Sacramento Kings 1st round drafts picks the last 10 years: Amazing the team sucks most years
A couple weeks ago, after we KNEW that John Wall was going to the Wizards, I wrote a post about the fact the Wizards have not been the greatest franchise in the world at developing its draft picks. The teams 2 best recent players (Arenas and Jamison) were both free agents and not drafted by the Wizards. But, now that we know where all 5 UK guys are headed, I thought I would look at all 5 teams and just how well they have drafted and developed their first round draft picks.
I have also noted where new GM's have taken over franchises so you get an idea of how the current front office of each team has performed.
Good Picks in Blue
Bad Picks in Red
Still Not Proven in Green
(If a guy never averaged over 10 PPG at any point in his career, I consider that a bad pick)
_____________________________________________________________________
DEMARCUS COUSINS (SACRAMENTO)
(Note: Same General Manager for all picks)
2000:
Hedo Turkoglu
2001:
Gerald Wallace
2002: NONE
2003: NONE
2004:
Kevin Martin
2005:
Fransisco Garcia
2006:
Quincy Douby
2007:
Spencer Hawes
2008:
Jason Thompson
2009:
Tyreke Evans,
Omri Casspi
Recap: Sacramento has really been fantastic with their draft picks. Turkoglu is a really good NBA player, both with Sacramento, and then with Orlando and Toronto. Wallace was non-existent with the Kings, which is why it is a bad pick, but he has since gone to Charlotte and become a 15-20PPG scorer. Kevin Martin was one of the NBA's leading scorers for 3 seasons before going to Houston. Garcia started his career well before breaking his arm, so how he returns from that will determine his final rating. Douby has been a bust. Hawes, Thompson, and Casspi are/were all regulars in the Kings starting lineup, averaging 10 or more points per game. And obviously the franchise is being built around Tyreke Evans.
Cousins is stepping into a franchise that hasn't always been a winner, but the same ownership and same front office has been really great at drafting and developing players. They were greatly hindered by the massive contract of Chris Webber. But, the Kings are now free and clear of that, and once they get settled on a head coach, they have the pieces in place to be a very good team. I probably like this position for Cousins more than any other place for the other UK players. 
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