Blame Rasho wrote:Slava wrote:Kings lottery picks since Cousins
Bismarck Biyombo - traded on draft day for Fredette - subsequently bought out
Thomas Robinson - traded away in his rookie season
Ben Mclemore
Nik Stauskas - Traded after rookie season
Willie Cauley-stein
Sweet baby Jesus!
I just was looking for the Kings draft war room youtube vid, and shockingly enough I can't find it anywhere. They were creaming in their pants that that Staukas was on the board when they drafted him.
I tried to cool the enthusiasm for Stauskas and was attacked by his many fans. He was going to be rookie of the year.
After watching Stauskas for two years at Michigan I said he lacked the athleticism to be a good def. player....the same thing that hampered Fredette's pro career.
I still think Stauskas can be a decent pro...comparing him to Jimmer he's taller than Fredette, is an excellent shooter, and appears to have the right attitude to improve. If there's a spot in the league for Kyle Korver, i can't see why Stauskas can't have one.
Getting back to Fredette, his failure to make it is a jab in the face of people who say poor def. at the guard position doesn't matter. Fredette was a revolving door on def. He didn't have to be a great def., but his def. was terrible. Every player he tried to guard upped their ppg going by him for easy layups.
I liked Jimmer....he could nail threes on the dead run off the dribble which is not a widely shared skill. But unless you're extremely valuable on the off side, you have to be somewhat able on the def. side. He was just too inadequate defensively.