All signs point to the Sacramento Kings landing a top 5 pick in this year’s NBA Draft. If Sacramento ends the season with the worst record in the league, which they currently hold, they are guaranteed a top 5 pick. And what a year to have a top pick. Many consider it one of the best in years.
And while the top 3 picks are surely to be some combination of Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, and Cameron Boozer, the 4th and 5th pick has often been slated to be North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson and Houston’s Kingston Flemings.
Wilson is out for the season following thumb surgery, but the other four players were in action Saturday.
Let’s take a look at the highlights.
Darryn Peterson
Peterson and Kansas took on Kansas State. There has been questions about Peterson’s injuries and checking himself out of games, but in these highlights from Saturday you can see why everyone is so high on him.
He plays under complete control, is never sped up. He can lead a fast break, easily drop in floaters, has quick-release threes, can finish through contact, slashes and scores, has hesitation moves and more and more. When he is taking a shot you expect it to go in. Let’s take a look at the highlights.
Following the game he made the comment about maybe staying in college one more year, much like Dybantsa did recently. Highly doubt it, but interesting.
He finished with 27 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
Cameron Boozer
Boozer and Duke (the No. 1 team in college basketball) took on North Carolina. The Duke offense runs through Boozer and he directs traffic often. Like Peterson, Boozer never gets sped up. He always seem to have a plan around what he is doing on the floor and looks like he is two steps ahead of everyone else in terms of processing the game. His footwork and patience around the basket is elite. Often opposing bigs can’t do anything to stop it.
He has great court vision and drops pretty passes (alley oops and cross court). He can nail threes, which is very important for a big in the NBA today. He can attack the lane off the dribble and finish through contact. He can escape double teams and find the open man.
Not to mention he is a great rebounder who can activate all of his offensive skillets after pulling down the board.
Boozer finished with 26 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 assists.
AJ Dybantsa
Dybantsa and BYU took ok Texas Tech. The 6’9″ forward is leading the nation in scoring at 24.7 points per game. He can score all over the floor. He can back guys down, turn around and shoot over them. He can take guys off the dribble. He can finish through contact. His combination of speed, height and athleticism is just too much for many guys to stop. Not to mention, he has pretty good court vision, can bring the ball up the floor and can shoot off the dribble and in the mid-range.
He finished with 21 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
Kingston Flemings
Flemings and Houston took on Oklahoma State. Flemings is one of the best point guard prospects in the draft, and a really good playmaker. His passes are crisp and thought-out. Bounce passes to cutters, drawing the defense and kicking out, hitting guys off screens, kick-outs for threes. Plus, he is ultra quick with the ability to stop and go, and can knock down mid-range off drives.
He finished with 13 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds.
As we move into March Madness season, watching these guys this month is probably going to be 10 times more entertaining than what is left of this Kings season.