ockingsfan
Starter
Papa G looks to be getting in better shape every game. He literally looks like he is losing more and more of the baby fat every game.
Georgios Papagiannis
- Thread starter VF21
- Start date
Nightfall
G-League
Very well said. Since a Cousins trade was obviously on their mind the draft night makes sense. Divac probably took a gamble by selecting George and not Skal at 13 as it was more popular in drafts. In that case he would have lost George 100%
On the other hand Skal was dropping a lot since the first mock drafts and I wouldn't be surprised if they already had in mind grabbing both like that.
Europeans are a gamble. Mostly because even the best scouting cannot project how well they will adapt to NBA, and also, very important, how willing some europeans are to accept to work their a** off, go to D League, play limited minutes, etc. Especially serbians, croatians, greeks are often lazy, or used in playing big minutes in top european teams and they will not always adapt or end up going back to Europe.
However if the gamble succeeds you end up getting Giannis at 15 or Schröder at 17 when someone gets Bennett at 1, or you get Gobert at 27 (!) when someone gets Len at 5
So finally here we are a few months later. Kings having both George and Skal and we look at the list: http://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2016.html
and you probably have a hard time finding 2 better players and prospects between 13 and 30
Last edited:
ockingsfan
Starter
I think there were rumors that Boston and Detroit, who were picking right behind #13 liked Papa, so Papa would not had lasted to the Kings 2nd 1st round pick #22.
Papa is exactly the type of big upside player that I think Boston's Danny Ainge would have drafted.
There's no new info so I guess this is a hunch/semi-educated guess. The better his team does in the playoffs the more likely (I think) he is to think long and hard about leaving all of that to come to the NBA. I just don't see him tossing success for a BIG question mark.
ockingsfan
Starter
I actually think it to be the opposite.
I think if he wins the euro league championship, his stated goal, I think he would make the jump to the NBA.
If things don't work out in the NBA, he can always return to finish his career in Europe. I am sure they would welcome him back with open arms, if he had to return.
This is just my hunch, considering what vlade has said.
As for the money, I think that players look at their potential earnings on the 2nd NBA contract, not necessarily the first contract, that is where the big money is. The longer he waits to make the jump, that 2nd contract window will shrink.
Very well said. Since a Cousins trade was obviously on their mind the draft night makes sense. Divac probably took a gamble by selecting George and not Skal at 13 as it was more popular in drafts. In that case he would have lost George 100%
On the other hand Skal was dropping a lot since the first mock drafts and I wouldn't be surprised if they already had in mind grabbing both like that.
Europeans are a gamble. Mostly because even the best scouting cannot project how well they will adapt to NBA, and also, very important, how willing some europeans are to accept to work their a** off, go to D League, play limited minutes, etc. Especially serbians, croatians, greeks are often lazy, or used in playing big minutes in top european teams and they will not always adapt or end up going back to Europe.
However if the gamble succeeds you end up getting Giannis at 15 or Schröder at 17 when someone gets Bennett at 1, or you get Gobert at 27 (!) when someone gets Len at 5
So finally here we are a few months later. Kings having both George and Skal and we look at the list: http://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2016.html
and you probably have a hard time finding 2 better players and prospects between 13 and 30
Who would be the second better prospect beside Malachi?
The Hammer
All-Star
Yes.
It's not talked about much because we are still pretty bad... but seriously... this draft is looking like it could be one of the best in Kings history. And we haven't even seen Bogdan yet. Even if he's a bust, we know we have 3 legit players, likely at least 2 future starters, and in my opinion a high chance of at least one if not two borderline all-star players. I'm biggest on Papa. Just so smooth and intuitive for such a young age. Wait till he develops a 3 pt shot, because you know it's coming. Hopefully so is the defense, however.
A 4/4 quality player draft is unheard of. If reports on Bogdonavich are true and he works out, that is what we'll have.
Again, you can't really brag about anything when you have 31 wins, but this is nuts.
kingsboi
Hall of Famer
You can make that statement all ready?
kingsboi
Hall of Famer
It changed for some, it didn't for others. Way too early to be making any kind of judgment based off one move.
I've never been "anti-Papa" as a player. Hell, I knew absolutely nothing about the guy until we called his name. I was always upset at the fact we "wasted" a lotto pick on a true C when we already have 3 on the roster and one of them was our star player.
But yeah, seeing that kind of move definitely makes you turn your head and wonder for a second.
It is too early to make the statement, but I cannot remember when was the last time when we still thought of two rookies to have starter level potential after their first season, much less three rookies.
lwc
Starter
So finally here we are a few months later. Kings having both George and Skal and we look at the list: http://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2016.html
and you probably have a hard time finding 2 better players and prospects between 13 and 30
This.
So finally here we are a few months later. Kings having both George and Skal and we look at the list: http://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2016.html
and you probably have a hard time finding 2 better players and prospects between 13 and 30
I dunno. I guess I'm still a pessimist, but it also shows me how devoid this draft was of impact players.
We have kids logging decent minutes now, because we're in tank mode. I don't know that they'd be getting the minutes or having the same...impact(?) if we were still a Cousins led team working towards the playoffs. That said, if we were still winning winnable games with the kids logging the heavy minutes, I'd be a bit more excited, because it'd show that we have the young talent to win but it's taken the vets (Dallas win aside, man do they suck!) to come up with wins in most instances.
I think I'm going to give it a while to shake out. I could easily see everyone but Hield (and possibly Hield, depending on whom we draft) lose out to a more talented rookie/vet as early as next year.
allrightythen
Starter
I think your assessment is fair and the wait and see approach always makes sense. I do see positive signs from our current crop of young guys that previous failed draftees failed to show. While I remember guys like Jimmer, Thomas Robinson, even Ben McLemore showing glimpses of promise and even having stretches of playing well the current crop seems to be showing consistent improvements in a variety of areas in addition to showing flashes of really high potential. I don't know where these current guys end up, but I'm much more confident in their future than I was with previous youngsters (except Malachi because we haven't seen enough).
The Hammer
All-Star
Yeah that's how statements work.
And you can disagree with it.
It would be helpful for your case if you actually came back with a counter argument though.
Kingsfan23
All-Star
The Kings will barely have the means to fix things that are broken, then to worry about things that might not be
kingsboi
Hall of Famer
I would but you really didn't give me much to counter with...you're labeling this one of the best Kings drafts and we don't even have a finished product. Everything looks good in small glimpses, if the players don't reach their potential, it's simply you as a fan getting all giddy and overrating the youth on this team to make yourself feel better because of losing DeMarcus. That's just my personal opinion though.
Actually, he said "it COULD be one of the best."
kingsboi
Hall of Famer
Could it be though? Isn't it best to judge a draft after three seasons or so? I suppose to each his own. What am I saying! 0_0
I don't see any difference between saying a draft could be one of the best and a potential draft pick could actually succeed.
The two aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.
I don't know how good Papagiannis, Richardson and Labissiere (not to mention Hield) can be.
But right now they look like four very good picks in what so far has shown itself to be an extremely lackluster draft class.
If it wasn't for two Sixers that were actually taken in the 2014 draft we'd be looking at the ROY race likely coming down to three guys averaging:
If Vlade pulled four NBA quality players (possibly five with Bogdanovic) from that draft, I think that's a job well done. And possibly much more depending on how those guys develop.
But right now they look like four very good picks in what so far has shown itself to be an extremely lackluster draft class.
If it wasn't for two Sixers that were actually taken in the 2014 draft we'd be looking at the ROY race likely coming down to three guys averaging:
- 9.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 0.8 steals, 45.0% shooting.
- 10.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.5 steals, 42.1% shooting
- 10.3 points, 4.3 assists, 2.8 rebounds, 1.1 steals, 45.7% shooting
If Vlade pulled four NBA quality players (possibly five with Bogdanovic) from that draft, I think that's a job well done. And possibly much more depending on how those guys develop.
Suicide King
Starter
#FuriousGeorge
The Hammer
All-Star
Come on man. Step up your game.
The Hammer
All-Star
Way before. You can just see the talent oozing out of him. He doesn't have ALL of the tools Cousins does, but he has talent, and he's actually pretty active above the rim.
I think learning NBA defense is a matter of time for him.
I agree with all that.
Looking down the draft order statistics, the 2016 rooks have been bad. Buddy leads the rookies picked this year in points per game. Skal is up to 6th in PPG with about a quarter of the minutes played as the guys around him. These guys would probably be 1/2 if Skal got more playing time earlier in the year. I think guys like Jaylen Brown and Ben Simmons will be better than our guys in the future but to find a handful of hopeful guys in this draft with no real duds is very impressive. So far Vlade, Darrick Martin and Joerger should be applauded for the job they did up to this point. A lot of folks here wanted Wade Baldwin at 13 and he was beyond bad this year. The only "miss" I can really see so far is Brogdon but Malachi developing next year could make us forget about it.
Totally agree, although I'm going with Skal being the game changer here in Sac. He's got it all. Teams will be kicking themselves for years after passing on this kid. Watch him put on a little bit of weight over the off-season and just go off next season.
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