Vlade Divac
- Thread starter VF21
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I have to give Vlade some credit too. He upgraded our 4 and 5 spot and gave us a low risk potential high reward option at PG to play with for one season.
Not entirely convinced of the Belinelli signing, but with the need for more shooting maybe we couldn't find a better deal.
My only concern with this roster is the defense against athletic, strong wing players like Butler, Lebron, George or Melo. Those type of players are too big and strong for Ben to handle them, leaving us with Rudy and Casspi as defenders (I don't know if Anderson is able to defend these guys). This weakness could really hurt us during the coming season. I hope we can pick up one more defensive roleplayer to match up with these guys.
Not entirely convinced of the Belinelli signing, but with the need for more shooting maybe we couldn't find a better deal.
My only concern with this roster is the defense against athletic, strong wing players like Butler, Lebron, George or Melo. Those type of players are too big and strong for Ben to handle them, leaving us with Rudy and Casspi as defenders (I don't know if Anderson is able to defend these guys). This weakness could really hurt us during the coming season. I hope we can pick up one more defensive roleplayer to match up with these guys.
Here is the thing about Vlade.
He knew that the summer to make a move was NOW, not next summer. And this is the reason why. Yes, the Salary cap goes up next summer, but the salary cap goes up for every team next summer.
This summer, very few teams had enough cap space to get good free agents, and those that did, needed to do salary dumps to get there. Vlade knew that his best chance to make the Kings good and to keep DMC for the long term was to make THE MOVE NOW and not wait.
Look, another year of 29 wins and DMC would be out the door next summer, along with any chance of landing quality free agents, because everyone will have a $30 million jump in cap space and the Kings franchise player would have been demanding a trade.
IF Vlade didn't make his move now and start trying to WIN NOW, DMC would be demanding a trade next summer and NO quality Free Agent would pick the Kings without DMC, once all teams have ample space.
Make no doubts about it, VLADE brought the down the house with his shrewd maneuvering. He had to make the salary dump ASAP to have a chance to sign the quality Free Agents, he couldn't go shop around and lose the precious time to sign quality free agents. Every minute counts when Free Agency opens, and Vlade was prepared.
I THINK THAT ONCE THE WINNING STARTS, THAT DMC AND KARL WILL GET ON THE SAME PAGE AND WORK OUT THEIR DIFFERENCES.
WINNING CURES EVERYTHING AND I THINK VLADE HAS SET US ON THE RIGHT PATH, RIGHT NOW!
He knew that the summer to make a move was NOW, not next summer. And this is the reason why. Yes, the Salary cap goes up next summer, but the salary cap goes up for every team next summer.
This summer, very few teams had enough cap space to get good free agents, and those that did, needed to do salary dumps to get there. Vlade knew that his best chance to make the Kings good and to keep DMC for the long term was to make THE MOVE NOW and not wait.
Look, another year of 29 wins and DMC would be out the door next summer, along with any chance of landing quality free agents, because everyone will have a $30 million jump in cap space and the Kings franchise player would have been demanding a trade.
IF Vlade didn't make his move now and start trying to WIN NOW, DMC would be demanding a trade next summer and NO quality Free Agent would pick the Kings without DMC, once all teams have ample space.
Make no doubts about it, VLADE brought the down the house with his shrewd maneuvering. He had to make the salary dump ASAP to have a chance to sign the quality Free Agents, he couldn't go shop around and lose the precious time to sign quality free agents. Every minute counts when Free Agency opens, and Vlade was prepared.
I THINK THAT ONCE THE WINNING STARTS, THAT DMC AND KARL WILL GET ON THE SAME PAGE AND WORK OUT THEIR DIFFERENCES.
WINNING CURES EVERYTHING AND I THINK VLADE HAS SET US ON THE RIGHT PATH, RIGHT NOW!
Well, we all seem to be operating under the assumption that Casspi is going to be signed into the Room MLE. If that is the case, there's no reason for us to not spend up to that level beforehand...though it depends on how much cap space we have left (and that's an open question since all of our numbers are estimates). But I suppose we can break it down into three categories:
Capspace before signing Casspi:
1) Less than a veteran's minimum - Go ahead and use Room MLE, no real capspace anyway
2) More than a veteran's minimum but less than Room MLE - Try to sign somebody into the capspace, because once we use the Room MLE we'll be restricted to vet min deals
3) More than Room MLE - This one is tricky. We can sign Casspi to a "Room MLE" sized deal with capspace and retain the actual Room MLE, or we could try to sign somebody into the full amount of capspace and then give Casspi the Room MLE. But that might make Casspi a bit upset, if we were holding back a bit on how much we could give him.
At any rate, if it's either 2) or 3), I'd expect one more signing.
Capspace before signing Casspi:
1) Less than a veteran's minimum - Go ahead and use Room MLE, no real capspace anyway
2) More than a veteran's minimum but less than Room MLE - Try to sign somebody into the capspace, because once we use the Room MLE we'll be restricted to vet min deals
3) More than Room MLE - This one is tricky. We can sign Casspi to a "Room MLE" sized deal with capspace and retain the actual Room MLE, or we could try to sign somebody into the full amount of capspace and then give Casspi the Room MLE. But that might make Casspi a bit upset, if we were holding back a bit on how much we could give him.
At any rate, if it's either 2) or 3), I'd expect one more signing.
Yeah, I mentioned this in one of the other threads.
Essentially if Omri was signed with a wink nudge deal under the Room Exception then by waiving Stockton the Kings SHOULD have enough to offer one more $4M or $4.5M deal. Again, that's working from imprecise numbers and without visibility into Anderson's deal at all. So one more player to reach the salary cap, Omri with the RE and then minimum deals for the last roster spot or two.
Or if Omri wasn't signed with the Room Exception then the Kings (again assuming they waive Stockton) should have $1M to $1.5 million in cap room. That could actually be slightly more than the vet minimum (for guys without a 7 or more years experience) and allow the Kings to grab an end of the bench guy and reach the salary cap while using the Room Exception on someone else.
Either way I think the Kings need one more SF, one more PF and a deep bench center. The latter can be had at the vet minimum and probably one of the forwards too but it'd be nice to be able to spend a little to get one more solid bench player. Just like Rondo, Josh Smith was never a guy I was high on but with this roster he actually makes a good deal of sense. Plus then we can be the all-reject, Island of Misfit Toys team.
Essentially if Omri was signed with a wink nudge deal under the Room Exception then by waiving Stockton the Kings SHOULD have enough to offer one more $4M or $4.5M deal. Again, that's working from imprecise numbers and without visibility into Anderson's deal at all. So one more player to reach the salary cap, Omri with the RE and then minimum deals for the last roster spot or two.
Or if Omri wasn't signed with the Room Exception then the Kings (again assuming they waive Stockton) should have $1M to $1.5 million in cap room. That could actually be slightly more than the vet minimum (for guys without a 7 or more years experience) and allow the Kings to grab an end of the bench guy and reach the salary cap while using the Room Exception on someone else.
Either way I think the Kings need one more SF, one more PF and a deep bench center. The latter can be had at the vet minimum and probably one of the forwards too but it'd be nice to be able to spend a little to get one more solid bench player. Just like Rondo, Josh Smith was never a guy I was high on but with this roster he actually makes a good deal of sense. Plus then we can be the all-reject, Island of Misfit Toys team.
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This is actually an interesting CBA question I've been trying to solve with no luck so far. According to Larry Coon, the room exception becomes available once a team drops far enough below the cap to lose all of the other exceptions. The question is, do you have to use all of your capspace before the room exception becomes available? Or can you designate a certain player as a contract signed under the room exception and keep the rest of your capspace intact?
Its relevant to the Kings if they want to lock in Casspi with the room exception and still have that sliver of capspace left to sign someone higher at a higher salary than the veteren's minimum who may become available later on in the offseason. It would be strange to leave Casspi hanging until they can find a way to use up the capspace and thus "unlock" the room exception, so to speak.
A player's salary isn't included in the team salary until the first day of the regular season, so I'm leaning towards the latter. The Kings can officially ink in Casspi with the room exception, but since total salary isn't going to be calculated until the beginning of the regular season, they have whatever is left of their capspace minus the Rondo/Belinelli/Koufos signings available whether they use it or not.
Its relevant to the Kings if they want to lock in Casspi with the room exception and still have that sliver of capspace left to sign someone higher at a higher salary than the veteren's minimum who may become available later on in the offseason. It would be strange to leave Casspi hanging until they can find a way to use up the capspace and thus "unlock" the room exception, so to speak.
A player's salary isn't included in the team salary until the first day of the regular season, so I'm leaning towards the latter. The Kings can officially ink in Casspi with the room exception, but since total salary isn't going to be calculated until the beginning of the regular season, they have whatever is left of their capspace minus the Rondo/Belinelli/Koufos signings available whether they use it or not.
Yeah, this isn't entirely clear, but here's how I figure it - once you use the Room MLE, that salary is added to your salary total. So if you had, say $2M left, that $2M is gone because you're now over the cap. If you had say $4M left, there's no incentive to use the Room MLE because you can use straight cap space, and still have your Room MLE.
Think of it this way. If you have $4M, you could:
1) Sign a player to the Room MLE. Now you have $1.2M in cap space. Can't do much with that because there are vet min exceptions anyway.
2) Sign a player to a cap-space contract the size of the Room MLE. Now you have $1.2M in cap space AND the Room MLE. Use the Room MLE to sign another guy.
Obviously #2 is better.
Think of it this way. If you have $4M, you could:
1) Sign a player to the Room MLE. Now you have $1.2M in cap space. Can't do much with that because there are vet min exceptions anyway.
2) Sign a player to a cap-space contract the size of the Room MLE. Now you have $1.2M in cap space AND the Room MLE. Use the Room MLE to sign another guy.
Obviously #2 is better.
- "Cousins, we want you to stay, I'm going to make it work. Don't worry about George. We gonna sit down and talk like men, figure out problem, maybe get drunk. Trust me. I am in charge now, don't worry."
- "Dan, much respect, but Karl is not leaving, and DMC not leaving, either. Under contract three more years. You are not in charge of that, I am in charge. I know you make me look bad on Internet, but I don't care. I have job to do. Call Pete, he might have some good stuff for Woj to use. I don't care. No, you can't talk to George. Phone not working. Bye."
- "George, if you talk to anyone else, I'm going kill you with bare hands. No press, no Fegan, no Lakers, no one. Understand? Good. Now sit in corner rest of week. And give me cell phone."
- "Vivek, don't tell anyone else Cousins is up for trade...not Lakers, not reporters, not Fegan. Bad for business. Send to me, I tell them no. Please? Okay. Also, if Woj calls you, hang up. Bad man, work for Fegan. Probably gonna write a lot of bad stuff about you and me for a few days...trust me, ignore it. Sounds bad, but doesn't mean nothing."
- "Reporters? No, we aren't trading Cousins. Yes, I see it on the Internet also. Answer is still no. Trust me. You call me tomorrow, I say no again wearing hard hat. Very serious. Yes, George here, but can't come to the phone and cell has stopped working."
- "Cousins wants WCS, we need defense, WCS play good defense, we draft WCS. Screw everything else. No problem. Vivek calling about pick? Put on hold. We take Stein, final answer. Hello, Vivek? Yeah, we took Stein. Good kid. Trust me. Cousins like him. George told me he likes him too. Yes, still in corner. Phone still broken."
- "Vivek, how about we take Marco? Shoots good, you know? Like Stauskas. Yes, still gone. Take Marco? Okay, good."
- "Rudy, call Rondo and see if he still wants to come. DC is good, but George want two guards sometime, plus more options. We might need him."
- "Vivek, how about Kosta Koufos from Denver? Guards rim, good backup big. I like him, good Euro, very skilled, like me but not as good. Ha ha! George liked him in Denver too. New King."
- "Now resign Casspi. We need him, he likes it here, fans like him, easy call. He take home team discount, even better."
- "George? George. Here is phone. Sometimes, I am gonna ask for phone to see who you call. Don't call anybody I don't want you to call, especially Lakers or Fegan. Roster is my responsibility, not yours. You got problem, you come to me. I made good team for you, no? Even some players I know you like. Now go do job. Almost forgot, we gonna meet with Cousins later tonight, have some drinks, talk things over. No, George, come back. Not like that. I might let him punch you a few times, nothing serious. When meeting is over, we shake hands like men, agree no more crap like this, and we gonna move ahead with new pieces and win games. You treat him with respect, he treat you with respect. Trust me. Okay? Okay."
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Who could make this and not put Demarcus as the Hulk? (as in, "We've got a Hulk." is our trump card in any discussion)
Or Bellineli as Hawkeye?
Knowing WCS's penchant for style, he's one of the few that might work as Natasha (though his swiss-army-knife toolset of defense is more similar in effect to Iron Man).
Omri as Spider-Man is hilarious, though.
Or Bellineli as Hawkeye?
Knowing WCS's penchant for style, he's one of the few that might work as Natasha (though his swiss-army-knife toolset of defense is more similar in effect to Iron Man).
Omri as Spider-Man is hilarious, though.
Agreed, I'd like to make some revisions myself.
Cousins = Hulk (brute force/unstoppable/temper)
Koufos = Thor (strong/tough as nails/foreigner)
Cauley-Stein = Spider man (super quick/athletic/length like a spider/young)
Gay = Captain America (consistent/calm demeanor/he's not a long range threat but a beast close to the basket or enemy)
Casspi = Scarlett Witch (had to learn to harness his craft or find his place in the NBA/makes some plays now and then that are magical/finesse)
McLemore = Quick Silver (very fast/very quick)
Belinelli = Hawkeye (deadeye shooter)
Rondo = Iron Man (big personality/smart player)
Collison = Black Widow (quick/efficient/tactical/to the point/small)
Coach Karl = Vision (totally unpredictable/could be our savior or could be our doom)
Vlade = Director Fury (master planner/behind the scenes schemer)
Cousins = Hulk (brute force/unstoppable/temper)
Koufos = Thor (strong/tough as nails/foreigner)
Cauley-Stein = Spider man (super quick/athletic/length like a spider/young)
Gay = Captain America (consistent/calm demeanor/he's not a long range threat but a beast close to the basket or enemy)
Casspi = Scarlett Witch (had to learn to harness his craft or find his place in the NBA/makes some plays now and then that are magical/finesse)
McLemore = Quick Silver (very fast/very quick)
Belinelli = Hawkeye (deadeye shooter)
Rondo = Iron Man (big personality/smart player)
Collison = Black Widow (quick/efficient/tactical/to the point/small)
Coach Karl = Vision (totally unpredictable/could be our savior or could be our doom)
Vlade = Director Fury (master planner/behind the scenes schemer)
I'm really impressed with what Vlade has done with this roster in his first off season. The biggest issue last year was the bench and he's addressed it beautifully while potentially upgrading a couple of starters as well. In the past we've been awful without Cousins, but all of a sudden it doesn't look so hopeless if he's down for a couple of games. The talent increase in such a short period of time is shocking to me. Now I just hope Coach Karl and DMC can ditch whatever beef they had and we can see what this talent can do.
I'm hoping for Darrel Arthur and Andre Miller to round out the roster and we'll be solid, still a little scared of Josh Smith.
I'm hoping for Darrel Arthur and Andre Miller to round out the roster and we'll be solid, still a little scared of Josh Smith.
From Sactown Royalty. http://www.sactownroyalty.com/2015/7/12/8936851/the-sacramento-kings-are-vlade-divacs-team "As the trade with the Philadelphia 76ers was made official, we learned important details of the first round pick the Kings traded, and its protections. It's now been reported via multiple outlets that the pick is top-10 protected in 2018, and unprotected in 2019. It conveys two years after the Kings convey the pick owed to the Chicago Bulls from the JJ Hickson trade of so long ago."
I'm sorry but if 2 first round picks (including an unprotected, that is too much. I love the signings with the extra cap money (though it is important to note that credit given to this trade should be limited to the 16 mil it opened up), but Vlade was fleeced here. I hope it works, but I am even more in "the good job on signings, but your trade sucks" camp. And no I have no desire to wait around to 2019 and say I told you so...
I'm sorry but if 2 first round picks (including an unprotected, that is too much. I love the signings with the extra cap money (though it is important to note that credit given to this trade should be limited to the 16 mil it opened up), but Vlade was fleeced here. I hope it works, but I am even more in "the good job on signings, but your trade sucks" camp. And no I have no desire to wait around to 2019 and say I told you so...