Realistically, who are some guys we could get? As everyone knows we need to focus on PG and SG:
PG - Rondo, Conley, Jeremy Lin, Deron Williams, Brandon Jennings, and Ty Lawson
SG - JR Smith, Fournier, Courtney Lee, Eric Gordon, Kevin Martin, Gerald Henderson
I don't see us getting Conley so Rondo is probably the best choice at PG. SG wise, Fournier will more than likely resign with the Magic (Oladipo trade), so that leaves the rest. JR Smith would be great but I cannot see him leaving Cleveland? Assuming we did get him, what are your thoughts on this lineup:
PG - Rondo
SG - JR Smith
SF - Gay
PF - WCS
C - Cousins
Cleveland has no way to replace Smith, plus he's represented by Clutch Sports, so he's coming back, no matter, how much he asks. Jennings can't be relied upon as a starter, and Lawson can't be relied upon at all. Deron has injury concerns, and like it in Dallas. Unless Mavs somehow convince Conley, that they can compete, Deron is coming back.
Conley is a pipe dream no matter, how much we would like to believe, as he's either going to a contender or stays in Memphis, that can offer him by far the biggest pile of cash.
Henderson is meh, K-Mart was never a good starter even in his prime, and Fournier will be matched, now that 'Dipo is in Oklahoma. Eric Gordon is too injury prone for a starter: it's not as bad as it would seem, if you just look at his games played, and he's likely to play over 60 games, but that's not enough to be a dependable starter.
You didn't name Bazemore, and rightfully so, I believe, as he would have a lot of suitors, and each will throw enough money at him, that it might come down to personal preference, and Kings will never win a popularity contest, no matter how much each of us might like Kings current situation.
It basically comes down to a choice between Rondo (30 y.o., 10 seasons) and Lin (28 y.o., 6 seasons) for PG, and Lee (31 y.o., 8 seasons) and Solomon Hill (25.5 y.o., 3 seasons) for SG. I would definitely go for younger guys with less mileage in both cases.
Luol Deng, Marvin Williams, Bazemore, Courtney Lee, Jared Dudley, Gerald Henderson, Allen Crabbe rounds out my list of Wants.
Deng is not coming back to Miami, but he'll find at least $15m per somewhere.
Jared Dudley is a bench combo-forward at this point in his career, not sure he fills a need with Rudy and Omri on the roster.
The only issue with Crabbe is that he's restricted. but if the rumors of the Blazers wanting to go after Howard are true they might not have the cash to match.
I can't get a feel for Rudy & Ben's trade value but Koufos is young, effective and signed to a very team friendly deal. I could seen Cleveland trying to trade for him again as well as teams that miss out on Whiteside and Ezeli.
Crabbe has a very small cap hold, so Blazers can agree to a deal in principle, and then go signing other FAs first.
I'd rather have Marvin Williams than Ryan Anderson. Also just looking through free agent lists, Kevin Martin on the cheap wouldn't be bad as a backup SG.
Charlotte have his early Bird rights, so if the Hornets go the easiest route of offering 175% of his previous salary, 7.5% raises, though they can't offer 5th year, that still comes up to $54,5m over 4 years, including $15m for 33-y.o. Marvin in his 15th season, and he's already at 22.5k in minutes played. That's for Charlotte, and I'm pretty sure, Kings will have to go at least $2m per above due to California state and Kings' reputation taxes.
My play would be to bring Lin at $12-14m and Solomon Hill at $8-10m. With Collison likely suspended at the start of the season, decent third string PG is needed, and this guy will know, that after Collison comes back, he's likely to only see garbage time. After listening to Duncd'on Mock off-season, I'm pretty sure, that either Sixers or Nets are going to screw with Kings and sign Steph to a deal starting at $6-8m and then declining, which I don't think, Kings can match. Maybe Norris Cole can be had for $3-4m? Fitting him into Room exception would be ideal. Cause guys like Augustin, Jennings or E'twan Moore are not coming to this situation. If Koufos can be traded into cap space, and either Marvin or Deng were open to $16-18m over 3 years with 3rd year non-/partially guaranteed, I would go after them to start at PF, but I'm not sure, Kings can get it done not going over $20m per, if it's a non-guarantee for that 3rd year, or without offering full 4 years, if it's for $16m per. With MWilliams or Deng not coming over, I guess, Willie gets to start, and Darrell Arthur at $8-10m per over 3 years will do off the bench.
Boogie/KK/WCS/Papagiannis*
WCS/Arthur/Gay/Casspi/Labissiere*
Gay/Casspi/Hill/Butler
Hill/Mclemore/Lin/Richardson*
Lin/Collison/Cole
*Malachi, Skal and Big Georgios would hop between Reno and Sacramento.
That would be a big, long roster with solid versatility and depth. Most importantly, rather realistic.
Edit: actually I'm thinking, Arthur might be a spot starter playing 20 mpg, and then better match-up between him and Willie gets to finish the game. Arthur became a solid defender over the years, so we're basically going with JT again, only this version is much better at shooting. I believe, Denver views Faried, Jokic and Lauvergne as options at PF, so I doubt, Arthur is that attached to his current sitation.
). It's not like Kings were hot putting Rondo or Collison as the lonely playmaker out there, and that's on both ends of the floor.