How the Sacramento Kings Can Improve in the 2012 NBA Draft

This season has been an utter disappointment for the Sacramento Kings and their fans. The team, which has gone through stretches of greatness, have lost seven of their last nine and now sit with the fourth-worst record in the NBA.

And while it's a rerun the Kings' fans have had to watch in each of the past six seasons, the Kings' biggest hope for revitalizing the team will come in the June draft. 

Unfortunately, Sacramento has proved reluctant to spend money in free agency over the past few years. This puts all the pressure on GM Geoff Petrie to draft and draft well. Over the past few years, he's made some good picks (Tyreke Evans at No. 4, Jason Thompson at No. 12) and some great picks (DeMarcus Cousins at No. 5, Isaiah Thomas at No. 60), but this year he really needs to draft smart.

The Kings have their star in DeMarcus Cousins. They have plenty of other pieces that need to figure out where they fit in. Petrie needs to make sure he drafts someone that not only fits the Kings' needs, but fits in with the current pieces.

Who the Kings can get in the draft will, of course, very much depend on how the lottery goes. But what do the Kings need to focus on in the prospects to best help the team improve? Let's take a look.

Defense

The Kings biggest need is obvious. No matter what position the player is that they draft in the lottery, he needs to be not only a capable defender, but a tenacious one.

Sacramento is second worst in the league in opponents field goal percentage, only behind the Charlotte Bobcats, who are having the worst season in NBA history.

Keith Smart may not be known as a great defensive coach, but he and Petrie need to make it a top priority this offseason. The number one need for Sacramento is defense. 

Luckily, this is a draft full of good- to great-level defenders, although one fan favorite pick, Harrison Barnes, is barely above average. 

Lottery Prospects Who Are Good Defenders: Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Andre Drummond, Thomas Robinson, Jared Sullinger, John Henson, Bradley Beal.

Lottery Prospects Who Are Average/Questionable Defenders: Harrison Barnes, Terrence Jones, Jeremy Lamb.

Lottery Prospects Who Are Poor Defenders: Perry Jones.

Strong Motor/Leadership

Sacramento has benefited a lot from rookie Isaiah Thomas' leadership and great work ethic. But as a team, the Kings often seem lost or, at times, like they'd given up, so it's obvious the Kings still need players who will work their tails off every minute on the floor.

This draft is a polarity of hard workers versus players with very questionable motors. The biggest example of this is Andre Drummond, who has the talent to be a top pick but lacked any intensity when he was at UConn. On the other hand, there is Thomas Robinson, who led Kansas to the title game and has an intensity few players ever have. Just watching Robinson for five minutes shows a man you would go to war with.

With many drafts penciling in Drummond as a Kings pick, Sacramento management will have to make sure Drummond—or any potential pick, for that matter—really cares about winning and improving.

Lottery Prospects Who Seem to Have a Good Motor: Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist,  Thomas Robinson, John Henson, Bradley Beal.

Lottery Prospects Who Seem to have an Average Motor: Harrison Barnes, Jared Sullinger, Terrence Jones, Jeremy Lamb.

Lottery Prospects Who Have a Questionable/Poor Motor: Andre Drummond, Perry Jones.

Fit in with the Current Roster

The Kings could realistically draft at any position in this draft, except for shooting guard and center. There aren't any point guards worthy of a top-six selection (realistically where the Kings might draft), so you can write that one off as well. This leaves small forward and [ower forward, although in the right situation the Kings could draft a center and play him alongside Cousins.

But for a prospect to fit with the Kings, it goes beyond position. The Kings have their star (Cousins) and scorers who need the ball (Tyreke Evans, Marcus Thornton). Can a player accept that he'd be third/fourth option scoring wise, and affect the game in other ways (defense, rebounding, intangibles, etc.)?

Unlike defense or work ethic, it's hard to measure how a player would fit with the Kings' roster based on college games alone. These are my personal opinions on how a player would fit:

Lottery Prospects Who Would Be a Good/Great Fit: Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Thomas Robinson, John Henson.

Lottery Prospects Who Seem to have an Acceptable/Average Fit: Andre Drummond, Harrison Barnes, Jared Sullinger, Terrence Jones, Perry Jones.  

Lottery Prospects Who Don't Fit: Bradley Beal, Jeremy Lamb. 

Ranking the Lottery Prospects

There is still a lot of work to be done before the draft comes about, and as always the only certainty is that players we're certain about will change as the workouts go by.

But as it stands now, this is my ranking of the likely lottery selections and how they'd fit in Sacramento:

1. Anthony Davis - C/PF, Kentucky

Davis is a lock for the number one overall selection, and if the Kings don't get the top pick, they can write him off. He's a lockdown defender and has great potential in just about anything you could ask. He's also a proven worker and a good leader. Combined with DeMarcus Cousins, the two would have the greatest combined big man potential of any duo in league history since Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson.

2. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist - SF, Kentucky

Aside from a mediocre shooting ability, Kidd-Gilchrist has everything else Kings fans would want. He's got an incredible work ethic, he's a tenacious defender and he readily accepted a backseat scoring-wise for the betterment of the Wildcats this year. Kings fans may want Harrison Barnes over Kidd-Gilchrist because Barnes is a far better shooter, but in three to five years, Kidd-Gilchrist will be an All-Star level talent, while I doubt Barnes will ever come close. 

3. Thomas Robinson - PF, Kansas

The only bad thing you can say about Robinson is he's about an inch shorter than one would like. He obviously needs to improve his moves in the post, but he's an all-out player with great intensity, fantastic rebounder and all-around good teammate. He's a strong defender, although he doesn't get as many blocks as you'd like. He would be fantastic as the long-term fit with Cousins and Jason Thompson. 

4. Harrison Barnes - SF, North Carolina

This is where the draft gets dicey and we move from elite/high-end prospects to above-average. He's a great shooter, no doubt, and that would help Sacramento. But Barnes is overrated by many fans because of his shooting ability, and he's basically a one-dimensional player at this point in his career. He's an average defender, an average athlete, an average rebounder and shies away from contact. He shot just 33 percent in his final 10 games of the season for North Carolina and failed to produce when his team needed him.

5. John Henson - PF, North Carolina

Most mocks have Henson anywhere from 10-15, but if Sacramento was unable to secure any of the above five, I would hope they'd trade down and take Henson. Many might call for Drummond here, but while Henson may be skinny and still is very raw offensively, he's got a great work ethic. He's very bouncy and as a defender would go great as the shot-blocking threat next to Cousins. 

6. Andre Drummond - C, Connecticut 

Sacrilegious to have him this low, correct? I completely disagree. Fans may fall in love with his athleticism and potential, but he failed to improve much at UConn and most of the time looked almost uninterested. As a defender, he'd fit in great with Cousins, but he has limited skill offensively. Certainly, that could describe John Henson as well, but while Henson has a well-documented high motor, Drummond has a highly questionable one at best. Any team that takes Drummond has a good chance of ending up with Kwame Brown 2.0.

7. Terrence Jones - SF/PF, Kentucky

Jones' intensity and shot selection come with great question marks, but he looked like a different player in the NCAA Tournament in Kentucky's run to the championship. If he can get some consistency to his game, he'd be a perfect fit at the small forward spot.

8. Jared Sullinger - PF, Ohio State

At this point, I'd hope the Kings would trade the pick for an above-average SF and/or some good veteran help. Honestly, veteran leadership would bring more to the Kings than picking up another young player who wouldn't fit. Sullinger has talent, but failed to improve much at all this season. He's a good inside scorer, but a limited athlete and is build like a poor man's DeMarcus Cousins. He'd be redundant next to Cousins.

9. Bradley Beal - SG, Florida

This is no insult to Beal, who is a lock for a top-five pick, but Beal makes little sense for the Kings when they have Tyreke Evans/Marcus Thornton/Jimmer Fredette at the shooting guard position. An excellent pick to be traded for a player who'd be a better fit.

Another Option: Trade the Pick

Honestly, I would rather see the Kings trade the pick than take many of the lottery level talent.

While a good handful would be good fits for the Kings, should Sacramento wish to gamble on Jared Sullinger or Andre Drummond, I feel it'd be much more beneficial for the team to swap the pick for established NBA talent. Rather than take a risk on a player with a questionable work ethic (Drummond) or one who may be a questionable fit (Sullinger), the Kings should explore any and every trade option... as long as Geoff Petrie doesn't try and pull a John Salmons type deal like last year. 

If Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala is available, he'd be a perfect fit. Danny Grander from the Indana Pacers also comes to mind, as does Nicolas Batum from Portland. The Kings have the cap room to take many players on medium-to-large contracts.

Second Round Prospects

As Isaiah Thomas has shown, you shouldn't write off second-round prospects. This draft is full of players who could make a difference for a team and become legitimate NBA talent.

Many of these guys could be late first-round talent who could fall into the early second-round range where Sacramento could take them:

1. Draymond Green - SF/PF, Michigan State - If Green falls, Sacramento must take him. He's got an all-around strong game and nearly single-handedly ran the Spartans through the NCAA Tournament in March and even had a triple-double to start the tournament.

2. Moe Harkless - SF, St. John's - It'd be surprising to see Moe Harkless fall out of the first round, but he is a less-certain version of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. If he develops nicely, he could be the SF the Kings desperately need. 

3. Andrew Nicholson - PF, St. Bonaventure - Nicholson came from a small school, but tore it up as the season ended. He had 26 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocks against Xavier in the NCAA Tournament.

4. Darius Miller - SF, Kentucky - Miller was an afterthought on that stacked Kentucky team, but he's a smart veteran with a solid all-around game.

5. Fab Melo - C, Syracuse - Melo's academics cost him a chance in the NCAA Tournament, but he'd bring some much needed bench size that the Kings certainly lack.