Sacramento Kings Have Wild Draft Night But End With Mixed Results

The Sacramento Kings had an incredibly active draft night, making some big, but ultimately questionable moves that leaves them with a very mixed grade.

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With the excitement of moving into a new arena and starting a new chapter in the life of the franchise, the Sacramento Kings went into the 2016 NBA Draft looking to make a splash. And that, they most certainly did, although the results of that splash may not end up being what they were hoping for. If the immediate reaction across social media is any indication, the Kings did what they’ve become known to do best – botch another draft.

The Kings parlayed a couple of trades into a couple of picks that to be completely fair, could turn out to be good somewhere along the line – but could also fall more in line with Sacramento’s spotty draft history. They took a couple of guys with high upside and potential, but they also took guys who – if the franchise was hoping to win now – likely won’t pan out the way they’d hoped.

In an early draft day move, the Kings sent guard Marco Belinelli off to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for the 22^nd overall pick – which they then parlayed into Syracuse small forward Malachi Richardson.

In a separate deal, the Kings sent Marquese Chriss out of Washington with the 8^th overall pick to the Phoenix Suns for the 13^th and 28^th overall picks, a second round pick in 2020, as well as the draft rights to shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic of the Turkish Basketball Super League.

With the 13^th pick, the Kings took Georgios Papagiannis out of Greece, and with the 28^th pick, they took Skal Labissiere from the University of Kentucky.

The seemingly perpetually disgruntled DeMarcus Cousins, after watching the Kings take Papagiannis, was – not so shockingly – less than thrilled. Immediately following the pick, he Tweeted out his thoughts on the selection.

It’s a pick that makes little sense in the big picture. Papagiannis is talented but raw and is likely going to need some time to get acclimated to playing the NBA. He’s not going to be an immediate contributor to the team. Not to mention the fact that behind Cousins, they also have last year’s first round pick, Willie Cauley-Stein.

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The selection of Papagiannis though, could portend Cauley-Stein moving into the center while Cousins gets something he’s always wanted – the starting power forward role. It’s hard to say how this is all going to play out at this point, but the selection of Papagiannis has done little more than raise eyebrows – it certainly didn’t automatically improve the team or fill a need.

In Richardson, the Kings are getting a small forward who has a lot of upside, but one who is entirely inconsistent. Michael Lee, a senior writer with The Vertical, had this to say about Richardson:

"“Inefficient scorer who had some huge NCAA tournament games and showed signs of promise amid some erratic performances during the season. Possesses prototypical size and length for a wing, but has average athleticism. Capable set shooter who has tremendous mechanics and instincts from the perimeter. Struggled to score inside the arc. Decision-making is far from ideal. Has some tools defensively. Lack of lengthy shooting wings in the draft has elevated his stock.”"

And with the 28^th overall pick they got from Phoenix, the Kings took Skal Labissiere out of Kentucky. Labissiere is a big man (7’0”) but he’s rail thin at 216 lbs. If he wants to succeed in the NBA, he is likely going to need to put on some weight and gain some strength if he’s going to compete with some of the big bodied bangers in the paint.

On the plus side, Labissiere has outstanding athleticism and a deft scoring touch, has shown the ability to score from midrange as well as protect the rim. But again, his lack of weight and strength is a concern for the team.

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The Kings’ draft history isn’t a good one. But as they open this new chapter in their franchise’s history, they have an opportunity to correct some of the mistakes of the past. They have the opportunity to start righting some of those wrongs and bring some stability – as well as success – to this long moribund franchise.

At a first blush though, for all of the maneuvering and trading on draft day, it doesn’t necessarily look like they’re getting off on the right foot.