Richardson or Bogdanovic

I've been considering the draft and our needs and I'm wondering if we can/should use one of Malachi Richardson or Bogdan Bogdanovic to move up from the 10th pick and target one of the PG/SFs.

My question is which guy (Malachi or Bogdanovic) is worth more or would you rather move?

I'm pretty torn because they both have abilities that I think the Kings need and fit well with what Coach Joerger wants to do. Malachi is more of a 2/3 with good defensive potential. I really like his shooting potential and his feel on offense. I think he has more than just 3 and D potential because he can get to the basket and create some. His contract situation is great but he's still young and may not be quite as ready to contribute as Bogdan.

Bogdan is more of a creative 2 or maybe combo guard type because of his playmaking/ball handling ability. He moves the ball really well and like Malachi he shoots it well. He can run an offense and create for other as well as himself so he's a real weapon on offense. I think his defense will be a weakness but he seems like the he's smart and always gives max effort so he won't be useless on that side of the ball. I don't think he can guard 3s and I think he'll have trouble with PGs with any quickness. His contract situation would be more difficult because you have to come to an agreement with him and he's older and probably ready to contribute.

I really like both guys and don't want to trade them, but if we're swinging on star potential I think it may be worth it. I lean slightly towards including Malachi in a trade if I have to but it's close.

Malachi is likely the better trade piece if only because he's locked into a rookie deal.

With Bogdanovic a team would actually be trading for his rights which means (1) there's no guarantee he even comes to the NBA (though he does seem poised to) and (2) the team trading for him will have to negotiate a contract with him. I'm guessing it starts in the $6-$8 million range.

The little we saw from Malachi looked good. With Bogdan, are you so sure he wouldn't be a lottery pick in this years draft?

I'd be pissed if we packaged either guy with the 10th pick to move up.

No, I'm not sure he wouldn't. I'm not even sure I'd package one of the guys to trade up, but I'd consider it depending on how far we'd be moving and who was available.

Do you see the guys in this draft worth moving up for if it includes Richardson or Bodganovic?

There is no urgency to move any guards right now. We have to see what we have first then pick which ones we want to go forward with. Malachi especially could grow into the SF position he has the measurements and playing style to do it even if it's in a reserve role. I'm not going to include Galloway because he seems to be the one to most likely to move on first but having 3 SG's in Hield, Richardson, Bogdanovic and a utility guy in Temple is great thing to have in today's league.

I'd deal Malachi in a heartbeat if it meant getting Tatum AND Fox or Smith.

All three of those guys have star potential, relatively high floors and play positions of need for the Kings.

That's no slight on Richardson. He was one of my least favorite prospects in last year's draft (I wanted Dejounte Murray or Luwawu at that spot) but he really changed my mind. I saw more positive signs from him in a few games than I saw from McLemore over a few years. I think he's a player in the NBA and possibly even a decent starter in the right situation.

But at a certain point you can't keep collecting decent to good young players (especially at the same position) and you have to get a star or two.

Otherwise I see the Kings maybe getting an impact player at 5 and then likely another decent young player at 10. Collins? Markkanen? Mitchell?

Being two deep with young guys at every position isn't a great place to be if you don't have your main player. The Kings currently don't have a star. If they need to gamble to try and get one I'm 100% behind that move.

I'm with Funky on this one.

If we can package one of those guys and move up a few spots from 10 to get into that Isaac/DSJ range (after presumably getting one of Tatum or Fox at 5)..... hell yeah you do it.

My question is why you think Bogdan would even consider coming over to Sacramento, let alone another NBA team? If he comes, it may well be only because of Vlade. If that's true, he's not trade bait. Also, he just led his team to a championship. I'm not so sure he's not capable of being the "star" you want to trade him for.

Actually Ekpe Udoh led his team to the euro championship. Which makes me question how much stock to put into that.
http://www.euroleague.net/news/i/7tqerufeft668lf8/udoh-caps-historic-final-four-with-mvp-award

I don't know Bogdan's mind when it comes to coming to the NBA so I can't really address that. Obviously my question assumes he wants to come over and would be open teams other than the Kings. If not then you are right and he's not tradable.

I'm sure of very little when it comes to guys who haven't played a minute of NBA basketball so I just go by what I can watch. Bogdan could be a star, I just think a few guys in this particular draft have the potential to be better.

I'd not trade either guy with a pick to trade up. The player at 10 is going to be a high level player as well. I think you just accumulate assets and let them fight for time.

Trade Richardson to move up, maybe.

Trade Bogdonavic to move up? No.

Bogdan's trade value is currently suppressed because he might stay in Europe if traded.

Why trade when his value is low?

I think Bogdan could be a great glue player that may bring the team together. He has the potential to be a catalyst to the playoffs. I hope Im right.

I like both and hate losing a player before you really know what you have in them.

That said, Bogdan has an excelent body of work already as a star in Europe as both a 2 and a back-up 1. Also, he is not under contract yet, diminishing his trade value. As VF said Vlade gives us an advantage there other teams won't have, which could sour trade negotiations.

Richardson showed promise something might be there waiting to be developed. He is on a rookie deal making negotiations more to the point. Between the two, I would lean Richardson unless Bogdan is reluctant to come over, in which case your trying to trade his rights to yet another team.

It is a nice thought to stack assets at one primary position and let them battle it out. However the reality is you risk letting your assets value diminish if not handled properly and in a timely manner. This came back to bite Philly with Embiid, Noel and Okafor. Losing Hinkie likely had a lot to do with that though.

Nice problem to have. Keep them both until their value increases. Bogdan is ready to start in the NBA. Malachi is a rotation player at this point.

This.

I'm really high on Richardson and wouldn't move him for anything that a team would offer. His game looks really, really fluid and his ability to create space for his own shot is elite. I think he's going to become everything Ben was supposed to be and more.

I'm with you on this one. Kid looks like he is an inferno waiting to catch fire to me. Now we just wait for the burn... unlike Ben. Kawhi Leonard literally destroyed Ben's career with those two strip steals earlier in the season. Lord help Ben, please give him the chance to succeed just not here.

A lot of thoughtful ideas in response here, I like it. I really like both Malachi and Bogdan aND I would be happy keeping both of them. I also really like the idea of moving up from 10 to around 6 in this particular draft. Without acquiring other assets or sacrificing future assets (I hate that idea), I think these 2 guys represent the best assets we might be willing to include to move up.

I think I'd be more inclined to include Malachi, but I'm not 100% sold on the idea.

As an aside, my favorite trade up scenario would be to use our cap space with a team like the Trailblazers and take back a not-so-cap-friendly contract along with a first rounder (they have a few this year), and then package that pick with the 10th pick to move up. I'd be elated if the Kings could swing something like that and still keep both Bogdan and Malachi. Then my silly questions wouldn't matter.

Not to be a downer, but I think it will take a little more than either one, which I'm prepared to do. I'm a fan of both Malachi/Bogdan, but I don't know if they are proven enough commodities to other teams to move up like that. So, even as a fan I'd say either one. Moving up in a draft like this could cost

Let's say the draft goes as follows:

Fultz, Ball, Jackson, Fox, Tatum, Isaac

At that point the T-Wolves are on the clock and directly after them are two point guard needing teams. Currently available are Smith, Ntilikina and Monk. Potentially all three could be gone if we don't trade up. So if the T-Wolves were willing to swap picks and they wanted Malachi or Bogdanovic as part of the deal, then yes I would do that deal without hesitation because we could walk away from the draft with two potential key pieces.

Disclaimer: I may have my facts wrong.

Correct me if I am wrong but, trading for POR pick/s and using them to move up would be difficult. I was under the assumption draft day trades, your not actually trading the pick. Your trading who you select there. So we would be trying to make a trade to POR to get them to select players that a team with say pick 6-9 want.

That is a lot of wheeling and dealing in a very short time frame. Again, if I am wrong all the better.

Or we can keep our youth and draft best player available at 10. Trading off young guys before we know how good they can be and banking on us nailing the rookie pick is just way to risky of a move. It potentially could backfire in a bad way. It would be great to land a PG in this draft but if we come away with 2 high level players that we can add to the roster, that is the most important thing. Ideally these 2 players fill PG and SF but they might not. Now with the pick at 5, it's almost guaranteed that we are going to fill one of these spots. That is a damn good draft by itself. We shouldn't be subtracting from our talent base but adding to it.

Definitely. Richardson has a (1) good jab step to create separation, and (2) strong enough to finish through contact. There's two skills right there Ben did not have (or develop) over four arduous years.

Plus Vlade doesn't use the phone and he's not very quick on his feet so I can't see him running door to door in time. Might have a shot at it if Bobby Jackson was our GM.

First, how do you know that Vlade isn't quick on his feet. Second, how do you know that it's Vlade manning the phone? It could be our new vice president of operations. Who is used to doing just that. Third, for the most part, trade day deals are already in place in the event certain things happen. Most teams have a plan A, a plan B, a plan C, and so on. At some point, I get just a little fed up with your crap of trying to paint Vlade as an idiot. As a matter of fact, you just earned your way onto my ignore list.

@ESP47

I have been under the impression Perry will be handling the majority of the GM duties. That is why he was hired after all.

@bajaden

I know verbal deals could be in place ahead of time and that contingency plans would be in place. Was just wondering about how a hypothetical trade to get extra picks and then packaging those with say our 10th to move into 6-9 would unfold.

I agree that we shouldn't sacrifice talent when we don't know what we've got. Perhaps Malachi or Bogdanovic can displace Buddy if they are given an opportunity to do so and take that opportunity. At that point maybe they go on to become an all star or a borderline all star. Had we traded them away and they did that elsewhere then we would be pretty angry with ourselves for that. However, in this instance we would be trading the 2nd or 3rd name on our depth chart, but that's working on the basis that Afflalo and Temple do not log minutes at SG, we don't bring back McLemore, or draft another SG. If any of those vets log minutes at SG, Malachi and Bogdanovic's minutes could be limited. Now I would have them as my 2nd and 3rd SGs, but that's not to say our coach will.

I also agree that we can get a good talent at ten. However, if that talent is someone like Zach Collins, he would be the fourth center on our depth chart unless Koufos, Papa or Willie are traded. It is possible Markkanen might be there at ten, a decent move, but for the most part the players selected in the late lottery are bigs. So we will either add another big that might struggle to log minutes, or we will reach for a player in a position of need. If that occurs that might not such a great scenario.

The thing to consider here is that if we pass on the opportunity to draft a potential cornerstone and they go on to have a successful career, and we only end up with a big for our depth chart because we decide not to part with our second or third SG to move up for that cornerstone, then we would kick ourselves for passing on that opportunity.

Is there risk attached to trading up? Of course there is. That player might be a bust, the talent we pass on at ten might be a star, and the talent we trade away might become a star. But if we stay put and draft an average player, and Malachi and Bogdanovic become nothing more than an average player, while the player we passed trading up for becomes a star, then we'll kick ourselves. The risk goes both ways, sometimes you need to gamble and in all honesty I'd rather gamble on getting another potential starter and sacrificing a rotational SG prospect.

Wow, lighten up it was just a joke. He's a massive 7 feet tall and we heard the reports that he doesn't like to talk on the phone.

I'm genuinely confused with the last part of your post. You must have me confused with someone else? I've rarely said anything bad about Vlade except for when the Cousins trade happened. Other than that I've been one of his biggest supporters. Oh well.

You did nothing wrong.....apparently we all must adopt the "we're headed in the right direction" mentality.