NBA Draft Lottery 2013: Sacramento Kings Possibilites
By Bryan Rose
Wait – wait, hold up. Actual basketball talk? Is that what the Kings are? A basketball team? You mean I don’t have to talk about the Sonics!??!
It’s been a while since the Kings could actually focus on basketball and oddly enough, it’s going to get even more weird – assuming the Kings stay in Sacramento. One would assume the Maloof family wont leave the Sacramento offer on the table, meaning, at some point – probably right around the draft, the Kings could have a new Sacramento based ownership and you’d assume they’d want to bring in their own front office, meaning Geoff Petrie will be a lame duck.
Give the ill-timed scenario, they may let him stick around for a while, but either way, they’re going to get their own guy. So as far as the draft goes, it couldn’t be more of a cluster. Much will depend on what the Kings plan to do with Tyreke Evans, who is a restricted free agent. If they feel they’ll be unable to retain him (or don’t desire to do so), they could look for a swingman to replace him – but their most pressing need is a small forward along with a more traditional point guard.
No offense to Isaiah Thomas, who is a wonderful talent, but the Kings need more on that front. I’m sure the Kings would love to get their hands on Otto Porter but he’ll most likely go too high. With a roster full of youth and most likely picking just out of the “elite” range, it’s quite possible you could see the Kings move the pick as the (hopeful) new ownership tries to turn around the franchise quickly using their relatively valuable pick.