2016 NBA Draft: Draft Day Misses

By Gary Gorski | Jun 25, 2016

Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; NBA commissioner Adam Silver holds a basketball while posing for a photo with draft prospects from left Buddy Hield (Oklahoma) , Ben Simmons (LSU), Brandon Ingram (Duke) and Kris Dunn (Providence) before the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports /

4 of 5

Feb 24, 2016; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (15) between plays against the San Antonio Spurs during the fourth quarter at Sleep Train Arena. The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Sacramento Kings 108-92. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

Sacramento Kings

The Kings could have been penciled in this column before the draft even began. After using last year’s lottery pick on a big man to allegedly pair with franchise center DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings traded the No. 8 pick for picks 13 and 28 from Phoenix along with the rights to Bogdan Bogdanovic.

The deal in of itself was not a great one especially considering that if Bogdanovic does come over next year he won’t be doing so on the rookie scale contract, but then the Kings doubled down as only they could on the move by selecting 7’2″ Georgios Papagiannis with the 13th pick. I think Boogie said it best.

Lord give me the strength 🙏🏿
— DeMarcus Cousins (@boogiecousins) June 24, 2016

The Kings will probably lose Rajon Rondo and could have selected his replacement in Wade Baldwin which actually would have made this deal look pretty good considering they did end up with a steal getting Skal Labissiere with the 28th pick.

Who knows, maybe Papagiannis is supposed to be Cousins’s replacement and they will trade him at some point. What the Kings did succeed in doing is further upsetting their cornerstone player and ensuring that they will get another crack at lottery redemption next year.

Next: Detroit Pistons

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