Kings Pre-draft Workouts
- Thread starter RichieInRocklin
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The basis of us drafting Hezonja is that Vlade knows his game best and definitely matches Vlade's feeling of wanting a team game rather than Eastern conference style iso ball. I could see a lineup of Collison, Ben, Hezonja, Gay, Cousins. Say what you want about that lineup defensively, the spacing, speed and athleticism would be off the charts.
Winslow isn't a one one position player. He can rotate defensively and offensively he can play off the ball or on it. He can also score in the post. Karl wants to play Gay at the 4 more so a big wing with strength like Winslow will not be just beneficial but critical if you want to have any chance on defense.
Willie is weird, some mock drafts have him in the top 5, some don't have him going until the 9-11 range. Its so weird because on one side it looks like we would be lucky if he falls to 6 and on the other end we are reaching by nabbing him at 6. Much like my view on him, to me he is just a freak athlete with no real fundamentals on how to play the game. His rebounding fundamentals are poor, which is a legit weakness if your drafting him as a Jordan, Drummond type. At the end of the day i'm going to take the better basketball player. I know everyone wants Willie, but I wouldn't be mad if we passed, at the same time I wouldn't be mad if we drafted him. My problem is he could be the next Deandre or he could be the next Javele, he is considered a "safe" pick but to me he will either be boom or bust, which is scary for a 22 year old Junior whose coming into the league with a defined role. To me Mudiaye, Winslow, Hezonja are all safer picks and all 3 have higher ceilings than Willie.
Just for the sake of keeping some discussions here, I think a Hezonja pick would make sense if Vlade and co thinks that no one at #6 no one can play starter minutes in the NBA yet throughout the season.
So he would pick a guy that would back up Rudy to start his career. That guy needs to be able to shoot because we are flat empty of SF shooter from the bench.
And if the kid realize his potential, he can run as well with a small ball quick line-up of DC, Ben, Rudy, DMC.
This move would make sense if eventually we got some good vet to rotate at PF next to DMC.
Guys like Seraphin, who could actually make a case of Speights-like role in GS.
Or a resurrected Larry Sanders.
He'll even picking Bargniani cheap could just make things work.
So he would pick a guy that would back up Rudy to start his career. That guy needs to be able to shoot because we are flat empty of SF shooter from the bench.
And if the kid realize his potential, he can run as well with a small ball quick line-up of DC, Ben, Rudy, DMC.
This move would make sense if eventually we got some good vet to rotate at PF next to DMC.
Guys like Seraphin, who could actually make a case of Speights-like role in GS.
Or a resurrected Larry Sanders.
He'll even picking Bargniani cheap could just make things work.
I think we need to get over our fear of small ball lineup. The Warriors just won the championship by starting a 6'8'' guy at center (no, I'm not comparing our team stuck in lottery with the team that just won the championship), while their primary center didn't play at all in the final game, and sparingly, as they won 3 straight.
And it wasn't just this series. They were at their most efficient with that lineup throughout the year.
While Ws are a special case, with multiple good defenders, several teams employ small ball(ish) lineup for extensive stretches. Some of them play big, but lot of their "bigs" play away from the basket. Plus, how many SFs in Western conference are major scoring threats, or big guys that can play above Winslow? KD, Kawhi, Batum. One can probably add Parsons, Iggy/Barnes to this group, but I don't think his height will be a disadvantage against any of these guys except KD.
I think the kid has a chance to be special. In a few years, he can stay on the floor just for his defensive capabilities, while providing energy, athleticism, and decent offense. He recently won the national championship, where he was often the best player on the floor. I personally hope we pick him.
And it wasn't just this series. They were at their most efficient with that lineup throughout the year.
While Ws are a special case, with multiple good defenders, several teams employ small ball(ish) lineup for extensive stretches. Some of them play big, but lot of their "bigs" play away from the basket. Plus, how many SFs in Western conference are major scoring threats, or big guys that can play above Winslow? KD, Kawhi, Batum. One can probably add Parsons, Iggy/Barnes to this group, but I don't think his height will be a disadvantage against any of these guys except KD.
I think the kid has a chance to be special. In a few years, he can stay on the floor just for his defensive capabilities, while providing energy, athleticism, and decent offense. He recently won the national championship, where he was often the best player on the floor. I personally hope we pick him.
So, Winslow just did a workout with Detroit.
He also has visited NY (4th pick), Orlando (5th) and Denver (7th).
We did a workout with only 2 "lottery" players (WCS and Payne).
Thus I think we're going to draft WCS (if he's available) or trade down to pick Payne (around 10-13th pick?), even if I do love Justise..
He also has visited NY (4th pick), Orlando (5th) and Denver (7th).
We did a workout with only 2 "lottery" players (WCS and Payne).
Thus I think we're going to draft WCS (if he's available) or trade down to pick Payne (around 10-13th pick?), even if I do love Justise..
Hezonja is an average passer at best. And that lineup will be very bad defensively for a while.
Winslow has the body and can learn to score in theory, but he doesn't have developed post game just like Stanimal.
80% of college PFs would be SFs in the NBA. And Winslow defends well whatever is in front of his teammates - he routinely dropped his man and just roamed around the paint looking to help. That might have been the plan, but given multiple attempts to dart back to his man, who mysteriously to him turned up on the arc on the other side of the floor, I would guess, it wasn't always the case.
Winslow has the body and can learn to score in theory, but he doesn't have developed post game just like Stanimal.
80% of college PFs would be SFs in the NBA. And Winslow defends well whatever is in front of his teammates - he routinely dropped his man and just roamed around the paint looking to help. That might have been the plan, but given multiple attempts to dart back to his man, who mysteriously to him turned up on the arc on the other side of the floor, I would guess, it wasn't always the case.
Workouts should really be like 1 or 2% of why we pick a player. It's nice to be able to see a player up close, but I would hope we're making decisions based on game-tape and where we project guys to be in 5 years as players.
Basically, if we're taking a guy because he looked good posting up or beating a chair off the dribble, then we're in a lot more trouble than we initially thought.
Basically, if we're taking a guy because he looked good posting up or beating a chair off the dribble, then we're in a lot more trouble than we initially thought.
It's not so bleak as all that.
1. Towns (not working out for anybody)
2. Okafor (won't be there at 6)
3. Russell (very unlikely to be there at 6)
4. Mudiay (agent won't let him work out below #4, we'll see if that softens)
5. Porzingis (we saw the group workout, which is the only one he's doing)
6. Cauley-Stein
7. Hezonja (can't work out, team still playing)
8. Winslow
9. Johnson
10? Kaminsky (reported to be coming in)
10? Payne
So for 6 of what is probably the top-11, we've either seen them, or seen exactly as much as anybody else. Two of the others almost certainly aren't going to fall to us so there's not that much point. We might yet get Mudiay to come in if his agent softens his stance, and it's possible that we've got Winslow and Johnson scheduled, considering how tight-lipped our front office has been about draft workouts this year (we only found out about Kaminsky because HE told a reporter that he had us scheduled at somebody else's workout). The draft is in 8 days, let's see who else comes in.
1. Towns (not working out for anybody)
2. Okafor (won't be there at 6)
3. Russell (very unlikely to be there at 6)
4. Mudiay (agent won't let him work out below #4, we'll see if that softens)
5. Porzingis (we saw the group workout, which is the only one he's doing)
6. Cauley-Stein
7. Hezonja (can't work out, team still playing)
8. Winslow
9. Johnson
10? Kaminsky (reported to be coming in)
10? Payne
So for 6 of what is probably the top-11, we've either seen them, or seen exactly as much as anybody else. Two of the others almost certainly aren't going to fall to us so there's not that much point. We might yet get Mudiay to come in if his agent softens his stance, and it's possible that we've got Winslow and Johnson scheduled, considering how tight-lipped our front office has been about draft workouts this year (we only found out about Kaminsky because HE told a reporter that he had us scheduled at somebody else's workout). The draft is in 8 days, let's see who else comes in.
Its tough anymore with all these guys so young/so few having faced competition. Kaminsky or WCS, sure. You have enough tape. But you've got multiple young guys playing in Europe with limited minutes/roles. You've got a small school kid. You've got a high school kid with something like 9 games in the Chinese league...I mean tape alone in those situations is going to be dicey just based on competition.
Agree with all of this, but you have to trust your scouting to do its job. I already know Mudiay is a dynamite athlete; I don't need to bring him in to show me.
The WCS workout video is another great example. Watching him shoot open jumpers and struggle to post up Corliss isn't information I need to see nor do I want to see. Every reason you draft WCS, he can't show in a workout.
The WCS workout video is another great example. Watching him shoot open jumpers and struggle to post up Corliss isn't information I need to see nor do I want to see. Every reason you draft WCS, he can't show in a workout.