Landry vs. JT

[Nighthawk1]

Maybe a mod can make a poll for me?
Who do you like more?
I think one of them is probably on the block even if its not publicized right now.

Both have solid outside shots...

In Landry we have toughness, post scoring, post defense, some rebounding
In JT we have rebounding, size, not as good post defense as Landry but has shown capability to use his size to block some shots, upside if he can put it all together he would be a very solid double double player, and not as refinded a post offense as Landry but has shown flashes to do it now and then.

Who goes probably depends on how JT plays the first half of the season, the kid has some upside but he can't seem to put it together for a full season. I think if he grows out of his foul trouble (which will hopefully be the case with Dally and Cousins injection) and learn to stop dribbling I think Landry might have a tough time finding a place on the court especially since he's expiring...

 

[ParniValjak]

Right now, Landry is a much better player than JT.

 

[Widowmaker2k]

I honestly like to keep both of them. Dalembert is likely the odd man out in the long run. I'd be happy if we could ship him off to a contender at the deadline. Cousins/Landry/JT/Whiteside is a solid front court rotation, and best of all, each of them bring nearly entirely different skill sets to the table. JT's outside shot is actually pretty good, and it saved us in a few games last year. It also let's him spread the floor a little bit for Tyreke and DeMarcus by opening up the lane a little bit. He also likes to hustle, which is never a bad thing. Landry's lack of height makes him an unsavory starter (for a serious playoff team in the West), but an ideal super bench guy (note I said bench, not scrub). When he enters the game, he's shown us a number of times that he has no trouble scoring early and often. Something we used to rely on Bjax for.

The versatility our new front court rotation gives us is actually quite amazing. We have three of them that can play PF, and three that can play Center (assuming Cousins is strictly a 5 and Landry strictly a 4). There are a lot of teams out there that would improve tremendously by having any one of those four, and I'm in no hurry to ship one of them off, unless the other teams absolutely bowls us over.

 

[Chupacabra]

Right now, Landry is a much smaller player than JT. JT is a more versatile player than Landry. Landry is a below average post defender due to his lack of size and also a below average rebounder for probably the same reason. The most important things for a bigman to do are play defense and rebound. Landry comes up short. Tough and talented on the offensive end but he lacks the necessities. If i could only keep one id keep Thompson.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

dalembert is most likely the odd man out. if whiteside develops fast dalembert will be gone after the season. i still have high hopes for JT. i'm thinking JT can be the backup energy player for cousins.

C Cousins/JT
PF landry/whiteside

thats a solid 4 for a big man rotation. plenty of fouls and depth.

 

[Chupacabra]

dalembert is most likely the odd man out. if whiteside develops fast dalembert will be gone after the season. i still have high hopes for JT. i'm thinking JT can be the backup energy player for cousins.

C Cousins/JT
PF landry/whiteside

thats a solid 4 for a big man rotation. plenty of fouls and depth.

While I agree with this, i think we'll be limited to keeping 3 of the current 5 bigmen. I feel the best way to go would be Cousin/Whiteside/Thompson. That trio is interchangeable and provides exactly whats needed. This next season is Landry's last season under his rookie contract. Hes sure to get a large offer from somewhere else. Our money will be best spent keeping Evans/Cousins/Whiteside/Greene together.

 

[cuad]

We should keep both. Landry is the most likely to bolt, though. Our big man line up so jumbled up. Here's one lineup to consider

Dalembert / Thompson / Whiteside

Cousins / Landry

Offensively, Cousins plays the 4 while Dalembert plays center. Defensively, Cousins guards the center while Dalembert uses his athleticism to guard the other team's 4.

I'm thinking about the Lakers with this rotation. Starting Cousins / Landry would not work against Bynum / Gasol, and Gasol routinely burns Thompson (65% in 8 career games). Therefore I threw Dalembert into the lineup. Now he still gets burned, but not as badly (55% in 13 career games). Plus, Dalembert is 100x the shot blocker that JT is, so he would be better used on the floor at the same time as the other teams starters (because typically, they are the better slashers).

Thompson and Landry both played better last year when they came off the bench. And Thompson did play plenty of minutes at C last year, so hopefully he'll be ok there.

Also, the starting PF + C and the bench PF + C are both an offense-defense combination.

 

[Smills91]

If we're trading one of them, it's Landry for me. Why? Because he holds more trade value and is likely to become the more expensive and less versatile player. His skill-set is more unique which gives him a lot more value to a lot more teams. I'd expect at very good starting SG back in return. James Harden for Carl Landry straight up makes a lot of sense to me. Lawson + Afflalo for Landry I like. I might even consider Landry to PDX for Bayless, Rudy and some added incentive somewhere like a heavily protected 1st....DJ Augustin + Gerald Henderson might be a solid return as well, but I like other options before that one.

 

[Nighthawk1]

If we're trading one of them, it's Landry for me. Why? Because he holds more trade value and is likely to become the more expensive and less versatile player. His skill-set is more unique which gives him a lot more value to a lot more teams. I'd expect at very good starting SG back in return. James Harden for Carl Landry straight up makes a lot of sense to me. Lawson + Afflalo for Landry I like. I might even consider Landry to PDX for Bayless, Rudy and some added incentive somewhere like a heavily protected 1st....DJ Augustin + Gerald Henderson might be a solid return as well, but I like other options before that one.

Funny.. I've been pondering that exact trade Landry/JT for Harden

 

[Entity]

yeah I don't see us trading any of our bigs. We will see what JT brings this year and that will let us know if we need to try to resign Landry this offseason. Dalembert just might come back if we show him the love us kings fans can. He will be on his last contract in the NBA perhaps and will take alot less than he is making now. I see a future lineup of Thompson/Whiteside/Cousins/Dalembert + any pickups from undrafted free agents. But for now we keep them all and reep the benefits.

 

[SacTownKid]

I doubt we could get a player like Harden for either Landry or JT and I'm inclined to believe that JT has more "value" as a trade chip. Depends on what this team looks like I guess. Landry's in his last year and JT will have to be extended sooner than later. With this summer I can't imagine JT being offered less than 10 million a year by some team. Landry could be in the same boat. I don't think you can re-sign both. Whether Landry or JT is a backup that's just too much.

 

[Telemachus]

I doubt we could get a player like Harden for either Landry or JT and I'm inclined to believe that JT has more "value" as a trade chip. Depends on what this team looks like I guess. Landry's in his last year and JT will have to be extended sooner than later. With this summer I can't imagine JT being offered less than 10 million a year by some team. Landry could be in the same boat. I don't think you can re-sign both. Whether Landry or JT is a backup that's just too much.

I have a hard time seeing either Landry or JT making 10 million a year, but then some of the contracts this off season have been surprising. But don't forget that the new CBA will be in place before the next FA signings. Depending on what happens, FAs could be going for a lot less after this year.

I really want to see how JT plays this season. He really looked like he was letting the game come to him the end of last season. I also want to see how he plays when he has a legitimate big man next to him, especially on defense. There was no doubt last year that his defense was better when playing next to Landry than it was next to Hawes. Now he will have players like Dalembert and Cousins out there with him. I think he will be able to focus his defense better and not feel like he has to defend the paint all by himself.

 

[SKfan]

Jt has to prove that he can play consistently good and until that happens i think he will be the odd man out.....having a player like jt coming off the bench is impressive though!

 

[Bricklayer]

Can't we just merge them?

 

[NME]

Can't we just merge them?

Paging Doctor Moreau...

 

[Kingstime]

I like them both but I just see Landry as the better player, it's not easy to be undersized in the NBA and still able to do that much work around the basket. Merging them is a funny idea because if you take JT's height and mix it with Landrys skill that's a all star right there.

In the end I know it'll be hard to keep Landry but I reallllly hope the powers that be try their hardest, we don't land these type of players often and if we are going to contend in a couple years we are going need Carl's skillset and heart. I see him eventually becoming this team Bobby Jackson in a weird way....

 

['89 Kings Fan]

dalembert is most likely the odd man out. if whiteside develops fast dalembert will be gone after the season. i still have high hopes for JT. i'm thinking JT can be the backup energy player for cousins.

I have come to same conclusion. Every minute he plays is one in which Cousins or Whiteside do not get for the future. I would also add Brockman as 5th man and that is the most solid big man rotation we have had since Webber and Vlade were here.

Luckily we traded for him before the draft so I think his trade hold comes off August 14th which is before preseason. However I have not been able to think of a single trade that benefits us which is odd. You would think there would be more teams needing a Shotblocking Center on an expiring contract.

Maybe another Houston trade?
Dalembert -> Battier and Jefferies - Salaries match and everyone is expiring. It would mean we wouldn't need to worry about wing players this season.

 

[Bricklayer]

I actually think the powers that be like Landry a lot more than this board seems to.

 

[King-Da-Yah]

I can only hope Brick... question, can a contributor change his/her handle? I might just have to do that when the FO decides Landry is obsolete.

 

[Jechtsphere]

I actually think the powers that be like Landry a lot more than this board seems to.

I like him a lot but him going against guys like Gasol is a nightmare.

 

[Kingster]

I'm hoping Thompson shows this year that he can overtake Landry. He's got more to work with, especially on the defensive end. If Thompson can come close to scoring in the post, game over. Then Landry has nothing on him. At that point Landry is trade bait. Also, a very big factor in whether you keep Landry is Cousins. If Cousins is the big low post scorer, then Landry's low post scoring isn't nearly valuable for this team. (Just as I might add, Hawes became less valuable at the high post when Tyreke came into the picture). Reynolds salivated over Landry last year because of low post scoring - the man in the Saraha looking for a drop of water. But if Cousins takes those low post shots, then what are left with? - good outside shooting, mediocre rebounding, mediocre defense. Goodbye Landry at that point.

 

[cuad]

I have come to same conclusion. Every minute he plays is one in which Cousins or Whiteside do not get for the future. I would also add Brockman as 5th man and that is the most solid big man rotation we have had since Webber and Vlade were here.

Luckily we traded for him before the draft so I think his trade hold comes off August 14th which is before preseason. However I have not been able to think of a single trade that benefits us which is odd. You would think there would be more teams needing a Shotblocking Center on an expiring contract.

Maybe another Houston trade?
Dalembert -> Battier and Jefferies - Salaries match and everyone is expiring. It would mean we wouldn't need to worry about wing players this season.

HAHAHA. Let's trade Dalembert for a bag of chips. Then we can play Cousins 48 MPG so he won't be fat!

I'm hoping Thompson shows this year that he can overtake Landry. He's got more to work with, especially on the defensive end. If Thompson can come close to scoring in the post, game over. Then Landry has nothing on him. At that point Landry is trade bait. Also, a very big factor in whether you keep Landry is Cousins. If Cousins is the big low post scorer, then Landry's low post scoring isn't nearly valuable for this team. (Just as I might add, Hawes became less valuable at the high post when Tyreke came into the picture). Reynolds salivated over Landry last year because of low post scoring - the man in the Saraha looking for a drop of water. But if Cousins takes those low post shots, then what are left with? - good outside shooting, mediocre rebounding, mediocre defense. Goodbye Landry at that point.

Lol hey let's get rid of Garcia and Greene and Casspi. Beno is a good shooter and you only need one of those!

 

[Bricklayer]

I'm hoping Thompson shows this year that he can overtake Landry. He's got more to work with, especially on the defensive end. If Thompson can come close to scoring in the post, game over. Then Landry has nothing on him. At that point Landry is trade bait. Also, a very big factor in whether you keep Landry is Cousins. If Cousins is the big low post scorer, then Landry's low post scoring isn't nearly valuable for this team. (Just as I might add, Hawes became less valuable at the high post when Tyreke came into the picture). Reynolds salivated over Landry last year because of low post scoring - the man in the Saraha looking for a drop of water. But if Cousins takes those low post shots, then what are left with? - good outside shooting, mediocre rebounding, mediocre defense. Goodbye Landry at that point.

a potent post guy off the bench is still valuable. So valuable in fact that before we plucked him out of Houston, he was one of the frontrunners for 6th man of the year. I don't think we've suddenly gotten so dominant that a 6th man of the year would not be useful to us.

 

[sidney]

JT should create a balanced duo with Cousins
Landry should create a balanced duo with Dalembert (or Whiteside), possibly giving us the best front court bench advantage in the league.

Both guys are needed. It's not an either/or

 

[Kingster]

a potent post guy off the bench is still valuable. So valuable in fact that before we plucked him out of Houston, he was one of the frontrunners for 6th man of the year. I don't think we've suddenly gotten so dominant that a 6th man of the year would not be useful to us.

Sure, he'd be valuable. But I don't think you can pay him the $ he wants or could command. Now he's thinking he's starting material. But he's probably not for this team. So if he's not starter material for this team, but he is for other teams, then other teams will pay him more and offer more in trade. That's why he's probably not going to be here for the long term.

 

[NewArena]

JT should create a balanced duo with Cousins
Landry should create a balanced duo with Dalembert (or Whiteside), possibly giving us the best front court bench advantage in the league.

Both guys are needed. It's not an either/or

I agree with this and im hoping that our coaching staff feels the same way. Starting Landry with Cousins doesn't really help us all that much, and will simply clog up the painted area. And with Donte being the probable starter at SF, it makes our rebounding even less formidable up front.

What was the point of adding all of this size and rebounding if were just going to trot out an average rebounding team to start every game?

 

[NME]

Sure, he'd be valuable. But I don't think you can pay him the $ he wants or could command. Now he's thinking he's starting material. But he's probably not for this team. So if he's not starter material for this team, but he is for other teams, then other teams will pay him more and offer more in trade. That's why he's probably not going to be here for the long term.

And since he can only play PF and can't rebound, he can't be your all-purpose 3rd big. Now you're committing yourself to a significant role and dollars for four bigs, because you're going to need another backup who can at least rebound and defend centers. If JT is your 3rd big and develops a bit more he can score, rebound and defend both positions, so your 4th big can be a spot player.

 

[Prince_XY]

I think one of them is probably on the block even if its not publicized right now.

Landry or Thompson?

Both players are known to give their best every game. For me, both are winners. But I'll go for Thompson if I have to choose.

Landry will be very expensive especially for a player ( who most of us project ) would be coming off the bench. I don't want us spending that much money on an undersized PF player who IMO already proved to be significant only because of post-scoring. I actually see Landry as a liability in defense against the elite teams in the NBA. He is very limited on what he can bring - very much like our beloved one-dimensional player Martin who is significant only in offense. IMO, the arrival of Cousins who can give that post scoring to the team made Landry expendable.

I believe Thompson is the more useful player between the two because of the flexibility he gives to the team. He is a an adequate full-sized PF who can also play the C position fairly well. Even if his game does not improve that much, he can be more valuable than Landry because he can play the capable back-up player at both PF and C position.

On Dalembert: We've waited for Petrie for many years to get us a proven shot-blocker NBA center like Dalembert. And now that Petrie gave us Dalembert, we want to get rid of Dalembert as fast as we can? Other than the possibility that Dalembert will be asking too high on his next contract, I don't see any reason why the veteran Dalembert should be the least desirable amongst our BIGs. The guy is only 29 years old and looks like he's got some 4-5 years left in his tank. Cousins and Whiteside, as good as they were in College and summer league, will be needing time to fully develop into elite defensive anchors in the NBA. I think it is prudent to re-sign Dalembert for another 4-5 years as insurance while we wait for our bigs to fully developed and assume the role of defensive anchors for the team.

 

[Bricklayer]

And since he can only play PF and can't rebound, he can't be your all-purpose 3rd big. Now you're committing yourself to a significant role and dollars for four bigs, because you're going to need another backup who can at least rebound and defend centers. If JT is your 3rd big and develops a bit more he can score, rebound and defend both positions, so your 4th big can be a spot player.

Which of course still leaves the question of who is going to be big #2. This is actually where the one nit about Boogie's work comes into play -- he does not look to be a gamechanging shotblocker/defensive anchor. and if he's not, it means you should probably play him next to one or we are going to struggle to be a top defensive team. And Whiteside is not ready yet. What that leaves you with is the possibility that Daly is NOT just one and done, but potentially could be a longterm starter next to Cousins. Somebody wqs on here proposing that last week, and it seemed over the top. But after seeing Cousin's array of skills, maybe its not afterall. And if that is what happens then its Daly/Cousins as starters, 3rd big = JT or Landry, spot big = Whiteside as he learns and hopefully prepares to eventually supplant Daly. Now JT certainly could be the third big in that scenario, and it would mean we would be constantly big and constantly dominant on the boards. But Landry could also fit as big 3 in that scenario, as coming in off the bench he would be routinely paired with either Cousins or Daly, both of whom could cover for his rebounding weakness.

 

[funkykingston]

JT should create a balanced duo with Cousins
Landry should create a balanced duo with Dalembert (or Whiteside), possibly giving us the best front court bench advantage in the league.

Both guys are needed. It's not an either/or

Absolutely. My original thought was that Landry should start at PF because I imagined Dalembert would start at center. I didn't see Cousins being ready to start and play big minutes right away. Conditioning, foul trouble and just adjusting to the pro game made it seem likely to me that he would start the season on the bench. Summer league isn't the best barometer but DMC has been good enough to make me reconsider who should start at center.

If in fact it is Cousins then I think you have to start Thompson. He's simply a better compliment to Boogie. Now you have more size and better rebounding in the starting lineup and Landry back to his role as a dynamic bench scorer. Plus Landry and Dalembert just compliment each other so well.

I'd imagine that if Cousins starts the rotation would have Landry as the first big off the bench, likely with Cousins coming out and JT swinging to the C spot. Then you bring in Dalembert for Thompson soon after.

a potent post guy off the bench is still valuable. So valuable in fact that before we plucked him out of Houston, he was one of the frontrunners for 6th man of the year. I don't think we've suddenly gotten so dominant that a 6th man of the year would not be useful to us.

Agreed. But with both Landry and Dalembert up for new contracts after the season it becomes a matter of whether it's worth it to retain one or both of them knowing that the rest of this team's young core will need to be reupped in the near future as well. I'm all for bringing Landry back. But if signing him next year means letting Donte go the year after then I have to give that a lot more thought. And that's to say nothing of saving for Tyreke and DeMarcus should they be the lethal combo we're all hpping for.

The good news is that we now have a balanced team that is bursting with potential. The bad news is that there are tough decisions to make in order to keep what Petrie sees as the core together.