Kings' Rookies Summer League Review
- Noah Tinoco
- Jul 25, 2016
- 2 min read
(Photo via NBA.com)
The Sacramento Kings disappointing summer league came to an end last week, with the team
finishing with a record of 0-5, the only win-less team in the annual Las Vegas Summer League.
So now that we have taken some time to digest how the team looked and how the rookies may
fit in, let us take a look at the Kings 4 draft picks of 2016 and how they played during the Kings' 5
summer league games.
I'm sure we all had our "What was Vlade thinking?" moments while watching Papagiannis play during the summer league. At times, "Papa G" looked lost, as if the
speed of the NBA game, despite it being summer league, was a little too fast for him. At first
glance, his size makes him look intimidating, however, Papagiannis just could not take
advantage against smaller defenders. In 20.5 MPG, Papagiannis mustered up 5.2 PPG along
with 4.8 RPG, and, despite his 7'1" height, Georgios did not register a block, which is a bit head
scratching. The thing is, Georgios CAN be very good, it's just going to take some time. Kings
fans will have to be patient with this one.
Malachi Richardson definitely showed he deserves some minutes when
the regular season begins, a hustler on defense as well on offense, Malachi proved he was
worthy of a 1st round selection. Richardson showed he can stuff the stat sheet a bit as well. In
the Kings 1st summer league game, when offense was nowhere to be found for the Kings,
Malachi was the one bright spot. Putting in 20 points, 7 rebounds, along with a steal and an
assist each. He'll be able to provide some depth and energy off the bench this season. And with
Ben McLemore trade rumors always swirling around, he may have one less man to compete
with minutes for.
After a disappointing freshman campaign at Kentucky, it wasn't a surprise that
Skal fell to the Kings at pick #28. The 6'11" Haitian, however, raised quite a few eyebrows in
summer league play. In his 5 games, Skal averaged 24.2 minutes, 11 points, and 5.8 rebounds.
Skal also shot a very impressive 75% from downtown. Yes, we can see that Skal needs to bulk
up a bit, but his mental toughness and physical attributes, as well as his already impressive
numbers he has put up so far, Skal looks like he could end up being one of the steals of this
draft if he continues to impress.
Cousins only played in the final 2 games of summer league, but he did play 20+
minutes in both, so Kings fans did get a decent look at the 59th overall pick. With many things to
work on, as you'd expect with the second-to-last pick, Cousins had some bright spots. In the
final game of summer league, Cousins had 10 points along with 5 rebounds. Playing with Buddy
Hield at Oklahoma definitely helped Cousins become a floor general, as most of the time he
was looking to get Hield the ball. Now ISAIAH Cousins gets to work with DEMARCUS Cousins,
and if Isaiah makes the team, he will be looking to get DeMarcus the ball down low. Isaiahneeds to cut down the turnovers, but the Kings are hoping he turns out like another
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