What if ... we had drafted Kawhi Leonard

[sactownfan]

Ok im not all depressed about the game tonight... well a little... but overall we have a lot to be positive about... the defense was MUCH improved and until Evans came out of the game we were totally on fire... then cousins with the fouls, evans not coming back in for 20mins... in the end we were in it, on a night previous we would have been crushed.

But watching the game and seeing Jimmer at the end of the bench... our 10th pick just chilling out.... i couldn't help to think ... what if Kawhi Leonard !!! what if!!! i mean its not like we need a defensive SF that can shoot 3's right? then again he did get drafted to the spurs so maybe thats why he can shoot 3's... haha...

in the end of that draft I.T. ( outside of this game) has been a great find and a make up pick for jimmer. but dang Kawhi Leonard can play!

-DISCLAIMER - this team is gonna be good... sorry for talking bad about jimmer... and this whole thread is just me thinking out loud... thats what you do at forums.. share ... so take it easy before losing your mind on me for this... ha ? ha? jokes!

 

[Agent23]

 

[bajaden]

Ok im not all depressed about the game tonight... well a little... but overall we have a lot to be positive about... the defense was MUCH improved and until Evans came out of the game we were totally on fire... then cousins with the fouls, evans not coming back in for 20mins... in the end we were in it, on a night previous we would have been crushed.

But watching the game and seeing Jimmer at the end of the bench... our 10th pick just chilling out.... i couldn't help to think ... what if Kawhi Leonard !!! what if!!! i mean its not like we need a defensive SF that can shoot 3's right? then again he did get drafted to the spurs so maybe thats why he can shoot 3's... haha...

in the end of that draft I.T. ( outside of this game) has been a great find and a make up pick for jimmer. but dang Kawhi Leonard can play!

-DISCLAIMER - this team is gonna be good... sorry for talking bad about jimmer... and this whole thread is just me thinking out loud... thats what you do at forums.. share ... so take it easy before losing your mind on me for this... ha ? ha? jokes!

If you asked me whether I'd rather have Leonard instead of Jimmer, at the moment I'd say yes. Two reasons. One, I think for Jimmer to be totally effective, he has to play the PG position, and not the SG position. Unfortunately, or fortunately, his strength is shooting the basketball. So in order to get him on the floor, he's likely to be at the SG position, at least for now. Had we stayed at our regular position in the draft, there were a few players I would have taken over Jimmer, including Leonard. As a matter of fact, I think the team would be better all the way around if we hadn't made that trade.

But it is what it is, and I still think Jimmer can become a good player. As for last night, and not playing, no surprise. The Bulls are the best defensive team in the NBA, and with Brooks and IT having a hard time getting their shots off, I don't think it would have improved with Jimmer.

 

[beb0p]

Leonard for sure was on a lot of King fans' radar, but I'd be honest, I never expected him to be this good offensively... or at least this soon. I thought he'd be a nice defender who would struggle to knock down shots. His shot still looks flat to me, but they went in, though I'm not sure he can keep up the %. I guess we'll see.

I don't think he'd be as good on the Kings. He would not have anyone set him up and most of his shots would probably be contested. But hey, at this point in time, he's better than Jimmer by a mile.

 

[pshn80]

We did draft Jimmer Fredette. What can you do with that? At least it's a more realistic question.

 

[HereWeBoogie]

i wanted Leonard before that draft happened as well. so many what if's for this team in recent Draft history. like what if we hadent drafted that horrible Omri Casspi guy

 

[Spike]

It really depends. How would things have looked of Pop was coaching Jimmer? There are so many variables, especially when it comes to a young player. Would Smart have moved Evans to SG/PG, or would Leonard have backed up Evans at the 3? I can't say for certain that I know. I do know that Leonard would have been a better fit, unless Jimmer would have been able to play the Beno role...

 

[rexb_kings]

If we drafted Leornard, he'd be John Salmons 3.0. Kings has a knack of making players suck big time. Somehow very good players when they join the Kings they suck and play way way below their potential. Outlaw? he was playing pretty good with Portland. Hayes was really effective back when he was in Houston.

I just watched freaking the Warriors beat the Clippers. And they had a 20/10 beast named Landry. Guess what, he sucked during his days with the Kings. On paper i strongly believe talent wise Kings are way better than the Warriors. But the Warriors are well coached and their culture somewhat changed when new ownership came in.

 

[kingjatt]

not only leonard but we also missed out on barnes and lillard this draft, if we were going to add brooks why not take lillard instead??

 

[bajaden]

not only leonard but we also missed out on barnes and lillard this draft, if we were going to add brooks why not take lillard instead??

I understand why they drafted Robinson. It was probably our biggest area of need. How he turns out is yet to be determined, but I can't fault the choice unless they had a chance to trade for another big man. However, I was very impressed with Lillard at summer league. He was one of the best players there, along with Jemery Lamb. Just summer league of course, but its better to be good than disappoint. As I've stated before, I would have had no problem with drafting Lillard or Barnes. I don't think Barnes will ever live up to his pre-college press clippings (projected superstar), but I do think he would have solved our problems at SF.

 

[kingjatt]

I understand why they drafted Robinson. It was probably our biggest area of need. How he turns out is yet to be determined, but I can't fault the choice unless they had a chance to trade for another big man. However, I was very impressed with Lillard at summer league. He was one of the best players there, along with Jeremy Lamb. Just summer league of course, but its better to be good than disappoint. As I've stated before, I would have had no problem with drafting Lillard or Barnes. I don't think Barnes will ever live up to his pre-college press clippings (projected superstar), but I do think he would have solved our problems at SF.

I don't really understand how T-Rob fills an area of need for us, He does not possess the skillset of an SF other than maybe defense, but we havent had a large enough sample size of him at SF yet to even make that assumption, he is basically an undersized PF who performed well in college against other smaller and slower guys (just like jimmer), if Petrie saw him as the potential answer then why trade for JJ? I guess maybe if we give him time he could come around but we were already stacked with enough tweeners that lillard or lamb/barnes would have made sense, they are the more "ready to play" than Robinson who could ultimately be better, but at this point and after 6 years the fan base is tired of being fed hopes and dreams this year we needed some form of results and so far its looking like another lottery year, hopefully in time Petrie is right.

 

[bajaden]

I don't really understand how T-Rob fills an area of need for us, He does not possess the skillset of an SF other than maybe defense, but we havent had a large enough sample size of him at SF yet to even make that assumption, he is basically an undersized PF who performed well in college against other smaller and slower guys (just like jimmer), if Petrie saw him as the potential answer then why trade for JJ? I guess maybe if we give him time he could come around but we were already stacked with enough tweeners that lillard or lamb/barnes would have made sense, they are the more "ready to play" than Robinson who could ultimately be better, but at this point and after 6 years the fan base is tired of being fed hopes and dreams this year we needed some form of results and so far its looking like another lottery year, hopefully in time Petrie is right.

Well, he wasn't drafted to play SF, he was drafted to play PF. Lets not forget that he led all of college in rebounding last year. There's no doubt that he has a way to go to reach his potential, but he's a very hard worker, and I have no doubt he'll be a very good player. As for being undersized, I'd say he's around average. He's a quarter inch shy of 6'9", so he's essentially 6'9". Lets not forget that he's a freak athlete, which I think is sometimes a detriment, because he rely's on it a bit too much. He needs to improve his skill level, especailly in the post. Remember, there are guys like Carl Landry, 6'9", Paul Milsap, 6'8", Brandon Bass, 6'8", Kevin Love, 6'9.5", David Lee, 6'9", Marcus Morris, 6'9", Patrick Patterson, 6'9", and I could go on. Yes, there are some PF's in the NBA that are taller, but there are some that are shorter.

My point is, I don't think his size is the problem. Its his skill level that needs to be improved. Last season we scraped along all season with just three big men on the roster. So the Kings had to add at least one more. I think there were other ways to do that, but I can't fault the one they took.