GP needs to start shopping Caspi now.

[Anthony1]

Early tonite I was totally devastated after seeing the lottery on ESPN. All I was hoping for was a top 4 pick. Yet, the Kings continue to be the Kings, and we end up with No.5. I honestly haven't seen that much on Wesley Johnson, so I went to YouTube to check out the highlights.


MY GOODNESS!! Dude has some legit skills. Extremely athletic. Has a nice Jay, can finish in transition. All the interviews I've seen, suggest that this guy has a great head on his shoulders, and is very mature and composed. I honestly think that he might compliment Reke better than just about anybody but maybe Favors. So, if we miss out on Favors, it's not like this is the worst consolation prize we could be looking at. I honestly think this guy could be a legit star in the league.

Now, the only problem is that he will need to play SF, and we definitely need to start him and give him huge minutes immediately. Considering we are already up to our ears in SF's, we gotta ship one of em out. No other way around it. My feeling is, trade the guy who will bring the most back in return. I hate to ship out Caspi, because the dude has serious upside, but he's the most marketable SF, and he could bring legit value. I don't think Greene will get us enough return value. I'd trade Garcia, but again, I don't see getting anything legitimate in return for him. I'm not sure what we could get for Caspi, but I definitely think GP should be shopping all 3 of our SF's, and see what their market value is prior to this draft. Francisco Garcia for a real late 1st rounder (or early 2nd), if Jordan Crawford is available.

 

[rainmaker]

Dude, you need to relax.

 

[vikinginferno]

I don't think you can shop anyone if everyone thinks you are trying to shop an imaginary guy named Caspi.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

i'd take aldrich over johnson

 

[Anthony1]

I don't think you can shop anyone if everyone thinks you are trying to shop a guy named Caspi.

Obviously, you can't get desperate to try to trade one of your SF's, and we will still need to wait to see if Cousins or Favors slips. But, I really think GP should be making contingency plans in case the top 4 picks play out like one would expect. Caspi has some value, not only on the court, but with ticket sales. I could see the Knicks being very interested in Caspi, just not sure what we could get in return for him.

 

[Chupacabra]

If youre the Kings, I dont think you draft a perimeter player with the 5th overall pick if you ever want to crawl out of the gutter. Ive got my fingers crossed that Petrie sees the same thing in Udoh that i see.

 

[vikinginferno]

Obviously, you can't get desperate to try to trade one of your SF's, and we will still need to wait to see if Cousins or Favors slips. But, I really think GP should be making contingency plans in case the top 4 picks play out like one would expect. Caspi has some value, not only on the court, but with ticket sales. I could see the Knicks being very interested in Caspi, just not sure what we could get in return for him.

I don't think you understand what I posted...

 

[Anthony1]

If youre the Kings, I dont think you draft a perimeter player with the 5th overall pick if you ever want to crawl out of the gutter. Ive got my fingers crossed that Petrie sees the same thing in Udoh that i see.

Yeah, but at the same time, reaching for bigs when the best bigs are gone isn't something I'm interested in. I don't think the Kings are talented enough to not consider the best overall player. We have the 5th pick in a 4 player draft. It's unfortunate, but thems the breaks. I don't think it's a good idea to try to get cute. There are probably like 5 or 6 big guys that could be considered, but I'm guessing 3 or 4 of them will only amount to role players, and maybe 1 or 2 turn out to be legit, and I don't like our odds on picking the perfect one. I'd rather take the sure thing at SF, even though we are way-overloaded at SF, and then deal one of our guys and get something else.

 

[sdballer]

Yeah, but at the same time, reaching for bigs when the best bigs are gone isn't something I'm interested in. I don't think the Kings are talented enough to not consider the best overall player. We have the 5th pick in a 4 player draft. It's unfortunate, but thems the breaks. I don't think it's a good idea to try to get cute. There are probably like 5 or 6 big guys that could be considered, but I'm guessing 3 or 4 of them will only amount to role players, and maybe 1 or 2 turn out to be legit, and I don't like our odds on picking the perfect one. I'd rather take the sure thing at SF, even though we are way-overloaded at SF, and then deal one of our guys and get something else.

I think your logic is spot on. Doesn't mean that one of the other bigs isn't bpa or close to johnson but I think the teams need to be careful not to make a stretch pick here.

 

[Chupacabra]

Yeah, but at the same time, reaching for bigs when the best bigs are gone isn't something I'm interested in. I don't think the Kings are talented enough to not consider the best overall player. We have the 5th pick in a 4 player draft. It's unfortunate, but thems the breaks. I don't think it's a good idea to try to get cute. There are probably like 5 or 6 big guys that could be considered, but I'm guessing 3 or 4 of them will only amount to role players, and maybe 1 or 2 turn out to be legit, and I don't like our odds on picking the perfect one. I'd rather take the sure thing at SF, even though we are way-overloaded at SF, and then deal one of our guys and get something else.

Everything you said is fine. Those are your assumptions as to what certain players will amount to. I think otherwise. I dont think Johnson is a better player than a few guys outside of the top 4. The fact that we have 2 young and talented small forwards makes the idea of taking Johnson sound insane to me.

 

[Anthony1]

Everything you said is fine. Those are your assumptions as to what certain players will amount to. I think otherwise. I dont think Johnson is a better player than a few guys outside of the top 4. The fact that we have 2 young and talented small forwards makes the idea of taking Johnson sound insane to me.

I think you're overrating Greene and Caspi. I like both players, but I don't see either one going to many All-Star games. I think Johnson has the potential to be a poor man's T-Mac. Believe me, I'm hoping either Favors or Cousins slips, but outside of that, I just think the safest play would be Johnson, or trading down somehow. It's too bad that in the NBA there just isn't as much trading up or down as there is in the NFL. I'd love to trade down into the late lottery, and still get the kind of guy we might end up selecting at 5 anyways.

 

[sterö]

They should draft the best player available and that´s probably, Wesley Johnson, if Cousins doesn´t slip....

 

[fnordius]

I recommend against making important decisions on the basis of youtube highlight videos.

 

[Tetsujin]

I recommend against making important decisions on the basis of youtube highlight videos.

But Ricky has such flowing hair! And his passes make puppies dance in my heart...

Whoops! Sorry for drifting back to the good old days there.

 

[DoDiGaG0]

23 year old rookie

in retrospect, you hope to know what you'll get from a player at 23 already...

 

[Sparky6string]

I recommend against making important decisions on the basis of youtube highlight videos.

But that's how I've gotten where I am in life.

What do you want me to go back to the Magic 8 Ball?

 

[KingsFanFromItaly]

I have the feeling that someone like Cousins will slip to number 5. Last year there was no doudt that Rubio would had been the second pick, but we all know how it went.

But, if this won't be the case, I would like to take Monroe or Aldrich. Johnson is 23, a little too old for a rookie that I would take at the 5th, expecially since we already have Donte and Casspi.

Anyways, I think that this would be a nice draft:
http://www.mynbadraft.com/2010-NBA-Mock-Draft

 

[Aenadin]

can Wes johnson play SG? if he is athletic enough and can shoot then i think we have the prototypical back court for reke if he can play that position....

however our best bet is another big...

 

[Spike]

I have the feeling that someone like Cousins will slip to number 5. Last year there was no doudt that Rubio would had been the second pick, but we all know how it went.

But, if this won't be the case, I would like to take Monroe or Aldrich. Johnson is 23, a little too old for a rookie that I would take at the 5th, expecially since we already have Donte and Casspi.

Anyways, I think that this would be a nice draft:
http://www.mynbadraft.com/2010-NBA-Mock-Draft

Old in the sense that he's older than the rest of the field, sure. But if he's NBA ready, then it's just like drafting a 20 yr old with the hope that he'll reach his peak in 2/3 years.

 

[KingsFanFromItaly]

Old in the sense that he's older than the rest of the field, sure. But if he's NBA ready, then it's just like drafting a 20 yr old with the hope that he'll reach his peak in 2/3 years.

I absolutly agree. But we need to be sure he is ready. If Geoff thinks he is, I will be just fine with him.

 

[Anthony1]

I think it's pretty silly to talk about a players age regarding the draft, unless the guy is like 26 years old or something. You always hear people talk about how so and so is only 19 years old, and how he would just be a sophomore in college had he stayed, etc, etc. The age thing is way overrated. Sure, you like your guys to be younger, because they have more of their career in front of them, rather than behind them, but Johnson being 23 isn't a big deal at all. He's still going to be a young player during his initial contract with us, and if we extend him, he'll still be in his prime for more years. I just don't see this as being such a big deal. Again, if a guy is 26 years old already, I kinda understand the thinking a bit, but I don't think him being 23 is that big a deal.

If we get another 19 year old, it's likely he won't fully develop till 23 anyways, so it's basically a wash. Johnson is mature and NBA ready now, and he will come in and help a team immediately. He isn't a raw player thats going to take years to develop. There are advantages in that.

 

[Telemachus]

can Wes johnson play SG? if he is athletic enough and can shoot then i think we have the prototypical back court for reke if he can play that position....

I think he has the athleticism to play SG, but doesn't currently have the ball-handling skills to play SG.