Grade our draft

[Dime Dropper]

So, draft night is over. It looks like there's a lot of happy bunnies.

Personally I'm fine with Murray as the pick, but the moves with out second rounders leaves a very sour taste in my mouth given who was still available. Keon Ellis does not come into it as could have been picked up as an UDFA regardless.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Depends on if Sasha comes over and if there is more to the Dallas deal like Monte alluded to in his presser. Incomplete.

I am happy we landed Murray though. A bit underwhelming in the end but I think the right call.

 

[SacTownKid]

Depends on if Sasha comes over and if there is more to the Dallas deal like Monte alluded to in his presser. Incomplete.

I am happy we landed Murray though. A bit underwhelming in the end but I think the right call.

Yeah, that's my take. I think Murray is a solid B, but letting those 2 picks go with some legit 1st round level talent like Keels and Liddell knocks it down a bit. No C+ so B.

 

[Tetsujin]

https://twitter.com/statuses/1540203952599248896

 

[serbiangoat]

https://twitter.com/statuses/1540203952599248896

Step 2 tank for french 7'4 KD/Zinger

 

[Turgenev]

Murray selection is what it is. 37 pick a bit frustrating with good guys available. The Euro guy let's see. Keon Ellis seems like a good get. Overall the draft could've given a little more but it's wait and see.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

I think grades are silly. Especially when none of us can see into the future.

Even then it‘s eventually a straight pass or fail situation. And we won’t know anything for sure for a long, long while.

Remember when Tyreke Evans looked like a better draft pick than Steph Curry for about a year or two? Remember how many years it took for Steve Nash to become just a relevant player?

Things can not only change but even go 180 over time.

That’s why it’s super silly to overreact to season one, let alone the first Summer League.

Hopefully the KINGS are fortunate and Keegan Murray is super impactful right away. Or perhaps he‘ll be inconsistent.

Whatever he is, we won’t be close to a definitive answer any time soon.

As for the 2nd round trades, I couldn’t care less. The overwhelming number of 2nd rounders don’t amount to jack squat anyway.

 

[kb02]

I gave them a “C”. Murray is a safe, high floor pick. Good not great. Disappointed in their lack of creativity when there were just as good or better players available later.

Trading 37 for likely late seconds was dumb. It’s not about roster spots. It’s about maximizing ways to acquire high end talent in a cost controlled way.

TBD on 49. The film looks okay. I don’t see a steal there. Not sure how they’re going to convince the dude to come over and take a pay cut. Not sure he’s worth paying more than the normal to bring over here.

I had Ellis pegged as an UDFA. He gets comped to Herb Jones, because of the school and the defense first game. But Jones came into the NBA with a pros body and can guard 1-5. Ellis will probably be in the G-league unless he packs on 20 pounds of muscle in the next month or so. And even then, he’ll be able to guard 1-3 at best.

 

[The_Jamal]

Yeah, that's my take. I think Murray is a solid B, but letting those 2 picks go with some legit 1st round level talent like Keels and Liddell knocks it down a bit. No C+ so B.

Yeah, 77-78% seems right currently. I'd bump to like an 85 if Vezenkov came over this season.

Didn't screw up the 4th pick and get cute. Keegan was my #4 prospect and the Kings finally invested in a wing talent with shooting and defensive potential. It's been such an eye sore for this roster for so long, it's nice we finally recognize the importance of upper-tier wing talent.

Keon Ellis was a favorite of Kings twitter and looks the part of a pretty great perimeter defender with an excellent C&S shot. He's got to put on weight to make it imo, but he has really valuable NBA skills to be a rotation guy down the line. Maybe like a Danny Green type if he can add 15-20 pounds? Good UDFA investment and I think a lot of people would have been happy with him at one the 2nd rounders.

It sounds like Sasha Vezenkov wasn't just a throw in for cash, but Monte actually pursued his rights. 6'9 wing at the 4 with a good looking shot and an impressive EuroLeague resume the last 2 seasons. I think reading the tea leaves is we'll try and bring him over next season when we have a bunch of open roster spots and invest in him then. If he comes over, I think a pretty good use of the pick with his success in EuroLeague and how much the big wing shooter archetype plays over here in the NBA.

The other guy we signed, Jeriah Horne (looks more like a summer league deal at this point, not a ton of clarity) at 6'7 with an excellent shooting stroke. Very clearly Monte prioritized wing size, shooting and defense. The archetype bets overall were very good

The elephant in the room is passing on the talent sitting there at 37. Really does feel like we're going to get Gary Trent'd by someone available at that slot. Hardy/Liddell (favorite of a lot of people here and a 1st round talent for most)/Keels/Brown/McGowens. Literally like 5 or 6 guys I think you could have drafted top 25 and no one would look at you funny were available. And what's annoying is I think we punted for 2 pretty mediocre 2nd round picks (24 and 28 from the Mavs? Come on....) because we didn't want to be in a position where we had to DFA one of the expirings and eat that money. It was an opportunity for a bad team to get a good young prospect and we whiffed.

Overall, a good draft, made good archetype bets, but could have been a home-run, even without trades if you just draft someone there at 37.

 

[ppine]

The Kings probably did fine by selecting Murray.
They are famous for pissing away draft picks.
I will never understand how a franchise that needed help 5 years ago is trading picks away into the future.

 

[Chupacabra]

I wanted Murray to be the draft pick we left with. I'm very happy we got him, I think he has a high potential to be a foundational piece on a Kings team that wins a lot of games in the future. That said, I also don't believe that Detroit did not prefer Ivey to Murray. I may be wrong in that the opportunity didn't exist, but man I wanted us to exploit the hell out of a team that picked behind us, mainly Detroit. I gave a C grade.

 

[Tetsujin]

https://twitter.com/statuses/1540755287333752832

 

[hrdboild]

In addition to rolling that #37 pick into two future picks, Monte added three players that I think will ultimately make the roster:

Keegan Murray (SF/PF)
Keon Ellis (SG)
Sasha Vezenkov (PF)

All three of them can shoot. I don't know what Vezenkov's defense is like but both Murray and Ellis should be good defenders. I like how Monte is building this team. Hopefully he's able to bring back Donte and Damian to maintain our depth as we try to sneak into the playoffs this season on the strength of our improved defense and Murray's scoring ability. Next off-season we'll have the cap space to supplement them with another core piece. I expect a Richaun Holmes trade is coming but we'll see. I think the roster looks pretty good right now at the PG, PF, and C positions and the cap management has been stellar with no bad contracts and a huge chunk of cap space opening up right when we want to take our big leap forward.

For the draft itself I'm going to give Monte an 'A' because: (1) He didn't cave into pressure and took the guy he wanted (2) I also thought the guy he drafted was one of the top 2 players in the draft (3) He didn't just waste the second round picks, he looked at the roster crunch and turned them into future assets who won't take up roster spots immediately. He's not going to get high marks from the general NBA media (or the Fox detractors) but this was a really solid draft day that nudges us closer to relevancy in the playoff conversation. Our performance next season is largely going to depend on whether Fox can take a step forward as a franchise player under Coach Brown's leadership.

 

[gunks]

B for me.

I like Murray, and I'm expecting big things, so I have no issues with us taking him at 4, especially if he could have been grabbed by Indy or Detroit if we did trade down.

I'll give him an A if the dude Monte traded the 2nd for comes over and has impact next season.

 

[sactowndog]

Step 2 tank for french 7'4 KD/Zinger

The reviews I have read about him say he is the best prospect since LeBron.

 

[sactowndog]

Murray selection is what it is. 37 pick a bit frustrating with good guys available. The Euro guy let's see. Keon Ellis seems like a good get. Overall the draft could've given a little more but it's wait and see.

Since you signed Ellis as a free agent how does he fit in the draft grade? He wasn’t drafted.

 

[hrdboild]

Since you signed Ellis as a free agent how does he fit in the draft grade? He wasn’t drafted.

If Monte would have kept the #37 pick he wouldn't have had a roster spot left to sign Keon Ellis. Also, he was a draft eligible prospect that we signed on draft day. I think he's relevant in the draft day grade right now and he's also emblematic of the type of talent that Monte is looking for since there's obvious parallels between Ellis and the players that Monte has already targeted in free agency and trade deadline deals.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

If Monte would have kept the #37 pick he wouldn't have had a roster spot left to sign Keon Ellis. Also, he was a draft eligible prospect that we signed on draft day. I think he's relevant in the draft day grade right now and he's also emblematic of the type of talent that Monte is looking for since there's obvious parallels between Ellis and the players that Monte has already targeted in free agency and trade deadline deals.

We signed Ellis before I even realized the draft was over. The second and first rounds don't work the same. There's no guaranteed contracts for second rounders and I do believe the agents and player teams have a lot of say where a player will go. I'm guessing Hardy told teams he would not sign a 2-way but would go overseas given his G-League experience seemed to be a rather disappointing one.

 

[sactowndog]

If Monte would have kept the #37 pick he wouldn't have had a roster spot left to sign Keon Ellis. Also, he was a draft eligible prospect that we signed on draft day. I think he's relevant in the draft day grade right now and he's also emblematic of the type of talent that Monte is looking for since there's obvious parallels between Ellis and the players that Monte has already targeted in free agency and trade deadline deals.

I don’t believe this point is true at all. The Kings currently have only 10 guys out of a 15 man roster. They aren’t tight on roster spots.

 

[sactowndog]

We signed Ellis before I even realized the draft was over. The second and first rounds don't work the same. There's no guaranteed contracts for second rounders and I do believe the agents and player teams have a lot of say where a player will go. I'm guessing Hardy told teams he would not sign a 2-way but would go overseas given his G-League experience seemed to be a rather disappointing one.

That is fine. If he goes overseas it is the same as stashing a player and letting him develop on someone else’s dime. If true even more reason to draft Hardy.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I don’t believe this point is true at all. The Kings currently have only 10 guys out of a 15 man roster. They aren’t tight on roster spots.

11 if you count Lyles' option. He's cheap and of all the guys that came over at the end of the season he actually played intelligently enough that if we don't want him I think someone else would take him.
12 = Murray
13 and 14 for Jones and DDV

Queta on a 2 way
Ellis

There's no way Brown doesn't have a list of FA targets.
That's 16 guys under contract or that we can expect to be. Including both 2 ways?

 

[SacTownKid]

11 if you count Lyles' option. He's cheap and of all the guys that came over at the end of the season he actually played intelligently enough that if we don't want him I think someone else would take him.
12 = Murray
13 and 14 for Jones and DDV

Queta on a 2 way

There's no way Brown doesn't have a list of FA targets.

The Kings can carry beyond that in the offseason though. There's no real roster crunch at the moment.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

The Kings can carry beyond that in the offseason though. There's no real roster crunch at the moment.

They can have 20? Given our current situation I'd rather pursue trades and FA pickups than put a second rounder on a guaranteed deal.
We absolutely need 3 players that can immediately displace our end of bench talent and crack an 8-9 man rotation.

 

[hrdboild]

I don’t believe this point is true at all. The Kings currently have only 10 guys out of a 15 man roster. They aren’t tight on roster spots.

All of these players are under contract for next season:

1) De'Aaron Fox
2) Domantas Sabonis
3) Harrison Barnes (expiring)
4) Richaun Holmes
5) Davion Mitchell
6) Keegan Murray
7) Alex Len (expiring)
8) Justin Holiday (expiring)
9) Mo Harkless (expiring)
10) Terence Davis (expiring)
11) Trey Lyles (Team Option - expiring)
12) Chimezie Metu (expiring - not fully guaranteed)
13) Neemias Queta (expiring - two-way contract)
14) Keon Ellis (two-way contract)

I'm assuming we also want to sign...

15) Donte DiVincenzo
16) Damian Jones

 

[hrdboild]

The Kings can carry beyond that in the offseason though. There's no real roster crunch at the moment.

To what end are we complaining that the Kings didn't draft players that they would have to cut before the season starts to get under the minimum roster size? That seems pointless to me. Those extra spots are for rewarding summer league standouts with a pre-season invite and that's about it.

 

[sactowndog]

All of these players are under contract for next season:

1) De'Aaron Fox
2) Domantas Sabonis
3) Harrison Barnes (expiring)
4) Richaun Holmes
5) Davion Mitchell
6) Keegan Murray
7) Alex Len (expiring)
8) Justin Holiday (expiring)
9) Mo Harkless (expiring)
10) Terence Davis (expiring)
11) Trey Lyles (Team Option - expiring)
12) Chimezie Metu (expiring - not fully guaranteed)
13) Neemias Queta (expiring - two-way contract)
14) Keon Ellis (two-way contract)

I'm assuming we also want to sign...

15) Donte DiVincenzo
16) Damian Jones

I don’t think we bring back Len, Harkless or Jones.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I don’t think we bring back Len, Harkless or Jones.

Not sure about Jones, I think he'll be given an offer. Len and Harkless most surely are being shopped, or will be. But they are under contract and we're not going to cut them to give a fringe NBA player a guaranteed NBA contract. Not to mention I am sure we will be seeking vets in FA. We don't have room for projects right now. I don't think any of us are actually advocating this as ideal. We all know a lot of these expirings need to go. The million dollar question is can we trade them at the deadline or use the cap space they create next season rather than sign low end talent to lengthier deals, and a lot of us don't see value in the second option.

 

[hrdboild]

I don’t think we bring back Len, Harkless or Jones.

Len and Harkless are already under contract. Either we cut them, trade them, or they're on the team next year. My suspicion is that Monte wants to keep his cap space either for free agency next off-season or to make a deadline deal which means most of these expiring contracts will stay on the roster for the year and we'll have a lot of roster spots available next season and sufficient cap space to make use of them at that time.

I get that we're conditioned to Kings front offices not understanding the salary cap or continually shooting themselves in the foot chasing short-term success but there's a completely logical explanation for the way Monte handled the second round of the draft this year that doesn't involve cutting costs or owner meddling.

 

[SacTownKid]

To what end are we complaining that the Kings didn't draft players that they would have to cut before the season starts to get under the minimum roster size? That seems pointless to me. Those extra spots are for rewarding summer league standouts with a pre-season invite and that's about it.

Leave no stone unturned when you suck, even if you might not by next season.

 

[hrdboild]

Leave no stone unturned when you suck, even if you might not by next season.

I'm not disagreeing with you, I just think the plan for right now is to wait one season until all of these contracts turn into cap space. It's not an accident that they were all signed to contracts that expire during the same off-season, This is how competent front offices manage the salary cap. There will be room to add more long-term projects next year. Monte didn't sell the #37 pick for cash, he turned it into 2 future picks. I wouldn't assume those are both Dallas' own picks until we know the details. Even if they both end up being in the 45-60 range, trading one pick for two means we're not automatically losing value.