We're #2! (merged)

Kingster

Hall of Famer
Bagley has somewhat of an AD-like game, but only on the offensive end. For all the concern about Ayton underperforming on defense given his tools, Bagley was worse. He's not a rim protector at all and often looked lost on defense, even in a 2-3 zone.

I love his motor and offensive potential but he has some major flaws. But I also think he has a higher ceiling/more star potential than Jackson or Doncic even if his floor is likely lower.
I agree with this analysis. I actually have Bagley #1, Ayton #2 because I haven't seen Doncic and so can only go by the reports. I don't quite understand why Bagley played sub-par on defense. He certainly has the quick jumping ability to give opponents problems, but it didn't seem to translate on the floor. He's got tremendous offensive versatility for a big guy, very good rebounding ability, and also he's got the fire and willingness to take games over in crunch time. He could be in the genre of the multi-dimensional bigs that are becoming more predominant in the NBA. In my opinion, the biggest mistake Coach K made in the NCAA playoffs was not giving the ball more to Bagley; he kept giving it to his more senior players instead.
 

hrdboild

Moloch in whom I dream Angels!
Staff member
This is incorrect. When you tie they pool the combinations and split them 50/50. There is no way to say we got Chicago’s combinations as we split evenly the combined 6 and 7 combinations.
Oh dear christ we're getting into a semantic argument about this? No. You're wrong. Do your own research, I'm not going through this stupid nonsense with someone again...

Well maybe just a little.

The combinations are split evenly but particular combinations are granted to the team in the #6 spot and particular combinations are granted to the team in the #7 spot. The assignment of combinations to teams is not random but the ping pong balls which determine which of those combinations is allotted to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd pick are random. It would be as if we were each given a box full of lottery tickets. We both have the same number of tickets in our boxes but if one of our tickets matches the numbers on the ping pong balls we clearly got the better box. That's what the coin flip does -- it determines who gets which box of tickets. In the event that none of the tickets in either box matches then Chicago would have gone ahead of us at #6. Only then could you say that they won the coin toss. And it actually gets even better -- in the second round we pick ahead of Chicago now too because that order is set as the inverse of the coin toss result regardless of what happens in the lottery.
 
This! I am a Doncic guy but Ayton/Giles is a terrific front court. They would fit each other perfectly. Offensively, Ayton has no problem playing on the perimeter and thus allowing Giles to play near the basket. Defensively I have some questions but both guys best attribute is probably switching. You and I have talked about a lot of playoff basketball and the importance of wings. But Ayton/Giles could be a match up nightmare in the playoffs I think. You cant really go small against them. They will punish you inside and on the boards. And defensively you could just switch 1-5.
Especially with Giles having SF like athleticism. Would be a pretty good front court with some shot blocking from both positions. Add shooters like Buggy and Bogdan around them and all of a sudden we are difficult team to guard.
 
This! I am a Doncic guy but Ayton/Giles is a terrific front court. They would fit each other perfectly. Offensively, Ayton has no problem playing on the perimeter and thus allowing Giles to play near the basket. Defensively I have some questions but both guys best attribute is probably switching. You and I have talked about a lot of playoff basketball and the importance of wings. But Ayton/Giles could be a match up nightmare in the playoffs I think. You cant really go small against them. They will punish you inside and on the boards. And defensively you could just switch 1-5.
True, although I’m not sure yet if Giles could punish small ball PFs but he’d eat them alive on the boards
 
Giles has not done anything yet. I get we are all excited but I could care less who "fits" with Giles and who doesn't. You always go best player available unless you are a team like the warriors, then you can draft for need.

We need talent and I am not going to not draft a better player because I'm worried about a fit with Giles.
 

hrdboild

Moloch in whom I dream Angels!
Staff member
There was no injury concern till 2-3 days before the draft.

Ayton isnt close to the prospect Embiid was at Kansas. Biid was dream shaking on guys and was AD lite defensively he was unral
Embiid showed a ton of potential at Kansas but it was mostly potential. You could project based on his skillset and the way he moved that he should be a really good player once he figures it all out. What was truly special about him is that his growth rate was so high that you could pretty much see him getting better game by game. What Ayton did this year at Arizona blows Embiid's Freshman season out of the water though. He was just demolishing teams -- the stats don't even tell the whole story of how dominant he was and the stats are amazing (32.6 PER). He was the best player in college basketball this year as a teenager. Only Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis are comparable as guys who stepped in and dominated wire to wire in their Freshman seasons.

I did overlook Anthony Davis when I said Ayton was the best big man prospect since Greg Oden. I guess I still think of Davis more as a hybrid Forward than a big man even though he's filled out a lot and plays the Center position now just because his game is so funky and perimeter oriented. But I'll revise that and say that Ayton is the best bigman prospect since Anthony Davis.
 
Will be Ayton.

Great day not only for Kings but for Sacramento.

Fox, Bogy, Ayton, GREAT core going forward.

Ayton is franchise changing. Fox and Ayton and the smart drafting we've done and a few smart trades can win a title.
 
Great news that we've got the second pick. I'd say the likely pick is Ayton or Doncic, but Bagley is worth consideration as well, and I wouldn't even rule out Jackson because some love him.

Just as long as we don't draft Trae Young 2nd overall we'll be fine.
 

hrdboild

Moloch in whom I dream Angels!
Staff member
I hate to bring this up, but the Kings, if they're interested, might have just entered the Kawhi Leonard sweepstakes as well. They now have something of great value that the Spurs might be interested in. Just a random thought...
It's an interesting thought. The likelihood of keeping him in Sacramento long-term though combined with unanswered questions about his health would cause me to shy away. If he's healthy and willing to sign an extension then it's a conversation worth having for sure. I don't think Popovich hangs up the phone right away if the offer is Ayton or Doncic plus something else and there's no question a healthy and motivated Kawhi Leonard is worthy of that kind of a trade package.

Ultimately though I think the asking price is going to be too high or if it's not, that's a huge red flag about his medical status. If Ayton ends up being the pick we can look to establish ourselves as an up and coming team this year and still pursue Kawhi next summer in Free Agency. If Doncic is the pick then Kawhi might not be the best fit. Or we could think about Jaren Jackson Jr. and signing Kawhi to form an elite defensive unit? Eh, I don't know. Too many variables. If we were a big market team the calculus on this would be different. Since we're not a big market team and we never get to pick this high in the draft I would prefer to just count our blessings and hitch our wagon to the best player available (which I think is going to be either Doncic or Ayton).
 
basketball Gods smiled upon Kings, and Kings dereved it.. essence of the Sport is to win, not to lose, Kings tried to win every match and that is why this luck was very well deserved.. hope in future NBA will find a way to punish tanking teams..

as I read, looks to me that Suns will go for Ayton, although I belive they need more somebody with playmaking skills, but it is their problem..

if that happens, Kings should get Doncic.. now I was saying that Doncic is more or less finished product, that he is high floor, low ceiling guy, but he would fit perfectly to Kings.. yes he is dominant ball handling guy, and Kings have Bogdan and Fox, but if you have a guy with a high IQ and good personality, there is no way he will not find his place.

now Kings last year had problems with finding mismatch situations, they could not recognize it, they had small man on WCS and could not get him the ball for example.. or they were struggaling with spacing and ball movement, Buddy was saying how Bogdan was helping him what to do and how to behave in certain situations.. he fixed it latter throughout the season, him and Fox also you could see progress..

now Doncic already knows those things, he is high IQ player, and he can help offensively a lot.. ball movement will be more fluid, finding situations that team can expose and you can have for whole game one secondary ball handler, with him and Bogdan switching.. and most importantly and I can guarantee this is for Vlade most important thing, his character is perfect.. he is a good guy, who only wants to win it, and does not care about his stats..

Kings can have great core in Fox/Mason/Bogdan/Buddy/Doncic/JJ/Giles/Skal/WCS.. they are similar age, good characters, want to win it and started their journey together.. only question mark here is WCS, but only for his head.. if he matures enough, he can be a great for this team..
 
I don't think WCS or Giles would fit well next to Ayton. Giles might in the future if he develops a 3 point shot.

Why would you draft a guy that size and then put him on the perimeter? Defeats the entire purpose of even drafting him because it's not like he's going to anchor your defense on the other end of the court and he's not a dead eye 3 point shooter either. I mean I wouldn't mind him stretching the floor once in a while but having him camped out on the perimeter while WCS and/or Giles work the interior is a waste of his talent.
It’s possible the Kings could trade the pick given we have so many bigs. An interesting option might be 2 to Chicago for Markennen and 7.
 
Oh dear christ we're getting into a semantic argument about this? No. You're wrong. Do your own research, I'm not going through this stupid nonsense with someone again...

Well maybe just a little.

The combinations are split evenly but particular combinations are granted to the team in the #6 spot and particular combinations are granted to the team in the #7 spot. The assignment of combinations to teams is not random but the ping pong balls which determine which of those combinations is allotted to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd pick are random. It would be as if we were each given a box full of lottery tickets. We both have the same number of tickets in our boxes but if one of our tickets matches the numbers on the ping pong balls we clearly got the better box. That's what the coin flip does -- it determines who gets which box of tickets. In the event that none of the tickets in either box matches then Chicago would have gone ahead of us at #6. Only then could you say that they won the coin toss. And it actually gets even better -- in the second round we pick ahead of Chicago now too because that order is set as the inverse of the coin toss result regardless of what happens in the lottery.
Since they are split 50/50 how do you know which combination came up? You don’t as it could have been a combination associated with 7 or 6
 
I wouldn't trade this pick period. I don't care who they are offering.

We are a young team and we don't need a great player right now. Besides, having a potential great center or wing on a rookie contract is too good to pass up. And we would have bird rights along with being able to offer the most money once the rookie contract is up.

We got to think about the long term as well. I would decline on Kawhi without hesitation. Number two pick in a loaded draft is worth it's weight in gold.
 
Oh boy, the one year I tune out the lottery since our drought began and we get some good luck.

Sadly, this will be the first draft that I miss in Brooklyn too. I'm sure we'll have a few more Kings fans than normal this year (there's usually only about 6-8 total, no joke), so expect some great representation from this well worn fanbase! If you are on this forum, you probably love basketball and the Kings more than most people, so if you have the means, I'd suggest making a trip to Brooklyn and plunking down for the ticket, it's the global summit for basketball nerds and quite an experience to be had.

For the Kings, choosing between Ayton, Doncic, Jackson et al are good problems to have. All have clearly defined weaknesses and strengths via the great resources us fans have online. We pretty much know them at this point - thanks to our fanbase's well oiled scouting machine that has geared up since the moveable pieces era. At this point, we gotta trust our scouts and analytics team will do their homework and determine who will be the best for us moving forward...

Never rule out a good trade, too, if we have better upside that way. Finally, a good break for Kings fans. May the basketball gods continue to shine upon us.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
I think this pick changes everything and you have to keep it. It's 2-3 years work in one pick if we get the pick right plus follow up in FA.

Assuming the Suns pick Doncic we take Ayton and then can move WCS or Skal plus anything expiring to take on a starting caliber guy at the 3 spot.

Then if everything is going great we'll be able to be players at the trade deadline with our remaining expirings.