Sacramento Kings: A look back at the last 10 NBA Drafts
2016
Kings pick: Marquese Chriss (8th), Isaiah Cousins (59th)
The Sacramento Kings used their eighth overall pick in 2016 to choose Marquese Chriss and immediately sent him to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Georgios Papagiannis, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Skal Labissiere, and future picks.
This was a complete robbery by Sacramento. Chriss was solid in his first two seasons with the Suns, but his stats dipped to career-low levels when he was with the Houston Rockets. He is now on the Cleveland Cavaliers and is working with the time he gets.
Some of the Kings’ return in this trade didn’t amount to anything. Georgios Papagiannis was out of the league just two years after being drafted. He spent significant time on the Reno Bighorns of the G League before being cut by the Kings. The Blazers gave the Greek big man a chance to extend his career, but Papagiannis only lasted one game with Portland.
Skal Labissiere had his moments for the Kings, but after being fairly ineffective in 2018-19, the Haitian big was also sent to Portland.
Bogdan Bogdanovic is definitely the prize of this trade. His bench effort goes the distance for the Kings. He is only in his second year, as he was a draft-and-stash player, but Bogdanovic is already one of the team’s biggest offensive contributors and is a staple of the Kings.
Who they missed
While the trade for Bogdanovic worked in Sacramento’s favor, there were some tempting names still on the board when they selected Chriss at No. 8:
- Domantas Sabonis (11th)
- Caris LeVert (20th)
- Pascal Siakam (27th)
- Dejounte Murray (29th)
- Malcolm Brogdon (36th)
Again, the team is in a great place with Bogdanovic, but Sacramento might’ve made the playoffs if it had one of these players instead.