With the NBA draft coming up, we've been talking about a lot of the obvious prospects who the Kings easily could take. However, there are a few less likely but potentially good prospects the Kings could either take in the first round or get if they traded for an early second round pick. All the following profiled are from NBADraft.net.
Will Blalock
Birthdate: 9/8/83
NBA Position: Point Guard
College: Iowa State
Class: Junior
Ht: 6-0
Wt: 205
Hometown: Boston, MA
High School: Winchendon Prep
Team Site Profile
Strengths: An exciting floor general who makes those around him better ... A true PG with great handle and passing ability ... Excellent court vision, has a knack for finding the open teammate and makes the difficult pass seem easy ... Extraordinarily long arms make him very effective in a number of areas, (he's around 6 foot and has a 6-5 wingspan, if not more) He'll throw down on the break if given an opening and routinely dunks on ally oops. Rebounds well ... Great defender with quick hands ... Has very good quickness and gets great elevation ... Despite being a bit of a gunslinger passing the ball, he rarely makes many turnovers and has great ball protection ... Free throw shooting is excellent ... Has a great first step and loves to go baseline ... Great body strength ...
Weaknesses: Must gain better consistency and range on his jumpshot ... Not a great finisher around the basket, he is improved but must become better ... Must develop a more consistent 3 point shot, he can shoot it, but if he improved it would make him deadly ... Can be too unselfish at times, must develop the ability to take over offensively in crunch time ...
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Marcus Vinicius
Birthdate: 1/4/84
NBA Position: Small Forward
Ht: 6-9
Wt: 220
Int Team: San Carlos
Hometown: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Strengths: A natural born offensive player, Marcus can do anything with the ball. Has a perfect shot, shooting from the 3-pt line or the perimeter. With his size, can shoot over anyone and his long arms provide a high release point. Has all the fundaments of the game, can pass, dribble, play post-up, penetrate the boards and his ball-handling is very strong for a men of his size. Runs the floor like a 6-3 guy, with spectacular agility and he excels in the fast break situation. Already has a good leaping ability and his body hasn't fully developed so it can improve.
Weaknesses: Defense; he has a lot to learn defensively. Doesn't seem to enjoy playing defense and will have to improve his intensity and effort here. Also must gain some strength and bulk to contend with NBA players. Sometimes looks lost and has bouts of inconsistency, but his knowledge and feel for the game will improve as he gains experience. He's still learning the game but with international experience (Italian league), in three years Marcus could be a top 3 International prospect
Renaldo Balkman
Birthdate: 7/14/84
NBA Position: SF/PF
College: South Carolina
Class: Junior
Ht: 6-8
Wt: 208
Hometown: Tampa, FL
High School: Laurinburg Institute
Team Site Profile
NBA Comparison: Dennis Rodman
Strengths: Long, wiry athletic forward with great energy level ... Excellent rebounder who hits the glass hard ... His bread and butter will be defensively. Good feet, extremely long arms, quick hands. Effective thief, and has good timing for blocked shots off the ball and on smaller perimeter players … Has the versatility to guard on the perimeter and in the post: His great foot speed gives him the quickness to defend quick forwards and guards, and his wiry strength and long arms give him the ability to defend inside ... Very quick hands and feet help on both ends of the floor ... Broad shoulders and long arms give him an ideal basketball physique ... Shows great body control around the basket and the ability to absorb contact and stay balanced ... Best off the ball, screens, occasional drives when they're open, and attacking the offensive glass ... Has a unique personality ala Dennis Rodman. A free spirit with a "carefree" attitude. which can be a positive and a negative ...
Weaknesses: His biggest problem is inconsistency. There were games when he'd take over and then the next game he was no where to be found (which was HUGE in his games against Bama and then Kentucky) ... Balkman isn't a scorer, his handle is horrible. Raw offensive player, averaged under 10 ppg in his junior season ... Lacks any real range on his shot ... Very sloppy. Shot is inconsistent, he can hit from 20, but not at a good %. Needs to add around 15-20 pounds of muscle to go inside and rebound with the same effectiveness ... Turnover prone, needs to become better at protecting the ball off the dribble, and cut down on turnovers ... Shot just over 50% from the free throw line ... Has a good shooting form, he just needs repetition in practice and better focus to improve upon his free throw shooting ...
Notes: Helped lead South Carolina to the 2005-06 NIT championship ... From the Gamecocks Athletic site: People would be surprised to know this about me: I will never cut my hair again.
Thabo Sefolosha
Birthdate: 5/2/84
NBA Position: Shooting Guard
Ht: 6-6
Wt: 213
Int Team: Angelico Biella (Italy)
Hometown: Vevey, Switzerland
Team Site Profile
NBA Comparison: Reece Gaines
Strengths: Has improved considerably in the past year ... A catch and shoot guy ... His offensive game has made great strides, last year he could barely shoot, and now he appears much more confident ... The Italian team he plays for runs a wide open offense which has really helped his game ... Extremely long limbs ... Since adding 10-15 pounds in the past year, he is less afraid of playing physical ... His ball handling and passing ability are his strengths ... Really excels handling the ball ... His defense has improved, always looking for steals, and quickly turns them into fast break opportunities ... Attacks the rim well with excellent leaping ability and body control ...
Weaknesses: Last year he lacked intensity, but he has improved upon it ... Lacks a tremendous offensive feel ... Tends to use his athleticism to his advantage, maybe too much, which he wont be able to do against American players ... Still must improve his offensive game a lot ... Some have doubts about his leadership ability ... His ability to shoot off the dribble is in question ... His midrange game needs a lot of work ... Lacks range on his shot ...
Louis Amundson
Birthdate: 12/7/82
NBA Position: Small Forward
College: UNLV
Class: Senior
Ht: 6-8
Wt: 225
Hometown: Boulder, CO
High School: Monarch
Team Site Profile
NBA Comparison: Kenny Thomas
Strengths:[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Tremendous rebounder at the small forward position ... A late bloomer who has long been an extremely athletic player and has worked very hard to add offensive abilities to his game ... An energy player who gives great effort every game ... Plays within himself ... Extremely quick and explosive, plays the game with passion ... Long arms and great leaping ability ... Crashes the boards especially hard, a tenacious rebounder on both ends of the floor ... Tough to guard close to the basket ... Very good defensively with quick feet and the desire to work hard on the defensive end ... Wiry strong athlete who absorbs contact well ...
Weaknesses: Limited offensively, he has little range on his shot past 12 feet (although it has greatly improved in the past year) ... His ball handling skills are weak ... He gets most of his points in close to the basket with garbage (rebound and putback) buckets ... Lacks the strength to play power forward and is not highly skilled on the perimeter, however his foot speed makes him solid defensively ... Poor free throw shooter, but has showed some improvement ... Lacks great vision and passing ability ...
Notes: An excellent student who graduated cum laude with a bachlor's degree in university studies with a focus in English and philosophy ...
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Will Blalock
Birthdate: 9/8/83
NBA Position: Point Guard
College: Iowa State
Class: Junior
Ht: 6-0
Wt: 205
Hometown: Boston, MA
High School: Winchendon Prep
Team Site Profile
Strengths: An exciting floor general who makes those around him better ... A true PG with great handle and passing ability ... Excellent court vision, has a knack for finding the open teammate and makes the difficult pass seem easy ... Extraordinarily long arms make him very effective in a number of areas, (he's around 6 foot and has a 6-5 wingspan, if not more) He'll throw down on the break if given an opening and routinely dunks on ally oops. Rebounds well ... Great defender with quick hands ... Has very good quickness and gets great elevation ... Despite being a bit of a gunslinger passing the ball, he rarely makes many turnovers and has great ball protection ... Free throw shooting is excellent ... Has a great first step and loves to go baseline ... Great body strength ...
Weaknesses: Must gain better consistency and range on his jumpshot ... Not a great finisher around the basket, he is improved but must become better ... Must develop a more consistent 3 point shot, he can shoot it, but if he improved it would make him deadly ... Can be too unselfish at times, must develop the ability to take over offensively in crunch time ...
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Marcus Vinicius
Birthdate: 1/4/84
NBA Position: Small Forward
Ht: 6-9
Wt: 220
Int Team: San Carlos
Hometown: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Strengths: A natural born offensive player, Marcus can do anything with the ball. Has a perfect shot, shooting from the 3-pt line or the perimeter. With his size, can shoot over anyone and his long arms provide a high release point. Has all the fundaments of the game, can pass, dribble, play post-up, penetrate the boards and his ball-handling is very strong for a men of his size. Runs the floor like a 6-3 guy, with spectacular agility and he excels in the fast break situation. Already has a good leaping ability and his body hasn't fully developed so it can improve.
Weaknesses: Defense; he has a lot to learn defensively. Doesn't seem to enjoy playing defense and will have to improve his intensity and effort here. Also must gain some strength and bulk to contend with NBA players. Sometimes looks lost and has bouts of inconsistency, but his knowledge and feel for the game will improve as he gains experience. He's still learning the game but with international experience (Italian league), in three years Marcus could be a top 3 International prospect
Renaldo Balkman
Birthdate: 7/14/84
NBA Position: SF/PF
College: South Carolina
Class: Junior
Ht: 6-8
Wt: 208
Hometown: Tampa, FL
High School: Laurinburg Institute
Team Site Profile
NBA Comparison: Dennis Rodman
Strengths: Long, wiry athletic forward with great energy level ... Excellent rebounder who hits the glass hard ... His bread and butter will be defensively. Good feet, extremely long arms, quick hands. Effective thief, and has good timing for blocked shots off the ball and on smaller perimeter players … Has the versatility to guard on the perimeter and in the post: His great foot speed gives him the quickness to defend quick forwards and guards, and his wiry strength and long arms give him the ability to defend inside ... Very quick hands and feet help on both ends of the floor ... Broad shoulders and long arms give him an ideal basketball physique ... Shows great body control around the basket and the ability to absorb contact and stay balanced ... Best off the ball, screens, occasional drives when they're open, and attacking the offensive glass ... Has a unique personality ala Dennis Rodman. A free spirit with a "carefree" attitude. which can be a positive and a negative ...
Weaknesses: His biggest problem is inconsistency. There were games when he'd take over and then the next game he was no where to be found (which was HUGE in his games against Bama and then Kentucky) ... Balkman isn't a scorer, his handle is horrible. Raw offensive player, averaged under 10 ppg in his junior season ... Lacks any real range on his shot ... Very sloppy. Shot is inconsistent, he can hit from 20, but not at a good %. Needs to add around 15-20 pounds of muscle to go inside and rebound with the same effectiveness ... Turnover prone, needs to become better at protecting the ball off the dribble, and cut down on turnovers ... Shot just over 50% from the free throw line ... Has a good shooting form, he just needs repetition in practice and better focus to improve upon his free throw shooting ...
Notes: Helped lead South Carolina to the 2005-06 NIT championship ... From the Gamecocks Athletic site: People would be surprised to know this about me: I will never cut my hair again.
Thabo Sefolosha
Birthdate: 5/2/84
NBA Position: Shooting Guard
Ht: 6-6
Wt: 213
Int Team: Angelico Biella (Italy)
Hometown: Vevey, Switzerland
Team Site Profile
NBA Comparison: Reece Gaines
Strengths: Has improved considerably in the past year ... A catch and shoot guy ... His offensive game has made great strides, last year he could barely shoot, and now he appears much more confident ... The Italian team he plays for runs a wide open offense which has really helped his game ... Extremely long limbs ... Since adding 10-15 pounds in the past year, he is less afraid of playing physical ... His ball handling and passing ability are his strengths ... Really excels handling the ball ... His defense has improved, always looking for steals, and quickly turns them into fast break opportunities ... Attacks the rim well with excellent leaping ability and body control ...
Weaknesses: Last year he lacked intensity, but he has improved upon it ... Lacks a tremendous offensive feel ... Tends to use his athleticism to his advantage, maybe too much, which he wont be able to do against American players ... Still must improve his offensive game a lot ... Some have doubts about his leadership ability ... His ability to shoot off the dribble is in question ... His midrange game needs a lot of work ... Lacks range on his shot ...
Louis Amundson
Birthdate: 12/7/82
NBA Position: Small Forward
College: UNLV
Class: Senior
Ht: 6-8
Wt: 225
Hometown: Boulder, CO
High School: Monarch
Team Site Profile
NBA Comparison: Kenny Thomas
Strengths:[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Tremendous rebounder at the small forward position ... A late bloomer who has long been an extremely athletic player and has worked very hard to add offensive abilities to his game ... An energy player who gives great effort every game ... Plays within himself ... Extremely quick and explosive, plays the game with passion ... Long arms and great leaping ability ... Crashes the boards especially hard, a tenacious rebounder on both ends of the floor ... Tough to guard close to the basket ... Very good defensively with quick feet and the desire to work hard on the defensive end ... Wiry strong athlete who absorbs contact well ...
Weaknesses: Limited offensively, he has little range on his shot past 12 feet (although it has greatly improved in the past year) ... His ball handling skills are weak ... He gets most of his points in close to the basket with garbage (rebound and putback) buckets ... Lacks the strength to play power forward and is not highly skilled on the perimeter, however his foot speed makes him solid defensively ... Poor free throw shooter, but has showed some improvement ... Lacks great vision and passing ability ...
Notes: An excellent student who graduated cum laude with a bachlor's degree in university studies with a focus in English and philosophy ...
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