Bevy Of Draft Prospects Reportedly Workout For Kings Front Office
Jul 18, 2021, 3:45 PM | Updated: 3:47 pm
(Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
(Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
Moses Moody, Jalen Johnson, Keon Johnson, Alperen Şengün & Kai Jones have all been in Sacramento for private workouts
The 2021 NBA Draft is less than two weeks away and the Sacramento Kings have been hard at work in preparation of July 29th’s festivities.
According to reports, personal player social media accounts and plenty of Kings-fan-Twitter detectives, general manager Monte McNair and his staff have had quite the week in pre-draft workouts.
Over the past week alone, the following players have been confirmed to have worked out or met with the Kings organization:
- Moses Moody – G – Arkansas (projected 6th-14th)
- Keon Johnson – G – Tennessee (projected 7th-14th)
- Jalen Johnson – F – Duke (projected 9th-18th)
- Kai Jones – F – Texas (projected 8th-14th)
- Alperen Şengün – F – Turkey (projected 7th-13th)
On Friday afternoon, Arkansas guard Moses Moody posted himself in a Kings practice jersey on his Instagram account. Shortly after the Moody post went viral on Kings social media, it was discovered that Texas forward Kai Jones had also been in Sacramento for a pre-draft workout.
Moody, a lengthy guard from Arkansas, is seen as one of the top choices for Sacramento at the nine-spot. Jones’ draft stock has been on the rise in recent days after the 6’11 big put on an impressive display at the Klutch Sports Pro Day.
News of talented Turkish forward Alperen Şengün’s presence in Downtown Commons was shared on Saturday after the 18-year-old posted an image in front of Golden 1 Center.
Şengün, a 6’10 forward with plenty of strength and solid touch around the basket, is seen as a prospect with plenty of upside in the 7-14 range in this year’s draft.
During his media session after a workout with the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, Tennessee guard Keon Johnson shared that he had conducted a pre-draft workout out in Sacramento. Johnson is arguably the most athletically gifted player in the draft, having posted a ridiculous 48-inch vertical leap during the NBA Draft combine, smashing the previous record of 45.5 inches.
Lastly, Duke forward Jalen Johnson was spotted in the background in a photo posted by Stockton Kings assistant coach Akachi Okugo on Friday afternoon.
The Duke freshman is 6’9 with an impressive 7’0 wingspan, something than several teams will be interested once the time comes to make a selection in the mid-late lottery (7-14 range). Johnson is the third-ranked small forward in the 2021 draft behind Scottie Barnes and Jonathan Kuminga per NBADraftRoom.com.
Sacramento has been quite busy over the past week, having brought in the recent bevy of talent in Moody, Johnson, Johnson, Şengün and Jones while also having worked out or met with Gonzaga forward Corey Kispert, Stanford forward Ziaire Williams and Baylor guard Jared Butler.
With draft day quickly approaching, the Kings front office is doing its due diligence as they prepare for a crucial aspect of this very important offseason–making the 2021 draft a success.
