Willie Getting Some Love

[jcwkings]

Thomas Robinson was "BPA", so was Tyreke when Curry was on the board. Draft is a crap shoot. If we ultimately didnt pick the BPA in 2015, but picked a guy that will protect the rim and compliment Cousins for the next ten years, then it is fine. Players like WCS are hard to come by, and if he pans out to what we think he can be he is a once in a generation level talent defensively. If he develops an offensive game than theres no reason he cant become a all star level player. In a way WCS's ceiling is through the roof, while his floor is still a top defensive talent that could contend for DPOY throughout his prime.

 

[Amit149]

Thomas Robinson was "BPA", so was Tyreke when Curry was on the board. Draft is a crap shoot. If we ultimately didnt pick the BPA in 2015, but picked a guy that will protect the rim and compliment Cousins for the next ten years, then it is fine. Players like WCS are hard to come by, and if he pans out to what we think he can be he is a once in a generation level talent defensively. If he develops an offensive game than theres no reason he cant become a all star level player. In a way WCS's ceiling is through the roof, while his floor is still a top defensive talent that could contend for DPOY throughout his prime.

I want to adress the "draft is a crap shoot" sentiment in here, I don't think the draft is a crap shoot- atleast it shouldn't be for the teams... those kids are being followed from a very young age and marked as prospects, and than you get to see them on various camps, colleges and workouts.
There is so much money and so much effort going in to the draft process that calling it a crap shoot is just wrong, especially considering that certain teams/GM's/FO's have done a better job than others.

Now talking about this draft, I admit I thought we should take Mudiay because I thought he has all the tools to become a star and before he decided to go to China many so him as the 1st overall pick- and as a deserving one. That being said, Mudiay isn't an option anymore so I see no point of talking about him now (especially since he has yet to prove anything- like any other rookie).

I am pretty happy about the WCS pick, he is special- and in a league where DJ was the talk of the summer, Draymond green is a max player and Rudy Gobert is making his way to stardom- a guy with WCS's defensive potential can absolutely become a star. and if he can master a face-to-the-basket-jumper or well timed rim-runs he can be an effective guy on the other side.

 

[Siranthony]

Speaking of which,

I have watched Denver play this pre-season. and let me tell you something that everybody probably already knows, Mudiay is a VERY talented basketball player.

And he refused to work out here. I think we made the right choice. It will be awhile before things shake out.

 

[jcwkings]

I want to adress the "draft is a crap shoot" sentiment in here, I don't think the draft is a crap shoot- atleast it shouldn't be for the teams... those kids are being followed from a very young age and marked as prospects, and than you get to see them on various camps, colleges and workouts.
There is so much money and so much effort going in to the draft process that calling it a crap shoot is just wrong, especially considering that certain teams/GM's/FO's have done a better job than others.

Now talking about this draft, I admit I thought we should take Mudiay because I thought he has all the tools to become a star and before he decided to go to China many so him as the 1st overall pick- and as a deserving one. That being said, Mudiay isn't an option anymore so I see no point of talking about him now (especially since he has yet to prove anything- like any other rookie).

I am pretty happy about the WCS pick, he is special- and in a league where DJ was the talk of the summer, Draymond green is a max player and Rudy Gobert is making his way to stardom- a guy with WCS's defensive potential can absolutely become a star. and if he can master a face-to-the-basket-jumper or well timed rim-runs he can be an effective guy on the other side.

While I agree that it isnt a pin the tail on the donkey blind. Look at the Curry draft. No one had him pegged as a superstar talent. He was and undersized SG to all draft experts. Also all draft experts thought we hit it out of the park drafting Thomas Robinson. I mean what if WCS develops an offensive game like Curry developed an elite handle. If that happens then your looking at a defensive specialist to a potential all nba talent.

 

[206Fan]

In 1998, Geoff Petrie picked Jason Williams with the 7th pick. The next two guys drafted? Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce, two dudes who've gone on to be undeniably better than White Chocolate. But, and this is a big but, Jason Williams turned out to be the better fit and helped spark the Greatest Show on Court Era.

Now obviously, I'm not drawing parallels between the two situations but rather pointing out that sometimes the best pick isn't the "best player" but rather the best fit for the situation.

That all said, if Willie develops even a little bit of an offensive game, he stands a chance of winding up as the best player out of the bunch simply because of what he can do at his position.

I don't know about you, but I'd rather much have Pierce or Dirk on this team.. I doubt that they would be the same player today, but I'd much rather have them.

His rookie year hasn't begun yet, so I think this debate is premature. However, we can't ignore how the rest of his peers are doing; pretty damn good. What about Willie? : Pretty dman good as well.

However, why is it that we do this argument for Jimmer? Everyone goes off like how we would've taken Khawi or Klay instead. I guess it only counts when fans want it to count. Had we drafted Lillard instead of T-Rob, Cuz would not be the face of the franchise. Everything we know now, would be shifted and changed. Who knows if Cuz would even still be on the Kings.

A lot could've happened had we drafted Pierce or Dirk instead of J-Will. Maybe we win in 2002, maybe we don't. I'd take Pierce and Dirk 10/10 before J-Will.

 

[lwc]

It goes beyond that for me.

For me even IF one or more of those guys becomes an All Star, its still irrelevant as long as WCS is what eh could be -- the perfect long mobile rim protecting complement to Cousins. If he is, then what those other guys do is irrelevant. The point is to put together a winning team, not just collect All Stars. The two will often follow, but sometimes the perfect glue guy is just as valuable. We already have talent. We needed precisely what WCS may bring more than we needed another scorer.

This. I absolutely 100% cosign Bricklayer's post.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

Don't really give a **** how good Winslow or Johnson or whoever are. Irrelevant if WCS gives us what we need.

We needed precisely what WCS may bring more than we needed another scorer.

These are exactly my bedrock points. There may be several players that the Kings passed on for WCS that will end up as valuable players. We only had 1 draft pick and couldn't select them all. As long as WCS turns out to be a impact player for us, we made the right choice.

As for the 2nd point, I think people are overlooking something. We already have 2 scorers among the starting 5 (Cuz and Rudy). We didn't need another. If you look at most the championship teams over the years, they typically were comprised of 2 main scorers and role players with 1 primary scorer off the bench.

The Kings have their 2 scorers in the starting lineup and they might have their scorer off the bench (Belinelli and Collison). They just need to find the right pieces to take on all the of roles. WCS will fill a defensive anchor role and also a jack of all trades of sorts since he can switch and defend so many positions. Rondo will be the facilitator and, hopefully, a pesky perimeter defender. Koufos will be a physical interior defender/rebounder. The list goes on and on with the remaining players. Time will tell if the team has the right mix or not.

But the main point is, we didn't need another scorer in the starting lineup.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I love Johnson (Cats fan, duh), I think he'll make a lot of teams look stupid but I still think WCS if everything pans out as planned was the right pick for us.

 

[Sac.1989]

WCS will take us to the promissed land. Defence wins championships

 

[N0tmyfault]

I'm completely at peace with the Willie pick. He fits our team very well and adds a piece (athletic shot blocker) that our team has been without for many years. Also, if a player doesn't want to visit our team pre-draft, I don't want to invest a draft pick in them.

 

[randymoss1881]

I'm completely at peace with the Willie pick. He fits our team very well and adds a piece (athletic shot blocker) that our team has been without for many years. Also, if a player doesn't want to visit our team pre-draft, I don't want to invest a draft pick in them.

Agreed I don't care if Mudiya becomes Wall 2.0

 

[jcwkings]

Weve had a Mudiaye like player in Tyreke. While Mudiaye might look sexier and have better stat lines, WCS will affect this teams W/L more right away and down the line. You need rim protection in the league these days more than ever with how guard dominated it is with all the emphasis on dribble pentration. You can find a dynamic guard all the time, weve had Beno, Tyreke, Isaiah and now Collison all in a short span. He havent had a defender like WCS ever in the franchise. The last true rim protector we had was Keon Clark and he was a rotation guy at best.

 

[funkykingston]

Weve had a Mudiaye like player in Tyreke. While Mudiaye might look sexier and have better stat lines, WCS will affect this teams W/L more right away and down the line. You need rim protection in the league these days more than ever with how guard dominated it is with all the emphasis on dribble pentration. You can find a dynamic guard all the time, weve had Beno, Tyreke, Isaiah and now Collison all in a short span. He havent had a defender like WCS ever in the franchise. The last true rim protector we had was Keon Clark and he was a rotation guy at best.

I'm a big fan of the Cauley-Stein pick for a few different reasons but I did want to point out that Mudiay isn't all that similar to Tyreke. Evans is much more of a scoring guard while Mudiay is a true PG. Neither is/was a good shooter coming out of school but Tyreke had an elite handle and ability to get to the rim. Mudiay isn't that dynamic attacking the basket but is also not a combo guard.

 

[jcwkings]

I'm a big fan of the Cauley-Stein pick for a few different reasons but I did want to point out that Mudiay isn't all that similar to Tyreke. Evans is much more of a scoring guard while Mudiay is a true PG. Neither is/was a good shooter coming out of school but Tyreke had an elite handle and ability to get to the rim. Mudiay isn't that dynamic attacking the basket but is also not a combo guard.

I agree, I have compared Tyrekes and Mudiayes games. Mudiay is a better passer, has better court vision and feel for the game. Tyreke is stronger, quicker, better finisher at the rim. Atleticism is about equal given that tyreke had a stronger frame.I think Mudiay will be a very good player, but not franchise corner stone. Maybe a 3rd best player on a winning team.