2011 Free Agency Challenge Thread

[kingofthejungle]

So I've reviewed all of the unrestricted free agents and developed a list of players that may be helpful to the Kings (see below). The challenge is to choose two players from the list and plug them into the Kings' depth chart. The goal is to constuct the best team possible. Different posters may have different approaches: some may want to go with veteran players who can provide leadership, others may want younger players who will fit into the longterm plans. Some might figure outside shooting is a must or a big with a permiter game to open things up. Others might want a defensive presence who has some offensive game. Anyway, after you plug in your two players, please provide your rationale with the depth chart. Try to be realistic with the two players you sign. I've left out a few players that would be helpful but are probably not realistic, such as Carmelo Anthony and Tony Parker, but the rest were mostly fair game. That said, you're probably not going to sign Mo Williams and Zach Randolph as the cost would probably be too great for ownership at this point.

But there's more! I'm also listing the current top 10 players ranked on Draftexpress, so please also choose one of the players listed, provide your rationale, and add him to the depth chart as well. Realistically, the Kings should realistically get one of these guys, but things can drastically change when it comes to the draft. So, if you prefer a player not on this abbreviated list, please share and add to your offseason. So, this is basically meant to be the obligatory "GM the Kings for the 2011 off season thread". Yes, probably a tad early, but the recent win has pumped a bit of life into the fan base (including myself) so it seemed like a reasonable time to start fantasizing about next year.


Little Guy Free Agents:
Shannon Brown
Leandro Barbosa
Jamal Crawford
Mo Williams

Swing Men Free Agents:
Kelenna Azubike
Shane Battier
Caron Butler
Boris Diaw
Grant Hill
Andrei Kirilenko
Jason Richardson

Big Men Free Agents:
Tyson Chandler
Reggie Evans
Nene Hilario
Troy Murphy
Joel Pryzbilla
Zach Randolph
David West

Top 10 Draft Picks on Draftexpress
Kyrie Ivring
Perry Jones
Harrison Barnes
Jonas Valanciunas
Terrance Jones
Jared Sullinger
Enes Kanter
Kemba Walker
Donatas Motiejunas
Mason Plumlee

 

[kingofthejungle]

I'll start. The Kings select Kyrie Irving with the #1 pick so they solidify their backcourt. He's a true point guard who can run an offense efficiently and spread the floor with the 3 ball. Yes, there will probably be challenges starting a rookie point guard, but he appears to have the kind of talent that justifies such a move. This seems like a no-brainer move, but the issue I'm running into is selecting a decent free agent big man. For example, if I went with Perry Jones, then I probably wouldn't hesitate to make a run at Mo Williams or even Shannon Brown. But Irving's talent is too special to pass up, so he's my pick (I'm wondering if everyone will go with him now?)

The Kings would still be in dire need of a veteran player, so my first free agent selection is Shane Battier. He's got a great BB IQ, leadership qualities, excellent defensive fundamentals, and can also spread the floor with the 3 ball.

The Kings will likely let Landry and Dalembert walk, so an incomming big is probably key. Randolph and West would be nice additions, but I'm not sure how realistic they are so I'll leave them off. Plus, they primarily provide scoring and Cousins will probably continue to be the primary offensive threat on the low block, so we don't need redundant talent IMHO (see Landry). So I think I'll go with a bruiser, Nene (Hilario), since he can defend other bigs and possesses some real physicality. He's definetly not an ideal choice, but he's my final one--so here's the depth chart. NOTE: I've listed Donte Greene as a 3rd string SF and PF. I'm thinking he could develop into a "stretch 4" as he can guard guys like Dirk better than most.

Irving/Udrih
Evans/Garcia
Battier/Casspi/Greene
Thompson/Greene/Whiteside
Cousins/Hilario

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

Man, that really isn't a very enticing list of free agents, is it? The prospect of signing any of those guys doesn't really excite me that much. I guess if I could have any two of them i'd go with Brown and Chandler. As for the draft, I'd go with the best player available that fits the Kings' needs which based on this draft, will be either a SF, or PF, or PG.

 

[sidney]

Really need a 3rd star/star potential type outside of Cousins/Evans. Our weaknesses are ball movement, defense, and outside shooting. Hopefully a guard or SF with star potential will be there for us in the draft.

And why would we let Dalembert walk? He's top 10 per 48 in blocks and rebounds and a perfect role player. We are all of a sudden 4th in the league in rebounding. He's not going to require 13 million a year like he is getting now and there's no reason we should let him walk. If he does we'd have to go find another FA center who would likely be an inferior pairing with Cousins.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

We are in a tough spot. We have loads of money with no one to really spend it on. The cream of the crop free agents are going to be able to choose their team, and they wont choose us. This would require us to overspend on the second tier guys, and that never works out.

Our best bet would be to make a trade. I like Iggy and Wallace better than any other 2/3 we could potentially get. They are both available so I would try and target one of them. There may be a small chance Granger becomes available, who I would be willing to give up ALOT for. Cleveland has been shopping some players, and I would deffinetly take a look at Varajao and Hickson.

Wilson Chandler is OK. Probly having a better year than most think. I still dont love him though.

 

[boffacheerios]

what on earth would suddenly make Danny Granger available??

 

[sidney]

what on earth would suddenly make Danny Granger available??

yeah, thought they were building around Granger, Collison, and Hibbert as the core moving forward.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

what on earth would suddenly make Danny Granger available??

There's been chatter about that for years, but I've never particularly believed it.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

what on earth would suddenly make Danny Granger available??

like Captain Factorial said, Its not so much that I think he WILL be available, but I've read that his name has been out there in the past. And while a Granger trade could be considered a pipe dream, at least there is something there to go off of. More realistic than saying "lets go trade for Kevin Durant" or something along those lines.

 

[bajaden]

For starters I would try and resign Dalembert for whatever is deemed reasonable under the new CBA. Preferly to a three year deal with the last year being the team option. But not necessarily mandatory. I like the combination of Cousins and Dalembert. I would let Landry walk. I'm not going to pick Irving in the draft because my gut tells me that he might opt for another year at Duke. Although, this may be the last year he'll be able to get that much money as the first pick in the draft. Since the draft takes place before the old CBA expires. Who knows what the salaries for draft picks will be next year? But if we get the first pick, and if he's there, I'm inclined to take him. Those are both big if's.

So if he's not there, I'm torn between three players. Terrence Jones, Perry Jones, and Jared Sulliinger. If I have the choice of the litter, and based on what I've seen so far, and based on letting Landry walk, I would take Sullinger. But I would be happy with either of the other two as well. As far what free agents I would go after. First on my list would be a pt guard or a shooting guard. I like Delonte West. Good defender and decent to good shooter. There's also Sebastion Telfair whose caught in a logjam at Minny, although he's a little undersized. He does have a good assist to turnover ratio though. I also like Jamal Crawford, although he's 30 years old. I'm surprised that you left Kendrick Perkins and Big Baby off your list. I don't agree that all the big names aren't going to come here. After the new CBA, we may be only one of a few teams with the money to sign anyone.

Anyway, so far none of the players I mentioned are going to break our bank. I'd make a serious push for Zack Randolph. Head case or not, he's certainly made a difference for Memphis. The Dude can ball. Maybe he's not the greatest defender in the world, but he's a giant step up from Landry. I'd also like to trade for Gerald Wallace. Yes I know he's been injury prone, but he hasn't the last two years, and remember, his injuries aren't of the chronic type. Their mostly bumps and bruises types of injuries. Your starting lineup would be:

Cousins
Randolph
Wallace
Evans
West

Bench:

Dalembert
Thompson
Casspi or Greene (one is traded in Wallace trade)
Cisco
Beno

Jeter
One of Sullinger, P. Jones, T. Jones, or if were lucky, Irving, in which case he moves up the pecking order.

 

[boffacheerios]

the fact that we ,for some reason (other than the fact that no one wants to play for the kings) decided to keep holding off until finally, inevidably we are bidding in a weak free agent class shows volumes of the organizations cold feet though imho. it just seems like they're going to let things play out horribly. If you're tyreke evans or demarcus cousins, and you're in the last year of your contract with a team that's shown zero sign of progression, and in many ways has shown degression why would you ever commit long term? it just seems like they're screwin the pooch big time by being so passive.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

I also forgot about Perkins. If he is healthy, I would suggest signing him over resigning Dalembert. Dont get me wrong, I like what I have seen from Dally, but Perkins is a much better player. Ive been watching Perk for 7 seasons now, and he is really quite good. Dalembert is a great shotblocker, and a good defender. Perkins is a great shot blocker and a great defender. Much bigger than Dalembert and is probly the only player in the league who can guard Dwight Howard 1 on 1.

His offense is much better too. He was rarely used in Boston on offense, which is understandable with all of the weapons they have, but I do think he can score. I deffinetly think he would be an upgrade offensively over Dally.

 

[hrdboild]

I think the free agency signings will depend on what happens with the draft. You don't usually sign a top 5 pick and then force them to the bench for 5 years by signing a free agent at the same position. It's still early in the season, but a lot of the highly regarded prospects this year have been disappointing so far. Kyrie Irving and Jared Sullinger have both been better than expected and fit positions of need for us, but Irving might not be in the draft and Sullinger is not very good defensively. We need help at guard or power forward though, I think it's unlikely we go after another center this year with Cousins already here but it's still down to how the chips fall whether we get what we need or not.

The only free agents that stand out as maybe worth the investment long-term to me are Nene and David West but not if we have Cousins and Sullinger with Whiteside and Thompson waiting in the wings. A Dalembert re-signing seems reasonable to me right now as well because I don't think he'll be too expensive. Everyone knows he's a one-dimensional role-player at this point and his role has been helping this team. If we draft Irving or one of the small forwards though, West would be an upgrade from Landry/Thompson. And if we draft one of the small forwards we probably look to move one of Greene or Casspi in a trade for help elsewhere.

Overall it might be our best option to look for a trade. We have expirings, young players, future picks, and some mid-level deals to negotiate with and there's always a half-dozen teams thinking about unloading a big contract at the trade deadline.

 

[NoBonus]

For starters I would try and resign Dalembert for whatever is deemed reasonable under the new CBA. Preferly to a three year deal with the last year being the team option. But not necessarily mandatory. I like the combination of Cousins and Dalembert. I would let Landry walk. I'm not going to pick Irving in the draft because my gut tells me that he might opt for another year at Duke. Although, this may be the last year he'll be able to get that much money as the first pick in the draft. Since the draft takes place before the old CBA expires. Who knows what the salaries for draft picks will be next year? But if we get the first pick, and if he's there, I'm inclined to take him. Those are both big if's.

So if he's not there, I'm torn between three players. Terrence Jones, Perry Jones, and Jared Sulliinger. If I have the choice of the litter, and based on what I've seen so far, and based on letting Landry walk, I would take Sullinger. But I would be happy with either of the other two as well. As far what free agents I would go after. First on my list would be a pt guard or a shooting guard. I like Delonte West. Good defender and decent to good shooter. There's also Sebastion Telfair whose caught in a logjam at Minny, although he's a little undersized. He does have a good assist to turnover ratio though. I also like Jamal Crawford, although he's 30 years old. I'm surprised that you left Kendrick Perkins and Big Baby off your list. I don't agree that all the big names aren't going to come here. After the new CBA, we may be only one of a few teams with the money to sign anyone.

Anyway, so far none of the players I mentioned are going to break our bank. I'd make a serious push for Zack Randolph. Head case or not, he's certainly made a difference for Memphis. The Dude can ball. Maybe he's not the greatest defender in the world, but he's a giant step up from Landry. I'd also like to trade for Gerald Wallace. Yes I know he's been injury prone, but he hasn't the last two years, and remember, his injuries aren't of the chronic type. Their mostly bumps and bruises types of injuries. Your starting lineup would be:

Cousins
Randolph
Wallace
Evans
West

Bench:

Dalembert
Thompson
Casspi or Greene (one is traded in Wallace trade)
Cisco
Beno

Jeter
One of Sullinger, P. Jones, T. Jones, or if were lucky, Irving, in which case he moves up the pecking order.

Wow! Delonte West? Really? The guy is lucky teams are still willing to gamble on him. There is no way the Kings bring in a headcase like West... he does not have enough upside to be worth the risk.

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

the fact that we ,for some reason (other than the fact that no one wants to play for the kings) decided to keep holding off until finally, inevidably we are bidding in a weak free agent class shows volumes of the organizations cold feet though imho. it just seems like they're going to let things play out horribly. If you're tyreke evans or demarcus cousins, and you're in the last year of your contract with a team that's shown zero sign of progression, and in many ways has shown degression why would you ever commit long term? it just seems like they're screwin the pooch big time by being so passive.

Yeah that's one of the risks the play it safe approach comes with. If The CBA works out as hoped and The Kings are able to nab a few quality players then the waiting will be to their favor. But, and this is my biggest fear, if the new CBA doesn't lower salaries as much as they're hoping it will, then The Kings will be left with no choice but to either spend big money to fill out the roster with mid level talent, or just roll with what they have now. And in the event they did sign mid level talent, it would probably have to be to short term deals so they can have money available in a few years when rookie contracts need to be renewed. If things play out like the latter scenario, The Kings may end up kicking themselves for not aggressively pursuing any quality players in the 2010 FA class.

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

There is no way the Kings bring in a headcase like West.

I'd say if anything that increases the chances of The Kings signing him because he'll probably come fairly cheap.

 

[bajaden]

Wow! Delonte West? Really? The guy is lucky teams are still willing to gamble on him. There is no way the Kings bring in a headcase like West... he does not have enough upside to be worth the risk.

I'm not denying that there's some risk there, but he wouldn't be a huge financial investment, and you could have escape clauses written into his contract. He can ball, and thats the important thing. There have been a lot of players that have screwed up and realize that this may be their last chance to redeem themselves. Petrie hasn't been adverse to bringing in a problem child in the past. Mad Max being an example. J. Will was a head case when he was drafted by the Kings. Webber's reputation wasn't exactly stellar when we traded for him.

I'd also like to point out that Jan 7th is a day to pay attention to. Its the day when all unguarranteed contracts become guaranteed, or the player becomes a freeagent. Delonte West is one of those guys by the way. I believe there's around 40 total in the NBA. It possible that Petrie has been waiting till now to see who becomes available.

As to West's upside? Yeah I think so. But then its subjective, and I'm sure there are those that disagree.

 

[jdbraver]

Isn't M.Gasol available?

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

Isn't M.Gasol available?

Yeah but how would that work with Cousins? Who would be the back up C?

 

[bajaden]

Isn't M.Gasol available?

He's a restricted freeagent. At least under the old agreement he is. Come july 1st, who knows?

 

[bajaden]

Yeah that's one of the risks the play it safe approach comes with. If The CBA works out as hoped and The Kings are able to nab a few quality players then the waiting will be to their favor. But, and this is my biggest fear, if the new CBA doesn't lower salaries as much as they're hoping it will, then The Kings will be left with no choice but to either spend big money to fill out the roster with mid level talent, or just roll with what they have now. And in the event they did sign mid level talent, it would probably have to be to short term deals so they can have money available in a few years when rookie contracts need to be renewed. If things play out like the latter scenario, The Kings may end up kicking themselves for not aggressively pursuing any quality players in the 2010 FA class.

I don't think your premise is totally accurate. If they come back with a similar agreement to what we have now, your right in that salaries wouldn't go down very much. But the Kings would still be somewhere between 26 and 30 million under the cap, so they could still go after any player they want. If that that happens, then I think its safe to assume that the Bird rule will return as well. So when Evans and Cousins come up for new contracts the Kings would still be able to offer more than anyone else and for longer, and be able to go over the cap to do it. If all their moves pan out, and I know thats a big if, the team will have improved greatly by that time and sacramento should be a team that other players want to come and play for again. Remember, Evans has three years left on his contract and Cousins has four. Both players should be developed by then, and hopefully both will be star players.

So my point is that I think the Kings are still in the best position they could be in regardless of the outcome of the new CBA. Its just that if salaries get lowered and contracts get shortened, and they still retain the flexable cap, and the Bird rule, then the Kings are in terrific shape. Thats the outcome I'm hoping for..

 

[Asaf]

Remember, Evans has three years left on his contract and Cousins has four.

As far as I understand the rules, that's not quite accurate. Evans will be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2013, and Cousins in the summer of 2014, which is two and three years, respectively, from this offseason. We can make a qualifying offer, but at this point, assuming they both reach some of their potential, they will want to get paid a lot more, maybe even max deals, and there's a good chance that other teams might offer them max deals, which would force us to do so as well if we want to keep them.

 

[kingsboi]

Marc Gasol on this team? Yuck! We need to just develop DeMarcus, we have no need for Gasol. He is going to get overpaid anyways by somebody. Now, Jeff Green is somebody I wouldn't mind pursuing and obviously as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Nick Young.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

As far as I understand the rules, that's not quite accurate. Evans will be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2013, and Cousins in the summer of 2014, which is two and three years, respectively, from this offseason. We can make a qualifying offer, but at this point, assuming they both reach some of their potential, they will want to get paid a lot more, maybe even max deals, and there's a good chance that other teams might offer them max deals, which would force us to do so as well if we want to keep them.

True. Obviously we don't know what the new CBA will look like, but I think the point is that under current rules neither Evans nor Cousins can leave "against our will" for their fifth season. We might have to pony up - we'd have to make a qualifying offer and match any offer sheet they got in RFA - but we would have the ability to exceed the salary cap to sign them. The only thing (under the current rules) that can prevent Evans/Cousins from being back for their fifth season is our own reluctance to pay them. If they truly wanted to leave Sacramento, their best bet would be to simply accept the one-year qualifying offer and then become an unrestricted free agent after their fifth year.

 

[bajaden]

As far as I understand the rules, that's not quite accurate. Evans will be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2013, and Cousins in the summer of 2014, which is two and three years, respectively, from this offseason. We can make a qualifying offer, but at this point, assuming they both reach some of their potential, they will want to get paid a lot more, maybe even max deals, and there's a good chance that other teams might offer them max deals, which would force us to do so as well if we want to keep them.

I stand corrected. Your right they would both be restricted freeagents in two and then three years. However if the old rules still apply, we would be able to match any offer made and keep both of them. In most cases if a player wants to walk, they wait till they become unrestricted freeagents. That way they have total control over the outcome. Not so with a restricted freeagent. Of course I guess someone could offer the sun and the moon. But I'm hoping that the new agreement limits that in some way. We'll see..

 

[Jalee209]

I say we go hard for Jeff Green. He'd be the perfect SF for us. The problem with this team are many, but to me, the main problem is we don't have a 3rd scoring option. Every team that is good in this league has atleast 3 guys on their teams that can consistently get 20 or more points a game. All we have is Tyreke...sometimes DMC and Landry...but they aren't consistent -- DMC will in due time-- yet. Then we trade Landry and Dalembert for some role players, maybe Reddick or someone like Jarryd Bayless.

I'd also like us to draft a point guard in this draft, whoever is left.

 

[Padrino]

caution: pipe dream...

if the kings have a shot at kyrie irving in the draft, they should take him. and then consider prying kevin love away from the timberwolves:

Wolves have work to do if they hope to retain big man Love

then make a run at shane battier for an additional veteran presence/leadership/defense/outside shooting. and then re-sign samuel dalembert as a sturdy, defensive back-up to cousins...

for the record, i have no idea if the kings will have the cap flexibility to pull off all of those signings, before or after cba negotiations. i'm just daydreaming here...

regardless, imagine this future:

irving/udrih/jeter
evans/garcia/udrih/casspi
battier/casspi/greene
love/thompson/whiteside/greene
cousins/dalembert/thompson/whiteside

that depth chart is flexible, and can be juggled a lot (and i have no doubt that paul westphal would juggle it quite a bit, if given such an opportunity), and its still a young team, to be sure, but i like the completeness of the above picture so much more than what i'm seeing from the kings this season...

not to mention kevin love has become a monster of a player, and is absolutely worth pursuing if he becomes available. a love/cousins pairing would certainly lack on the defensive end, but they'd dominate the low-post/high-post offensively, and would pull down every rebound in sight...

love is also a [southern] california native, so perhaps a return to his sunny home state would be preferable to the freezing cold of minny? where he has a coach who has only just started to lengthen his leash. i'm sure he'd get the green light in sacramento immediately, along with evans and cousins, who will be in their third and second years, respectively...

throw rookie irving into that mix, shift tyreke to sg full-time, and the small forward position becomes perfect for players like shane battier, omri casspi, and francisco garcia...

 

[Capt. Factorial]

love is also a [southern] california native, so perhaps a return to his sunny home state would be preferable to the freezing cold of minny?

Actually, Love is an Oregon native (moved there when he was one year old), he only spent one year in SoCal going to UCLA.

 

[Padrino]

Actually, Love is an Oregon native (moved there when he was one year old), he only spent one year in SoCal going to UCLA.

ah. my mistake. still a west coaster at heart, then, but regardless, all the better!! that one year must have been some kind of tease. perhaps he might want to experience the california sun for more than just a single year?

 

[bajaden]

caution: pipe dream...

if the kings have a shot at kyrie irving in the draft, they should take him. and then consider prying kevin love away from the timberwolves:

Wolves have work to do if they hope to retain big man Love

then make a run at shane battier for an additional veteran presence/leadership/defense/outside shooting. and then re-sign samuel dalembert as a sturdy, defensive back-up to cousins...

for the record, i have no idea if the kings will have the cap flexibility to pull off all of those signings, before or after cba negotiations. i'm just daydreaming here...

regardless, imagine this future:

irving/udrih/jeter
evans/garcia/udrih/casspi
battier/casspi/greene
love/thompson/whiteside/greene
cousins/dalembert/thompson/whiteside

that depth chart is flexible, and can be juggled a lot (and i have no doubt that paul westphal would juggle it quite a bit, if given such an opportunity), and its still a young team, to be sure, but i like the completeness of the above picture so much more than what i'm seeing from the kings this season...

not to mention kevin love has become a monster of a player, and is absolutely worth pursuing if he becomes available. a love/cousins pairing would certainly lack on the defensive end, but they'd dominate the low-post/high-post offensively, and would pull down every rebound in sight...

love is also a [southern] california native, so perhaps a return to his sunny home state would be preferable to the freezing cold of minny? where he has a coach who has only just started to lengthen his leash. i'm sure he'd get the green light in sacramento immediately, along with evans and cousins, who will be in their third and second years, respectively...

throw rookie irving into that mix, shift tyreke to sg full-time, and the small forward position becomes perfect for players like shane battier, omri casspi, and francisco garcia...

Lets start with Shane Battier. He's one of my favorite blue collar players. And I would love to have him. The question is, how much are you willing to pay him? He's 33 years old, and isn't going to get any quicker in the coming years. He would certainly bring some veteran experience thats needed. But how much longer will he able to play at a high level?

I would love to have Love. But I have no idea how you would be able to pry him loose from Minny. While I admit that Love has had his problems with Rambis, the owner apparently looks at Love as the center piece of the team. So I sincerely doubt that he's available.

Irving is a possibility. If he throws his hat into the ring, and its possible that he won't, he would probably be a top 5 pick. Normally I'd say top 3, but with his injury, who knows how the teams will look at him. I know a lot of people would lean toward Kemba Walker after Irving, and I certainly understand why, but I might go with Brandon Knight. A lot depends on how well he plays the rest of the season, but he's bigger than Walker, and almost as quick. He's a very good outside shooter, and personally I think he's more of a natural PG than Walker is. Remember, Walker is a Junior and Knight is a Freshman.

Walker: 25.3 PPG - 45.5% FGA - 36.0% 3PA - 3.7 APG - 2.1 TO's

Knight: 17.4 PPG - 46.2% FGA - 38.8% 3PA - 4.0 APG - 3.3 TO's

Right now, Knight's biggest problem is too many turnovers. And if you compare Walkers freshman year to Knight's, there's a bigger difference.

Walker: 8.9 PPG - 47% FGA - 27.1% 3PA - 2.9 APG - 1.8 TO's

Knight at 6'3" has the size to match up better with the PG's in todays game. As I said, it depends on how he plays the rest of the season and in the tourney.