Kings seriously pursuing Pau Gasol (multiple sources)
- Thread starter roasthawg
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Kings are currently tied for the 9/10 spot. Which means they would need to pass teams ahead of them to keep the pick. The odds of a team in the 7 spot or higher getting a top 3 are very slim so the chances of swapping is nil. Basically, does adding Pau increase or decrease the win total? If it increases then we are already giving the pick to the Bulls. Lowering the protection means nothing in the trade.
I'm sorry, but this is just more bullcrap. Pau Gasol is opting out after the season and Tony Snell is everything people hate about Ben McLemore without any of the upside. Ben McLemore has actually transformed himself into a good shooter over the first three seasons of his career, loathe as some are to admit it, while Tony Snell is moving in reverse. And we're supposed to lower the protections on the pick and give Philly something to let us do it? Bullcrap. If we made that offer we're completely insane. Maybe this pushes us into the 8th seed if everything breaks right. Maybe. But then you've burned even more assets to do it.
Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if this happens. Because nothing we do makes any damn sense. I could get on board with the Koufos salary dump if we use that cap space to go after Al Horford this summer. But dumping McLemore when we have no alternatives at SG would be a mistake. Lowering the damn pick protection even more for Chicago is a slap in the face. And somebody please tell Philly to Eff off with their pick swap nonsense. Everybody in the league is playing us for fools right now.
Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if this happens. Because nothing we do makes any damn sense. I could get on board with the Koufos salary dump if we use that cap space to go after Al Horford this summer. But dumping McLemore when we have no alternatives at SG would be a mistake. Lowering the damn pick protection even more for Chicago is a slap in the face. And somebody please tell Philly to Eff off with their pick swap nonsense. Everybody in the league is playing us for fools right now.
That's fine, but then we are getting rid of our assets and future to make a silly attempt at something that isn't reachable. We aren't a playoff team without addressing the SG spot or defense on the perimeter. This trade would do neither. Spare me on Snell being our SG savior, he's getting run out of Chicago when they need him the most right now.
What I meant by "give for it" was when they took Carl Landry, Nik Stauskas, and Jason Thompson off our books - sorry that part wasn't clear. I thought Vlade bamboozled the 76ers into taking out our garbage even while the press was roasting him for it. "crippling our future with draft pick swaps"... bah.
.... and on his way to the store Vlade just bought a case of imported Alaskan snake oil, handed the nice man on the corner his car keys because he promised to wash it for him, and got a really great deal on 7 different 2-year magazine subscriptions he didn't know he wanted. There is such a thing as being too bold. The NBA had to invent a rule to stop this kind of thing from happening in the past, and we're getting frighteningly close to a "Vlade Divac" rule being implemented in the near future.
Being convinced that you can overcome any obstacle is great, but there's also common sense involved. Common sense that a HOF coach who wants a fast paced offense does not work with a potential HOF big man with injury issues. Common sense that blowing our future in the draft for 3-4 years, when we could have went through the stretch provision. Common sense that adding an old all-star, who is looking to get paid in the summer, will not work out in the end, no matter how many times they cross their fingers and strut down the streets of Sacramento.
...which will be exciting to watch for the next 29 games worth of George Karl led dysfunction, after which he's on the first plane out of here. And when we still can't make the playoffs because our SG rotation is now all Belinelli/Anderson all the time, we won't even have a draft pick to show for it because we'll have lowered the protection on that and given Chicago a top 10 pick for their 35 year old free agent.
It's not hanging over our head, unless we're trying to trade it and can't. Which, now that I think about it, is exactly what is happening. 
Somehow we're still in contention for the playoffs but we're also currently the team with the 9th worst record in the league. Yes Kings fans, we're 29 games away from having sucked our way into yet another top 10 pick, a pick which is currently still ours unless we screw that up too on the last possible day. Had we fired George Karl when we had the opportunity I'd feel slightly better about our odds of turning this around. But since we're instead relying on vague promises of a slightly tweaked defense (but gee guys, our book on defense is actually pretty thick already...) I have zero confidence that we finish the season better than we started it.
Somehow we're still in contention for the playoffs but we're also currently the team with the 9th worst record in the league. Yes Kings fans, we're 29 games away from having sucked our way into yet another top 10 pick, a pick which is currently still ours unless we screw that up too on the last possible day. Had we fired George Karl when we had the opportunity I'd feel slightly better about our odds of turning this around. But since we're instead relying on vague promises of a slightly tweaked defense (but gee guys, our book on defense is actually pretty thick already...) I have zero confidence that we finish the season better than we started it.
I mean.... come on now. You're throwing this out there now? What have you been watching for the last 10 years? A functional organization that's just made a couple of miscalculations? If you're looking for an appropriate image, a freakin' atom bomb exploding on Godzilla's head wouldn't be much of an exaggeration.
I don't want to keep BMac and KK. They are trade fodder to me. Just a difference of opinion - I've never fallen head over heels for either guy.
To me, Ben is a bust. I'm glad he is knocking down shots and increasing his trade value, but he is an idiot and lacks focus and consistency. I want a new pizza guy. I'm actually really pissed at Ben for not being a lock down defender... he should have the athleticism to do it but he apparently does not have the brains and/or drive to do it.
I like Kosta, but really how much better is KK than Aaron Gray or Ryan Hollins or Cole Aldridge, or even Eric Moreland. Not a million billion better. Not the moon better. He's better by "that much" - we can replace that role.
To me, Ben is a bust. I'm glad he is knocking down shots and increasing his trade value, but he is an idiot and lacks focus and consistency. I want a new pizza guy. I'm actually really pissed at Ben for not being a lock down defender... he should have the athleticism to do it but he apparently does not have the brains and/or drive to do it.
I like Kosta, but really how much better is KK than Aaron Gray or Ryan Hollins or Cole Aldridge, or even Eric Moreland. Not a million billion better. Not the moon better. He's better by "that much" - we can replace that role.
A whole lot happens in 2 years... what if I added that we're getting Stephenson for a 2nd rounder? You'd be damn ecstatic. Problem is? Players decline and a whole lot changes within 2 years. Rondo no longer play defense. Gasol is 35 and we'd need to win 70% of our remaining games for the playoffs. Collison was considered mediocre back then.
Snell is better defensively than Ben, but it's not by a whole lot. Would it even make a difference on a team like ours? He's not a shutdown defender, but he's just a solid one who can hold his own. Bowen is a biiiig stretch, but Snell does make the deal a bit better. He's a very minimal upgrade on defense. The rest of his game? It's worse than Bens! Pretty hard
Snell can play SG/SF. He's mostly regarded as a SF because of his lack of offense. Just to give you an idea, it's worse than Ben's in every aspect. However, defense is where he's going to contribute. He won't be able to guard bigger SFs, but we'd have Gay for that anyways.
The problem with the trade is that Philly really want our 2019 1st. We will have to give up Philly assets for 0 reason.
Snell is better defensively than Ben, but it's not by a whole lot. Would it even make a difference on a team like ours? He's not a shutdown defender, but he's just a solid one who can hold his own. Bowen is a biiiig stretch, but Snell does make the deal a bit better. He's a very minimal upgrade on defense. The rest of his game? It's worse than Bens! Pretty hard
Snell can play SG/SF. He's mostly regarded as a SF because of his lack of offense. Just to give you an idea, it's worse than Ben's in every aspect. However, defense is where he's going to contribute. He won't be able to guard bigger SFs, but we'd have Gay for that anyways.
The problem with the trade is that Philly really want our 2019 1st. We will have to give up Philly assets for 0 reason.