Saying IT was a bad fit deflects the attention away from the real problem that has plagued this organization for a decade. The Kings do not have talent and do not attract high-level free agents. Whether or not IT would have been a bad fit is debatable, but not re-signing talent when you have the chance is a blunder that cannot be forgiven. When you have toiled in mediocrity for a decade and produced 1 AS player, you obtain talent and then worry about fit later.
I agree, even though I'm convinced that fit trumps talent until a certain point. But I didn't say IT was a bad fit, but only, that he wasn't the perfect fit next to DMC.
Yes in hindsight it was a mistake to let IT walk for nothing. He was already scoring 20 ppg and when you take into account, that it was no suprise, that there would be another big cap raise in the future, signing him to a reasonable contract at that time and to what is now a cheap deal would have been a no brainer. PDA made a mistake and most of the KingsFans.com fanbase, including myself, were wrong.
But most of the complaints about IT were justified in the past and are still justified now.
Statistics are mostly a reflection of the role a player has in a system and the amount of trust a coach puts in a certain player. So just because IT is producing with the Celtics and under coach Stevens, doesn't mean he would be producing at the same level in SAC. The Celtics have assembled a roster, which is able to cover for IT's shortcomings on D. They have decent rim protection and extraordinary wing defense. Combine that with Stevens ability to get IT to hustle on D even though his size is still a somewhat limiting factor and you have a situation, that is a perfect fit for a player like him.
In SAC the overall situation would be entirely different. Here IT would still be a player on an overall defensively challenged roster. On offense we would always find a way to sort things out between IT and DMC, especially when you take the growth of DMC over the past few seasons into account and notice he isn't the same player he was, when IT was still with the Kings. But the defensive side of the ball would be very problematic.
In the end letting IT walk is still not the biggest mistake this franchise made over the years. Our complete inability to adjust to todays NBA and to finally assemble a roster of plus defenders around DMC is what hurts us most. Lawson and DC are not on IT's level offensively, but they are good enough with a center like DMC to at least make the playoffs as long as the rest of the roster is able to carry their weight defensively, on the boards and from 3.
But not only did we let the best offensive guard we had walk for nothing, we also didn't manage to sign anything close to a upper echolon wing defender outside of Garret Temple, we assembled a roster, which is challenged athletically and not able to keep up in terms of speed, positional versatility or in terms of rebounding ability of wings and guards and of course we still aren't a good 3point shooting team, still playing DMC alongside a second big with zero range for some minutes and still incorporating a number 2 option, that is best from mid range and in ISO situations.
A team with IT+DMC and a well fitting supporting cast would maybe be strong enough to get to the second round, although I have my doubts about that, because of the defensive issues I mentioned.
But a team with DMC and a well fitting supporting cast should still be enough to make the playoffs.
So for me the inability to sign the supporting cast weighs heavier, than the mistake to let IT walk and is a more obvious sign of the missmanagement of this franchise.