Kings and free agency - part 4

Bricklayer

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#361
#361
andjel said:
I do not like this roster. (Edit: I do not like this roster only becouse I got greedy, compared to the previous year this is pure gold.)
Ball handling guard is the weakest link.
It is reasonable risk we have to take that the season will sink if Cousins gets injured.
With Stockton level or Miller level 3rd guard we can kiss any hope of playoff goodbye if either Rondo or Collison miss any significant time due to injury.
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There is a large gul between a "Stockton level 3rd guard" and a 'Miller level 3rd guard".

Stockton is not a 3rd PG at all. He's a D-leaguer with a famous dad.

But Miller on the other hand is a 16yr vet who still has some game left in him. Last year his PER36 numbers were still 10pts 8ast on 50% shooting and a 13.3PER. If he's your 3rd PG, he's one of the most experienced and capable 3rd PGs in the league. Realistically you aren't going to be able to do much better at that position.
 
K

KingsCitizen

Starter
#364
#364
TBH, as much as I like Dre, I think we need a PG that is solid from deep. Rondo is iffy and DC is average and Dre is like in between Rondo and DC from deep.
That would make our offense more versatile.

That's why I still have reservations about Stockton being let go for Dre.
 
Bricklayer

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#365
#365
KingsCitizen said:
TBH, as much as I like Dre, I think we need a PG that is solid from deep. Rondo is iffy and DC is average and Dre is like in between Rondo and DC from deep.
That would make our offense more versatile.

That's why I still have reservations about Stockton being let go for Dre.
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Don't.

This Stockton can't play at this level.

And really anybody better than Miller isn't sitting around waiting to be a 3rd PG playing for trhe minimum. He's already somebody's #1 or #2.
 
ockingsfan

ockingsfan

Starter
#366
#366
There has been a pattern with Vlade's signings, he wants to foster a good team atmosphere, especially around the two key figures on the Kings, DMC and Karl.

First, DMC says he wants WCS on the Kings, boom Vlade picks WCS

Next, FA starts and Karl wants a pass first point guard and boom, Vlade signs Rondo (which should make both Karl and DMC happy).

Next, lets sign a big man that Karl likes (especially since Vlade has no intention of trading for Lawson), boom Vlade signs Kousof (Karl's starting center on his 57 win team, also helps DMC moves to his preferred PF position).

Next, lets get some good glue and locker room guys for DMC, boom Vlade signs Casspi and Acy.

What's next? I predict Andre Miller will be brought in to be the much desired 3rd PG for George Karl.

Vlade is a unifier. He has a purpose with every signing. He knows what he is doing and will bring back the Kings franchise.

IN VLADE WE TRUST! :cool:
 
IfAt1st

IfAt1st

Starter
#367
#367
ockingsfan said:
First, DMC says he wants WCS on the Kings, boom Vlade picks WCS
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I've seen this mentioned here on KF's, but I asked before the draft if Demarcus had been publicly supporting/advocating for WCS, and noone said anything.

Where/when exactly did Demarcus say he wanted WCS on the Kings?
 
KingsFanGER

KingsFanGER

Starter
#370
#370
You don't expect anymore big FA signings at this point. Our roster is almost complete.
What is encouraging is, that DC, Rudy and DMC were able to lead a worse roster to a 9-6 start last season. Our bench has improved and we finally have the mobile, weak side defender we were looking for.
But did the major weakness of our team really change?
Are we really in a position, where we can hope to make a jump to the 8th seed?
Right now the uncertainty really bothers me. I can't wait for the start of the season any longer, to see, what this group of guys is able to do. :oops:
 
A

andjel

Bench
#371
#371
hrdboild said:
I think guard depth is one of the strengths of this roster. Rondo, Collison, McLemore, Belinelli is one of the best 4-man guard rotations in the league. A lot of teams will be in much worse shape than we are if they lose their starting PG for any length of time. A bigger guard who can initiate the offense from the wing would be nice but Gay and Butler can facilitate a little bit and so can Cousins so I don't think we're lacking for playmakers. I'm not worried about the guards at all. The biggest concern I have at this point is the depth of our frontcourt. It would have been nice to go into the season with at least one solid veteran at PF so we're not relying on two unproven rookies at the same position.
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Not all guards are created equal.
Ben and Belinelli are good SGs, but neither can create offense, and even worse, they are not known for their ball handling skills either.
We have only 2 guards right now that can reliably walk the ball over the halfcourt and initiate offense.
Take one away and the drop to Stockton/Miller as a sub is bigger then drop from Cus/Koufos to WCS.

While you can hide lack of big guy by playing small for a little bit, you better have at least one guard with solid ball handling skills on the court at all times.
 
Kingsgurl

Kingsgurl

Starter
#372
#372
Every team and every season starts like that. There is always uncertainty as to how moves will pan out, how pieces will fit together. Most teams don't feel quite the angst that we are feeling this season, as the moves are generally smaller pieces, the jump doesn't need to be so high, or they just EXPECT things to work out because, well, they always do. Personally, I am pumped to to see what this team can do, so I, too, can not wait for the season to start. It's nice not to dread it
 
A

andjel

Bench
#373
#373
Bricklayer said:
There is a large gul between a "Stockton level 3rd guard" and a 'Miller level 3rd guard".

Stockton is not a 3rd PG at all. He's a D-leaguer with a famous dad.

But Miller on the other hand is a 16yr vet who still has some game left in him. Last year his PER36 numbers were still 10pts 8ast on 50% shooting and a 13.3PER. If he's your 3rd PG, he's one of the most experienced and capable 3rd PGs in the league. Realistically you aren't going to be able to do much better at that position.
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True, there is the difference between the two and Miller might be it.
I remember that after a nice start, Miller looked gassed as time went by and his D plumetted.
I did forget that he played way too many minutes.
Have some doubts how much that "some left" is, but the way free agency is going we will find out.
 
K

KingsCitizen

Starter
#374
#374
After reviewing where all the PG free agents are, I would say that the NBA FA crop has nothing left which would belong to a the type of PG I was suggesting, a floor general with reliable deep shooting.
So I tried to recollect who were the notable players during the World Championship in Spain. Then I realized one game where France made a really good rally, I believe against Spain. And 1 guy really caught my eye on that game.
That guy is a french PG named, Thomas Huertel, currently still 26 yo and was just named MVP in the Turkish Cup as well as bringing his team to championship within just 2 months.

I did a few check and before he moved to the Turkish cup, he actually played in Euroleague and in his last season his 3pt FG was amazingly at 56.3% while playing at 28 MPG.

I don't think Turkish clubs are hard to get a buyout. He played nicely with Tony Parker in the French team. And France got Silver in Spain.
IMO, this guy might be worth a discussion if we are looking for a 3rd string PG.
 
Bricklayer

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#375
#375
andjel said:
Not all guards are created equal.
Ben and Belinelli are good SGs, but neither can create offense, and even worse, they are not known for their ball handling skills either.
We have only 2 guards right now that can reliably walk the ball over the halfcourt and initiate offense.
Take one away and the drop to Stockton/Miller as a sub is bigger then drop from Cus/Koufos to WCS.

While you can hide lack of big guy by playing small for a little bit, you better have at least one guard with solid ball handling skills on the court at all times.
Click to expand...
Bellinelli actually has a good handle. Has played some PG in his career.

James Anderson was also running the point in summer league. Think the only guard we have on the roster who can't handle now is Ben, and that's always the way it should have been.
 
A

andjel

Bench
#376
#376
Bricklayer said:
Bellinelli actually has a good handle. Has played some PG in his career.

James Anderson was also running the point in summer league. Think the only guard we have on the roster who can't handle now is Ben, and that's always the way it should have been.
Click to expand...
ok, my fault for not being precise. Rudy Guy and DMC have handle too.
I was refering to PG level of handling the ball.

Neither Anderson nor Belinelli (even Nellie gave up on him as a PG after 7 min per game experiment in his rookie season) can be PG on the floor. Both are more SF than PG, and can help spell the burden of PG that plays with them, but not be that PG.
Stockton would be better solution than either of them, and he is not the answer.

Either way, I might be expecting too perfect roster.
Guess signing Millier should cover that PG injury insurance. Though highly likely, he is not signed yet.
 
CuzistanKing

CuzistanKing

G-League
#377
#377
Kingsgurl said:
Every team and every season starts like that. There is always uncertainty as to how moves will pan out, how pieces will fit together. Most teams don't feel quite the angst that we are feeling this season, as the moves are generally smaller pieces, the jump doesn't need to be so high, or they just EXPECT things to work out because, well, they always do. Personally, I am pumped to to see what this team can do, so I, too, can not wait for the season to start. It's nice not to dread it
Click to expand...
Exactly! I'm just so damn happy to even be in the position to discuss this many moves all at once. After a complete cluster of the last season, the fact that we're "complaining" about a third-string PG and a fifth big is astounding by itself. I'm cautiously feeling as optimistic as I did last October. Will definitely renew League Pass (after watching maybe a handful of games since December) and put my full trust in Vlade, because every move he made so far shows that he just gets it ("it" mostly being my vision for what this team has to do to win, of course :p).
 
IfAt1st

IfAt1st

Starter
#385
#385
Andre Miller being signed just made SO much sense with Karl as the coach, it's actually suspicious that he hasn't been signed yet and now won't be signed (now that Curry is).

In fact, I'd jump to the conclusion that Karl is on very thin ice.
If Karl was in the plans to be the coach all year long, it only makes sense to sign Miller to a cheap 1-year contract to back up the point (which he proved he can admirably do last year).
 
K

KingsCitizen

Starter
#387
#387
The Seth Curry signing is sort of an indication that the FO sees a need to add shooter from deep kind of PG, which is what I have been advocating as well.
But I'm not crowning the kid yet as the final 3rd PG.
Let them battle it out in the camp and may the legit one be picked up.

Or maybe we'll end up with someone else come regular season.
But clearly this pick-up shows that Vlade really reads my comments in the forum. LOL
Vivek better start sending me some checks soon. LOL
 
hrdboild

hrdboild

Moloch in whom I dream Angels!
Staff member
#390
#390
We're up to 16 players under contract now (some of them unguaranteed) so I would think the FO is pretty much done building the roster. There's a couple weak spots, I don't think this is a guaranteed playoff team, but we are 9 deep with proven NBA talent. If Rondo has a nice bounce back year and DeMarcus solidifies his position as the best C in the league I like our chances, even in the stacked Western Conference. I'm a little disappointed we passed on acquiring Kyle O'Quinn, Thomas Robinson, and Moe Harkless as all of them ended up being bargain-basement acquisitions for other teams and would have filled important roles for us. I'm impressed with how much Vlade was able to accomplish in just one off-season though. This actually looks like a real team!

If we make the playoffs next year and turn some heads doing it, I'd think we could be a factor in free agency again in 2016. Every team is going to have cap space with the big salary cap bump and there aren't a lot of elite players hitting the market, but you can sell yourself to veterans if you're a playoff team with one obvious hole. Guys like Al Horford or Hassan Whiteside could be targets for us next year but only if they think we'd give them a better chance to win. We'll also be the only team debuting a brand new arena, for whatever that's worth. Hopefully they pull out all the stops on the home locker room.
 
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