i wonder which Gm has the unassailable draft record over the same years that Vlade has been in charge? Maybe somebody sticks it consistently in the second round but I am just very comfortable rolling the dice with the guy your scouts like.
Thomas Robinson and Ben McLemore always come to mind when I think of “guys who dropped so therefore Kings should grab”.
I don’t want them to try and be the only team that doesn’t realize why a player is dropping.
I think most likely time will tell that it made zero difference who the Kings drafted in 2019. But we’ll see
The players in the evaluation don't matter. Obviously, we have no idea. 99.5% of people in the world had no idea who Justin James was.
But the use of assets and the draft itself was an F. I have a super hard time believing OKC wouldn't have dumped #21 with PPat and/or Roberson. Instead, JJJ gets an awesome front-court mate in Clarke and we get left wondering how they got an awesome future big man pairing.
I don't understand why everyone didn't jump at the T.J Warren trade +pick 32 for nothing. We were perfectly suited too to send them back some future 2nds and give them a better deal than they got from the Pacers. But, once again, mismanagement of assets thinking we'll actually be players in the Free Agency class. Vlade has missed several opportunities like this (DeMarre Carrol trade) where we take on contracts for picks in the past. It's something every small-market team should constantly be looking to do.
Passing on Bol Bol was really bad at 40. Don't care about the medicals, you take the 5% outcome that he taps into his talent and stays healthy. We easily would have gotten James at 47 if he was our dude. You put him on the Harry Giles program and see what he looks like in that 2nd season. If nothing comes of it, no harm no foul it's pick 40. But if he does hit his potential upside? Yikes.
The trade back to 55 just for cash is typical Kings. If Guy is your guy, actually get a future 2nd rounder that helps you in the future for trading back. We basically gave up 8 spots of equity for nothing because we knew that Guy was probably only on our radar.
Vanja was fine. Euro stash rights aren't a bad thing to have on the off-chance, but isn't an asset we'll see anything from remotely soon. Probably won't come over anytime soon from the little reading I've done. Still, we know better than anyone that pick 60 isn't a throwaway pick with IT. It's still an asset to make use of.