Jonathan Isaac:

funkykingston said:
I definitely worry about Isaac more offensively than defensively. Even if he's a full time SF in the NBA I think he moves his feet well enough to guard wings. And despite his frame, he mixes it up on the glass and blocks shots. On offense he's a bit stiff in his movements. He's actually pretty fluid for a 6'10" kid but he's not like Durant. I wouldn't even say he moves as well as Brandon Ingram.

Is he destined to be a 3&D guy? I don't know. He has the potential to be more, but I think he's got a decently high floor playing defense and hitting shots - if he can speed up his motion a bit and clean up his mechanics.

I like Isaac and Ntilikina a LOT but I also see that there's a good chance that both become very solid players but not stars. Is that enough? Is it better to gamble on Smith Jr playing hard every night and being an offensive star? Personally I think I'd rather have the long defenders and not worry about who the star is. If he's on the roster then great. If he's not, the Kings will struggle next season and have another chance to draft that guy. Maybe it's Porter.
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I think it has been well documented that the Kings will have as many as 8 or 9 players with 2 or less seasons of experience going into next season. At some point, if the rebuild is to work, you need to pick a star.

I think the Kings must hit a home run this draft or they risk becoming a perennial rebuilding project. Once you get the franchise centerpiece then filling in the gaps becomes easier provided you have the assets.

Kings can't just keep accumulating good, promising young players. They must get a star or two this draft and also get another one next year before handing over the pick to Philly in 2019.

There is quite a few players I like in this draft but the reality is for any rebuild to be successful, the franchise centerpiece must be there. People point to Wolves as being disappointing. They have their core that will with more development and seasoning will become a perennial contender. Kings MUST do the same thing. They must get a franchise player or two in next couple of drafts or it will be a very long and very painful rebuild.

Good, young promising players can be drafted in the teens or later in the draft as Malachi and Skal were last year.
 
bajaden said:
This is going to sound a but trite, but you don't know you have a star on your team until you have a star on your team. Seldom do you know you have a star when you draft him. Is Klay Thompson a star? And if so, did anyone think he would be when he was drafted? I know I didn't. If Buddy Hield was in that draft with Thompson, I would have put my money on Hield. And I liked Thompson. How about Kawhi Leonard. Did anyone think he was going to be a star?

My point is, we may already have that star, we just don't know it yet. A lot of people can lie now and say they thought Cousins was going to be a star. But many thought he was slow, couldn't jump, and had no low post skills. And to some extent, they were right. But he had that IT factor. It's possible that the Kings will get a star out of this draft, but it's more likely that they'll get a couple of solid starters. You just never know. But if you want to enhance your chances of getting a star, then you take the best player available regardless of position.

If we've learned anything from the last five or six years, it's that it takes more than a star to build a wining team. We had a star. One can argue that with Gay, we had two stars. And yet, winning eluded us. Yeah yeah, I know, I've heard all the reasons why. What we didn't do, was build a team! A good team is selfless. They don't care who scores, as long as the team scores. And, amazingly, stars emerge from that culture. Hopefully, that's the path were on. We may be surprised at who emerges. It may not be who we think. I like surprises...
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While what you say is true, I think a lot of the "stars" are also "known" at draft time. Everyone knew Wall was going to be a star. No one doubted Cousins' skill level to be a star, it was all about the attitude and mental toughness with him. Everyone knew Davis would be a star. Same for KAT. Now granted all of those are top 5 picks but the talent level is clear early on in most cases.

There are also those "stars" that were not can't miss prospects that had the tools that just needed development but some questions on whether they have what it takes.
You are right in saying Kings had a star, arguably 3 when you also add Gay and IT to Cuz but the Kings continued to sobotage everything good by obsessing over certain types of players and lacking patience and failing to develop players properly and....well you get the picture.

I think this time around there are some things in place that suggest that maybe the things will be different if they can lock away Vivek for a while and let him out when the Kings make the playoffs. I can't help but feel that if Kings were lucky enough to get 2 stars to wing their franchise player this time around that this front office and this coaching staff would do what others before them didn't have the knowledge or the patience to do.

I could be very wrong of course but in todays league you need stars to win. Franchise level talent gets average rosters to playoffs
 
Tetsujin said:
Why is everyone forgetting to mention Papa, or as I like to call him the Greek Wilt Chamberlain?
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I wonder if the Kings could get away with an Isaac-Skal-Papagiannis front-court? In stretches, I think Isaac could compliment Papa really well at PF. Isaac can fit in any lineup, and that's why I think he's such a special player.
Can't sleep on Papagiannis though. The potential on our current roster is exciting. However, I refrain from being too optimistic... need a good safety net since the Kings handle out disappointments like Halloween candy :oops:

edit: random comparison... AK47??? I think AK was a better athlete, playmaker, and ball handler but Isaac is the better shooter.
 
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We could easily have a star on this team and not know it. Isaiah Thomas is the perfect example. In Sacto he was "a lousy defender", "a selfish guy", a "scorer and not an assist maker" and supposedly he reached his ceiling when he was with the Kings. If you called Isaiah Thomas a star when he was a King you would be laughed off the board and you wouldn't know what the heck you were talking about. Heaven forbid if you compared him favorably to Tyreke Evans who was already crowned a future star. Well, Isaiah Thomas is a freaking star with Boston. He's an All Star, he's a bigtime shot-maker in crunch time, he's now deep in the playoffs, and he's essential to Boston's success. Just like with Isaiah Thomas, we could have a star on this team and not even know it. Heck, we could have two or three stars on this team for all we know. It's much too early to tell.
 
Kingster said:
We could easily have a star on this team and not know it. Isaiah Thomas is the perfect example. In Sacto he was "a lousy defender", "a selfish guy", a "scorer and not an assist maker" and supposedly he reached his ceiling when he was with the Kings. If you called Isaiah Thomas a star when he was a King you would be laughed off the board and you wouldn't know what the heck you were talking about. Heaven forbid if you compared him favorably to Tyreke Evans who was already crowned a future star. Well, Isaiah Thomas is a freaking star with Boston. He's an All Star, he's a bigtime shot-maker in crunch time, he's now deep in the playoffs, and he's essential to Boston's success. Just like with Isaiah Thomas, we could have a star on this team and not even know it. Heck, we could have two or three stars on this team for all we know. It's much too early to tell.
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That was mostly caused by bricklayer and his minions.
 
upinsmoke said:
That was mostly caused by bricklayer and his minions.
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Not true. No need to bash someone who isn't here any longer. I was of the same opinion about IT, which was primarily that I didn't think he could be a starting point guard for US. I and a lot of others did believe that he had a lot of potential as a 6th man, but that wasn't the role IT wanted. BUT this thread isn't about IT, nor should it be, and it isn't about Bricklayer. :)
 
VF21 said:
He said he was leaving and he left. None of us know anything more than that.
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I think there was a Bricklayer sighting around of the last Kings vs New Orleans game of the year. I think I saw him "Like" a post somewhere in a thread during that time.

Or maybe that was just my imagination. :rolleyes:
 
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