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NBA DRAFT 2016June 23, 2016Malachi RichardsonBrooklyn, New York THE MODERATOR: Opening statement, feelings about coming to your new team. MALACHI RICHARDSON: Just excited to be drafted. Dream come true for sure. Whirlwind of emotions. Q. Malachi, Sacramento Kings, what do you think about the Kings, joining the Kings' organization, being part of all of that? MALACHI RICHARDSON: I just look forward to going out there and working my tail off, trying to help that organization. Q. Did you work out for them? What do you know about the Kings? MALACHI RICHARDSON: I was able to hang out with DeMarcus Cousins a little bit while I was out in Vegas, but no, I didn't work out with the Kings. Q. You talked about this being a whirlwind of emotions. What's going through your head as the draft progresses and when you finally hear your name called? What's that feeling like? MALACHI RICHARDSON: It feels like an animal being lifted off my back. Just waiting and waiting to hear your name called is sort of crazy. But I'm just glad and thankful I was picked by the Sacramento Kings, and I look forward to it. Q. You said people have told you you were making a mistake. How good does it feel to prove that you didn't make a mistake? MALACHI RICHARDSON: That means a lot. You can't really worry about what people say anymore. They're not in my shoes, and I just got to make the best of the opportunity. Q. What are the conversations you're having with your family? Is it just kind of trying to keep your spirits up as the picks are going by? MALACHI RICHARDSON: Just hoping I'm the next name. It definitely helped to use my family and kept me up, but it was definitely tough sitting and waiting, but it was worth it. Q. Syracuse guy, as you go through things, everybody questions your ability to play man-to-man defense; you played zone, 2-3 the whole time. You've probably switched around from top to the bottom of zones, you probably have more of an idea of what goes into every play in terms of positioning. How is the lack of man-to-man on defense going to hurt you or help you for the college game? MALACHI RICHARDSON: It definitely won't hurt me. I played man-to-man my whole life and I've been able to show that I can play man in these workouts, so just going to have to get out there and play. Q. Recent Syracuse players have been drafted and came out and haven't necessarily worked out in the league. Do you think that's something to do with the school or is that just a coincidence? MALACHI RICHARDSON: I mean, there are a few guys that have definitely had pretty good careers. Everyone isn't a superstar in this league, so I think that's just a coincidence. Q. It's no secret you're about to be paid a lot of money to play basketball. Do you have any kind of special present you're thinking about buying yourself now that you got drafted? MALACHI RICHARDSON: I have no clue yet. Q. You haven't thought of anything? MALACHI RICHARDSON: Yeah, I haven't thought of anything. Q. Most of the teams or all the teams that you had worked out for, their picks had passed. Are you kind of going through that in your mind as it's going along? And at that point are you looking at the next few picks coming up going, who is going to take me? MALACHI RICHARDSON: This draft was a little hectic at first. There was a lot of guys still sitting in the green room that a everyone thought would be picked earlier and there were a lot of people picked that no one really thought about. A lot of things happened and I got slotted down a little bit, but I'm just thankful to be in this position that I'm in. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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