cousins leaves? Then, he tries telling the media that Papagiannis will have a big impact for the Kings day 1 like WCS did, but Willie was 22 and spent 3 years in Kentucky. On the other hand, Papagiannis played for one of the best teams in Europe, but he didn't play a lot of minutes and was a backup. Watching tape, Papa was extremely raw and slow. In SL, he didn't look like he had a NBA body yet. He looked slow footed and despite his 7'2 240(listed weight, but it's pretty obvious he's at least 260...) frame, he had trouble backing up guys much smaller than him in the post. Also, for a guy his size, his rebounding was extremely underwhelming. Vlade told the media he expects Papagiannis to be able to contribute immediately, but I don't know if that's realistic.
Drafted Richardson at 22. I think it's a bit more clear that Richardson is raw and will need time to develop his body, IQ/decision making, game, etc.
Drafting Skal at 28 really seals the deal. He has an amazing upside, but he's the biggest project in this draft right now. The only translatable tool he has right now is his shooting. Everything else will need to be developed.
By now, you can clearly see that none of these 1st rounders would actually be able to contribute for a team chasing for the playoffs. However, that's a big assumption for me.. the assumption that the Kings are aiming for the playoffs this year. With these draft picks, it seems like Vlade is planning for the future 3-4 years from now, rather than focusing on now. It clearly upsetted Cousins with our 13th pick, so you do wonder if this is something that could be a deciding factor for Cousins in 2018.
Draft= for future.
Now let's look at Free Agency.... we just signed a bunch of vets to short term deals that can expire the year Cousins' contract is up. Our biggest hole was SG and PG. They addressed SG with Afflalo. However, they then signed Garrett Temple who's a SG/PG. We have not made any moves yet for a PG. This leads me to think that Temple might go forward as our backup PG. While Temple is a good defender, he's not a playmaker and with a bench of McLemore/Casspi/Barnes/Tolliver/Koufos, 4/5 need shots created for them. In FA, we brought in solid vets, but no impactful players who can truly move the needle for us.
FA= defensive vets at their peak/decline who's contracts are centered around the time Cousins' contract ends?
If the Kings knew this was a weak FA PG group, it begs me to ask why we didn't take a PG with 1 of our 3 1st round draft picks.
I don't really understand the direction here by Vlade. We use all of our draft prospects on players who will not be able to effectively contribute until Cousins' contract is up. BUT, we use FA on vets who's contracts expire at the same time as Cousins. Is this a semi playoff push? Is this a conservative attempt at finally getting a decent core around Cousins? We're going all in Cousins...but at the same time, we're not?
It's just not clear about what this FO is doing. It's obvious that we want to try at least 1 more year with Cousins, but if we're really going to try 1 more year with him, is starting off the season with Temple-Afflalo-Gay-WCS-Cousins really going to be able to move the needle for us? Is it really? We could've drafted guys who could come in this year and have a big impact for the team. This is weird to me. Especially since last year we opted for a guy with a lower ceiling, but higher floor because he could immediately come in and contribute, WCS. Vlade basically inferred last year that he would not draft Porzingis if he was available at 6 because he was too raw and wouldn't be able to contribute immediately. While WCS has been a nice pick, he's far from a perfect fit next to Cousins. His offense is extremely limited as he can't score 3ft away from the basket. Let's ignore BPA for a second. Let's look at BIGS who would actually fit a bit better next to Cousins that we passed on. Mylers Turner, and Trey Lyles. Both of these guys would fit MUCH better next to Cousins overall than Willie would. Both also have more relatively higher ceilings than Willie does. Turner is an all around PF/C who can create his own shot, shoot the 3, rebound, block shots, etc. Lyles can create his own shot, shoot the 3, rebound, and pass the ball. Anyways, the Kings passed on both of these guys. Both of these guys were considered more on the "raw" side, while WCS was widely regarded as "NBA ready". Do you think it's highly probable that Vlade decided to pass on the potential of both Turner and Lyles because Willie was going to be able to contribute immediately? Let's bring back BPA in that draft regardless of position(I'm pretty sure we took Papagiannis at 13 this year regardless of position too). There was Emmanuel Mudiay, Justise Winslow, Stanley Johnson, Devin Booker, and Cameron Payne on top of Lyles/Turner. All of these players could've been BPA because they have higher ceilings than Willie. It's leaning more and more towards the Kings drafting Willie instead of all these other guys because he would be able to bring an impact to the team Day 1. This is supported by the fact that we basically packaged Stauskas+JT+Landry+pick swaps+pick for cap space to sign Rajon Rondo+Belinelli. We were looking to win immediately.
1 year later, Vlade does the complete opposite in the draft with not 1, not 2, but 3 picks in the 1st round. Did Vlade suddenly decide to change his entire approach? Are we starting off on a fresh new slate? Are we hitting the reset button?But wait... the draft moves paired with our FA moves are extremely conflicting. They do not correlate with one another. Are we going to keep Cousins, or are we not? Is the plan to build around him? Or is it not? We brought in FAs to compliment him, but our draftees are NOT ready to compliment a Cousins in his prime. I see no real direction right now. There might be a plan in place, but after being told there's a plan year after year, why are we still failing? This all sounds like a long rant, because, well, it might be. Especially after 9 years of being the laughing stock of the NBA, nothing really makes sense about this team right now.
I might be overreacting, but who wouldn't be skeptical of this team after nearly a decade of irrelevancy?
Drafted Richardson at 22. I think it's a bit more clear that Richardson is raw and will need time to develop his body, IQ/decision making, game, etc.
Drafting Skal at 28 really seals the deal. He has an amazing upside, but he's the biggest project in this draft right now. The only translatable tool he has right now is his shooting. Everything else will need to be developed.
By now, you can clearly see that none of these 1st rounders would actually be able to contribute for a team chasing for the playoffs. However, that's a big assumption for me.. the assumption that the Kings are aiming for the playoffs this year. With these draft picks, it seems like Vlade is planning for the future 3-4 years from now, rather than focusing on now. It clearly upsetted Cousins with our 13th pick, so you do wonder if this is something that could be a deciding factor for Cousins in 2018.
Draft= for future.
Now let's look at Free Agency.... we just signed a bunch of vets to short term deals that can expire the year Cousins' contract is up. Our biggest hole was SG and PG. They addressed SG with Afflalo. However, they then signed Garrett Temple who's a SG/PG. We have not made any moves yet for a PG. This leads me to think that Temple might go forward as our backup PG. While Temple is a good defender, he's not a playmaker and with a bench of McLemore/Casspi/Barnes/Tolliver/Koufos, 4/5 need shots created for them. In FA, we brought in solid vets, but no impactful players who can truly move the needle for us.
FA= defensive vets at their peak/decline who's contracts are centered around the time Cousins' contract ends?
If the Kings knew this was a weak FA PG group, it begs me to ask why we didn't take a PG with 1 of our 3 1st round draft picks.
I don't really understand the direction here by Vlade. We use all of our draft prospects on players who will not be able to effectively contribute until Cousins' contract is up. BUT, we use FA on vets who's contracts expire at the same time as Cousins. Is this a semi playoff push? Is this a conservative attempt at finally getting a decent core around Cousins? We're going all in Cousins...but at the same time, we're not?
It's just not clear about what this FO is doing. It's obvious that we want to try at least 1 more year with Cousins, but if we're really going to try 1 more year with him, is starting off the season with Temple-Afflalo-Gay-WCS-Cousins really going to be able to move the needle for us? Is it really? We could've drafted guys who could come in this year and have a big impact for the team. This is weird to me. Especially since last year we opted for a guy with a lower ceiling, but higher floor because he could immediately come in and contribute, WCS. Vlade basically inferred last year that he would not draft Porzingis if he was available at 6 because he was too raw and wouldn't be able to contribute immediately. While WCS has been a nice pick, he's far from a perfect fit next to Cousins. His offense is extremely limited as he can't score 3ft away from the basket. Let's ignore BPA for a second. Let's look at BIGS who would actually fit a bit better next to Cousins that we passed on. Mylers Turner, and Trey Lyles. Both of these guys would fit MUCH better next to Cousins overall than Willie would. Both also have more relatively higher ceilings than Willie does. Turner is an all around PF/C who can create his own shot, shoot the 3, rebound, block shots, etc. Lyles can create his own shot, shoot the 3, rebound, and pass the ball. Anyways, the Kings passed on both of these guys. Both of these guys were considered more on the "raw" side, while WCS was widely regarded as "NBA ready". Do you think it's highly probable that Vlade decided to pass on the potential of both Turner and Lyles because Willie was going to be able to contribute immediately? Let's bring back BPA in that draft regardless of position(I'm pretty sure we took Papagiannis at 13 this year regardless of position too). There was Emmanuel Mudiay, Justise Winslow, Stanley Johnson, Devin Booker, and Cameron Payne on top of Lyles/Turner. All of these players could've been BPA because they have higher ceilings than Willie. It's leaning more and more towards the Kings drafting Willie instead of all these other guys because he would be able to bring an impact to the team Day 1. This is supported by the fact that we basically packaged Stauskas+JT+Landry+pick swaps+pick for cap space to sign Rajon Rondo+Belinelli. We were looking to win immediately.
1 year later, Vlade does the complete opposite in the draft with not 1, not 2, but 3 picks in the 1st round. Did Vlade suddenly decide to change his entire approach? Are we starting off on a fresh new slate? Are we hitting the reset button?But wait... the draft moves paired with our FA moves are extremely conflicting. They do not correlate with one another. Are we going to keep Cousins, or are we not? Is the plan to build around him? Or is it not? We brought in FAs to compliment him, but our draftees are NOT ready to compliment a Cousins in his prime. I see no real direction right now. There might be a plan in place, but after being told there's a plan year after year, why are we still failing? This all sounds like a long rant, because, well, it might be. Especially after 9 years of being the laughing stock of the NBA, nothing really makes sense about this team right now.
I might be overreacting, but who wouldn't be skeptical of this team after nearly a decade of irrelevancy?
First of all, draft is about getting the best talent, not the best player on draft night.
Still think, Kings should've taken Baldwin at #13, but there's no way to tell right now, how good Papagiannis will be. Biyombo looked bad just two years ago, and now at age 24 he was a presence in ECFs.
Taking Richardson anywhere in the 20s was perfectly fine. Strip him of his bad ISO offense, and you still have a solid shooter and defender to mold a 3&D guy: Malachi was shooting .353 with just 72.2% assisted in college; looking at his bad mid-range pull-ups to make a guess on just C&S 3s, he must be 38-39% at set 3s; Syracuse was a top-10 defensive team, and while you can't trust results of that zone, there must have been some good defenders on that roster, and strong, long guy looks like a prime suspect. At the same time the only skill Murray has is his handle with bad shooting and suspect defense. When his coach gets tired of his TOs, there's nothing left. The question would still remain, whether Richardson would be willing to settle into a small role. Whether that was a gamble, or Kings looked into it during pre-draft process, be it via a Combine interview or collecting background information, judging by SL, it looks like Richardson can be molded into 3&D guy.
And Labissiere was a good gamble at #28, given his background. The expectation from that pick is an NBA journeyman. If you get a top-7 rotation player out of that, great; if not, well, it wasn't meant to be. Average #28 player can be had in FA for a few millions.
Still think, Kings should've taken Baldwin at #13, but there's no way to tell right now, how good Papagiannis will be. Biyombo looked bad just two years ago, and now at age 24 he was a presence in ECFs.
Taking Richardson anywhere in the 20s was perfectly fine. Strip him of his bad ISO offense, and you still have a solid shooter and defender to mold a 3&D guy: Malachi was shooting .353 with just 72.2% assisted in college; looking at his bad mid-range pull-ups to make a guess on just C&S 3s, he must be 38-39% at set 3s; Syracuse was a top-10 defensive team, and while you can't trust results of that zone, there must have been some good defenders on that roster, and strong, long guy looks like a prime suspect. At the same time the only skill Murray has is his handle with bad shooting and suspect defense. When his coach gets tired of his TOs, there's nothing left. The question would still remain, whether Richardson would be willing to settle into a small role. Whether that was a gamble, or Kings looked into it during pre-draft process, be it via a Combine interview or collecting background information, judging by SL, it looks like Richardson can be molded into 3&D guy.
And Labissiere was a good gamble at #28, given his background. The expectation from that pick is an NBA journeyman. If you get a top-7 rotation player out of that, great; if not, well, it wasn't meant to be. Average #28 player can be had in FA for a few millions.
What makes or breaks guys like Richardson is intelligence and IQ. I wasn't super high on the pick at the time, but Malachi seems like a very smart and confident kid. The shot selection will improve with experience. He has more confidence in his pnky finger than Ben does in his whole body. I still think Ben will figure it out but it could be 4 or 5 years before that happens. I like Malachi more and more, the more I watch of him. He has an NBA skillset and he is full-sized. Actually he is a very big and long two guard, and can probably play spot minutes at the 3. Looks to have potential defensively too.
Regarding Murray, I actually think Spurs did what Spurs do: get a lottery talent at the end of the 1st. Granted last night's game was the only time I saw Murray in SL, but he definitely has an NBA skillset and he is still super young. The quickness, the ball-handling, the passing ability and feel for the game, ability to create for himself and others. Murray has a chance to be a very good player and he couldn't have gone to a better franchise to make that happen.
Regarding Murray, I actually think Spurs did what Spurs do: get a lottery talent at the end of the 1st. Granted last night's game was the only time I saw Murray in SL, but he definitely has an NBA skillset and he is still super young. The quickness, the ball-handling, the passing ability and feel for the game, ability to create for himself and others. Murray has a chance to be a very good player and he couldn't have gone to a better franchise to make that happen.
Turner can play 4 or 5. He actually played the 4 alongside Mahimi. They had no problems.
I think you have to ignore stats a bit in terms of scoring. Willie's pts almost all came in dunks. His touch around the rim is really disappointing. Not trying to make this a WCS vs. Turner argument, but I was admittedly never high on him. Saw a lot of Chris Andersen in Willie. I know that's an unpopular opinion...but they're almost identical.. I wish I could find draft profiles online from 1999 lol.
Here's what DX wrote about him 8 years ago...
You can't tell me that doesn't sound like Willie...
Again, my point wasn't to talk down Willie. It was just to show that the Kings went into the 2015 draft with 1 philosophy. But then in the 2016 draft, they came out with an entirely different one.
I think you have to ignore stats a bit in terms of scoring. Willie's pts almost all came in dunks. His touch around the rim is really disappointing. Not trying to make this a WCS vs. Turner argument, but I was admittedly never high on him. Saw a lot of Chris Andersen in Willie. I know that's an unpopular opinion...but they're almost identical.. I wish I could find draft profiles online from 1999 lol.
Here's what DX wrote about him 8 years ago...
You can't tell me that doesn't sound like Willie...
Again, my point wasn't to talk down Willie. It was just to show that the Kings went into the 2015 draft with 1 philosophy. But then in the 2016 draft, they came out with an entirely different one.
I think you're right. Richardson will need some time to fill out his body and work on his shooting IQ a bit. His shot selection and decision making were really questionable at Syracuse. He's also not a great player at finishing at the rim. A big difference between Richardson and Ben is that Ben is extremely athletic, while Richardson is about average. Ben relies on his quickness and athleticism to get to the rim. Richardson has to rely on his handles. This means he'll need to continue to improve on his handling. I see Richardson as a long term project. Maybe 2-3 years down the road. While he has good length, his frame is pretty skinny and narrow. Will definitely need to add more strength.
10 years from now, we'll look at Murray and wonder how he managed to slip to the Spurs at 29.
10 years from now, we'll look at Murray and wonder how he managed to slip to the Spurs at 29.
Last year, with Karl, they tried to win with what they had. A coach that proved to be on his last leg and whose better days were behind him. They WERE in a win-now mode. On paper, that team should've done a lot more than it did. They didn't.
This year is seems to be a dual approach. Get the stench of last year out and get the right attitude in. You're all in or your out. While building for the future get stop-gap vets who play right for the now. Winning solves a lot of things. The Kings weren't going to get the players they needed in FA for the long term.
This year is seems to be a dual approach. Get the stench of last year out and get the right attitude in. You're all in or your out. While building for the future get stop-gap vets who play right for the now. Winning solves a lot of things. The Kings weren't going to get the players they needed in FA for the long term.
I can see where you are coming from but one thing Id like to add is: If Im not mistaken I think Vlade said that he thought that Wilie was BPA and NBA ready as well. And this year I think our target was Kris Dunn because we saw him as BPA and ready. So it's not that different, I jusz think that this time we didn't get our guy and went to Plan B which was trading down and stockpilling kids for the future.
One of the more impressive things to me was in fact Malachi's shot selection and bball IQ during summer league. For a guy that was basically the Dion Waiters equivalent in college, he made a concentrated effort to play within himself throughout all of summer league. He was active defensively and had some great moments against Buddy Hield in particular (something we rarely saw in school). He looked very comfortable in catch and shoot situations with a quick release. Also showed the ability to create off his own bounce and get to the line. Just saw a nice poise that was a stark difference to what we were used to with Ben.
It's like he was showing the middle finger to everyone who called him a chucker and pure ISO baller. The results varied but I thought he played under control for a majority of every game and showed a really nice poise on the floor. Compared to Ben's first summer league, where he was running around like a chicken with his head cut off, it was extremely nice to see.
It's like he was showing the middle finger to everyone who called him a chucker and pure ISO baller. The results varied but I thought he played under control for a majority of every game and showed a really nice poise on the floor. Compared to Ben's first summer league, where he was running around like a chicken with his head cut off, it was extremely nice to see.
I think the thing that helped Malachi was the fact that he wasn't really part of our main offensive gameplan. At Syracuse, there'd be a bunch of times where they gave him the ball, and basically asked him to do something with it. That's where the poor decision making came from. In the SL, Joerger for whatever strange reason really tried to run the offense through WCS. You could see the entire offense trying to motion and move to give Willie space. I think Malachi bought into that instead of trying to get his own.
Richardson has a very high IQ and I believe he's the type of guy who you want to buy into your offensive system. If he doesn't buy in, he'll be out of control like he was in Syracuse, he'll look like 2015/16 Kobe. It feels unfair limiting Richardson to be a 3&D player, but I think that should be his role for the first 2-3 years of his career. Maybe a few occasional isos. Making him to play under control is probably the best thing for him first. I don't mind if he wants to jack up shots like Curry.... but it means he'll have to make them like Curry too. 37% is not Curry lol. He has ways to go which is why I find him as such a big project. His shooting stats weren't great in SL, but it was great progress to see that he was able to control himself.
Unlike Nik, Malachi looks like he belongs. I still don't know why Nik has been so terrible thus far. That's always a great sign.
Richardson has a very high IQ and I believe he's the type of guy who you want to buy into your offensive system. If he doesn't buy in, he'll be out of control like he was in Syracuse, he'll look like 2015/16 Kobe. It feels unfair limiting Richardson to be a 3&D player, but I think that should be his role for the first 2-3 years of his career. Maybe a few occasional isos. Making him to play under control is probably the best thing for him first. I don't mind if he wants to jack up shots like Curry.... but it means he'll have to make them like Curry too. 37% is not Curry lol. He has ways to go which is why I find him as such a big project. His shooting stats weren't great in SL, but it was great progress to see that he was able to control himself.
Unlike Nik, Malachi looks like he belongs. I still don't know why Nik has been so terrible thus far. That's always a great sign.
I think it's a bit unrealistic to expect Dunn to be there at 8. Minnesota needed a PG. Pelicans needed a PG. Denver might've taken him for BPA too since their main target seemed to be Dragen Bender.
I'm fine with the trade despite being a big fan of Chriss. I just don't like his draft picks. We've whiffed on too many. Hopefully we've whiffed on none this year. This year is just more crucial since there's a Cousins trade pending. Only time will tell on how we really did.
I'm fine with the trade despite being a big fan of Chriss. I just don't like his draft picks. We've whiffed on too many. Hopefully we've whiffed on none this year. This year is just more crucial since there's a Cousins trade pending. Only time will tell on how we really did.
I tend to agree with you on Richardson. I was pleased to see him go with the flow of the game and seldom force anything. At Syracuse he became too much of a chucker and as a result took a lot of bad shots. This summer, for the most part, he took what was there. To be honest, he had a couple of bad games, or maybe a better way to put it, less noticeable games. He really stood out in one game offensively and really stood out defensively in another. He gave Heild a hell of a tussle in his game against him, and later in the game when Hield went off, I don't think anyone could have stopped him. He hit a couple of fall away three's with Richardson's hand in his face two feet behind the line. At that point, all you can do is tip your hat. By the way, Nik played pretty well in summer league and the Kings won the championship that year. For what that's worth.
Anyway, I agree that Richardson can be more than a 3 and D player. He got to the basket pretty well, but didn't finish well. Correctable! The hard part is getting there. He passed the ball better than I expected. His shot was inconsistent, but summer league is a league of taking bad shots, and he did take a few. But when his feet were set and he was squared up, he shot the ball well. He appeared to be a total team player and coachable, and that's important. How good he'll become is anyone's guess, but all the ingredients are there. If he puts in the work, he'll be fine.
Anyway, I agree that Richardson can be more than a 3 and D player. He got to the basket pretty well, but didn't finish well. Correctable! The hard part is getting there. He passed the ball better than I expected. His shot was inconsistent, but summer league is a league of taking bad shots, and he did take a few. But when his feet were set and he was squared up, he shot the ball well. He appeared to be a total team player and coachable, and that's important. How good he'll become is anyone's guess, but all the ingredients are there. If he puts in the work, he'll be fine.
Oh, theres a Cousins trade pending? And how do you know this? You do know what "pending" means right?
Our offseason looks like we are trying to build around Cuz, not waiting to agree upon any trades for him. That might be something to explore down the road if we keep whiffing but in all fairness we seem to be looking at him as the centerpiece under Malone 2.greater0 than exploring other options.
Our offseason looks like we are trying to build around Cuz, not waiting to agree upon any trades for him. That might be something to explore down the road if we keep whiffing but in all fairness we seem to be looking at him as the centerpiece under Malone 2.greater0 than exploring other options.
no GM hits on every pick. In fact no GM hits on even every other pick. But in 2 drafts, one way or the other Vlade may have emerged with 2 rotation players in WCS and possibly Skal. They may even end up being Boogie's two frontcourt mates in a long term all-Kentucky frontcourt. If you throw in the possibility that either Bogdanovic or Richardson could end up as the long term SG, and we may have gotten 3 or even 4 rotation guys in 2 drafts, and 2 starters.
That's a long way from a drafting failure.
That's a long way from a drafting failure.