Video: An inside draft day look at an incompetent franchise at work (Spoiler: It's the Kings)


If you think you could do a better job running a NBA franchise than some teams do, you very likely could. Here's a video from last Summer of the Kings botching their 2014 draft. Step one of having a poor front office is the presence of a meddling owner. Why does Vivek Ranadivé seem to have at least if not more say than the team's general manager Pete D’Alessandro does with who they draft. Why is the old school GM so impressed by analytics like its some new concept? Other teams have been doing this stuff for over 10 years. D’Alessandro didn't even know who the Cavs were picking #1. He was sure it would be Parker. Dude follow Woj on Twitter at least. You'll look less incompetent.

There's D’Alessandro calling Philly about trading up to #3 like they had a shot. In the previous episode, D’Alessandro had repeatedly said why not swing for the fences on their pick... and then he drafts Nik Stauskas. Also hilarious is the presence of Mitch Richmond. He looks about as useful here as he was for the Lakers his final season. Owners love hanging out with former players because it makes them feel cool, but honestly a lot of players are horrendous judges of talent. Bill Russell sucked as the Kings GM back in the day and Michael Jordan's front office moves make his baseball career look hall of fame worthy in comparison.

Honestly I love watching behind the scenes video like this. It's also very relevant as the big name on the trade market is the Kings DeMarcus Cousins. While D’Alessandro is no longer around to botch this situation, Vivek is still just as meddlesome. Unfortunately the team that will most likely benefit the most from the Kings incompetence is the Lakers as they are rumored to be engaging Sacramento in Cousins talk. Due to the Celtics making the playoffs and not tanking like the Lakers, the Celtics don't have a premier asset chip to offer the Kings (Similar to last year when the Cavs with Wiggins could trump any offer we could pitch for Love).


While Danny Ainge has sure had his fair share of misses, we can all be thankful we don't have the fools in Sacramento running our draft today.

More from Grantland's series in case you are into this behind the scenes stuff like I am:


Share