Former Buff King Works Out For Nuggets As Pre-Draft 'Tour' Continues
June 04, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
DENVER — George King has been here before — but this time around, it's not a test run.
Now, it counts.
King, the former Colorado men's basketball standout, is in the midst of an NBA tour of sorts, working out for teams across the league in preparation for the June 21 NBA Draft.
Monday morning, he was in Denver, joining Keita Bates-Diop (Ohio State), Chimezie Metu (Southern California), Marcus Foster (Creighton) and Kendrick Nunn in a workout for the Denver Nuggets.
Next up is a stop in Atlanta. All told, he will work out for eight more teams between now and June 20. At each workout, the plan is the same: show teams his versatility on both ends of the floor and give them a reason to believe they could use him on their roster.
"I'm here for a reason, because of the things that I do well," King said at the Pepsi Center. "I'm just going to continue to do the things I do well all the time."
A year ago, King went through a couple of similar workouts, including one with the Nuggets. He was technically an "early entry" player, but went through the process more to get feedback and learn where he needed to improve his game in order to improve those areas in his final year of college — and then be as ready as possible for this year's draft.
A year later, he's hoping the experience a year ago has paid dividends.
"I know what to expect," King said. "Last year I was a deer in the headlights. I didn't know. Now that I've had that experience, I can take a breath and not worry about anything else that doesn't matter. Just go out there and work out, play my game."
Since the end of the college season, King's stock has risen steadily. He was the MVP at the NABC All-Star game at the Final Four and was then named to the all-tournament team at the Portsmouth Invitational. That earned him an invitation to the NBA Combine, and by most reports, he had a solid showing there.
Now, he's doing his best to show teams he's worth a draft pick — or at least a free agent contract when the draft is completed.
King's versatility may be what lands him that opportunity. At just a shade under 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds (his NBA Combine measurements), King is a capable rebounder, can defend several positions and is a proven shooter.
In other words, he could be a player who could fill several roles for an NBA team, a utility player whose value would be in his ability to fill in at multiple positions.
In the most-recent NBA Draft projections, King's name has occasionally popped up as a late-second round pick. If he is chosen, he would be the second Buffs to be drafted in as many years, following in the footsteps of Derrick White, a first-round selection of the San Antonio Spurs a year ago.
All told, the Buffs have had four players drafted since 2011. Along with White last year, Alec Burks was a first-round choice of Utah in 2011, Andre Roberson went to Minnesota in the first round in 2013 and was traded to Oklahoma City, and Spencer Dinwiddie went to the Pistons in the second round in 2014.
All played at least one season under current CU head coach Tad Boyle.
"It says we're on the rise and it's only going to help the program going forward, getting recruits," King said. "They're going to see guys who are in the league that come from CU and they're going to want to go there because they know they have a chance to make a club out of that same program. I think we have guys who are there now who will be in this situation as well. The program is growing and I'll be excited to be watching."
After returning from his workouts a year ago, King said he was told to work on his defense and rebounding. He took that to heart and improved in both areas in his senior year with the Buffs. While he finished 22nd in the Pac-12 in scoring (12.9 points per game), he was fifth in the league in rebounding (7.8 rpg) and third in defensive rebounds.
He also showed the ability to defend on the perimeter and in the paint, matching up against bigger players inside as well as smaller players on the wing.
That, he said, is what he brings to the table when it comes to filling a need for an NBA team.
"A versatile defender, a guy who can switch," King said. "A guy who takes pride in his defense."
But one big difference this year in the workouts is the feedback he is receiving. A year ago, teams knew he likely would be returning to college and they gave him suggestions on what areas he needed to address.
This year, he said, the feedback has been minimal.
Now, he's simply doing his best to prove he deserves a shot at making an NBA roster.
"Last year I went through this process a little bit," he said. "I got to step outside of the box at the collegiate level and see how the pros work. Obviously I went back to college but it always stuck with me. Now that I'm transitioning to be a complete pro, it's only helped me that much more."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
