With two second-round picks in hand, Sacramento targets polished prospects Jaden Bradley and Ryan Conwell to replicate the draft-day steal that landed All-Rookie center Maxime Raynaud.
The Sacramento Kings found a gem in Maxime Raynaud in the second round of last year's draft, and with two picks in the second round this year, they could find themselves another high-level contributor.
Raynaud was the 42nd pick last year and earned All-Rookie Second Team honors after a stellar rookie campaign. He finished the season strong, averaging 17.8 points between March and April.
His success highlights the Kings' eye for talent in the second round. Day 2 of the draft typically has older, polished prospects or players with clear weaknesses that do not project them as a first-round talent.
Sactown Sports 1140's Brendan Nunes highlighted two intriguing prospects for Sacramento on Thursday's edition of "The Matt and Kayla Show": Arizona's Jaden Bradley and Louisville's Ryan Conwell. Bradley and Conwell were seniors in their final season with their respective programs.
The two are ten picks apart in Yahoo Sports' Kevin O'Connor's mock draft. He mocked the Chicago Bulls to select Conwell with the 38th pick and the Dallas Mavericks to draft Bradley with the 48th pick.
Nunes highlighted Conwell's three-point shooting volume, shooting 9.6 threes at Louisville. Three-point shooting isn't his only attribute; he knows how to leverage his gravity to create opportunities for himself off the ball, which reminded Nunes of former King, Buddy Hield.
"Like I thought, one of the things that Buddy Hield was actually really good at was, 'Hey, you're going to guard me this way. I'm going to cut back door, you know?" Nunes said. "And so I thought like Conwell did a good job of doing that."
Conwell averaged 18.8 points in his lone season with the Cardinals. The 6-foot-4 guard was a journeyman in college, but improved at every stop.
He started his career at USF and only averaged 5.1 points. Conwell transferred to Indiana State and had a scoring explosion, averaging 16.6 points on 40.7% from three.
The Indianapolis, Indiana native jumped to the Power Four, transferring to Xavier and maintained his level of play. There likely isn't much more improvement in Conwell's game, but his polished skill set could make him a second-round gem.
Nunes highlighted Bradley as an experienced player who rarely makes mistakes. Bradley won Big 12 Player of the Year on a stacked Arizona team featuring Brayden Burries and Koa Peat.
He spent three seasons with the Wildcats, developing into the clutch leader he was for them in his final season. Bradley helped lead the program to its first Final Four appearance since 2001.
The 6-foot-3 guard averaged 13.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists at Arizona. When the Wildcats needed a game-winning bucket against No. 5-seed Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament, Bradley was the one who delivered.
Sacramento will have a variety of prospects to choose from in the second round. Players who are experienced, polished and could make an impact, just like Raynaud did in his rookie season.
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