I don't follow the D League at all, but Jaron Johnson? This kid looked fantastic. Wonder if anyone has picked him up. Tough, scrapper, good scorer inside and out, has decent 3-pt range.
http://dleague.nba.com/player/jaron-johnson/
http://dleague.nba.com/player/jaron-johnson/
Shams Charania @ShamsCharania 6h6 hours ago
Free agent guard Aaron Brooks has agreed to a one-year, $2.5 million deal with Indiana, signing this week, league sources tell The Vertical.
Wouldn't have minded the Kings going after him.
Free agent guard Aaron Brooks has agreed to a one-year, $2.5 million deal with Indiana, signing this week, league sources tell The Vertical.
Wouldn't have minded the Kings going after him.
Yeah you would have, you just don't know it. 
Left on bad terms, said not nice things, and he and Cousins hate each other.
I'm not sure who we are going to pick up, but nothing about this offseason has felt random, well maybe besides the Papa pick. i don't think we're going to just pick up a "pretty good PG". or "a guy with some talent" or a "he's cheap" guy. I suspect whoever we finally do pick up is going to fit the flavor, and Brooks isn't that.
Left on bad terms, said not nice things, and he and Cousins hate each other.
I'm not sure who we are going to pick up, but nothing about this offseason has felt random, well maybe besides the Papa pick. i don't think we're going to just pick up a "pretty good PG". or "a guy with some talent" or a "he's cheap" guy. I suspect whoever we finally do pick up is going to fit the flavor, and Brooks isn't that.
Yeah you would have, you just don't know it.
Left on bad terms, said not nice things, and he and Cousins hate each other.
I'm not sure who we are going to pick up, but nothing about this offseason has felt random, well maybe besides the Papa pick. i don't think we're going to just pick up a "pretty good PG". or "a guy with some talent" or a "he's cheap" guy. I suspect whoever we finally do pick up is going to fit the flavor, and Brooks isn't that.
Left on bad terms, said not nice things, and he and Cousins hate each other.
I'm not sure who we are going to pick up, but nothing about this offseason has felt random, well maybe besides the Papa pick. i don't think we're going to just pick up a "pretty good PG". or "a guy with some talent" or a "he's cheap" guy. I suspect whoever we finally do pick up is going to fit the flavor, and Brooks isn't that.
He fits with their starting 5 really well. Scrapper, good rebounder, good rim protector, efficient and doesn't need shots to be effective. Its an overpay for sure, but its far from the worst deal of the offseason. Mainly, it's about putting their offensive focus into Middleton, Giannis and Parker and getting a C who actually tries on the defensive end.
And with the play of Maker during SL, I just wait for them to ship out Monroe for a bag of chips and a second round pick.
A potential lineup of Giannis, Middleton, Parker and Maker is just scary, when it's possible that both Giannis and Parker might be able to add a long range jumpshot to their arsenal. Length and skill at every position. Add a defensive PG in MCW or Delly or more shooting with Teletovic or more rebounding, rim protection with Plumlee and you have a true swiss army knife team, that can grow together over the next few years.
A potential lineup of Giannis, Middleton, Parker and Maker is just scary, when it's possible that both Giannis and Parker might be able to add a long range jumpshot to their arsenal. Length and skill at every position. Add a defensive PG in MCW or Delly or more shooting with Teletovic or more rebounding, rim protection with Plumlee and you have a true swiss army knife team, that can grow together over the next few years.
Michael Scotto: Sources: Nets free agent Donald Sloan signs a 1-year, $2.7 million deal with Guangdong Southern Tigers. He won a CBA title with them in 2013
– via Twitter MikeAScotto
Another FA PG off the list
Hey Vlade - Norris Cole?
– via Twitter MikeAScotto
Another FA PG off the list
Hey Vlade - Norris Cole?
Ty Lawson: A team will ‘get me for cheaper than I feel I’m worth,’ misconception that I drink too much dlvr.it/LrKlgt
hahahaha How much cheaper ? Like smoking Bong on You Tube Cheap?
hahahaha How much cheaper ? Like smoking Bong on You Tube Cheap?
At this point, i'd probably be willing to roll the dice on Lawson. Obviously he comes with baggage and doesn't seem to be the type of guy we're targeting, but he clearly wants to restore his rep and prove to the world that he's not who we all think he is. We just don't have a any good names left for our back-up PG, and Lawson is only a couple of seasons removed from being a damn good player. Sign him to an unguaranteed deal and if he stirs s*** up, cut him. What have we got to lose?
Lot's of folks thought Rondo would be toxic last season, and while he definitely didn't move the needle as much as we wanted him to, he came in knowing he couldn't F up again, and he played solid basketball. I don't have a whole lot of faith in Lawson, but i do like that he has a chip on his shoulder.
Lot's of folks thought Rondo would be toxic last season, and while he definitely didn't move the needle as much as we wanted him to, he came in knowing he couldn't F up again, and he played solid basketball. I don't have a whole lot of faith in Lawson, but i do like that he has a chip on his shoulder.
So trying to sign Ty Lawson to a 2 yr Room Exception 6mil prob not realistic
if you offer Norris Cole the same deal - might work- but then you have no roster spots to offer training camp PGs or if another
PG player is released? or if a trade senario comes up
So my guess the plan is invite several PGs to compete with I Cuz all on nonguarenteed camp contracts
And if great trade comes along between now and late October, great, If not then pick up the best PG from training camp and go to work
Might be a 3 month wait for Vlade to act (Be Patient Vlade wait for the awesome deal only!)
if you offer Norris Cole the same deal - might work- but then you have no roster spots to offer training camp PGs or if another
PG player is released? or if a trade senario comes up
So my guess the plan is invite several PGs to compete with I Cuz all on nonguarenteed camp contracts
And if great trade comes along between now and late October, great, If not then pick up the best PG from training camp and go to work
Might be a 3 month wait for Vlade to act (Be Patient Vlade wait for the awesome deal only!)
Maker showed better than I thought he would, but I wouldn't get too excited about his summer league play. I like his potential, but he's has a lot of work to do before he'll make any impact in the NBA. He gets pushed around under the basket, and his perimeter shot is terrible. Mostly way off line. But he hustles like crazy, and has very good timing on his shotblocking. Right now, whether you or I like Monroe or not, Monroe is a way better basketball player than Maker is. So I wouldn't look to Maker as Monroe's replacement in the short term. Long term, maybe.
Maker is the big unknown so far, so people are doubting him and his abilities more than the abilities of the usual college prospect.
He has shown in Summerleague, that he can go up against more mature players. He is rail thin, but so was Kevin Garnett and the league favours quickness a lot more than brute strength nowadays.
I was really impressed by his play. He is way more skilled than a guy like WCS for example, while having almost the same amount of agility and quickness. And he is aggressive and hustles hard.
Monroe is a fossile in this league - a very decent center, but not a rim protector nor a good pick&roll defender nor a floor spacer. Back in the 90's Monroe would have been a guy, that teams try to built around. Now he is sadly almost an afterthought.
In a team built around scoring wings, that want to attack the basket like Giannis and Parker, Monroe is the odd man out, because when he is paired with guys like Plumlee or Henson to get enough rim protection, there isn't enough spacing for his post game or for his wings to penetrate and when he is paired with a guy like Teletovic there simply isn't enough rim protection on the floor.
He is the way better basketball player than Maker. But he is also the way better basketball player, than almost every center in this league not named Cousins, Horford, Towns or AD. He is simply not what teams are looking for out of his position.
Maker on the other hand has the potential to be the ideal fit for the Bucks no matter if paired with Plumlee against teams with bigger centers or with Teletovic versus teams centered around the perimeter and penetration.
So far the Bucks are way to young and raw to think about winning a lot of games.
So why not groom all the young guys together, instead of trying to fit in Monroe?
He has shown in Summerleague, that he can go up against more mature players. He is rail thin, but so was Kevin Garnett and the league favours quickness a lot more than brute strength nowadays.
I was really impressed by his play. He is way more skilled than a guy like WCS for example, while having almost the same amount of agility and quickness. And he is aggressive and hustles hard.
Monroe is a fossile in this league - a very decent center, but not a rim protector nor a good pick&roll defender nor a floor spacer. Back in the 90's Monroe would have been a guy, that teams try to built around. Now he is sadly almost an afterthought.
In a team built around scoring wings, that want to attack the basket like Giannis and Parker, Monroe is the odd man out, because when he is paired with guys like Plumlee or Henson to get enough rim protection, there isn't enough spacing for his post game or for his wings to penetrate and when he is paired with a guy like Teletovic there simply isn't enough rim protection on the floor.
He is the way better basketball player than Maker. But he is also the way better basketball player, than almost every center in this league not named Cousins, Horford, Towns or AD. He is simply not what teams are looking for out of his position.
Maker on the other hand has the potential to be the ideal fit for the Bucks no matter if paired with Plumlee against teams with bigger centers or with Teletovic versus teams centered around the perimeter and penetration.
So far the Bucks are way to young and raw to think about winning a lot of games.
So why not groom all the young guys together, instead of trying to fit in Monroe?
More specific I wonder why we didn't sign him. As of right now we don't have one PG on the roster except Collison who could miss some games because of suspension. And even if he wont we'd still need a solid backup to protect us from injuries. If I understand it correctly we could have used the bi-annual ecxeption to sign him. Sloan would have been a solid signing IMO either as a second or third PG. Lets hope Vlade and Co. have more information than we and know what they are doing
More specific I wonder why we didn't sign him. As of right now we don't have one PG on the roster except Collison who could miss some games because of suspension. And even if he wont we'd still need a solid backup to protect us from injuries. If I understand it correctly we could have used the bi-annual ecxeption to sign him. Sloan would have been a solid signing IMO either as a second or third PG. Lets hope Vlade and Co. have more information than we and know what they are doing
Regardless, it's a mistake relying on the back-up PG minutes to Temple and/or Cousins. Something has to be done
I liked Donald Sloan as an option. But honestly I liked Seth Curry more. Unless he made it clear that he didn't want to be back in Sacramento I don't know why he wasn't signed using the Room Exception.
Collison/Temple/Curry seems like a solid trio. Behind your starter you have a long defender or a shooter/scorer. Good balance IMO.
Collison/Temple/Curry seems like a solid trio. Behind your starter you have a long defender or a shooter/scorer. Good balance IMO.
More specific I wonder why we didn't sign him. As of right now we don't have one PG on the roster except Collison who could miss some games because of suspension. And even if he wont we'd still need a solid backup to protect us from injuries. If I understand it correctly we could have used the bi-annual ecxeption to sign him. Sloan would have been a solid signing IMO either as a second or third PG. Lets hope Vlade and Co. have more information than we and know what they are doing
We assume that Curry wanted to come back after everyone we signed. He could have seen our signing and thought that Temple will get all the minutes. He might have been promised more playing time in Dallas. His agent asked for the offer to be rescinded and we did them a favor. Within a day or two he signed with Dallas. All that tells me is that he preferred Dallas to Sacramento for whatever reason. With these negotiations, its not a one way street. Players have a choice too.
Look, I don't think you and I are in disagreement about Maker or Monroe. I think your projecting Maker to be a little bit better than he is, but that's fine, no two people see things the same way. I don't like comparing him to Willie because they're two entirely different players. Maker doesn't have the lateral quickness of Willie, nor is experienced enough on the defensive end of the floor. He was lost out there a lot, but that's to be expected for a raw player on the floor with a group of players he's never played with before. Maker's outside shot is not good. It doesn't go the right distance, nor is it on line. he may have led the league in air balls. Where he excelled was hustling for rebounds, putbacks and with weakside help on defense. He had serious trouble trying to post up, or to defend the post up due to lack of strength.
Garnett may be a good comparison down the road, but not now. Garnett may have been thin, but he was also deceptively strong. Look, I don't want to be too critical of Maker. I like him and think he'll be a good player in the future, but I wouldn't expect too much out of him this coming season. I can't emphasize enough that summer league isn't the NBA. I listened to an assistant coach talking about summer league, and how you shouldn't make too much out of those that play well, and those that don't. He said a player may come to summer league to work on only his weaknesses. If he hooks with his right hand, he may hook only with his left in summer league, and as a result, might not look good.
I think some people are making too much of Willie's summer league performance. He was trying new things on the floor with people he's never played with before. The Kings played the first few games without a PG again. There was no spacing on the floor, and Willie was probably trying a little too hard. As one assistant said, put Willie on the floor with Cousins, and it's an entirely different result. Compared to regular season games, summer league has the look of chickens running around with their heads cut off. Every player out there without a contract is trying to catch the eye of a GM. As a result there's a lot of selfish basketball played at times.
Garnett may be a good comparison down the road, but not now. Garnett may have been thin, but he was also deceptively strong. Look, I don't want to be too critical of Maker. I like him and think he'll be a good player in the future, but I wouldn't expect too much out of him this coming season. I can't emphasize enough that summer league isn't the NBA. I listened to an assistant coach talking about summer league, and how you shouldn't make too much out of those that play well, and those that don't. He said a player may come to summer league to work on only his weaknesses. If he hooks with his right hand, he may hook only with his left in summer league, and as a result, might not look good.
I think some people are making too much of Willie's summer league performance. He was trying new things on the floor with people he's never played with before. The Kings played the first few games without a PG again. There was no spacing on the floor, and Willie was probably trying a little too hard. As one assistant said, put Willie on the floor with Cousins, and it's an entirely different result. Compared to regular season games, summer league has the look of chickens running around with their heads cut off. Every player out there without a contract is trying to catch the eye of a GM. As a result there's a lot of selfish basketball played at times.
The only thing that bothered me about WCS was that he was out of shape. Just seems if he knew that he was going to play on the SL team that he would be better prepared. That being said, I'm not going to overreact to that and call him a franchise cancer .....like maybe one of the other certain players whom would have been shredded.
Ummm... Curry was a restricted free agent.
In this case, the Kings did not have to rescind the restricted tag. There are a lot of players stuck in limbo right now and their teams have not rescinded their restricted tag, like Moe Harkless. Curry had a choice, he could have signed any contract and the Kings would have retained the right to match, as long as they had the cap space.
Once the Kings rescinded the restricted tag, it was bye-bye Curry.
Unless Vlade and Joeger really didn't want Curry back, I thought it was a bad move to allow a cost controlled (2 years/ $6 mil with Dallas) 2nd or 3rd point guard, with upside leave for nothing.
Personally, I think it was a mistake to allow Curry to walk.
In this case, the Kings did not have to rescind the restricted tag. There are a lot of players stuck in limbo right now and their teams have not rescinded their restricted tag, like Moe Harkless. Curry had a choice, he could have signed any contract and the Kings would have retained the right to match, as long as they had the cap space.
Once the Kings rescinded the restricted tag, it was bye-bye Curry.
Unless Vlade and Joeger really didn't want Curry back, I thought it was a bad move to allow a cost controlled (2 years/ $6 mil with Dallas) 2nd or 3rd point guard, with upside leave for nothing.
Personally, I think it was a mistake to allow Curry to walk.
We did not know what his agent asked the Kings to pay at that time. They might have panicked when the Kings rescinded the restricted tag and signed that deal.
On one hand, the Kings removed obstacles for Curry, let him sighed a deal with any team much easier, on the other hand, they told the whole world that we knew you as a player better the anybody else in NBA, we needed a point guard but we did not need you and it is never a good sign for a player like Seth at this point of his career. And may be they decided not to play around and signed that deal. I am sure Seth hoped for more at the beginning of the process. May be we could have signed him for 2/6 too or may be we were no interested even for 1/1 because he was not a good fit at all. We will never find out.
On one hand, the Kings removed obstacles for Curry, let him sighed a deal with any team much easier, on the other hand, they told the whole world that we knew you as a player better the anybody else in NBA, we needed a point guard but we did not need you and it is never a good sign for a player like Seth at this point of his career. And may be they decided not to play around and signed that deal. I am sure Seth hoped for more at the beginning of the process. May be we could have signed him for 2/6 too or may be we were no interested even for 1/1 because he was not a good fit at all. We will never find out.
Yes I agree. I'm not worried yet. There are still realistic backup options out there although the list gets shorter every week. From the top of my head I have:
Free agents: Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, Beno Udrih, Kirk Hinrich, Tony Douglas, Shane Larkin, Ray McCallum
Trade targets: Devin Harris, Shelvin Mack, Tyler Ennis, Terry Rozier
If it was me I would call the Bucks and try to get Tyler Ennis. I think there is a good chance that we can get him because the Bucks dont need him as they still have MCW and just signed Dellavedova.
At the end of last year Ennis showed that he can handle increased minutes. He is never going to be a star but as a backup for 10-15 I like him. He can initiate the offense, run a pick and roll or spot up. He is also a decent defender. That was essentially his role with the Bucks: Bring the ball up, pass it to Giannias or Monroe and get out of the way. His contract is attractive as well because he makes just 1.7 mil this year and has a team option for 2017-2018 before becoming an RFA. On the downside he is to small and unathletic to ever be more but thats not what we are looking for here. We would probably need to give up Mclemore as the Bucks need shooting but as it looks right now we dont have him in our future plans anyway.
If not we could try to get Harris or Mack though I think Ennis is the more realistic target.
Even with doing one of those trades I then would still sign another vet PG to protect us from suspension and injury, e.g. Tony Douglas.
This would get us an active 12 rotation with Collison / Ennis / Douglas at PG, Afflalo / Temple at SG, Gay / Casspi / Barnes at SF, Wcs / Tolliver at PF and Cousins / Koufos at C
Richardson, Skal and Papagiannis spend time in Reno. Isiah Cousins and Patterson dont get a contract but can go to Reno as well. Not flashy by any means but thats the best I came up with.
Free agents: Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, Beno Udrih, Kirk Hinrich, Tony Douglas, Shane Larkin, Ray McCallum
Trade targets: Devin Harris, Shelvin Mack, Tyler Ennis, Terry Rozier
If it was me I would call the Bucks and try to get Tyler Ennis. I think there is a good chance that we can get him because the Bucks dont need him as they still have MCW and just signed Dellavedova.
At the end of last year Ennis showed that he can handle increased minutes. He is never going to be a star but as a backup for 10-15 I like him. He can initiate the offense, run a pick and roll or spot up. He is also a decent defender. That was essentially his role with the Bucks: Bring the ball up, pass it to Giannias or Monroe and get out of the way. His contract is attractive as well because he makes just 1.7 mil this year and has a team option for 2017-2018 before becoming an RFA. On the downside he is to small and unathletic to ever be more but thats not what we are looking for here. We would probably need to give up Mclemore as the Bucks need shooting but as it looks right now we dont have him in our future plans anyway.
If not we could try to get Harris or Mack though I think Ennis is the more realistic target.
Even with doing one of those trades I then would still sign another vet PG to protect us from suspension and injury, e.g. Tony Douglas.
This would get us an active 12 rotation with Collison / Ennis / Douglas at PG, Afflalo / Temple at SG, Gay / Casspi / Barnes at SF, Wcs / Tolliver at PF and Cousins / Koufos at C
Richardson, Skal and Papagiannis spend time in Reno. Isiah Cousins and Patterson dont get a contract but can go to Reno as well. Not flashy by any means but thats the best I came up with.
Last edited: