Amick Blog: A Time for Patience

[nbrans]

A time for patience

Selfishness is a pivotal part of the Kings’ storyline this season, and it's with that theme that I hope they don’t make any major trades until the month ends.

That’s because I won’t be on the upcoming road trip, as my more-than-capable colleague Scott Howard-Cooper will be covering the four-game set in what will serve as my own early All-Star break (Vegas will be anything but). As for the Kings and whether there are even moves out there with the sort of impact of last season’s Ron Artest deal, it doesn’t appear so at the moment.

They would - like so many other teams - embrace the sight of Pau Gasol in a Kings uniform, but Memphis is looking to get younger and would want more than a nearly-30-year-old Mike Bibby (whose $12.5 million salary this season is close to Gasol’s $12.3 million). A deal involving Ron Artest ($7.1 million) would need additional pieces to make it work and may have to include Kevin Martin, forcing the Kings to give up more of their future than they’d likely be willing to.

You can bet New Jersey’s Jason Kidd would be welcomed into Arco Arena, but the Nets may be holding off on moving Kidd or Vince Carter because of the recent injury to Richard Jefferson. It makes sense on many levels, though, none moreso than the benefits that would come with a pass-first point guard on a team full of young shooters. Yet Kidd's contract is not only pricey ($18 million this season), but it doesn't end until after the 2008-09 season. Just a guess here, but the odds of a New Jersey-Kings deal would go up if Kidd's contract expired after next season like Artest's does. Artest has a player option for the 2008-09 season, but - assuming his level of play maintains - will surely opt out.

The Kings aren't looking to get tied up in high-dollar deals for any longer than they already are (see Kenny Thomas and Brad Miller), and the only hope for a trade of any significance might be one of the three-plus team variety. As Gavin Maloof told me last week, the ownership and Kings exec Geoff Petrie will be exercising patience and a vision for the long term despite the dire straits. Kings fans may want to do the same.
-- Sam Amick

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/sports/kings/archives/005354.html

 

[fnordius]

As Gavin Maloof told me last week, the ownership and Kings exec Geoff Petrie will be exercising patience and a vision for the long term despite the dire straits. Kings fans may want to do the same.

Inaction is "vision for the long term" ...?

Maybe I should become a visionary. Wake me up when the season's over.

 

[KingFred4]

Inaction is "vision for the long term" ...?

Maybe I should become a visionary. Wake me up when the season's over.

I think what Amick is saying is that Petrie is inactive because there aren't any feasible deals that will make the team better in the long term. A truly depressing reality.

This season has been tough enough for Kings' fans but at least I held out the hope that there might be a movement towards younger players that we could develop. If what Amick says is in fact true we could be on this train for a while.

I hope this makes it even more apparent to King's management that giving our younger players more pt this year to develop is the only way to go. We may lose more than our share of games but if the players we need aren't gonna come in trades we sure as heck better look toward the draft.

 

[fnordius]

I think what Amick is saying is that Petrie is inactive because there aren't any feasible deals that will make the team better in the long term. A truly depressing reality.

Maybe. But when you're talking about trading for Jason Kidd, you're clearly NOT talking about a youth movement and eye to the future, you're talking about immediate gratification and trading away a 29 year old who could walk this summer for a guy who will be 34 in March, whose contract is locked in until 2009.

I don't want Kidd to get us the 8th spot. I want PJ Brown to lead us to the 4th draft pick, but options like that aren't even mentioned. I hope that Amick is just 100% unclear on the concept of rebuilding, otherwise this article would mean that we're not making any effort to rebuild this year. Which would be the stupidest decision ever.

 

[kennadog]

I believe patience is being preached, because, because there is no point in making trades, just to make trades. Its not that easy to find a good trade for your team with a willing party.

So I don't want trades just to make it look like they are doing something.

 

[KingFred4]

Maybe. But when you're talking about trading for Jason Kidd, you're clearly NOT talking about a youth movement and eye to the future, you're talking about immediate gratification and trading away a 29 year old who could walk this summer for a guy who will be 34 in March, whose contract is locked in until 2009.

I don't want Kidd to get us the 8th spot. I want PJ Brown to lead us to the 4th draft pick, but options like that aren't even mentioned. I hope that Amick is just 100% unclear on the concept of rebuilding, otherwise this article would mean that we're not making any effort to rebuild this year. Which would be the stupidest decision ever.

I agree with you in that a trade for Kidd is not a step in the direction we both seem to want this team to go. Which is trading long term deals for cap space, draft picks and young talent. Unless he could play the pass first veteran playmaker to feature the young up and coming guys.

I still think you might be missing Amick's point though. What I get from his article is that Petrie is putting forth the effort of shopping theses movable pieces it's just that there aren't any takers willing to give back anything we would want to make this a younger more salary cap friendly team.

 

[Vlade4GM]

this guy is so freaking oblivious. how do guys like this get their own articles?

 

[BMiller52]

this guy is so freaking oblivious. how do guys like this get their own articles?

Oblivious to what?

 

[Vlade4GM]

i don't care if we get 50 cents on the dollar, i just want these vets off the team so we can start losing and get some cap relief and maybe some picks. i think we have to do what is necessary to get as high as we can in the draft, we can't get picky about getting "proper value" in return. as long as it opens us up to develop our young players, get us losses this season, and some cap relief i'll be one happy kings fan.

 

[Vlade4GM]

Oblivious to what?

the way he sees it, there are only two options. doing nothing or giving up the future for carter/kidd/gasol. the most obvious option he doesn't even mention and that's dumping our vets for whatever we can get so we can rebuild through the draft. i'm tired of the words rebuild and tank being treated like taboo.

 

[VF21]

i don't care if we get 50 cents on the dollar, i just want these vets off the team so we can start losing and get some cap relief and maybe some picks. i think we have to do what is necessary to get as high as we can in the draft, we can't get picky about getting "proper value" in return. as long as it opens us up to develop our young players, get us losses this season, and some cap relief i'll be one happy kings fan.

You may not care if you get 50 cents on the dollar but last I heard, you aren't one of the Maloofs...

You don't dump your veterans for nothing. That's video game stuff, not the NBA.

 

[Padrino]

you only trade to get "50 cents on the dollar" if you have a highly disgruntled and disruptive player that you have to move immediately. what the kings need to do is either trade their vets away for youth and/or draft picks and/or expiring contracts. none of that is easy to do when you're talking about underperforming spare parts, but that's what needs to happen. in my mind, in a rebuild, cap space is highly valuable, so we're not talking 50 cents on the dollar if you can get cap relief by taking on expiring contracts. that's one of the ways out for the kings. but i don't see petrie trading away bibby, miller, or artest for expirings. that's not his style.

 

[Vlade4GM]

You may not care if you get 50 cents on the dollar but last I heard, you aren't one of the Maloofs...

You don't dump your veterans for nothing. That's video game stuff, not the NBA.

i'm just stressing my piont that starting over and getting a good draft pick takes precedent over the "let's make a deal" game. how about the "let's get something done" game? i may have exagerated on the 50 cents thing, but my point is why nitpick when time is of the essence?

 

[fnordius]

i don't care if we get 50 cents on the dollar, i just want these vets off the team so we can start losing and get some cap relief and maybe some picks. i think we have to do what is necessary to get as high as we can in the draft, we can't get picky about getting "proper value" in return. as long as it opens us up to develop our young players, get us losses this season, and some cap relief i'll be one happy kings fan.

I tend to agree, guys like Theo Ratliff (injured, out for the season, bloated $12 contract runs out in a year and a half) look really tempting. The only problem is that Boston is probably too smart to trade away a useless player for someone better, and kill their draft hopes.

In other words, the Maloofs and GP may have realized too late how much we'd be sucking by now, and may have painted us into a corner.

 

[BigWaxer]

Thats what amazes me, everyone wanted to get rid of cwebb, everyone then pointed at peja, then RA, now Bibby

While the above may have been in the cards anyway... There is no quick fix. People that want to tank this season for a high draft pick, forget it. As bad as we are, we are still better then about 7 other eastern conf teams.

And as a side note, this is supposed to be the best draft in a long time, okay well don't we think all GM's know this? Nobody is selling or trading for contracts this year.

If any of our 2+ year contracts get moved, I will be pretty surprised by it all. Looks like all the GM's are holding tight this year, especially with their expiring deals.

 

[Bricklayer]

And as a side note, this is supposed to be the best draft in a long time, okay well don't we think all GM's know this? Nobody is selling or trading for contracts this year.

Not all GMs are in our position. The ones for the better teams are all in the same win now mode we used to be in. Nabbing a stud in the draft is no more a consideration for those teams than it was for us back in 2003. Yeah, they would always love to, but the focus is elsewhere. On the present, not the future. And in the present we have pieces that could help make a good team great, or help push a great team over the top. And that's where we have to be looking for relief. They only thing we would be unlikely to get out of a deal would be a second good lottery pick. But there are teams out there for whom a Bibby, Brad, Ron type player could mean the difference betwen a short playoff run and a long one, or a long playoff run or a title. Those teams can always bite on a deal if the right one comes up, and its not going to disrupt them too badly.

 

[BigWaxer]

Not all GMs are in our position. The ones for the better teams are all in the same win now mode we used to be in. Nabbing a stud in the draft is no more a consideration for those teams than it was for us back in 2003. Yeah, they would always love to, but the focus is elsewhere. On the present, not the future. And in the present we have pieces that could help make a good team great, or help push a great team over the top. And that's where we have to be looking for relief. They only thing we would be unlikely to get out of a deal would be a second good lottery pick. But there are teams out there for whom a Bibby, Brad, Ron type player could mean the difference betwen a short playoff run and a long one, or a long playoff run or a title. Those teams can always bite on a deal if the right one comes up, and its not going to disrupt them too badly.

I agree with that and would add.

I could see a Ron going. Possibly Bibby but have my doubts with this years play.

Ron is a difference maker for any contending team. I think the best we can hope for is an expiring deal type swap. However, with his contract in a one for one swap it really wont help us.

That wont help us in getting rid of contracts like KT's.

 

[kingsfan101]

My concern is that this is one year that Maloofs may not want to lose (though, this year's draft suggests that if any year is good to lose, it is this). They took a very active role over the summer, and hired Muss after letting
RA leave. Losing badly reflects very badly on them. The correct thing to do would be to acknowledge it, realize our current state, and allow Petrie to rebuild. There is a chance though, that they may try to pull another trade (say for Kidd), that helps us in the short term. If we make a run for the playoffs, they won't lose face over Muss's hiring.

For good or for bad, we don't have too many assets to pry a star from other team though. Apart from Martin, who is virtually untouchable, our only trading chips to get a star are our expiring contracts. Noone shall give a star for just cap space. Other teams shall want prospects/picks, which we don't have many. That might limit our options (good I think), and is one of the causes for the relative inaction of the front office.