I've seen a lot of people on this board are unhappy about this trade but let me explain why this needed to happen. I'm a fan of Mike Bibby but I'm a bigger fan of the Sacramento Kings and that's what this is about...the Kings future.
After next season Bibby would have become a free agent and there was no reason to expect that he would stay here. The Kings are a rebuilding team and probably would not be willing to pay him what he would ask anyway. He probably would try to land himself on a contending team. So that means that the Kings would be rebuilding around a PG who wasn't going to be here in the future instead of molding a young team around a young PG who will be here such as Beno or perhaps a draft pick. (This year's draft is deep in PGs). The last thing we need to be just ready to enter the playoffs again and we lose our playmaker.
So just the fact that Bibby is gone making room for a new stalwart at PG makes this a good trade but let's analyze what we got.
1. Wright, Lue, and AJ: All expiring contracts after this year. It really doesn't mean much considering we will still be over the cap next year but it does save the Maloofs about 12 million dollars which should make it more likely that we will re-sign Beno.
2. 2nd Round Pick: I think this may help more than most people think. It seems that lately more and more impact players in the NBA are coming from the late 1st and 2nd rounds, in some drafts just as many as lottery picks. Let's just hope the Hawks don't make the playoffs so the pick can be a little higher.
3. Sheldon Williams: It's really amazing to see a player fall so fast since college, with only 2 years in the league. Williams really was a defensive and rebounding monster in college, I believe he led the NCAA in rebounding, averaged 4 blocks per game, and was a top post defender. Now he still rebounds pretty well but his blocks have dropped to below 1 per game and he routinely gets beat in the post.
The thing though is that he has never really gotten much of a chance to play consistently. His rookie year wasn't a complete disaster averaging 18 minutes off the bench at 5.6 ppg & 5.5 rpg but this year they draft Al Horford and now his minutes per game are only 11.1. Would you say it's fair to get a good assessment of a player in that amount of minutes? Think about this, Spencer Hawes averages 8.1 mpg, I wouldn't say we have a good assessment of his progress yet, would you?
Overall this trade is a no risk scenario that could end up very well if the pick is good and Williams develops into a capable player. It's too bad we had to cut Justin Williams instead of the players we got in this trade but I have a feeling that those players may get cut soon enough with another influx of players from a Ron Artest trade. We'll see what happens.
After next season Bibby would have become a free agent and there was no reason to expect that he would stay here. The Kings are a rebuilding team and probably would not be willing to pay him what he would ask anyway. He probably would try to land himself on a contending team. So that means that the Kings would be rebuilding around a PG who wasn't going to be here in the future instead of molding a young team around a young PG who will be here such as Beno or perhaps a draft pick. (This year's draft is deep in PGs). The last thing we need to be just ready to enter the playoffs again and we lose our playmaker.
So just the fact that Bibby is gone making room for a new stalwart at PG makes this a good trade but let's analyze what we got.
1. Wright, Lue, and AJ: All expiring contracts after this year. It really doesn't mean much considering we will still be over the cap next year but it does save the Maloofs about 12 million dollars which should make it more likely that we will re-sign Beno.
2. 2nd Round Pick: I think this may help more than most people think. It seems that lately more and more impact players in the NBA are coming from the late 1st and 2nd rounds, in some drafts just as many as lottery picks. Let's just hope the Hawks don't make the playoffs so the pick can be a little higher.
3. Sheldon Williams: It's really amazing to see a player fall so fast since college, with only 2 years in the league. Williams really was a defensive and rebounding monster in college, I believe he led the NCAA in rebounding, averaged 4 blocks per game, and was a top post defender. Now he still rebounds pretty well but his blocks have dropped to below 1 per game and he routinely gets beat in the post.
The thing though is that he has never really gotten much of a chance to play consistently. His rookie year wasn't a complete disaster averaging 18 minutes off the bench at 5.6 ppg & 5.5 rpg but this year they draft Al Horford and now his minutes per game are only 11.1. Would you say it's fair to get a good assessment of a player in that amount of minutes? Think about this, Spencer Hawes averages 8.1 mpg, I wouldn't say we have a good assessment of his progress yet, would you?
Overall this trade is a no risk scenario that could end up very well if the pick is good and Williams develops into a capable player. It's too bad we had to cut Justin Williams instead of the players we got in this trade but I have a feeling that those players may get cut soon enough with another influx of players from a Ron Artest trade. We'll see what happens.
