The Kings are hoping, and it's not baseless hope either.
There are indications, however unreliable or unpredictable, that a player worthy of excitement among both fans and front office will drop their way today. That's the potential beauty of this draft if you're Sacramento, the fact that all the uncertainty could wind up working in their favor. No less than Jerryd Bayless, Danilo Gallinari, or D.J. Augustin could fall as far as No. 12 this afternoon. In years past, the predictability meant you could strike certain names from the wish list going in. Not now.
As for the oft-ignored second round, the recent buzz about the Kings liking Mike Taylor with their No. 42 pick is legit. They liked him in the workout here on June 9 and even invited him back for a second interview. And while Taylor couldn't make it back for logistical reasons, he could be a quality pick in light of their point guard void.
For quick background on Taylor, he's the 6-foot-2, 165 pound 22-year-old who is about to become the first NBA Developmental League player to be drafted. After spending two seasons playing in community college, he was kicked out of Iowa State after one season for academic reasons. He then joined the Iowa Stampede of the D-League and averaged 14.5 points. Taylor - who trains in Sacramento with Guss Armstead -- raised his stock with a strong showing in the Orlando predraft camp in late May.
Speaking of the point guard problem, Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie hit on it in our conversation yesterday and sounded like a man with no doubts he'll fix it one way or another.
"Our point guard situation is going to get resolved in some combination of the draft, free agency or trading, so we'll see where it goes," he said. "It's a position right now that we have to fill or re-fill or however you want to go about looking at it. We've just got to approach that as pragmatically as you can."
Keep checking back later today for more draft offerings from our blogging crew...
- Sam Amick
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