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Old 01-13-2009, 02:49 AM   #484
Izulde
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Very, very disappointing workouts for the Nine Knights. There's some great players among them sure, but overall, they don't appear nearly as good as we first thought. But it is what it is.

2025 NBA Draft 1st Round
1. SF Damian Thomas - San Antonio Spurs*
2. PG Dondrell Wilder - Denver Nuggets*

...I'm shocked. The moron actually made the right call. Nice move.

3. SF Kevin Phillips - Philadelphia 76ers*


...Three picks and Nochimas Eliashov, the guy I think is the best player in this class, is still on the board? But Golden State's not playing when I come calling.

4. SG Nochimas Eliashov - Golden State Warriors*

Ah well, was worth a try. The Warriors just got the steal of the draft, no doubt about it.

5. SF Russell Sims - Seattle Supersonics*

There's one more player I feel is worth trading up for, but Orlando's not willing to talk to me, either.

6. SF Sigiswald Eckert - Orlando Magic*

And of course he gets taken.

7. PF Michael Havens - New Orleans Hornets*

Two of the Nine Knights remaining. Eddie Pruitt is too small for my tastes and yes I know about all the great undersized fours in the league right now, but I don't think he has the skills either. And I'm not leaving this draft without one of the Nine Knights, so it defaults to Tariel Abashize, who didn't have a great workout, but he's only 18 and he'll get a lot of playing time for us I imagine.

But much to my shock, I who've had so much success trading up in the draft, get hung up on by the Wizards GM, who won't allow me to move one lousy pick up, even if I add another first round pick.

8. SF Tariel Abashize - Washington Wizards*

...I want to throw up. I come damned close to doing so, too. The league's GMs are conspiring against me, doing their best to cockblock me and prevent me from achieving any kind of success in Sacramento.

The smarmy "experts" say that I'm very high on Kenneth Towns, a senior SF from UCLA. I'll admit, he had some nice college stats, but we didn't bring him in for a workout. It's really all downhill from here.

On the other hand, Jim Johnson impressed the coaching staff so much in his workout, they upgraded him to a 5* player in their highs. I'm so not thrilled with how they rated his skills, and he's smallish at 6'10, 223. On the other hand, he looks like a good scorer with a sweet shot, appears to have good work ethic and is 20 years old.

So I pull the trigger on it, because there's no way we're getting value here in a trade.

9. PF Jim Johnson - Sacramento Kings

It's a split decision from the talking heads, but the overall tone seems to be lukewarm. Just hope the Terrapin proves me right.

10. SF Kenneth Towns - Minnesota Timberwolves
11. PF Eddie Pruitt - Cleveland Cavaliers*

And there's the last of the Nine Knights.

12. SG Edmond Ford - Indiana Pacers
13. PF Julian Jones - Houston Rockets
14. C Chris Moss - Detroit Pistons

Workouts were iffy, but Moss is a great value pick here.

15. SF Mark Duhon - Denver Nuggets
16. C Ramond Crawford - Chicago Bulls

I see a PG who I somehow missed bringing in for a workout, but who shouldn't be dropping this far in the draft. The Nets have Corey Neal, so they aren't going to draft him. Milwaukee's willing to talk, but I need second rounders to convince them.

Luckily, Portland's in a chatty mood.

Sacramento Kings receive
PG Henry Dupree
Portland Trailblazers 2025 2nd round pick (51st overall)
Portland Trailblazers 2026 2nd round pick
Portland Trailblazers 2027 2nd round pick

Portland Trailblazers receive
PF Julian Arthurs

Quick Analysis
A small deal that sends a more talented scrub to Portland for a more expensive, less talented scrub and a trio of 2nd rounders to Sacramento. No doubt GM Jestor has something up his sleeve.

Naturally I do, sending picks #21 and #51 to Milwaukee to move up 3 slots to #18.

17. PF Meleki Lane - New Jersey Nets

Everybody in the building is calling for the PG and I rush to the phone to take him.

18. PG William Tackett - Denver Nuggets

Check this LSU senior's numbers out: 28.6 PPG 13.0 APG 7.3 RPG 3.0 SPG 2.1 BPG. He's also 6'4, 183 lbs and most were calling him a 4* player in the mocks. The best thing about the pick? We just totally screwed the Mavericks out of him and I can hear the Dallas GM swearing all the way across the room.

19. PG Troy Collins - Dallas Mavericks

They're saying Drew Elder for our #20 pick. 6'6 SF? No thanks. There's some players definitely worth considering taking a flyer on here, including some fairly big SG. But we desparately need a C and the free agent crop is looking pretty bad for that, so I reach down and snap up the C I scouted who I think is underrated.

20. C Ryan Crews - Sacramento Kings

As expected, the pick's greeted by a chorus of loud, angry boos and J.P. and Chris wigging out. Eh, whatever. It's insurance and if he sucks, I can always deal him to someone else for something.

21. PG R.T. Williams - Milwaukee Bucks

Ahh, Milwaukee. Thank you for making a WTF pick for me to take everybody's mind off of Crews.

22. PG Rich Skiffer - Portland Trailblazers
23. SG Reggie Jamison - Memphis Grizzlies

Superb value pick by Memphis here. I'm sure we'll see a couple more before the first round is over.

24. SG Aron Fisher - New York Knicks
25. SG Malik Barnes - Atlanta Hawks
26. C Brett Johnson - Charlotte Bobcats
27. PF Simon Van de Velde - Los Angeles Clippers
28. SG Kent Wallace - Boston Celtics

Want to know the funny thing? In the drafts over the past 3-5 seasons, Wallace would be a lottery pick, maybe even Top 10. This class is going to go a long way to fixing the drought.

29. PG Jeremy Williams - Phoenix Suns
30. SF Herb Smith - Toronto Raptors

First post-draft look says Jim Johnson is extremely raw and probably drafted way too early. I think he can turn into a pretty good player, though. Not an elite level, but still good. William Tackett looks like a better version of Louis Mertens. For the 18th pick in the draft, I'll take it. Ryan Crews does indeed appear awful, though he could possibly be a Lindsey Williamson type.

Renounce everyone but Mateen Yeaton and what to you end up with? A cool $20 million in cap space in your back pocket.

Summer League
PG Henry Dupree
PG William Tackett
PF Jim Johnson
C Ryan Crews

Ugly 90-77 loss to the Bucks to start the summer league. The bright spot: William Tackett leading all scorers with 21 points. Thomas Anderson chipped in 10 bench points.

Happiness returns in a 105-88 trashing of the Wizards. William Tackett lances Washington for 18 points and 11 assists, Kevin Bradford (yes -that- Kevin Bradford[/b] double-doubles for 15 points and 11 rebounds, Henry Dupree surprises with 16 bench points, Thomas Anderson has his second straight 10 point bench game and Ryan Crews leads the reserves in actuality with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Best stat of the game? Tariel Abashize finishing with 6 points on 2 of 4 shooting.

A shootout goes down in defeat, 111-100 to San Antonio, but what a hell of a game it was. William Tackett and Damian Thomas duel to 27 point draws, Kevin Bradford looks like a real, live NBA center with 17 points and 13 rebounds, Ryan Crews continues to play great off the bench with 12 points and 13 rebounds and Henry Dupree is really turning heads after another fantastic showing of 17 points.

We get back to .500 in the summer league, bashing the Jazz 106-68. Our reserves deserve credit for this one, Ryan Crews with 14 points, Brian Green with 11 and Thomas Anderson with 12.

Summer play ends on a winning note, 103-73 over Toronto's squad. Kevin Bradford nets 15 points and 11 rebounds, and three bench players again break double-digit points: Earl Erskins (16), Thomas Anderson (12) and Henry Dupree (11).

I should note that William Tackett never finished with less than 14 points in all five summer league games. Very, very encouraging sign.

Free Agency

Blue Chip List
SF David Anyan
SG Bernard Legans
SG Nigel Abel
SF Devone Allen
SG Kyle Hoiberg
SG David Davis
PG Jason Griffin
SG Walter Coleman
SG Justin Barnes
SF Andre Davis
SG Kyle Smith
SF Shane Holliway
PF James Bellairs
PF Ronnie Fry
SF Kevin Durant
SF Will Baron
PF Antonio Sarchet
PG Andre Moore
PF Kelvin Moody
PG Ameirin Qipani
C Narycz Malinomowski
PF Mike Vines
PG Kenny Graham
SG Mateen Yeaton
C Greg Oden

You thought I was kidding when I said it was a banner free agent crop, didn't you? Well, there you have it folks, one of the finest free agent groups in recent memory.

The first thing I do is try to sign Devone Allen to a max-level deal, but he's not really listening. So I switch targets to Ronnie Fry. He won't talk to me either, leading me to debate between David Anyan, who despite all his glowing accolades, is historically inaccurate and Andre Davis, who while accurate, never developed into a top-flight scorer. Anyan's defense settles it and I sign him to a 3 year max-level the next day. He's 33, so he'll be an albatross by the time the deal's up, but for one of the elite level free agents, I can manage.

Especially when none of my other top targets will give me the time of day.

One by slow one, all the other blue chip free agents go back to their teams, until Mike Vines signs with the Cavaliers on a one year deal the day before Cleveland tags Kenny Graham on a one year and suddenly they're looking a lot like the old Kings. The same day Graham heads to Cleveland, Mateen Yeaton agrees to terms on a one year, $7 million contract. It's overpaying for a 37 year old with drastically eroded skills, but I want him to stay with me.

I'm distressed to learn that Yeaton's currently slated as the 6th man. Yes, he's 37, but Mateen Yeaton not starting? It seems unthinkable. I leave that for later concerns, because we've suddenly got almost $18 million in cap room again and there's still some good players left. Like Walter Coleman, who I ink to a 5 year, flat-rate $50 million contract and Lawrence Smiley, who smiles at earning a 2 year, $4 million a year deal and Dan Jacobson on a min-sal, who even at 38 is still somebody I trust to bring the dirty work down low.

Then I realize, belatedly, that Smiley's still recovering from an MCL and won't be back until halfway through the season. Too late now.

With the rest of our cap money, I bring in Ronald King on a 2 year, $4 million deal and Larry Lovett, a scrub rebounding specialist C on a min-sal. The day those two contracts are announced, Justin Barnes stays on the West Coast and in California to boot, accepting a 5 year, $32.2 million contract from the Los Angeles Clippers. ...Great. As if I didn't fear them enough already, now the Red and White can throw Barnes in my face.

We're still on really, really shaky ground at C, so before training camp, I cut a deal.

Sacramento Kings receive
C Greg Oden

Denver Nuggets receive
PG Zelipe Gama
Portland Traiblazers 2026 2nd round pick
Portland Trailblazers 2027 2nd round pick

What this means for the Kings
A desparate need for a legitimate C and GM Jestor's belief in rookie William Tackett as the PG of Sacramento's future now leads Oden to come back in at 37 and expend more defense, shotblocking and rebounding for a team that seems far removed from his Raptors.

What this means for the Nuggets
Oden became expendable when they acquired Jonte Jones from the Kings in Jestor's first deal. Gama knows this Denver offense in his sleep and he'll probably be named the starting PG again and mentor studly, but raw rookie Dondrell Wilder.

Winner: Draw
The move plays out well for both teams, each addressing a significant issue. Sacramento still has almost no big man depth to speak of, but at least their situation at the starting spot is immensely improved.

Training Camp

At 37, Mateen Yeaton's no longer a worthy starter, much as it kills me to say it. In fact, I'm not even sure that he should be the 6th man, but Andre Miller insisted it's fine. Greg Oden thankfully showed no decline on his own 37 year old body, thanks to a fanatical offseason regimen.

As for our young guys, Jim Johnson showed small signs of improvement, which is good because he'll be our starting PF. The bad news: William Tackett shows no upside. The good news: He's already good enough to be our starting PG and have me feel safe about it.

From watching the players at camp, Walter Coleman and David Anyan are going to be the guys that really carry the offense and I feel like I hit the ball well in bringing them in. Walter wanted out of Golden State in the worst way and he believes we can make the Kings winners. As for Anyan, he wanted to get out from under Justin Richler's shadow and prove he's still got it.

The preseason press isn't giving us a chance in hell. They've got us picked for second to last in the conference behind Seattle. Now I understand their taking the Clippers and the Suns at #1 and #2 in the West, but to say that we won't even beat out the Lakers is just dumb in my opinion. I also think Golden State, slated for the playoffs in preseason mags, is really going to miss Walter Coleman and we're not even going to talk about the Mavericks now auditioning Devone Allen at PG. Bet they really wish they had William Tackett right about now, don't they?

Admittedly there's no question about the Red and the White and Phoenix as the two best teams in the West. I'd put the Rockets, Nuggets and Grizzlies, who will be lining up without Narcyz Malinomowski at C for the first time in over a decade in the second tier. But if the Timberwolves think the Great Polish Sieve can solve their problems at C, they're mistaken and if the preseason scribes say the Hornets break their playoff streak this year, they're on crack.

That's not the dumbest thing I heard all preseason, though. The stupidest statement of the offseason goes to those magazines picking the Pacers to win the East. If that happens... well, you know the drill by now. Chicago will be good again, now that they're -finally- starting Andre Moore at PG and I don't disagree with the Bulls at #2. In fact, I'll say it right now... Chicago's the team to beat in the East. Everyone else has questions galore surrounding them.

Sacramento Kings 2025 Opening Night Roster
PG William Tackett
SG Walter Coleman
SF David Anyan
PF Jim Johnson
C Greg Oden
6th Mateen Yeaton (PG/SG/SF)
7th Ronald King (PG/SG/SF)
8th Ryan Crews (PF/C)
9th Larry Lovett (SF/PF/C)
10th Tzvetan Kishishev (SF/PF/C)
11th Dan Jacobson (SF/PF/C)
12th Henry Dupree (PG/SG)

Injured/Inactive
Lawrence Smiley (SF/PF)

Biggest problem we have is depth. There's no true PG to come off the bench and our big man reserve situation is admittedly iffy. If need be, I'll flip Smiley for a pass-first reserve PG.

Best cap situation ever. Just $505k over. The owner ought to be happy with that.
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