The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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can't keep him off the floor," May- berry said. "He could get minutes as a rookie. "I don't think they will send him to the NBA Development League — he should stay with the Thunder all season and be a utility big." While McGary and Robinson will be ones to watch, they both enter sit- uations where an expected contribu- tion is minimal. Stauskas, however, will be expected to play big minutes immediately. Most mock drafts had Stauskas go- ing to the Charlotte Hornets at No. 9 or the Philadelphia 76ers at No. 10. The Kings were said to be coveting Indiana forward Noah Vonleh, but as often in cases like this, the Sacra- mento franchise was doing a bit of deception. "It seemed like the head coach, Mi- chael Malone, was pushing for him for quite awhile, and when owner- ship and management converged with their analysis, Nik stuck out to them as well," SacTownRoyalty.com editor Greg Wissinger said. "They did a good job of really keeping it quiet. He wasn't on our radar at all. "I think the pick was a surprise more because Stauskas had not been mentioned at all, but the majority of Kings fans were not upset. They just needed to figure out who he was and why they picked him." For a franchise that ranked 18th in the NBA in field-goal percentage last year at 44.7 percent, it made a lot of sense to draft the 6-6, 205-pound Stauskas, who connected on 47.0 percent of his field goals and 44.2 percent of his 208 three-pointers in averaging a team-high 17.5 points per game for the Maize and Blue in 2013-14. "Even before last season was over, every now and then I would ask Coach Malone, 'Who do you like in the Draft?'" owner Vivek Ranadivé said. "And the one name he always came up with was Nik Stauskas. And he would say, 'V, you have to watch this kid from Michigan — he's great. I love that kid.' So he's liked this kid since last season, and he's delighted to have him on the team." While Kings fans spent the first few hours and days after the draft figuring out who Stauskas was, the Canadian hoopster also took a crash course in learning about the city of Sacramento. "It's a smaller city, but it seems like a great place," Stauskas said. Wissinger said members of the Kings' front office have been com- paring their newest player to Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thomp- son. Entering his fourth year, Thomp- son has averaged 16.0 points in 229 games, including a career-best 18.4 points per game for the Warriors last year. It is his ability to score points that would endear Stauskas to Sacra- mento fans quickly. "As much as I've expanded my game over the last couple of years, shooting is definitely the thing I do best, and I take pride in it," Stauskas said. "Coming in, I feel like when I get my feet set and I have a good look at the basket, there aren't many people in the NBA who can knock down shots like I can." ❑