Sacramento Kings: Ranking the last 10 first round picks

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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7. Justin Jackson (2017)

While Justin Jackson has already seen his way out of Sacramento, the pick made a lot of sense at the time. Jackson had a highly productive college career at the University of North Carolina and profiled as a decent bench scorer with a solid 3-point shot.

He would bounce between Sacramento and Reno during his rookie season. While his overall numbers were not bad, the efficiency left something to be desired. In his only full season with the Kings, he would shoot only 30.8 percent from distance which would make him expendable.

Along with Zach Randolph, Jackson was traded following trade deadline to the Dallas Mavericks in a move they thought would help finish out their playoff push.

The Kings would miss the playoffs but Jackson would have the best stretch yet. He finished the season averaging 8.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game on 37.2 percent long-range shooting. He has cooled off some this year but the potential is still there for a more modern NBA player.

This pick ranks higher than the 2016 choices because of that and also because of the difference in opportunity cost. Trading back from 10 to take two chances made sense for a rebuilding team and would have worked out had All-Stars not gone at 13 (Donovan Mitchell) and 14 (Bam Adebayo). Had the Kings been able to pair the rookie Wildcats of Adebayo and Fox together, they could have accelerated the process of rebuilding again. As is, missing on John Collins is likely the biggest mistake here.

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