Kings sign Darren Collison
- Thread starter Dime Dropper
- Start date
I foresee Kings management executing a S & T deal sending Isaiah Thomas to the Pistons + Thompson for Josh Smith.
G - Darren Collison
G - Ben McLemore
F - Rudy Gay
F - Josh Smith
C - Demarcus Cousins
Bench:
Nic Stauskas
Ray McCallum
Travis Outlaw
Derrick Williams
Quincy Acy
Reggie Evans
Jason Terry
Aaron Gray
G - Darren Collison
G - Ben McLemore
F - Rudy Gay
F - Josh Smith
C - Demarcus Cousins
Bench:
Nic Stauskas
Ray McCallum
Travis Outlaw
Derrick Williams
Quincy Acy
Reggie Evans
Jason Terry
Aaron Gray
S
This is a great signing for the Kings. An experienced player with playoff experience and a clutch player who is extremely intelligent.
BUT
I would trying to offload Ray Mac + assets for a rim protector and shed some salary while retaining IT.
Ray Mac and Collison are two of the same. We would need a scorer off the bench (besides possibly Stauskus) who can play that Bobby Jackson role. Plus, since Stauskus can play point too, apparently, then we should retain IT and offload Ray Mac cause we'd have more than enough capable PG's/ball handlers. I think it's a great signing for the Kings and one that most of us didn't see coming because it was a bit farfetched but the price seems like we overpaid to bring him here and offer starter role which is what you need to do as a small market team, unfortunately.
Excited for the upcoming season if we retain IT and do a trade for an established rim protector.
BUT
I would trying to offload Ray Mac + assets for a rim protector and shed some salary while retaining IT.
Ray Mac and Collison are two of the same. We would need a scorer off the bench (besides possibly Stauskus) who can play that Bobby Jackson role. Plus, since Stauskus can play point too, apparently, then we should retain IT and offload Ray Mac cause we'd have more than enough capable PG's/ball handlers. I think it's a great signing for the Kings and one that most of us didn't see coming because it was a bit farfetched but the price seems like we overpaid to bring him here and offer starter role which is what you need to do as a small market team, unfortunately.
Excited for the upcoming season if we retain IT and do a trade for an established rim protector.
we'd die a horrible lack of ball movement death.
That's one thing the Collison move has kind of decided. Turns out we are NOT going to have a true floor general/pure pass type guy at the PG spot, and because of that we are going to have to be careful about the rest of the lineup. If you had Rondo or whatever you can at least pretend to talk about stupidly overcommitted offensive lineups, and then depend on being able to wave the magic Rondo wand to make it all hold together. But while Collison does not put as much pressure on your offense as IT, he's more open court scorer than half court floor general himself. Things like the crazy Cousins/Smith/Gay frontline run a really high risk of failing just like you think they might with such middling ballhandling/passing in the backcourt.
That's one thing the Collison move has kind of decided. Turns out we are NOT going to have a true floor general/pure pass type guy at the PG spot, and because of that we are going to have to be careful about the rest of the lineup. If you had Rondo or whatever you can at least pretend to talk about stupidly overcommitted offensive lineups, and then depend on being able to wave the magic Rondo wand to make it all hold together. But while Collison does not put as much pressure on your offense as IT, he's more open court scorer than half court floor general himself. Things like the crazy Cousins/Smith/Gay frontline run a really high risk of failing just like you think they might with such middling ballhandling/passing in the backcourt.
I agree, in fact I made the roster changes on NBA 2K14 to reflect the roster with Collison & Smith; The Kings jumped up ratings: 10th in scoring, 13th in defense, 13th overall in the league. I am pleasantly surprised Collison is rated an 83 (compared to IT's 81), and of course it is just an NBA 2k video game, but goes to show how the public and 2k developers think of Collison's game and IT's. I agree that ball movement might be the weakness, but as a Kings fan, I have a lot of faith in Ray McCallum as our back-up PG, and Collison is more than serviceable to run the team. He's no Rondo, but we're getting Collison, who actually WANTS the keys to the offense and WANTS to be in Sacramento. IT has a lot of talent, which is why I think we'd be better off shipping IT for a rim-protecting shot blocker (see 'Josh Smith') and it would put the Kings on the NBA map (vs. just letting him walk). I agree the Gay/Smith/Cousins frontline has the risk of failing (see 'Pistons'), but by putting Josh Smith at the 4, his natural position, I think we will win more games this upcoming season. I'm just glad we're making huge strides from the likes of John Salmons, Francisco Garcia, James Johnson, Kenny Thomas, and Hayes. Lol. I like where we are going!
You could be right, and you could be wrong. It all depends on whether Malone can get the players to buy in. Lest it be lost on people, Smith is a very good passer, and when he doesn't stand outside the 3 pt line and chuck up shots, he's a very effective player. In the 2008/09 and 2009/10 seasons in Atlanta, he had two great years where he took very few 3 pt shots and as a result shot around 50% overall from the floor. In fact, in the 2009/10 season he took so few 3 pt shots he registered no percentage from there. So he's capable of reigning in impulses. His worse year by far was his last, where he played SF and thought he was a rocket launcher. As for Collison, there's no doubt that his strength is in the open floor, but he far from being a chucker.
I won't predict how a lineup of Cousins, Smith, Gay, McLemore and Collison will work. Personally I'd plug Stauskas into the lineup and have McLemore come off the bench. Stauskas is a far better passer than McLemore. While I agree that people/players are creatures of habit, their not robots with just one program available. They have the ability to change and adapt. Whether they will or not is an entirely different story. But I'm not going to worry about how Smith might affect the team until it happens. This I do know, Smith is better at the PF position than anyone else we have on the team, so he would in fact be an upgrade.
I won't predict how a lineup of Cousins, Smith, Gay, McLemore and Collison will work. Personally I'd plug Stauskas into the lineup and have McLemore come off the bench. Stauskas is a far better passer than McLemore. While I agree that people/players are creatures of habit, their not robots with just one program available. They have the ability to change and adapt. Whether they will or not is an entirely different story. But I'm not going to worry about how Smith might affect the team until it happens. This I do know, Smith is better at the PF position than anyone else we have on the team, so he would in fact be an upgrade.
I don't think IT nor JT are so bad that this is an improvement. They both have one thing in common - the Kings have desperately tried and failed to replace them with someone better for years now.
Does this lineup give us a rim protector or perimeter defense? If so, then "yay". Otherwise "nah".
I want to be on board - I want to believe - but when I see it in writing... DC as starting PG... it gives me the blues. I had let myself get psyched into believing we were trading #8 and McLemore for Rondo and I haven't gotten over it yet I guess.
Does this lineup give us a rim protector or perimeter defense? If so, then "yay". Otherwise "nah".
I want to be on board - I want to believe - but when I see it in writing... DC as starting PG... it gives me the blues. I had let myself get psyched into believing we were trading #8 and McLemore for Rondo and I haven't gotten over it yet I guess.
Supposedly the Pistons really want/need to move Smith and so we might be able to offload something more on them than JT. JT would be the third big and still get plenty of minutes. I know he'd pout about it but he'd probably accept this if we were winning a lot better than IT would.
Preferably you keep both as 6th and 7th men but hard to give up both even if you get a legit starter in return.
Preferably you keep both as 6th and 7th men but hard to give up both even if you get a legit starter in return.
No no jt has never shown a hint of a personality where he would pout because he isn't starting. In fact history flies directly on the face of that. He always worked harder and eventually won starting job back. So no you are not gonna sit there and put a false stigma on a man that has given his all each and every night he has been with this team.
Didn't see anyone do it so did a comparison of STATS for Collison and IT over the last 3 years. Amazing how similar they are. Other than IT scoring 20/gm last year playing almost 35 min/gm, they are very equal stat wise. DC has nearly half as many TO's in 26min/gm but both are 85% FT shooters and very similar in all other stat lines. To me stats seem a wash. As to + or - on the acquisition, time will tell so will need to wait and see how it pans out. If McCallum steps up to another level this year, DC may have a hard time getting many of his minutes.
He has exhibited great professionalism, however if the Kings land Smith w/o giving up Thompson, he will be hard pressed for minutes. A front court of Rudy/Smith/Cuz will have Landry (who did well coming off the bench in GS a year ago), come off as our back-up PF. We still have Reggie Evans who of course does not have much offensive capabilities, but he serves as a relentless motor and big body who will devour rebounds for this team when Cousins gets into foul trouble or needs rest. I think it'll be great for both Thompson and the Kings to package Thompson in a deal (if he was not part of the Smith trade).
At the end of the day, Rondo and/or Smith can be coming to the Kings this offseason. If either one or both come to our team, watch out.
At the end of the day, Rondo and/or Smith can be coming to the Kings this offseason. If either one or both come to our team, watch out.
I think this is part of the reason the FO is cleaning house. Regardless of their talent, players have been losing so long here that they no longer care about team and roles. They just want to get theirs. They pout when they don't start. They get offended when we draft or bring in a player at their position. They don't realize that if they were as good as they thought they were, they would be starting. At the least, they'd be easier to trade.
I like both IT and JT for what they bring, but I'm not sure how self aware they are. MT had this problem too.
I like both IT and JT for what they bring, but I'm not sure how self aware they are. MT had this problem too.
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can you really get mad at JT? all he's done is outwork everybody they've brought to start over him. last year they had sticky mozzarella hands little pizza delivery boy freeze everybody but DC/Gay out of the offense. they wanted him to play a shot blocker role all defensive role which he's not a shot blocker. hopefully he can go to a team that can appreciate him for what he does bring as a role player.
I watched most of it and it was a straightforward statement of where he stands. He tip toes around the iso ball situation and if you listen to it with my ears, iso ball cut him out of the offense and he didn't enjoy it. He's a good guy. I don't call that whining. Maybe we aren't used to players not following the normal script of how you respond in interviews.