I don't remember exactly who left but I think Thorpe was one and I forget the Derek Smith deal. I think we acquired him and his bad knees. Don't yell at me 'cause I don't remember except we were set up for a decade of the worst basketball the league has seen. I am not exaggerating. It was impressive/depressing.
The Kings Future Might Be Brighter than One Thinks
- Thread starter CruzDude
- Start date
Otis Thorpe came later, and I'm not sure that Axelson was responsible for that one. But he started by trading Mike Woodson, our starting SG, and Larry Drew our backup PG and a future 1st round pick for Derek Smith, who as you said, had two bad knee's. We liked players with bad knee's so much, we later went out and Ralph Sampson. It was painful to watch Sampson run up and down the court. He ran like he was on hot coals.
Cousins was in the middle of a media session that was being filmed when he was told of the trade. Did Vlade try and contact him and couldn't, so then contacted his agent? I don't know. Was the person that came and whispered in his ear that he had been traded a surrogate of his agent? I don't know. If Vlade did try and inform Cousins, then he should make that public. Was the entire thing handled poorly? Yes, it was! Were there circumstances beyond Vlade's control? Maybe, but I don't know.
What I do know is that Cousins agent was informed that the Kings were shopping Cousins, because he contacted many of the teams that were interested and told them that Cousins wouldn't sign an extension with them. If Cousins agent knew, then I think we can assume that Cousins knew. Did Vlade say that he wasn't going to trade Cousins? Yep, sure did. And every time I hear a GM say they're not going to trade a player, the first thing I think of is, they're going to trade that player. That's usually now it works. That's how a team tries to raise the asking price.
I try and look at every trade or signing from the point of view of whether the team is better or worse because of it. When the return is youth and draft picks, it's impossible to know for sure what the long term result is. How do you compare in the long term, the unknown results of unknown players, except for Hield to a player like Cousins. Obviously Cousins is better right now than Hield or any player the Kings draft. But three years from now, who knows? So if your a Cousins fan, and your upset, I get it. And I suspect that if the trade had gone down smoothly without a hitch, you'd still be upset. All the mishandling did was add more fuel to the fire.
What I do know is that Cousins agent was informed that the Kings were shopping Cousins, because he contacted many of the teams that were interested and told them that Cousins wouldn't sign an extension with them. If Cousins agent knew, then I think we can assume that Cousins knew. Did Vlade say that he wasn't going to trade Cousins? Yep, sure did. And every time I hear a GM say they're not going to trade a player, the first thing I think of is, they're going to trade that player. That's usually now it works. That's how a team tries to raise the asking price.
I try and look at every trade or signing from the point of view of whether the team is better or worse because of it. When the return is youth and draft picks, it's impossible to know for sure what the long term result is. How do you compare in the long term, the unknown results of unknown players, except for Hield to a player like Cousins. Obviously Cousins is better right now than Hield or any player the Kings draft. But three years from now, who knows? So if your a Cousins fan, and your upset, I get it. And I suspect that if the trade had gone down smoothly without a hitch, you'd still be upset. All the mishandling did was add more fuel to the fire.
I agree with almost all of your post, except that it's not a certainty that DMC's agents (or sub-agents) told DMC he was being shopped. Imagine being a high powered agent to NBA stars. You would have a whole network of contacts among the team owners and execs, and among the media. If you get wind (from any source you trust) that your client was being shopped, and that such a trade would potentially lose your client many millions of dollars in their next contract, you would take action. How? Not by running to your client with rumors and innuendo, but by discouraging other teams from pursuing trade talks (e.g. "With all due respect, my client is not interested in re-signing with your team. We wanted you to know that."). You wouldn't necessarily inform your client of this unless it got serious. Otherwise, it's just all in a day's work for an agent. I think DMC's agent was just doing what they do to serve the best interests of their client, and expected that they would be successful in preventing a trade.
Question: A lot of trades these days that include a first-round pick are protected (top 3, top 10, or whatever). If the pick is affected by the lottery, is it ALWAYS the case that the protection applies to the order of picks after the lottery (and never before the lottery results)? If so, why would we assume that to be the case?
With regard to the Pelican's top 3 protected draft pick that the Kings acquired in the DMC trade, it seems to be everyone's assumption that it refers to the top 3 as determined by the lottery. But I never saw that defined specifically.
With regard to the Pelican's top 3 protected draft pick that the Kings acquired in the DMC trade, it seems to be everyone's assumption that it refers to the top 3 as determined by the lottery. But I never saw that defined specifically.
Yes, I'm a Cousins fan. But I'm not on a Pelicans board and have no desire to do so. I will watch with interest what happens down there but I'm not planning on becoming a Pelicans' fan. I did not like how it went down and I did not like what the Kings got in return. I didn't like it from the Kings perspective not because of the Cousins perspective.
But you know what, I can understand why the Kings may have done it. And I can live with that. And I'm still here, hoping the youngsters pan out. If I could just pick another team, I would've been gone a long time ago. Not that easy.
But you know what, I can understand why the Kings may have done it. And I can live with that. And I'm still here, hoping the youngsters pan out. If I could just pick another team, I would've been gone a long time ago. Not that easy.
You're correct in that he was drafted the year before the team moved to Sac. But he played here for 3 seasons, not 1. Most fans have a favorite player and he was my very first once I started learning about the team. I liked Theus, Eddie Johnson and Terry Tyler too, but Otis was the young up and coming talent I latched on to. I still remember when he won a player of the week award and the arena went crazy when it was announced. We didn't have much to cheer about back then.
Lets be clear, I'm not criticizing Cousins agent. He, or they were doing what they thought was best for Cousins, and of course, themselves. The agent gets a percentage of what his client makes, so if I'm an agent and I think my client is about to lose the opportunity to sign a 220 million dollar contract, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen. But your right, I can't prove or validate that Cousins agent was informed. Like most of this story, all I have to go on other than the results, are reports or rumors by various publications, podcasts and sports writers on Twitter, and facebook etc.
The protection applies to whatever the final standings are after the lottery. If the Pel's are lets say in the 6th spot prior to the lottery, where we would retain the pick, but get lucky and move up into the top three, we would then lose the pick this year, and the rights would then move to next year, where it's only top one protected.
Yeah, Otis was one of my favorite players as well. I played golf in a foursome right behind him at Auburn Valley Country Club one day. One of the funniest sights I ever saw, was 6'11" Otis bent over with what appeared to be a tiny golf club, by comparison to him, trying to hit a golf ball. He could hit it a long way, but seldom into the fairway. Not a good thing at Auburn Valley Country Club. Very nice guy though who kept apologizing for slow play. Of course we traded him to Houston who then went on to win a world championship. Otis was probably the best player on that team after Reggie.
By the way, he was playing with Jim Otto, who lives at Auburn Valley Country Club. It was sad to watch Jim Otto try to walk. I have no idea how many operations he's had, but the man was just a shell of the player he used to be. The dude could still hit a golf ball though.
By the way, he was playing with Jim Otto, who lives at Auburn Valley Country Club. It was sad to watch Jim Otto try to walk. I have no idea how many operations he's had, but the man was just a shell of the player he used to be. The dude could still hit a golf ball though.
Three things:
1. CruzDude - You may just be right.
2.
Carmichael DaveVerified account@CarmichaelDave 15s16 seconds ago
Guys, I'm really, REALLY getting excited for next year. Please please PLEASE do the right things this offseason. There's something here.
3.
Carmichael DaveVerified account@CarmichaelDave 4m4 minutes ago
When it comes to this team, I just want to party like it's 1999. You KNEW they were beginning a run.
1. CruzDude - You may just be right.
2.
Carmichael DaveVerified account@CarmichaelDave 15s16 seconds ago
Guys, I'm really, REALLY getting excited for next year. Please please PLEASE do the right things this offseason. There's something here.
3.
Carmichael DaveVerified account@CarmichaelDave 4m4 minutes ago
When it comes to this team, I just want to party like it's 1999. You KNEW they were beginning a run.
Carmichael DaveVerified account@CarmichaelDave 42s43 seconds ago
Skal
WCS
Buddy
Malachi
Bogdan
Top 10 pick
Top 10 pick
Papa (hey who knows)
Temple
Tolliver
Room for a max guy or two solid vets
Skal
WCS
Buddy
Malachi
Bogdan
Top 10 pick
Top 10 pick
Papa (hey who knows)
Temple
Tolliver
Room for a max guy or two solid vets
