Jason Thompson is for Real

For years, Kings fans have had to wait a few years to see how good a player really was. For 2001 draft pick Gerald Wallace, it took a move to Charlotte in 2005. It took a Bonzi Wells injury for 2004 pick Kevin Martin to rise to becoming a near All-Star. For Francisco Garcia (2005), it took a Martin and Ron Artest injury for him to shine last season. Now 22-year-old JT could rank with Jason Williams, Peja Stojakovic and Hedo Turkoglu. All were draft picks that made an instant impact on the Kings.

Thompson, a 6'11 250 pound forward-center from unknown Rider, has jumped onto the national scene ranking #6 on ESPN's Rookie Rankings. He earned it by posting 18 points (64% FG), 10 rebounds and a block in 22 minutes off the bench in his NBA debut against the Timberwolves. He was the only rookie to even think about a 20-10 game. In week 2 he's #3, with only Derrick Rose (1) and Rudy Fernandez (2) ahead of him. He earned that with 10 pts (50% FG), 7 reb and a block in under 19 minutes against the Heat and 12 points (71% FG), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block in 24 minutes against the Magic. Now, he's #5 and "might have been No. 1 in these rankings if the Kings weren't so awful."

Two nights ago, he put up 17 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assist againts the Sixers in front of 350 screaming Rider fans consisting of family, friends and former temmates. Rider, in Lawrenceville, NJ, is only 47 minutes away from the Wachovia Center. Not bad for a "hometown" debut.

His production might fall with veteran center Brad Miller coming back from suspension with 2 more games to serve, but with starting power forward Mikki Moore struggling, he has a chance to earn minutes. According to Reggie Theus, it'll take an effort "above and beyond" to to take a veteran's spot. Getting 22 rebounds in a combined in a combined 65 minutes is pretty good for a rookie's first 3 games. That's one rebound per 2:57. He ranks #5 among PFs with a 28.26 PER behind Walter Herrmann, Carlos Boozer, Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki. He's the top rookie in PER overall.

The Kings took a lot of heat for drafting him after surprising everyone with picking him at #12.

Chad Ford, ESPN,

"Wow! This is the biggest surprise of the draft. Though the Warriors liked him at No. 14, we had Thompson projected as a late first-round pick. He's solid, but that's it. There are much better players on the board here. Perhaps the Kings were shell-shocked after losing out on Bayless and Augustin, the two point guards they wanted. A team should not be criticized just for doing the unexpected. But the Kings made a huge reach for Thompson at No. 12. He's going to be a solid rotation player at best. But it looks like he might be the Shelden Williams of this draft. With solid players like Brandon Rush, Darrell Arthur and Mario Chalmers and upside guys like Anthony Randolph and Marreese Speights on the board, I think the Kings blew it."

Sports Illustrated Ranking

"4/10"

Bill Simmons, ESPN

"The Kings take Jason Thompson 12th, which would have been fine if this were the second round. Stern sums the pick up best: "Jason is not here." There's a 75 percent chance that the Maloofs made that pick after downing three bottles of Patron shots at the their VIP table at Rain."

Chris Mannix, SI.com

"Geoff Petrie is smarter than all of us. He has to be. Why else would the Kings' president select a player with the 12th overall pick (Rider power forward Jason Thompson) who was rated in most mock drafts in the mid-20s? A quick glance at Thompson's collegiate career is telling. He averaged 20.4 points and 12.4 rebounds, but was never really dominant against the weaker MAAC competition. This was the biggest surprise of the first round."

Now, JT has one more game to prove that he should be a significant part of the rotation, or in my opinion, start. He's averaging 14.3 PPG (62.5% FG), 7 RPG, 2 APG, o.3 SPG and 0.8 BPG in 23.9 MPG. Not only does his size, speed and skill resemble to a rookie Karl Malone, a comparison he's been getting since summer league, but so does his stats. The Mailman averaged 14.9 PPG (49.6% FG), 8.9 RPG, 2.9 APG, 1.3 SPG and 0.54 BPG in 30.6 MPG in 1985-86. The rest is history.

JT has a bright future in this league, and so far he's shown more than enough that he belongs on the team and in the NBA. Kings fans are going to have fun watching him for years to come.