Players to watch: 2016/17 college season.

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
Ok, it's becoming a much higher chance that the Kings lose their pick this year.... do you guys think there's any way we could ask Chicago for our pick back? Even something like #12 or even #18 would be a great pick for the Kings. I just don't think we can afford to not have a draft pick this year.

I wonder if something along the lines of Rudy+WCS does it? I think it would. Bulls are fighting for the playoffs. Bulls also need more rim protection. Rudy would automatically be their best 3pt shooter, and he can play PF. WCS is a young prospect for them too. Taj is expiring this year.
If the Kings were to lose the pick, I'd imagine Vlade would try to acquire one on draft day...or so you would hope. Otherwise, I'm done bickering about not having a draft pick. If we do...great, if not...it's just another typical off season in Kings land.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Unless he has a secret plan to land a second star that seems like a really bad hand to play.

At least a very shortsighted one. I'd love to be wrong though.
Yeah, was talking to a friend (Kings fan) yesterday, and I tired to figure out a way to build a contender around Cousins. Assuming we lose our pick this year, I honestly don't see how, unless one of our draft picks explodes and becomes that second star we need. Not impossible, but not probable. Beyond that, Vlade would have to steal someone blind in a trade either by intent, or accident. Our problem is not that we're without a couple of valuable assets. Our problem is that those assets are all in the last year of their contracts.

Gay, Collison, and Casspi all have value, but who wants to trade something of value to us, for a player they may not be able to resign. Even McLemore has value to someone out there that thinks he only needs a change of venue. But if so, he's not an immediate difference maker, so why not just wait and try to sign him in the offseason?

We'll have our draft pick next year, but not in 2019, and even in next years draft, if our pick is better than Philly's, they get to swap with us. The one thing we will have is some cap space. If we lose all the expected players, we'll have something like 46 mil under the cap (don't quote me). But after we sign Cousins (that's assuming he'll resign) to the max, around 30 mil a year, we won't have that much left to attract a big name. To my mind, the future looks bleak as far as building a contender.

Now if all you want to do is make the eighth spot in the playoffs, and then lose to the best team in the 1st spot every year, fine! We can probably do that with regularity. Personally, I'd like to build a contender instead of a pretender.
 
Not that it's any consolation, but our 2018 Draft is not spoken for. The possible swaps with Philly end after 2017 draft. Only stipulation in 2018 is we get the rights to swap our 2nd round pick with Portland.

Still, our recent success is bitter sweet. Win the battle and lose the war. :(
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Not that it's any consolation, but our 2018 Draft is not spoken for. The possible swaps with Philly end after 2017 draft. Only stipulation in 2018 is we get the rights to swap our 2nd round pick with Portland.

Still, our recent success is bitter sweet. Win the battle and lose the war. :(
Don't believe we have a 2nd round pick this year, nor in 2018. I'll have to check though. When I said we would still have next years draft pick, I was referring to the 2018 draft. I realize that 2017 is next year, but in reallity, it's this years NBA draft. Now I'm confused..:confused:
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Obviously you've done your homework. Your right, they can only swap picks with us on this coming draft if it falls within the top ten. And we do have our 2018 2nd round pick. So in theory, if we end up in the top ten, we will have our pick in this coming draft, and in the 2018 draft. Philly gets our 2019 1st round pick.
 
Obviously you've done your homework. Your right, they can only swap picks with us on this coming draft if it falls within the top ten. And we do have our 2018 2nd round pick. So in theory, if we end up in the top ten, we will have our pick in this coming draft, and in the 2018 draft. Philly gets our 2019 1st round pick.
Correct. I was counting 2017 as this years pick and 2018 as next years, or next seasons rather.
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
Don't believe we have a 2nd round pick this year...
We will have either a first or a second round pick this year. If we keep the first, we will convey the second to the Bulls, so we weren't able to trade it. Thus, if we lose the first rounder, we keep the second rounder.

(Super technically, even before the Hickson trade we had sent away the 56-60 portion of that second rounder to...I think the Celtics in one of those "send us some cash and a useless player and we'll save you money in luxury tax" deals, so the 2017 second-round fallback in the Hickson deal is only good for 31-55. But I've got a pretty strong feeling we won't be finishing among the five best records in the league this year so we can basically ignore the technicality. We have either our first, or our second, but not both.)
 
We will have either a first or a second round pick this year. If we keep the first, we will convey the second to the Bulls, so we weren't able to trade it. Thus, if we lose the first rounder, we keep the second rounder.

(Super technically, even before the Hickson trade we had sent away the 56-60 portion of that second rounder to...I think the Celtics in one of those "send us some cash and a useless player and we'll save you money in luxury tax" deals, so the 2017 second-round fallback in the Hickson deal is only good for 31-55. But I've got a pretty strong feeling we won't be finishing among the five best records in the league this year so we can basically ignore the technicality. We have either our first, or our second, but not both.)
I was going to make the point about the Kings 2nd rounder if it falls in the 55-60 range. I believe it's the Magic that hold that.
 
We will have either a first or a second round pick this year. If we keep the first, we will convey the second to the Bulls, so we weren't able to trade it. Thus, if we lose the first rounder, we keep the second rounder.

(Super technically, even before the Hickson trade we had sent away the 56-60 portion of that second rounder to...I think the Celtics in one of those "send us some cash and a useless player and we'll save you money in luxury tax" deals, so the 2017 second-round fallback in the Hickson deal is only good for 31-55. But I've got a pretty strong feeling we won't be finishing among the five best records in the league this year so we can basically ignore the technicality. We have either our first, or our second, but not both.)
I believe we got a 2nd rd pick from Phoenix in the draft day trade, but I don't remember from what year.
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
I looked up the trade and all it said was a future 2nd rd pick. It didn't specify what year.
We actually have a 2020 second round pick from Detroit that was conveyed via Phoenix (a part of the draft-day trade that brought us Papa/Bogdan/Skal for Chriss), so that may be what you're thinking of.
 
I have been wrong before, and I have been right a few times. I will continue to beat the OG Anunoby drum as I think he is going to turn out to be a really special and versatile player.
This is an older post from The Ringer. Obviously to be taken with salt. If we somehow had a pick, and somehow did not need to spend it on a PG/PF, I really like OG to slot in at SF next to our current crop of rookies.

https://theringer.com/og-anunoby-hype-killer-a90bda92fced#.u9au58soz

It isnt just his stats in limited minutes, or his freakish 6'8 with a 7'6 wingspan. It is also the way he purportedly carries himself both on the court as well as in the gym and in what interviews I have seen. Just has a fire I sense in him.
 
OG is going in the lottery, so irrelevant for Kings, unless they somehow decide to cash in Boogie, or someone is massively stupid to overpay for Rudy.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
OG is going in the lottery, so irrelevant for Kings, unless they somehow decide to cash in Boogie, or someone is massively stupid to overpay for Rudy.
Yeah, sadly just about everybody I love in this draft is going in the lottery. But, there are a few exceptions... I'm still trying to figure out why Hart is projected as a 2nd round pick. All the kid does is win.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
I've seen Edmond Sumner of Xavior, a 6'6" PG for those not familiar with him, play a few times this year so far and he definitely has potential. He's still struggling with his outside shot, but he doesn't take many, so he seems to know his limitations. He has very good handles and court vision. He's excellent at finding seams in the other teams defense and exploiting it. Either by going to the basket, or by penetrating an kicking the ball out.

He has some shake and bake to his game, making him hard to guard off the dribble. He can explode into the lane quickly, breaking down the defense. However, he does have a tendency to turn the ball over a bit too much, so he needs to improve his decision making. He had six of seven turnovers in one of the games I watched. Half unforced.

Other than needing to improve from the beyond the arc, he has all the tools you look for in a PG, including great size and length. Which really helps him on the defensive side of the ball. He could use a bit more muscle, but despite that, he fights through picks fairly well, and seldom gets taken off the dribble. He has excellent lateral quickness. He definitely needs some changes on the mechanic's of his jumpshot. He tends to release the ball a bit low, and almost looks as though he's shot putting it. Almost the way a young 10 or 11 year old would shoot because they lack strength.

I'm guessing that he'll be drafted somewhere between the bottom of the first round and the top of the second round. He's a player that I can see being a very good starting PG for a team in the future. It may take a few years, but all the potential for a two way player is there. Word is that he's grown 3 to 4 inches since highschool, which means he's still growing into his body. Something to take into a account.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
UCLA Oregon game is great entertainment
Not as big an upset as some might think. Oregon is a very good team when they're clicking on all cylinders. Fun game to watch unless your an UCLA fan. Sorry Capt! Villanova got a scare yesterday as well. Hart had another good game though. Kentucky and Ole Miss battle it out today on ESPN2. I wish Washington would get its act together and make a case for March Maddness. I'm afraid that Fultz is going to suffer the same fate Simmons did last year.
 
Dennis Smith Jr has seriously lit it up the last 4-5 games with the debut of Yurtseven.
20pts 8.6asts 2.6stls 3.8rebs on 50% from 2pt and 58.3% from 3pt.

His offensive game actually reminds me a lot of current Isaiah Thomas and a little bit of younger Kyrie. For a little guy, he excels in PnR. He's a good playmaker, but is an even better scorer. Has a variety of dribbles moves and Js..far advanced for 19 yearolds. The only thing for me right now is seeing whether or not his 3pt shot will remain consistent.
Maybe I'm overreacting to his fantastic play as of late, but he's giving Fultz a lot of competition for #1. DSJ just has that "it" factor when you watch him play. He's giving me the same vibe Russell did 2 years ago at OSU.

Watching 2 of the last 5 Lonzo Ball games, he seems like a "natural" PG, which does trend away from the current NBA of scoring PGs. His lack of scoring in the half-court makes me rank him lower than DSJ. It almost seems like he's not a threat attacking the rim...especially when you know that he'll pass it out 8 out of 10 times. With his lack of strength, I'd really like to see him develop a floater.

I give the PGs way too much writing times on here, so I'll start shifting my focus on PFs and Cs.

If Papagiannis can go #13 based on size and touch alone....I think Yurtseven could go top 10.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Dennis Smith Jr has seriously lit it up the last 4-5 games with the debut of Yurtseven.
20pts 8.6asts 2.6stls 3.8rebs on 50% from 2pt and 58.3% from 3pt.

His offensive game actually reminds me a lot of current Isaiah Thomas and a little bit of younger Kyrie. For a little guy, he excels in PnR. He's a good playmaker, but is an even better scorer. Has a variety of dribbles moves and Js..far advanced for 19 yearolds. The only thing for me right now is seeing whether or not his 3pt shot will remain consistent.
Maybe I'm overreacting to his fantastic play as of late, but he's giving Fultz a lot of competition for #1. DSJ just has that "it" factor when you watch him play. He's giving me the same vibe Russell did 2 years ago at OSU.

Watching 2 of the last 5 Lonzo Ball games, he seems like a "natural" PG, which does trend away from the current NBA of scoring PGs. His lack of scoring in the half-court makes me rank him lower than DSJ. It almost seems like he's not a threat attacking the rim...especially when you know that he'll pass it out 8 out of 10 times. With his lack of strength, I'd really like to see him develop a floater.

I give the PGs way too much writing times on here, so I'll start shifting my focus on PFs and Cs.

If Papagiannis can go #13 based on size and touch alone....I think Yurtseven could go top 10.
Smith is a terrific athlete, but I wouldn't call him a little guy. At least not in the I. Thomas sense. He measured out at just under 6'2" at USA basketball. I admit that he's a little short compared to todays crop of PG's that tend to lean toward 6'4" and above, but he's not 5'9" like Thomas. If I have to judge PG's on their total performance so far, game by game, I'd take Ball. If you forget all the little stuff you can nit pick about and just look at his results, he gets the job done every game.

As to who should be number one? This is the first year in a long time where there are so many players that could be in the running for that spot. If you chose Monk over everyone else, I don't think many people would argue that you made a huge mistake. I think more than ever, it will come down to team needs.