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How The Sacramento Kings Turned Jon Brockman In To A Future MVP Candidate

By Anthony Cardenas

SACRAMENTO, CA - NOVEMBER 25: Jordan Hill #43 of the New York Knicks fights for a rebound with Jon Brockman #40 of the Sacramento Kings on November 25, 2009 at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images) NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.
SACRAMENTO, CA - NOVEMBER 25: Jordan Hill #43 of the New York Knicks fights for a rebound with Jon Brockman #40 of the Sacramento Kings on November 25, 2009 at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images) NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. /
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Jon Brockman was a fan favorite during his short time with the Sacramento Kings, but they traded him for what would become a future MVP candidate.

Jon Brockman is one of those players that will always have a place in the hearts of Sacramento Kings fans. He spent one memorable season with the Kings in 2009-’10, and was affectionately given the nickname Brock Ness Monster due to his blue collar work ethic on the court.

He was the kind of player that Kings fans love; someone who will put their nose to the dirt and grind for the cause. Brockman was limited in his minutes with Sacramento, averaging just 12 minutes per game in 52 appearances during his rookie year.

But on June 21st, 2010, Brockman was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Darnell Jackson and a second round pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Jackson wrapped up his NBA career with 59 games in Sacramento, but it would be the second round pick that would be the real steal of the deal.

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Typically, second round picks are afterthoughts. They are thrown in to trades often to give the illusion of sweetening the pot, but the amount of second round picks that actually pan out is low.

We can be almost positive that the 2011 second round pick that was a part of the Brockman trade was not supposed to be the big prize for the Kings in that transaction. It was.

The pick originally belonged to Chicago. In 2010, they traded it (along with John Salmons, interestingly enough) to the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks then sent it to Sacramento in exchange for Brockman.

The Bulls finished with the best record in the NBA in 2010-’11, which meant that their 2011 draft picks would be the final picks of each round. The pick that was being conveyed to the Kings would be the last pick of the entire draft; pick #60.

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The Kings took a chance, as most teams do at the end of the second round. They selected an undersized point guard with the heart of a champion by the name of Isaiah Thomas. He would go on to be one of the top players in the NBA for a couple of seasons, and was even in the MVP conversation in his best year as a Boston Celtic.

So while the Kings didn’t know that they’d be trading a fan-favorite rookie for a future MVP candidate, they got lucky by striking gold on the Thomas pick. Unfortunately, the Kings did Kings things and let him go for practically nothing in one of the worst transactions in Sacramento history.

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