Sacramento Kings: Realistic expectations for 2019 draft picks

The Sacramento Kings made three selections in this year’s NBA Draft. What should the team be expecting from their rookies this season?

For the first time in what feels like forever, the Sacramento Kings went into the NBA Draft with very little expectations.

While the NBA Draft is typically a time of year where Kings fans rejoice in excitement and anticipation, this year’s draft came and went with little fanfare.

Although the Kings may have made three overall selections, the 2019 NBA Draft represented the first time this century that the team did not make a first-round pick. And given that the Kings had made a top-10 selection each of the last 10 years, it was an odd change of pace.

Nonetheless, the Kings will still have expectations for their rookies — albeit curbed expectations at that. Second-rounders rarely contribute at a high level in the NBA and it’s even rarer to see them do so in their rookie season.

But that doesn’t mean that the team won’t have any expectations for them.

Sacramento’s first selection in the draft came with pick No. 40 overall when they selected Wyoming shooting guard/small forward Justin James. James was expected by most analysts to be a mid-to-late second-round prospect but the Kings decided to take a chance on him earlier.

The Wyoming product is an accomplished defender who is a good athlete and has a relatively high upside if his offensive game could develop. Unfortunately, his performance in this year’s summer league showed that he may not be ready for significant minutes just yet.

James played sound defense but got off to a really rough start on offense. The 22-year-old shot just 4-of-16 in the California Classic averaging a mere 7.0 points in 24.0 minutes per game.

However, James managed to pick up the pace in his three-game Las Vegas stint shooting a much-improved 13-of-23 for a healthy 57% shooting percentage. That rate was second among non-bigs on the roster and a vast improvement from his Sacramento numbers.

The Kings signed James to a fully-guaranteed contract meaning that he could be in-line to see more minutes up in Sacramento than his fellow rookie classmates. But if his offensive game is as bad as we saw in California, then it’s going to be hard to put him out on the floor often.

Ultimately, expect James to spend a good portion of the season playing down in Stockton while he continues to develop as an all-around player. The athletic potential is there, but his game absolutely needs more fine-tuning before he could become a part of the regular rotation.

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As for the Kings’ second second-round pick, Kyle Guy fared much better in the summer league than his fellow rookie. Guy led the way in scoring for the Kings in Las Vegas averaging 16.8 points in 30.5 minutes per game.

While his 38% shooting percentage could use some work, the outside scoring potential is clearly there with Guy. But his physical limitations could ultimately hold him back for the time being.

At just 6-foot-2, Guy is undersized for a typical shooting guard but isn’t nearly a good enough ball-handler or facilitator to play as a true point guard. As a result, his defense suffers mightily when he’s asked to guard bigger-bodied shooting guards.

Guy struggles to get around screens and while his defensive IQ isn’t terrible, he just doesn’t have the size to match-up defensively.

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The Kings signed Guy to a two-way contract meaning that he will be limited to just 45 days spent up with Sacramento. Expect the Kings to give him a look at a point during the season but it’s likely he spends a good amount of time this year down in Stockton — likely with James.

There, Guy could work on becoming a more well-rounded offensive player and, most importantly, work on his defense.

The Kings final selection of the 2019 NBA Draft came with the very last pick in the entire draft in Serbian wing Vanja Marinkovic. However, Marinkovic is expected to remain overseas in Europe for the entirety of this season developing his game.

Essentially, don’t hold your breath that you’ll see him in Sacramento anytime soon.

Expectations for the Sacramento Kings rookies have undoubtedly been curbed this season. And realistically speaking, it’s unlikely that any of them become regular fixtures in the rotation — at least this season.

But with the Kings’ much-improved bench depth this season, the hope is that they won’t have to.