After my Sacramento Kings dropped to the #5 overall pick in the upcoming NBA draft, I immediately started mulling over all the various possibilities of picks we could use to improve our team for the 2010-2011 season. (If this post sounds at all mundane and boring, I'm sick right now and am feeling incapable of wit..hopefully that'll change in the next couple days!) Anyway, my very strong basketball opinion is that to have a championship team, it's important to have great players that FIT their roles on the team. Look no further than the Boston Celtics for an example of what I mean. Sure, they have great talent, but their players aren't out of position at all, they're great at filling their roles. Rondo is an amazing passer and an excellent defensive force at the point, ray allen is an incredible outside shooter playing shooting guard, paul pierce is sort of a do-it-all guy that can drive to the hoop and finish with his size, but can shoot from outside, pass and rebound as well. KG isn't what I'd consider a prototypical 4, but he has good low post moves, rebounds and can play good defense with his excellent size. Perkins is just a beast down low with his big frame, he's giving Dwight Howard a lot of trouble. With that in mind, I look at the King's Roster and see very few absolutes. Obviously Tyreke is a star, but I'm still not sure where you play him. I feel like his game is better suited for the 3 spot, but I think he stands out more as a point guard. I personally think Udrih is a more pure point guard, but we'll keep Reke at the point for now and look at the Kings roster and see where their needs are:
Point Guard- 1)Tyreke Evans 2)Beno Udrih
Shooting Guard- 1)Francisco Garcia
Small Forward- 1)Omri Casspi 2)Donte Green 3)Andres Nocioni 4)Ime Udoka
Power Forward- 1)Carl Landry 2)Jon Brockman 3)Sean May
Center- 1)Jason Thompson 2)Spencer Hawes
What I like:
Reke at the point, regardless of style of play, will be a favorable matchup almost every night. I like Casspi as the starting 3 assuming he can sustain his play for the entire season. I think Jason is a quality starter, whether at the 4 or 5.
What needs work:
I think an upgrade needs to be made at shooting guard, Garcia's a great guy but not an elite player in the NBA. I think Landry is an amazing player, but I worry that he's reached his potential and wont be able to give 20/10 like I'd (maybe selfishly) like to have from the power forward position. Maybe I'm just missing Chris Webber a lot right now.
Now I'm assuming we wont land John Wall, Derrick Favors, or Evan Turner since we're at the 5 spot, but out of the remaining players, I love Wesley Johnson and Ekpe Udoh. Although I think Omri Casspi could be a great starting small forward for us, I think Johnson is going to be a star in this league with his length, outside shooting, AND ability to get to the hoop. I think that outide shooting is really what the kings need to compliment Tyreke's game too. I like that Udoh is defensive minded, and although he draws comparisons to Jason Thompson, I would love to see if those two could play next to eachother with Landry coming strong off the bench (as he did in Houston and as Lamar Odom does for the Lakers). Cole Aldrich could be an option at center with Thompson moving to the strarting 4 position, although I have way too many nightmares about him being the second coming of Greg Ostertag, especially since both of them came out of Kansas. I dont want any part of DeMarcus Cousins. The guy has sick talent, but with a young roster of hardworking kids trying to improve on two consecutive dismal seasons, you dont want to have any distractions or anyone not buying into the winning, hardworking tradition. I also would pass on Al-Farouq Aminu. He gets a lot of comparisons to Luol Deng, and if that's all he aspires to, he's not worth the number 5 overall pick. As sleeper picks, I like Daniel Orton out of Kentucky, who I think would be hungry to go out and prove himself after playing behind Cousins at Kentucky. I also hear good things about Ryan Richards out of England, another big man who has impressed at the NBA draft combine. At the end of the day, I really hope Wesley Johnson falls to us at the number 5 overall pick, cant wait for the draft!
