Vlade talking with Grant about our draft selections

#4
Vlade said he thinks Georgios Papagiannis can play similar minutes to WCS did in his 1st year. He believes that Papagiannis is more ready to contribute in the NBA than Bender and Chriss.

Said the guys drafted this year probably aren't going to contribute a lot.

Didn't think any of the PGs at 13 would be able to help this year..... uhh, I think Vlade might've meant that he'd rather go for talent than reach for a PG who is less talented and won't be able to contribute this year anyways.

He just said we started the draft with 1 1st round pick and ended up with 3 1st round picks. He said remember that the last few years, the Kings have thrown around our future 1st round picks, so it's great that we got all these young players this year.

Kings fans need to be patient. Come back 2-3 months from now after FA to re-evaluate our roster.

The only thing I wish Grant would've pushed was DeMarcus Cousins' reaction etc.

Listen here: http://player.radio.com/listen/station/sports-1140-khtk

Papagiannis is set to join.
 
#7
I don't think anyone has a problem with Papagiannis. The biggest problem is the fact that we already have the best C in the NBA, DeMarcus. Papagiannis is talented, no doubt about it.
 
#8
Can't wait to hear how Boogie completely ruined our draft night.
He already blew up at a caller for asking him how he thinks these picks made Willie feel. I'm sure he expected the caller to say Demarcus's name, because Grant started yelling before the caller could say "Willie Cauley-Stein"
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#9
I don't think anyone has a problem with Papagiannis. The biggest problem is the fact that we already have the best C in the NBA, DeMarcus. Papagiannis is talented, no doubt about it.
If Vlade and company felt Papa was the best player available from the group of guys not just current but for the future, then who cares if he plays the same position as Boogie? One thing the Kings have been notorious for doing is drafting for need and that's gotten them no where. I like this different attack from Vlade, the Greek can learn from Boogie and the coaching staff and groom him and maybe in the process surprise us all and contribute sooner than we think, or not. We don't know how it will play out, If Vlade feels Chriss is a longer way than Papa from contributing, then I will trust his judgment for the time being and hope that he has good drafting skills. This will be the first draft we can really evaluate what we have in Vlade as it pertains to drafting talent or drafting busts.
 
#10
I don't think anyone has a problem with Papagiannis. The biggest problem is the fact that we already have the best C in the NBA, DeMarcus. Papagiannis is talented, no doubt about it.
That's what everyone who's "against" this draft is arguing. If we're looking at this draft in a vacuum with no context, it's near impossible to be mad at the haul we came out with considering how little we had to give up. But we 100% failed at making our team better for next season to convince Cousins to stay, which is by far the most important thing for our franchise to do at this point. Also the organizational change in team philosophy from the FO from "win now" to "plan for the future" is fairly frustrating.
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
#11
That's what everyone who's "against" this draft is arguing. If we're looking at this draft in a vacuum with no context, it's near impossible to be mad at the haul we came out with considering how little we had to give up. But we 100% failed at making our team better for next season to convince Cousins to stay, which is by far the most important thing for our franchise to do at this point. Also the organizational change in team philosophy from the FO from "win now" to "plan for the future" is fairly frustrating.
Would you rather have a rookie getting big minutes or vets?
 
#13
Basically, they didn't get guys that will help next year. Vlade plans to do that via trade and Free Agency. When you take this many big men, then you can imagine that Kosta is being dealt. Especially since you may still go after Ryan Anderson in FA.

So you have to hope they get improvements via FA and trades. Maybe Anderson, Courtney Lee and Rondo. Not sure how much of a jump that is in talent. Eventually, the Kings need to get another all-star type player.
 
#14
I'd rather have rookies that can provide depth in positions we need and can grow to be players that can fit around our franchise cornerstones (DMC and WCS).
I'm in the same exact boat. You'd think that after all these talks of playoffs, we would've drafted guys who fit at least fit around our franchise player and maybe even be able to contribute a little in their 1st year. I think we'll just have to trust Vlade on this one. Hopefully he can at least improve our developmental team.... that will be the biggest key going forward with this franchise. Papagiannis, Richardson, and Skal are all extremely talented.
 
#15
Vlade said Papa is more ready to play in the NBA than Chriss and Bender. So let's see if his assessment holds true. I think it may be right just based on the looks of them Papa is more physically ready for the pounding in the paint. Vlade also said Papa can have a year like Willie:

21 MPG
7.0 PPG
5.3 RPG
56% FGs
1.o BPG
15 PER

If a 19 year old Euro can have that kind of season, it will be an EPIC pick. The fact that Vlade is saying Papa can be this good this soon is high praise. So to the comment that the guys they got are not projected to help next year, that is true, with the exception of Papa. The other guys might be able to get some spot minutes or crack the rotation by mid-season or due to injury.
 
#16
That's what everyone who's "against" this draft is arguing. If we're looking at this draft in a vacuum with no context, it's near impossible to be mad at the haul we came out with considering how little we had to give up. But we 100% failed at making our team better for next season to convince Cousins to stay, which is by far the most important thing for our franchise to do at this point. Also the organizational change in team philosophy from the FO from "win now" to "plan for the future" is fairly frustrating.
I don't see why it has to be one or the other. Good teams are always looking to their future while trying to stay good in the present. Most started that process BEFORE they became good.

Teams that are always looking for that big move that will make them a contender usually find themselves wallowing in the lottery every year.
 
#17
I'm in the same exact boat. You'd think that after all these talks of playoffs, we would've drafted guys who fit at least fit around our franchise player and maybe even be able to contribute a little in their 1st year. I think we'll just have to trust Vlade on this one. Hopefully he can at least improve our developmental team.... that will be the biggest key going forward with this franchise. Papagiannis, Richardson, and Skal are all extremely talented.
One thing to think about is adding these centers like Koufos (who's likely gone) and Papa can help Boogie because it means he doesn't always have to check the biggest man on defense. Boogie likes to pattern his game after Pau Gasol, who fancies himself a PF though he has toggled between 4 and 5 through out his career. Gasol has been able to extend his career into his mid 30s at high level by playing a more finesse game and seeking destinations where he does NOT have to always play center. I kind of see Boogie heading in this direction, slimming down, changing his game to more face-up and playing on the floor with guys at least as big as him or bigger.

Boogie has even said he does NOT like to spend a ton of time in the paint because he gets beat up down there. As his career evolves playing on the floor with a guy like Papa can reduce the number of blows he takes.

It's a physical game regardless and Boogie is a physical player but having another physical guy in there to help get the boards and do the dirty work can extend his career for 10 years at a high level, instead of 5 years before breaking down.
 
#18
On the radio, Vlade was asked about Bogdanovich and if he's coming over next year and Vlade said well....hold on....I still have to talk to his agent about this year.

Maybe we get that kid over this year......I'd love for this kid to come over this year based on the video and his reputation and intangibles.
To be honest, Bodjan coming over this year could be the best for his long term career in the NBA.

If he doesn't come over and the Kings sign a high priced FA, like Courtney Lee or similar player, and Malachi earns some PT, he may not be able to crack the rotation if he comes over in a year or two.

If he comes now, his main competition, as of today is McCLemore and Richardson. The door would be open for him to be a starting Shooting Guard on an NBA team, which could mean a lot more money down the road.

If Bojan does come over now, I think Vlade will look to him as the shooting guard of the near future and concentrate his FA money on other positions. Vlade would be looking for a short term, reasonable priced vet (i.e Eric Gordon or Gerald Henderson) to hold his place, until he is ready to start.
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
#20
To be honest, Bodjan coming over this year could be the best for his long term career in the NBA.

If he doesn't come over and the Kings sign a high priced FA, like Courtney Lee or similar player, and Malachi earns some PT, he may not be able to crack the rotation if he comes over in a year or two.

If he comes now, his main competition, as of today is McCLemore and Richardson. The door would be open for him to be a starting Shooting Guard on an NBA team, which could mean a lot more money down the road.
The problem is that if he comes over this year, he's locked in to his rookie scale contract, which would pay him abut $6M total over four years. Then he would be a 28-year old trying to negotiate his first deal. Considering the skyrocketing cap, coming over next year will be very financially responsible for Bogdanovic. Given how respected of a player he is in Europe, he'll have no trouble getting us to give him at least $20M for a three-year deal, and then be about $14M ahead (if not more) as he enters into free agency for the first time.

I seriously doubt that he is worried about a free agent slamming the door on him - and if one does, he'd be a valuable trade asset if nothing else. I really don't see any benefit from his point of view of coming over this year. The Kings? Well, they would love it, but it would be financial suicide for Bogdanovic.
 
#21
The thing is that unlike other teams not trying to rebuild right now our talent base on the roster is very thin. It's Cousins and Willie, Gay to a lesser extent and that's it.
So pretty much we claim to be beyond the rebuilding phase, but failed to assemble a core of players able to grow together like the Wolves or Thunder did.
Cousins alone can't carry us very far. Cousins with a couple of solid role players can maybe carry us into the first roun, but most likely not further. FA is not our friend most of the time and you have to give value in order to receive value in trades.
Adding more upside to the team doesn't sound like a bad idea. Maybe we did just that with those picks. Who knows. Lets wait and see.
 
#22
The thing is that unlike other teams not trying to rebuild right now our talent base on the roster is very thin. It's Cousins and Willie, Gay to a lesser extent and that's it.
So pretty much we claim to be beyond the rebuilding phase, but failed to assemble a core of players able to grow together like the Wolves or Thunder did.
Cousins alone can't carry us very far. Cousins with a couple of solid role players can maybe carry us into the first roun, but most likely not further. FA is not our friend most of the time and you have to give value in order to receive value in trades.
Adding more upside to the team doesn't sound like a bad idea. Maybe we did just that with those picks. Who knows. Lets wait and see.
Exactly. This was the whole crux of the argument about why were weren't in win now mode. We are not good enough and did not have enough assets to trade to become good enough for a serious playoff run. We should have been building up over the last 3 years and THIS year trading assets and picks to get that player to push us over the top. Now we have to do a mini reset at a very inopportune time.
 
#24
Would you rather have a rookie getting big minutes or vets?
What vets are you talking about? Because the last time I checked, we have a vastly underachieving Ben McLemore and Collison who is almost certainly going to be suspended. And it's foolish to think we'd be the first choice for basically any quality FA on the market.

We had the opportunity to fill in much needed depth with quality upside guards, which would have left us only needing to sign a vet or 2 to fill in the back-court. As of now, we're in need of a full guard rotation overhaul.
 
#25
Bogdan is going to be ready to start when he comes over. He was picked late in the draft because folks knew he wasn't coming over right away. His talent level is not the fear or issue at all. It's when/if he'll come over. He's at that level below All-Star. Good player that will look even better on a good team. Confident scorer, leader mentality.
 
#26
Basically, they didn't get guys that will help next year. Vlade plans to do that via trade and Free Agency. When you take this many big men, then you can imagine that Kosta is being dealt. Especially since you may still go after Ryan Anderson in FA.

So you have to hope they get improvements via FA and trades. Maybe Anderson, Courtney Lee and Rondo. Not sure how much of a jump that is in talent. Eventually, the Kings need to get another all-star type player.
I'm thinking this is the plan. Draft for the future and build next years team through FA and trades. Unfortunately FA has never really been kind to us
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
#27
What Vlade can sell him on is there is an opening on the roster spot right now for a SG. If you don't come over now, we will have to fill it with a guy ho may be a longterm guy. I Bogdanovich looks at it this way, maybe he comes over.
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
#28
What vets are you talking about? Because the last time I checked, we have a vastly underachieving Ben McLemore and Collison who is almost certainly going to be suspended. And it's foolish to think we'd be the first choice for basically any quality FA on the market.

We had the opportunity to fill in much needed depth with quality upside guards, which would have left us only needing to sign a vet or 2 to fill in the back-court. As of now, we're in need of a full guard rotation overhaul.
What guards are you talking about?
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
#29
Egads, I hope not. Middle aged #28 pick from years ago. You hope he works out, but tying up a big cap space sight unseen is iffy.
I meant $20M total, not $20M per year. With the salary cap going up to $94M this year and even higher next year, $7M per year is going to be pretty reasonable.
 
#30
I don't see why it has to be one or the other. Good teams are always looking to their future while trying to stay good in the present. Most started that process BEFORE they became good.

Teams that are always looking for that big move that will make them a contender usually find themselves wallowing in the lottery every year.
Absolutely. The problem is we have a very serious issue of trying to keep our 10 player on our team past next season. We're very much operating under a strict timetable to win immediately or Cousins is going to force his way out.

And the inconsistency here is mind-boggling. People were praising Vlade for trading the 2019 unprotected pick and our previous 8th overall pick for 15 mil in cap space. He was "going for it" and "trying to win now." I wasn't the biggest fan of the deal, but at least I respected the overall direction; we were finally going to try and put a winner around Cousins. Even in the draft, we passed on much higher upside players like Mudiay, Winslow and Stanley Johnson in favor of the "safer" WCS, who could help us immediately. I still really like the pick but there's no doubt WCS was the lower ceiling, higher floor player of our options at that pick.

This draft is a complete 180 shift from a year ago. We passed on helping our team win now (which rebuilding the guard rotation absolutely would have done simply by the fact they actually would have played real minutes) in favor of high upside picks that are a few years away. Not only is that the wrong decision when our franchise player is out the door in a year, but it makes decisions we made last offseason look quite a bit worse.