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Sacramento Kings make moves to get better
By Joe Cronin June 24, 2010 |
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The Sacramento Kings used the fifth pick of the first round of the NBA Draft to select the best big man in the country that was available. He is DeMarcus Cousins of the University of Kentucky. He is 6-11, 270 pounds from Mobile, Alabama. He played only his freshman year for the Wildcats, averaging 15.1 points a game, but pulling down 374 rebounds, 9.9 a game. Clearly, he can mix it up. As with many very young players (he's just twenty years old) his reputation is for not playing every play. "I'm coming into become a physical presence. I have a chip on my shoulder. I have talent. I have room to improve. I want to be the best." Here is the word on him: 'Difficult for opponents to match up with. Long, strong and can jump. Excellent scorer around basket. A dominant rebounder, especially offensively. Very good shot blocker. Plays with toughness.' I guess that means he is the real thing. In the second round, with the 33rd pick, the Kings took another center, Hassan Whiteside, from Marshall, Scouts had him number 15 this year, so the Kings got a bargain. Amd, of course, a week ago the Kings traded for Samuel Dalembert. The Kings sent Spencer Hawes and Andres Nocioni to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Kings gave up on Hawes after three seasons. They dumped Nocioni because his contract is too large. No doubt the Kings upgraded the '5' position with three real good players. Now to get the Kings to play well together to make it pay off. The Golden State Warriors selected Ekpe Udoh, a good rebounding forward from Baylor, who can also play defense. You will recall the Warriors recently dumping Corey Maggette, and his huge contract. A bad thing NBA General Managers do is to over pay players, then look foolish when they have to get rid of them. |
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