After drafting Devin Carter with the 13th overall pick, the Sacramento Kings traded their second round pick (45th overall) to the Toronto Raptors (along with Davion Mitchell and Sasha Vezenkov) in exchange for Jalen McDaniels.
At first glance, this news may be disappointing, as many fans were likely hoping to add another promising young player in the second round. But never fear. The Kings made up for it on the undrafted market.
The Potential Steal Of The Draft
At the conclusion of the second round, the Kings added two undrafted rookies to their roster on two-way contracts – Isaac Jones and the subject of our analysis: Isaiah Crawford.
Louisiana Tech's Isaiah Crawford has agreed to a two-way NBA deal with the Kings, sources said.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 27, 2024
Almost always, undrafted rookies don't go on to have glorious NBA careers (there's usually a reason why no one picked them). But every once in a while you get an undrafted rookie who turns out to be a ringer.
Years ago, the San Antonio Spurs (while they didn't draft him) stumbled onto one of those players. Bruce Brown didn't come to San Antonio until his age-30 season, but he ended up playing a huge role as a 3-and-D wing on three Spurs championships.
(Sidebar #1: An even better example of an undrafted player who had a long and prosperous NBA career is Ben Wallace. However, he ended up being a Hall of Famer. So, I felt like that was too lofty of an expectation.)
Crawford could be that kind of role player for the Kings. First off, he's a sensational defender, measuring in at 6'6 with a 7'1 wingspan. He was in the 90th percentile in steal rate in Conference USA last year. And even more importantly for the Kings, he was in the 93rd percentile in block rate. So, he gives them the positional rim protection this team desperately needs around Domantas Sabonis.
Louisiana Tech forward Isaiah Crawford, who the Sacramento Kings just signed to a two-way deal, recorded 122 total steals/blocks in his final college season.
— Cameron Salerno (@cameronsalerno1) June 27, 2024
Here’s a glimpse of what he can bring to Sacramento: pic.twitter.com/Jae9suKEn7
Crawford isn't just some defense-only wing/forward (those players are incredibly tough to develop). He can also space the floor from the perimeter, averaging 41.4% on his 3.1 3-point attempts per game last year (Crawford hit 42% of his threes in 2022-23, too).
When I was at the 2024 NBA Draft Combine, I had one scout tell me that Crawford is similar to Robert Covington (one of the most underrated role players in the NBA in the late 2010s), just with a more refined offensive game (both with his shooting and closeout attacking). That would be the perfect outcome for a player you get on the undrafted market.
(Sidebar #2: Ironically enough, Robert Covington also went undrafted. We got to stop overlooking these guys.)
Crawford could end up being the Kings' version of what Bowen was for the Spurs in the 2000s (remember, Head Coach Mike Brown was an assistant on some of those teams). That's a good organization to follow in the footsteps of. Now, let's see if we can replicate some of their other successes.