Kings Craze Finally Settles After Draft
If you haven't been paying attention recently you might not have heard about the chaos in Sacramento. It's a difficult time to be a Kings fan to say the least.
A thousand media reports over the last 48 hours reported anything and everything. Some reports said that DeMarcus Cousins was being traded to the Lakers. Some said that George Karl may be let go and some reports said that the Kings were thinking about bringing back Pete D'Alessandro. Okay that last part wasn't true but, with everything being reported, would it have surprised you?
After everything was swirling around it was reported that Emmanuel Mudiay refused to work out with the Kings before the draft. Later on, the Kings' vice president of basketball operations, Vlade Divac, explained that his unwillingness to play for the team played a role in the Kings not drafting him. I can understand Mudiay not wanting to be a part of it. If you see a family arguing in the middle of the street, I can understand turning around and leaving.
This raises a question. Is this strategy effective?
This idea of refusing to play for a team isn't new either. In the NFL, Eli Manning refused to play in San Diego so much so that, even though he was the 1st overall pick, he was traded to the New York Giants. In the MLB draft, players routinely don't sign with the team that drafted them because the salary the player wants is too high. We even learned recently that the Lakers were able to draft Kobe Bryant because of rumors he may have played in Italy if drafted by another team.
As the story goes, Jerry West worked out Bryant before the draft for five minutes. He liked what he saw and wanted to take him. The problem came because the New Jersey Nets could take him with the 8th pick. Therefore rumors were leaked before the draft that Kobe may play oversees. The Nets wound up taking Kerry Kittles and Kobe's legacy is what it is in Los Angeles, even after he demanded a trade in 2007. (Go to about 8:55 to see)
On the other hand, in 2009, when a reporter asked Ricky Rubio what he thought about Minnesota he said it was, "Too cold." People still lost their minds because that because that's how the draft works. People get scared by anything someone says. Six years later, Rubio is still with the team that drafted him, the Minnesota Timberwolves.
As proven in the past you can change a player's mind about playing in Sacramento. Chris Webber stayed with the team after the 2001 season and Rudy Gay signed with the team after being traded from Toronto.
Maybe Mudiay saw everything that was happening and didn't want to be a part of the chaos. Maybe being in Denver, playing for the Kings' former coach and the Kings' former GM looked more appealing than what the Kings have now. Whatever drove him to his decision, it's just another drop in the bucket of madness for the Kings over the last 48 hours or so. Maybe we as fans are finally out of the storm and things can be calm now. Maybe everything was overblown and George Karl and Cousins can coexist and be best friends. Or maybe this is the calm before another storm. Have fun Kings fans. This will be your life until the season starts in October. Enjoy!