In Petrie We Trust?

Today was a busy day for the Sacramento Kings (well yesterday, as I finish this posting) as they came into the draft with three of the top 31 picks and scouted and or met with pretty much every player that they could, except one Blake Griffin. The dust hasn’t even cleared yet on a busy draft day in which several trades took place and the Kings franchise will receive an influx of new talent. Let’s get right to it and tell you what went down.

The Kings opened up the day with the number four pick, the number 23 pick from the Houston Rockets via the Ron Artest trade, and the 31st overall pick to start the second round. They got right down to business and dealt the rights to the 31st pick, which would become Jeff Pendergraph to the Trailblazers, for Sergio Rodriguez, cash considerations, and the 38th choice where the Kings received the rights to Jon Brockman. After securing the rights to a backup point guard in Sergio Rodriguez, the Kings were then free to gamble on the best athlete available in Tyreke Evans and they landed their guy. The fact that they were faced with the choice of taking Evans or Rubio and chose Evans was a clear indication that he was their choice from the very beginning and the player that they wanted. After securing their top choice at the four spot, the Kings opted for their international player (much later than expected) in Omri Casspi from Israel. Casspi is a 6-8 small forward that played with Maccabi Tel Aviv last season will be the first Israeli player in the NBA.

So, with those picks in the books, the speculation on the passing of Rubio and the second guessing has already begun. This is where Kings fans have to ask themselves how much they trust Geoff Petrie and his skills on evaluating talent. If Tyreke never grasps the point guard position and is a classic combo or a shooting guard and Rubio blossoms into the true point guard that many see him becoming in the future, many Kings fans will be left wondering why they chose to pass on the much hyped Spaniard. This is where I have to say that I think Petrie made the right choice. Only time will tell, but there were a lot of complicating factors in the selection of Rubio and he also represented a huge gamble, as the Timberwolves are about to find out. He may return to Spain if he doesn’t like his contract situation and his prospects as a member of Timberwolves. There are already rumblings that a deal to the Knicks may be imminent. Those were only part of the issues surrounding the selection of Rubio as his game has been called soft by some and with his age and size, he may be 2-3 years away from being an impact player. That was time that the Kings could not afford.

Newest King Tyreke Evans

So, while Rubio gets all the hype and the press, let’s discuss the newest King and what he brings to the table. The Kings liked Tyreke Evans from the beginning as their choice and likely would have taken him at number two had that been their pick according to Coach Westphal in an interview on KHTK this evening. The only concern was that Oklahoma City would deal the third pick to move down and another team could have moved in front of Sacramento and taken Evans. The Kings were ecstatic about him dropping to them at four. At that spot, he was the best athlete on the board and filled their position of need at point guard. According to Westphal, there is no question that the Kings plan on playing him at the one and see him as an eventual NBA point guard. So, the Kings drafted the best athlete in their view, filled a position of need, and also got a lot tougher with that selection. Getting tougher for this team is a must as one major problem last season was how much opposing teams man-handled the Kings backcourt as Kevin Martin lacks bulk at the two and Beno Udrih’s defense is charmin soft. Well, Tyreke isn’t going to be pushed around in the post in the final minutes by opposing point guards or get lit up on a nightly basis. He has an NBA ready body and great lateral quickness and the Kings were impressed with his ability to guard smaller guys and muscle up bigger guards in the workouts that they put him through. In a conference that features Deron Williams and Chris Paul, the ability to at least slow those guys down will be a huge plus and was yet another area where scouts questioned Rubio’s game.

Aside from being a prospect that is close to NBA ready physically, Evans also profiles as a guy that is going to be a solid scoring threat on a nightly basis. He averaged 17.1 points per game in 29 minutes per game in his freshman season at Memphis. One area where he will flourish is his ability to get to the free-throw line as he averaged 5.2 attempts per game and this was yet another area where he impressed the Kings as they scouted him. He has been called a hard worker an leader by his coaches and teammates and a player that will give maximum effort on a nightly basis. 

Now, the downside: Evans is profiled as a classic tweener, between a point guard and a shooting guard, by most scouts and the Kings really need a pure point guard. He was moved to the point part way through his freshman year and did well in the role, but has a reputation for being out of control at times and not knowing his limitations. Those limitations include a poor assist/TO ratio, he averaged 3.9 assists and 3.6 turnovers per game last season, and at times poor shot selection. He is also a ball dominant guard that needs the ball in his hands often and that can make an offense stagnant. He was a freshman though and improved as the season went on. As long as he works on those deficiencies and if he is as athletic and works as hard as people are reporting, he should be able to overcome these issues.

So, while the media continues to fawn over Ricky Rubio and Kings fans second guess the selection, you have to ask yourself, do we trust Geoff Petrie?  I think with his track record of evaluating talent and finding gems in hidden places, I think he has earned that.  This was the first time the Kings have had a pick within the top seven since they dealt the rights to Billy Owens with the third pick for Mitch Richmond back in 1991. Petrie has hit more than he has missed in the draft with finding quality NBA players later in the draft as Kevin Martin, Hedo Turkoglu, and Gerald Wallace all came in the back half of the draft. Many people were sceptical about the Jason Thompson selection last season and it has worked out pretty well so far. If Petrie thought that Evans was the better choice after looking at every player in the draft, I trust him and I just hope he is right.  Thanks for reading and join me later this week as I break down the other players selected by the Kings and discuss their future impact with the club.