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Passing on Luka for Bagley was an obvious all time mistake right when it happened but that was just one thing. Wasting cap space for guys like Rondo, Bellinelli, Afflalo, Zbo, GHill, VC ect instead of getting additional draft capital and better draft positioning was always a big mistake because the team wasnt ever those overpaid vets away from actually competing. To me it was awfull then, on par with why we are in a position we have been so long and now with the benefit of the hindsight we can safely say we would've been much better off by just focusing on the future.
To me its very clear that too early win now moves has been a huge part of why this franchise has been the worst of the league for the past 10+ years. I'm getting pretty tired to go through the same stuff every year with the same result and still the same actions by ownership and the same conversations by fans. Yeah Monte is much better than Vlade who was one of the worst GM's in the history but if we are handcuffed by a win now mandate from ownership, I hope Adam Silver could do something about it. Not gonna happen but would be nice if the moves we make started to be a little bit more towards a timeline where we could actually be succesful
With the exception of Afflalo, I don't think these guys qualify as wasted cap space.
Rondo was good while he was here. He had instant chemistry with DeMarcus, steadied the offense, and helped to coordinate defensive switches (even if his individual defense was not what it was before the injuries).
Belinelli was mostly terrible for his one season in Sacramento but the move made sense on paper. He'd been a reliable outside shooting threat up to that point in his career (and was again after he left).
ZBo was obviously brought in to give Dave Joerger a veteran supporting voice in the locker room. He signed a 2-year deal and mostly moved to a cheerleading role in that second year, so he was hardly franchise crippling.
George Hill was a career role-player just entering his 30s.
But he was groomed by Popovich, was a knockdown shooter, and the only other PGs on the roster that year were
both rookies. Let me say that again -- we had a PG rotation of DeAaron Fox (rookie), Frank Mason III (rookie, 2nd round pick) and George Hill. Most importantly he had played in the playoffs in 8 out of his 9 years in the league so he seemed like an ideal veteran to show Fox and Mason what it means to be a professional. We needed him way more than he needed us. The only mistake there was paying him like he was a star although, even at 3yr/$57 million he was traded after only half a season to a playoff team. The idea was sound but he just wasn't a guy who wanted the leadership role as much as he wanted the big paycheck (and really, who can blame him for taking it?). Shumpert came in the following season to fill that leadership void and while his pedigree is less impressive, he was surprisingly good at it because he was vocal.
Vince Carter is a living legend, was well-liked by everyone, and signed a 1 year contract on a team which had 12 players who were on rookie contracts. It seems remarkably petty to even mention his name on this list. He did us a favor by agreeing to come here.
You also left out Caron Butler (whose Sacramento tenure is easy to forget since he apparently never got out of George Karl's dog house). He played for Pat Riley in Miami then alongside D Wade, he played next to Kobe on the Lakers, he was an All-Star in Washington, he was part of Dirk's championship winning squad in Dallas under Rick Carlisle, he was a starter on that lob city Clippers team with Blake and CP3, and he was a supporting player on the OKC team that made it to the Finals before Harden was traded. And he's been heavily involved in the player's association. In terms of veteran credibility, I don't think you could draw up a more impressive resume.
It's funny that I'm somehow the Vlade apologist now, but something else he did well was convince veterans to come here who never would have looked twice at Sacramento in the past. None of these veterans was
the reason the team couldn't get out of the western conference basement. They all signed short deals and they all were brought in to play alongside top draft picks because Vlade understood the lifecycle of the NBA is predicated on players learning
from other players not just their coaches. Obviously by the time all of these guys signed here they were past their prime but they weren't here to lead championship squads, they were here to groom the young players whom Vlade thought would eventually do that.
The next time a hall of fame player in their prime leaves their team to sign a max contract to play for Sacramento will be the first. It may never happen. Cap space isn't the instant "get out of jail free" card for us that it is for large market teams. And we've seen what happens when a GM stockpiles so many first and second round picks that they can't fit them all on the roster. Vlade did that in the 2017-2020 seasons (the infamous "super team, just young" phase). Bogdan and Buddy Hield fought each other for playing time and both earned themselves huge contracts. Most of the wings and big guys didn't pan out. Fox was the only rookie to emerge from that morass and he's been painted with the "empty stats" stigma.
Seriously, look at these rosters: (
2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020) and tell me Vlade didn't invest enough in young players. The guy threw as many darts at the board as the CBA would allow him and most of them missed the board completely. So I stand by my assertion that the big problem with Vlade was
who he drafted not how many players he drafted. He sadly doesn't know the difference between a franchise talent and a guy who has no business even playing in the NBA. Vlade has many virtues as a leader and manager but he was out of his depth as a judge of talent and unfortunately for him that's really the principle requirement of the job.
