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I've got the Powell!

Bayless out, Powell inâ€¦

Itâ€™s long since been apparent to anyone following the Kings this season that Jerryd Bayless role as the 2nd unit PG had been in question. An untimely bout of niggling knee and ankle injuries sidelined Bayless on multiple occasions forcing the Kings front office and coaching staff to look for answers. Their solution? To see how young gun Jordan Clarkson would go with the added load of PG duties both in a starting role and then falling back into his familiar bench position once Mike Conley returned from injury. The results werenâ€™t unexpected but proved that Clarkson was much more effective with the ball in his hands running the offence. This then found Bayless stuck with limited minutes at the two guard position playing behind the likes of Klay Thompson, Courtney Lee and even Clarkson at times. A much improved 3 point shooter in bayless still wasnâ€™t able to prove effective now playing off the ball.

Rumours circulated around the league regarding player/s on the Kings roster being outed to bring in some pieces to address numerous issues with the Kings consistency woes after a blistering 9 game win streak to start the season. Wether those much needed transactions are now completed or if there are more deals to come is yet to be seen. What was for certain and painfully obvious was a reoccurring theme in the fact the Kings needed big man depth. Since a break out couple of weeks to start the season with Euro big man and NLL rookie Sasha Kaun standing out as the starting centre, the Kings have decided to go in another direction questioning Kaun's ability to impact on the defensive end. Since then, veteran defensive powerhouse Andrew Bogut and athletic young big Miles Plumlee were brought in to combat this. Despite this the Kings still seemed so undersized coming off the bench especially with Lee and Mike Scott playing the SF and PF position. It was still easy to see that some of the Kings issues could be resolved bringing in a legitimate big to fill in at the PF position and have Lee and Scott respectively slide down in the rotation.

The Kings are already the 3rd team that young up and coming Dwight Powell has suited up for. Powell played the first 8 games of the season for the Orlando Magic (Ironically a deal involving Bayless and Powell was then discussed but turned down by the Kings before talks could get serious) he was productive but didnâ€™t seem to fit and was shipped to the Denver Nuggets for rookie Larry Nance Jr. Powell then played 37 games for the Nuggets with 4 starts playing an increased role off the bench while producing round figures of 5 points and 5 rebounds a game shooting 60%. Enough for the Kings to see promise in the young fella to come in straight away and impact within a 2nd unit that desperately needed energy and rebounding. Reports are that Powell will see an even more increased role at the Kings who rely on their bench to provide heavy minutes every game.

Powell has already been shown around the facilities and had a bit of a run on a few team practices. Media spoke with the youngster to get an understanding on his view on all of this;

â€œIts been a whirlwind year for me so far, weâ€™re only just over the half way point of the season and Iâ€™ve been uprooted from and introduced to my third team alreadyâ€¦ I know its just business and i appreciate the opportunities given to me, but Iâ€™m just wanting to prove myself and show i can really excel in this league. Iâ€™m happy that Iâ€™m still in a position to make an impact for a team whoâ€™s looking to go all the wayâ€.

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