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A redo of the Kings’ 2014, 2015 and 2016 NBA draft picks

Who could possibly go ahead of Sauce Castillo?

By Christian Rivas
2014 NBA Draft Photo by Jeyhoun Allebaugh/NBAE via Getty Images

The Sacramento Kings haven’t had the best luck in the NBA Draft over the last few years, and that’s underselling it quite a bit. Of the five first-round picks they had from 2014 to 2016, only two of them still play in the NBA: Willie Cauley-Stein and Skal Labissiere. That’s not ideal.

Luckily, the SB Nation NBA team put together a redraft where we were given an opportunity to redeem the Kings’ picks in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Here are the results.

2014

Nik Stauskas Sacramento Kings Media Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images

Original pick: Nik Stauskas

New pick: Clint Capela

If you can believe it, Nik Stauskas actually went in the first round of this draft, however, it wasn’t the No. 8 pick, where he was originally drafted by the Kings. With the No. 8 pick in this draft, we took Clint Capela.

Capela isn’t exactly a star, but the former No. 25 overall pick has made a career out of being an efficient, rim-running center that can block shots at an elite level. In the 2017-18 season, Capela ranked second in the league in total blocks. He also led the NBA in field goal percentage (65.2%) that same season.

Given how horrid the Kings’ depth behind Cousins was at the time, Capela would have been a great pick for them. He also would have given them a center for the post-Cousins era.

Top-10:

  1. Joel Embiid
  2. Nikola Jokic
  3. Marcus Smart
  4. Aaron Gordon
  5. Spencer Dinwiddie
  6. Zach LaVine
  7. Jusuf Nurkic
  8. Clint Capela
  9. Julius Randle
  10. Andrew Wiggins

2015

Sacramento Kings Draft Pick Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images

Original pick: Willie Cauley-Stein

New pick: Kelly Oubre Jr.

Hey, remember when we talked about how bad the Kings’ depth behind Cousins was? Well, they tried to address that in 2015 when they drafted Willie Cauley-Stein. While he had the physical tools to be an exciting, young and athletic shot-blocking center, he was never able to put them together, and the Kings parted ways with him after four seasons.

In our redraft, we took Kelly Oubre Jr., who, like WCS, didn’t live up to his draft hype in his first few years in the league. Unlike WCS, though, Oubre thrived in a change of scenery, and this season with the Phoenix Suns, he’s averaged a career-high 18.7 points per game on a career-high 51.7% effective field goal percentage. He’s good.

Top-10:

  1. Karl-Anthony Towns
  2. Devin Booker
  3. Kristaps Porzingis
  4. Myles Turner
  5. D’Angelo Russell
  6. Kelly Oubre
  7. Josh Richardson
  8. Montrezl Harrell
  9. Terry Rozier
  10. Justise Winslow

2016

Sacramento Kings 2016 NBA Draft Picks Press Conference Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images

Original picks: Georgios Papagiannis, Malachi Richardson, Skal Labissiere

New pick: Ivica Zubac, Bryn Forbes, Patrick McCaw

With no disrespect to the second-best “giannis” in NBA history, it would have been hard to make a worse pick than the Kings did in 2016. Papagiannis played just 38 games for the Kings in two seasons, and he only played one NBA game after that.

In Ivica Zubac, the Kings get another defensive-minded center that can play spot starters’ minutes for a good team. Zubac also has a nice, soft touch around the rim, and works to get the offensive rebound. Again, he’s not the star teams are hoping to get in the late-lottery, but he has a high floor.

Bryn Forbes seemed like a natural replacement for Marco Belinelli, who the Kings traded for the No. 22 pick in the draft that summer. Forbes shot 43.5% from behind the arc on 5.4 attempts per game during his four years in college.

Add Patrick McCaw to the mix, and you’ve basically guaranteed a spot in the NBA Finals.

The first round:

  1. Ben Simmons
  2. Brandon Ingram
  3. Jaylen Brown
  4. Pascal Siakam
  5. Jamal Murray
  6. Domantas Sabonis
  7. Buddy Hield
  8. Malcolm Brogdon
  9. Caris LaVert
  10. Dejounte Murray
  11. Malik Beasley
  12. Fred VanVleet
  13. Ivica Zubac
  14. Dorian Finney-Smith
  15. Jakob Pöltl
  16. Cheick Diallo
  17. Furkan Korkmaz
  18. Alex Caruso
  19. Taurean Prince
  20. Kris Dunn
  21. Danuel House
  22. Bryn Forbes
  23. Juan Hernangómez
  24. Yogi Ferrell
  25. Derrick Jones Jr.
  26. Jake Layman
  27. Skal Labissière
  28. Patrick McCaw
  29. Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot
  30. Marquese Chriss

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