(Ignore the time stamp: this was published by rbiegler late Thursday night. Just needed to get it to the top of the page so everyone can read it. -- TZ)

Of the variety of differences between an NBA and NFL draft perhaps none is more glaring than the discrepancy between a quality draft being evaluated on one prospect vs. several. This isn't a particularly insightful observation but it is nonetheless a pertinent one. Tonight the Kings may have had a mediocre NBA draft but they had a fantastic NFL draft. No they didn't get Bayless, and I acknowledge that's a disappointment, I had as much of a hard on for Bayless as anyone on this blog. But the Kings drafted three things they desperately needed, depth, good character players, and need late without sacrifice. No those aren't particularly appealing from a You Tube perspective, and as a person who tends to be in tune with the financial markets there is an inherent weariness in any investment that makes you unrealistically ambitious upon purchase. As observers of those halcyon years of Webber and Divac we know the vital importance of locker room synergy, no one in this group disrupts that. Contrarily these kids only enhance it. And it's not exactly like Thompson is short shrift from a talent stand point, the fact that we weren't clued in to him to begin with (and remember, had the Kings not drafted him kid was a lock to go to Golden State at 14) does not mean that his talent is at all lacking. That Thompson wasn't necessarily a sexy pick does not, in fact, mean he won't be a good f*ck.

Petrie has never been an instant gratification G.M., he's the fruit salad in a McFlurry world. That his picks tonight don't incite us to immediately go out, get drunk, and create fanciful futures for our franchise does not mean that those futures aren't a possibility. A solid, pundit favorite point guard, a Princeton educated forward who was an invaluable cog in a Final Four team, College Basketball's second leading double double gatherer are not the ingredients for a Draft Night wet dream, no. But wet dreams are nothing more than messy, unrequited fantasies anyway. Genuine fulfillment comes with patience and practice. Let's all just chill the fuck out.