[Game] Kings-Spurs Vegas Summer League - 7/11/14
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I really think it would be in our best interest to have Nik starting at the 2 from the get go and regardless if he hits his rookie wall or not, remain a starter. I'd like to see the same starting line up for the entire year (barring injuries) and grow continuity with the players we know will be here which so far is DMC, Rudy, Nik, Reggie, so those four are starters and then we would need one more player to come and fill in who isn't useless.
Was he not an assistant GM for Denver where he would have been scouting players for the draft anyway?
If being hired here a week before the draft is an excuse in any way, shape or form, he shouldn't have been hired. There is not a single GM or assistant GM working in an NBA FO who should not have a pretty good feel for the 1st round of an NBA draft in May/June, just prior to the draft.
Actually, part of his interview should and would have been, we're picking #7, tell me what you think of the talent which should be available when we pick and how they fit into the strengths and weaknesses of the Kings roster. Of course, you would prefer having a proven basketball guy asking those questions to tell whether or not the answers are BS or not.
If being hired here a week before the draft is an excuse in any way, shape or form, he shouldn't have been hired. There is not a single GM or assistant GM working in an NBA FO who should not have a pretty good feel for the 1st round of an NBA draft in May/June, just prior to the draft.
Actually, part of his interview should and would have been, we're picking #7, tell me what you think of the talent which should be available when we pick and how they fit into the strengths and weaknesses of the Kings roster. Of course, you would prefer having a proven basketball guy asking those questions to tell whether or not the answers are BS or not.
yes in PDA and the new front office's defense, they didn't really have much time to prepare for that draft or free agency... PDA was working for Denver but they were not in the lottery so he wasn't scouting for a #7 pick. I'll willing to cut them some slack for their first offseason, but it's fair game from there on out.
I feel like Nik will have the chance to average a very healthy number points wise! Like we all saw, he just....i dont know....gets it.
He just needs to do what he was doing tonight all throughout the regular season and hopefully DMC, Rudy, and DC will find him when hes open.
I can also damn near guarantee you all more moves will be made! We cannot go into the season with some of these scrubs as rotational players.
Being picked in the top 10 doesn't guarantee success. Derrick Williams is a prime example. He went #2. I guess I just don't understand the eternal crying over spilt milk. It's over and done. We picked Ben. He may or may not work out in the long run. I still point to Greg Oden as a prime example that proves the futility of banking on the draft. crap happens.
I dont hate the Ben pick, he was arguably BPA at #7 in a really weak draft.
They picked him for his high ceiling, people on here always complained about GP never "swinging for the fences" by taking a high risk/high reward player, and this last draft people were complaining about the relatively "safe" pick PDA made with Nik (myself included, I wanted Payton)....
McLemore was a "swing for the fences" pick. At the time of the draft, a lot of people were saying he had Ray Allen upside. PDA and CO took the risk, and right now its looking like its blowing up in their faces. But hey, they went for it...And its not like anyone picked after Ben was really a cant miss prospect (at the time).
Although, I do agree with Bricklayer in that after making the pick, our FO also made just about every mistake they could after....From throwing Ben into the fire, to not trading him when his value was higher.
He showed flashes, so the jury is still out.... But methinks Nik takes his starting spot relatively early on in the season.
They picked him for his high ceiling, people on here always complained about GP never "swinging for the fences" by taking a high risk/high reward player, and this last draft people were complaining about the relatively "safe" pick PDA made with Nik (myself included, I wanted Payton)....
McLemore was a "swing for the fences" pick. At the time of the draft, a lot of people were saying he had Ray Allen upside. PDA and CO took the risk, and right now its looking like its blowing up in their faces. But hey, they went for it...And its not like anyone picked after Ben was really a cant miss prospect (at the time).
Although, I do agree with Bricklayer in that after making the pick, our FO also made just about every mistake they could after....From throwing Ben into the fire, to not trading him when his value was higher.
He showed flashes, so the jury is still out.... But methinks Nik takes his starting spot relatively early on in the season.
I was against the pick even before he was the pick. As for BPA, Trey Burke and Michael Carter Williams were still available. I would have preferred Burke because of my Michigan bias, but MCW with Cousins and Gay would be a nice little combo, especially if we were still able to get Nik in this draft.
PG - MCW
SG - Stauskas
SF - Gay
PF - XXXXX (insert one of the current guys. not like it matters)
C - Cousins
Still missing that big man and a bit of depth, but that is a lineup that has a ton of potential. Still like the current lineup with Collison, but not nearly as much as I would with MCW
PG - MCW
SG - Stauskas
SF - Gay
PF - XXXXX (insert one of the current guys. not like it matters)
C - Cousins
Still missing that big man and a bit of depth, but that is a lineup that has a ton of potential. Still like the current lineup with Collison, but not nearly as much as I would with MCW
I have no idea why Nik wouldn't just start the season with the spot. They are completely different type guards too, so the offense you design to work with Nik as a greaseman does not work with Ben in that same role. Its cut the cord time. Was some time ago. Ben hasn't shown jack in his time with us, we now have something better. No more coddling. You start the better player that gives us a better chance to win, and then if Ben is not useful in a trade, you bring him off the bench and just cross your fingers everytime that he will hold it together and not hurt us. If he starts showing something great. Although now for us it would have to be as a reserve. If he doesn't, well he's just your backup SG.
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You know the irony of your constant criticizing of the front office is you seem to have a higher percentage of dumb posts than they have dumb decisions. Since you like to talk about "noobs" so much (projecting maybe?) prepare to learn something.....
Ben McLemore was the "best player available" at #7 in a weak draft. Flaws and red flags or not, he was projected to go in the Top-5 by just about every NBA expert. He was regarded as a player with potential to be a bust but also as a player with a high ceiling. McLemore was one of the very few players in that weak draft that many experts thought at least had the potential to be a star. The Kings had a roster that was severely lacking in top level talent and athletic ability.
Once Ben was available at #7, PDA did what just about every other NBA GM would have done in his situation.......drafted the "best player available" that had a chance to be a star. Most of the pundits gave the Kings a good draft grade last year and said that it was a smart pick because the Kings needed another potential star, they needed a great athlete, and they needed shooting. McLemore had the potential to fill all three of those voids. Again most of the NBA experts liked the pick and most of the fans were pretty happy with it (even though many wanted Noel who was taken one spot before)
The Kings were not in a position last year to make a "safe pick" and draft a mid-level talent whose ceiling was going to be a career backup. With the Kings roster last year and picking 7th, when someone who had as much hype and athletic talent as McLemore falls to you at #7 you have to take him. Especially in a weak draft......who else was there that anybody would have been happy with at the time?
You mention Steven Adams in another post? Seriously? You really want to try and pretend like the Kings should have picked him at 7 like you knew all along? Nobody talked about Steven Adams being drafted in the Top-10. Sure enough nobody drafted him in the Top-10. You talk about the Kings Front Office being noobs but what about all of the others that passed on Steven Adams through the first 11 picks?
The stupid thing in all of this is that while it's not looking good for McLemore he's still very young and has only played one season. His window is not closed and his ceiling has not been reached and is not yet out of reach. He had a better season than half the guys drafted in front if him (and in the Top-10) and he'll probably still end up being a better player than at least a couple guys drafted in front of him.
It's easy to play "Monday Morning Quarterback" and say "they should have done this and they should have done that" but only real noobs run their mouths so loudly after the fact like they knew better when reality is you probably would have made the same pick or even worse.
Ben McLemore was the "best player available" at #7 in a weak draft. Flaws and red flags or not, he was projected to go in the Top-5 by just about every NBA expert. He was regarded as a player with potential to be a bust but also as a player with a high ceiling. McLemore was one of the very few players in that weak draft that many experts thought at least had the potential to be a star. The Kings had a roster that was severely lacking in top level talent and athletic ability.
Once Ben was available at #7, PDA did what just about every other NBA GM would have done in his situation.......drafted the "best player available" that had a chance to be a star. Most of the pundits gave the Kings a good draft grade last year and said that it was a smart pick because the Kings needed another potential star, they needed a great athlete, and they needed shooting. McLemore had the potential to fill all three of those voids. Again most of the NBA experts liked the pick and most of the fans were pretty happy with it (even though many wanted Noel who was taken one spot before)
The Kings were not in a position last year to make a "safe pick" and draft a mid-level talent whose ceiling was going to be a career backup. With the Kings roster last year and picking 7th, when someone who had as much hype and athletic talent as McLemore falls to you at #7 you have to take him. Especially in a weak draft......who else was there that anybody would have been happy with at the time?
You mention Steven Adams in another post? Seriously? You really want to try and pretend like the Kings should have picked him at 7 like you knew all along? Nobody talked about Steven Adams being drafted in the Top-10. Sure enough nobody drafted him in the Top-10. You talk about the Kings Front Office being noobs but what about all of the others that passed on Steven Adams through the first 11 picks?
The stupid thing in all of this is that while it's not looking good for McLemore he's still very young and has only played one season. His window is not closed and his ceiling has not been reached and is not yet out of reach. He had a better season than half the guys drafted in front if him (and in the Top-10) and he'll probably still end up being a better player than at least a couple guys drafted in front of him.
It's easy to play "Monday Morning Quarterback" and say "they should have done this and they should have done that" but only real noobs run their mouths so loudly after the fact like they knew better when reality is you probably would have made the same pick or even worse.
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As a follow up to my lengthy post above in proving that Big Cuz 15 in the words of Grant Napear "Doesn't know what the hell he is talking about".
I just googled "2013 NBA Draft Grades". After the search results were returned I clicked on the Top-5 links which include "experts" from USA Today Sports, Yahoo Sports, NBADraft.net, SBNation, and Bleacher Report. ALL 5 Draft Grade articles gave the Sacramento Kings an 'A' for drafting Ben McLemore. The next two links either don't work or you have to sign up for ESPN Insider.
The next link and last one I clicked was the well respected Chris Mannix from SI.Com and once again he gave the Kings an 'A' for drafting Ben McLemore.
Yet our own resident noob Big Cuz 15 says that PDA doesn't know what he is doing and made some kind of out of reach or out of the ordinary pick in drafting Ben McLemore despite 100% of the first page googled Draft Grades from nationally respected columnists all giving PDA an A-Grade.
Ben McLemore may not turn out to be a great player or even a good player but it won't have anything to do with PDA. The 2013 NBA Draft was so weak that I don't think you can even call McLemore a bust if he doesn't pan out.
I just googled "2013 NBA Draft Grades". After the search results were returned I clicked on the Top-5 links which include "experts" from USA Today Sports, Yahoo Sports, NBADraft.net, SBNation, and Bleacher Report. ALL 5 Draft Grade articles gave the Sacramento Kings an 'A' for drafting Ben McLemore. The next two links either don't work or you have to sign up for ESPN Insider.
The next link and last one I clicked was the well respected Chris Mannix from SI.Com and once again he gave the Kings an 'A' for drafting Ben McLemore.
Yet our own resident noob Big Cuz 15 says that PDA doesn't know what he is doing and made some kind of out of reach or out of the ordinary pick in drafting Ben McLemore despite 100% of the first page googled Draft Grades from nationally respected columnists all giving PDA an A-Grade.
Ben McLemore may not turn out to be a great player or even a good player but it won't have anything to do with PDA. The 2013 NBA Draft was so weak that I don't think you can even call McLemore a bust if he doesn't pan out.