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Kings take Justin James at #40 [Signed 3 yr minimum contract Pg. 2]

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Kings take Justin James at #40 [Signed 3 yr minimum contract Pg. 2] 

Post#1 » by codydaze » Fri Jun 21, 2019 3:49 am

Not sure how I feel about this guy. 4 year player at Wyoming and a career net negative. Averaged 22/8.5/4.4 his senior year but also 4.2 turnovers. 29.6% shooter from 3.

Thoughts? I would have much rather taken Admiral Schofield at that spot.
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Re: Kings take Justin James at #40 

Post#2 » by blind prophet » Fri Jun 21, 2019 3:55 am

Watch Vlade say he thinks he can play SF
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Re: Kings take Justin James at #40 

Post#3 » by codydaze » Fri Jun 21, 2019 4:01 am

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Re: Kings take Justin James at #40 

Post#4 » by benchmobbin02 » Fri Jun 21, 2019 4:19 am

I like the pick initially. It's the combo guard with size that I wanted.

Here is what ESPN has to say about him -

James had a stellar individual season but got very little help on a Wyoming squad that stumbled to a disappointing 7-24 record in the Mountain West Conference. James produced a lot of intrigue by measuring 6-6 barefoot, testing out as the fastest player at the Portsmouth Invitational in terms of the .75-court sprint and lane-agility drills and operating on the ball quite a bit, giving him unique versatility for a guard. He plays at different speeds smoothly and does a great job of moving the ball ahead in transition, using well-timed bounce passes on the move to find teammates for easy looks, even being a little bit too unselfish at times. He also knocked down a number of 3-pointers both with his feet set and off the dribble, indicating he has some potential to continue to improve in this area if he can speed up his release.

James' frame is a work in progress, as he's very thin in the lower body and doesn't have great length with a near-even wingspan, something that probably isn't a deal-breaker considering his size for a guard. He could stand to get a little tougher with his finishes around the paint, as he struggled inside the arc.


So a big fast guard that can switch everything on the perimeter from 1-2-3. He can handle the ball and is good in the transition. Sounds like he'll fit what we want to do. But he needs to develop his body.
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Re: Kings take Justin James at #40 

Post#5 » by codydaze » Fri Jun 21, 2019 4:21 am

benchmobbin02 wrote:I like the pick initially. It's the combo guard with size that I wanted.

Here is what ESPN has to say about him -

James had a stellar individual season but got very little help on a Wyoming squad that stumbled to a disappointing 7-24 record in the Mountain West Conference. James produced a lot of intrigue by measuring 6-6 barefoot, testing out as the fastest player at the Portsmouth Invitational in terms of the .75-court sprint and lane-agility drills and operating on the ball quite a bit, giving him unique versatility for a guard. He plays at different speeds smoothly and does a great job of moving the ball ahead in transition, using well-timed bounce passes on the move to find teammates for easy looks, even being a little bit too unselfish at times. He also knocked down a number of 3-pointers both with his feet set and off the dribble, indicating he has some potential to continue to improve in this area if he can speed up his release.

James' frame is a work in progress, as he's very thin in the lower body and doesn't have great length with a near-even wingspan, something that probably isn't a deal-breaker considering his size for a guard. He could stand to get a little tougher with his finishes around the paint, as he struggled inside the arc.


So a big fast guard that can switch everything on the perimeter from 1-2-3. He can handle the ball and is good in the transition. Sounds like he'll fit what we want to do. But he needs to develop his body.


High usage, low efficiency and 1:1 ast:to ratio isn't too inspiring to me but I'll hold reservations on him until I do some more research and see what he looks like in Summer League.
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Re: Kings take Justin James at #40 

Post#6 » by Silver Man » Fri Jun 21, 2019 4:24 am

Didn't even shoot 30% from three last season.

Vlade simply forgot the draft was tonight and did absolutely no research on anything.
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Re: Kings take Justin James at #40 

Post#7 » by sacking123 » Fri Jun 21, 2019 4:25 am

Just watching him move he reminds me of Klay a little bit. Not in the way he plays the game or anything like that of course, just from a movement perspective.
I also like how quick he is.
Overall might be worth the gamble on the kid and see what he can develop into.
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Re: Kings take Justin James at #40 

Post#8 » by codydaze » Fri Jun 21, 2019 4:26 am

Silver Man wrote:Didn't even shoot 30% from three last season.

Vlade simply forgot the draft was tonight and did absolutely no research on anything.


I mean, he did work out for us. We had like 18 workouts so I wouldn't say we weren't prepared necessarily.
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Re: Kings take Justin James at #40 

Post#9 » by benchmobbin02 » Fri Jun 21, 2019 4:31 am

codydaze wrote:
benchmobbin02 wrote:I like the pick initially. It's the combo guard with size that I wanted.

Here is what ESPN has to say about him -

James had a stellar individual season but got very little help on a Wyoming squad that stumbled to a disappointing 7-24 record in the Mountain West Conference. James produced a lot of intrigue by measuring 6-6 barefoot, testing out as the fastest player at the Portsmouth Invitational in terms of the .75-court sprint and lane-agility drills and operating on the ball quite a bit, giving him unique versatility for a guard. He plays at different speeds smoothly and does a great job of moving the ball ahead in transition, using well-timed bounce passes on the move to find teammates for easy looks, even being a little bit too unselfish at times. He also knocked down a number of 3-pointers both with his feet set and off the dribble, indicating he has some potential to continue to improve in this area if he can speed up his release.

James' frame is a work in progress, as he's very thin in the lower body and doesn't have great length with a near-even wingspan, something that probably isn't a deal-breaker considering his size for a guard. He could stand to get a little tougher with his finishes around the paint, as he struggled inside the arc.


So a big fast guard that can switch everything on the perimeter from 1-2-3. He can handle the ball and is good in the transition. Sounds like he'll fit what we want to do. But he needs to develop his body.


High usage, low efficiency and 1:1 ast:to ratio isn't too inspiring to me but I'll hold reservations on him until I do some more research and see what he looks like in Summer League.


He is a 2nd round pick which means he'll have just as many plus and minuses.
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Re: Kings take Justin James at #40 

Post#10 » by sacking123 » Fri Jun 21, 2019 4:39 am

I'm pretty sure we're going to hear from Vlade that someone was going to take him before #47 so he had to grab him then and he ended up getting his guys.
I don't mind Vlade and the FO drafting whoever they want, but it looks like Justin was going to be there later in the draft.
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Re: Kings take Justin James at #40 

Post#11 » by blind prophet » Fri Jun 21, 2019 5:43 am

Vlade said in the press conference he likes his shooting and thinks he can keep up with Kings pace.

He better work on that 3.
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Re: Kings take Justin James at #40 

Post#12 » by City of Trees » Fri Jun 21, 2019 6:01 am

James is 6'7 with a reported 6'11 wingspan according to PBC.

In 2018 he had predraft workouts with Boston, San Antonio, and Houston but elected to return to school. The feedback he received was to put on weight and develop his playmaking abilities.
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Re: Kings take Justin James at #40 

Post#13 » by City of Trees » Fri Jun 21, 2019 6:04 am

Silver Man wrote:Didn't even shoot 30% from three last season.

Vlade simply forgot the draft was tonight and did absolutely no research on anything.
His previous years weren't as bad. I found an interesting quote that adds some context to his senior stats
James opted to return to Laramie for his senior season and, with the departure of multiple key seniors and 65% of the team’s prior year scoring, faced a difficult contextual battle throughout the course of the season. 
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Re: Kings take Justin James at #40 

Post#14 » by City of Trees » Fri Jun 21, 2019 6:13 am

James has good size, length, and athleticism. Sounds like he's an NBA swingman who can play the 2 and 3.

I guess he was constantly double teamed this past season which put a lot of pressure on him. Defenses game planned him. I bet Vlade feels his game, more importantly shooting, will open up once he's no longer the #1 option.
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Re: Kings take Justin James at #40 

Post#15 » by SacKingZZZ » Fri Jun 21, 2019 6:21 am

simonbampfield wrote:I'm pretty sure we're going to hear from Vlade that someone was going to take him before #47 so he had to grab him then and he ended up getting his guys.
I don't mind Vlade and the FO drafting whoever they want, but it looks like Justin was going to be there later in the draft.


He would have been there after the draft for sure. As predicted, drafted a potential SL invite. Not the end of the world but didn't really make the Kings much better today. He'll get plenty of burn in SL so it will interesting to see how he and Guy play together.
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Re: Kings take Justin James at #40 

Post#16 » by Coeur » Fri Jun 21, 2019 12:05 pm

I love the pick. This is the backup pg/6th man of future
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Re: Kings take Justin James at #40 

Post#17 » by City of Trees » Fri Jun 21, 2019 2:59 pm

Not going to lie I had no idea who James was outside of seeing him come in for a predraft workout. So I'm diving in to get a feel on how the Kings did.

My initial reaction is I can see the potential so I don't hate the pick. I think James efficiency will go up as a secondary ball handler/playmaker.

It's on Stockton to develop him.
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Re: Kings take Justin James at #40 

Post#18 » by nolang1 » Fri Jun 21, 2019 10:43 pm

Yeah I think I can see the rationale with the pick. The Kings specifically target players who are not just fast but have high stamina -Bagley, Fox, and Hield are all players I can remember as being able to go 38-40 minutes if the game wasn't a blowout. James's efficiency numbers don't look that amazing but at 38.2 mpg (2nd in the NCAA), he was obviously forced to carry a heavy load for his team. That becomes more apparent when you look at the quality of his teammates: every single one of them had a negative BPM. So he was able to go 38+ minutes a night at 35% of his team's usage and 33% of its assists, which takes next-level stamina. On the Kings he can get out in transition and hopefully improve his efficiency and defense when he's not asked to be the sole shot creator/offensive weapon who has the ball in his hands all the time.

Just some clicking around on sports-reference is enough for me to see his teammates were garbage. The #2 and #3 usage players from the year before graduated, the #2 usage player from this year got hurt 9 games into the season, and another starter got suspended 9 games in. The rotation consisted of one junior who's a skinny, one-dimensional shooter and the rest freshmen.
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Re: Kings take Justin James at #40 

Post#19 » by WYO » Sat Jun 22, 2019 7:01 pm

I'll try to give you guys some insight. This year Wyoming had almost no talent around James and the past 3 years of coaching has been atrocious. He's a great kid and I appreciate him sticking it out at UW, but he should have transferred after his freshman year when Larry Shyatt left the program to join the Mavericks staff. He's a high character kid so your fans will love him. I think he'll be a useful bench piece in the NBA if he accepts that role. His biggest obstacle will be accepting his role after being the go to guy in Laramie for the past 3 years.

I'm a little surprised he was drafted to be honest. In my opinion, he's good at a lot of things but not great at any one thing. He has height, but I don't know if he'll be strong enough to survive in the NBA. He's deceptively quick which will help him make up for his lack of weight. The Kings FO has to believe he is quick enough to be a combo guard in the NBA instead of a small forward. If that is the case, then I see why they drafted him. He has a solid shot although his 3 point stats say otherwise. He shot 35% and 41% his freshman and sophomore years although that dropped to 31% and 30% his last two years on higher volume. He was a one man show in Laramie so I think that has a lot to do with his stats looking so bad with efficiency and percentages. He won't be the go-to guy in the NBA so I could see him becoming a good catch and shoot guy. He's a solid ball handler and has plenty of potential to be a plus defender as well. Overall I think he has potential to be a good backup like a Shaun Livingston where he does a lot of things well but nothing great and obviously has some limitations to his game. As a second round pick I think the Kings could have done a lot worse than James.
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Re: Kings take Justin James at #40 

Post#20 » by kb02 » Tue Jul 2, 2019 2:42 pm

Looked good last night. Dude plays within the game. Above average athlete--not great. Moves the ball. Flashed rebounding, played defense, some handles, and a nice foundation on his shot. Poor mans Klay. Let's see how he develops.

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