NBA Mock Draft: Sacramento Kings Select Mike Muscala From Bucknell

NBA Mock Draft Pick #25 -- Mike Muscala, Center, Bucknell

SB Nation's Kings blog Sactown Royalty explains the pick, which they acquired in an earlier trade:

The Kings aren't as desperate for another big man as they are for another wing, but given the fact that the current crop of wings left in the draft aren't likely to solve Sacramento's problems in that area, the Kings opt to go for a skilled and well-rounded big man in Mike Muscala. The Kings were one of the worst defensive rebounding teams in the league last season, and Muscala is the best defensive rebounder in the draft with a 28.9% Defensive Rebounding Rate. He also has the highest assist rate (18.9%) and lowest turnover rate (9.5%) of all big men in the draft. For a guy who was the sole focus of his basketball team, that's impressive. Add in his decent shotblocking and you have a rotation big man who can pair with anyone. Sacramento also considered project big men Steven Adams and Lucas Nogueira.

SB Nation Kings blog Sactown Royalty explains the trade:

At No. 7, we had three guys we were looking at. There was a good chance one of them would be available at No. 11, and we rated them all similarly. We made the trade conditional on one of the three being there at No. 11; if they happened to go 8-9-10, we'd have kept Anthony Bennett. As it turns out, all three guys were available at No. 11, so we went with the best backcourt defender (Michael Carter-Williams). We now have the No. 25 pick as a sort of "free asset."

SB Nation's Clippers blog Clips Nation explains the trade:

Moving down in this draft isn't as bad as in some others, as the talent is a bit muddled at this point -- there will almost certainly be players available at 35 that end up being better than the player chosen 25 (though finding the right one is the trick of course). Also, it saves the Clippers a guaranteed contract and a required roster spot for the 25th pick on a team that is in win now mode. Pick 35 will end up competing with minimum salary vets for a roster spot rather than handing the spot to a rookie.

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Updated 2013 NBA Mock Draft Board: