This is kinduva great exercise. Every fan has a particular ethos that certain players perfectly align with. Every fan has "that guy" they just love irrespective of fit or talent level or advanced statistical analysis. I wouldn't say that
@Mr. S£im Citrus and I are perfectly simpatico in our player preferences, but we value some of the same characteristics in a basketball player. As such, here's the All-Padrino Team:
PG Marcus Smart
I desperately wanted Marcus Smart to fall to the Kings on draft day 2014. Even if he had, there is no doubt in my mind that Vivek and PDA would still have selected Nik Stauskas. And I would have been apoplectic in such an event. Smart is my favorite pit bull in the NBA. His commitment to 100% effort every second he's on the court is laudable. His willingness to sacrifice his body for the less glamorous aspects of the game and in the defense of his teammates is the kind of attitude I want to see from the players I root for.
SG Jaylen Brown
This kid is here because I just love his mind. He's so smart and thoughtful and focused. I did not expect him to fall to the Kings in the 2016 draft, but I was hoping they might try to move up to snag the Cal product. Like
@hrdboild, I love Brown's Swiss Army Knife qualities. He's an ideal utility wing for the modern NBA. If Boston doesn't f*** up their offseason by crowding out Tatum/Brown yet again, I expect big things from both of them.
SF Kawhi Leonard
This might seem like a fairly obvious selection today, given the fact that Leonard just led the Raptors to their first championship ever over the (admittedly depleted) Golden State Warriors. That said, Leonard represents one of my most heartbroken "what could have been" scenarios for a Kings team that has struck out in the draft more often than not in the last decade.
Sure, there were quite a few teams who passed on Leonard in 2011. Sure, the young man who would become the Klaw may never have developed into an NBA superstar without the tutelage of a Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan led San Antonio Spurs machine. But there was no denying the measurements: 6'7", 227 lbs, with a 7'3" wingspan (for reference, that's the same wingspan as current league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo), and hands the size of Chris Webber's.
He was the
perfect big, defensively-oriented wing for a Kings team that was
absolutely desperate for a starting-caliber SF and
absolutely desperate for a jolt on the defensive end. My father and I were convinced that the Kings would take him. How could they
not take him? When the draft day news filtered in that the Kings had instead traded down to pick Jimmer F***ing Fredette, while bringing John F***ing Salmons back for his second doomed stint with the team, I felt like the basketball gods themselves had wound up as impressively as they could to punch me as hard as they could square in the gut.
PF Marvin Bagley III
The PF position is tricky in the modern NBA. Despite the hoopla over "positionless basketball," most teams still grapple with the need for certain positions to fulfill certain requirements. PG's still need to be able to handle the ball, for example. Centers are expected to rebound and protect the rim. But PF's come in so many shapes and sizes in the new NBA landscape. Each team handles the position a little differently, dependent on need. As a result, it's largely a utility position, and there simply aren't a lot of standout players that you would classify with certainty as PF's.
So today I put on my purple-tinted glasses and select a King for the All-Padrino team. I honestly don't know what to make of Marvin Bagley. Or rather, I don't know what to make of Bagley's game in the context of the NBA's evolution. Perhaps you can never build a championship contender around a player like Bagley. But then again, what kind of player is Marvin Bagley III? He's fast and springy with a motor that just won't stop. He's a good kid, a hard worker, and has a ton of upside. "Potential" is dangerous in the NBA. More often than not, it goes unfulfilled. But I like what Marvin has shown thus far. One doesn't have to squint too hard to see an exciting 20/10 player in the making.
C Steven Adams
Like Marcus Smart, Steven Adams just has a junk yard dog mentality that I find so appealing. He goes out there and does his business. He is both a consummate professional and a nasty presence on the court. He knows how to set a hard screen, which is an undervalued aspect of the PnR-driven contemporary NBA. There are smoke signals in OKC that they might be willing to move on from Adams. He could be available, and the Kings could have an interest in acquiring him. I absolutely do not love the fit that Adams represents with this current iteration of the Kings' roster, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't be smiling ear-to-ear every second he was on the court in a Kings uni. I f***ing love this guy.