I'm starting to think the Kings would've passed on Blake Griffin had he somehow slipped all the way down to number four in the 2009 NBA Draft. Geoff Petrie has never subscribed to conventional wisdom or bought into hype, and he's made few, if any, egregious draft mistakes over the course of his career as Sacramento's President of Basketball Operations. Compelled to go against the grain yet again, he selected Memphis guard Tyreke Evans over Spanish phenom Ricky Rubio, who many considered to be the second-best prospect in an otherwise weak draft class, and who was in many ways everything the Kings needed on and off the court. For the third straight time, I was left shocked and disappointed on my favorite night of year, screaming one name at my television only to watch David Stern shake hands with a different player at the podium.
To be fair, Evans is an extremely talented player who impressed the Kings' organization with his superb penetration skills and tough-nosed defense. He has an NBA-ready body, succeeded at the highest level of collegiate basketball, and doesn't have an outstanding contractual obligation to an overseas team. At 6'5" and 220 pounds, Evans was described as "a man among boys" in workouts against other potential lottery picks and should make an immediate impact in the league.
But while Petrie believes he took the "best player in the draft," Sacramento badly needed a distributor, a true pass-first point guard instead of another isolation player. Evans is a physical combo guard who knows how to get the rim and looks to create his own shot over setting up his teammates. While he can improve his poor shooting in college, history hasn't been kind to converted shooting guards along the lines of Larry Hughes and Jamal Crawford.
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