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Sacramento Kings: Ranking the last 10 first round picks

By Corey Rausch

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 25: De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings looks on in the second half against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center on February 25, 2020 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 25: De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings looks on in the second half against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center on February 25, 2020 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

10. Georgios Papagiannis (2016)

This pick was immediately mocked and this is probably not fair to George Papagiannis. Most of the jokes came because the team had a franchise center already in place in All-Star DeMarcus Cousins. They had also drafted Thomas Robinson and Willie Cauley-Stein since then as well. While most other teams were transitioning to a smaller system, the Kings were stocking up on big guys. Further disappointing was the Cousins was the only one who truly panned out.

Papagiannis was the icing on the cake, leading to Cousins becoming vocal on Twitter about his frustration with what the team was doing. The new center did not do anything on the court the following season to change the star’s mind.

He would appear in only 22 games during his rookie season and averaged 5.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game. He never put it together on the court and was waived after only appearing in 16 games for the Kings the following season.

https://twitter.com/boogiecousins/status/746149291249410050?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E746149291249410050%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sbnation.com%2Flookit%2F2016%2F6%2F23%2F12021422%2Fdemarcus-cousins-tweet-kings-georgios-papagiannis

The former Greek National Team member would sign a 10-day contract with the Portland Trail Blazers a few weeks later. Throughout two contracts, he would appear in one game for the team. The center has since returned to Greece to play for Panathinaikos, the team he played for before coming over to the NBA.

It is impossible to make sense of this pick for the Kings, especially when considering they traded back from number eight to select two centers in this draft. Trading back made sense because it was all big men in the lottery by the time they got on the clock. Taking a chance on Denzel Valentine or Malik Beasley would have changed plenty for Sacramento.

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