Ping Pong Party (Predict Draft Spot, Player Taken)

[10B10]

Tyreke > Wall

Yeah, I said it. I've watched Wall many times this year. He's gonna be special, but Tyreke is gonna be special too. More special, IMHO.

I think its more like:

Tyreke with a jumper > Wall

From watching Wall, I think he has better court vision and is an overall quicker and more explosive player than Tyreke. That said, he can't get to the rim like Tyreke (no one can) and with a jumper, Evans pretty much becomes unstoppable for defenses.

Wall doesn't quite have that luxury, but I think he is one heck of a prospect. I am trying to be as non-homer as possible here. Obviously, I love Tyreke. But, I think Wall is an incredible talent.

[darkadun]

Ya, its getting pretty interesting. We could easily drop below Golden State & Washington. Golden State plays Washington tomorrow, and then Minnesota a few days later, and the last game is against the Clippers. So they could get 2-3 more wins pretty easily. And we could still end up in a tie with Washington and Detroit, which would increase our odds as well.

Should be pretty intersting. But too be honest, while I want better pick, I want the Kings to finish strong, with Reke having some strong games down the stretch to cemet his ROY status. A few more wins would help.

[deNIEd]

Ya, its getting pretty interesting. We could easily drop below Golden State & Washington. Golden State plays Washington tomorrow, and then Minnesota a few days later, and the last game is against the Clippers. So they could get 2-3 more wins pretty easily. And we could still end up in a tie with Washington and Detroit, which would increase our odds as well.

Should be pretty intersting. But too be honest, while I want better pick, I want the Kings to finish strong, with Reke having some strong games down the stretch to cemet his ROY status. A few more wins would help.

True...but it would also be the difference between Wall/Turner/Cousins and Davis/Johnson/Monroe. Every single year, its those 1-2 wins that separate a team like us from drafting a potential star player and a potential average player.
1-2-3- vs 6-7-8
Griffin/Thabeet/Harden/Evans vs Flynn/Curry/Hill
Rose/Beasley/Mayo vs Gallo/Gordon/Alexander
Oden/Durant/Horford vs Yi/Brewer/Wright

[darkadun]

True, can't disagree with this.

[pillwenney]

We're pretty much definitely not getting 7 or 8 at this point. I just couldn't see us realistically out-winning Philly or New York enough at this point to do that. And 1 and 2 are mathematically impossible in terms of the positions we'll be in before the lottery.

It's basically almost definitely going to be between 3 and 6 at this point. We may be able to get 3, but we really shouldn't tank hard for it, if for no other reason than that it's really far from a guarantee. Also, on that note, I'm just not very high on Cousins at all. I mean if I had to choose between him and Aldrich, I guess I'd choose him. But there are a couple of red flags with him, as I see it.

When the Bulls went from #9 to #1 a couple years ago, people around here were complaining that we hadn't lost a couple more games. My point was always that I'm sure the teams at 5-8 were likely upset that they just didn't win more. Oh, and you may remember last year when we did all the losing we could, and then we ended up with the #4 pick anyway. But oh, it worked out for us. Point being--it's a crapshoot on nearly every level. And it's one where you have to check your integrity at the door if you're going to try to get better odds in the crapshoot.

The reality is that these are the 3-6 picks of the last few years.
Harden/Evans/Rubio/Flynn
Mayo/Westbrook/Love/Gallinari
Horford/Conley/Green/Yi
Morrison/Thomas/Williams/Roy

At this point, tanking would be only, as I see it, to get slightly better odds at Turner or Wall.

[chriswebb86]

At this point I am really hoping that we end up with the 2nd pick in the draft. I really want Evan Turner. A back court of Turner and Evans would be extremely scary.

[PaKwAn]

turner and evans on the backcourt

[Bac2Basics]

I'm thinking we probably end up right about where we are now 5-7 and end up taking either Aldrich or Whiteside. I think I'd prefer Whiteside but would be ok with either.

With the 2nd rounder, we take Jimmer Fredette from BYU to be the shooter changeup to Evans slasher.

[UKF]

By the way things are going it looks like we will most likely end up with the 4th or 5th pick. As much as I wish we could get one or two, we should be looking at what's best in the 3-6 range. And if we get one or two we know what were going to do.

[king125]

My Draftboard:

Wall (trade)
Turner (possibly trade)
Cousins
Johnson
Favors
Aminu

and after that I dont care at all

[floppymoose]

Every single year, its those 1-2 wins that separate a team like us from drafting a potential star player and a potential average player.
1-2-3- vs 6-7-8
Griffin/Thabeet/Harden/Evans vs Flynn/Curry/Hill
Rose/Beasley/Mayo vs Gallo/Gordon/Alexander
Oden/Durant/Horford vs Yi/Brewer/Wright

And yet Thabeet is crap, Beasley is average at best, Gordon is pretty good and Curry is damn good. (And don't forget Westbrook at #4).

If you draft smart you sometimes get lucky on someone falling to you. When it happens, you just have to be smart enough not to take Flynn or Yi or Alexander.

[KF10]

We are tied with #3 with Golden State as of right now. GS won tonight. (And Detroit won tonight too).

[pillwenney]

^^Washington is also in the tie.

This should be interesting down the stretch. I'll be especially curious to see if the Warriors keep trying to win now that Nellie has broken his precious record.

[RIPskaterdude]

If we lose tomorrow, we could be 3rd in the draft standings!

That being said, I think we'll win 2 out of 4 games and end up with the 5th or 6th spot...just out of reach for Favors/Cousins.

[deNIEd]

If you draft smart you sometimes get lucky on someone falling to you. When it happens, you just have to be smart enough not to take Flynn or Yi or Alexander.

Of course, there are plenty of bad picks at early positions. Everyone keeps saying that...and everyone keeps saying (or many people) that Petrie will always be able to find a good/quality player regardless of where he drafts.

However, wouldn't you rather let Petrie pick from the entire draft pool than only a limited pool? What if last year Memphis drafted Tyreke, and OKC drafted say Curry. We'd be looking at Thabeet, Rubio, Jennings, Flynn.

It's much easier to draft a better player if you get to choose first, than wait and hope that someone we feel is going to be special "falls" to us.

Luck happens, but I would rather let Petrie control our fate than GSW and WAS control our fate.

[pillwenney]

If you draft smart you sometimes get lucky on someone falling to you. When it happens, you just have to be smart enough not to take Flynn or Yi or Alexander.

Of course, there are plenty of bad picks at early positions. Everyone keeps saying that...and everyone keeps saying (or many people) that Petrie will always be able to find a good/quality player regardless of where he drafts.

However, wouldn't you rather let Petrie pick from the entire draft pool than only a limited pool? What if last year Memphis drafted Tyreke, and OKC drafted say Curry. We'd be looking at Thabeet, Rubio, Jennings, Flynn.

It's much easier to draft a better player if you get to choose first, than wait and hope that someone we feel is going to be special "falls" to us.

Luck happens, but I would rather let Petrie control our fate than GSW and WAS control our fate.

But it never, ever works out that way. Even 03 had Darko, and that draft was the closest to working out that way.

I'd just rather not lose on purpose, because regardless, we're talking about a couple of percentage points of difference with regards to what will happen.

[king125]

It is true. Petrie seems to always get the best player available at the pick he gets. Cant always expect other teams to be stupid (Memphis) and pass up on players (Tyreke). could you imagine their team? Gasol, Randolph, Gay, Mayo, Evans? Wow, dumb!

Think about it? Who after Hawes (07) or Thompson (08) would have been better to pick. He always gets the best value out of the pick. I trust when it comes to the draft the GP will make the best pick available.

[deNIEd]

But it never, ever works out that way. Even 03 had Darko, and that draft was the closest to working out that way.

I'd just rather not lose on purpose, because regardless, we're talking about a couple of percentage points of difference with regards to what will happen.

I know it doesn't always happen that way and even if you have 14 Petrie's drafting in a row, you still wouldn't end up with the best players 1-14. I'm just saying, it's a lot easier to find the absolute best player in the draft class or for your team, when you can select from everyone, and not have to rely on other teams missing out.

And to answer the question about Hawes, Aaron Brooks would have been a muccccch better pick. (Petrie almost drafted him too)

[pillwenney]

But it never, ever works out that way. Even 03 had Darko, and that draft was the closest to working out that way.

I'd just rather not lose on purpose, because regardless, we're talking about a couple of percentage points of difference with regards to what will happen.

I know it doesn't always happen that way and even if you have 14 Petrie's drafting in a row, you still wouldn't end up with the best players 1-14. I'm just saying, it's a lot easier to find the absolute best player in the draft class or for your team, when you can select from everyone, and not have to rely on other teams missing out.

And to answer the question about Hawes, Aaron Brooks would have been a muccccch better pick. (Petrie almost drafted him too)

Probably still a little early to say that.

[_SRV_]

Both in 07 and 08 we were very close to having significantly better players and better fits than we drafted, I'd take Lopez/Noah over Thompson/Hawes anytime, positions matter a lot, 1 or 2 positions matter a lot in drafts.
For the record, I would much rather root and watch a team similar to the first 3rd of this year, even if it meant 10th pick, but with how the Kings looked lately, I really fell indifferent about winning.