The second day of Kings Mini-Camp started the same way as the first; a basic defensive drill and 10 minutes of stretching. However, there was a noticeable difference today, as Georgios Papagiannis – the team’s No. 13 pick from this year’s Draft - made his debut on the practice floor.
“GP” as his teammates lovingly refer to him, was on-hand at the Kings Practice Facility on Monday, but wasn’t yet cleared to practice by FIBA. Following clearance on Tuesday, the young Greek big man hit the hardwood with his teammates for the first time.
Head coach Dave Joerger was impressed with what he saw out of the Kings first round pick.
“He’s got good feet, he’s got good hands, the game doesn’t go faster than he wants it to,” Joerger told the media after practice. “For a lot of young guys the game is going so fast for them. He has a nice presence about him.”
No. 13 watched practice closely on Monday, absorbing some of the offensive and defensive schemes the team was implementing. Still, it’s always nice to be able to experience the drills first hand.
“Today I got the real idea of how the team seems to be,” said Papagiannis. “It’s a great feeling being on the Kings court and I’m ready to play on Friday.”
Georgios, known as a bruising big man for Panathinaikos, is excited to showcase more of his versatility as he enters the NBA, including his long-range shooting ability.
"I'm going to show it in the Summer League on Friday," Papagiannis said. "I'm not the guy who is going to talk right now, I'm going to show it on the court."
Tuesday’s practice was geared more toward the offensive side of the ball, with the team working on spacing, offensive sets and full court passing – also running a full-court scrimmage to close practice.
The Kings have three more practices in Sacramento before heading to Las Vegas to finish camp on Thursday.
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