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Sacramento Kings Draft Preview (5th, 33rd Overall Picks)
Authored by Christopher Reina - June 15, 2010 - 12:18 amPicks Owned: 5th, 33rd
Areas Of Need
Even though the Kings will eventually need to find a special point guard who is capable of sharing the backcourt with the ball dominant Tyreke Evans, they absolutely need to upgrade the frontcourt, where they routinely played at a deficit at the center and power forward positions. The pieces Sacramento has at power forward in Carl Landry and Jason Thompson would be greatly enhanced by playing beside a strong center.
The Kings will eventually need to upgrade from Beno Udrih at point guard and ideally will find someone capable of extending the floor with a perimeter jumper and doesn't need the ball in his hands to be productive.
Draft Targets
If DeMarcus Cousins happens to drop all the way to the fifth slot, the Kings may very well have repeat Rookie of the Year awards. Even though Geoff Petrie would have assuredly taken John Wall first overall if Sacramento had won the lottery, Cousins is the better overall pick for the franchise assuming his personality issues get sorted out completely.
During his first few seasons in the NBA, Cousins will absolutely score primarily at the rim on lobs and put-backs, but I would be surprised if he doesn’t have one of the better low post games and an occasional 15-footer (especially on the pick-and-pop) a season or two before his restricted free agency year.
Even though he doesn't address a huge need, Wesley Johnson would likely be the other option with the fifth pick. He duplicates some of what the Kings already have in Omri Casspi and Donte Greene to a lesser extent, but his pick would represent asset compiling.
Preferably instead of Johnson if Cousins is off the board, however, the Kings could possibly trade down a few slots to preserve some cap space and then draft a Cole Aldrich or Greg Monroe to address the center position.
As far as the 33rd overall pick, either Dominique Jones or Terrico White would be excellent options as higher ceiling combo guards that could be the right kind of point guard to pair with Evans.
Draft History
2009: Tyreke Evans, 4th / Omri Casspi, 23rd / Jon Brockman, 38th
2008: Jason Thompson, 12th / Sean Singletary, 42nd
2007: Spencer Hawes, 10th
2006: Quincy Douby, 19th
2005: Francisco Garcia, 23rd
2004: Kevin Martin, 23rd
2003: No pick
2002: Pick traded
2001: Gerald Wallace, 25th
2000: Hedo Turkoglu, 16th
*Only notable second round picks listed
Like so many GMs, Petrie's most successful picks have come when he has ignored position and made BPA picks, ranging from Turkoglu and Wallace to Evans this past season. The Kings have had good success outside of the lottery with the 23rd overall pick in Martin and Casspi and hopefully they can translate that to the 33rd overall pick this season.
History of the 5th Overall Pick
2009: Ricky Rubio, Wolves, NA
2008: Kevin Love, Wolves/Grizzlies, 19.4
2007: Jeff Green, Sonics/Celtics, 12.7
2006: Shelden Williams, Hawks, 12.7
2005: Raymond Felton, Bobcats, 14.1
2004: Devin Harris, Mavericks/Wizards, 17.6
2003: Dwyane Wade, Heat, 25.7
2002: Nikoloz Tskitishvilli, Nuggets, 5.2
2001: Jason Richardson, Warriors, 16.9
2000: Mike Miller, Magic, 15.3
Average career PER: 15.5
Chris Reina is the executive editor of RealGM. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/cr_reina.
