If you’ve seen the videos of Georgios Papagiannis draining threes by the dozens, you’ll know NBA defenders won’t be able to disrespect the large man from suburban Athens the way many Kings fans did when he was drafted.
Some in the purple legions bellowed outrage at Kings general manager Vlade Divac for going with talent over need, although voices of reason have since come around to pipe their brothers down.
When you watch Papagiannis, you see his ability to run the floor and block shots as well as shoot three-pointers, and the main thing you want to know is how soon until he’s NBA ready?
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Papagiannis is only 18, same as Marquese Chriss, the kid from Pleasant Grove High School everybody was ready to accept as a two-year project. Even at 7-foot-2 and 240 pounds on his way to 265, it’s management’s expectation that Papagiannis won’t be doing much of anything around here, either, before the midterm elections of 2018.
Conveniently, that’s also when center DeMarcus Cousins’ contract runs out.
Give us all the strength to survive him for that long.
Maybe you saw the incumbent big man’s tweet on draft day when Papagiannis was announced at No. 13, a pick the Kings acquired from the Phoenix Suns.
Cousins tweeted “Lord give me the strength” shortly after Papagiannis was selected, as if to suggest he’d been left weak at the knees by the decision.
Some in the purple legions bellowed outrage at Kings general manager Vlade Divac for going with talent over need, although voices of reason have since come around to pipe their brothers down.
Asked by ESPN to explain the tweet that included an image of praying hands, Cousins said it had nothing to do with the draft and everything to do with a “hot sculpting” class he had been attending.
You can bet Kings management isn't buying Cousins' insinuation that he was referring to temptations of the flesh in his yoga class rather than making a judgment on the scouting abilities of his bosses.
Just like that, Cousins again showed himself to be something short of the magnanimous type of leader he needs to be if the Kings are going to make the playoffs under his watch. You thought maybe he’d turned the corner with his selection to the U.S. Olympic team and his recent declaration that he is “on the same page” with new coach Dave Joerger. Apparently he hasn’t.
A lot of us think the Kings would be best off trading Cousins, but there is no sign that will happen, even in wake of the draft-day tweet. Maybe that will change if Joerger and Cousins clash, or if the team is going nowhere by the middle of next season and believes a wholesale reconstruction is in order.
Principal owner Vivek Ranadive will have a say on the status of Cousins, whom he personally likes. Hopefully, Ranadive’s infatuation with Cousins as a player will not affect any decisions Divac makes on his status.
It’s important that Ranadive adhere to the ancient wisdom handed down through Clint Eastwood that a man’s got to know his limitations.
Divac appears to know his, and that’s why a couple of months ago he hired Ken Cantanella to be his assistant general manager in charge of the salary cap and analytics.
Divac freed himself to do what he does best, which is analyze talent. In his travels through Europe, Vlade obviously liked what he saw in Papagiannis.
Some Kings fans thought Divac should have relied on the genius minds of the internet rather than his own eyes when he went for Papagiannis rather than a college guard. They based their displeasure on the opinions of DraftExpress, a web site that slotted Papagiannis as a late second-round pick.
Do you think maybe Divac might be better sourced than DraftExpress?
Divac actually saw Papagiannis play. So did his close friend, Aleksandar Djordjevic, Papagiannis’s coach at Panathinaikos BC, one of the top basketball clubs in Europe.
A lot of us think the Kings would be best off trading Cousins, but there is no sign that will happen, even in wake of the draft-day tweet.
Djordjevic and Divac played together on the 1990 FIBA world champion Yugoslavian national team that also included Drazen Petrovic, Toni Kukoc and Dino Radja.
Meanwhile, the free-agent market opens Thursday night, and the Kings will have very tough competition if they decide to pursue Mike Conley, the Memphis Grizzlies’ point guard who has become very popular among NBA front-office types. So maybe Rajon Rondo returns to the Kings.
The Kings are interested in Ryan Anderson, the face-up-shooting big man most recently with the New Orleans Pelicans. Expect the bidding to begin at $14 million a year, and it might go to $20 million – a stretch price for the stretch four, but not entirely a bank breaker.
Anderson, 28, of El Dorado Hills, suffered through the 2013 suicide of his girlfriend, Gia Allemand, and he may be looking for the embrace of friends and family near the comfort of home.
He would be yet another big on a team that’s already got a bunch, which means one of them, at some point, is going to have to go.
Lord, give the Kings the strength to know which one to deal when that time comes.
Andy Furillo: 916-321-1141, @andyfurillo
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