Recapping Sacramento Kings Drafts During Playoff Drought

 

Sacramento Kings have the longest active playoff drought in the NBA, they havent made it since 2006.

A big reason why is poor drafting and poor decision making on draft night.

Here is a look back at every Kings first round draft pick from 2006-2019.

2006 – Quincy Douby (19)

Kings career – 3 years (143 games) – 4.1 ppg

Draft hindsight – Rajon Rondo was picked 21, Kyle Lowry 24

2007 – Spencer Hawes (10)

Kings career – 3 seasons (220 games, 113 starts) – 8.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg

Draft hindsight – Joakim Noah went one pick earlier and Thadeus Young was drafted two spots later

2008 – Jason Thompson (12)

Kings career – 7 seasons (541 games, 405 starts) – 9.4 ppg, 6.9 rpg

Draft hindsight – Brook Lopez was drafted two spots prior

2009 – Tyreke Evans (4), Omri Casspi (23)

Kings career – Evans – 5 seasons (271 games, 253 starts) – 17.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 4.7 apg; 2010 Rookie of the Year

Casspi – 5 seasons (306 games, 100 starts) – 9.6 ppg

Draft hindsight – James Harden went one pick before Evans and Steph Curry was picked three spots later at 7

Instead of Casspi, Kings could have had Taj Gibson or DeMarre Carroll

2010 – Demarcus Cousins (5)

Kings career – 7 seasons (470 games, 448 starts) – 21 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 1.2 bpg; 4x NBA All Star

Draft hindsight – this was absolutely the right pick

2011 – Bismack Biyombo (7)

Draft hindsight – Biyombo, picked 7th, was traded on draft night to the Hornets in a three team deal that landed 10th pick Jimmer Fredette in Sacramento. Bucks picked Jimmer, on behalf of Kings

The very next pick (11) was Klay Thompson and five picks after Jimmer (15) was Kawhi Leonard.

Jimmer played 3 seasons with the Kings, averaging just 7 ppg

2012 – Thomas Robinson (5)

Kings career – 1 season (51 games) – 4.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg; traded halfway through rookie year as part of a package for Patrick Patterson

Draft hindsight – the next four picks after Robinson went fifth – Damian Lillard, Harrison Barnes, Terrence Ross, Andre Drummond. Yikes

2013 – Ben McLemore (7)

Kings career – 5 seasons (312 games, 216 starts) – 9 ppg

Draft hindsight – the next three picks after McLemore was picked seventh – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Trey Burke, CJ McCollum. Giannis Antetokounmpo was drafted 15th.

2014 – Nik Stauskas (8)

Kings career – 1 season (73 games) – 4.4 ppg; traded after one season to 76ers, along with 2019 first round pick for cap space

Draft hindsight – Anyone would have been better. Elfrid Payton (10), Dario Saric (12), Zach LaVine (13), Gary Harris (19). Marcus Smart and Julius Randle were picked immediately before Stauskas.

2015 – Willie Cauley-Stein (5)

Kings career – 4 seasons (295 games, 199 starts) – 10.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg

Draft hindsight – Kings missed out on Karl Anthony-Towns, D’angelo Russell, and Kristaps Porzingis. The guys drafted immediately after weren’t great but the big lottery misses were Myles Turner (11) and Devin Booker (13)

2016 – Marquese Chriss (8)

Draft hindsight – Chriss was traded on draft night to the Suns for Georgios Papagiannis and Skal Labissiere.

2017 – De’Aaron Fox (5), Zack Collins (10)

Kings career – Fox – 2 seasons (154 games, 141 starts) – 14.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg; Collins was traded on draft night for Justin Jackson and Harry Giles

Draft hindsight – Fox developed in his second year. No regrets there. At 10, Kings could have had Donovan Mitchell or kept the pick since Collins has proven to be better than both Jackson and Giles (who came along nicely at end of 2019)

2018 – Marvin Bagley (2)

Kings career – 1 season (62 games, 4 starts) – 14.9 ppg, 7.6 rpg

Draft hindsight – Drafted Bagley over Luka Doncic and Trae Young