I don't think MWC is a project necessarily. He's just in the mold of a Rondo or Rubio PG. He's a playmaker, rather than|lk1 scorer. Looks like we want to go PG, and who we draft is going to tell a lot about the direction the Kings organization wants to go. If we draft CJ, then we are going to mold our team into something like the Warriors and I think Tyreke is gone because we will need a deep threat 2 guard. Draft MCW and Tyreke stays and the team is built around him and DMC with a serious defensive focus. Draft Burke and we're just being conservative and this year will be about the staff "seeing what we have."
Pre-draft workout schedules (merged)
- Thread starter AaronPDX
- Start date
To be honest, the last few days I have been warming up to MCW (I was really opposed to him a couple of weeks ago); I think he brings a lot of intangibles. We desperately need a PG to share the ball (IT shoots too much). His only real negative is lack of scoring and shooting the ball, but then we don't need him to score a lot and shooting can be improved upon. I have seen a couple of videos on him as well a few games I have seen syracuse play and nothing about his shooting mechanics are really negative. His shot is flat, but that is not hard to correct with enough effort. I think it makes a lot of sense for the team as a whole to draft MCW. Burke for me is too slow. He has skills, but he would have a hard time playing defense against the really quick PGs. CJ doesn't fit our major needs. I think we go MCW and get ourselves a veteran SF that can shoot and play D.
This should be a very interesting workout. Two guards with serious questions (MCW with shooting, handles) and McCollum (not a PG?) and a true PG. Very interested to hear how this one goes. MCW and Siva are going to be significantly more athletic than McCollum, but the latter is a far superior shooter and is more experienced/polished.
im completely fine with that. and honestly im not very familiar with MCW's shooting abilities, im just going off of what i hear. i was just saying ideally, i wouldnt want both our back court players to have a bad 3pt shot. i want the floor spaced so Tyreke and DeMarcus can go to work. but i would be totally happy with a lineup of:
MCW, Schroeder, or other playmaking PG
Tyreke
Wright
Patterson
Cousins
Patterson can hit the 3 pretty consistently so that does help
MCW, Schroeder, or other playmaking PG
Tyreke
Wright
Patterson
Cousins
Patterson can hit the 3 pretty consistently so that does help
I am a big fan of Schroeder as well. I would just like to see workout tapes of him and see how his international game carries over. Schroeder is my #1, but MCW is my number #2 at this point. MCW is taller, huge for a PG, has great strides, better passer, and there are clips of him playing man defense (not a lot). He has greater versatility as well. Schroeder is more dynamic, quicker, better shooter, and is younger, but he weighs very little.
If all the talk of Jent is true, I don't think we should shy away from guys like MCW just because of his lack of shooting. I like the organization getting into the habit of developing players and thinking long term. The team has really failed in that regards from the top, down to the players themselves. One of the things about MCW is with his size you could play smaller guards next to him. It gives you flexibility in how you build a team.
Agreed, Packt. With the way the coaching staff is lining itself up and with a little work, MCW would be an IDEAL fit for the current roster (roster meaning Cousins and Tyreke). He'll be taught hard-nose D and receive shooting development, the rest he has the fundamentals for. Bringing onboard the guy that worked with Lebron on his shot is definitely a +++.
Or, if he does develop a shot, we can play Tyreke next to him and completely demolish opposing back courts! Thats best case scenario of course. 
I've been pushing for MCW for a while now, I'm glade someone is starting to share my opinion. I things he brings something we really need: defense, size, passing ability (and willingness). Of course he is not a good shooter, but this is one of the easiest thing to improve. He has good shooting mechanics anyways, so I can see room for improvement (Rondo, for example, has horrible mechanics. That's why h won't ever be a good shooter).
I believe his strengths are much more helpful for this team than his weaknesses. We desperately need a pass first PG who can facilitate our offense. Also, we don't need four 3 point shooters out there. If we draft him, I'd say start Patterson and sign Wright. We would have 2 great shooters, plus Tyreke (I want to believe he's staying) that is getting better on the spot up 3 (and MCW can create a lot of good shots for him). That's more than enough I think. Look at the best team in the league. How many 3 point shooters do they have in the starting 5? Memphis for example?
I believe his strengths are much more helpful for this team than his weaknesses. We desperately need a pass first PG who can facilitate our offense. Also, we don't need four 3 point shooters out there. If we draft him, I'd say start Patterson and sign Wright. We would have 2 great shooters, plus Tyreke (I want to believe he's staying) that is getting better on the spot up 3 (and MCW can create a lot of good shots for him). That's more than enough I think. Look at the best team in the league. How many 3 point shooters do they have in the starting 5? Memphis for example?
So this is what it's like to be normal again...where NBA draft prospects actually WANT to work out for us. For the past 2 years, I've felt some draft prospects were shunning us because of the miserable situation caused by the Maloofs here. Last year we ended up drafting Thomas Robinson, who never even worked out for us, and we all know how Petrie doesn't like to draft players he never worked out. I have a feeling Petrie is going to go out with a bang and make a good pick for us this year, free of influence from the Maloofs.
With Memphis, that was their achilles heel. They could not put the ball in the basket (Tony Allen stands out in particular). Their problem was they traded for a SF that has never been known as a good 3 point shooter in Prince. I am one of those that share your opinion and think that MCW would definitely fit in with our core. His weaknesses can be covered up some with a balanced starting 5. The SF we get absolutely has to be able to shoot the ball, and Cousins can also step out and hit a 15-17 footer from time to time. If Tyreke's shooting continues to improve, there is no reason to think he will be a complete liability when it comes to shooting. We need a pass first PG. Burke isn't it. Schroeder I just don't know enough about and his workouts seem to be going poorly/disappointing. MCW can learn how to shoot. He already knows how to pass. Something tells me he won't be a liability on defense either. Inexperienced yes, but not a complete liability. Tyreke can handle the ball when teams put on the pressure to cover for MCW's weakness in that regard. I just hope he is there at 7!
Lets see, there's Burke that can already shoot. Is a good passer. Played on a team that played man defense and not a zone 100% of the time. Is a great ballhandler, but lets not draft him. Lets draft a player that can't shoot and hope he learns how to shoot. Played on a team that played a zone 100% of the time, but we think he can be a good defender. Who is a good ballhandler, but not as good as Burke. Yeah, lets pass on Burke, the proven commodity, and pick an upproven commodity and hope he becomes as good as Burke!!!!!!!!!!! Since we already have a team top heavy with guards, I would think someone might want to draft a player that plays a position other than guard.
It amazes me how everyone bitches and moans about Tyreke's inability to shoot the ball well, but then you want to go and draft a player that can't shoot the ball well. And then, put him next to Tyreke and tell me its a good fit. Just what we need. Two players in the backcourt that can't shoot. That'll open up the middle for Cuz. Drafting Williams is a gamble. If I'm going to gamble, I'll gamble on a big man to put next to Cuz.
It amazes me how everyone bitches and moans about Tyreke's inability to shoot the ball well, but then you want to go and draft a player that can't shoot the ball well. And then, put him next to Tyreke and tell me its a good fit. Just what we need. Two players in the backcourt that can't shoot. That'll open up the middle for Cuz. Drafting Williams is a gamble. If I'm going to gamble, I'll gamble on a big man to put next to Cuz.
Problem with Burke is that he has very limited ceiling... average/smallish height combined with average quickness/athleticism usually translates to an AVERAGE PG. I'm not convinced with Michael Carter Williams either. It would be great if we had a second first round pick to use on him, and let him develop on the bench. But we really need someone who can play right now. I would take the PGs in this order 1. McCollum 2. Burke 3. MCW
That is why I said whoever ends up being at SF absolutely has to be able to shoot. Personally, I feel as if Burke is going to be one of those "better college player than NBA player" types. The size and quickness just aren't there. It also amazes me how everyone complains about a lack of defense, and yet want to choose a guy who is 6'1" in shoes, is not particularly strong, and has never been known as a good defender, let alone a great one. I suspect that is why we brought Burke in and MCW today. The organization is probably asking the same questions we are. I like Burke, don't get me wrong. His shooting would definitely open things up greatly. I am just worried about him being able to replicate his success when the guards he would face are bigger, faster, and stronger.
Still don't like the idea of members of the previous regime working out guards, along with our coach and owners, yet no GM. We have zero clue what a new GM will want to do or what his ideas are about clearing out the backcourt mess. We had a FO who doesn't understand fit, doesn't mind stacking a bunch of ball dominant guards together, and coaches/owners deciding where we might head with player personnel decisions. Makes me quite nervous.
I have no confidence in members of our previous FO helping in these workouts. They are completely clueless about fit in the backcourt and regularly have gotten excited about guards who don't fit. Then we have guys like Mastrov/Malone evaluating these workouts and by default building a strategy of where they want the team to head. I'd think this makes it tougher to bring in a GM. You need a GM to have a philosophy, a strategy for the roster, and evaluate talent according to that philosophy. Instead, we have members of the previous regime who have zero clue how players fit together and blew our last two picks helping in these workouts, along with a non-basketball type of Mastrov and a coach who has yet to have a word with our next GM(since we don't know who it'll be) holding these workouts.
I understand the position we're in, but we're doing this backwards. The last thing we need is another project of a ball dominant guard. We need a strategy to fill our SF hole and get more defense on our frontline. We need a strategy and direction to as what we're going to do to clear out our backcourt and who will be the ball dominant guard, whether Reke or someone else we bring in. Yet, we don't have that. Not only do we not have a GM, but our not yet known GM doesn't know if Reke will be back, so how can anyone properly evaluate what our backcourt needs? Only thing I can gather by these workouts is no one seems to think IT will be our PG next year. But if Reke does return and is our SG, I'd much rather a GM deciding who might fit next to him than members of our previous FO(who've failed at that time and time again) and our owners/coach. I really do think it's a problem if our owners/coach are starting to build a strategy on our backcourt without a GM. A little nervous that Vivek might have too much confidence in Malone and this might complicate our future FO.
And all this makes it very tough to consider packaging the pick, as that requires a GM with a strategy and plan to fill holes/needs, and requires that GM to contact other teams and gauge interest. The rumored Lowry deal last year would have been a great move, but we don't currently even have that possibility as you need a GM in talks to do that.
I have no confidence in members of our previous FO helping in these workouts. They are completely clueless about fit in the backcourt and regularly have gotten excited about guards who don't fit. Then we have guys like Mastrov/Malone evaluating these workouts and by default building a strategy of where they want the team to head. I'd think this makes it tougher to bring in a GM. You need a GM to have a philosophy, a strategy for the roster, and evaluate talent according to that philosophy. Instead, we have members of the previous regime who have zero clue how players fit together and blew our last two picks helping in these workouts, along with a non-basketball type of Mastrov and a coach who has yet to have a word with our next GM(since we don't know who it'll be) holding these workouts.
I understand the position we're in, but we're doing this backwards. The last thing we need is another project of a ball dominant guard. We need a strategy to fill our SF hole and get more defense on our frontline. We need a strategy and direction to as what we're going to do to clear out our backcourt and who will be the ball dominant guard, whether Reke or someone else we bring in. Yet, we don't have that. Not only do we not have a GM, but our not yet known GM doesn't know if Reke will be back, so how can anyone properly evaluate what our backcourt needs? Only thing I can gather by these workouts is no one seems to think IT will be our PG next year. But if Reke does return and is our SG, I'd much rather a GM deciding who might fit next to him than members of our previous FO(who've failed at that time and time again) and our owners/coach. I really do think it's a problem if our owners/coach are starting to build a strategy on our backcourt without a GM. A little nervous that Vivek might have too much confidence in Malone and this might complicate our future FO.
And all this makes it very tough to consider packaging the pick, as that requires a GM with a strategy and plan to fill holes/needs, and requires that GM to contact other teams and gauge interest. The rumored Lowry deal last year would have been a great move, but we don't currently even have that possibility as you need a GM in talks to do that.
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Wouldnt surprise me if MT is on the way out (while he still has a bit of value). Malone was an assistant coach with the Hornets while MT was on the team. When they shipped MT out to us, there were a lot of rumors that it was because the coaching staff didn't like his lack of effort on D.
I do agree that us drafting MCW could spell the end of Reke as a King. His contract situation is so up in the air right now. Vivek and friends havent exactly been quiet about not matching a high contract offer either. He might seem like an easy get to any teams out there with money to spend.
I do agree that us drafting MCW could spell the end of Reke as a King. His contract situation is so up in the air right now. Vivek and friends havent exactly been quiet about not matching a high contract offer either. He might seem like an easy get to any teams out there with money to spend.
