welp, i just hope the kings can re-sign isaiah thomas to a reasonable contract so that he can eventually be returned to the bench with an appropriate price tag...
And therein lies my biggest issue with us basically not doing anything - a lack of continuity. Suffice to say you and I don't see him as a long-term (winning) solution next to Cousins and Gay as a starter, and I pray dearly that the FO doesn't either or we're doomed for a good number of years as a mediocre playoff team at best. IT is now playing for a contract even more, and I wouldn't blame him for jacking up shots and just trying to inflate his stats. Even if he does make an attempt to fit in, where does that leave us? We're still going to want to move him back to a 6th man role, so if I'm IT I'm asking why on earth I should bother deferring to Cousins and Gay. Better I get my stats now - "worst case" is I get resigned as a 6th man. Best case is some other team signs me to a bigger contract as a starter.
What I wanted was some kind of certainty so that we could start building a team going forward. Right now there are still so many things that are uncertain. Rome wasn't built in a day, but if we finish this season and all we have to show for it is acquiring (which isn't even certain mind you) Rudy Gay for the future then we're going to be well, well behind while other teams make good moves and actually play well. Look at the Phoenix Suns! How come they could turn things around so quickly? It's not so much a matter of us having no future, but rather at some point we have to get a core group of guys that we see as our future and start building around them! We're wasting precious time building chemistry and consistency while other teams aren't just standing still! Again, what have we accomplished this season beyond getting Rudy Gay? Absolutely nothing! Ben McLemore doesn't look promising, and in any case Malone's system doesn't even use his SGs much offensively so I don't even get the point of holding on so dearly to dear Ben.
Say the offseason comes round and we have somewhat of a perfect but realistic offseason. IT moves back to the bench, we get a starting PG somehow. Then it's going to take time and the same excuses are going to come around, that it takes time for chemistry to develop, that Ben's only in his 2nd year, that they've only had one proper training camp under Malone as a team, etc etc.
I'm just sick and tired of being told that we're a team just a year away from taking the NBA by storm, only to see us stand still year after year after year while other teams actually improve. We're not the only frikin team that has/had culture problems y'know? The Cavs and the 76ers positioned themselves to be playoff teams, but simply got screwed by Andrew Bynum. Have we put ourselves in a position to even be a playoff team?