Kings Pre-draft Workouts

[VF21]

I'm not really understanding the Kaminsky talk here...this team needs defense and a lot of it. It's time to change the identity, the Kings have always been known as a team that can score but can't stop anybody from scoring...I'd like to see Vlade establish a defensive culture here, once and for all.

So you didn't watch the NCAA tournament this year? Kaminsky plays pretty good man-to-man defense, something we definitely could use more of. He acquitted himself pretty well against Town, Okafur and Winslow and was named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team.

My interest in Kaminsky is primarily as a fall-back in case WCS is gone, OR we get an offer for our pick that involves a good veteran player and a lower pick.

Here's some more info about him (from Wikipedia):

Ahead of the 2014 season Kaminsky was named the Big Ten preseason player of the year.[9] The Badgers were unanimously picked to win the Big Ten Championship.[10] The Badgers ended up winning both the Big Ten regular season and the Big Ten tournament.

Kaminsky was named consensus first-team All-American.[11] On March 31, 2015 he was named the National Association of Basketball Coaches Player of the Year.[12] On April 3 he was named Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year, the first Wisconsin player to receive the award since its creation in 1961.[13] He also received the Oscar Robertson Trophy as the United States Basketball Writers Association College Player of the Year.[14] On April 5, he was named the Naismith College Player of the Year.[15] On April 10, he won both the John R. Wooden Award and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award.[16] On June 12th Kaminsky was named University of Wisconsin's Male Athlete of the Year.[17]

What else does Kaminsky have? Maturity. He played four years of college hoops.

You may not like him, but he's not just some scrub.

 

[kingsboi]

So you didn't watch the NCAA tournament this year? Kaminsky plays pretty good man-to-man defense, something we definitely could use more of. He acquitted himself pretty well against Town, Okafur and Winslow and was named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team.

My interest in Kaminsky is primarily as a fall-back in case WCS is gone, OR we get an offer for our pick that involves a good veteran player and a lower pick.

Here's some more info about him (from Wikipedia):


What else does Kaminsky have? Maturity. He played four years of college hoops.

You may not like him, but he's not just some scrub.

I'm not downplaying Kaminsky's skill set. He is a talented seven foot center, no doubt. However, I don't see him anchoring a defense with DeMarcus and hence why I feel he shouldn't be an option here...I'd rather take a chance on Myles Turner before I do on Frank, but that's just me.

 

[kingsboi]

If defense is truly what your looking for, then WCS is your guy. He is the best defensive player in the entire draft. As or Winslow, if he was an inch and a half taller, I'd be all over him. But he was 6'4.5" in his bare feet. And through some miracle, somehow he found shoes that added two inches to his height, making him 6'6.5". Which is borderline tall enough to play the SF position. I had Winslow and Stanley Johnson dead even on my list all year long, and I still do. I realize that Winslow shot the ball well in the tournament, but so did some kid named Derrick Williams and he was actually legit size. Don't get me wrong, I think Winslow will be a good NBA player, but nothing is guaranteed just because we wish it so.

To say that we don't need offensive players is just as ridiculous as saying we don't need defensive players. What we need are complete basketball players that can play both ends of the court. This isn't a war between defense and offense. It's not an either or. It's not as though you can't have both.

You make it sound as if this draft is loaded with two way players....I don't see it.

 

[kingsfan101]

So you didn't watch the NCAA tournament this year? Kaminsky plays pretty good man-to-man defense, something we definitely could use more of. He acquitted himself pretty well against Town, Okafur and Winslow and was named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team.

My interest in Kaminsky is primarily as a fall-back in case WCS is gone, OR we get an offer for our pick that involves a good veteran player and a lower pick.

Here's some more info about him (from Wikipedia):


What else does Kaminsky have? Maturity. He played four years of college hoops.

You may not like him, but he's not just some scrub.

I think it's unfair to compare 4 year guys like Kaminsky to freshmen like Towns, Okafur etc. As we are all aware, the best prospects usually leave after the first year. Teams that have guys that stay for longer periods perform well at the tournament, and have guys who are named to all tournament teams or even MVPs. They don't usually make it big in NBA, and sometimes, not at all. Check out Louisville's 2013 championship roster for example.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012–13_Louisville_Cardinals_men's_basketball_team#Roster

This is not to suggest that Kaminsky shouldn't be considered, particularly if we are trading down. If our immediate priority is to win now, and he can help us more than a project/veteran we can get for a similar price, it might be the way to go. Let's not compare his tournament performance against freshmen without highlighting that several guys in recent past have had similar success without making a similar mark in NBA.

 

[VF21]

I think it's unfair to compare 4 year guys like Kaminsky to freshmen like Towns, Okafur etc. As we are all aware, the best prospects usually leave after the first year. Teams that have guys that stay for longer periods perform well at the tournament, and have guys who are named to all tournament teams or even MVPs. They don't usually make it big in NBA, and sometimes, not at all. Check out Louisville's 2013 championship roster for example.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012–13_Louisville_Cardinals_men's_basketball_team#Roster

This is not to suggest that Kaminsky shouldn't be considered, particularly if we are trading down. If our immediate priority is to win now, and he can help us more than a project/veteran we can get for a similar price, it might be the way to go. Let's not compare his tournament performance against freshmen without highlighting that several guys in recent past have had similar success without making a similar mark in NBA.

I'm going to compare all aspects of a player, sspecially since what we're looking for is who will be able to help us now. It makes no sense to say it's unfair. It's the NBA.