Marquese Chriss’ all-around ability makes him a potential target with the Kings’ lottery pick, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes. The 6’9” forward averaged 13.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in his lone college season at Washington. He is ranked No. 12 by DraftExpress’ Jonathan Givony and No. 8 by ESPN Insider Chad Ford. Chriss fashions his game after Sacramento’s incumbent small forward. “I try to play like Rudy Gay,” Chriss told Jones. “I feel like he’s very versatile. He can play from the perimeter, he can post people up, he can put the ball on the ground consistently. I’m working on my ballhandling to get more confident with that.”
In other news regarding the Kings:
- The Kings used their lottery selection last season on a highly-regarded defender in center Willie Cauley-Stein and should select another defensive stalwart in this draft, Jones opines in a separate piece. The Kings’ perimeter defense was embarrassing, with All-Stars to also-rans collecting season and career highs against them, Jones continues. New coach Dave Joerger can make schematic changes that were lacking when George Karl was in charge but the club also needs more players who can carry out those adjustments, Jones adds.
- Joerger considers the late Flip Saunders, Gregg Popovich, Rick Carlisle and Phil Jackson as his greatest coaching influences in the league, according to Shahbaz Khan of Kings.com. “You try to do what they did and then see if you can take it a little bit further,” Joerger told Khan. “Popovich and Rick Carlisle also let me be around practices and training camps and let me pick their brain. I’m very lucky to have watched those guys work.”
- New assistant GM Ken Catanella will assist GM Vlade Divac in a variety of areas, as he relayed to Kyle Ramos of Kings.com in a Q&A session. Catanella, the Pistons’ former director of basketball operations before the Kings hired him, will provide insights in player evaluation and scouting, player development, analytics, salary cap management and sports science.
