To be honest, I don't think coaches care at all about an arena... I highly doubt FAs do either. It's just one of those things being said to get fans excited.
I think you've over-playing our players a bit. Cousins is a great talent, but he's a big mess to clean up. Not all coaches want to deal with players like Cousins.
Rondo isn't necessarily a sexy piece. In a league dominated by elite scoring guards and 3pt shooting, the Kings won't survive moving forward with a 30yearold Rondo. Rondo is a jackass in his own very right mind too. It's a perimeter league now, and I don't think Rondo gives you success.
I think Gay is the only guy who doesn't have too many flaws as a solid #3 option. He's a talented scorer who's numbers dipped this year due to less opportunities on offense.
Minnesota has finally gotten things back on track. As much as people here don't like to admit it, KAT looks a lot better than Cousins at the moment. Even if you take out LaVine and Wiggins... who would you rather coach? DeMarcus Cousins or Karl-Anthony Towns?
Our team is one of the most dysfunctional franchise in the NBA. The only thing separating us and the Nets is that we actually have our pick this year. At least they Sean Marks, who actually has some-type of FO experience. The Kings got a former player who they can't stop reminiscing over from the 2000s. The Nets even drafted a guard who averages the same RPG as WCS.
This team is dysfunctional. ESPN doesn't have an agenda against us. I used to think this too, until I finally saw that I was in denial from all the BS this team feeds us.
Going from one of the oldest and most out of date facilities in the league to the newest absolutely makes a difference. I don't think we're selling people on a new arena though as much as we're just no longer hampered by a bad one. It's a quality of life issue. If you're going to work in the same building for years and spend a large chunk of your time there, you want it to be clean and inviting. You want comfortable chairs and warm lighting. Maybe people don't actively think about it, but if it's not there you notice.
I don't want to go deeply into the percieved problems with Rondo and Cousins here in yet another unrelated topic, but I will say this: Thibodeau knows Cousins and Gay through Team USA and he knows Rondo from his time in Boston. He's got a better idea than anyone if he could make it work. Any of them could be gone next year or Vlade could bring them all back. That's something for Vlade to discuss with whoever wants the job. And as much as I like Karl Anthony-Towns, he didn't average 27, 11, and 3 this season or make 70 threes or grab 100 steals for the third time in his career. DeMarcus is without a doubt a bigger star
right now than anyone on Minnesota's roster. I don't know how we've arrived at a point in time where Cousins is more underrated in his own fanbase than the rest of the league, but any coach worth his salt would kill for an opportunity to "clean up"
that mess.
And it counts for something that Rondo outright led a league dominated by high volume scoring guards in assists, was near the top in steals, and shot a very respectable 36.5% from three this season. That's above average at the position. He was very close to becoming the first PG since hall of famer John Stockton to average 12 assists per game.
And he was selected to four straight all-defense teams under Thibodeau's tutelage in Boston. At least some of that sounds appealing to me, jackass or no.
Today's perimeter league is tomorrow's bump and grind league. It's just basketball. A 7 foot monster catching the ball 5 feet from the basket is still the most reliable way to put points on the board and that's what you get with Rondo/Cousins.