Did you watch Drummond in college? He played one year, and he didn't come close to putting it all together. He had the body and the athleticism and then red flags up and down on his attitude and work ethic. Now, those red flags have been resolved but at the time of that draft counting on Drummond to be a starting power forward as a rookie would have been insanity.
It cuts both ways you know. It was equally insanity to count on TRob to be the starting PF. In fact, we KNOW the Kings didn't think TRob was a starting PF because just weeks after they drafted him they re-signed JT to be the starting PF. So basically we have two equally unready PFs (perceived at the time), if TRob was NBA ready then maybe you had an argument there but he wasn't and clearly the Kings didn't think he was ready.
And that's another example of laziness and bad logic - if they thought they had found a JT replacement in TRob, that's one thing. But they didn't think that. They drafted TRob despite their apprehension that he wasn't ready, but somehow they surged ahead with the pick.... why?? I don't know. The best reason I can think of is because they didn't want to bother with finding a JT replacement and a raw rookie is better than nothing. They didn't want the work of finding a JT replacement after the draft, that's laziness.
I saw both TRob and Drummond many times in college. I was not sold on Drummond but I was absolutely certain he would be
at least as good as TRob and I was certain his
floor is JT. I wrote at the time on this board that Drummond was a freak of nature but not a basketball player; and he was the type of project that you don't want to pass to another team. Now, if you want to argue that the Kings' FO cannot possibly live up to my prowess as a talent evaluator, I am not going to argue with you. But here's the thing, how come I could see stuff that they couldn't?? When fans can make better decision than the FO, something is terribly wrong.
You're moving the bar. Your initial complaint was that the front office was too lazy to do any research or analysis on the draft and they just picked Drummond because he was high on the mock drafts. However, the logic behind the selection (however much you disagree with it) has been known for some time and that's clearly not the case. So now, you are arguing a different point - it's not that the front office was lazy, it's that they made a strategic error. That's as may be, my only intent was to put the laziness argument to rest.
I have been arguing bad decisions, bad logic, and incompetence in addition to laziness. I haven't moved the bar, I am reiterating what I said.
The laziness comes in the form of not doing enough research. Not making Jimmer go against top defenders in workout.... laziness - they didn't want to take the time to evaluate him fully. Not wanting to work the phones in the off season to find a JT replacement.... laziness. Not doing enough research on TRob.... laziness.
Need I remind people that just a few months prior, the Kings traded away an undersized, good rebounding, no jumpshot PF due in part to not being a good fit (and also locker room). So then they proceed to draft another undersized, good rebounding, no jumpshot PF? Did the FO collectively had amnesia? I seriously doubt that, the only logical reason I can think of is that the Kings wrongly evaluated Robinson - they simply thought he is a different type of player than he actually is. TRob is exactly the same player he is in college, he didn't suddenly forgot how to rebound, had a serious injury, refuse to fly, or another unforseeable that changed him. And why would they be so wrong about him? The only explanation in this case is because the Kings FO didn't do enough research. That's laziness. The FO talked about TRob's defense when it was Jeff Whithey who guarded the best offensive player and after TRob got schooled by Terrence Jones in the final. They drafted a guy whom they didn't know as much as they should have about him. The insufficient knowledge points to laziness, which includes lack of preparation, lack of research, lack of foresight.
Of course, a few months after drafting TRob, the Kings realized they made a mistake and traded him away. Would a team trade away a high draft pick in the middle of his rookie year if they believe they drafted the right player? No way. We know some rookies take more time than others right? You don't see the Sixers trading away Embiid or the Lakers trading away Russell do you? Teams that are confident they made the right pick don't trade away that player despite struggles. So why did the Kings do it? Obviously, it's because they F up! They got TRob wrong and they panic. Why did they judged TRob so incorrectly? What I said above.
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