Sacramento Kings Drafted Thomas Robinson Despite Lack Of Interest?

Oct. 22, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA: Sacramento Kings forward (0)

against the Phoenix Suns during a preseason game at the US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Coming into the 2012 NBA Draft, many had Thomas Robinson as the second best available talent on the big board. Granted – a player’s promise has broken the dreams of many, so suggesting that Robinson was the second best player in the NBA Draft might be a bit much, but he was certainly viewed in many camps as just that.

Some unique situations, like Cleveland recently drafting their own big man the year prior or the Washington Wizards being enamored with Bradley Beal allowed Robinson to drop to Sacramento – something King fans were nearly universally in love with. There were the small handfuls who didn’t want anything to do with Robinson or preferred another talent like Weber State’s Damian Lillard, but for the most part, it was a perfect pairing in the eyes of many. So, when the Kings traded the former Jayhawk away just months into his NBA career – reaction across the Kingdom, across the NBA, was that of disbelief.

To even compound the confusion, the Sacramento Bee’s Ailene Voisin reported today that the Kings apparently weren’t even that interested in Robinson – at least – not when compared to other teams scouting the athletic power forward:

"Sources close to the Kansas Jayhawks insist that, in contrast to other organizations with high lottery picks, the Kings were the least inquisitive."

Nobody would ever question that the Sacramento Kings have a dysfunctional front office, but this is just insane. The stories that continue to leak out make you wonder how even something as simple as day to day operations unfolded over the past half decade.

It’s easy to Monday morning quarterback the Kings for not drafting somebody like Lillard, so I wont do that – but to draft a player who you obviously weren’t all that thrilled with and to trade him for pennies on the dollar when you could’ve scored a semi kings ransom (no pun intended) on draft night for the fifth pick in the draft?

Incompetence. Sad, honestly.