Kings seriously pursuing Pau Gasol (multiple sources)

[sdballer]

This is where I still see Vivek meddling. We weren't a lock for the playoffs this year. Things have already gone sideways but he's still back there pushing and we're going to sacrifice every asset we have to maybe get swept in the first round.

If we do this, don't make the playoffs and rondo/pau walk, we'd have a bare roster, a lame duck coach, some cap space and pick problems the next few years. Yikes

 

[206Fan]

Vlade's Sixers trade is seriously ****ing us over right now. It's easier to let it slide because we're homers, but it looks so bad right now. We can't even lower a protection on our pick because it's directly tied to the Sixers. The Sixers want our 2019 pick because that's the year where we may be without Cousins.

The trade idea is Kofus+McLemore+2016 protected 1st rounder for Gasol+Snell.

Looking from the outside. it's really Kofus+McLemore+2016 1st rounder for 1/3 season rental of Gasol.

I'm sorry, but this is just more bullpoopoo. 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? Bullpoopoo. 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.

This is why I'm a bit confused. Snell is the worse version of Ben with less of an upside. The only thing he provides more of right now is probably defense, but it's not a whole lot more. If people are frustrated by Ben's lack of production, they're going to flip when they see Snell.

We're betting our 2019 1st will be in the 20's and not such a big loss. It's a gamble.

That's a pretty hefty bet. The reason why Philly wants the 2019 1st rounder instead is because DeMarcus Cousins is a FA after the 2018 season. There's a big chance that Cousins may not return to Sacramento. If that happens, the Kings will probably be terrible in 2019 and our pick will probably be bottom 3.

This is why Philly wants the Kings or the Bulls to pony up. We need the Sixers' approval to even do the trade to lower the protection from top 10 to top 5 or whatever it is.

Yeah.... unless this is a "clear cap for the summer" move, it seems pretty short sighted, considering Karl already crapped the bed on our season.

I'm less optimistic about FA... our organization looks like a bigger mess than last year...with 0 direction. Last year, it showed us that even if we threw a max contract at an Achilles-injured 28yearold SG, we'd still get turned down for less.

There's a number of low-key FAs that turned us down...lots of good FAs in this class, but it'll be hard to get them to buy here.

 

[theclash4u5]

For all we know the deal could be Mirotic/Snell. What are the chances that the reporters got all the players correct just like the Tobias Harris trade nobody saw that coming.

The difference is, the Pistons don't have leaks like our team does, which is why you didn't see that trade coming.

 

[Bricklayer]

We're betting our 2019 1st will be in the 20's and not such a big loss. It's a gamble.

Its really not. Or its an intelligent one.

Worrying about your 2019 pick when you have DeMarcus Cousins in his prime on your team is really just thinking like a loser, which Vlade clearly doesn't. I rather doubt the Mavs even knew if they had a pick year to year when Dirk was in his prime. To take your shot, here today, while you have Cousins, you have to mobilize all your assets.

Now I'm assuming Vlade wouldn't actually pull the trigger on this unless he has a feel or instinct about Pau and what he will respond to. Worst case, its a Koufos salary dump, to clear room to make a run at Ryan Anderson this summer. Best case its a new Vlade/Webber/Pollard trio with Pau/Cuz/WCS. Either way, the days of twin duplexes and talentless Jason Thompsons/Jon Brockman/Patrick Patterson/Chuck Hayes frontcourts would be a thing of the past. Vlade is, if there is truth to this, acting like a guy who expects and intends to win. Not 5 years from now. Next year.

 

[hrdboild]

This is where I still see Vivek meddling. We weren't a lock for the playoffs this year. Things have already gone sideways but he's still back there pushing and we're going to sacrifice every asset we have to maybe get swept in the first round.

If we do this, don't make the playoffs and rondo/pau walk, we'd have a bare roster, a lame duck coach, some cap space and pick problems the next few years. Yikes

Exactly. There's calculated risk and then there's throwing everything you've got on one spin of the roulette wheel. What we're doing is not business it's gambling, and particularly irresponsible gambling at that. Sure there's a small chance we win that roll ... Pau gels immediately and leads us to the playoffs, George Karl transforms himself over night, maybe we even make one of those games against Golden State interesting, and then we convince everyone to stay and we have a 2 year window until Pau retires. But the odds are stacked against all of that happening which is what you'll read tomorrow when every NBA analyst rips us a new one for even considering it. This is not prudent management, it's a desperate move from desperate people. I can't defend this any longer. I'm tired of being the laughing stock of the NBA.

 

[Larry89]

Can gasol play PF anymore? If we do acquire Gasol... will it really be worth at the expense of WCS minutes?

 

[Dbeltz24]

I don't see Pau wanting to re-sign with us. He's 35 going on 36, he will most likely want to be a role player for a contender. That's mainly why he left LA in the first place and the whole CP3 trade debacle from the league.

Pau's the most skilled big man in my eyes when it comes to the IQ, passing ability and low post game. Yet his defense has been atrocious the last couple of years.

Time would have to tell whether this would make a good trade or not. Make the playoffs with Pau, I think he still leaves because we won't be getting over .500 this season. That's our best option, getting FA's to see the Kings in the playoffs. Pau would be a rental to make the Kings relevant for a half season and then he'll go be the backup PF/C for a team like the Warriors or something.

Worst case is he gets traded here and we lose. This whole trade will blow up in Vlades face. Kings stay irrelevant.

Pass or fail with this trade, at least Vlade has the balls to try something like this. If you're going to go out, at least go out with your cigarette blazing Vlade.

 

[206Fan]

Its really not. Or its an intelligent one.

Worrying about your 2019 pick when you have DeMarcus Cousins in his prime on your team is really just thinking like a loser, which Vlade clearly doesn't. I rather doubt the Mavs even knew if they had a pick year to year when Dirk was in his prime. To take your shot, here today, while you have Cousins, you have to mobilize all your assets.

Now I'm assuming Vlade wouldn't actually pull the trigger on this unless he has a feel or instinct about Pau and what he will respond to. Worst case, its a Koufos salary dump, to clear room to make a run at Ryan Anderson this summer. Best case its a new Vlade/Webber/Pollard trio with Pau/Cuz/WCS. Either way, the days of twin duplexes and talentless Jason Thompsons/Jon Brockman/Patrick Patterson/Chuck Hayes frontcourts would be a thing of the past. Vlade is, if there is truth to this, acting like a guy who expects and intends to win. Not 5 years from now. Next year.

It's pretty damn important when Philly is the one who could be potentially rejecting the trade because they want our 2019 1st rounder. They have the option of saying: NO, we want your 2019 1st rounder so you can't trade with the Bulls. or YES, but you have to give us more assets, then we'll let you trade with the Bulls.

It's almost like a S&T scenario, except worse. What incentive does Philly have in order to approve this deal? 0. That's why they'll be trying to get as much from the Kings+Bulls as possible. We're basically going to be forced to meet their demands if we want to trade for Gasol.

 

[Bballkingsrock]

I like the idea but Gasol would need a guarantee that he will stay because we are 4-4.5 games out of playoffs right now and we would need to go on a HUGE run to make the playoffs. Pretty much would need to beat the Blazers and Jazz every time here on out and we have an extremely tough schedule going forward.

Losing assets like Ben and Koufas and our first round pick for an attempt at making playoffs this year would be disastrous.

 

[sdballer]

Its really not. Or its an intelligent one.

Worrying about your 2019 pick when you have DeMarcus Cousins in his prime on your team is really just thinking like a loser, which Vlade clearly doesn't. I rather doubt the Mavs even knew if they had a pick year to year when Dirk was in his prime.
.

This might be the dumbest thing you've ever said on this site. The reason good teams may not care about their picks is because they already have enough talent to win and are picking in the mid to late 20's.

Even with cuz in his prime, we're still a lotto team with a horrible reputation around the league. Counting on a 35 year old free agent who doesn't fit the kind of offense we run and plays no d hardly puts us in a position to not care about draft assets the next few years.

 

[SacTownKid]

How in the world could you add Gasol to the mix when there are struggles already to fit all 3 of Rondo, Gay, and Cuz into it?

 

[The_Jamal]

Jesus, some of you are delusional. If true, just Vlade showing his incompetence as a rookie GM getting taken to the cleaners.

You trade for a player like Pau if he's the guy who puts your team over the top. You sacrifice the future for a chance at making a real run. We aren't even close to that stage and would still likely miss the playoffs with Pau aboard.

Next, we get worse defensively. Pau has had to play Center out of necessity because he doesn't have the foot speed anymore to defend PF's. And the Bulls post defense has been absolutely horrendous this year.

Next, Pau is going to be 36 years old with a ton of mileage on him. Even if we were able to convince him to stay (which is highly doubtful), it's extremely likely his performance starts declining sooner rather than later.

He's a smart investment for a team like the Thunder, Cavs or Spurs. Not for a team that's 4.5 games out of the playoffs that's already thrown away too many future assets.

 

[Blob]

I don't think Philly/Chicago asking for "sweeteners" will keep this from happening though it could fall apart for other reasons.

Why? 7 teams are bunched together with 20 to 23 wins ranking with 6th worst to 12th worst record. The Kings are grouped right there in the middle.

The Bulls have to be saying if we trade them Gasol the Kings can a move out of this bunched up pack and finish with 12th worst record or better....then the pick conveys to the Bulls barring lottery surprise.

Sure it would be nice from the Bulls perspective to get protection reduced but this is last minute posturing to squeeze a rookie GM.

If they really want to move Gasol they can make a safe bet the Kings will surge in the standings. Of course there is no guarantee with new players but I'd place the odds better than 50/50 Kings are not a bottom 10 team if the trade is consummated.

This is where Vlade better not bend over backwards and give away the farm....OR ANYTHING....especially to that trust the process slime ball. Ben and Koufos is a decent haul for a 35 year old free agent and Tony Snell. Take it or leave it should be Vlade's attitude.

 

[sdballer]

Jesus, some of you are delusional. If true, just Vlade showing his incompetence as a rookie GM getting taken to the cleaners.

You trade for a player like Pau if he's the guy who puts your team over the top. You sacrifice the future for a chance at making a real run. We aren't even close to that stage and would still likely miss the playoffs with Pau aboard.

Next, we get worse defensively. Pau has had to play Center out of necessity because he doesn't have the foot speed anymore to defend PF's. And the Bulls post defense has been absolutely horrendous this year.

Next, Pau is going to be 36 years old with a ton of mileage on him. Even if we were able to convince him to stay (which is highly doubtful), it's extremely likely his performance starts declining sooner rather than later.

He's a smart investment for a team like the Thunder, Cavs or Spurs. Not for a team that's 4.5 games out of the playoffs that's already thrown away too many future assets.

I've never agreed with you more. If we do this, it will not only cement our reputation as the laughing stock of the league but it will remove any appreciation I had for what Vlade was doing with his inherited dumpster fire

 

[Blob]

Jesus, some of you are delusional. If true, just Vlade showing his incompetence as a rookie GM getting taken to the cleaners.

You trade for a player like Pau if he's the guy who puts your team over the top. You sacrifice the future for a chance at making a real run. We aren't even close to that stage and would still likely miss the playoffs with Pau aboard.

Next, we get worse defensively. Pau has had to play Center out of necessity because he doesn't have the foot speed anymore to defend PF's. And the Bulls post defense has been absolutely horrendous this year.

Next, Pau is going to be 36 years old with a ton of mileage on him. Even if we were able to convince him to stay (which is highly doubtful), it's extremely likely his performance starts declining sooner rather than later.

He's a smart investment for a team like the Thunder, Cavs or Spurs. Not for a team that's 4.5 games out of the playoffs that's already thrown away too many future assets.

That's one way to look at it. But the other way is Snell can be better than Ben with equal opportunity. And Koufos has a duplicative skill to Willie and is expendable for a frontline player who can actually pass the ball and score out of the low and high post.

A factor for me is Boogie's usage (at ridiculous 33% with only 10% assist rate) has to come down so he can focus on being a complete player including passing and defending. Gasol would take shots from him and remove scoring burden and that's good thing because the imbalance to the Kings offense is not a winning formula.

 

[KingMilz]

Can gasol play PF anymore? If we do acquire Gasol... will it really be worth at the expense of WCS minutes?

No and no

 

[Dbeltz24]

I've never agreed with you more. If we do this, it will not only cement our reputation as the laughing stock of the league but it will remove any appreciation I had for what Vlade was doing with his inherited dumpster fire

So you guys have covered all sides and points correctly.

Now time to ask, do you think this trade happens before the deadline?

 

[hrdboild]

Think about this for a second. DeMarcus Cousins is a free agent after the 2018/2019 season. The pick we gave Philly last year is unprotected in 2019.
You think we're under pressure now to get competitive? Just wait until that off-season comes around.

Right now -- as of today -- we have a decent core, all under age 30, a couple of promising 22 year olds, and no unmovable contracts. Gay as recently as last year was a total stud. Rondo leads the league in assists by a mile and he's top 10 in steals. DeMarcus is a top 5 player. Fix the coaching situation, use cap space this summer to lure a starting quality PF and we have a core group who can compete for the playoffs all next season while continuing to improve internally by developing our young players. Since we're stuck with George Karl for the rest of the year, there's a decent chance we come out of this mess of a season with another top 10 pick to keep or trade. That's a bundle of assets that you can build around Cousins with. It's an actual plan for the future which balances the risk by maintaining a core group of veterans and projectable young talent. If we do lose DeMarcus we still have some assets to fall back on.

Now look at the alternative. We trade Ben (22) and Kosta (26), lower our pick protection, give Philly god knows what to do it (probably another future pick, lowered protections on the 2018 pick, or more swap rights) and pick up Pau Gasol (35) on the eve of his last free agent bid. Let's say we squeek into that 8 seed and get front row seats for the Golden State victory parade. Now we lose our pick to Chicago, Philly gets swap rights next year too and our 2018 pick (top 10 protected) or our 2019 pick (unprotected). Unless we convince both Gasol and Rondo to choose our dysfunctional mess over 29 other teams we're bleeding even more talent in DeMarcus' prime while playing the next 3 seasons for Philly's draft picks. Even if Pau Gasol picks Sacramento, he's retiring by 2019. Sure you think those picks are irrelevant now because we're about to embark on one of the greatest two year turnarounds in NBA history. That's what people here said when I ripped the Hickson/Casspi trade. Who cares about a future first round pick, we have DeMarcus and Tyreke and we're about to take the league by storm...

All we're doing here is kicking the boulder of incompetence further down the road and delaying the day of reckoning when all the future assets we've mortgaged for this one shot at inevitable first round playoff defeat will come due. You have to be dead set on making the playoffs this season at all costs to think this is acceptable risk.

 

[John Galt]

y'all trippin because you think Vlade is going to give Philly our 2021 first rounder to get their permission to do what you consider a crazy Chicago deal. Nothing will assuage it... enjoy it. It's all imaginary. Probably Chicago backs off the draft pick demand - and wind up with the pick anyway like Blob said.

Maybe tomorrow you will find a positive way to look at things - instead of hand wringing because you think Vlade is ruining your youth movement. Hope so - it is fun to be positive once in a while.

 

[SacTownKid]

It's not that bad because like Brick stated it's a salary dump if nothing else. But unless the impossible happens within Karls own mind and they find a way to fit in someone who brings mostly offensively oriented skills with the ball to the table then it's more likely nothing more than a salary dump and a guaranteed lost 1st round pick.

The pick itself I'm not too worried about to be honest because I've watched quite a bit of college ball this year and I'm largely unimpressed in the area the Kings would most likely be picking. After 4-5 this draft doesn't have much worthwhile talent.

 

[Im Still Ballin]

Not a smart move

But it would be cool to see Gasol and Cousins

 

[hrdboild]

y'all trippin because you think Vlade is going to give Philly our 2021 first rounder to get their permission to do what you consider a crazy Chicago deal. Nothing will assuage it... enjoy it. It's all imaginary. Probably Chicago backs off the draft pick demand - and wind up with the pick anyway like Blob said.

Maybe tomorrow you will find a positive way to look at things - instead of hand wringing because you think Vlade is ruining your youth movement. Hope so - it is fun to be positive once in a while.

I'm plenty positive... about all sorts of things that don't involve the Sacramento Kings. I defended Vlade all summer because I thought he had a plan. It was difficult for me to accept at first, but I've come to realize that there is a lot of truth to the rumors of our front office's continued incompetence. Let me just put it this way, there's a whole lot of smoking pouring out the windows and it has to come from somewhere. I wonder how long it took Knicks fans to realize what Isiah Thomas was doing to their team?

If this deal doesn't happen I'll breath a sigh of relief because I think it's a huge mistake. If it does happen, life goes on. Whatever. I already said the other day that I don't care anymore. It's not my team, I just root for them. Mainly I'm arguing against the backward logic that's got people believing any deal with a chance at pushing us into the bottom playoff seed, however remote, is some kind of light at the end of the tunnel. A lottery ticket is not an investment strategy. If any other team in the league was contemplating a deal like this we would join in the ridicule because we're being taken for fools. I'm pretty even tempered most of the time but if there's one thing in this world that drives me into uncontrollable rage it's being taken for a fool.

 

[arusinov]

Pau Gasol is certainly great player, one of the best european players ever. But to give up assets for less than 1/2 season rental of Gasol in his current state (while he's still very good, he's past prime) and also hindering WCS development as Gasol will probably play much more minutes than KK... just somehow not good idea.

 

[Bricklayer]

Exactly. There's calculated risk and then there's throwing everything you've got on one spin of the roulette wheel. What we're doing is not business it's gambling, and particularly irresponsible gambling at that. Sure there's a small chance we win that roll ... Pau gels immediately and leads us to the playoffs, George Karl transforms himself over night, maybe we even make one of those games against Golden State interesting, and then we convince everyone to stay and we have a 2 year window until Pau retires. But the odds are stacked against all of that happening which is what you'll read tomorrow when every NBA analyst rips us a new one for even considering it. This is not prudent management, it's a desperate move from desperate people. I can't defend this any longer. I'm tired of being the laughing stock of the NBA.

We aren't giving up much of anything to do it.

Unless of course you continue to subscribe to the Ben fallacy. Which as I've repeatedly noted is not tenable.

I kinda like Kosta and would not burn him for nothing, but an upgrade from Kosta to Pau is a >>>> and worst case its a salary clearing move so we can chase somebody) (Anderson perhaps) this summer.

Everybody needs to repeat and repeat: WE ARE NOT REBUILDING. Just not what is happening. So much angst is about us hindering our rebuilding chances. Except of course, we aren't rebuilding.

 

[Sac.1989]

You do this and go all in if you feel pau will resign and perform at a high level for another 3 seasons.

Best front court in the nba. Rudy back at the 3. Enough offense to chase anyone down and a big advantage inside v the Warriors.

I do this.

 

[Kings_of_California]

I hate this. I hate hate hate hate hate this.

We're hardly in contention for the 8th seed, and we're going after an old, aging veteran?

I don't understand the logic. We are at least a few years away from serious contention.

This will surely be a waste of assets and another setback if it goes through.

Gasoline is the type of piece you add when you're on the cusp. We are definitely not.

Just...please, no.

 

[The_Jamal]

We aren't giving up much of anything to do it.

Unless of course you continue to subscribe to the Ben fallacy. Which as I've repeatedly noted is not tenable.

I kinda like Kosta and would not burn him for nothing, but an upgrade from Kosta to Pau is a >>>> and worst case its a salary clearing move so we can chase somebody) (Anderson perhaps) this summer.

Everybody needs to repeat and repeat: WE ARE NOT REBUILDING. Just not what is happening. So much angst is about us hindering our rebuilding chances. Except of course, we aren't rebuilding.

If this ends up being a "salary dump" move, we've given up Ben, Nik and 2 first round picks to have cap space for this summer. Think about that for a second...

Pau doesn't make this team a playoff team. He can't play PF anymore, I don't see how we convince him to reup, and he's likely headed for a rapid decline. People may not like Shumpert but A. He's 25. B. He directly addresses the team's biggest weakness and C. He's under team control for another 3 years.

Pau can't defend PF's, the offensive structure all of a sudden gets really muddy with Rondo, Rudy, Pau and Cousins all needing ball

 

[KingsFanGER]

I don't think this is realistic. Mirotic? Ok, I can see the logic behind that. But Gasol? Confusing to say the least.

 

[Hansel]

Nonsense trade.
Give away Koufos and McLemore just to see a couple of month a 36yo Gasol shooting threes.
I'm getting tired of this franchise, honestly.

 

[ParniValjak]

People put too high a value on first round picks, especially in weak drafts. The sooner we lose that pick to Chicago the better. That pick has been a weight around this franchise's neck for a good part of half a decade. We have all the core pieces we need and everything else is obtainable via free agency.

Nick and Ben have been nothing but failures. If anything it just shows how crap a front office we have had with PDA and Mullin.

At worst this move becomes a salary dump and I like Kosta and have expressed opinion of not trading him unless for a star. Gasol is old but is better than Kosta and with DMC, Gasol and WCS you instantly have the best frontcourt in the NBA just about. SG would continue to remain a big concern but I am sure we would be looking at options.