Sacramento Kings Draft Greek Center Georgios Papagiannis With No. 13 Pick
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Sacramento general manager Vlade Divac had a busy draft night Thursday, trading the rights to eighth pick Marquese Chriss and backup guard Marco Belinelli in two separate deals that gave the rebuilding Kings three first-round picks.
The Kings got the 13th and 28th picks, along with a future second-round pick and the rights to Serbian guard Bogdan Bogdanovic in the deal that sent Chriss' rights to the Phoenix Suns, a person familiar with the deal said on condition of anonymity because the trade had not been announced.
Sacramento took 18-year-old Greek center Georgios Papagiannis with the 13th pick. The 7-foot-1 Papagiannis played 21 games last season in the Greek league for Panathinaikos, averaging 6.4 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.
He is considered agile, strong defensively with a good touch near the basket but might need more seasoning before he's ready to contribute in the NBA. The Kings don't have an immediate need at center where they already have All-Star DeMarcus Cousins and last year's first-round pick Willie Cauley-Stein.
Before the draft started, the Kings sent Belinelli to Charlotte for the 22nd overall pick, a second person said on condition of anonymity because the trade won't be official until the new salary cap season begins in July. The Hornets will make the selection on Sacramento's behalf.
The Kings picked in the lottery for the 10th straight season, the NBA's longest streak since the system to determine the No. 1 pick was instituted in 1985.
This is the start of a big summer for the Kings, who are moving into a new downtown arena to start next season and want to have a competitive team ready when they get to their new home.
Coach Dave Joerger was hired in May as the ninth coach in Sacramento since the team last went to the postseason in Rick Adelman's final year at the helm in 2006. Joerger had a 147-99 record in three seasons with Memphis and took the Grizzlies to the playoffs each year. But he was fired after this past season and was hired to replace the fired George Karl in Sacramento.
While the Kings won 30 games this season for the first time since 2007-08, they once again missed the playoffs as Karl failed to fix the problems on the court. The defense has once again been a major problem with the team allowing a league-worst 109.1 points per game and giving up an NBA-record 839 3-pointers.
Sacramento has one key piece in place in Cousins but needs help almost everywhere else on the roster.
Bogdanovic, the 27th pick in the 2014 draft, is planning to stay in Europe for another year before coming to the NBA.
Sacramento also has the 59th overall pick in the draft.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
