Former Wildcats in the NBA West Preview: 2013-2014

Oct 14, 2013; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (15) points in the air after scoring the last shot of the half against the Los Angeles Clippers during the second quarter at Sleep Train Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Demarcus Cousins #15 – Sacramento Kings
Last Season – 17.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists

Wow. Fresh off of signing a 4 year 62 million dollar extension in the offseason, Demarcus Cousins donated 1 million to charity. Maybe that silences a little bit of the critics about his off court woes, maybe it doesn’t, but what he did was extremely commendable. It makes Big Blue Nation proud. The statements made by people about his attitude and his clashes with coaches has been made every year. It gets old. We get it. It’s time to focus on what good things Demarcus Cousins does for people. Agreed?

The donation was nice, but are something’s Cousins needs to work on this season, and the main one is his low post defense. If he really wants to elevate his game, he will need to be exceptional on defense this season. If he wants to be the franchise player, he needs to be good all around. That said, Cousins is a down right beast on offense. There are only a select few that can actually guard him, or at least try. If he can get the defense down, watch out. I expect Cousins to have a break out year. Just watch.

Patrick Patterson #9 – Sacramento Kings
Last season – 10.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists

Quite possibly the savior of Kentucky Basketball, Patterson has fit in comfortably with his new team. The Kings feature 2 other former Wildcats that must make it nice for trash talking come March.

Guess what? The buzz out of Sacramento about Patterson, is his 3-point shooting. After not making one shot beyond the arc in his first two seasons at Kentucky, he attempted 69 three point shots making 24 of them (34.8%). Not bad. But now he has worked on it this offseason and has come out ready to show off his new skill. A skill that has probably earned himself a spot as a starter. Who “introduced” Patrick to the 3-point shot? John Calipari.

Expect Patterson average close to a double-double this season as most teams will try and double team Demarcus Cousins. Patterson is so fundamentally sound that a double-double season is very possible.

Chuck Hayes #42 – Sacramento Kings
Last season – 2.7 points, 4 rebounds, 1.5 assists

Hayes may be nearing an end to his NBA career. His minutes per game has dropped last couple years as well as his points and rebounds per game, and ultimately his production. that doesn’t mean Hayes doesn’t have anything left, but his best year as a pro came when he averaged 8 points per game. The Kings brought Hayes in to be a defensive stopper, nothing more really. It will be interesting to see how the Kings use Chuck this year and how well he performs.

Eric Bledsoe #2 – Phoenix Suns
Last season – 8.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists

All eyes are on Eric Bledsoe this year. The Phoenix Suns bought in to Bledsoe to be their point guard for years to come. Because of that, the Suns are in talk with Bledsoe about a contract extension, something they have to do come Thursday.
Azcentral.com:

"The Phoenix Suns are currently in talks with newly acquired guard Eric Bledsoe on a long-term contract extension. If the two sides can’t reach a deal by the end of the month, the 23-year-old combo guard would become a restricted free agent at the end of the season.The Suns are in an interesting spot because they’ve only seen the Kentucky product in training camp and a few preseason games, and it’s still uncertain that he will become the star many project him to be.Nonetheless, general manager Ryan McDonough, while on Arizona Sports 620’s Burns & Gambo show Wednesday, agreed that Bledsoe does figure into the team’s long-term plans. McDonough said contract talks with the fourth-year player have gone “pretty well” to this point.“If we’re not able to work out a deal (by Oct. 31), we would start next summer with Eric as a restricted free agent, but obviously we’re hoping to get something done before that,” the general manager said."

Archie Goodwin #20 – Phoenix Suns
Last season – no stats, ROOKIE

The uncoachable shooting guard has impressed many people in the Phoenix Suns organization. At Kentucky we knew had the talent to become a very good NBA player, it was just his coachableness (it’s a new word, work with it). Goodwin will have to learn to listen to his coaches, because the NBA will not put up with people that don’t listen to coaches, unless you’re Kobe Bryant, but he’s not Kobe Bryant… Yet.
USAToday.com:

"Archie Goodwin is the symbol of a franchise that finally has some vision. He will flash jaw-dropping open-court skills one minute, an inconsistent shooting touch another. More than anything though, he holds the promise of greatness, an intriguing story line as the Suns play their second preseason game Wednesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers.“Patience,” Goodwin said, “will help me in this league.”"

Enes Kanter #0 – Utah Jazz
Last season – 7.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.4 assists

Al Jefferson, now with the Charlotte Bobcats, was a vital part of the Jazz season last year. After 3 seasons with Utah, Jefferson decided to move on, but to the Bobcats, yes that’s odd. This proves to be a good thing for Enes Kanter. The 3rd overall pick in the 2011 draft will finally get to prove his worth this coming season for the Jazz.

In response to Al Jefferson leaving the Jazz and having to step into the new role, Enes expressed this,
“It’s so much pressure,” Kanter said. “I like pressure, though. Coach is expecting a lot, fans are expecting a lot. Everybody with the Utah Jazz are expecting a lot of things . The only thing you can do is just go out there and play your 100 percent best and just work hard.”

Jodie Meeks #20 – Los Angeles Lakers
Last season – 7.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, 0.9 assists

Former staff writer for Wildcat Blue Nation, Brett Bibbins, talked with Jodie Meeks, and had this to write:

"“Most multimillionaire professional athletes choose to spend their offseason on a tropical beach, in a foreign country or pursuing some more than likely ill-fated acting career, such as Shaquille O’Neal’s 1996 movie “Kazaam.”However, for Jodie Meeks of the Los Angeles Lakers, a college classroom is the destination for his summer vacation.Before Meeks left UK for the NBA, he made a promise to his parents that he would return to school to complete his degree.“When I left school early, after my junior year, I committed to myself and to my family that I would come back at some point,” Meeks said in an interview with the Kernel.The Los Angeles Laker is now in his third summer returning to class to chip away at his remaining uncompleted credit hours.His parents, Orestes and Margaret Meeks, both have college degrees, so they were unconvinced that he should leave school early, but in the end it was Meeks’ decision to make.”"

Meeks is still valuable to the Lakers, and they plan to use him a lot this season.

Terrence Jones #6 – Houston Rockets
Last season – 5.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 0.8 assists

The offseason for Terrence Jones was not what you would call, good news. Jones was arrested for stomping on a homeless man. Yeah, doesn’t sound good.

"KATU: …was arrested in Portland at about 2 a.m. on Wednesday after police said he yelled at a homeless man and stomped on his leg. Jones was charged with harassment and is due in court Tuesday at 2 p.mThis did not look good for Jones, who is a millionaire, but then again we do not have all of the information as to what actually happened. For the meantime Terrence was charged with harassment."

As far as on the court news the Houston Rockets starting Power forward position is wide open and Jones looks to capitalize on the opportunity and get the starting position. Jones will probably not have a break out year, but look for him have a good year and earn respect across the league.

Anthony Davis #23 – New Orleans Pelicans
Last season – 13.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.0 assists

“Anthony Davis has been putting in work this offseason…and it is paying dividends! Every morning before the Pelicans would take the court for summer league practice, Davis would be in the gym. Each morning, he would put in a two-hour workout with the team’s strength and conditioning coach, Carlos Daniel. The thing crazy thing about this…Davis was not even on the summer league team. His spot on the roster was set in stone. Davis was simply there on a voluntary basis, working hard to improve his game. This went on for two weeks, after which he moved on…to the USA Basketball minicamp that was being held at the same place.” – Brian True, Wildcat Blue Nation.

I have to agree. Davis is in his second year, and I firmly believe he will absolutely come out rocking this season. His break out year will be this year. Book it. He’s put on more weight, and it seems like Davis talent and improvement is ceiling-less.

Darius Miller #2 – New Orleans Pelicans
Last season – 2.3 points, 1.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists

Miller is an interesting player. Sometimes he shows that he can play in this league, and shows flashes of All-Star ability, but then there is the one thing that he can’t seem to get away from, and that his is shyness. He sometimes just doesn’t take shots when he should. But being in the league for a couple years will get rid of that.

About a month ago Miller was hurt with a foot injury, that had him sidelined for 8-12 weeks. He should be ready to come back to play sometime in November. I can’t wait to see how Miller has improved, because we all know he has.

Tayshuan Prince #21 – Memphis Grizzlies
Last season – 10.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists

The big news that came out a couple days ago for Tayshuan is that the already skinny forward has lost 12-15 pounds due to a stomach illness.

"Since becoming a Memphis Grizzly last winter, Prince has struggled – most notably in the 2013 postseason, when he shot just 35 percent from the floor while averaging just seven points in 30 minutes a game. That 15-game sample size wasn’t supposed to carry over into the 2013 exhibition season, but that glass half-full approach is getting harder and harder to work through while Pierce sits out game after game with an ongoing stomach bug."

The Memphis Grizzlies are a little confused with his health:

"I was at the game in Atlanta, right behind the Grizzlies bench. During halftime, [Grizzlies Vice President of Basketball Operations] John Hollinger was milling around and caught sight of my Fort Wayne Mad Ants T-shirt. He pointed and laughed and asked if Dwayne Ticknor had seen it and knew I was there. We chatted for a moment and, while I had him I asked: “What’s up with Tayshaun?”He responded: “I don’t think he’s here.” while actually searching the empty halftime bench for him. He turned back into a brief staredown, and gave me a hands-in-the-pockets shrug and said: “There is no official word.” He said it twice."