Question: I've been perplexed by Petrie drafting SGs the last three drafts. Obviously the pick of Francisco and K-Mart seems to be pretty good. While I dont doubt Douby will be good, he is still a project. How come the Kings didn't grab a big man to keep as a project? Is this simply a problem with roster space, or have no big men have been available for Petrie to sign/draft and develop? Do the Kings feel its easier to just acquire bigs via free agency? Why didnt they keep Amundson or Williams to develop for the future?
-- Jeff, San Francisco
Answer: I hit the Douby question on another post (look below), so I'll focus on the question of the big man. It's pretty clear that big men aren't all that easy to find via free agency, and I'm pretty sure the Kings are on a constant search to upgrade their front line. There were big men available in the draft, although the ones of any predicted quality were essentially gone by the time Petrie's No. 19 pick came along. In general, I think Petrie just sees more upside with a guy like Douby, who could one day be a dangerous shooting specialist like he was at Rutgers. It all goes back to the basic ideology that drives the franchise, that love for acquiring scorers and shooters that so many teams lack. They were very high on both Amundson and Williams, but clearly not high enough.
-- Sam Amick
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