Don’t Trust The Kings To Make The Right Pick In The 2020 Draft

Given their draft history and track record, there is a good probability that the Sacramento Kings will fail to make the correct pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

The 2020 NBA Draft will be an important one for the Sacramento Kings.

The thought before the season began was that the Kings would be able to draft the best player available, or select a project prospect to groom. But after an underwhelming season in which they have seemingly taken a step back, Sacramento is now in a position to fill needs and pick someone who can be ready to contribute.

This puts a good amount of pressure on the front office. The Kings will likely be picking in the 11-13 range and so much will depend on what the teams ahead of them decide to do. Given the track record of the current front office (and prior front offices, for that matter), there is a good chance that the Kings blow their first pick in 2020.

Their ineptitude to evaluate draft talent has been on full display for well over a decade, but it has come to the forefront of league conversation with the Luka Doncic / Marvin Bagley situation. The one outstanding lottery selection they have made in recent memory is the De’Aaron Fox pick, and he essentially fell in to their laps after Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Jackson were all picked first.

Weak Class, Weaker Front Office

The 2020 Draft class will be a tough one to evaluate. It is not viewed as a particularly strong crop of talent, and there is an obvious drop off after the first 3 or so picks. There likely won’t be any generational talents dropping out of the top ten for the Kings to nab, and their chances of moving up and lucking in to a top-four pick currently stand at 4.7 percent.

Another factor working against Sacramento is the fact that the upcoming draft is loaded with point guard talent, which might be the least pressing current need for the Kings. There is a possibility that up to 6 point guards are selected in the lottery this year, and there could be teams that are willing to move up if the right guy is available. The Kings will have to be prepared for movement and shakeups in the handful of selections that precede theirs, ready to make an intelligent pick backed up by solid research and scouting reports.

So what leads us to believe that the Kings front office, with many small holes to patch but not an obvious one, can make the right choice come Draft Night 2020? How much faith do we have in Vlade Divac and company at this point?

Not much, and not much.

Why should we trust someone to find a diamond in the rough when they passed on a generational talent when it was starting them in the face? We’d love to get excited for the draft process, but as Kings fans, we know to approach the early offseason with extreme caution and little optimism.

They might be able to make up for it should they stumble with their first pick. The Kings currently own three second round picks as well. The 2020 NBA Draft will be held on June 25th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.