You are right. We have to give Vlade some credit for the guys he drafted, no matter, if he let Skal slide or not.
I understand, when people are thinking of Vlade as a decent talent evaluator.
I personally tend to be a little more cautious, because frankly potential doesn't matter that much to me anymore. In the end the Kings had great potential with IT, Tyreke and DMC. They even had the chance to add more potential to that core, but blew it in epic fashion. Building a team is so much more, than having some potential. In the end nearly every guy in the NBA will show some potential, when given minutes and when you look at him through your team colored glasses.
The only thing that counts in the end is wins and losses. People were repeating that over and over again, throughout DMC's tenure in SAC. Now suddenly it's once again about potential. This is a very comfortable position for the FO to be in, because the fans have tempered their expectations to a point, where a few semi competent plays by the young guys are enough to keep the optimism alive.
Of course this mindset won't last. At some point, it will be once again more about winning basketball games. And I personally have no faith at all, that GM Vlade Divac and owner Vivek Ranadive have the know how and patience necessary to further match the expectations of the fans at that point.
I don't think they have what it takes to build a winning team. Not because they are entirely clueless when it comes to talent evaluation (even though I don't think as highly of Vlade as some people obviously do in that area), but more because of everything else required to get a team over the hump like trades, roster composition, FA, negotiating skills, public presence and the ability to sell the vision and idea of the franchise to the NBA community.