Kings sign Darren Collison

[Dime Dropper]

Per twitter:

Brad Turner ‏@BA_Turner 3m
Free agent guard Darren Collison agrees to 3 year, $16 milion deal with Sacramento, sources, leaving the Clippers.

Looks like that's the full MLE (correct me if I'm wrong). Looks unlikely that IT will be back, hopefully we don't let him walk for nothing.

As for the signing, it's a solid deal. Wouldn't have gone any higher for him, but he's a solid, low-end starter who is efficient, if unspectacular. Not an amazing defender but definitely an upgrade on IT defensively. If he can knock down the open shot, get the ball to the right guys in the right places, and put fourth effort on defense, then he'll be solid for us.

 

[Spike]

Maybe a bit high, but not bad considering the options.

 

[Albatros]

The deal isn't a bad one IMO he is solid. The rest of the moves will decide how I feel about this overall honestly.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

I like the move. We improve our overall 'team' play and we have someone who can get something accomplished on the defensive end. We also save money at the same time, at about 5.3 per year vs 8ish with IT. Makes sense

I like our PG front with him and an up and coming Ray McCallum. Both can play defense and get others going with team play

 

[Jerichoholic]

Per twitter:



Looks like that's the full MLE (correct me if I'm wrong). Looks unlikely that IT will be back, hopefully we don't let him walk for nothing.

As for the signing, it's a solid deal. Wouldn't have gone any higher for him, but he's a solid, low-end starter who is efficient, if unspectacular. Not an amazing defender but definitely an upgrade on IT defensively. If he can knock down the open shot, get the ball to the right guys in the right places, and put fourth effort on defense, then he'll be solid for us.

I think this is a good signing, he is a good all-around player, he is solid. He creates well for others, picks his spots for shots, shoots a decent percentage from most areas, and his defense is underrated. He should be a good starter for us, now the question is who will the backup be. We could still match any offer for Thomas, although I doubt it. Perhaps McCallum is ready for that.

 

[Dime Dropper]

This is an awful move. We now have an undersized backup pg as our starting pg. At least he can pass....

Yeah, because we were in a completely different position with IT as our starting PG...

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

This is an awful move. We now have an undersized backup pg as our starting pg. At least he can pass....

Not really sure how you figure, unless you have a minimum weight requirement for a point guard? He's 6'1.5 with some arm length and good athletic ability

 

[SwishKing]

This is an awful move. We now have an undersized backup pg as our starting pg. At least he can pass....

Who else were we going to get? Rondo was a pipe dream, and Pheonix isn't giving up Bledsoe. It was basically down to Collison, Vazquez, or just keeping IT.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

we have no assets to grab rondo or bledsoe. after letting reke go we have to settle on any crumbs we can get our hands on.

 

[Albatros]

Well one good thing is the Vasquez story was BS.

 

[Heuge]

Sloppy seconds. That's what we are happy with around here.

While this may work out, and I hope it will, this just doesn't seem prudent to me. This would be especially rough if we allow IT to walk, bleeding talent yet again. I sure hope there is a sign and trade to come.

The timing seems odd too. Now the Kings have less leverage in the IT sign and trade world.

 

[ElRey]

I think this is a good signing. For our team I prefer Collison over IT. We lose the offense of IT but we get a better defender and distributor in Collison. Collison is not a star by any means, but he is solid and can go up against most PGs in the league.

 

[ElRey]

Sloppy seconds. That's what we are happy with around here.

While this may work out, and I hope it will, this just doesn't seem prudent to me. This would be especially rough if we allow IT to walk, bleeding talent yet again. I sure hope there is a sign and trade to come.

I don't like to lose talent either. A sign and trade would be nice...

 

[Dime Dropper]

Marc J. Spears ‏@SpearsNBAYahoo 3m
Darren Collison's new three-year contract with the Kings is actually paying $15 million and is fully guaranteed, a source told Yahoo Sports.

Brad Turner ‏@BA_Turner 3m
“The Kings were the most aggressive team by far in the free agency, and I respected that on all levels," Darren Collison on Sacramento.

 

[Dime Dropper]

Sloppy seconds. That's what we are happy with around here.

While this may work out, and I hope it will, this just doesn't seem prudent to me. This would be especially rough if we allow IT to walk, bleeding talent yet again. I sure hope there is a sign and trade to come.

Realistically, what were you expecting? We won 28 games last year and have very few assets. At some point you have to acknowledge that baby steps are the best we can hope for. At least when it comes to FA. I'd imagine IT will be a S+T, can't imagine them letting him walk for nothing. At least I hope not.

 

[SwishKing]

Sloppy seconds. That's what we are happy with around here.

While this may work out, and I hope it will, this just doesn't seem prudent to me. This would be especially rough if we allow IT to walk, bleeding talent yet again. I sure hope there is a sign and trade to come.

We're a small market team. Sloppy seconds is pretty much all we get.

And, I agree with the second part. We can't just let IT walk for nothing. We have to flip him for something. Hopefully, we can swing that Josh Smith trade (more sloppy seconds).

 

[Albatros]

Kings intend to create room for Collison's non-taxpayer mid-level deal by waiving and stretching a player, source says.

Acy?

 

[mac]

Woohoo! I like the signing, if not for any other reason than the likelihood of not having to watch IT in a Kings jersey next season.

 

[ESP47]

It's an upgrade. I mean it's obvious we weren't going to win with IT so why not make a change and save some money? Offensively Collison and IT are nearly identical. Both shoot roughly the same from the 2, the same from 3, rebound the same and rack up about the same amount of assists. IT is a slightly better offensive player because can put up about 3 or 4 points more a game with the same percentages. On the defensive end Collison is much better than IT and in the end is a slight upgrade because of it.

We just don't have pieces to trade for Rondo or Bledsoe. We have Cousins who is untouchable and Gay, who's contract makes him untouchable. That's it. No one else on this team, no matter how you group them together or add them up, are worth a top of the line starter.

 

[roasthawg]

Yes! Been clamoring for this! Collison is a great replacement for IT at less money. Awesome move. We've upgraded our defense without imo giving up anything offensively. I actually think Collison is better for our offense as well too as his usage is lower than IT's. He'll pair great with Nik. With Collison/Ray we have a nice pg rotation... better than Miami's or Indiana's last year imo.

Right now I think we have the best center in the league, a top 15 player at sf, a solid if unspectacular young pg rotation, and a lot of young talent at sg. So much hinges on Nik/Ben but personally I feel really good about that spot too. If we could somehow upgrade the 4 (no easy task with all those contracts) we'll be set.

 

[LPKingsFan]

Acy?

Acy's contract is hardly a blip on the radar. Likely Terry.

 

[Dime Dropper]

Just to confirm what we already knew:

Sam Amick ‏@sam_amick 2m
Darren Collison agreed to his three-year $16 million deal with the Kings with the impression that he would be the starter, I'm told.

 

[PurpleHaze]

Woohoo! I like the signing, if not for any other reason than the likelihood of not having to watch IT in a Kings jersey next season.

That says it all and makes my day and weekend. Shoot the fireworks loud and clear on the 4th in a now double celebration!

 

[Padrino]

it's a solid if unspectacular signing. they don't have the resources or the clout to knock it out of the park with a big signing or a big trade, and they've always appeared to be lukewarm about re-signing IT to a figure as high as $8 million per. and, as i said in a different thread, given the kings' cap situation, lack of roster flexibility, lack of trade assets, and overall lack of depth, they're really gonna have to bank on nik stauskas having an immediate impact next season. if stauskas can light it up from beyond the arc and legitimately share ball handling duties in year 1, then perhaps signing a stop-gap starting PG like darren collison works out fine. i certainly wouldn't consider collison an "upgrade" over IT, but he's cheaper than IT, he comes at a much lower usage rate, and he's a solid defender. that said, you would still need to get something useful back for IT in a sign-and-trade; he can't just walk for nothing, not when the kings are so barren of assets...

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

Acy?

With Acy on the summer league team, I'm thinking Outlaw?

 

[ElRey]

I would like to see a package of IT and Jason Thompson for something...

 

[Spike]

The timing seems odd too. Now the Kings have less leverage in the IT sign and trade world.

I tend to think they have more leverage now. IT doesn't have the fall back cushion he did a day ago, so he's free to chase the money. I think it bodes well in that Sacramento doesn't need a PG in return, and hopefully they can swing some bodies around for more pieces to help balance the roster.

I guess we'll see now how things shake with IT.

 

[miltonap]

Maybe we can sign and trade IT for a shot blocker now

 

[Big Cuz 15]

maybe we can get some second rounders in exchange for IT.

 

[Kingfanpaul]

I like this move a lot. I'll miss IT, but I think Collison will actually work better on our team and at a cheaper price than IT is going to command.