http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/13132373p-13976473c.html
In the bad old days, Kings often got caught in the draft
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, June 26, 2005
Jerry Reynolds endured the worst of it, bless his soul.
The only Kings holdover from Year 1 in Sacramento, Reynolds donned different hats and packed different good-luck charms over every Sacramento draft except the first one in 1985.
And he still gets blamed for that one, the selection of Joe Kleine, whose big body wasn't built to withstand the burden of a franchise.
With so many anemic Kings teams during those dog days of the 1980s and a good part of the 1990s, the draft was supposed to bring salvation, new hope - something.
But if there were a snakebitten franchise come draft day, with Band-Aids picked to repair an ailing franchise, it was the Kings. Then Geoff Petrie arrived with a keen eye for talent.
The Kings faced their share of second-guessing early. Still do, because bad drafts stick to a franchise.
They selected Kleine in 1985 over Chris Mullin, Detlef Schrempf and Karl Malone. They took Kenny Smith in 1987 over Kevin Johnson and Reggie Miller.
And luck was never theirs. Great hope turned into a torturous tease when the Kings landed the No. 1 pick in 1989, only to learn it that was a punchless draft, devoid of franchise saviors.
So the Kings wound up with Pervis Ellison in quite possibly the worst draft in the history of the lottery. History would show that the best players in that draft were Tim Hardaway at No. 14, Shawn Kemp at No. 17 and Vlade Divac at No. 26, but none of them warranted No. 1 picking then.
The Kings in 1990 landed four first-rounders, seemingly enough material to start anew with Lionel Simmons, Travis Mays, Duane Causwell and Anthony Bonner. Only Simmons was any good. Pete Chilcutt in 1991, Bobby Hurley in 1993, Olivier Saint-Jean in 1997 ... you roll the dice and pray. And then second-guess if it doesn't work out.
"Did we make mistakes? Well, sure, every NBA team does in the draft at some point," Reynolds said. "I second-guessed, too. We all do. But that's a fool's game."
In their early years in Sacramento, the Kings were among the worst in the league in draft preparation. Kings management studied film on prospects, and that was about it.
They selected Kleine and Smith without watching them perform in person. Such tactics were rare then and unheard of now.
Now the Kings have prospects thoroughly scouted. They have paraded athletes through their practice facility by the dozen before Tuesday's draft for an up-close peek.
Every team does this now, the investment in players too great not to do research.
"The draft and the whole process is a lot more an exact science than it was 20 years ago, because I guarantee you now that every player in the world who's a player, teams know everything about them," said LaSalle Thompson, the Kings center in the early Sacramento days who now does some Kings TV commentary.
"Teams now thoroughly investigate a guy, the physical tests, the psychological tests. They talk to everyone, the cop in his town, the first-grade teacher. It's like being on the FBI's top 10 list."
Kleine had an NBA body at 7-foot and 275 pounds. He set great train-wreck screens, made his free throws and could grab rebounds occasionally.
But he was no savior. Neither, initially, was Malone at No. 13, since he couldn't shoot very well then. But he ended up churning out a Hall of Fame-like career.
"We already had a power forward in Otis Thorpe," Thompson said. "If Karl Malone was in the draft now, the Kings would probably take him. You learn not to draft for need but to get the best player."
Said Reynolds: "You look back now, and Karl Malone should have been the overall No. 1 pick, over Ewing, because he became a much better player than Ewing, period."
Smith was jet quick out of North Carolina - he still goes by 'Kenny the Jet' for his TNT studio work - but in hindsight, the Kings could have done better with Johnson or Miller. A forgotten subplot is the Kings' really coveted Scottie Pippen, who was soaring up the draft board. But the Chicago Bulls landed him at No. 5 after a draft-day deal with Seattle.
The Kings appeared to land a keeper in 1988, with Ricky Berry, the sleek shooter from San Jose State. After his promising rookie year, including late when Reynolds inserted him into the starting lineup, the franchise was brought to its knees in the summer of 1989 when Berry committed suicide.
"That set us back - really, really hurt us," said Harold Pressley, the Kings' first-round pick in 1986 and a close friend of Berry's.
Reynolds said luck is paramount in the draft. Like a weary veteran on the free-throw line, you hit some, you miss some.
"Sometimes we had lousy luck," Reynolds said. "Was Kleine a mistake? Sure. Was he the worst mistake? No. Not by a long shot."
Because of Ellison, who went down as one of the major flops in draft history, for any sport.
Bill Russell, the Kings' coach and front-office man in 1989, really wanted an inside presence. Ellison was a Louisville product who resembled the Boston Celtics Hall of Famer in body but not in game or desire. It proved to be a blunder among a rash of Russell blunders.
The Kings didn't bring Ellison into Sacramento before the draft, even after an alarming physical examination at the predraft combine in Chicago.
Kings trainer Bill Jones said then: "We did all the physicals on Pervis. He checked out the weakest person of all the players that came to that combine. Of 70-80 rookies, he was the weakest one."
Russell, presented with this information, picked the kid who went by "Never Nervous" anyway.
Ellison wasn't that enamored of his team, hardly hustling up to the podium to greet David Stern on draft day, his gait resembling a man being escorted down the plank at sea.
Ellison lasted 34 games with the Kings in an injury-plagued rookie campaign. As with Kleine, who lasted 3 1/2 years in Sacramento, and Smith, who lasted two, the Kings didn't have much patience. Ellison was traded to Washington before his second season.
"If the Kings were able to draft a David Robinson-or a Tim Duncan-type player in the first pick, things would have been completely different for them," said Bob Weiss, a veteran NBA coach now with Seattle. "It would have changed their entire franchise. Sometimes there's a great player at No. 1, and sometimes there's nothing."
Had high school picks been fashionable in 1989, the Kings could have considered Shaquille O'Neal.
More Kings luck.
When O'Neal did enter the draft, in 1992, Reynolds was in New York for the lottery. Like the other front-office hopefuls, he clutched under the table a Kings jersey with O'Neal's name on the back. The Kings wound up with the No. 7 pick and swingman Walt Williams, who showed promise early but became just another player.
Hurley was the No. 7 pick in 1993 at point guard. He never was the same after a near-fatal car crash near Arco early in his career.
The Petrie drafts were productive, starting with Brian Grant at No. 8 in 1994 and Corliss Williamson in 1995 at No. 13. But even he was second-guessed with picks. The selection of Peja Stojakovic at No. 14 in 1996 was booed by Kings fans because they didn't know who the Serb was. They wanted John Wallace of Syracuse. Jason Williams was viewed by some as a risk, given the guard's off-court problems in college, when he was picked at No. 7 in 1998. But he proved to be as vital to the Kings' resurgence as Chris Webber and Divac, who joined the club the same year. Now the Kings wait to see who's available at No. 23 come Tuesday. Another Grant? Another Pete Chilcutt? Another Peja? Another Kleine?
In the bad old days, Kings often got caught in the draft
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, June 26, 2005
Jerry Reynolds endured the worst of it, bless his soul.
The only Kings holdover from Year 1 in Sacramento, Reynolds donned different hats and packed different good-luck charms over every Sacramento draft except the first one in 1985.
And he still gets blamed for that one, the selection of Joe Kleine, whose big body wasn't built to withstand the burden of a franchise.
With so many anemic Kings teams during those dog days of the 1980s and a good part of the 1990s, the draft was supposed to bring salvation, new hope - something.
But if there were a snakebitten franchise come draft day, with Band-Aids picked to repair an ailing franchise, it was the Kings. Then Geoff Petrie arrived with a keen eye for talent.
The Kings faced their share of second-guessing early. Still do, because bad drafts stick to a franchise.
They selected Kleine in 1985 over Chris Mullin, Detlef Schrempf and Karl Malone. They took Kenny Smith in 1987 over Kevin Johnson and Reggie Miller.
And luck was never theirs. Great hope turned into a torturous tease when the Kings landed the No. 1 pick in 1989, only to learn it that was a punchless draft, devoid of franchise saviors.
So the Kings wound up with Pervis Ellison in quite possibly the worst draft in the history of the lottery. History would show that the best players in that draft were Tim Hardaway at No. 14, Shawn Kemp at No. 17 and Vlade Divac at No. 26, but none of them warranted No. 1 picking then.
The Kings in 1990 landed four first-rounders, seemingly enough material to start anew with Lionel Simmons, Travis Mays, Duane Causwell and Anthony Bonner. Only Simmons was any good. Pete Chilcutt in 1991, Bobby Hurley in 1993, Olivier Saint-Jean in 1997 ... you roll the dice and pray. And then second-guess if it doesn't work out.
"Did we make mistakes? Well, sure, every NBA team does in the draft at some point," Reynolds said. "I second-guessed, too. We all do. But that's a fool's game."
In their early years in Sacramento, the Kings were among the worst in the league in draft preparation. Kings management studied film on prospects, and that was about it.
They selected Kleine and Smith without watching them perform in person. Such tactics were rare then and unheard of now.
Now the Kings have prospects thoroughly scouted. They have paraded athletes through their practice facility by the dozen before Tuesday's draft for an up-close peek.
Every team does this now, the investment in players too great not to do research.
"The draft and the whole process is a lot more an exact science than it was 20 years ago, because I guarantee you now that every player in the world who's a player, teams know everything about them," said LaSalle Thompson, the Kings center in the early Sacramento days who now does some Kings TV commentary.
"Teams now thoroughly investigate a guy, the physical tests, the psychological tests. They talk to everyone, the cop in his town, the first-grade teacher. It's like being on the FBI's top 10 list."
Kleine had an NBA body at 7-foot and 275 pounds. He set great train-wreck screens, made his free throws and could grab rebounds occasionally.
But he was no savior. Neither, initially, was Malone at No. 13, since he couldn't shoot very well then. But he ended up churning out a Hall of Fame-like career.
"We already had a power forward in Otis Thorpe," Thompson said. "If Karl Malone was in the draft now, the Kings would probably take him. You learn not to draft for need but to get the best player."
Said Reynolds: "You look back now, and Karl Malone should have been the overall No. 1 pick, over Ewing, because he became a much better player than Ewing, period."
Smith was jet quick out of North Carolina - he still goes by 'Kenny the Jet' for his TNT studio work - but in hindsight, the Kings could have done better with Johnson or Miller. A forgotten subplot is the Kings' really coveted Scottie Pippen, who was soaring up the draft board. But the Chicago Bulls landed him at No. 5 after a draft-day deal with Seattle.
The Kings appeared to land a keeper in 1988, with Ricky Berry, the sleek shooter from San Jose State. After his promising rookie year, including late when Reynolds inserted him into the starting lineup, the franchise was brought to its knees in the summer of 1989 when Berry committed suicide.
"That set us back - really, really hurt us," said Harold Pressley, the Kings' first-round pick in 1986 and a close friend of Berry's.
Reynolds said luck is paramount in the draft. Like a weary veteran on the free-throw line, you hit some, you miss some.
"Sometimes we had lousy luck," Reynolds said. "Was Kleine a mistake? Sure. Was he the worst mistake? No. Not by a long shot."
Because of Ellison, who went down as one of the major flops in draft history, for any sport.
Bill Russell, the Kings' coach and front-office man in 1989, really wanted an inside presence. Ellison was a Louisville product who resembled the Boston Celtics Hall of Famer in body but not in game or desire. It proved to be a blunder among a rash of Russell blunders.
The Kings didn't bring Ellison into Sacramento before the draft, even after an alarming physical examination at the predraft combine in Chicago.
Kings trainer Bill Jones said then: "We did all the physicals on Pervis. He checked out the weakest person of all the players that came to that combine. Of 70-80 rookies, he was the weakest one."
Russell, presented with this information, picked the kid who went by "Never Nervous" anyway.
Ellison wasn't that enamored of his team, hardly hustling up to the podium to greet David Stern on draft day, his gait resembling a man being escorted down the plank at sea.
Ellison lasted 34 games with the Kings in an injury-plagued rookie campaign. As with Kleine, who lasted 3 1/2 years in Sacramento, and Smith, who lasted two, the Kings didn't have much patience. Ellison was traded to Washington before his second season.
"If the Kings were able to draft a David Robinson-or a Tim Duncan-type player in the first pick, things would have been completely different for them," said Bob Weiss, a veteran NBA coach now with Seattle. "It would have changed their entire franchise. Sometimes there's a great player at No. 1, and sometimes there's nothing."
Had high school picks been fashionable in 1989, the Kings could have considered Shaquille O'Neal.
More Kings luck.
When O'Neal did enter the draft, in 1992, Reynolds was in New York for the lottery. Like the other front-office hopefuls, he clutched under the table a Kings jersey with O'Neal's name on the back. The Kings wound up with the No. 7 pick and swingman Walt Williams, who showed promise early but became just another player.
Hurley was the No. 7 pick in 1993 at point guard. He never was the same after a near-fatal car crash near Arco early in his career.
The Petrie drafts were productive, starting with Brian Grant at No. 8 in 1994 and Corliss Williamson in 1995 at No. 13. But even he was second-guessed with picks. The selection of Peja Stojakovic at No. 14 in 1996 was booed by Kings fans because they didn't know who the Serb was. They wanted John Wallace of Syracuse. Jason Williams was viewed by some as a risk, given the guard's off-court problems in college, when he was picked at No. 7 in 1998. But he proved to be as vital to the Kings' resurgence as Chris Webber and Divac, who joined the club the same year. Now the Kings wait to see who's available at No. 23 come Tuesday. Another Grant? Another Pete Chilcutt? Another Peja? Another Kleine?
