It was assumed that the only piece that the Kings have which could entice the Lakers to trade away Russell was DeMarcus Cousins.
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Oklahoma guard Isaiah Cousins was picked in the second round of the NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings, as the 59th overall pick. The versatile Cousins increased his value as a senior when he took over at the point for the Sooners, who advanced to the Final Four.
Unless, of course, a different franchise chooses to provide him the deliverance he desires. If that happens, though, it doesn’t figure to be for a while, given that Papagiannis is just 18, was raised in Greece and might need to spend a couple more seasons in Europe before joining the National Basketball Association.
Oh, and the Kings also have absolutely no idea how to draft or sign good players. Besides that, I know Vlade Divac, European guy. Then they traded their eighth pick to Phoenix for the 13th pick, which they used to select Georgios Papagiannis from Greece.
With the Kings’ decision, there are speculations that this might affect Cousins’ attitude toward his teammates.
“We followed him for a year and we thought he wasn’t going to be available after 18th, so that’s why we took him at the 13”, Divac said. “Bogdanovic, like Richardson, is 6’6” and 200 pounds, but he’s a 24-year old man that has had plenty of seasoning playing for Fenerbahce Istanbul, one of Europe’s premier teams.
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Perhaps the best way for the Kings to rectify this error is to trade DeMarcus Cousins for a power forward. He likely won’t have many minutes headed his way in the next couple seasons.
