It's early, but anybody have a draft wish list yet?

[Bricklayer]

An interesting snippit from Sam Amick over at SI.com

You really shouldn't read snippits about our front office's plans as a rule. 1) there is a great great chance we ****up, because that's what lowly franchises do; and 2) we've traditionally been pretty opaque, and I find it unlikley anybody knows what we are going to do this early (including us). Should be noted though for the last 3 years I have been pretty sure who we were going to draft by draft day as our reactions to guys as they are brought in for workouts force Petrie out of his shell.

 

[Gilles]

It's not even worth fretting over. The Lakers made it impossible for us to lose that game. We would have had to bench every legitimate NBA player on our roster and bring in some emergency D-league callups to even have a chance of losing that game (which incidentally, is pretty much what New Orleans and Cleveland did so at least we have karma on our side).

Could've played Jimmer at point for 48 minutes. That would've done the trick for certain.

 

[hrdboild]

So much for good karma...NO tanks like crazy and it pays off! I don't see how it could be rigged, but every conspiracy theorist had Stern gifting Anthony Davis to the Hornets. With Eric Gordon, Anthony Davis, and whoever they get at #10 did they just leapfrog us as playoff contenders after only one year of rebuilding?

 

[DesertFox]

So much for good karma...NO tanks like crazy and it pays off! I don't see how it could be rigged, but every conspiracy theorist had Stern gifting Anthony Davis to the Hornets. With Eric Gordon, Anthony Davis, and whoever they get at #10 did they just leapfrog us as playoff contenders after only one year of rebuilding?

They've got a passable PG situation. Really two above average backups. They can go Kendall Marshall at 10.
A stud at the 2.
Ariza/Aminu has potential at forward for being very disruptive role players on D.
You could do worse than a youth/experience combo of Okafor/Biyombo next to Davis.
Then lesser guys who played a lot like Ayon/Smith could become role players like Collison in OKC, or trade filler.

In terms of raw talent they aren't any better. But I would trade situations with them, and that is considering we have a stud in Cousins that comes once every few years. Davis/Gordon with a well balanced roster beats Reke/Cousins and our filler.

 

[gunks]

I think I'm jumping on the Barnes-Wagon.

We get a 3 who can shoot, all of a sudden Reke has spacing, can play a guard position, and MT becomes expendable. All good things.

 

[Vlade4GM]

Since when did Barnes become this pure shooter? .44/.36/.72 at the college level, playing with a very good distributor in Marshall? Yeah, I'm not buying it.

 

[OptimusRhyme]

Defense

I think I'm jumping on the Barnes-Wagon.

We get a 3 who can shoot, all of a sudden Reke has spacing, can play a guard position, and MT becomes expendable. All good things.

I dont get why people think adding another scorer like Barnes is going to help our team.. We have Cousins, MT, Reke, IT.. (pretty much our whole main core) looking for their shots...

Do you really think adding another scorer to that mix is going to change anything for the better?... The Kings need to start adding some defensive role players. In this draft I like MKG, Drummond, T. Jones, Henson, Melo and possibly Harkless in that order.

These are the players the Kings need to be targeting.

 

[Uk kings fan]

so i have two questions

1) is it possible we can trade up is there a chance at this with the teams above us

2) whould it be worth trading to get a second pick in the top 10 whould this b possible also

 

[bluntsnbball]

I dont get why people think adding another scorer like Barnes is going to help our team.. We have Cousins, MT, Reke, IT.. (pretty much our whole main core) looking for their shots...

Do you really think adding another scorer to that mix is going to change anything for the better?... The Kings need to start adding some defensive role players. In this draft I like MKG, Drummond, T. Jones, Henson, Melo and possibly Harkless in that order.

These are the players the Kings need to be targeting.

The short answer is YES, i do believe we need ot add another scorer. But not just any scorer, we need a wing scorer at the 3, preferably one who defends. i'm not high on barnes cause i dont know how well he can create his own shot, but we need more 3 pt shooters desperately. We dont necessarily need a volume scorer, but we need a solid wing to open things up down low, and just for more balanced offense. Right now MT is the only one, and thats not just gonna cut it.

 

[Gilles]

Since when did Barnes become this pure shooter? .44/.36/.72 at the college level, playing with a very good distributor in Marshall? Yeah, I'm not buying it.

He is very good spotting up but then you are drafting superb 3pt specialist who can defend at #5. Might as well drop 20 spots and take Jeff Taylor.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

He is very good spotting up but then you are drafting superb 3pt specialist who can defend at #5. Might as well drop 20 spots and take Jeff Taylor.

we need to acquire a second 1st pick to nab him.

 

[OptimusRhyme]

The short answer is YES, i do believe we need ot add another scorer. But not just any scorer, we need a wing scorer at the 3, preferably one who defends. i'm not high on barnes cause i dont know how well he can create his own shot, but we need more 3 pt shooters desperately. We dont necessarily need a volume scorer, but we need a solid wing to open things up down low, and just for more balanced offense. Right now MT is the only one, and thats not just gonna cut it.

So you go for a Battier,Batum,Bowen type. Not a score first player like Barnes. Defense first with a solid 3 point stroke second. We would be fine with a defensive spot shooter that will net us around 10-12 ppg at SF. I've watched every playoff game this year. We need someone that can defend SF's like Durant, Gallinari, Gay.. Because if we dont have a defender at SF, those guys will torch us in the playoffs..

 

[gunks]

I dont get why people think adding another scorer like Barnes is going to help our team.. We have Cousins, MT, Reke, IT.. (pretty much our whole main core) looking for their shots...

Do you really think adding another scorer to that mix is going to change anything for the better?... The Kings need to start adding some defensive role players. In this draft I like MKG, Drummond, T. Jones, Henson, Melo and possibly Harkless in that order.

These are the players the Kings need to be targeting.

Dude, I'm thinking defense too. We get ourselves a shooter at the 3, then Reke can move back to the 1 or 2, where he plays great defense. MT's ability to stretch the floor with his shooting becomes a little less important, so we move him to the bench or ship him out...Getting rid of MT will also help our defense.


Dont get me wrong, if MKG is on the table at #5 (I actually think there is a chance he could drop) I take him over Barnes 10 times out of 10... But realistically, I think we can do a lot worse at Barnes at 5. He'll give us some balance.


Another thing I wouldnt mind seeing us do is trading down for an extra 1st rounder...Doing something like that could net us both T. Jones in the mid 1st AND Melo in the late 1st. That would be sweet. Last year I wanted us to do the same in order to get Leonard and Faried....Would have looked f'in genius in hindsight.

 

[hrdboild]

So you go for a Battier,Batum,Bowen type. Not a score first player like Barnes. Defense first with a solid 3 point stroke second. We would be fine with a defensive spot shooter that will net us around 10-12 ppg at SF. I've watched every playoff game this year. We need someone that can defend SF's like Durant, Gallinari, Gay.. Because if we dont have a defender at SF, those guys will torch us in the playoffs..

I don't think Barnes is a score first player. Everyone expected him to be the man at North Carolina and he was criticized for not taking over games more often. He had problems trying to create shots for himself at the college level, but that's not what he'd be asked to do on this team. Guys like Battier, Batum, and Bowen are actually who Barnes compares to most favorably in the NBA -- he's got long arms, good size, and solid defensive fundamentals and he can shoot the three, particularly the catch-and-shoot three.

Durant is going to torch you no matter what. Barnes is a good enough defender to cause some problems for guys like Gay and Gallinari. And if he gets hot he's also capable of pouring in a lot of points in a hurry without needing to dominate the ball. I think he's ahead of where Batum was at at the same age.

 

[KingsCitizen]

I don't think Barnes is a score first player. Everyone expected him to be the man at North Carolina and he was criticized for not taking over games more often. He had problems trying to create shots for himself at the college level, but that's not what he'd be asked to do on this team. Guys like Battier, Batum, and Bowen are actually who Barnes compares to most favorably in the NBA -- he's got long arms, good size, and solid defensive fundamentals and he can shoot the three, particularly the catch-and-shoot three.

Durant is going to torch you no matter what. Barnes is a good enough defender to cause some problems for guys like Gay and Gallinari. And if he gets hot he's also capable of pouring in a lot of points in a hurry without needing to dominate the ball. I think he's ahead of where Batum was at at the same age.

Agree, I could see Barnes as Battier type of player who is one level lower on the defensive end and a notch higher on the offensive. Barnes has an NBA ready body too.
IMO, Reke-Thornton-Barnes could play together, especially if Thornton decides to play man defense and pass a bit more.
Or a Reke-Williams-Barnes combo could work wonders too.

 

[bajaden]

He is very good spotting up but then you are drafting superb 3pt specialist who can defend at #5. Might as well drop 20 spots and take Jeff Taylor.

On this we agree! One could argue that Taylor was the best defensive SF in college last season. The only player that could challenge him would be Gilchrist. And Taylor shot the ball better than Barnes.

 

[beb0p]

To me, Barnes is.... just meh. Can't shake the feeling that he is way, way overrated. I like Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Jordan Hamilton, and Paul George better than Barnes, and none of them were sniffing anywhere close to #5. I am not even sure he's better than the SFs you can pick in the late teen/20s. Is Barnes a solid player? Sure. But being solid does not a #5 pick make.

I'd rather the Kings pick a big man at #5 and pick a SF at #36. Darius Miller anyone??
.

 

[ParniValjak]

Agree, I could see Barnes as Battier type of player who is one level lower on the defensive end and a notch higher on the offensive. Barnes has an NBA ready body too.
IMO, Reke-Thornton-Barnes could play together, especially if Thornton decides to play man defense and pass a bit more.
Or a Reke-Williams-Barnes combo could work wonders too.

Not sure about that to be honest. This season we had real trouble getting 3 offensive players enough looks to keep them all happy. Adding another player whose main characteristic is to shoot or score is not a nice mix.

If anything we probably need to trade one of our shot happy guys for another guy who is not as good a scorer but it a better defender at another position. That is why IMHO for example a Evans - Batum - Cousins trio would be better overall than Evans - Thornton - Cousins trio.

That is not even getting to the point where our PG also likes to take his fair share of shots and before long, we have real problems. We had them this year and we will again next year if the mess does not get cleaned up.

That is why I am hoping that the pick and or Thornton get traded for a veteran help that addresses the need and brings something else to the table than just scoring. If we do end up with Barnes, I would be looking to trade Thornton for a player that would get us better at another position.

For example, I would be a lot happier with a Lowry - Evans - Barnes - JT - Cousins line up than I would be with Evans - Thornton - Barnes - JT - Cousins. I find the former line up a much better balanced line up with a clear hierarchical scoring structure and better defined roles. In the later line up the only player no needing shots or the ball in his hands to be effective is JT.

And that is well before we start going into the mess known as our bench.

 

[Gilles]

That's why Williams looked so good - he's more than willing to pass a shot to setup his teammate. Kings probably need another player of the same mentality in rotation.

 

[UK_King]

so i have two questions

1) is it possible we can trade up is there a chance at this with the teams above us

2) whould it be worth trading to get a second pick in the top 10 whould this b possible also

What do we have to offer anyone above us in the draft thats the question, every team in the league would want Cousins... thats it. We have absolutely nothing else that would make Washington or NOLA listen to a trade call.

If you mean trading Reke, NOLA have Eric Gordon and Washington have John Wall, they simply wouldn't be interested.

So in short, no we won't be trading up IMO unless we move Cousins which is obviously not going to happen and would be franchise suicide.

You might get Portland to listen to something to help us move down, if they have their heart set on someone at 5. They also have the 11th pick so you could move the 5th pick and someone possibly. But it's all up in the air really until you see the workouts.

 

[roasthawg]

After the lotto my draft wishlist at #5 now is topped by Harrison Barnes. I'll reevaluate after workouts but right now he looks like a guy that will both be there and fill a need. Best case for him is a Paul Pierce type of SF I think. The guy can score the basketball and is has a ton of upside as he was looked at as a possible #1 overall just a couple of years ago. Might be a blessing in disguise that his college career never quite lived up to the hype.

Also, watching San Antonio and OKC both bring one of their three best players off the bench leads to want to head into next year with a starting lineup of Cuz, JT, Barnes, Thornton, and IT with Reke playing the Harden/Manu role of instant offense off the bench. Imo that's our best possible lineup to kick off next year with.

 

[Vlade4GM]

He is very good spotting up but then you are drafting superb 3pt specialist who can defend at #5. Might as well drop 20 spots and take Jeff Taylor.

Exactly. If you want a SF in this draft, trade down, it's a waste to take one at 5, because there isn't that much difference in talent.

 

[Gilles]

Pierce is not explosive but he was very good driving to the basket using his strength. Barnes doesn't show anything resembling that. He's driving to pull-up, not get to the basket or free throw line.

 

[roasthawg]

Pierce is not explosive but he was very good driving to the basket using his strength. Barnes doesn't show anything resembling that. He's driving to pull-up, not get to the basket or free throw line.

Pierce averaged 6.8 fta per 40 his soph yr at Kansas. Barnes averaged 7.0 fta per 40 at NC last year. Very similar rates. As scorers I see a lot of similarities. I dunno... I like Barnes a lot. He just seems like the kind of player that might be one of the top two players to have come out of this draft when looking back 5 yrs or so from now... he has that type of feel to me. The nice thing is as a fan I can go by "feel" as there are no consequences if I'm wrong... we'll see.

 

[Gilles]

Barnes had most of his FTs cutting and then finishing around the basket, NC was much more fast break oriented - another source of FTs. I watched only half a dozen NC games but still I can't remember Barnes driving all the way and getting FTs.

 

[Kingster]

There isn't much to compare between Pierce and Barnes. When Pierce came out of college his quickness far superior to Barnes. He was quick and fluid. Barnes doesn't have the foot speed to ever be good at getting his own shot in the NBA. He doesn't have the foot speed to get his own shot against a lot of college players, much less the NBA elite. If he makes it, it's going to be because he'll use screens to get open or he'll be sitting at the 3 point line waiting for the ball to get kicked out for an open jumper.

 

[Bricklayer]

There isn't much to compare between Pierce and Barnes. When Pierce came out of college his quickness far superior to Barnes. He was quick and fluid. Barnes doesn't have the foot speed to ever be good at getting his own shot in the NBA. He doesn't have the foot speed to get his own shot against a lot of college players, much less the NBA elite. If he makes it, it's going to be because he'll use screens to get open or he'll be sitting at the 3 point line waiting for the ball to get kicked out for an open jumper.

Which is actually ok for us...if he learns how to shoot a three. Barnes' shopoter reputation was made by his ability from a young age to come off screens and hit midrange jumpers. That's only mildly useful to a team with better offensive weapons. A guy though who can drain the standstill three off the catch is gold.

 

[Vlade4GM]

Yeah, finding spot up shooters at the 3 is so hard to find, and you should definitely use the 5th overall pick on it.

 

[Uk kings fan]

Afternoon (/what ever time it is your time) guys i was thinking if things didnt go our way whould you think about reaching for Henson a 5???

 

[beb0p]

Barnes is a taller Mo Peterson, albeit a more consistent and a more ready at a younger age version of Mo Pete. At his peak, the former Raptor can get you (per game) roughly 16pts 4.5 rebs 2 assists and 38% 3-pt shooting. That's pretty much is what I expect from from Barnes when he hit his peak. There is absolutely nothing wrong with those numbers and the Kings definitely can use someone like that at SF. But the question isn't whether Barnes is a good fit (he probably is), is whether the Kings should settle for a solid but unawesome player when there are potentially more tantalizing talent available and when guys like Barnes are not that hard to find in free agency or in trade.
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