SACRAMENTO - The Sacramento Kings opened up the 2016 draft prospect season Thursday at their soon-to-be-obsolete practice facility in Natomas. While no name jumps off the sheet, there were a few players who will likely be drafted in the second round or sign with teams as undrafted free agents.
When the curtain lifted on the action, assistant coaches Corliss Williamson and Nancy Lieberman were running the drills with newly hired head coach Dave Joerger overseeing the action.
Vlade Divac was joined by a team of front office folks, including Peja Stojakovic, Ken Catanella, Roland Beech and Mike Bratz. When the action on the floor concluded, Bratz, the Kings director of scouting and advisor to Divac, took time to give the media his thoughts on the action.
“There was a couple of guys that I liked,” Bratz said. “I was pleasantly surprised with a couple of guys performances.”
When pressed, Bratz said that local Sacramento product, Mike Bryson caught his attention.
“Mike Bryson played pretty well,” Bratz said. “His versatility, his strength, smart player. He’s had a great career at UCSB and he’s solid. Real good individual.”
The UC Santa Barbara guard seemed in awe of the process and the fact that two of the Kings legends were in attendance had him gushing.
“Seeing them on this floor right now is incredible to me,” Bryson said. “Watching them growing up, obviously the 01-02’ team - that was a blessing. That was incredible. That’s what I think of Kings basketball - Vlade, Peja, Chris (Webber), Mike Bibby, Jason Williams, Doug Christie...”
Joining Bryson for the workout were Josh Hagins out of Little Rock, Gabe York out of Arizona, Brannen Greene out of Kansas, Utah’s Jordan Loveridge and Max Hooper out of Oakland.
According to Bratz, the Kings will have between two and five more of these types of workouts, with the next one scheduled for Tuesday. Bratz, along with other members of the Kings front office and scouting staff, will also make their way around the country to showcase events for players as well.
The Kings hold picks no. 8 and no. 59 in the June 23rd draft.
