As the NBA Draft Lottery continues to creep closer and closer, more draft projections drop. While the last couple of have the Sacramento Kings picking seventh, ESPN has a better outlook for Sactown's finest. Specifically, the Kings select Darius Acuff Jr with the fifth pick overall. Not too shabby!
The 16-game losing streak the Kings rode through the back half of the season seemed to make them being the worst team in a league a foregone conclusion. They had been in 30th for quite some time, and appeared to have a death grip on last place. They were the best at being the worst.
Then, injuries benched a number of the veteran players who simply weren't finding a rhythm together, leaving the rookies and sophomores in charge. The crazy part was they started winning. Sacramento was still well below .500, but the young guns were at least chalking up more victories.
From a draft lottery perspective, that presented a problem. Winning lowered the Kings' odd of getting a top-three draft pick dramatically. The most recent FanSided mock draft has them picking Mikel Brown Jr. at seventh while SI has them in the same spot but going with Kingston Flemings.
Acuff could be the exact point guard the Kings need
While both Brown and Flemings could be excellent choices for the Kings, general manager Scott Perry has made it clear that they will take the best possible player available when their turn pops up. In this case, that would be Acuff who would be an outstanding fit for the rebuilding franchise.
Many observers have defensive reservations about Acuff, but there is also talk that he is likely the most polished and dangerous point guard in the class. The Kings need revamp a lot of the team, but they definitely need a young, confident, and talented point guard like Acuff on the roster.
The interesting part of the ESPN projections is the Kings picking fifth. Statistically, it's the least likely lottery spot for Sacramento to get at approximately 2.0%. Sacramento's highest odds are getting the seventh pick at 25.5%, which is why FanSided and SI both have the Kings there in their drafts.
Flipping this even further on it's head is the fact that Sacramento has better odds of getting one of the top four picks than the fifth. The Kings chances for one of those spots ranges from 11.0% to 11.5%. Fans will have to wait to May 10 to see how the lottery pans out for Sacramento.
Add us as a preferred source on Google