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Well, here we are about a month after the draft, and I am still not very happy about the Thompson pick. I want to be a big fan, I really do, but when I see Bayless leading the summer league in scoring (One pick before then traded for one pick after) and Randolph destroying (Two picks later), I just really think that we messed up, big. Does anyone else have the same feelings or advice for me not to feel so crappy about the draft, cause I am really doubting that what we did was right.

With Bayless it wasn't so much about how good he'll be, but if he'll really be better enough than Jason to warrant giving up whatever we had to.

With Randolph, he has shown some nice flashes, but you just can't take that into consideration.

The bottom line is that summer league isn't about stats really, it's about plays. There are a lot of scoring guards and guys like that that can put up great stats in that situation, but that doesn't mean they have a lot of transferable skills, and ones that will fit into what our team will be doing.

I could say that it's still ridiculously early, but even if it weren't, what's to worry about? Jason showed many great transferable skills for the next level. I was personally very encouraged by what I saw.

Lastly, I could show you Petrie's draft record if you like. I mean he has made picks like this before that everybody thought were reaches and "everybody" was proven wrong.

Things I do know:

* You won't find any journalist that will say Jason Thompson was the right pick until after he proves himself. It's career suicide to say a guy like this will be the next best thing until he proves it.

* If we are deciding careers after one summer league then a lot of stars wouldn't have made it into the league

* A Laker fan I work with says Thompson is the real deal

Ignore the fact that Randolph is still a twig and Bayless is a small 2 guard and Thompson hasn't looked that bad himself then yes i'd be very angry

I must have missed the memo that says that summer league performances were indicators of anything.

The irony here is that you say Randolph was destroying the summer league yet Thompson played better when they met in person.

My opinion of the summer league with respect to the NBA is this: the summer league is made up primarily of players that are both low skill (compared to NBA players) and not that athletic/big (compared to NBA players). So, if a player is at an NBA level in 1 of those 2 categories (skill wise or athleticism/size) he's probably going to do well or dominate. But that in no way means he's going to do well in the NBA because the NBA guys he's going against are going to be much better in BOTH categories (they're going to be incredibly skilled AND have good/great athleticism/size).

Everything that has been said is true, and debating any of it is futile, but it still doesn't make sense to me. Yes, Petrie has made weird picks that have suceeded (Martin, Peja, Wallace ect...), Summer league isn't everything, the other guys do have their flaws and thompson has shown great things, but it still isn't enough to make me feel good about the pick. I guess it is the conservative side in me coming out, but Bayless and Randolph would have been much safer picks with less scrutiny. Thompson has done well, but he will forever be compared to bayless and randolph if they blow up and become stars. I guess this is a personal feeling that I will have to deal with through hope, but for now, I am just not sure we did the right thing.

Bayless and Randolph would've been less scrutinized, but that doesn't mean they would have been safer picks by any stretch of the imagination.

And honestly, it seems that your problem is that you put too much stock into online mocks and assume that because a bunch of unqualified people criticized the pick, that they must be right, and that one of the best judges of talent in the world must be wrong.

KM44 wrote:Everything that has been said is true, and debating any of it is futile, but it still doesn't make sense to me. Yes, Petrie has made weird picks that have suceeded (Martin, Peja, Wallace ect...), Summer league isn't everything, the other guys do have their flaws and thompson has shown great things, but it still isn't enough to make me feel good about the pick. I guess it is the conservative side in me coming out, but Bayless and Randolph would have been much safer picks with less scrutiny. Thompson has done well, but he will forever be compared to bayless and randolph if they blow up and become stars. I guess this is a personal feeling that I will have to deal with through hope, but for now, I am just not sure we did the right thing.

And what if Thompson becomes a stud at the same time Randolph and Bayless "become stars"? You seem to only be on the track of lamenting what Petrie didn't get without putting much thought into what might be possible with what he did pick.

I don't put a great deal of stock in the Summer League and the stats that players accumulate during the summer season however I do remember a certain SG for our Kings having a breakthrough type of SL and getting really good at drawing fouls and getting to the line. So maybe there is something to be said for SL performances....sustained performance, not single games.

Don't worry man, trust me when I say that in a couple of year's time, Thompson will be a 20/10 guy.. that much is guaranteed.. The kid is skilled, very skilled and has a great work ethic. Bayless would have been redundant with KMart here and Randolph has been putting up big numbers ailbeit shooting poorly from the floor. You guys needed a proper PF and Thompson gives you that.

Duncanfan wrote:Thompson will be a 20/10 guy.. that much is guaranteed..

Um....

Bayless was one pick ahead, but I don't think we had what the Pacers wanted anyways.. so yeah.. plus I feel more comfortable with Thompson's play than Randolphs, since I don't think taking the ball out to the top of the keys and trying to drive it in will succeed for in the regular season, especially when you are built like pinocchio

You could see in the few games that Thompson played why Theus & Petrie fell in love with this guy.

If he works hard and everything falls into place he should be a keeper for the Kings.

Try concentrating on the Kings instead of everyone else then you will forget about Bayless & Randolph.

I'll take Thompson over Randolph

Randolph I don't see generally being a primary/starting/solid PF in this league

Bayless or Thompson? I'm pretty indiffierent because both fill needs and are quality talents at the same time. Especially with the team offensive system, and pairing with either Kevin or Hawes.

And yeah, Chad Ford's an idiot (Roy Hibbert or Mario Chalmers at #12? C'mon now...c'mon).

Jeff Van Gundy is not an idiot.

KingInExile wrote:

KM44 wrote:Everything that has been said is true, and debating any of it is futile, but it still doesn't make sense to me. Yes, Petrie has made weird picks that have suceeded (Martin, Peja, Wallace ect...), Summer league isn't everything, the other guys do have their flaws and thompson has shown great things, but it still isn't enough to make me feel good about the pick. I guess it is the conservative side in me coming out, but Bayless and Randolph would have been much safer picks with less scrutiny. Thompson has done well, but he will forever be compared to bayless and randolph if they blow up and become stars. I guess this is a personal feeling that I will have to deal with through hope, but for now, I am just not sure we did the right thing.

And what if Thompson becomes a stud at the same time Randolph and Bayless "become stars"? You seem to only be on the track of lamenting what Petrie didn't get without putting much thought into what might be possible with what he did pick.

Well, I do like what some of the people have said, such as only paying attention to the kings and focusing on Thompson's talents, so I will take that as my answer. I'm not going to argue that I have only gone off of what I have read and seen online, I don't have the time to search the internet all day or travel down to vegas, sorry, I have a life. But from what I have seen and read through videos, statistics, articles and yes, mock drafts, I have been a bit pesimistic toward thompson, but I guess you guys are right when you say that he is pretty dang good himself. Thanks for that, but really I hope for his sake and yours that i don't have to say I told you so a few years down the road.

KM44 wrote:

KingInExile wrote:

KM44 wrote:Everything that has been said is true, and debating any of it is futile, but it still doesn't make sense to me. Yes, Petrie has made weird picks that have suceeded (Martin, Peja, Wallace ect...), Summer league isn't everything, the other guys do have their flaws and thompson has shown great things, but it still isn't enough to make me feel good about the pick. I guess it is the conservative side in me coming out, but Bayless and Randolph would have been much safer picks with less scrutiny. Thompson has done well, but he will forever be compared to bayless and randolph if they blow up and become stars. I guess this is a personal feeling that I will have to deal with through hope, but for now, I am just not sure we did the right thing.

And what if Thompson becomes a stud at the same time Randolph and Bayless "become stars"? You seem to only be on the track of lamenting what Petrie didn't get without putting much thought into what might be possible with what he did pick.

Well, I do like what some of the people have said, such as only paying attention to the kings and focusing on Thompson's talents, so I will take that as my answer. I'm not going to argue that I have only gone off of what I have read and seen online, I don't have the time to search the internet all day or travel down to vegas, sorry, I have a life. But from what I have seen and read through videos, statistics, articles and yes, mock drafts, I have been a bit pesimistic toward thompson, but I guess you guys are right when you say that he is pretty dang good himself. Thanks for that, but really I hope for his sake and yours that i don't have to say I told you so a few years down the road.

That's fine if you only have that stuff to go off of, but then just realize that you can't really make an informed judgment. Almost none of us can. My optimism for Thompson comes mostly from some really nice things I have seen in the summer league and from my faith in Geoff.

I have a feeling that Petrie/staff were kinda slapped hard in the face on draft night with Alexander /Augustine/Lopez/Bayless all being drafted right before us. From reports, Pacers/Portland had already made an agreement on trades before draft night, so even if Petrie called Pacers for the pick he very likely was denied.

Nice to see Thompson starting to get some love from the slew of he-was-a-bad-pick-cuz-I-never-heard-of-him media "analysts"

July 22, 2008

Scouts rave about his speed. I love his hands. He mixes it up well around the rim and looks like he'll be an effective player out on the floor. The best rookie power forward of the summer.

The irony of course being that Thompson played nearly all of his minutes in the summer league at the 3.

Ballings7 wrote:I'll take Thompson over Randolph

Randolph I don't see generally being a primary/starting/solid PF in this league

Bayless or Thompson? I'm pretty indiffierent because both fill needs and are quality talents at the same time. Especially with the team offensive system, and pairing with either Kevin or Hawes.

And yeah, Chad Ford's an idiot (Roy Hibbert or Mario Chalmers at #12? C'mon now...c'mon).

Jeff Van Gundy is not an idiot.

Why does Randolph have to be a PF?