I doubt we will be players in the market next year. Man this has Maloofs trying to save money all over it. Why else would we not take on Jeffries contract and gain two draft picks instead of keeping KT. I am disappointed that we did not get the two picks and Lee. This again shows how Maloof dictated what return we got. I think Petrie did the best he could have given the parameters had to work with.
I broke down the financials in another thread but to gain the rights to Hill plus the option to swap the 2011 pick plus the 2012 draft pick it would have cost the Kings over 12 million dollars.
So let's break down each of those pieces:
Jordan Hill
Considering the fact that we now have JT, Hawes, Brockman, Landry, and Dorsey who are all young big men, and Hill is not a defensive specialist, I don't see how we'd have given him a whole lot of time to develop. So though Hill would have been a nice piece, I don't think he'd have brought us much value. Hill is much more valuable to a team like the Rockets than he would be to us.
Now if we were talking about Thabeet, then it would be a different story as Thabeet at least has the chance to bring us something which we don't have. Hill doesn't really give us anything that we don't have in other players.
Swap of 2011 Draft Picks
If New York is able to sign a superstar then there is a good chance that they'll have a better record than us, especially since they play in the East. It's all speculation though, so you can't say one way or another how good of an option it would be for our team. Regardless I don't see how the Knicks would be 15+ positions better to make this a significant deal.
2012 Draft Pick
Again, there isn't any way to tell where this pick might land. But it probably won't be a top 10 pick.
So in my mind it's a very easy decision. I wouldn't want the Kings to spend 12 million dollars for a young player we don't need, the opportunity to maybe improve our draft position by a few spots, and a draft pick which could range anywhere from 12-26.
I am very, very pleased that we didn't commit financially to assets which are probably not going to be worth it. Hopefully Geoff will find a better means to utilize our new financial flexibility.