Apologize in advance for not doing extreme research on this topic (will leave it to the pros here as I am lazy and, well, lazy) but as many of us have already observed, it's safe to say DeMarcus has turned the corner from a potential dominant big man, to a solidified force to be reckoned with in the NBA at the C position. Looking back over the past couple decades (since 1990), there are few big men that were a THREAT (not avg, but had the chance) to pull off a 20/20 pts/reb game a night. The two heavy hitters that immediately come to mind are Shaq and Dwight Howard. I beliieve they have the closest career averages to 20-20 during that span, followed by the heavy hitters of already/future Hall of Famers, Karl Malone, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, our own Chris Webber (minus the steve Urkel 0 Dancing w/ the Stars glasses), and Kevin Garnett. I think Blake Griffin and Kevin Love are scraping this surface as well, but the big difference with DeMarcus is his skill, BB IQ, and room to grow and improve, while already holding his own and striking fear in his opponents.

Bottom line is that when you look at some of the box scores he posts (and now on a consistent basis under K. Smart), it is scary, and I find it very intriguing that when you look at the other dominant bigmen in this category, most of them are 4/5 switch guys (Shaq and Dwight the exceptions).

I first started getting giddy on Kevin Love's stats late last season and earlier this lear how monsterous they were...Demarcus has called those, and raised. With untapped potential and a Kings team to surely play better around him going forward, his ceiling is unlimited in this day and age.

Would appreciate others thoughts...I don't think he will be "our secret" amongst the league for much longer - negative pub/actions are thrown out the door and clean slate forward from this point on if he stays on path.

P.S. Derek Favors played nice tonight, but not that nice.

So after a miraculous draft in which we got the 2 players we may have coveted overall (with even the #1 overall pick being Cousins, and if the Detroit trade scenario had played out where we landed #7 there was some consensus that Whiteside might have been the pick there), we obviously need to address the SG position. Sorry, that was a long intro but I just can't believe everything worked out as it did. And I almost shit myself when I saw the video of the German center picked ahead of Hass, that gym was worse than a junior-high gym...shocking.

On to the next move, I had always felt a guy like Reggie Miller, and then Stephan Curry, would be an ultimate weapon to pair with Tyreke. A guy that can play without the ball. A guy that has some size and length and can defend so it doesn't ruin Tyreke's ridiculous size mismatch (I love Beno, but unfortunately this is where he does not help). I believe Ray Allen fits right in that category. A true catch and shoot guy, money from the line, good defender, and still has 2-3 good years left in him. I feel he could come in and give the team exactly what they need at starting SG spot, we definitely need a pure shooter there, and they could probably get him at around 8-10 million a year for 2-3 years. He would bring leadership to a ridiculously young team (I know our leader is Tyreke but he has nobody to push him as far as a winning mentality goes).

Bottom line, if we can score Allen I believe we are an immediate force in the West, and the league in general...that frontline is now STACKED!:

PG: Evans/Beno

SG: Allen/Cisco/Beno

SF: Greene/Omri/Udoka-like FA

PF: Landry/Thompson/Brockman

C: Dalemebrt/Cousins/Whiteside (I feel everyone but Laundry can be rotated amongst the 4-5 slots)

Takes?

I'm a little surprised this dilemna hasn't garnered more attention, especially since now it appears we have a good chance at getting the 3 or 4 pick in the lottery and granted Wall and Turner go 1-2, these 2 bigs are far and above the rest of the pack as the likely 3-4 picks.

I would be ecstatic as a Kings fan if we could land either one of these two as I feel they represent some true star potential at the 4-5 spot which is not easy to find. Luckily, Tyreke has us covered @ the PG so I think we obviously go big in this draft, unless we somehow score #1 or #2 pick and work a trade or select Evan Turner to play alongside Reke (that's another topic of discussion if those two can "work together").

Back to issue at hand. Who is the better pick? They are TOTALLY different players. Although both use their size and skill (Cousins), and athleticism and intensity (Favors) to dominate down low, that is where the comparisons end. I think it's pretty clear Favors has more superstar potential only because of a man named Dwight Howard (remember he was not too highly regarded as the #1 overall pick by MJ). Favors has the leaps and athleticism, albeit not the height and size (yet) of a young Dwight Howard (along with an offensive repertoire on par w/ Dwayne Schintzius), but the potentail to develop his body and turn into an athletic bug stud that could man PF and possibly C...I'm thinking JT but way younger and much higher potential to dominate both sides. He is somewhat of a gamble because of the lack of offensive polish and the shear fact he hasn't really dominated as many expected in his freshman season @ G-Tech.

DeMarcus Cousins. First off, any athlete with the 'De' prefix (i.e DeShean Jackson, DeMar Derozan, etc.) has the potential and knows it to completely dominate. If Cousins can get into good NBA shape and show he can play 30+ minutes and get nasty down low he can be a dominate center in the NBA. Those come around once every 2-3 years. This is why I like Cousins. He has soft hands, finishes well, has a nice touch, and I think his game adapts to the NBA immediately and he can be our starting center immediately when he's drafted and for years to come. I don't think his weight or attitude will be an issue. He's going to be playing for dollars his first few years in the league (blueprint) and if Petrie senses any potential problems then obviously he won't pick him. I also feel Tyreke would greatly benefit from a guy close to the hoop that he can quickly/artisticly drop off to when he draws the double/triple as he is so good at. Cousins would be able to create this spacing with his large body around the rim as opposed to clogging it off. Favors would also seem to be the benefactor of many ally-oop assists from reke (ala Marcus Camby).

Bottom Line is I think this is again where it is key to have a talent/personnel evaluator like Petrie to make the best choice here. I think either one will work but am somewhat leaning towards Cousins as someone that is a true Center that you could plug into the team w/ Reke and leave JT @ the PF for a dominant forntcourt for many years. Centers are hard to get. Favors (unless he grows more) seems to be more of a power forward mold that may turn out great (Garnett, Kenyon Martin) but never a true center that can bang with the really big guys and dominate offensively down low.

Thoughts?

We now have a large void at a true quality SG (assuming Tyreke is NaPG). I started thinking about who would be a perfect complimentary player w/ Tyreke since obviously upper management and the coach felt Martin was not that guy. What about Stephan Curry???...he can obviously shoot the lights out, play without the ball, come off screens, and do pretty much everything else.

Obviously, there's no way GS is letting go of him, but if Tyreke is NaPG then it is going to be tough to pair someone nicely with him in the backcourt as a PG since he does need the ball in his hands to be effective. You would basically need another combo guard. For example, I don't believe Wall and Tyreke would work together at all...it's difficult to find many PGs that would mesh well w/ him at SG. Beno could be a great short term fit because he can play point but also shoot.

For this reason, I think you stick w/ Tyreke @ PG and find a spot up shooter (ala young Ray Allen) that doesn't also live and die by the drive, or need to drive to the hoop as a necessity of their game (like Martin). We eventually will need a classic, back to basics SG to pair with him....someone who can catch and shoot, or catch make a move and shoot. I really like Avery Bradley, the freshman of Texas and he might be a viable option in the draft if he comes out depending on where we're at.

Apologize for a bit of scrambling w/ the thoughts...if only Mitch Richmond were back in his prime. That would be some combo.

What do you guys think?

I think this would be the ultimate outcome for us in the draft. The more I look at some of these players I think as we get deeper into the draft (Especially if we're able to get Rubio at #4), we need to get a solid base of athleticism and defense and multiple position players to add flexibilty to the bench and build a "2nd team -  bench mob" if you will. This is assuming that Donte, Shock/Hawes are our starting frontcourt and K-Mart our 2 and RR becomes our starting PG. I really think the best way to attack this draft is to get some athletes that can add flexibilty to the rotations and make impacts from the bench.

Omri looked extremely impressive in his workouts, and he seems to have similar qualities to Hedo (maybe not quite as polished and rangy as a shooter), and definitely a guy Petrie would like (at #23). I think Terrance Williams could be a poor man's Artest...which would give us a solid defender and some "thuggishness" off the bench, which I really miss from RonRon leaving (if you've ever noticed, every NBA fan whatever team they are associated with will never talk sh*t about Artest as far as being a defensive monster and a leader, that was the one take I could always go to being a Kings fan down in LA). I would love to get either of those guys at that pick.

At #31, Jermaine Taylor could be a perfect backup at SG if he develops his game, from this video he definitely has the athleticism and size to be an intimidating SG (I see a little bit of Vince Carter in him) and maybe some time at SF. I could see him pairing up on the 2nd team w/ Cisco or Dante nicely.

I'd obviously like to get some depth in the frontcourt, but maybe resigning Ike at a reasonable rate is the way to go considering how weak this draft is with big guys.

I am hosting a Kings draft party down in LA at my local bar "Tank's" if any one is interested piling on, let me know...the motto is, "assume the worst, hope for the best" - I am a Cubbies fan as well, so used to it... :)

All- First post on the board, but had to get this off my chest after seeing some recent mock drafts.

Jordan Hill. #2 projected in some drafts if Rubio does not come out, and what if we get the 2nd or 3rd pick and Rubio does not declare...

Watching him all year, he looked ok, kinda Mikki Moore-ish (dreds and 8th-grader arms aside) that could dominate at times (meaning wide-open monster dunks) because the guys he was playing against were a couple inches shorter than him...watching him in the tourney...ouch! He looked like he had never played the game before and was afraid to touch the basketball...it was almost as if he was a definition of the phrase "project" for a power forward but with no real upside unless he gains a ton of B-ball IQ and 40-50 lbs of muscle.

He has no jump shot, gets abused down low by guys his size or larger (i.e. every power forward in the NBA other than MM), and in my opinion knows the game less than Thabeet...his pros??? a "motor" as described by various draft analysts, "raw", "long" - last one is a Jay Bilas classic.

My whole point of the post...this guy should IMO not even be in the first round...maybe late. You're kidding me you'd rather have this guy over DaJuan Blair?!?!

Jordan Hill:

Biggest Upside - Mikki Moore at 28

Biggest Downside - Mikki Moore with the Kings