What's crazy to me, is how amazing this team looks on paper and yet I have not seen an article or a tweet or anything saying that maybe this isn't the WORST offseason in NBA history. My bleacher report is filled with articles trashing us. The power rankings have us at 24, and the blazers at 22...how is a team with minimal talent that just lost 4 of its starters 2 spots ahead of us?!? Bill Simmons' twitter (though I don't think he's great at what he does) completely blasted the Kings on July 3rd about how the Kings are "like a sloshed parent making crazy bids at a school auction". Then we started making good if not great signings on the 4th, and I have heard nothing positive from him, nor anybody else. Maybe I'm just sensitive from years of defending a team that was sometimes hard to defend...but I will probably die of shock when I finally see a national writer compliment this team.
Kings free agency, part 3
- Thread starter Darth Divac
- Start date
Kings are not getting ANY love from national writers until they start winning... I'm not even paying attention to national media anymore. Just win and everything else will fall in place! It actually works in our favor when everyone underestimates us and we pummel everyone coming out of the gate because national media says we supposed to suck!
Seriously, who cares? The national media won't stop until we win. And quite honestly, they shouldn't stop. We've been terrible for a decade. Putrid bad. There is a chance none of this works. Rondo is an a-hole still, cousins punches Karl, Butlers knees fall off, WCS can't hit a shot from further than 5 feet, etc. All those things are possibilities. We are looking at this from a hopeful positive place (which we should be BTW) but that doesn't mean anyone else will, or even should.
Until we stop crapting the bed as a franchise, why would any media member assume we're potty trained moving forward?
Until we stop crapting the bed as a franchise, why would any media member assume we're potty trained moving forward?
It'll be the same complaints we had in the good'ol days (national media is biased against Sac!) but I'll take complaining over that vs. what we've been complaining about for the last 10-12 years (blow up the clown! trade K9! sell the team!) etc. etc.
Nice signing of Butler. Gives us another shooter, which we needed. I don't have faith in Casspi/Gay being knockdown guys despite their finish under Karl, historical #s being a guide. Would still like to see a PF that can space the floor with our bigs (DMC, Koufos, WCS) but have the strength to defend real 4s. A defense-first wing would be nice (KJ, looking at you) and maybe go dumpster diving for a 3rd PG in case of injuries.
Nice signing of Butler. Gives us another shooter, which we needed. I don't have faith in Casspi/Gay being knockdown guys despite their finish under Karl, historical #s being a guide. Would still like to see a PF that can space the floor with our bigs (DMC, Koufos, WCS) but have the strength to defend real 4s. A defense-first wing would be nice (KJ, looking at you) and maybe go dumpster diving for a 3rd PG in case of injuries.
I guess what I was trying to say, and didn't say at all is that my problem isn't really with the media. I can ignore the media easily enough. My problem is that I live in Portland, and am a very vocal Kings fan. I would say that the basketball fans in Portland are generally pretty casual, but love to talk basketball. Because of this, about 30 times a day I have to hear about how crazy the Kings are for signing Rondo, and failed trying to sign Matthews and Ellis. They also have no idea we have signed Koufos or Marco, two signings which are undeniably good, because those aren't being covered or talked about at all because they make sense. So I guess my problem isn't really with the media, it is that I am being constantly forced into conversations with people who only get their info from Kings hating media.
Here's what you do: you quietly soak it all in and nod politely. If you want you can try to correct them by mentioning the guys we've signed and asking them who's on their roster next year, but don't push it. Just plant the seeds and walk away. Then when the season starts you'll start getting respectful nods of appreciation from the same people who clowned you all summer. I live in the middle of Lakers territory, trust me on this one. It's worth the wait. 
This is pretty lukewarm, but he did put the Kings on the winners list.
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on...nners-and-losers-spurs-bucks-heat-get-it-done
From the article: "They're a better team now than they were a month ago, that can't be disputed. So yeah, in many ways, they are winners. But let's not go crazy here, Sacramento.
The team still traded a former first-round pick and a future pick for the cap room to strike out on several non-star free agents, their coach and star player seem to hate one another and their owner is like something out of a P.T. Anderson flick. I'll throw you a bone by putting you on the winners list, but you need to take the hit here, too. It's a "soft" win."
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on...nners-and-losers-spurs-bucks-heat-get-it-done
From the article: "They're a better team now than they were a month ago, that can't be disputed. So yeah, in many ways, they are winners. But let's not go crazy here, Sacramento.
The team still traded a former first-round pick and a future pick for the cap room to strike out on several non-star free agents, their coach and star player seem to hate one another and their owner is like something out of a P.T. Anderson flick. I'll throw you a bone by putting you on the winners list, but you need to take the hit here, too. It's a "soft" win."
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Here's what you do: you quietly soak it all in and nod politely. If you want you can try to correct them by mentioning the guys we've signed and asking them who's on their roster next year, but don't push it. Just plant the seeds and walk away. Then when the season starts you'll start getting respectful nods of appreciation from the same people who clowned you all summer. I live in the middle of Lakers territory, trust me on this one. It's worth the wait.
The final and dream addition to this roster would be Josh Smith if he could play with his head on straight like he did with his buddy Dwight Howard. He has the talent to single handedly win a playoff game. (Game 6 vs Clips). He theoretically has the same tools/skillset as Draymond where he can defend 1-4 yet make plays on offense and hit the occasional three 33% same as Draymond. If he can accept a role he would be a massive steal at 4-5 million.
the national media simply cannot fathom why a perennial loser would want to go all-in on a win-now strategy; in the contemporary narrative of franchise-building, you are either a) already a winner or b) a rebuilding team. as far as most "journalists" who cover the league are concerned, there is no room in that tidy nba worldview for a team like the kings to acquire talent that might, ya know, actually help them put together a winning season. in their minds, if you're not willing to commit to a half-decade or more of tanktastic failure a la sam hinkie's 76er's, then you're doing it wrong. never mind the fact that hinkie has yet to land a true superstar, build a coherent roster, or promote anything resembling stability for his franchise. at least the kings have given themselves a pathway to respectability and a legitimate shot at making it work with their existing superstar, whereas the sixers could just as easily end up stuck mid-stride on a bridge to nowhere. i admire vlade divac's strategy, because he's trying to transform the kings into masters of their own fate. he's not waiting for luck or hope or prayers to rebuild this team; he's practically willing the roster into a possible playoff berth, and i think it takes more guts to do it his way than to give up and tear it all down just to peddle more "youth movements" and "potential" to fans who tired of those lines years ago...
Yeah, as much as it pains me to say it, if Vlade is saying what he's saying in a public venue (Jim Rome show), he's basically publicly giving Karl the last chance to shape up or be fired from likely his last NBA head coaching gig. If Karl doesn't do a complete 180, my money is on the fact that he's out before the first game of the season, maybe even by training camp. They've invested too much cash and made far too many changes in the right direction to risk being derailed over $11 million, period.
I think with all the fanfare around the bigger name signings, the James Anderson signing has not gotten it's fair due. This is a guy that is a solid all around player, can hit the three... but also can be a decent to good perimeter defender. He does all of the basic things well. I know we keep thinking we need that one more wing defender, but if McLemore can take another step defensively (has already shown willingness and growth potential there), and Anderson, it's not a black hole that will severely hamper us, and I think Anderson may surprise some people as a capable perimeter contain defender.
Headed to the @SacramentoKings! Hope I can make an impact in Sacramento. #SacramentoProud
Headed to the @SacramentoKings! Hope I can make an impact in Sacramento. #SacramentoProud
Edit: Scouting video for the curious
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You know, I have never heard of him before and don't know what the level of competition was, but that's a very impressive highlights package. At 7'0" he drops in a nifty series of moves at the 34 sec mark, and a couple of minutes in you see him repeatedly doing the Euro-Boogie, squaring guys up and taking them to the rack hard. Very mobile, gets off the ground, can stay with guys and track them as a shotblocker. Unless he's playing against kindergartners that's impressive. Hard to imagine us just signing him straight to the big club, but bringing him over and seeing what he looks like in camp and up close in Reno would make sense.