Top 10 Draft Picks in Sacramento Kings History

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Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

#8

Kevin Martin – Carl Landry – Marcus Thornton – Reggie Evans

Kevin “K-Mart” Martin was drafted with the 26th pick in the 2004 NBA draft out of Western Carolina University. The shooting guard with the odd shot mechanics played 6.5 seasons for the Kings, bridging the Rick Adelman era and the (insert name here) coaching eras.

Martin did not play significant minutes in his rookie season or in the beginning of his 2nd season until he was thrust into the starting lineup after an injury to Bonzi Wells. He played brilliantly as a starter and continued starting upon Bonzi’s return.

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Martin became known for drawing contact with his defender while driving into the paint and draining  his shot with a quick flip of his wrist. He finished 6th in the league in point-per-game in 2007-08 (23.7) and 7th in 2008-09 (24.6).

Martin, however, was injury prone. In his last 2.5 seasons on the Kings, he was only able to play in 61 percent of the games due to injuries. In 2010, Martin was traded to Houston in a deal where the team acquired Carl Landry.

Season Tm Pos G MP FG% 3P% 2P% FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
2004-05 SAC PG 45 10.1 .385 .200 .435 .655 0.6 0.6 1.3 0.5 0.4 0.1 0.5 0.8 2.9
2005-06 SAC SG 72 26.6 .480 .369 .534 .847 0.8 2.8 3.6 1.3 0.8 0.1 1.1 1.9 10.8
2006-07 SAC SG 80 35.2 .473 .381 .515 .844 0.9 3.4 4.3 2.2 1.2 0.1 1.7 2.3 20.2
2007-08 SAC SG 61 36.3 .456 .402 .478 .869 0.8 3.7 4.5 2.1 1.0 0.1 2.1 2.5 23.7
2008-09 SAC SG 51 38.2 .420 .415 .423 .867 0.6 3.0 3.6 2.7 1.2 0.2 2.9 2.3 24.6
2009-10 SAC SG 22 35.2 .398 .355 .419 .819 0.9 3.4 4.3 2.6 1.0 0.2 1.6 2.3 19.8
6 seasons SAC 331 30.6 .449 .386 .478 .850 0.8 2.9 3.7 1.9 1.0 0.1 1.7 2.0 17.1

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Carl Landry went on to put up the best numbers of his career for the rest of the 2009-10 season. However, he struggled to find consistency the following season while battling Jason Thompson for a starting role and was traded to the Hornets in 2011 for Marcus Thornton.

Season Tm Pos G MP FG% 3P% 2P% FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
2009-10 SAC PF 28 37.6 .520 .333 .521 .741 2.4 4.1 6.5 0.9 1.0 0.6 1.8 3.1 18.0
2010-11 SAC PF 53 26.5 .492 .000 .495 .721 2.4 2.4 4.8 0.9 0.6 0.4 1.5 2.4 11.9
2 seasons SAC 81 30.4 .504 .167 .506 .729 2.4 3.0 5.4 0.9 0.7 0.5 1.6 2.6 14.0

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Like Landry before him, Marcus Thornton got off to a stellar start with the Kings while playing the best basketball of his career. Thornton was a streaky shooter but when he was hot, he could dazzle from long range.

However, after a solid 2.5 seasons on the Kings, Thornton began to struggle even more with his shooting consistency and was eventually traded in 2014 in a salary dump move for Reggie Evans (and Jason Terry, who never suited up for the Kings.)

Season Tm Pos G MP FG% 3P% 2P% FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
2010-11 SAC SG 27 38.1 .450 .361 .491 .805 1.3 3.4 4.7 3.4 1.7 0.2 2.1 2.2 21.3
2011-12 SAC SG 51 34.9 .438 .345 .497 .865 1.6 2.0 3.7 1.9 1.4 0.2 1.6 2.2 18.7
2012-13 SAC SG 72 24.0 .429 .372 .484 .881 0.7 1.8 2.5 1.3 0.8 0.1 0.9 1.5 12.7
2013-14 SAC SG 46 24.4 .381 .318 .438 .808 0.8 1.8 2.7 1.0 0.7 0.2 0.8 1.6 8.3
4 seasons SAC 196 28.9 .429 .353 .484 .847 1.1 2.1 3.2 1.7 1.1 0.1 1.3 1.8 14.4

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

Reggie Evans proved to be every bit the rebounder he has been throughout his NBA career averaging 13.8 rebounds per 36 minutes during his season and a half on the Kings. After his contract expired this past offseason, he was not re-signed.

Season Tm Pos G MP FG% 3P% 2P% FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
2013-14 SAC PF 24 20.8 .527 .527 .569 2.6 5.1 7.7 0.7 1.0 0.0 1.3 2.7 5.5
2014-15 SAC PF 47 16.3 .423 .000 .430 .619 2.1 4.3 6.4 0.7 0.5 0.1 1.0 1.9 3.7
2 seasons SAC 71 17.8 .465 .000 .469 .599 2.2 4.6 6.8 0.7 0.6 0.1 1.1 2.2 4.4

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Kevin Martin, Carl Landry, Marcus Thornton, and Reggie Evans’ Combined Statistical Totals

G MP 2PM 3PM FTM ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
679 19504 3285 818 2213 814 1936 2750 1068 626 112 1005 1390 9929

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