You Were Wrong. Big Time.

As someone above mentioned, I wanted Drummond, but thought that TRob would be a good pick. In his rookie year, I thought JT had potential to develop into a poor man's Chris Webber. :confused:
 
I still think I was right about Tyreke Evans. Aside from thinking that he was going to be more durable than he is, he is exactly the player that I thought he was going to be, and that player, when healthy, is still very good, in my opinion. I feel like most people's disdain for Evans has a lot of roots in how unexpectedly great Curry has turned out to be, and nobody seeing that coming. But, I still feel like Evans was the fourth-best player in that draft, and hey, we just so happened to have the fourth pick.

What I admit to being wrong about was the Evans/Cousins duo. I thought that they would be the nucleus of a contender for a decade; I didn't think that there was any way we could screw that up!
 
I was excited by his mix tape and the idea of him, then watched him in Summer League not be able to dribble....doh.

Ballhandling wasn't Robinson's biggest problem. He didn't have a jumpshot, and he was undersized without much in the way of a post game. At Kansas he relied on his athleticism. I wasn't sold on him at the time, but I wasn't a huge critic of our drafting him either. Frankly, I thought he might be a similar player to another undersized player that I loved in college, Kenneth Faried. The difference is in the statement I just wrote. I used the word Loved. I didn't love Thomas Robinson, but I did Faried, and if I had taken the time to think about it, there had to be a reason. The biggest difference between Robinson and Faried is between their ears.
 
I still think I was right about Tyreke Evans. Aside from thinking that he was going to be more durable than he is, he is exactly the player that I thought he was going to be, and that player, when healthy, is still very good, in my opinion. I feel like most people's disdain for Evans has a lot of roots in how unexpectedly great Curry has turned out to be, and nobody seeing that coming. But, I still feel like Evans was the fourth-best player in that draft, and hey, we just so happened to have the fourth pick.

What I admit to being wrong about was the Evans/Cousins duo. I thought that they would be the nucleus of a contender for a decade; I didn't think that there was any way we could screw that up!

I agree with you completely. I was a big fan of Evans at Memphis, and he turned out to be just about everything I thought he would be. I thought he might become a better shooter sooner than later, but that's always an unknown. Sometimes I think people expect all our draft picks to turn into superstars. Unless you get one of the top two picks in the draft, and it's still not a guarantee, I think you should hope you get an eventual starter at best, or a solid rotational player at worse. Tyreke won ROY, and has been, when healthy, a very good player, and therefore, he was a very solid pick. As you said, no one knew that Curry was going to be as good as he turned out to be.
 
I though Thomas was a problem with us not winning was really wrong I am actually a fan of his now sadly it's to late as far as helping us.


I thought Ramon Sessions was going to be our starting PG last season and that he was a great signing
 
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I was very wrong with a few things

- Thinking that Paul Westphal would be a good coach for us
- Thinking that JJ Hickson was a great get for us (and we still paying for it)
- Thinking that Aaron Brooks would be a fantastic pick up for us
- Thinking that Jimmer would be a nice replacement for Udrih and could play PG in the NBA.
- Thinking that Nick Stauskas would be a good player in the NBA
- Thinking that George Karl would be a great coach for us. Boy was I wrong!
- Thinking that Maloofs would never try to move the team or sell to an ownership group outside of Sacramento!
 
In the 1996 NBA Draft I wanted the Kings to take John Wallace. 17 year old me was very frustrated to see that we drafted some guy name Predrag Stojakovic instead.

In fact, I distinctly remember yelling at the TV, "This is why our team always sucks!"

crying-knicks-kid-at-draft.jpg


With the 14th picks the Sacramento Kings select... Predrag Stojakovic.

I felt the same :)

but my biggest "was wrong" was that I bought Karl hype hook line and sinker... was just not educated about him. I saw footage of him giving a rousing speech in the locker room as coach of the Bucks I think.. just thought he was an inspiring kick-ass kind of guy. I had no idea that he was not ... any ... good ... anymore
 
The biggest "oops" I can think of is Stephen Curry. We picked 4th in that draft and needed a PG badly and I liked Brandon Jennings, Johnny Flynn, Tyreke, and Rubio. Stephen Curry I thought was a college star who didn't really have a position in the NBA and would just be another undersized SG who can bomb threes but struggles with everything else. So yeah, I totally botched that one. I also saw James Harden play in person when he was with Arizona State and I wasn't all that impressed. He didn't look like an NBA athlete to me and I didn't think he had any exceptional skills either.

With players who actually were on the Kings, I've got a lot of them. I really thought Derrick Williams was going to be special coming out of Arizona but he clearly lacked the competitive edge needed to develop into a star. I thought signing Rudy Gay to an extension was a mistake, but he more than proved himself last year. I liked Chuck Hayes and Carl Landry when they were in Houston -- I thought both of them would work out better for us than they did. Thomas Robinson wasn't my first choice (my mistake was rating Harrison Barnes slightly above Andre Drummond) but I thought he would at least be a solid starting PF. I continued to believe in the myth of Donte Greene long after it ceased being rational (if it ever was). And yes, I too thought maybe it was time for a more defense-oriented coach when we let Rick Adelman go. I wasn't happy he left, but I was cautiously optimistic that we would find a suitable replacement. I bought that particular brand of Maloofian sabotage hook line and sinker and I'm still ashamed!
 
I remember stating that I thought Kenny Thomas could be a valuable player for us. How embarrassing is that? I have made many other mistakes, but that one trumps all others. I can't even believe that I am admitting it.
 
I was so totally wrong about Jimmer Fredette. I even bought his jersey on opening night of his rookie year. :p

Oh that reminds me. There was one pre-season where I briefly thought Jimmer might turn into a playmaker, even though I completely hated the pick at the time and pretty much always thought he wouldn't make it in the NBA. Doy!
 
I was a Jimmer fan. To add to that, I think it is remarkable how many shooters we have drafted in the last half decade or so who have turned out to be non shooters.

That is the Kings' specialty...drafting so called "shooters" only for them to be the opposite of
 
That is the Kings' specialty...drafting so called "shooters" only for them to be the opposite of

Jimmer can shoot and he's proven it. He shoots it at about .380 clip. Not steph curry territory, but nothing to sneeze at.

Stauskas and Douby on the other hand...
 
Thinking for one millisecond Jimmer Fredette would be the better 2011 draft pick than Kawhi Leonard. And saw several games two matched up when BYU-San Diego St. met and it was mostly Fredette schooling Leonard.
 
I was wrong about Thomas Robinson. I thought he was a great pick in the draft, I watched him play well at Kansas and told all my friends/family that T Rob would be one of the top players in that draft for years to come.

This is it for me too. I was all-in on Trob and was one of my favorite prospects I'd seen in a long time. Distinctly remember arguing with Brick that he was far superior to that Drummond guy, who had no skill and no drive to play basketball.

whoops
 
Ballhandling wasn't Robinson's biggest problem. He didn't have a jumpshot, and he was undersized without much in the way of a post game. At Kansas he relied on his athleticism. I wasn't sold on him at the time, but I wasn't a huge critic of our drafting him either. Frankly, I thought he might be a similar player to another undersized player that I loved in college, Kenneth Faried. The difference is in the statement I just wrote. I used the word Loved. I didn't love Thomas Robinson, but I did Faried, and if I had taken the time to think about it, there had to be a reason. The biggest difference between Robinson and Faried is between their ears.
My quote was in regards to Jimmer.
 
Hands down, my biggest mistake was watching the first 5 games of last year and thinking "Hey! Malone has got this team playing some D. This is exciting! Hey honey, do you mind if I purchase league pass this year? This team may surprise some folks!"
 
The biggest "oops" I can think of is Stephen Curry. We picked 4th in that draft and needed a PG badly and I liked Brandon Jennings, Johnny Flynn, Tyreke, and Rubio. Stephen Curry I thought was a college star who didn't really have a position in the NBA and would just be another undersized SG who can bomb threes but struggles with everything else. So yeah, I totally botched that one. I also saw James Harden play in person when he was with Arizona State and I wasn't all that impressed. He didn't look like an NBA athlete to me and I didn't think he had any exceptional skills either.

With players who actually were on the Kings, I've got a lot of them. I really thought Derrick Williams was going to be special coming out of Arizona but he clearly lacked the competitive edge needed to develop into a star. I thought signing Rudy Gay to an extension was a mistake, but he more than proved himself last year. I liked Chuck Hayes and Carl Landry when they were in Houston -- I thought both of them would work out better for us than they did. Thomas Robinson wasn't my first choice (my mistake was rating Harrison Barnes slightly above Andre Drummond) but I thought he would at least be a solid starting PF. I continued to believe in the myth of Donte Greene long after it ceased being rational (if it ever was). And yes, I too thought maybe it was time for a more defense-oriented coach when we let Rick Adelman go. I wasn't happy he left, but I was cautiously optimistic that we would find a suitable replacement. I bought that particular brand of Maloofian sabotage hook line and sinker and I'm still ashamed!


You aren't the only one who missed on Steph Curry. Anyone who says they knew he was going to be this good, is darn liar. It was a perfect storm of things that made him what he is today.
 
You aren't the only one who missed on Steph Curry. Anyone who says they knew he was going to be this good, is darn liar. It was a perfect storm of things that made him what he is today.

I thought 100% that Steph was going to bust in the pros, wasn't a fan of him one bit
 
Hands down, my biggest mistake was watching the first 5 games of last year and thinking "Hey! Malone has got this team playing some D. This is exciting! Hey honey, do you mind if I purchase league pass this year? This team may surprise some folks!"
Well not necessarily the team but the franchise did surprise not a few but a LOT of people!
 
I thought 100% that Steph was going to bust in the pros, wasn't a fan of him one bit

I didn't think he was gonna bust, thought he's have a long career as a sharpshooter like his coach Steve Kerr. Even the Warriors didn't know Curry was going to be a once in a generation player.
 
I thought Donte Greene was going to be a good NBA player.

I also had a very unhealthy obsession with Justin Williams and Captain Ahab-esque quest to convince everyone that the Kings had finally found that defensive big.
 
I really thought Eric Musselman was going to be a great coach for us. I was telling friends and people at work that that was a brilliant hire etc. Then he gets a DUI like the first week he's here and it went downhill with the quickness.
 
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