Malone/ Lineups/ today and moving forward...

#31
If they pulled that off, we may turn into one of the best defensive teams we've seen in Sac. That would get very interesting
I'd be calling Atlanta and asking about Thabo. Get a real defender in here, a guy who can at least average 6 points with us, take my chances developing Nik off the bench and call it a day. Make the move when Thabo can be traded, if the Hawks are interested.
Thabo is garbage. He fixes none of our problems on offense...not much of an upgrade over McLemore. I'd rather save McLemore for a better player or even a bigger trade.
 

HndsmCelt

Hall of Famer
#32
I like the idea of some adjustments, Starting Nick might not be bad IF he can defend the other starting 2's out there. Omri is a great shot in the arm and obviously CAN play in some matchups at the 2 OR the 4, but is primarily a 3. I just pray Malone will never field the Sessions, Nick, Omri, Williams & Landry squad again!
 

CruzDude

Senior Member sharing a brew with bajaden
#33
Well, made 3 goals (4 really) for Kings for Clips game. Now my goals for Nuggets game today: Cuz gets 5+ assists, team get 20+ assists, bench scores 30+ pts and for number 4, no silly fouls for Cuz.

Oh yeah, and RayMac backs Collison and Hollins gets more minutes.
 
#34
If they pulled that off, we may turn into one of the best defensive teams we've seen in Sac. That would get very interesting
I'd only do this deal if we are close to making it to the playoffs, and Thabo is only making 4 million, is signed up for 3 years. It would take us being close to the 8th seed, McLemore staying the same and not improving much. If all of that happened, you could bet I'd be on the phone DEC 15th. It would cost us McLemore though. Considering he fails to improve much and we are close I make the deal.
 
#35
Thabo is garbage. He fixes none of our problems on offense...not much of an upgrade over McLemore. I'd rather save McLemore for a better player or even a bigger trade.
Honestly who wants Ben?

Besides lottery teams that can be patient for a few years. And what would they offer in return?

You find a way to improve us at SG then. Thabo would be here for 3 years as a defensive starting SG, With Nik to back him up and develop.
 

Warhawk

Give blood and save a life!
Staff member
#37
Williams is a lost cause. Casspi has been a much better fit for us. Brings the sort of intensity that Williams lacks in a major way.
I've always liked Casspi. Just thought he needed some maturation. I like what he brings now, especially for the price!!!
 
#39
Minny traded Williams for Moute. They could not get a single team in the league to bite. The difference is Williams was a bust for 2 years and 11 games. So how much value does McLemore have? I doubt you could get a first from anyone for him.
 

funkykingston

Super Moderator
Staff member
#40
As for Sessions, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he's just struggling to adjust to a new team in terms of offensive and defensive game plans and the role he's being asked to play. He's never looked this bad to me so for now I'm assuming it's a slump.
 
#41
I'd only do this deal if we are close to making it to the playoffs, and Thabo is only making 4 million, is signed up for 3 years. It would take us being close to the 8th seed, McLemore staying the same and not improving much. If all of that happened, you could bet I'd be on the phone DEC 15th. It would cost us McLemore though. Considering he fails to improve much and we are close I make the deal.
I dont think that trading Ben for Thabo would be a move that pushes us from a 9-10 seed to 7-8. We would be trading a guy that is killing us with his inability to hit shots for another guy that would do the same. While Thabo's defense is top notch I dont think that the net positive would be enough for me to give up on a guy that still might be able to get his perfect looking jumper to finally start going in.
 
#43
He can be packaged for bigs like Smith, Hibbert, Henson, or young players like Knight and Mayo.

Why trade him for Thabo dudes defense is above average now Ben is showing he could defend. Ben is Thabo right now with a chance to get his 3ptvshot better.
The Bucks may trade Henson for him, but when/where does he play with Thompson and Landry in the way.

Smith can be had for Thompson + Williams.

If Thabo has declined as much as you say then maybe I need to watch some more Hawks games, I thought he was the same old guy. The attractiveness of him if he was in his old form is 4 million contract as well.
 
#44
The Bucks may trade Henson for him, but when/where does he play with Thompson and Landry in the way.

Smith can be had for Thompson + Williams.

If Thabo has declined as much as you say then maybe I need to watch some more Hawks games, I thought he was the same old guy. The attractiveness of him if he was in his old form is 4 million contract as well.
Id go for Smith keeping Ben hoping he keeps getting better defensively he gets tested this week Afflalo and Bledsoe. No trade will happen till December 15 so we will know if Ben can contribute by then.

But thabo has declined yes he even lost his spot to Caron butler last year and the defense isn't elite.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#45
I like the idea of some adjustments, Starting Nick might not be bad IF he can defend the other starting 2's out there. Omri is a great shot in the arm and obviously CAN play in some matchups at the 2 OR the 4, but is primarily a 3. I just pray Malone will never field the Sessions, Nick, Omri, Williams & Landry squad again!
The thing is that while I am quite confident Nik is a flat saavier and more skilled offensive player than Ben, he has done virtually nothing on that end himself and it is going to be really hard to make an argument for him to get the start except for pure "Ben has sucked so bad" fashion. If Nik would start to show just a tiny bit, nothing much, average 6-7pts a game on 45% shooting, that might be enough. But right now here's our awful situation:

Kings Starting SG: 26.0min 3.3pts (.214 .286 1.000) 2.3reb 0.7ast 0.7stl 0.0blk 1.3TO
Kings Reserve SG: 21.0min 4.0pts (.235 .273 1.000) 0.7reb 0.3ast 0.3stl 1.0blk 0.7TO

Which when the coach looks at the lineup card each game essentially means he has no options at all.

P.S. ran a b-r search and discovered that means that our two SGs are the 115th and 118th highest scoring guards in the league this year. Awesome.
 
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#46
The thing is that while I am quite confident Nik is a flat saavier and more skilled offensive player than Ben, he has done virtually nothing on that end himself and it is going to be really hard to make an argument for him to get the start except for pure "Ben has sucked so bad" fashion. If Nik would start to show just a tiny bit, nothing much, average 6-7pts a game on 45% shooting, that might be enough. But right now here's our awful situation:
Kings Starting SG: 26.0min 3.3pts (.214 .286 1.000) 2.3reb 0.7ast 0.7stl 0.0blk 1.3TO
Kings Reserve SG: 21.0min 4.0pts (.235 .273 1.000) 0.7reb 0.3ast 0.3stl 1.0blk 0.7TO

Which when the coach looks at the lineup card each game essentially means he has no options at all.

P.S. ran a b-r search and discovered that means that our two SGs are the 115th and 118th highest scoring guards in the league this year. Awesome.
Which is why, against every negative instinct I possess, I choose to view this as good news. They are playing acceptable or better defense, not killing us in turning the ball over, and their horrific shooting is on very low volume. It's likely that at least one, if not both, will improve their shooting which only means we should add more offensive contribution from the sg position.
 

HndsmCelt

Hall of Famer
#47
The thing is that while I am quite confident Nik is a flat saavier and more skilled offensive player than Ben, he has done virtually nothing on that end himself and it is going to be really hard to make an argument for him to get the start except for pure "Ben has sucked so bad" fashion. If Nik would start to show just a tiny bit, nothing much, average 6-7pts a game on 45% shooting, that might be enough. But right now here's our awful situation:
Kings Starting SG: 26.0min 3.3pts (.214 .286 1.000) 2.3reb 0.7ast 0.7stl 0.0blk 1.3TO
Kings Reserve SG: 21.0min 4.0pts (.235 .273 1.000) 0.7reb 0.3ast 0.3stl 1.0blk 0.7TO

Which when the coach looks at the lineup card each game essentially means he has no options at all.

P.S. ran a b-r search and discovered that means that our two SGs are the 115th and 118th highest scoring guards in the league this year. Awesome.
Hence my use of the qualifiers IF and MIGHT. But yup, we desperately need a upgrade at the 2.
 
#48
Actually I'm quite impressed with Malone coaching for now (and I wasn't inclined to when I've heard he's going to use DWill over Casspi :))
Up to now, when remembering coaches Casspi played for - none of them was impressing at all...
Byron Scott was completely stagnant with his rotation - nothing could change it more than moving replacement 2 min. in some direction.
Westphal was ... hm... just erratic in decisions - placing players in starting line-up or doghouse after two bad or good plays and driving them completely crazy.
And McHale (while better that those two) seemed to be just weak-charactered and unsure (for example, super-short rotations in play-off and actually I have strong feeling that removing Casspi from rotation wasn't his move but decision of GM/owners to "develop" DMo)
While it's only start of the season but I see Malone trying to adopt and looking for solution in every game.... So let us see how it will continue...
 
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