Aykis Report - Kings Pre-Draft Workout June 8th

I attended the Sacramento Kings Pre-Draft Workout today and it definitely was an intriguing one.  All 5 of the prospects worked out are projected as PFs or Cs in the NBA.  They included Cole Aldrich, Daniel Orton, Ryan Richards, Hassan Whiteside, and Ekpe Udoh.  Patrick Patterson was scheduled but was not present.  No reason has been given as to why yet.

The workout took place at the practice facility.  Approximately ten minutes of the actual workout was viewable by the media.  During this time, the players played 2 on 2, with one player rotating out.  I'm assuming it would have been 3 on 3 if Patterson were there.  The first part was merely a halfcourt setting, and then they ended with a full court 2 on 2.  I will have video of the workout up later, as well as interviews with the players (the Interviews I might link to from Kingsflix, since they essentially got the same thing I did).

After the jump, my thoughts on each player from what I saw and heard, as well as videos that I will put up later.  If you don't see any videos now, don't worry, they'll be up tonight or tomorrow morning for sure.

UPDATE 1: Part 1 of the Workout Footage is up.  Part 2 is a lot longer and will take some time to upload.  We were in the media room behind glass, so there is a little glare, and I apologize for the quality, I lost a lot of it going from my Flip Cam to Sony Vegas and then to YouTube.  

UPDATE 2: I have received an e-mail from the Kings media team that the players agents did not want anybody filming the raw workout footage.  Originally, the media wasn't even to be allowed to watch the actual workout until that was changed last night.  So since I don't want to ruin mine or this blog's relationship with the Kings organization, I'm going to have to pull the actual Workout Footage off the website.  I'm sorry.  

Offensively, Ekpe Udoh was probably the most polished, although Ryan Richards showed some polish on that end as well.  This wasn't surprising to me as most of the other players are mainly defensive players.  Udoh also ran the floor very well.  This prompted me to ask him if he thought his skillset would allow him to play more effectively in an up-tempo system.  He said that he thought he'd play well in any system.  He showed a nice touch on his shot.  He said that his defense was his strength and that he could make an impact on that end more immediately.  I also asked him how his transfer to Baylor affected his game and he responded that the year off allowed to him to work on other aspects of his game.

Daniel Orton showed a nice release on his shot and had a couple nice defensive moments, but looked a bit slow, even once prompting Coach Westphal to tell him to hurry up.  He himself admitted that it wasn't one of his best days.  

Hassan Whiteside was by far the most impressive to me though.  You can tell he is a raw prospect in many ways, but this guy has a knack for blocking shots.  He swatted several shots in the mere 10 minutes we saw, including a very nice rundown.  Whiteside also showed nice range and touch on his jumper.  I asked him what he needed to work on the most when he reached the NBA, and he truthfully said "everything".  He did point out getting stronger as a specific though.  He seemed like a very humble guy as well, with a good attitude as well.

Cole Aldrich is strong.  I don't think I saw anyone really back him down in the post.  His offense was a little shaky, but that's to be expected.  He's not going to get pushed around at this level, thats for sure.  He seemed really happy about getting to play with other big guys and enjoyed the physicality.

Ryan Richards seems like a nice guy with a Channing Frye type of game.  He's got a nice range on his jumper (didn't see him attempt any 3s but I think he could hit them) and he's pretty quick.  He's also long, but not very strong.  

Again, I'll have more up later.  It was a fun experience and I'll try to hit up other workouts as well.