The Sacramento Kings have plenty of competition at the center position going into the upcoming season. How should the Kings move forward with this situation?
The Sacramento Kings have a problem at center. Now don’t panic, it’s not something terrible. It just needs some configuration.
Currently, the Kings have three real centers. Willie Cauley-Stein is the main man followed by Kosta Koufos who is the primary reserve. Then there is Georgios Papagiannis (Big Papa) who is behind both in the depth chart. I understand Skal Labissiere can be considered a center, but he’s more of a power forward, in my opinion.
With these three centers, what do you think the Kings should do? I’d start with the obvious: Georgios Papagiannis.
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Papa G
Entering his sophomore season, Papagiannis didn’t make much of an impact during his rookie year. His minutes went up after the DeMarcus Cousins trade, and that’s where we saw a better glimpse of Papa on the floor. He only secured two double-doubles last season after the trade. He showed he can be a big presence in the paint along with the ability to knock down mid-range jumpers, though.
During the 2017 NBA Summer League games, he was by far disappointing in my eyes and in the eyes of many. In the average of 22 minutes, he only averaged 5.6 points and 7.3 rebounds a game. Not so smooth.
Papagiannis appeared very sluggish most of the time and it’s evident he needs to work on his footwork along with a plethora of other fundamentals.
I’m not for trading Papagiannis, yet. But one thing I would do is send him to the NBA G-League (it’s not the D-League anymore). If Cauley-Stein and Koufos are durable throughout the season, it would allow Papagiannis a season to hone his skills and not hurt the Kings or make the fans angry. If he continues to struggle and not show any signs of improvement, then that’s when I would press the button and trade him.
With Papagiannis most likely being sent to Reno, that leaves Kosta Koufos and Willie Cauley-Stein.
WCS and 2K
Kosta Koufos will most likely be Willie’s backup, and it makes perfect sense. Cauley-Stein is the longest tenured King currently and can be a future star for the team the way he played last year. A freak offensively and a player who has improved his rebounding immensely, he can turn into the all-around center the Kings really need. However, I still want to see Cauley-Stein improve his defense and jump shot. Koufos is the veteran the Kings need at center for now, but in a few years time, he would be a reasonable piece to trade away (maybe even now), or just let him go in free agency.
Conclusion
How do you think the Kings should solve the issue at center? The ways reasoned above makes perfect sense, unless the Kings’ front office has a better plan.
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