Kings sign Darren Collison

Having watched tons of Clippers games last season I can say that Collison is a very quick defender with pesky hands, plays the passing lanes well and pressures the opposing PG's(this is as a backup not starter minutes). His first instinct is to get in the lane, and he has improved his jumper over the years to the point where he can be a streaky shooter(especially from the corners). Thing is with the Clippers he was rarely asked to be a traditional PG, basically took over the role Eric Bledsoe left, (play next to Chris Paul, be agressive defensively, attack the rim, push the pace off of defensive stops, spot shooting). I like Collison in that role, the question is if he is capable of going from that to a full time starter and the responsibilities that come with being a starting PG. Playing behind/along with the best PG in the league certainly bodes well, seems like a player on a gradual ascension and we are getting him in his prime.
 

Entity

Hall of Famer
Having watched tons of Clippers games last season I can say that Collison is a very quick defender with pesky hands, plays the passing lanes well and pressures the opposing PG's(this is as a backup not starter minutes). His first instinct is to get in the lane, and he has improved his jumper over the years to the point where he can be a streaky shooter(especially from the corners). Thing is with the Clippers he was rarely asked to be a traditional PG, basically took over the role Eric Bledsoe left, (play next to Chris Paul, be agressive defensively, attack the rim, push the pace off of defensive stops, spot shooting). I like Collison in that role, the question is if he is capable of going from that to a full time starter and the responsibilities that come with being a starting PG. Playing behind/along with the best PG in the league certainly bodes well, seems like a player on a gradual ascension and we are getting him in his prime.
Yeah you would have to think playing with Chris Paul for a couple years would make you better.
 
I dont mind the signing though price is a little steep. Would have preferred to go with steve blake (better shooting and play making at 1/2 the price) who would have been a good veteran fpr leadership and a mentor to McCallum.

We can still get a defensive big fpr cheap too. Kaman, okafur, nazr Mohammad all could probably be had for ~2million or less and would be able to provide decent rim protection /backup for cousins for 15 mpg
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
This simply has to be paired with resigning of IT. Otherwise, we got a worse ball-handler, worse ball-distributor and a far worse play maker. It's a step back-wards if we don't resign IT or make another move to bring in another guard.

With IT however, then we took amazingly positive steps towards improving our back-court. I see Collison and Stauskas as 2 guys who can contribute in a lot of ways and fill in a lot of the holes we had last season.

One thing to watch is Collison did spend some time playing off CP3 last year. So an IT-Collison show at the end of games is entirely a possibility
Maybe we bring in another guard....maybe not. What is clear to me is this is Cuz and Gay's team. And I believe the FO knows this and IT flat out wants to be THE guy......not going to happen. If we go into the season with a Collison and McCallum as the PG's, I'm completely ok with that right now. We have arguably he bet center in the league, we added an upper tier SF and with IT, we still can't win more than 28 games? Not putting all blame on IT, I understand the SG play was not good, and our PF play was ok at best, but IT is not irreplaceable. Cuz is irreplaceable. If Stauskas and Ben can play to potential....ssssooooo key......and if Collison and McCallum can be steady facilitators, we will win more games. With this signing, it's going to be nice not seeing other teams backcourts go off for career games most nights.
 
We are this close to not having to see those freakin Pizza Guys commercials anymore! It's hilarious to see all those sactownroyalty guys all sad about this. The Sacramento Kings are finally getting serious about winning.
Don't be so sure. If Thomas leaves expect to see someone else take on the role of "Pizza Guy" next year. I'm saying it now, Quincy Acy should be the next Pizza Guy !
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
When I think of Collison I just have to think of boring. The guy is a solid citizen, a good worker, a good character guy, all good things. As far as his play is concerned, you never have to worry about him shooting too much; he's about as conservative as you can get. He's quick and fast, but typically he doesn't play as quick or fast as his measurements would indicate. He's a mechanical paint-by-the- numbers point guard. On court real time decisions don't come naturally to him. He's a pretty good defender. He's rarely going to win a game for you. His aim is not to lose games. Sometimes when you watch him you're not going to know he's in the game. He'll pick a spot or two in the game to do something, but he's not the type that is going to put constant pressure on the opposing defense. Opposing teams are not going to fear playing against Collison.
SOLD!

Except for the "on court real time decisions don't come naturally to him" part, which may or may not be true, if you'd asked me to describe my ideal point guard to play with DeMarcus Cousins, that's practically what I would have said, verbatim.

Also, I may be misunderstanding something about the ability to sign and trade Thomas: why are people saying that we've lost the leverage in dealing with him, since signing Collison? Don't we still have his Bird rights? Can't we go over the cap to re-sign him, if we're so inclined? How do we lose any leverage where he is concerned at all? Now, what Ranadive is or is not willing to do is a separate conversation but, unless I'm mistaken, Thomas is a restricted free agent whose Bird rights we own. As near as I can tell, we have all the leverage.
 
If the Kings will stick with the old school big man basketball, then this is a logical signing at a right price, IMO.
I think in Malone's system, the PG role is mostly to defend the opposing PG and on offenses bring the ball up and hand it over to our big man (either Gay or DMC) to start most of our play.
In that scenario, Collison will be sufficient because he won't take shots away from our main guns, he'll keep the opposing PG in check (like what George Hill does for Indiana), and keep defense honest by being a potent scorer on the wing once DMC gets doubled.
 
I believe your right slim, that's why its key we get something for him and don't just let him walk. Both Boston and Detroit are keen, they have parts we could use
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
Who do you think they'll stretch and waive, Jason Thompson or Carl Landry?
Neither of those two.
No chance; regardless of whether either guy ends the 2014-15 season on the Kings, or even starts the 2014-15 season on the Kings, they both have too many years left to be waived. You don't waive a guy who still has three years of guaranteed money. Waiving doesn't work like amnesty: Ranadive would still be on the hook for that $19M, if he waived either guy... Well, since only $2.6M of Thompson's contract is guaranteed for 2016-17, I guess he'd only be on the hook for about $15M if he waived Thompson, but still... why would he do that?
 
K

KingMilz

Guest
While I don't mind Collison he has not really earnt a 3 year 16million dollar deal , he was terrible in Dallas and was just OK in LA, it all honesty we overpaid for another average player which is basically when the last management did at least this one kind of fills a role. But reality is Collison is one of the worst starting PG's in the NBA BUT he's a decent fit he can be our Patrick Bevelery which is a good but again OVERPAID.

He got Livingston money who is a far better/more versitile player. I will be rooting for him and I hope he EARNS the money we have given him, his defensive effort if you go by history should never be a issue he can be a bit bone headed but.

Welcome Little DC we all who Big DC is.
 
While I don't mind Collison he has not really earnt a 3 year 16million dollar deal , he was terrible in Dallas and was just OK in LA, it all honesty we overpaid for another average player which is basically when the last management did at least this one kind of fills a role. But reality is Collison is one of the worst starting PG's in the NBA BUT he's a decent fit he can be our Patrick Bevelery which is a good but again OVERPAID.

He got Livingston money who is a far better/more versitile player. I will be rooting for him and I hope he EARNS the money we have given him, his defensive effort if you go by history should never be a issue he can be a bit bone headed but.

Welcome Little DC we all who Big DC is.
I think we all need to re-evaluate what current value is in contract dollars. Times seem to have changed and players are getting paid a lot more. Look around and what other non stars have signed for. With that in mind, Collison's deal doesn't look expensive really at all
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
If he's going to start, even short term, that's about the minimum we could get away with.

I'm just kind of happy we did something that isn't last minute and desperate. I'm sure we'll do a few of those before the end of the month though.
 
K

KingMilz

Guest
I think we all need to re-evaluate what current value is in contract dollars. Times seem to have changed and players are getting paid a lot more. Look around and what other non stars have signed for. With that in mind, Collison's deal doesn't look expensive really at all
True, I just don't think he really earned that type of the last couple season's but he could and shoud be worth it. It's a 6.5/10 or 7/10 grade signing which by the Kings standards in recent times is pretty good.
 
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
Yes!! I really like all of this

Are we done? I'd hope not, and I don't think we are, because there are many other needs. But this is a step in the right direction. We can't claim anyone is "sitting on their hands", and we can't say they signed some old journeyman (knock on wood) or another undersized PF
 
Only possible sign n trade I can see would be Josh Smith if Detroit really wants to get rid of him

But we loose all leverage in sign n trade since we have no money to match, there is no threat

So it depends on what team IT signs an offer sheet with
and whether they decide if it is in their best interests to trade assets

But it appears FO was in a rush to get a Ranked #10 Backup guard to save 3 mil vs a No 2 ranked PG we could trade next year for value or at least a chance to pry away what we want in a S&T

Unless we get real lucky in S&T , we really screwed the pooch on this one
Did we? I'm not sure Isaiah's value is at the level some think it is/was. Even though Detroit offered an obscene amount IMO
 
No chance; regardless of whether either guy ends the 2014-15 season on the Kings, or even starts the 2014-15 season on the Kings, they both have too many years left to be waived. You don't waive a guy who still has three years of guaranteed money. Waiving doesn't work like amnesty: Ranadive would still be on the hook for that $19M, if he waived either guy... Well, since only $2.6M of Thompson's contract is guaranteed for 2016-17, I guess he'd only be on the hook for about $15M if he waived Thompson, but still... why would he do that?

They wouldn't just be waiving them, they'd be using the "stretch provision":

Individually negotiated revisions to the payment schedule are not allowed for contracts signed or extended under the current CBA2. For these contracts or extensions the remaining guaranteed salary for a waived player is "stretched" and paid in equal amounts over a greater time span, as follows:

  • If the player is waived from July 1 to August 31, then his remaining salary is paid over twice the number of years remaining on his contract, plus one. For example, if the player is waived on August 1 with two seasons remaining on his contract at $10.2 million and $10.3 million, respectively, then his remaining salary is paid over five years (two seasons times two, plus one), in even amounts of $4.1 million per year.
http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q64

Unlikely either JT or Landry is going to be traded any time soon. This way they get out from the pressure of the luxury tax while holding onto the valuable trade asset that is Jason Terrys expiring contract. This team has very few assets left and it would be unwise to waste his deal on a stretch provision. Same with Outlaw, they'd be better off getting a team to take his deal off their hands for cash and a 2nd like the Kings used to do for other teams under the Maloofs.

The end result of stretching JT would be a cap hit of 2.8 million (if you have to fully guarantee that last year) over the next century.
 
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They wouldn't just be waiving them, they'd be using the "stretch provision":

Individually negotiated revisions to the payment schedule are not allowed for contracts signed or extended under the current CBA2. For these contracts or extensions the remaining guaranteed salary for a waived player is "stretched" and paid in equal amounts over a greater time span, as follows:

  • If the player is waived from July 1 to August 31, then his remaining salary is paid over twice the number of years remaining on his contract, plus one. For example, if the player is waived on August 1 with two seasons remaining on his contract at $10.2 million and $10.3 million, respectively, then his remaining salary is paid over five years (two seasons times two, plus one), in even amounts of $4.1 million per year.
http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q64

Unlikely either JT or Landry is going to be traded any time soon. This way they get out from the pressure of the luxury tax while holding onto the valuable trade asset that is Jason Terrys expiring contract. This team has very few assets left and it would be unwise to waste his deal on a stretch provision. Same with Outlaw, they'd be better off getting a team to take his deal off their hands for cash and a 2nd like the Kings used to do for other teams under the Maloofs.

The end result of stretching JT would be a cap hit of 2.8 million (if you have to fully guarantee that last year) over the next century.
Terry is most likely done. The myth about expiring contracts and their value is that most simply expire (disclaimer: If a deal is to be done, they CAN be the most important piece and hence their value). Thompson is still a serviceable big and a cap hit is a cap hit, especially one that goes 'over the next century.' Good luck in getting his replacement for $2.8 million.
 
I like the signing as long as IT is retained. As others have said he may be a better fit in the starting lineup but is a talent downgrade. A sign and trade won't net us anything of value in my opinion.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
I like the signing as long as IT is retained. As others have said he may be a better fit in the starting lineup but is a talent downgrade. A sign and trade won't net us anything of value in my opinion.
It may net us freedom to breath offensively. Last year we were choking on the trio's usage percentages and lack of ball movement. Two of them are back for sure and set to be featured.

The big thing is that IT and Collison can NOT work as a starter/backup duo because of size (not to mention mentality). You know when the Kings lost Isaiah Thomas? It was that moment a year ago when they lost Tyreke Evans. Reke was that player who made many things possible with IT. IT could play behind him, but also next to him. So even if he was a reserve, he could get major minutes. That's not possible with Collison. You basically can't go any minutes at all with Isaiah Thomas at 5'9" 185 and Darren Collison, listed at 6'0" 160? You can't ever have a duo that tiny out there together. So at that point you've only got 48 min to share between them, and having them split $13 mil of salary is exorbitant and wasteful.
 
It may net us freedom to breath offensively. Last year we were choking on the trio's usage percentages and lack of ball movement. Two of them are back for sure and set to be featured.

The big thing is that IT and Collison can NOT work as a starter/backup duo because of size (not to mention mentality). You know when the Kings lost Isaiah Thomas? It was that moment a year ago when they lost Tyreke Evans. Reke was that player who made many things possible with IT. IT could play behind him, but also next to him. So even if he was a reserve, he could get major minutes. That's not possible with Collison. You basically can't go any minutes at all with Isaiah Thomas at 5'9" 185 and Darren Collison, listed at 6'0" 160? You can't ever have a duo that tiny out there together. So at that point you've only got 48 min to share between them, and having them split $13 mil of salary is exorbitant and wasteful.
Id rather have 13 million wrapped up in actual good NBA talent than the countless millions we have wrapped in our forward logjam plus a guy that will never even wear a Kings uniform in Terry.
 
If IT was offered 8 mil per season for 3 seasons guaranteed he should have taken it. IMO his agent is playing IT a little too hard to get. He is a very talented scoring guard and should get a nice payday. But 8 per is a stretch.

I don't think the Kings will exceed their rumored offer of 6 million a year for IT.

In fact Collison was just signed for less. Collison's game improved in LA while practicing against Chris Paul and being coached Doc Rivers. His weight is also listed now at 175. So I suspect he has put on a little muscle.