Kings Select in the 2008 NBA DRAFT??

Vlade4GM · Feb 7, 2008

I'm still for DJ Augustin, next year's draft is much more deep in PF's. I would still like for us to get a 2nd first round pick though, that would be nice.

hrdboild · Feb 8, 2008

Vlade4GM said:

Augustin is good...but I'd take a pass on any undersized point guards that can't play defense no matter how good they are at scoring and passing. Been there, done that.

LA King Fan II · Feb 9, 2008

I don't think the Kings could go wrong with Darren Collison from UCLA. Quick, good defender, getting stronger and can score. And....mentally tough.

Of course, I'm hoping for a big to arrive via trades in the coming weeks. Guess I do that every year.

Smills91 · Feb 9, 2008

LA King Fan II said:

Lee?
Gooden?
Nene?
Haslem?

Those are probably the only options out there...would you trade Bibby or Artest for any one of those????

I'd do a Bibby/Thomas for Marbury/Lee deal, but that's it.

LA King Fan II · Feb 9, 2008

Hmmm, Smills. Now that you mention it....yecch.

Still think they need a point guard and Collison is a nice all around player.

nbrans · Feb 9, 2008

I agree with LA King Fan II about Collison. I'd take him over Augustin. I think he's better all around.

Also, don't sleep on Hasheem Thabeet. 24/15/6 blocks today against Georgia Tech.

Gary · Feb 9, 2008

Well if we don't trade Bibby there is no reason to get a PG in the upcoming draft. Not with Love, and Thompson out there around where we will be picking.

Thompson has always done well against competition. He actually outplayed Beasley earlier in the year when they matched up. Thompson has a good attitude, and is improving every year. Good rebounder, quick on his feet, and has good hands. Decent shot blocker. Post scorer. Decent jumper.

Love is doing well against good competition also. I say we DON'T trade Bibby, and hold off one more year to draft a PG. Price, and Jennings should be coming out next year. They are pretty decent.

We need a PF more so than a PG if Bibby stays. Hell, i wouldn;t even mind signing Beno as a new "Bobby Jackson" type player.

SacKings7 · Feb 9, 2008

nbrans said:

If he can play more consistently (not necessarily numbers like that), then I'd like to see us take this guy too.

Vlade4GM · Feb 10, 2008

I get what you guys are saying about Collison being better overall, but the thing is about him (and something I've come to realize more clearly this year) is that he's really not anything special athletically and that limits his upside quite a bit. He really doesn't have much over Augustin other than his defensive ability and probably turnovers, but Collison plays in a half court offense as opposed to Augustin who plays mostly in transition. Augustin I think will have a better chance at getting to the basket in the NBA than Collison who has trouble in college. Augustin is much more versatile in the offense he runs, he can pull up and spot up from virtually anywhere pretty well, better drive and dish ability and he has a stronger build than Collison. I see Collison as much of a rich man's Chris Duhon and DJ Augustin as a Jameer Nelson with better passing. Augustin still has his weaknesses as far as his size and athletic ability, but definitely think he's worth taking over Collison.

BawLa · Feb 10, 2008

SacKings7 said:

I'm starting to like Thabeet more and more too. Besides raw 7'3" power, he does everything we need except for scoring. If Hawes really is going to be our low post scorer in the future, then pairing him up with Thabeet could be worthwhile. Plus, with a significanty larger Thabeet next to him, Hawes could slide over to PF, where being skinny and underweight are less exposed.

BawLa · Feb 10, 2008

Anyone hear anything about Rodrigue Beaubois? He is a 6'3" PG from France (Tony Parker anyone?). He is a poor shooter but wasn't Tony Parker when he came into the league? Anyway, Rodrigue is a passing/defensive PG, which should be exactly what we are looking for. He has a 6'10" wingspan so perimeter D is his specialty. NBADraft.net has him going 8th in the 2nd round.

I would much rather get a big man with our first pick and take a chance on a guy like Rodrigue in the 2nd round.

Any thoughts?

Gary · Feb 10, 2008

Is Tyler Hansbrough coming out this year?

LPKingsFan · Feb 10, 2008

Gary said:

Not sure. But we can do much better from where we're drafting. If we get a pick somewhere in the late 20s, maybe, but I wouldn't pick him much higher than that...

LA King Fan II · Feb 11, 2008

One game does not tell it all (ask Kevin Martin), but Darren Collison played a game so far below is norm on Sunday that I've been expecting some backlash regarding him as a potential draft pick.

Anyhow, I hope he bounces back next week. Pac 10 is rough and UCLA got bushwhacked by a hungry team. In lieu of the playoffs for the Kings this year March Madness looms as a point of interest to at least fantasize about someone who could get the Kings back in contention.

GeorgeofSacramento · Feb 11, 2008

GeorgeofSacramento · Feb 11, 2008

But I'd "settle" for Kevin Love.

=LarryLegend= · Feb 11, 2008

i still like Devon Hardin or Nicholas Batum.. even though batum is a sf and we dont really need 1. but I think batum has star potential.

Gary · Feb 11, 2008

=LarryLegend= said:

Hardin has no offensive game. He isn't really anything special outside of his rebounding. His blocks might not even translate to the NBA. 1.5 in college usually equals to less than 1 in the NBA game. Hawes had as many blocks per game as Hardin, and he's not known for blocked shots. So Hardin gives us rebounding.. Not sold on him over a guy like Love, or Thompson. Both of those players have a post game, and a mid range jumper. Plus they are both considered better rebounders than Hardin, so I am not sure why we waste a pick on Hardin when Love, and Thompson are available.

I am interested on what I am missing with this Hardin guy. Why is he worth a #10-#13 pick when Love, and Thompson are available... Watching a lot of Pac-10 BBall this year, and have not seen what you all have seen.

hrdboild · Feb 11, 2008

So naturally as soon as I talk up Mayo he goes and plays a terrible game on national television. Maybe he needs another year too.

LPKingsFan · Feb 11, 2008

Gary said:

He's not. If we get a late first in some Bibby or Artest deal, maybe. But not at 10-13.

Vlade4GM · Feb 11, 2008

=LarryLegend= said:

If we have a shot at Batum we definitely need to take it, the kid has great 2 way potential; Grant Hill like potential. He's very underrated so far.

Vlade4GM · Feb 11, 2008

Gary said:

I'm really not that big on Hardin either, but I really don't want to see us draft Love, the dude is going to be pretty worthless defensively in the NBA against real 4's and he won't be able to get as low in the post, he just lacks way too much athletically and we need a defensive presence at the 4 (long term wise) to compliment Hawes' lack of D. Jason Thompson is definitely not worth a lotto pick, not even close, but I'd be for taking a flyer out on him in the 20's range. If there are no intriguing bigs left at our pick we have to go after a PG like Lawson or Augustin; no point in overdrafting a big just for the sake of getting a big.

Gary · Feb 11, 2008

I was able to catch the game between Kansas St, and Rider. Although Rider wasn't ever really close in the game I did see that Thompson outplayed Beasley. Even though Thompson plays a weak division I feel that since he has pretty much put up stats against good teams that he shouldn't be a the type of player that's overlooked.

I have a feeling about Jason Thompson, and I feel he will be a good NBA player. He has post skills, soft hands, doesn't turnover the ball much, and is a good rebounder. He also avg/above avg on the defensive end, and can block shots. I think that Petrie might not pass up on this "gem" from a smaller school knowing Petrie's track record. Plus he's a decent passer out of the post which is a plus.

Against the larger basketball schools Thompson has put up;
24pts 21rbds 7blks
24pts 15rbds 2blks
21pts 10rbds 3blks
24pts 7rbds 4blks
13pts 6rbds 1blks
12pts 7rbds 1blks

All of the above are .500 or above teams in NCAA tournament divisions (where a lot of teams are picked for the NCAA tournament)

That's an average of 19.6ppg 11rpg 3bpg. Oh he also had an avg of about 3 assists per game in the above. Not bad for a guy in a smaller division.

The knock on the guy is that he plays for a smaller school, BUT the arguments against that are that if he was attending a larger school and starting there wouldn't be much drop of (if any) based on his 4 year stats against larger schools. I think he will be the diamond in the rough so to speak in this years draft if given the opportunity to play. Even if he's projected 19th or about I would use a #13 pick on him. He is certainly better than Hardin. I saw that in the only game I watched Thompson play in. Plus he is a Senior who's only 21 (22 in July) so he is still young..

Vlade4GM · Feb 11, 2008

Gary said:

I was able to catch the game between Kansas St, and Rider. Although Rider wasn't ever really close in the game I did see that Thompson outplayed Beasley. Even though Thompson plays a weak division I feel that since he has pretty much put up stats against good teams that he shouldn't be a the type of player that's overlooked.

I have a feeling about Jason Thompson, and I feel he will be a good NBA player. He has post skills, soft hands, doesn't turnover the ball much, and is a good rebounder. He also avg/above avg on the defensive end, and can block shots. I think that Petrie might not pass up on this "gem" from a smaller school knowing Petrie's track record. Plus he's a decent passer out of the post which is a plus.

Against the larger basketball schools Thompson has put up;
24pts 21rbds 7blks
24pts 15rbds 2blks
21pts 10rbds 3blks
24pts 7rbds 4blks
13pts 6rbds 1blks
12pts 7rbds 1blks

All of the above are .500 or above teams in NCAA tournament divisions (where a lot of teams are picked for the NCAA tournament)

That's an average of 19.6ppg 11rpg 3bpg. Oh he also had an avg of about 3 assists per game in the above. Not bad for a guy in a smaller division.

The knock on the guy is that he plays for a smaller school, BUT the arguments against that are that if he was attending a larger school and starting there wouldn't be much drop of (if any) based on his 4 year stats against larger schools. I think he will be the diamond in the rough so to speak in this years draft if given the opportunity to play. Even if he's projected 19th or about I would use a #13 pick on him. He is certainly better than Hardin. I saw that in the only game I watched Thompson play in. Plus he is a Senior who's only 21 (22 in July) so he is still young..

You can't argue the guy has starter potential and the small program thing adds mystery to his projections, but the dude is not worth a lotto pick.

fnordius · Feb 11, 2008

Looking things over, we appear 95% certain to get the 12th draft pick -- we are almost guaranteed to get the 12th slot, which has a very tiny chance at the first 3 picks, and a slightly larger (but still very small) chance of dropping to 13th pick. We are very unlikely to drop, because the teams that are doing better than us (Houston, GSW and Portland) are several games ahead and consistently winning, those below us in the West are all at least 7 games below us, and the East's lottery teams are farther behind than even that, since teams with a record like ours get into the playoffs in the Leastern Conference.

So... #12! Plan on it.

Gary · Feb 11, 2008

Vlade4GM said:

If we have the #12, and he was projected let's say #16-#18 than it would be worth it imo.

LPKingsFan · Feb 12, 2008

LPKingsFan's draft board

Guys we may have a shot at with our pick (8-12), in order:

1. Brook Lopez
2. Jerryd Bayless
(both will likely be gone, but you never know)
3. Darrell Arthur
4. Darren Collison
My bet right now, if things continue as is, would be one one of the two above
5. DJ Augustin
6. Kevin Love

Guys we should target if/when we get a mid/late pick in an Artest and/or Bibby deal:
(anyone on the above list still on the board)
1. Kyle Weaver
2. Jason Thompson
3. DeVon Hardin
4. Serge Ibaka

Thompson reminds me a lot of Jason Smith, and I could see Petrie being interested as he was with Smith last year. Also like last year, however, picking him at our spot would be a bit of a stretch.

Vlade4GM · Feb 12, 2008

Gary said:

He'd have to really kick *** in the pre-draft camp to jump that high.

Gary · Feb 12, 2008

Vlade4GM said:

I put my stock into nbadraft.net and not draftexpress.com

Draftexpress is kind of skewed on their mocks, and have been for a few years. Nbadraft seems to be a lot closer on the mocks than draftexpress. But I do watch draftexpress for the combines. I like the way they format the combine results.

That's probably why you don't see Thompson in there. I don't think Draftexpress has him listed as going in the first round. Nbadraft has him in the top 20. I feel it will be somewhere in the top 15-25.

Vlade4GM · Feb 12, 2008

Gary said:

You got it backwards dude, nbadraft.net is know for poor rankings. DX is much better at doing their homework on players.

Kings Select in the 2008 NBA DRAFT??

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