{"id":823315,"date":"2009-06-18T14:22:45","date_gmt":"2009-06-18T21:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cowbellkingdom.com\/?p=170"},"modified":"2009-06-18T14:22:45","modified_gmt":"2009-06-18T21:22:45","slug":"kings-mail-of-the-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/kings-mail-of-the-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Kings Mail of the Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once a week, I’ll be posting a reader email that I think is particularly interesting, funny, smart, or nefarious. There will be fake prizes that I’ll pretend to give to the winner.<\/p>\n

Now kissing up to me is not going to get you to win this dubious and much sought-after honor by any means. If you’re ripping me or what I do in a smart or funny way, that could win you the gold. If you have an idea and share it and I think it’s hilarious, stupid or brilliant, that could also get you a win. It’s strictly up to my discretion.<\/p>\n

So to kick off the Kings Mail of the Week, I thought I’d award reader Bruce with a copy of the movie Class Act<\/em><\/a> in memoriam of Kevin Martin’s old high top fade. Bruce emailed me about him figuring out who the best draft pick in Kings history was. Here’s his email:<\/p>\n

Here is what you can do with a Kings media guide, a computer spreadsheet, and a long plane flight. I prepared a chart showing the Sacramento era Kings draft picks, and who they got traded for, sort of like a series of \u201cbegats\u201d out of Genesis.<\/span><\/p>\n

What the chart shows is that Billy Owens was the best Sacramento era Kings draft pick.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not because of what he did on the court. Owens, the 1991 pick, held out. He was the best because he got traded for Mitch Richmond, the first Sacramento King All-Star, who in turn was traded to get Chris Webber, the foundation of the great turn-of-the-millenium Kings teams.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eighteen years later, that pick is still represented on the roster, in the form of Kenny Thomas, who was part of the 2004 Webber trade. If the Kings work a trade with a team that wants to pick up Kenny\u2019s fat expiring contract heading into the 2010 free agent season, the Billy Owens legacy could continue for years to come.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Kings have the same problem in the draft everybody else does\u2014you want to make sure you don\u2019t pick a bust (Exhibit A: Pervis Ellison), but if there is no Tim Duncan or LeBron available, you don\u2019t know if you are getting a player who is going to be great, and you only win championships by having great players. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Kings desperately need to get great players, and the draft doesn\u2019t have anyone who is obviously great. Blake Griffin has skills, an NBA body and a tremendous work ethic, so he might get there, but he is not great on day one.<\/span><\/p>\n

The good news is, Giffin is being drafted by the Clippers, so he will be available via free agency or trade in a few years, since the reason God created Donald Sterling was so that the other NBA owners could beat him up and take his lunch money. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Kings have drafted only one player who became an All-Star, Peja Stojacovik. <\/span><\/p>\n

Clearly, for the Kings, the important thing is not who they draft, but who they get in trade for who they draft. Here are the trades that built the quality Kings teams:<\/span><\/p>\n