Sacramento Kings Report Card: Georgios Papagiannis

By Tyler Watts | Apr 17, 2017

Mar 29, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings center Georgios Papagiannis (13) dribbles the ball against Utah Jazz center Jeff Withey (24) during the fourth quarter at Golden 1 Center. The Jazz defeated the Kings 112-82. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports /

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Mar 29, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; Utah Jazz center Boris Diaw (33) drives to the basket around Sacramento Kings center Georgios Papagiannis (13) during the fourth quarter at Golden 1 Center. The Jazz defeated the Kings 112-82. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports /

DEFENSE: Grade- C+

Georgios Papagiannis produced on the defensive end of the floor in his limited minutes. For the season, he grabbed 3.9 rebounds per game with 0.8 blocks and 2.0 personal fouls in his 22 games. Papagiannis showed flashes of being a quality rim protector.

The advanced metrics were sold on Papagiannis’ defense as a rookie. He earned a positive 0.8 defensive box score plus/minus. That dwarfed his negative 3.5 offensive box score plus/minus. He, also, earned positive 0.3 defensive win shares.

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Big George’s defensive is limited in the modern NBA at this time. He cannot guard stretch fives and that will probably always limit him against certain opponents.

Overall, Papagiannis showed positive signs on the defensive end and has room to grow into a solid NBA defender and rim protector.

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