The Sacramento Kings have had some recent draft success with Keegan Murray in 2022, Davion Mitchell in 2021, and Tyrese Haliburton in 2020. This has been a good change after some unlucky drafts for Sacramento in the past decade or so. Looking toward the 2023 NBA Draft in less than a week, the Kings can hope for the same luck and try to strike gold with the 24th overall pick and two second-rounders.
Everyone always remembers the draft steals and good picks, but what happens when the Kings completely fail? We can look back at All-Rookie First Team members Keegan Murray and Tyrese Haliburton or even 2010 NBA Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans, but instead, we will look back at the times the Sacramento Kings came out of the draft as losers, at least in hindsight.
Spoiler alert: The Kings struggled in the draft from 2012 to 2014.
Here are the three biggest Sacramento Kings draft fails of the last 15 years:
Honorable Mention: 2018 – Marvin Bagley III, Pick 2
The 2018 NBA Draft is one of the best in recent memory, and the Sacramento Kings got the short end of the stick. The 2nd overall pick was the highest the Kings selected since 1989 when they had the 1st overall pick. Marvin Bagley III was a top prospect coming out of Duke University and could have gone 1st overall ahead of Deandre Ayton, so this was still a good selection.
The biggest problem with this pick is the players drafted after him. The next three picks, in order, were Luka Doncic, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Trae Young. Doncic, who is on a career path toward the Hall of Fame, Jackson Jr., who is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, and Trae Young, who is a two-time All-Star and 2022 All-NBA selection. Two more notable guards from this draft class are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, drafted 11th overall, and Jalen Brunson, drafted 33rd overall.
Marvin Bagley III achieved All-Rookie First Team honors in the 2018-19 season, but his career has not panned out since then. Due to injuries, Bagley played just 13 games the following season and has still not played over 50 games in a season since his rookie year.
Bagley was a great prospect and is still a good player with potential, but he got unlucky with injuries. He has averaged 13.3 points and 7.2 rebounds in his career and is looking to revive his game on the Detroit Pistons.
3. 2013 – Ben McLemore, Pick 7
Ben McLemore was a highly regarded prospect who played one season at the University of Kansas before declaring for the draft. The talented shooting guard had potential, as he was an impressive scorer with high-end athleticism. In his redshirt freshman season, McLemore averaged 15.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game with 49/42/87 shooting splits.
Since Ben McLemore was such a good prospect, it made sense to draft him 7th overall. He was regarded as the “safest bet in the draft” due to his high floor and ceiling coming into the league.
McLemore was just like most rookies; inefficient but showed promise. On a struggling Sacramento squad, he was given all the opportunity in the world to showcase his offensive skillset, but year after year, he failed to make the jump to the next level. McLemore spent his first four seasons in Sacramento before leaving for the Memphis Grizzlies. Then, McLemore made a shocking return to the Kings when they traded to get him back one year after he left. Let’s say his return was not some spectacular homecoming.
Some names that Sacramento passed on to draft the talented guard are CJ McCollum at 10th overall, Steven Adams at 12th overall, Giannis Antetokounmpo at 15th overall, and Rudy Gobert at 27th overall. The best-case scenario for the Kings would have been to draft Giannis, but at 7th overall, that would have been a stretch.
At the time, Ben McLemore was a great pick, but unfortunately, his career did not pan out as we might have hoped.
2. 2014 – Nik Stauskas, Pick 8
Nik Stauskas, out of the University of Michigan, was one of the best NCAA players in the country entering the draft. It is safe to say his game did not translate to the NBA. Averaging just 4.4 points his rookie year, Stauskas got dealt to the Philadelphia 76ers the following offseason. Stauskas was likely the best shooting prospect in this class, as he was impressively efficient in college with 47/44/82 shooting splits his Sophomore season.
This was not a good pick for the Kings, mainly due to him only playing one season in Sacramento and then getting traded away for practically nothing. His numbers improved in Philadelphia, where he became a near double-digit scorer while showing off his jump shot.
The 2014 draft class was top-heavy, and Sacramento did not pass on that many talented prospects. Some notable names the Kings passed on are Zach Lavine at 13th overall, Jusuf Nurkic at 16th overall, Jerami Grant at 39th overall, and the steal of the draft, Nikola Jokic, drafted 41st overall. While it was unrealistic to draft Nikola Jokic with the 8th overall pick, hindsight is a powerful weapon.
Even though Stauskas spent two years contributing to a 76ers squad, he never found the right spot in his career and eventually found his way out of the NBA.
1. 2012 – Thomas Robinson, Pick 5
After a breakout Junior year at the University of Kansas, Thomas Robinson’s draft stock skyrocketed. A 6’10” power forward with a 7’1″ wingspan, Robinson possessed the physical traits to be a top-five selection. Averaging 17.7 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, Robinson was a beast heading into the draft.
Robinson’s offensive tools did not translate to the NBA, as most of his points came from being a strong force in the paint in college. His rebounding ability was undoubtedly the most impressive part of his game. His athleticism at that size explains why he was a top-five worthy pick in the draft, but there were too many question marks around his offensive tools and defensive consistency to take a chance on him.
The Kings were trying to find their franchise frontcourt, pairing Robinson next to Demarcus Cousins, but he did not pan out as they would have hoped. Robinson only played 51 games for Sacramento, averaging 4.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, before getting traded to the Houston Rockets at the trade deadline in exchange for Patrick Patterson.
Besides failing to play a whole season in Sacramento, this was a draft failure because of the players the Kings passed on. Let’s look at the next five picks from this draft: Damian Lillard, Harrison Barnes, Terrence Ross, Andre Drummond, and Austin Rivers. Granted they are not all superstar names, but they all panned out better than Thomas Robinson. Two second-round guys in this draft were Draymond Green at pick 35 and Khris Middleton at pick 39.
Thomas Robinson was a bust in a draft class where four of the top-ten picks became All-Stars. This was the most unfortunate draft moment for the Sacramento Kings in the last 15 years.
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