Subscribe
Follow Us
The Sacramento Kings enjoyed one of their most successful seasons in recent memory in the 2022-23 campaign. The team finished the regular season with a terrific 48-34 record, the third-best in the Western Conference. The Kings also snapped a 16-year postseason drought, the longest in NBA history. And in the first round of the playoffs, the Kings gave the defending champion Golden State Warriors all they could handle, as Sacramento took the Warriors to seven games.
By all accounts, the Kings' 2022-23 season was a remarkable success. But if there's one downside to the Kings' successful year, it's that they don't own a very high draft pick. The Kings own the 24th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. In a deep draft such as this one, there are plenty of players expected to fall in the pick-24 range who could impact winning for the Kings right way, but there are also plenty of players in this range who the Kings should not draft. With all of that said, here are two players the Kings must avoid with the 24th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft:
2 players Kings must avoid with No. 24 pick in 2023 NBA Draft
Trayce Jackson-Davis
Jackson-Davis, a 6'9″ forward from the University of Indiana, starred on the offensive end in his senior year with the Hoosiers. He averaged 20.9 points, 2.8 offensive rebounds, and 4.0 assists across 32 appearances with Indiana during the 2022-23 campaign. But while Jackson-Davis was undoubtedly one of the best offensive big men in the nation this season, there's one glaring hole in his offensive game that should make the Kings think twice about selecting him.
Jackson-Davis is a non-threat to score from behind the three-point arc in a game where the three-pointer is more important to offensive success than ever before. He isn't a non-threat in the sense that he attempted plenty of threes and didn't make a lot of them — Jackson-Davis didn't so much as attempt a single trey in his senior year. Considering the Kings already have a non-shooter at the power-forward spot in Domantas Sabonis, it wouldn't make sense for them to acquire another one in the draft.
Rayan Rupert
Rayan Rupert, a 19-year-old Frenchman, is one of several intriguing international prospects in the 2023 NBA Draft class. He has great size for a wing at 6'6″ with a 7'3″ wingspan and great athleticism too, which indicates that he has the tools to one day develop into a plus defender at the NBA level. But Rupert is far too raw of a prospect for a team to take a risk on him in the first round, and that includes the Kings at pick 24.
Rupert has a long way to go on the offensive end if he wants to be a rotation player in the NBA. And like the last prospect, Jackson-Davis, outside shooting is one of Rupert's biggest holes in his game.
Only time will tell who the Sacramento Kings decide to pick with the 24th overall pick in the NBA Draft, but what's clear is that they shouldn't draft Trayce Jackson-Davis or Rayan Rupert.
