Pre-draft workout schedules (merged)

[LPKingsFan]

From the new ESPN Insider mock-draft:

Interesting that Ford thinks MCW fares well in analytics. MCW doesn't seem to do so well in DX's situational stats post, although he fares somewhat better in this by the numbers look.

Also interesting that DX's latest mock has Burke going 6 to the Pelicans, and the Kings taking Bennett at 7. Instead of taking another undersized PF that we haven't worked out (again!), I'd rather trade down, such as the deal with Utah for 14 and 21 that I posted last week, or perhaps with the Hawks (17 and 18). Ford (for what it's worth) thinks we're high on Bullock and Hardaway, who'd make more sense in that range, as would Shabazz if he drops that far. Howard-Cooper thinks we're going to something "bold", which this would seem to qualify for.

 

[Gilles]

Darko lover should just go away somewhere overseas to find another sensation to drool over. MCW doesn't look good "in almost of all of them". Can't handle the ball without turning it over, can't put the ball in the basket. If you want some Carter-Williams, pick up Lorenzo Brown in the second round, basically the same player with less defensive potential.

 

[sdballer]

I'm just really hoping something "bold" doesn't mean taking snell or hardaway with the 7th. Those are low 1st/2nd round guys and if we love them, lets be creative and either pick up some mid first picks or use the 7th to get a different asset. I agree to some extent that you take guys you like but reaching that far is a waste of another bad season.

 

[cuad]

According to DraftExpress, Covington is only 6'6.25 in shoes, which is a real buzzkill 'cause his college page says that he's 6'9.

I'm upset that they haven't brought in James Southerland for a work out yet. If the team really likes MCW, they really out to bring in his team mate. They should also bring in Christian Watford.

 

[sdballer]

Sounds like Adams is coming in for a workout which is good news and muscala in a separate one.

 

[Dime Dropper]

Sounds like Adams is coming in for a workout which is good news and muscala in a separate one.

Where did you see that Adams is coming in? Not doubting you, would just like a link. Saw a couple tweets about it, but nothing from any real source.

As for tomorrow's workout, very happy that they're bringing in Muscala and Goodwin. I know the latter tailed off towards the end of the season, but as a second round prospect he's certainly worth a look. Could be one of those guys that plays better in the NBA with the additional spacing. And Muscala would obviously be a coup in the second.

 

[sdballer]

Where did you see that Adams is coming in? Not doubting you, would just like a link. Saw a couple tweets about it, but nothing from any real source.

As for tomorrow's workout, very happy that they're bringing in Muscala and Goodwin. I know the latter tailed off towards the end of the season, but as a second round prospect he's certainly worth a look. Could be one of those guys that plays better in the NBA with the additional spacing. And Muscala would obviously be a coup in the second.

From Steve Adams per a blazers reporter, chris Haynes. He also mentioned a cool thing about Adams. Apparently when he arrives in town the night before a workout, he asks the teams to let him use the gym so he can practice. Nice work ethic.

 

[Kingsfan23]

Good, it will be nice for our staff to take a look at Adams.. He seems like the type of kid Malone would like

 

[Glenn]

From Steve Adams per a blazers reporter, chris Haynes. He also mentioned a cool thing about Adams. Apparently when he arrives in town the night before a workout, he asks the teams to let him use the gym so he can practice. Nice work ethic.

There is no question what he is focused on. At least he didn't ask where he could pick up a woman and get drunk - or vice versa. He's the guy I want and it seems like most people have never heard of him. 7 footer, 255 pounds of muscle. Decent shot blocker. Can work the P&R offensively and defensively. On the offensive side he rolls to the basket quickly. Very raw and very coachable. Very physical. He's raw because they don't play basketball in New Zealand. That's almost the truth. It's a rugby country. You can see who I hope we pick. He will contribute more than TRob right off the bat. In 5 years he could be very, very good. That's not a guarantee of course.

 

[bajaden]

Darko lover should just go away somewhere overseas to find another sensation to drool over. MCW doesn't look good "in almost of all of them". Can't handle the ball without turning it over, can't put the ball in the basket. If you want some Carter-Williams, pick up Lorenzo Brown in the second round, basically the same player with less defensive potential.

I wouldn't be surprised if Brown proves to be a better player than Williams. He averaged as many assists a game, and at least he has a midrange shot. Lousy 3 pt shooter though.

 

[bajaden]

Happy my boy Mike Muscala is coming in on friday. Another interesting player thats joining him is Khalif Wyatt, the 6'4" guard from Temple. I say interesting because he's generally looked at as a SG, but the dude can really pass the ball. Prolific scorer that can really light it up at times. Just ask Michael Carter-Williams, the great defender who got abused for 33 points by Wyatt. Wyatt averaged 4 assists a game, and there were many games when he logged 7 or 8 assists. He's a second round pick, and definitely wouldn't be seen as a pass first PG, or maybe not as a PG at all, but even as a SG, he's like having another PG on the floor.

I'm interested to see how Goodwin does in his workout. So far I haven't heard that many good reports about him. I do think he might be a steal in the second round. He was a top 10 highschool player coming into college, so he's not just cannon fodder. Great athlete and handles the ball well. Needs to develop a good outside shot. Right now he's too one deminsional.

 

[Kingsfan23]

There is no question what he is focused on. At least he didn't ask where he could pick up a woman and get drunk - or vice versa. He's the guy I want and it seems like most people have never heard of him. 7 footer, 255 pounds of muscle. Decent shot blocker. Can work the P&R offensively and defensively. On the offensive side he rolls to the basket quickly. Very raw and very coachable. Very physical. He's raw because they don't play basketball in New Zealand. That's almost the truth. It's a rugby country. You can see who I hope we pick. He will contribute more than TRob right off the bat. In 5 years he could be very, very good. That's not a guarantee of course.

I don't fault your position, he's going to be damn solid.

I'm just glad this is going to be over in a week.. As good as digging into and debating the draft is, after a month you start to want to get into the next phase of dissecting who you've picked

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

Very excited about Goodwin if only because getting him in the second round would be a major steal. He reminds me of Lance Stephenson in that he was a huge high school prospect who had a sub par year in college, fell to the second round, and now he's a very valuable piece for the Pacers. Obviously Stephenson was even more risky that Goodwin because he was a mess off the court.

And it's not like Goodwin was bad last year. He was OK. Perfect size for a SG in todays NBA. Good physical attributes .. these are the kind of players I like to target in the second round. He so young.

I don't know much about Muscala aside from what I've read by posters on here and a lot of other stuff on him along with some video i've been able to find. I read a lot. Certainly an interesting name, and if nothing else I'm glad we're bringing him in.

Out of the second round guy's we've brought in I'm most interested in Snell, Muscala, Gobert, and Goodwin so far. I put Snell and Gobert on that short list because I don't know where to project them at this point. Gobert is dropping, it's just a matter of how far. Snell is rising, but we'll see.

 

[Hallama]

Very excited about Goodwin if only because getting him in the second round would be a major steal. He reminds me of Lance Stephenson in that he was a huge high school prospect who had a sub par year in college, fell to the second round, and now he's a very valuable piece for the Pacers. Obviously Stephenson was even more risky that Goodwin because he was a mess off the court.

And it's not like Goodwin was bad last year. He was OK. Perfect size for a SG in todays NBA. Good physical attributes .. these are the kind of players I like to target in the second round. He so young.

I have no problem at all drafting blue chippers...even after struggling a little bit in college. Gerald Wallace comes to mind...

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

Reports are McCollum and Shabazz are coming in for a second workout. No sign of MCW or Burke for a second workout. The plot thickens!

 

[Dudeman23]

Reports are McCollum and Shabazz are coming in for a second workout. No sign of MCW or Burke for a second workout. The plot thickens!

I would be happy with either of them

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Reports are McCollum and Shabazz are coming in for a second workout. No sign of MCW or Burke for a second workout. The plot thickens!

I doubt MCW will come back in, from the CBK podcast it sounds like the FO didn't like him at all.

I've got a feeling we may end up trading the #7 for Minny's #9 and #26, taking Muhammad at #9 and then one of Hardaway/Snell at #26. Just a wild guess.

 

[Mojo]

I doubt MCW will come back in, from the CBK podcast it sounds like the FO didn't like him at all.

I've got a feeling we may end up trading the #7 for Minny's #9 and #26, taking Muhammad at #9 and then one of Hardaway/Snell at #26. Just a wild guess.

Is that a good trade for Minny though? Unless Detriot is targeting someone they really want, I don't know if moving up a spot is worth giving up a late 1st round pick.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

I doubt MCW will come back in, from the CBK podcast it sounds like the FO didn't like him at all.

I've got a feeling we may end up trading the #7 for Minny's #9 and #26, taking Muhammad at #9 and then one of Hardaway/Snell at #26. Just a wild guess.

Haven't listened to it yet. That's interesting. So according to those guys the Kings FO didn't like MCW, and according to Ford "From what I can gather, UCLA forward Shabazz Muhammad had the best workout, though the Kings weren't particularly high on him prior to that. The team loved Carter-Williams before he came in, but weren't impressed with his workout. Sounds as if Trey Burke isn't particularly high on their list, either. Ditto for C.J. McCollum."

So we don't love MCW, Burke, or McCollum, but are bringing back McCollum because MAYBE he is our favorite guard out of the three? If guard is the direction we go. Shabazz and Snell are our top SF/SG Combo's ... and we haven't been bringing in many bigs so they are still unknowns.

This could all be a misdirection, obviously. Oh well. It's all interesting.

I like the Minny Idea, although I could see us using 9 on Adams/Zeller or McCollum over Shabazz then getting Snell. Shabazz and one of Snell/Hardaway doesn't make a lot of sense to me unless we are letting Evans go.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

Is that a good trade for Minny though? Unless Detriot is targeting someone they really want, I don't know if moving up a spot is worth giving up a late 1st round pick.

Well, it depends who slides. And they would be jumping ahead of us as well, so its two spots, really. There seems to be a pretty clear top 6 forming (Noel, McLemore, Len, Oladipo, Bennett, Porter) and if one of those guys slides to us at #7, another first could be worth that jump if they love one of those guys.

 

[ParniValjak]

Not a fan of Shabazz at all! The only way he makes some sense is if we are moving on every other shot hungry guard other than Evans.

Not a fan of his attitude either and his talent level is certainly not high enough for me to overlook the attitude!

 

[cuad]

Shabazz seems like a taller Marcus Thornton to me. If they draft him, it probably means they want to trade Marcus Thornton.

Maybe they wanna package him and Jason Thompson for somebody big. *cough* Pau Gasol *cough* :3

 

[AaronPDX]

Clearly this is 98-percent posturing on the front office's part. They aren't going to say who they REALLY like, they never do. I think Shabazz is being played to get other teams to take a deeper look at him thinking they missed something. The Kings front office nor ANY other front office in the league in the history of NBA drafts has ever said "This is the guy we're choosing" but for the 1st or 2nd picks maybe. Still think the Kings will take Burke or MCW, *almost* willing to bet money on it...lol

 

[AaronPDX]

Shabazz seems like a taller Marcus Thornton to me. If they draft him, it probably means they want to trade Marcus Thornton.

Maybe they wanna package him and Jason Thompson for somebody big. *cough* Pau Gasol *cough* :3

I don't think there's any secret they'd trade Thornton and his contract. Would you REALLY want Gasol? He's too old and broken down. The Lakers have been willing to dump Gasol to a taker, just can't find one.

 

[jalfa]

I don't think there's any secret they'd trade Thornton and his contract. Would you REALLY want Gasol? He's too old and broken down. The Lakers have been willing to dump Gasol to a taker, just can't find one.

regardless of what Gasol can do on the court, which isn't that little, considering he's played pretty well down the stretch despite having to sacrifice quite a bit of his game, he's 19M of contract that expires precisely when LeBron James will be on the market next. there's no doubt in my mind that some team is going to want him, the question is just if the Lakers would be happy with what they'd be receiving.

 

[OptimusRhyme]

I hated Shabazz when I first started studying this years draft players.. But i've grown too respect him a little more since the positive workouts/interviews hes been having. I think his red flags are overblown a little bit. He does have "Tourrettes Syndrome", so that may be why he comes across as a little "off" in some of his interviews...But generally I think he is a good guy that meens well. And you wont find a more fierce competitor in this years draft.. I like his scoring/physicality, rebounding and defensive potential. His passing could be alot better though.

All is all I think if we did end up drafting him I would be neutral on it. hes" high risk high reward" like someone above said. He kinda reminds me of Pierce when he scores the rock, hes got those slower but deceptive movements and although hes not super athletic , he uses his athleticism that hes got, too the fullest potential.

I would much rather target Snell or Karasev and possibly Glen Rice JR, if we are going too target a SF in this years draft, but despite the so called "Red Flags" I think Shabazz could be a good player in the league......

 

[cuad]

Would you REALLY want Gasol?

Yes, of course!

 

[jcwkings]

Shabazz only makes sense if we let Evans go, Shabazz will be a ball dominant SG like Harden/Ginobli

 

[funkykingston]

Something interesting about the guys the Kings are supposedly high on - Hardaway, Snell and Shabazz. Hardaway is obviously a SG, Snell insists that he's a SG despite most draft sites listing him as a SF. And Shabazz is an undersized SF who made a point during his Kings interview of saying that he could play SG in the NBA.

Even if the FO intended to let Evans go there's no reason they'd specifically look for a SG so either those are really the best prospects or there's another thought process at work. If Malone and D'Alessandro think Evans had a offensive & defensive advantage as a PG and was best there then they could be looking for a backcourt mate that adds to the mismatch potential.

Just a thought.

I honestly have much less of a handle on this draft than any I can remember and I also have NO idea what direction Rabadive and co are wanting to go in terms of shaping the roster which is equal parts excitement and anxiousness.

We'll start to see the pieces falling into place on Thursday.

 

[funkykingston]

Shabazz only makes sense if we let Evans go, Shabazz will be a ball dominant SG like Harden/Ginobli

Ball dominant sure, but both are also good shooters and good passers as SGs two things Shabazz definitely wasn't at UCLA. I'd take Harden next to Tyreke. But Shabazz.