Initial reaction for a lot of Kings fans was definitely sad panda. But there needs to be some bright side here. The Kings are not in a bad position at all.
To have the fifth pick in the draft gives you great flexibility in what you want to do. The Kings have a truckload of cap space, the best rookie who looks to be a franchise star, and one of the brightest front office decision-makers in the NBA. They were the third youngest team in the NBA this year. A lot of these guys were barely in high school when the Kings had their heyday. Between Tyreke Evans, Jason Thompson, Donté Greene, Spencer Hawes, Carl Landry, Beno Udrih and Omri Casspi this team has a fantastic young core. Now you can potentially add a valuable free agent or player from a trade and the fifth pick in the draft.
That’s not a bad position to be in.
Yes, it’s disappointing to not get John Wall, Evan Turner or Derrick Favors. Those guys look like bonafide studs. But don’t the Kings already have a stud in Tyreke Evans? Don’t they already have promising young big men inside? This is not the end of the world.
The Panda will be happy again.
Analysis: While Cousins has the talent to be a top pick, he has scared away teams a bit with his on-court antics and a motor that sometimes moves to idle. But at No. 5, he would be a great pick for the Kings, giving them toughness, rebounding and a legitimate, low-post scorer. Teaming him with Carl Landry, Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes would give Sacramento a very good front line.
- Draft Express has the Kings going with Al-Farouq Aminu from Wake Forest.
- NBADraft.net has the Kings selecting Greg Monroe from Georgetown.
What about the Bosh sign an trade?
word aykis. my bad. I feel ya on what you're saying.
@jay I'm not saying I'm disappointed the Kings passed on Rubio to take Reke. I was disappointed at the time because I was incredulous that Rubio fell to us. It was sort of a joke on last year. Petrie is going to take the player he likes best at 5 no matter what we think. And he has a damn good track record so I'll go with him.
aykis, what does your comment even mean? you sound disappointed petrie passed on someone other than the reigning rookie of the year...
hey zach, the nbadraftnet link you posted has them taking cousins, which is what i'm hoping too. but this is all before the workouts. it'd be interesting to see who moves up the draftboards, like tyreke did. remember last year evans wasn't even really on the radar for us pre-draft workouts. but after he bullied everyone on the court and impressed with his game, petrie was really high on the kid.
I like to see a sign and trade bringing Chris Bosh for the 5th pick,but Cousins will bring needed toughness down low and i like that to.
I'd be really happy if Cousins fell to 5. I kind of agree with Aykis16, but I felt the same way about Rubio last year and that ended up working out. Petrie's an awesome GM, I trust whatever he does is best for the team.
I'm hoping Cousins falls to 5. But knowing Petrie he will fall, and then we'll pass on him.