PurpleHaze
All-Star
https://www.si.com/nba/2018/10/10/nba-scouts-analysis-warriors-lakers-celtics-lebron-james
SACRAMENTO KINGS
They have a ton of young guys who are redundant. I worry that they don’t have the veteran leadership and roster balance they need. Aside from Zach Randolph, their bigs, wings and guards are all like a farm team. . . . De'Aaron Fox’s speed plays. The health and durability weren’t there where you want them to be. His lack of shooting comes into play. I think his ceiling is still high but his floor has dropped. There’s bust potential. . . . Buddy Hield’s ceiling has come down fast. He’s shown that he’s a specialist rather than a potential star. He can shoot and fill it up, get hot for stretches, do a little off the dribble, but he’s streaky and a role player going forward. I can see him being a sixth man, offensive firepower type if he was playing for a good team. . . . I thought Bogdan Bogdanovic was their best player last year. He’s tough, he’s got good feel, he knows how to play and score naturally. . . . I would have taken Trae Young and Luka Dončić over Marvin Bagley III. The draft hasn’t been kind to them and that’s why they are where they are. They’ve gambled on a lot of high-risk, high-reward guys and come up mostly empty. [But] Bagley has a real chance to win Rookie of the Year. He can put up numbers on a losing team. . . . Their depth chart is a mess. They might have five centers on the roster. Why? . . . Willie Cauley-Stein looks like a career back-up. He can be productive in stretches and has had every opportunity to emerge as a starting center, but he hasn’t done it. . . . This will be one of the worst defensive teams in the league. None of their best core guys are really plus defenders. . . . Circle these guys as a trade team. They can take on a bad contract or someone else’s mistake and offer some young guys in return. They searched for Rudy Gay and Buddy Hield in the past and I think they’ll try to do that again. They tried to sign Zach LaVine too. I could see them chasing an Andrew Wiggins or a Blake Griffin in a trade. . . . I’m a big fan of Harry Giles. A successful season for them is getting an answer on Fox, Giles staying healthy and becoming a starter, and then Bagley looking like a foundation piece. I think all of those things could happen and they still finish last in the division and win fewer than 30 games.
SACRAMENTO KINGS
They have a ton of young guys who are redundant. I worry that they don’t have the veteran leadership and roster balance they need. Aside from Zach Randolph, their bigs, wings and guards are all like a farm team. . . . De'Aaron Fox’s speed plays. The health and durability weren’t there where you want them to be. His lack of shooting comes into play. I think his ceiling is still high but his floor has dropped. There’s bust potential. . . . Buddy Hield’s ceiling has come down fast. He’s shown that he’s a specialist rather than a potential star. He can shoot and fill it up, get hot for stretches, do a little off the dribble, but he’s streaky and a role player going forward. I can see him being a sixth man, offensive firepower type if he was playing for a good team. . . . I thought Bogdan Bogdanovic was their best player last year. He’s tough, he’s got good feel, he knows how to play and score naturally. . . . I would have taken Trae Young and Luka Dončić over Marvin Bagley III. The draft hasn’t been kind to them and that’s why they are where they are. They’ve gambled on a lot of high-risk, high-reward guys and come up mostly empty. [But] Bagley has a real chance to win Rookie of the Year. He can put up numbers on a losing team. . . . Their depth chart is a mess. They might have five centers on the roster. Why? . . . Willie Cauley-Stein looks like a career back-up. He can be productive in stretches and has had every opportunity to emerge as a starting center, but he hasn’t done it. . . . This will be one of the worst defensive teams in the league. None of their best core guys are really plus defenders. . . . Circle these guys as a trade team. They can take on a bad contract or someone else’s mistake and offer some young guys in return. They searched for Rudy Gay and Buddy Hield in the past and I think they’ll try to do that again. They tried to sign Zach LaVine too. I could see them chasing an Andrew Wiggins or a Blake Griffin in a trade. . . . I’m a big fan of Harry Giles. A successful season for them is getting an answer on Fox, Giles staying healthy and becoming a starter, and then Bagley looking like a foundation piece. I think all of those things could happen and they still finish last in the division and win fewer than 30 games.
