The Kings Have Four Selections In 2020 NBA Draft … Still On The Hunt For A New General Manager
BY: TOM WITT – @TOMTOOWITTY – SACTOWN CROWN – August 24, 2020
SacTown Crown 2020 Sacramento Kings Offseason Opinions and Predictions!
The Sacramento Kings finished the 2019-20 season 31-41, 12th overall in the NBA Western Conference.
The Kings currently hold four selections in the 2020 draft. One in the first round and three in the second round.
Sacramento will select 12th overall in the first round. Their second round picks include the 35th, 42nd, and 52nd selection.
Kings Draft Needs
The NBA Draft will be held October 16th.
I think the Kings need to draft a ‘3 and D wing’ player.
A player who can guard multiple positions, shoot the ball from deep, and who also currently has an above average basketball IQ. While being able to improve upon all of those aspects of the game, and more, as time goes on.
Of course, all of this may not be available at the 12th selection, or in general. These are just my thoughts on what the Kings NEED.
Kings Draft Speculation
The 2020 draft is not ‘stacked’ with ‘superstar’ talent. Although, there do seem to be a slew of players which some NBA scouts deem as future NBA starters and playoff team role players.
That might bode well for the Kings. Owning the 12th selection in the draft will potentially allow the Kings to not have to ‘overpay’ for an early pick who isn’t a ‘superstar’. While also getting a solid, more ‘NBA’ ready player with their selection.
This is all speculation of course.
In my opinion, the Kings need a player who can play some sort of role relatively quickly, while continuing to develop over time. Whether that is hitting three point shots, being a solid defender, grabbing rebounds, etc.
In other words, essentially being a solid NBA player while the starters are resting.
At the moment, the Kings don’t really have the team structure to focus solely on developing an insanely raw rookie, with huge upside and large potential to be a ‘bust’.
Conversely, they also aren’t currently built to sign one or two ‘key veterans’ to get them into the playoffs – as seen last season with the failed signings of Trevor Ariza and Dewayne Dedmon.
KINGS DRAFT PROSPECTS I WILL PROFILE IN UPCOMING ARTICLES
Some of the potential players I will be outlining in the upcoming days and weeks are listed below.
- Aaron Nesmith
- Devin Vassell
- Patrick Williams
- Saddiq Bey
- Among a few other draft prospects
Free Agency
I am still learning all the nuances of the NBA salary cap, contracts, max deals, mid-level exceptions, etc.
Here is a link to a list of Sacramento Kings ‘free agents’ from Sportrac coming up this offseason. King Free Agents
My Opinion On Kings Offseason Moves
MUST RE-SIGN
I think the Kings would be smart to re-sign guard Bogdan Bogdanovich, center Alex Len, wingman Kent Bazemore.
Think About Re-Signing
Kings fans LOVE Harry Giles, and so do I. He is one of the league’s best passing young big men and has a TON of room to continue to improve.
Coming out of high school Giles was THE top rated recruit in the nation. Injuries sidetracked his progress over the years, up until recently. Giles has shown improvement in many aspects of his game, as he receives more playing time.
The NBA is moving away from post oriented big men, and the Kings have a ‘log jam’ at the 4/5 position.
The Kings seem to like Giles, but do they like him enough to not see out the full potential of second overall pick Marvin Bagley III?
Jabari Parker has a player option for $6.5 million, which I would assume he would accept, depending on his value on the free agent market.
Two player’s with ‘club options’ are De’Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley.
Fox most likely will be re-signed this offseason, where he is in line for a large payday.
I would assume that the club would wait to use that club option to re-sign Bagley until NEXT offseason. In order to see where he has progressed after an injury riddled first two NBA seasons.
Many things will change when the Kings hire their new GM. Past draft picks and coaches may not fit into what the new GM is trying to build in SacTown.
Only time will tell!
Not Likely To Re-Sign
The Kings have a LOT of fan favorite players, who aren’t exactly ‘superstars’. I mean, what else is there to hold onto as a Kings fan besides the occasional opportunity to yell out ‘YOOOOOOOOOGIIIIIIIIIIII ….. FERRRRRRRRELLLLLLLL” during another sub .500 season?
As much as the fans love Yogi Ferrell, I don’t see the Kings re-signing him. Yogi was a great addition during the early stages of the Kings ‘re-build’. He is a fan favorite in SacTown, with his positive demeanor and ‘small guy can do big things’ attitude, which ‘The 916’ embodies as a whole.
In my opinion, we should explore our younger players with more upside, at the third string point guard. Players like Kyle Guy!
Potential Trade Ideas
The Kings have a ‘deep’ team. They do not have any superstar players, but they have solid role players and backups.
This helps in many ways, but also hurts in many ways.
One of the positives of having a deep team, with no superstar, is that the head coach can more easily mix and match lineups. To potentially match what another team is putting on the floor, or to force another team to change the lineup they have on the floor.
Another positive is that if the team superstar is having a cold night, there usually isn’t much else on that team to carry the squad. That added depth means that if one player is having an ‘off’ night, coach can sub a relatively similarly skilled player in to hopefully pick up the ‘slack’.
That lack of a superstar can also hamper a team when it comes down to crunch time, and needing someone to take over in big moments.
All in all, it seems that in today’s NBA a superstar or two is needed to have any shot at making it past the first round of playoffs.
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Harrison Barnes, Nemanja Bjelica and Buddy Hield Should Be On The ‘Trade Block’ This Offseason
Harrison Barnes has been a great veteran for the Kings during their re-build. He is a quiet veteran leader, great in the community, and doesn’t bring any negative media to the Kings.
That being said, he is paid too much money for what he does for this young Kings team.
Nemanja Bjelica has been a great player for the Sacramento Kings as well! He has hit some BIG shots for the Kings, including multiple game winners and last second DEEP three point daggers.
He is a fan favorite and has a great attitude.
Bjelica is one of my personal favorite players on the team, but I think he is one of the biggest trade assets the Kings possess!
He possesses a high basketball IQ, a big body, patient style and is a dead eye from deep.
Bjelica should be a piece ANY playoff team would want to add.
And well, do I really need to say anything about the never ending rumors surrounding Buddy Hield…
I’ll drop one of my favorite 1980’s tunes, ‘Rumors’, by the ‘Timex Social Club’ below ….
‘Front Office Shuffle’ Official Dance Of SacTown
Kings general manager Vlade Divac resigned from his role just a few days after the Kings were eliminated from playoff contention.
Sacramento announced that NBA hall of famer and former NBA Executive of the Year award winner Joe Dumars will fill in as interim general manager.
Dumars is ‘leading the search’ for the next GM. At first, some speculated that he may be the next Kings GM. Now it seems that Dumars is not interested in the position … time will tell!
The Kings have hired an outside hiring agency to help make Sacramento not seem like the worst destination in the NBA. (Blows my mind that people want to live in New York and Milwaukee during December instead of NorCal … but I digress)
Might as well just hire Carmichael Dave at this point.
One of the biggest keys to this off season, and what the Kings choose to do with their draft picks, relies heavily upon who is hired as GM.
READ MY ARTICLE ON THE TOPIC HERE!
Offseason Movin’ and Groovin’ (Maybe Even Some Boogie-ing?)
One of the things that I love about the NBA offseason and draft is the excitement around potential trades. Trades involving draft selections, as well as already established NBA players.
A ‘knock’ on Sacramento is that it is not a free agent destination.
If the Kings organization are unable to sign big name free agents, they need to acquire players through the draft and through trades.
Trading an asset or two may prove fruitful for the Kings!
For example, trading, one or more of our current players, their 2020 draft selection, a potential future draft selection – or a combo of the three.
The Kings need to kind of get ‘lucky’ in terms of timing when it comes to landing a ‘franchise’ changing player via a trade.
They need to find a team that is looking to deal a star player at a ‘log jammed’ position.
Another possibility is finding a trade with a team that is rebuilding or has an unhappy superstar – and get a ‘good deal’ for them.
Three team trades are always fun too!
All in all, this will be an exciting offseason for the Sacramento Kings!
GO KINGS!
– TOM WITT – ‘SPIKEBALLTOM’
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LINKS TO MORE KINGS ARTICLES BY TOM WITT
SACRAMENTO KINGS BUILD UPON ‘RALLY THE VOTE’ COALITION
SACRAMENTO KINGS PREDICTIONS – 2020 SEASON RESTART – PART 4 OF 4
SAC-TOWN CROWN KINGS REPORT- CAN BUDDY HIELD BE A FUTURE NBA SIXTH MAN? KINGS FANS SURE HOPE SO!
NBA RETURN TO PLAY – DO KINGS START BUDDY OR BOGI? ‘GOOD’ PROBLEM TO HAVE
