Cole Aldrich if we dont get 1-4

S

sactownfan

Guest
#1
#1
Does anyone else get the feeling that we would take Cole Aldrich if we dont land picks 1-4? at this point i see Wall/Turner at 1 and 2 depending on who has the first pick... then Favors and Cousins 3 and 4...

Looking at our team right now, assuming we dont sign a PF or Center FA. Our frontline is obviously weak and pretty much the reason we suck so bad. Plus assuming that Petrie sees JT as more of a 4 than a 5. The Center position is the one spot we have no backup for...

Also this next year for Hawes is huge... Hawes could very well be the starting 5 of the future... but drafting Aldrich could send a CRYSTAL CLEAR message to Hawes that its go time giving him constant motivation. Plus setting up a plan B just incase Hawes need a few more years or maybe never quite gets it together...

Although I wasn't as receptive to the idea of drafting Aldrich initially. Mostly because of his lack of explosiveness and quickness... Im starting to like the idea of adding him because he does the things we need so badly.... like REBOUND and BLOCK SHOTS! all while being relatively mistake free, knowing his limits...

ok so again if we dont sign a FA 4 or 5... and Landry remains our best option at the 4... being that rebounding and size is an issue for Landry... Aldrich seems like the best fit next to him and for this team in general... Aldrich gives us depth at a weak position or a plan B for Hawes... just incase
 
Last edited by a moderator:
jimbodan

jimbodan

Bench
#2
#2
I think I feel the same way. Aldrich will probably never be a star or make an all star game and his offense is very limited (however he is a good finisher around the basket), but the things he does do well are desperately needed by this team. He rebounds very well, can block shots, and he plays good defense. I don't think it would be a stretch to see him average 10+ boards, 1-2 blocks, and maybe 10 points a game along with good defense. I'd gladly take that right now out of our starting C.
 
Chupacabra

Chupacabra

Starter
#3
#3
I disagree. I think we should pick Udoh if we dont land a 1-4 pick. I think hes flat out better than Aldrich. I also think Udoh addresses the teams needs better than Aldrich does, aside from being a center.
 
S

sactownfan

Guest
#4
#4
Chupacabra said:
I disagree. I think we should pick Udoh if we dont land a 1-4 pick. I think hes flat out better than Aldrich. I also think Udoh addresses the teams needs better than Aldrich does, aside from being a center.
Click to expand...
Hassan Whiteside looks to be the only real competition for Aldrich at the Center position.... Udoh is going on 23... and has some people wondering if hes got enough upside...

Obviously theres the possibility that like Evans did last year... one of these guys could just destroy the other ones during the workouts... which would change their rankings... but as it stands now i just dont think either Whiteside or Udoh would destroy Aldrich... but thats just my opinion.... who knows?

something to remember also is that Cole Aldrich's numbers were sorta down this year(minus shot blocking which went up)... but his team all around was more talented and he wasn't relied upon as much as the year before....

aldrich still projects as a double double guy... not an all star... but a steady presence in the paint...a shot blocking/altering, defensive, rebounding big man.... hmm....sounds terrible right?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
SacTownGrantFan

SacTownGrantFan

Bench
#5
#5
I think we would take Aldrich. However, why the 1-4? We have to wait and see who's available when the Kings make a pick.

I do think it's cool that many of us can consider Aldrich a 'plan B' at this point. Hopefully we can strike gold with a center this year.
 
S

Smills91

Starter
#6
#6
At pick #5 you take Wesley Johnson. He could be the 2nd best player in this draft.

At #6 I look at better players than Aldrich. I wouldn't even start considering Aldrich until pick #8 at the earliest, and wouldn't likely pick him until 10-12 range.
 
Chupacabra

Chupacabra

Starter
#7
#7
Dont get me wrong, I would love it if the Kings selected Aldrich and he turned into the mirror image of Joel Pryzbilla. I just dont think hell be on that level. I think its really hard to judge a talent like that. You just dont know if he can have that kind of impact in the NBA until you see him play there. Speaking of upside, im pretty sure the consensus is that its Aldrich that lacks upside and not Udoh.

Whats not to like about Udoh? Whats not to like about Aldrich? Compare ALL the pros and cons. I just dont see how Udoh doesnt come out ahead of Aldrich if im the Kings.
 
Jechtsphere

Jechtsphere

Starter
#12
#12
Chupacabra said:
I disagree. I think we should pick Udoh if we dont land a 1-4 pick. I think hes flat out better than Aldrich. I also think Udoh addresses the teams needs better than Aldrich does, aside from being a center.
Click to expand...
And what needs does he address...if we take him I sure hope he's so far above JT or Landry or if he's a lot like them then picking him would be pointless...I know Aldrich can rebound, play D at the center position which is one of if not our biggest area of need.

I only start getting familiar with the college players as the season winds down so you lot obviously would know more than me...so is he the next KG or what?

I also understand why people wouldn't want to draft him if we're as high as 5-6 in the lottery because he's not flashy...I guess some want Johnson also, is he strictly a 3 or can he play 2? If Donte can have another good offseason I don't think we need another 3 otherwise we'll have to trade him or Casspi.
 
B

BMiller52

All-Star
#13
#13
I wouldn't mind it if we took Aldrich at 6 or 7. The guy sort of reminds me a bit of Marc Gasol to tell you the truth. Or Przybilla. The guy is only 21 so it's not like he has no upside. And yeah he's a big white guy who is kind of heavy(which I KNOW is why people are saying he has no upside), but I've seen him get some alley oop passes and stuff. The only thing is he has a fugly jumper but it somewhat works. He has some nifty moves around the basket, plays really good position defense, blocks a lot of shots, and does a good job playing fundamental defense without fouling. I'd really like to get a player like Cousins but Aldrich isn't the end of the world.
 
Chupacabra

Chupacabra

Starter
#14
#14
Jechtsphere said:
And what needs does he address...if we take him I sure hope he's so far above JT or Landry or if he's a lot like them then picking him would be pointless...I know Aldrich can rebound, play D at the center position which is one of if not our biggest area of need.

I only start getting familiar with the college players as the season winds down so you lot obviously would know more than me...so is he the next KG or what?

I also understand why people wouldn't want to draft him if we're as high as 5-6 in the lottery because he's not flashy...I guess some want Johnson also, is he strictly a 3 or can he play 2? If Donte can have another good offseason I don't think we need another 3 otherwise we'll have to trade him or Casspi.
Click to expand...
Defense and rebounding. The guy referred to shotblocking as an "art". He has REALLY long arms, quick feet and has a high defensive IQ. The more I saw the guy play this year the more evident it became that on the defensive end....Epke Udoh is everywhere. I really dont understand whats not to love about this guy if youre a Kings fan. I dont see ANYTHING about Aldrich's game that out does Udoh. If youre the Kings you want a defensive big that will intimidate the opposing team. Im fairly confident Aldrich isnt that player. Im almost certain Udoh is capable of that. I think both players should end up being above average rebounders.
 
rainmaker

rainmaker

Hall of Famer
#15
#15
If we end up picking 5-10, one player who seems to be climbing the boards is Donatas Motiejunas. I didn't know much about him before, but I have read a lot about him recently and seen a few of his games. He is going to be a very, very good offensive pf in this league. I don't think the comparisons to Dirk are that far fetched. Only problem, at this point, just like a young Dirk, he plays no defense.

I would rather have Cousins or Favors. But if we miss out on both, I would have to consider Motiejunas. I think he might have a better chance at being a star than anyone else picked outside of the top 5. That would also mean, we have to get a defensive big through a trade or free agency.

Aldrich would definately help us, and quicker than Motiejunas. But if we're not picking in the top 4, maybe top 5, the star talent drops off significantly. So do we go with the guy who will fill a need as a defensive center, and should help right away, but IMO has no star potential, but will be a solid nba center. Or do we go with the guy who has a much bigger upside, but is raw compared to Aldrich, and relatively unknown?

Off topic, nbadraft.net has us taking favors.
 
DoDiGaG0

DoDiGaG0

Bench
#16
#16
IMO there are 5 players in consideration for "top 6" and there is a significant drop off after these 5

Wall
Turner
Cousins
Favor
Johnson

so we we the 5 pick, we take Johnson and hopefully trade him to the Nets for Devin Harris :)
 
T

TheRaven

Bench
#17
#17
Chupacabra said:
Defense and rebounding. The guy referred to shotblocking as an "art". He has REALLY long arms, quick feet and has a high defensive IQ. The more I saw the guy play this year the more evident it became that on the defensive end....Epke Udoh is everywhere. I really dont understand whats not to love about this guy if youre a Kings fan. I dont see ANYTHING about Aldrich's game that out does Udoh. If youre the Kings you want a defensive big that will intimidate the opposing team. Im fairly confident Aldrich isnt that player. Im almost certain Udoh is capable of that. I think both players should end up being above average rebounders.
Click to expand...
If it were as simple as you stated, I would agree. I think they are MUCH closer as prospects than you however.

Aldrich isn't a lumbering center, he is quite mobile himself. He is not quite as explosive a leaper, but is still pretty agile. Udoh is indeed a very good shot blocker, but don't forget that it was Aldrich that averaged more blocks on the year while also hauling in significantly more rebounds.

To my eye Aldrich was also the superior man defender between the two because he has a stronger base that makes him more difficult to back down in the post, something that is important and needed on this team. I am not saying Udoh was bad mind you, but he is going to have to add a good bit of strength to his lower body because I saw him get overpowered much more than Aldrich.

On offense obviously Udoh has the superior potential, I don't think anyone would really argue that. However one thing that gets overlooked about Aldrich on offense is that he sets fantastic screens and can work the pick and roll (as well as defend it). Overall Aldrich did take a half-step back on offense this season, but looking at the guys surrounding him I think a big part of it was that they didn't do as good a job getting him involved in the offense.

I see more of what I want to see on the Kings team in Aldrich than I do in Udoh, with the fact that he is younger being a nice little plus. I can respect those that see otherwise, but I think a lot of people sell Aldrich short because he isn't a guy that wows fans as much.
 
Bart-Poland

Bart-Poland

G-League
#18
#18
sactownfan said:
Does anyone else get the feeling that we would take Cole Aldrich if we dont land picks 1-4? at this point i see Wall/Turner at 1 and 2 depending on who has the first pick... then Favors and Cousins 3 and 4...

Looking at our team right now, assuming we dont sign a PF or Center FA. Our frontline is obviously weak and pretty much the reason we suck so bad. Plus assuming that Petrie sees JT as more of a 4 than a 5. The Center position is the one spot we have no backup for...

Also this next year for Hawes is huge... Hawes could very well be the starting 5 of the future... but drafting Aldrich could send a CRYSTAL CLEAR message to Hawes that its go time giving him constant motivation. Plus setting up a plan B just incase Hawes need a few more years or maybe never quite gets it together...

Although I wasn't as receptive to the idea of drafting Aldrich initially. Mostly because of his lack of explosiveness and quickness... Im starting to like the idea of adding him because he does the things we need so badly.... like REBOUND and BLOCK SHOTS! all while being relatively mistake free, knowing his limits...

ok so again if we dont sign a FA 4 or 5... and Landry remains our best option at the 4... being that rebounding and size is an issue for Landry... Aldrich seems like the best fit next to him and for this team in general... Aldrich gives us depth at a weak position or a plan B for Hawes... just incase
Click to expand...
if we dont land picks 1-4? I rather prefer whiteside
 
gunks

gunks

Hall of Famer
#19
#19
TheRaven said:
If it were as simple as you stated, I would agree. I think they are MUCH closer as prospects than you however.

Aldrich isn't a lumbering center, he is quite mobile himself. He is not quite as explosive a leaper, but is still pretty agile. Udoh is indeed a very good shot blocker, but don't forget that it was Aldrich that averaged more blocks on the year while also hauling in significantly more rebounds.

To my eye Aldrich was also the superior man defender between the two because he has a stronger base that makes him more difficult to back down in the post, something that is important and needed on this team. I am not saying Udoh was bad mind you, but he is going to have to add a good bit of strength to his lower body because I saw him get overpowered much more than Aldrich.

On offense obviously Udoh has the superior potential, I don't think anyone would really argue that. However one thing that gets overlooked about Aldrich on offense is that he sets fantastic screens and can work the pick and roll (as well as defend it). Overall Aldrich did take a half-step back on offense this season, but looking at the guys surrounding him I think a big part of it was that they didn't do as good a job getting him involved in the offense.

I see more of what I want to see on the Kings team in Aldrich than I do in Udoh, with the fact that he is younger being a nice little plus. I can respect those that see otherwise, but I think a lot of people sell Aldrich short because he isn't a guy that wows fans as much.
Click to expand...
+1.

People seem to be down on Cole because he'll probably never average 20ppg. Dude is exactly what we need on the Kings though. Rebounding and D playing center. I think he'd be a perfect fit for our young squad. I'd rather have a C who gets 12/11 with good to great D, than a 20ppg offensive player. We can get one of those through a trade or FA.
 
KingGiant49erFan

KingGiant49erFan

G-League
#20
#20
I dont think ive seen Aldrich's wingspan mentioned on this site yet but its something that should be noted.. its 7'5". now when you put a 7'5" wingspan on top of a guy with a 6'11" 250 pound body who knows how to play fundamental basketball, that adds up to a lot of good things. Specifically on defense with that body he will be able to hold his man in the post 1-on-1 without giving up too much position while at the same time being a threat to block his man's shot.. this is what we need from our center.. maybe he won't block as many shots as a Whiteside (although id be willing to bet he will based on Whiteside's bust potential) but i think people get high number of blocks and good defense confused. A player like Whiteside, who has a tiny frame, will get demolished by the Bynums, Jeffersons, Loves, and Howards of the league man on man.. sure he'll get some weakside blocks but weakside shotblocking is more of a luxury after you have a solid foundation of capable man defenders to build around..
 
LPKingsFan

LPKingsFan

All-Star
#21
#21
All I can say is that I'm looking forward to The Great Big Man Workout of 2010, similar to last year's PG workouts. Hopefully we can see some clips to get a peek inside like we did last season.
 
SacKings7

SacKings7

Starter
#22
#22
Aldrich doesn't "excite" me, but he would be a solid pick and I expect to hear his name on draft night if we don't get a top 5 pick. I agree that Wesley Johnson should be the #5, maybe higher depending on who lands the top picks
 
Kingster

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#24
#24
Isn't Thompson our center of the future?:D

Aldrich would be another guy to put in the rotation. He'd be a guy who would match up with some centers and not others, so some nights he wouldn't play very much, others he might play more. Kind of like you see now. He would be gumming up the works on offense because they'd play way off of him. If the Kings really picked him in the 5-7 slot it would be a big yawn. Reynolds always says you need to get a star in that territory. Well, he's not a star.
 
F

FakeInjury

Bench
#25
#25
Aldrich is a problem. He is good on offense, and good on defense. There really isn't many weaknesses other than the usual speed/quickness/athleticism that all centers lack except Shaq and Howard. I don't know much about Udoh, but from what i hear he is offensively limited. Basically Aldrich would be an improvement and an asset for years, therefor i can't know the idea of drafting him. Udoh would be Jason Thompson 2.0, Aldrich would be Cole Aldrich. Now, Wes Johnson is 24 and will be 25 as a rookie in the NBA, which means he will be 30 by his second contract. This fact makes NBA scouts think he doesn't have a much more room to expand his game, and I tend to agree. But, Wes would be IDEAL at the SG for the sets Westphal likes to run, and we may be targeting Wes this whole time. One thing i know about Petrie is he comes into these drafts with his guy already picked, and another guy as a backup pick. Wes Johnson would be the BEST bet because of his combination of athleticism shooting and defense. Like Donte green. Imagine Tyreke/Wes/Green backcourt. This team is shaping up very interestingly, and you can never have enough sf/pf or sf/sg or in fracisco's case sf/pg and tyreke pg/pf. Wes would be the next SF/SG. Alrich would be a C, and it could work, but look at our front court's production this season it is really good. hawes has 10ppg, thompson gets over 10ppg and Landry is scorching teams. We dont need the production at the 4-5. We need a 2 or a 3 other than tyreke that can CONSISTENTLY hurt other teams.
 
Capt. Factorial

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
#26
#26
FakeInjury said:
Now, Wes Johnson is 24 and will be 25 as a rookie in the NBA, which means he will be 30 by his second contract.
Click to expand...
Please, please, I BEG YOU, try to let facts get in the way of your ramblings. Johnson is 22, and will be 23 as a rookie (assuming that he declares for the draft as expected).
 
S

Smills91

Starter
#27
#27
SacKings7 said:
Aldrich doesn't "excite" me, but he would be a solid pick and I expect to hear his name on draft night if we don't get a top 5 pick. I agree that Wesley Johnson should be the #5, maybe higher depending on who lands the top picks
Click to expand...
Exactly, I could see Johnson moving up to the top 3 when all is said and done. Teams like the Clippers, Nets, Washington, New Orleans, Memphis are all teams that could realistically be looking to upgrade the 3 spot on their roster if they land, say the #3 pick.

The draft order is absolutely going to determine who gets picked where.
 
rainmaker

rainmaker

Hall of Famer
#28
#28
Smills91 said:
Exactly, I could see Johnson moving up to the top 3 when all is said and done. Teams like the Clippers, Nets, Washington, New Orleans, Memphis are all teams that could realistically be looking to upgrade the 3 spot on their roster if they land, say the #3 pick.

The draft order is absolutely going to determine who gets picked where.
Click to expand...
That is why I think getting a top 5 pick is the goal. IMO, either Cousins or Favors drops to five, either because teams are scared of Cousins'attitude(which I'm not), or because Johnson goes ahead of one of them. I could easily see Johnson going as high as #3, after Wall and Turner, to the right team. I would put Minn in that group to. Just because they have the 2nd worst record deson't mean they won't be picking 3-5. With Big Al, Love, and now Darko playing well, I could see them passing on both Cousins and Favors. With Flynn and Rubio coming in a year, I could easily see them going after Johnson as their future small forward.
 
Spike

Spike

Subsidiary Intermediary
Staff member
#29
#29
I'm cool with Aldrich. He fills a need in a good way. All of this depends on where we pick though.
 
iowamcnabb

iowamcnabb

Hall of Famer
#30
#30
Aldrich would be a nice addition to the kings. Still hoping for Wall, Turner, Cousins, Favors or Johnson tho. I'm sure Geoff will pick the best player if those 5 are gone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.