Kings vs Timberwolves - Summer League Game 4

It's not a bad thing, really. I actually feel for Thornton. One could make the case that he got the 'most screwed' by Keith Smart last season. Thornton is only 26 (and he just turned 26). He only played 24 minutes per game last season. That is just way to low for a player of his caliber. He scored 18PPG two years ago that went down to 12 last season. No reason why this coming year can't be his best year ever, particularly when he will be the no question about it #2 option and he'll be playing with a PG who will get him the ball. Always been a good hustler, good cutter, gritty, clutch player. I still believe in him.

And like you said, if McLemore actually figures it out Thorntons value could skyrocket next offseason, or even by the trade deadline.
That'll be the best thing to come out of this. On paper, McLemore looks pretty good. Watching him play, he's a project with major bust potential. Hope he can work his butt off and become the starting 2 for us. If this team is going to be built around Cousins, it is imperative that McLemore becomes what we all hope he can be.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
Hard not to believe that both Jimmer and Thornton aren't "encouraged" by McLemore's performance so far. Maybe Jimmer isn't trade bait after all, at least not right now.
 
Player that shine in the Summer League can create a shot for themselves. They need to, cause there is no actual system and very little teamwork. McLemore is not able to create for himself. It will be interesting how he does after the training camp, when he and his teammates actually know, how to get him open looks.
Far too early to provide a final assessment.
I agree with this - shot creators shine in this environment. It's pretty chaotic out there with most of the guys literally fighting for their livelihoods.
 
Hard not to believe that both Jimmer and Thornton aren't "encouraged" by McLemore's performance so far. Maybe Jimmer isn't trade bait after all, at least not right now.
I certainly hope they are both trade bait and are gone by camp. Reason: I see no long range place for them on this team so I don't want another minute of playing time wasted on them. Neither of them are pleasant for me to wtach so it's personal with me.
 
This is why I hate Summer League. People start labeling people "busts" and ignore the fact of how little SL actually means for rookies. It's far more important to see the players with NBA experience do well than the rooks.

Don't get me wrong, McLemore has PLENTY to work on with his game. But I have every confidence he can be a productive off-ball shooter/defender/energy player year 1. Especially when you know.. we have other people on the court who actually might command attention of the defense so he can get open looks.

Btw, our old pal Thomas Robinson is averaging 13.3 RPG in Summer League thus far. Maybe there's hope for the mega-bust after all?
 
in fairness, all of these things have been said on this board. very recently at that. they have been said by overenthusiastic and/or misguided people, but they have been said.
Well if there's one thing we can't have on a fan board it's overenthusiastic people.
 
in fairness, all of these things have been said on this board. very recently at that. they have been said by overenthusiastic and/or misguided people, but they have been said.


Doesn't make it any less of a misguided straw man argument. Which we frown upon in this establishment.
 
Well if there's one thing we can't have on a fan board it's overenthusiastic people.
while enthusiasm is great and there are many things to be enthusiastic about, doing something like calling McLemore Ray Allen with more athleticism is just setting oneself up for disappointment. I'd rather have lower expectations and not be crushed, which is also one of the reasons that this whole summer league thing doesn't bother me all that much. it's a philosophy thing, I guess. his baseline is solid and he'll at least be a useful roleplayer, which was what I was hoping for the Kings to come out with from this draft. had I been expecting any sort of superstar potential, then I might be worried, maybe even freaking out right now. as is, I'm decidedly serene.

which isn't to say that he can't still be more than a useful roleplayer. just to make that clear.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
Well if there's one thing we can't have on a fan board it's overenthusiastic people.
Ding! Ding! Ding!

Yep, how dare people choose to find something positive to say? I swear, at times it's getting to be like the old Kingstalk board around here, where if you didn't agree with the prevailing opinion you were shouted down and ridiculed.

We have a tremendous fan base and we've got something to root for again...and we've got a future. I truly do not understand why there cannot be room for all opinions, enthusiastic and critical, without ridicule, sarcasm and the ever-present snark.
 
while enthusiasm is great and there are many things to be enthusiastic about, doing something like calling McLemore Ray Allen with more athleticism is just setting oneself up for disappointment. I'd rather have lower expectations and not be crushed, which is also one of the reasons that this whole summer league thing doesn't bother me all that much. it's a philosophy thing, I guess. his baseline is solid and he'll at least be a useful roleplayer, which was what I was hoping for the Kings to come out with from this draft. had I been expecting any sort of superstar potential, then I might be worried, maybe even freaking out right now. as is, I'm decidedly serene.

which isn't to say that he can't still be more than a useful roleplayer. just to make that clear.
How is that sort of statement any different than some of the Tyreke comparisons we've seen over the years? And then the people who disagree with those comparisons get ridiculed into oblivion (I'll Strawman myself!)
 
How is that sort of statement any different than some of the Tyreke comparisons we've seen over the years? And then the people who disagree with those comparisons get ridiculed into oblivion (I'll Strawman myself!)
I don't see what Tyreke has to do with this discussion. but, depending on which precise comparison you are talking about, I might call those people overenthusiastic, too.
 
This is why I hate Summer League. People start labeling people "busts" and ignore the fact of how little SL actually means for rookies. It's far more important to see the players with NBA experience do well than the rooks.

Don't get me wrong, McLemore has PLENTY to work on with his game. But I have every confidence he can be a productive off-ball shooter/defender/energy player year 1. Especially when you know.. we have other people on the court who actually might command attention of the defense so he can get open looks.

Btw, our old pal Thomas Robinson is averaging 13.3 RPG in Summer League thus far. Maybe there's hope for the mega-bust after all?
No one ever said TRob couldn't rebound. In fact it's about the only thing he has going for him because he can't shoot, can't score, can't finish, can't pass and can't play defense.
 
I certainly hope they are both trade bait and are gone by camp. Reason: I see no long range place for them on this team so I don't want another minute of playing time wasted on them. Neither of them are pleasant for me to wtach so it's personal with me.
MT isn't pleasant to watch? He's been pretty clutch for us over the past couple years. I love watching him play. At least on the offensive end. MT>MLM by far, and we need MT to start this year at SG.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
The curse of the Kansas Jayhawk that fell in the draft which the Kings got!

I wanted Burke dammit!
Burke hasn't been playing well at all. Neither has Porter (the guy I wanted). I guess Oladipo is playing well (my 1B choice); the first game I saw him play in summer league he played great. Shroeder has caught my eye and that of some pundits. Why the FO didn't invite him in for a workout is a mystery.
 
Burke hasn't been playing well at all. Neither has Porter (the guy I wanted). I guess Oladipo is playing well (my 1B choice); the first game I saw him play in summer league he played great. Shroeder has caught my eye and that of some pundits. Why the FO didn't invite him in for a workout is a mystery.
McCollum has been balling as well which was probably our FO 1B. Make no mistake, if this McLemore kid is a bust (and we are ways away from that determination) it will set the franchise back a year and be detrimental
 
its upsetting that we took a guy for the second straight year that didnt workout for us in predraft workouts...its like we were really unprepared...PDA just picked bmac beacuse of the hype...and even in his interview with nbatv, he was asked what he liked about ray mcCallum and his answer was his old coach told him ray was gonna be a good player....i mean he cant make decisions by himself or what...and im tired of vivek saying we signed carl landry beacuse he watched him at golden state...carl doesnt bring anything new to this team...the luc trade may be the only move this offseason that made sense, so maybe there is a glimmer of hope that PDA knows whats he doing and in next years draft he will have done all of his homework...and im tired of everyone saying well keven durant shot this in summer league or steph curry shot this in summer league ...so ben mac is fine...you can watch a player and see if he can play...i mean cj mcCollum is shoting 37 % from the field, but you can see the player he is...i dont need analytics or stats to see that cj is a better player than bmac
 
its upsetting that we took a guy for the second straight year that didnt workout for us in predraft workouts...its like we were really unprepared...PDA just picked bmac beacuse of the hype...and even in his interview with nbatv, he was asked what he liked about ray mcCallum and his answer was his old coach told him ray was gonna be a good player....i mean he cant make decisions by himself or what...and im tired of vivek saying we signed carl landry beacuse he watched him at golden state...carl doesnt bring anything new to this team...the luc trade may be the only move this offseason that made sense, so maybe there is a glimmer of hope that PDA knows whats he doing and in next years draft he will have done all of his homework...and im tired of everyone saying well keven durant shot this in summer league or steph curry shot this in summer league ...so ben mac is fine...you can watch a player and see if he can play...i mean cj mcCollum is shoting 37 % from the field, but you can see the player he is...i dont need analytics or stats to see that cj is a better player than bmac

Yes, the FO haven't shown any evidence that they know what they are doing, yet.

Vivek said Mac was #1 on their big board. (He may be just saying that because he just drafted him, but..) Lets assume Mac was really #1 on or FO's big board. Did they really do enough homework on him to know his game and then made that judgement?

I'm not saying Mac is going to be a bust because he hasn't played well in the summer league, but if our FO was telling the truth, then they are saying that they would've took Mac at #1 even if we had the #1 pick.

All this signing of talent from the Warriors and going after players they have familiarity with is just getting old. Can they evaluate talent elsewhere other than people they already know?

Another question is, did they think Tyreke wasn't worth $11 million a year because they didn't have a history with him? So far, it just seems that since they didn't know Tyreke first hand, they evaluated that he is not worth $11 million a year. Honestly $11 mil was a fair deal.

Sad to say that as much as people used to blame GP, these guys aren't any better by any means. I would argue that the GP + Gavin (as a talent evaluator), has been better than what PDA + Vivek has shown.
 
Yes, the FO haven't shown any evidence that they know what they are doing, yet.

Vivek said Mac was #1 on their big board. (He may be just saying that because he just drafted him, but..) Lets assume Mac was really #1 on or FO's big board. Did they really do enough homework on him to know his game and then made that judgement?

I'm not saying Mac is going to be a bust because he hasn't played well in the summer league, but if our FO was telling the truth, then they are saying that they would've took Mac at #1 even if we had the #1 pick.

All this signing of talent from the Warriors and going after players they have familiarity with is just getting old. Can they evaluate talent elsewhere other than people they already know?

Another question is, did they think Tyreke wasn't worth $11 million a year because they didn't have a history with him? So far, it just seems that since they didn't know Tyreke first hand, they evaluated that he is not worth $11 million a year. Honestly $11 mil was a fair deal.

Sad to say that as much as people used to blame GP, these guys aren't any better by any means. I would argue that the GP + Gavin (as a talent evaluator), has been better than what PDA + Vivek has shown.
exactly...to me its a bad answer about why you like a player if you say well i saw him in golden state...or well my old coach told me he was a good player...coach malone seems like the only competent guy of this new group..he actually can tell you what a player does...PDA jus looks and sounds lost to me...and yes tyreke was worth 11 min a year *tear*
 
MT isn't pleasant to watch? He's been pretty clutch for us over the past couple years. I love watching him play.
i feel like Thornton is the most underrated player on the Kings. some Kings fans talk like he is out there playing like Jimmer. they must forget how productive he can be. think of how many games we won since he got here just because of his clutch shooting in the last minute of the game.

Marcus pretty much single handedly took us to double OT against the HEAT on their home floor in the middle of their historic win streak this year

i also remember him torching the Lakers a time or 2
 
i feel like Thornton is the most underrated player on the Kings. some Kings fans talk like he is out there playing like Jimmer. they must forget how productive he can be. think of how many games we won since he got here just because of his clutch shooting in the last minute of the game.

Marcus pretty much single handedly took us to double OT against the HEAT on their home floor in the middle of their historic win streak this year

i also remember him torching the Lakers a time or 2
i agree...thorton will start at sg for us and will prolly avg 20 points a game playing next to a guy like vasquez(who i hope starts over IT) last year he took bad shots mainly because he was pressing and didnt get consistent minutes in dumbs weird rotations...i still believe he is best suited as a 6th man, bt after the bmac pick and letting reke go... he'll prolly be starting to finish out his contract...he will play a lot smoother and smarter next year...i jus hope he buys in to some kind of defense
 
yea this guy is pretty good. he also crashes the boards pretty damn good for a guy his size.



this is a good one too, and i think this was all from one season which is pretty crazy

 
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Yes, the FO haven't shown any evidence that they know what they are doing, yet.

Vivek said Mac was #1 on their big board. (He may be just saying that because he just drafted him, but..) Lets assume Mac was really #1 on or FO's big board. Did they really do enough homework on him to know his game and then made that judgement?

I'm not saying Mac is going to be a bust because he hasn't played well in the summer league, but if our FO was telling the truth, then they are saying that they would've took Mac at #1 even if we had the #1 pick.

All this signing of talent from the Warriors and going after players they have familiarity with is just getting old. Can they evaluate talent elsewhere other than people they already know?

Another question is, did they think Tyreke wasn't worth $11 million a year because they didn't have a history with him? So far, it just seems that since they didn't know Tyreke first hand, they evaluated that he is not worth $11 million a year. Honestly $11 mil was a fair deal.

Sad to say that as much as people used to blame GP, these guys aren't any better by any means. I would argue that the GP + Gavin (as a talent evaluator), has been better than what PDA + Vivek has shown.
Have we played an NBA minute? Do you know what our record is at the end of the season? Is Cousins an All-star? Does Vasquez get better? How Thornton? IT? Clue me in so I know where to bet this year.

This last statement ticks me off. You have no damn idea how good our team will be next year. Or the true impact Malone might have. I wonder if you'll stand by that statement if we go win 40+ games next year?
 
Have we played an NBA minute? Do you know what our record is at the end of the season? Is Cousins an All-star? Does Vasquez get better? How Thornton? IT? Clue me in so I know where to bet this year.

This last statement ticks me off. You have no damn idea how good our team will be next year. Or the true impact Malone might have. I wonder if you'll stand by that statement if we go win 40+ games next year?
By that logic we have no idea how good our team would be every year. We could trade Cousins away for Patty Mills, hey we could be better wait and see! In fact let's not have a coach while we're at it, and just hire D-league players. For all we know we could be better.

It's ALL speculation. That's what being a fan is about, and Gibbs is entitled to his opinion every bit as much as you are. We speculate on how good our team is, on how moves will affect our performance. If every fan were to say "you have no damn idea how good our team will be" then what would the use of any sports discussion platform be? For everyone to just post "GO KINGS!" every single day? Even if we get a better record this year who's to say that it was all because of PDA + Vivek being better than GP + Maloofs? It could also be because the players simply improved naturally, and it had nothign to do with the FO or coaching staff. It's ALL speculation.
 
By that logic we have no idea how good our team would be every year. We could trade Cousins away for Patty Mills, hey we could be better wait and see! In fact let's not have a coach while we're at it, and just hire D-league players. For all we know we could be better.

It's ALL speculation. That's what being a fan is about, and Gibbs is entitled to his opinion every bit as much as you are. We speculate on how good our team is, on how moves will affect our performance. If every fan were to say "you have no damn idea how good our team will be" then what would the use of any sports discussion platform be? For everyone to just post "GO KINGS!" every single day? Even if we get a better record this year who's to say that it was all because of PDA + Vivek being better than GP + Maloofs? It could also be because the players simply improved naturally, and it had nothign to do with the FO or coaching staff. It's ALL speculation.
Knew I would get one of these. Typical.

I don't care if you don't like the moves. I DO care when you start making baseless claims that PDA and Vivek are worse than Gavin+Petrie.