Your Ideal (But Realistic) Off Season

[kingofthejungle]

About a month back, I started a thread entitled: "My Ideal Off Season." I quickly realized taht it would be much more interesting for all to share what they would prefer the Kings to do in terms of management. Now that the Kings know their draft position and some combine measurements are in, it seemed reasonable to revisit this topic. So the goal of this thread is to propose your own vision of how the roster can evolve and give constructive feedback on those propositions.

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I think there is plently of talent in the draft to land the Kings a solid rotational player who can develop into a playoff caliber starter. Although it was disappointing to watch the Kings fall back in the lottery again, I am confident that Petrie can find the best player available in this draft at 7.

Assuming that Irving, Williams, Kanter, and Knight are already selected by the Kings' pick, I think the few players that could be most helpful include:

Kemba Walker
Kwhai Leonard
Jan Vesely
Bismack Biyombo

There are other intriguing options, but I will leave those that are much more knowledgable in regards to draftees to comment. Needless to say, there is some value at 7.

But I really like the potential fit of two players: Leonard and Biyombo, as adding them would give the Kings a "lock down" player at each position, potentially:

Evans
Leondard
Greene
Biyombo
Dalembert

But how can the Kings get Leondard and Biyombo. Well, lets just say that my "ideal but realistic" offseason does not take into account Petrie's typical unwillingness to add extra draft picks, so I will surrender that point.

But regardless, would it make sense value-wise to trade Casspi, Whiteside, our second rounders (35 and 60), and next year's first pick to Washington for their 6th pick? I realize that many here will not consider Whiteside a "throw in," but his presence may help insure that Washington bites and, as I understand it, the kid has a severe lack of maturity despite his incredible physical profile. Would the Wizards bite at this potential depth chart and assets?

Wall/Free Agent
Young (re-signed)/Crawford
Lewis (2 more years/Casspi
Blatche/Seraphin
McGee/Whiteside

+3 2nd rounders this year (2 are from Kings)
+2 draft picks next year (1 is from Kings)

Next, for the sake of the depth chart, lets project the Kings to re-sign Thornton and Dalembert. Although these are not givens, the more I read the less convinced I am that another team will offer Dalembert more than the Kings. My ideal offseason woudl also include the Kings picking up options for Jeter, Taylor, and Jackson, as they are quality third string players in my opinion.

Thornton/Udrih/Jeter
Evans/Garcia/Taylor
Leonard/Greene
Cousins/Biyombo/Jackson
Dalembert/Thompson

The Kings still need some help at the starting small forward spot, but the roster is otherwise fairly balanced. [One could argue that the Kings still need a "pure" point guard and a "stretch 4," but I think they come close enought with Beno Udrih and Donte Greene.]

Despite all these moves, the Kings could still use a starting small forward, as Leonard will not be ready to defend premier NBA swing men right away. Viable free agent options include Boris Diaw, Wilson Chandler, Tayshaun Prince, Mike Dunleavy, Shane Battier, Sam Young, Grant Hill, and Andrei Kirilinko.

If I'm Petrie, I concede that this free agent class does not include the long term answer at small forward, but might include a "stop gap" as Leonard and Greene continue to develop. I'm looking for a good leader, reliability, consistent defending, ability to knock down open perimenter shots, and an understanding of the game. Someone like Prince or Battier would probably do for now, although I might side with Battier a bit due to intangibles.

Novertheless, I think a suitable starting small forward for the short term is avaialble in free agency. Should a player like Battier be available, he would seem to provide enough on the court and help foster the right atmosphere of growth to our young core: now Thornton, Evans, Leondard, Greene, Biyombo, Thompson, and Cousins.

Any thoughts on this? What's your ideal off season look like?

 

[Return To Glory]

I'm not sure how feasible my ideal off season would be, but I would draft Jordan Hamilton with the seventh pick. I think he could complement all our other youngsters well. Then I would hope we outbid Memphis for Marc Gasol's services (considering he's a restricted free agent). I like Dalembert too, but I'm not sure I'm sold on him as our future center. As for the point guard position, I'm still trying to figure out if the Tyreke/Marcus T. backcourt deserves more time to gel, or if we really need to obtain an additional point guard. Also I'm really not sold on Westphal as our long term coach. I really wish we could get Adelman before he ends up with the Lakers :/

 

[Capt. Factorial]

But regardless, would it make sense value-wise to trade Casspi, Whiteside, our second rounders (35 and 60), and next year's first pick to Washington for their 6th pick? ... Would the Wizards bite at this potential depth chart and assets?

I'm really not at all confident Washington would bite at that. They're supposed to be high on both Vesely and Kanter (possibly interested in moving up to secure Kanter), so I just don't think that package would be nearly good enough to give up a #6 pick. The #60 is essentially useless, the #35 isn't very valuable, Whiteside is one year removed (and 2 NBA minutes) from being the #33 pick and while I hope he pans out, he's ours. If he were somebody else's, I wouldn't really give him a second thought. So it's basically Casspi and a bunch of marginally valuable assets in exchange for their chance ot get a player they covet. I just don't think that Washington would be interested.

 

[Gary]

DRAFT:
1. Hamilton
2. Walker
3. Jimmer

FREE AGENTS:
AK-47
Dalembert
Thorton

That's all I really want this year. I think the team needs more time to gel. As long as we keep our FAs and draft one of the three above I will be happy...

I'll be upset if we draft a guy like Bismack who has no offensive game to speak of, or a SF that can't hit a three to save his life.. We don't need players like that.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

So I'm not sure it's my ideal offseason, but here's a route I find at least a bit intriguing.

We know that we're in the hunt for veterans, and our favorite targets may not be available at #7, so I think it's not unlikely that we trade down to pick up a veteran. Who?

The answer may be Devin Harris. Utah is reportedly quite high on both Knight and Walker at #3, and if they draft one of those guys they're likely to let Harris go. We could send the #7 and Casspi for the #12 and Harris. Harris provides us with the veteran presence we want in the backcourt and costs an extra $8M over Casspi. We follow that up by drafting either Jordan Hamilton or Chris Singleton at #12 (salary $1.7M), resigning Marcus Thornton (let's say $5M), signing Shane Battier (let's say $6M) and then using our Bird Rights on Samuel Dalembert (let's say $9M), and make a qualifying offer on Darnell Jackson ($1M). That would put us at about $58M in salary, probably a bit over the new cap, and with the following roster:

Harris/Udrih
Evans/Thornton/Garcia
Battier/Greene/(Hamilton or Singleton)
Cousins/Jackson
Dalembert/Thompson/Whiteside

I don't imagine we'd bring back Taylor in that situation, don't know about Jeter but I think we'd pretty much have ballhandling covered with three of our top four guards able to play at point.

Obviously the wildcard here is Harris. His FG% has suffered since he left Dallas, but at the same time the number of shots he took went up from about 11 per 36 to 13-14 per 36, so he was clearly shouldering more of the offensive load (also obvious in his usage rate, which went up from 21-22% in Dallas to 25% in NJ) and he may have been forcing things a bit more than he would need to with 'Reke/Cousins/Thornton beside him. His three-point shooting looked as good these past months in Utah as it ever has (.357, respectable) though it's not encouraging that you have to hope he keeps up that small sample size rate. His passing (assists/36, assist rate) continuously improved in his tenure in Jersey, which is nice.

Just an interesting thought.

 

[Fresno King]

1: Re-sign Samuel Dalembert.
2: Re-sign Marcus Thornton.
3: Trade Omri Casspi, #7, and #35 to 76ers for Andre Iguodala & #16.
4: Draft Jimmer Fredette at #16.
5: Draft Greg Smith (Fresno State PF) at #60.

STARTERS:
PG-Evans
SG-Thornton
SF-Iguodala
PF-Cousins
C-Dalembert

BENCH:
PG-Udrih
PG/SG-Fredette
SG-Taylor
SF-Garcia
SF-Greene
PF/C-Thompson
C-Whiteside

D-LEAGUE, INACTIVE:
PG-Jeter
PF-Smith

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

The one big move I'd love to see happen is one that brings Iggy to the Kings. With the Wolves dangling their second pick out there, I dont think we'd be able to get back #16 if we trade our pick and Casspi to the sixers. So the first move would be to bring Iguodala to the Kings for Omri Casspi and the 7th pick.

Obviously sign Thornton and Dalembert.

Draft one of Nikola Vucevic/Jajuan Johnson/Trey Thompson/Jeremy Tyler with the 35th pick.

Draft one of Isiah Thomas/Demetri McCamey/Iman Shumpert/Shelvin Mack with pick #60

Go into the season with:

Evans/Udrih/Rookie PG Drafted with #60
Thornton/Garcia
Iguodala/Greene/Garcia
Cousins/Thompson/Whiteside/Rookie drafted with #35
Dalembert/Thompson/Whiteside/Rookie drafted with #35

Thats 12 players. I'd keep Jermaine Taylor and possibly Darnell Jackson around aswell.

 

[Jechtsphere]

1: Re-sign Samuel Dalembert.
2: Re-sign Marcus Thornton.
3: Trade Omri Casspi, #7, and #35 to 76ers for Andre Iguodala & #16.
4: Draft Jimmer Fredette at #16.
5: Draft Greg Smith (Fresno State PF) at #60.

STARTERS:
PG-Evans
SG-Thornton
SF-Iguodala
PF-Cousins
C-Dalembert

BENCH:
PG-Udrih
PG/SG-Fredette
SG-Taylor
SF-Garcia
SF-Greene
PF/C-Thompson
C-Whiteside

D-LEAGUE, INACTIVE:
PG-Jeter
PF-Smith

Pretty much agree but don't the contracts have to come close to match up? The only way to get close to Iggy's contract is to trade Beno and Cisco everyone else on the team is making like 1-3 million.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Pretty much agree but don't the contracts have to come close to match up? The only way to get close to Iggy's contract is to trade Beno and Cisco everyone else on the team is making like 1-3 million.

The contracts only have to match up if after the trade the team is over the cap. We've got the cap space to trade for Iguodala without giving anything up.

 

[rainmaker]

Pretty much agree but don't the contracts have to come close to match up? The only way to get close to Iggy's contract is to trade Beno and Cisco everyone else on the team is making like 1-3 million.

No, and that's a reason why we're an attractive trade partner. We can absorb contracts, and offer millions in cap space. If we offered the #7 & Omri, for example, the salaries don't come close, but Philly gets around $9M in cap space off the books. Gives them options to spend elsewhere.

 

[kingofthejungle]

I'm really not at all confident Washington would bite at that. They're supposed to be high on both Vesely and Kanter (possibly interested in moving up to secure Kanter), so I just don't think that package would be nearly good enough to give up a #6 pick. The #60 is essentially useless, the #35 isn't very valuable, Whiteside is one year removed (and 2 NBA minutes) from being the #33 pick and while I hope he pans out, he's ours. If he were somebody else's, I wouldn't really give him a second thought. So it's basically Casspi and a bunch of marginally valuable assets in exchange for their chance ot get a player they covet. I just don't think that Washington would be interested.

Don't forget next year's first ...

 

[sterö]

Don't forget next year's first ...

Don't forget about the potential lockout...If there's a lockout without any games, we'll probably have a pretty decent chance of getting a top pick next year. Next years draft is probably a lot better than this years. I don't like the idea of trading away Whiteside either...So I wouldn't do it...way too much to give up...

 

[rainmaker]

Don't forget about the potential lockout...If there's a lockout without any games, we'll probably have a pretty decent chance of getting a top pick next year. Next years draft is probably a lot better than this years. I don't like the idea of trading away Whiteside either...So I wouldn't do it...way too much to give up...

It seems both sides are getting more serious by the day regarding preventing a lockout. Rating are simply too high. I still think we might have one, but the chances of a season with less than 50 games is much smaller than it was a couple months ago, IMO. A season long lockout would also have a pretty negative effect on the Olympic teams, ours and others, heading into next summer. Without a new CBA foreign players aren't covered by insurance, which many are worried about heading into the Euro Championships this summer. Next year would be even worse.

 

[bajaden]

So I'm not sure it's my ideal offseason, but here's a route I find at least a bit intriguing.

We know that we're in the hunt for veterans, and our favorite targets may not be available at #7, so I think it's not unlikely that we trade down to pick up a veteran. Who?

The answer may be Devin Harris. Utah is reportedly quite high on both Knight and Walker at #3, and if they draft one of those guys they're likely to let Harris go. We could send the #7 and Casspi for the #12 and Harris. Harris provides us with the veteran presence we want in the backcourt and costs an extra $8M over Casspi. We follow that up by drafting either Jordan Hamilton or Chris Singleton at #12 (salary $1.7M), resigning Marcus Thornton (let's say $5M), signing Shane Battier (let's say $6M) and then using our Bird Rights on Samuel Dalembert (let's say $9M), and make a qualifying offer on Darnell Jackson ($1M). That would put us at about $58M in salary, probably a bit over the new cap, and with the following roster:

Harris/Udrih
Evans/Thornton/Garcia
Battier/Greene/(Hamilton or Singleton)
Cousins/Jackson
Dalembert/Thompson/Whiteside

I don't imagine we'd bring back Taylor in that situation, don't know about Jeter but I think we'd pretty much have ballhandling covered with three of our top four guards able to play at point.

Obviously the wildcard here is Harris. His FG% has suffered since he left Dallas, but at the same time the number of shots he took went up from about 11 per 36 to 13-14 per 36, so he was clearly shouldering more of the offensive load (also obvious in his usage rate, which went up from 21-22% in Dallas to 25% in NJ) and he may have been forcing things a bit more than he would need to with 'Reke/Cousins/Thornton beside him. His three-point shooting looked as good these past months in Utah as it ever has (.357, respectable) though it's not encouraging that you have to hope he keeps up that small sample size rate. His passing (assists/36, assist rate) continuously improved in his tenure in Jersey, which is nice.

Just an interesting thought.

I like your idea of Harris. Just a few years ago he was considered one of the up and coming PG's in the league. What a difference a team makes, huh? And as you said, by all accounts, Utah seems to be in the hunt for another PG. They're most likely losing Kirilenko in the offseason, so they might look at Casspi as cheap replacement with upside.

I'm not sure what Harris would do to our rotation, and how the minutes would be dispursed. And I'm not sure we should give Westphal another player to tinker around with. But he is talented, and on the Kings he could get back to doing what he did at Dallas

 

[Dime Dropper]

Ideally, I'd like to trade our 7th and 35th pick to Charlotte for their 9th and 19th. This would obviously be based on the premise of Charlotte liking someone who would be gone within two picks, and on Petrie being willing to do it (which he won't). But, the thread does say IDEALLY, so there we go.

With the 9th pick take Jordan Hamilton or Biyombo (depending on whether or not Dalembert looks like he will re-sign). By the 19th pick there are going to be some interesting prospects who have fallen. If we went anywhere other than SF, I'd be very tempted to go with Chris Singleton here. Big time athlete, and a guy who could easily turn into a DPOY candidate. He is a monster defensively, and if he can continue to develop that outside threat, he would be a great fit. Big guy too. If we go SF with #9, I'd probably look at a Euro - Vesely, Motiejunas, even Valunciunas could fall, although I don't think he'll fall this far. If they're gone, a guy like Faried would be good to have as energy/hustle/defense off the bench.

So, theoretically of course, we could end up with a combination of Hamilton/Biyombo/Leonard (if he fell - unlikely) along with Singleton/European/Faried. I'd consider that a very successful draft night.

I'd just like to note that the above is clearly not going to happen!

If we combined this with a solid free agent signing such as Prince/AK, and the re-signing of Thornton and hopefully Dalembert, we'd be in good shape for an improvement next year.

 

[Dr. Spaceman]

Ideally, I'd like to trade our 7th and 35th pick to Charlotte for their 9th and 19th. This would obviously be based on the premise of Charlotte liking someone who would be gone within two picks, and on Petrie being willing to do it (which he won't). But, the thread does say IDEALLY, so there we go.

With the 9th pick take Jordan Hamilton or Biyombo (depending on whether or not Dalembert looks like he will re-sign). By the 19th pick there are going to be some interesting prospects who have fallen. If we went anywhere other than SF, I'd be very tempted to go with Chris Singleton here. Big time athlete, and a guy who could easily turn into a DPOY candidate. He is a monster defensively, and if he can continue to develop that outside threat, he would be a great fit. Big guy too. If we go SF with #9, I'd probably look at a Euro - Vesely, Motiejunas, even Valunciunas could fall, although I don't think he'll fall this far. If they're gone, a guy like Faried would be good to have as energy/hustle/defense off the bench.

So, theoretically of course, we could end up with a combination of Hamilton/Biyombo/Leonard (if he fell - unlikely) along with Singleton/European/Faried. I'd consider that a very successful draft night.

I'd just like to note that the above is clearly not going to happen!

If we combined this with a solid free agent signing such as Prince/AK, and the re-signing of Thornton and hopefully Dalembert, we'd be in good shape for an improvement next year.

Word seems to be that Singleton is rising up the draft boards. Do you think he'll be there at 19 by the time late June rolls around? And what do you think of his jumpshot compared to Kawhi Leonard's at the moment? Obviously both are WIP, but whoever looks to be more on track with their development on that front would be my guy.

 

[rainmaker]

Too hard to tell with the endless possibilities. Every possibility changes any other moves we'll persue. Also tough to get a guage on what the FO wants. Jason Jones wrote an article yesterday talking about Walker, how well he'd fit, and that it appears the Kings are very interested. It appears the FO is pretty interested in adding a pg, whether a starter or not, I don't know.

But the FO also seems just as interested in trading the pick from what I've read/heard, and that they don't want to add youth. Does that mean they'll try to trade up for a player who isn't a project and can help next year, or does it mean they're heavily pursuing a trade for a vet like the Iggy trade idea we've been discussing?

Can they make a trade without our 7th pick, and use next years instead, or just use a player or two and absorb a contract with our cap space, giving hte other team more cap space? There are a few possibilities for FA sf's which would fit, namely Prince and AK. Battier also, but I doubt he leaves. With all our cap room, if we decide to go after a FA sf, then I'd rather draft a 3rd big, or a guard, maybe Freddette. Don't see the point in drafting a sf, and aquiring one as a FA.

Ideally Thornton and Dally are back. Not worried about Thornton, he'll be back. What if Petrie gets word from Dally's agent before the draft that they'll heavily persue the FA market? Do we then try to aquire another big, using our pick as part of a package? Do we then draft a sf, and try to aquire a big through free agency, such as a Nene or Gasol? Do we try to move up and get Kanter, and then persue a sf through free agency?

And that doesn't involve any scenarios which would be a product of a hard cap, or lower cap, and if players will be cut loose.

Given this is an impossible question to answer at this time:

resign Dally
resign Thornton
trade for Iggy, or sign AK
aquire another point, who can play off the ball and hit the 3 consistently

 

[ParniValjak]

1: Re-sign Samuel Dalembert.
2: Re-sign Marcus Thornton.
3: Trade Omri Casspi, #7, and #35 to 76ers for Andre Iguodala & #16.
4: Draft Jimmer Fredette at #16.
5: Draft Greg Smith (Fresno State PF) at #60.

STARTERS:
PG-Evans
SG-Thornton
SF-Iguodala
PF-Cousins
C-Dalembert

BENCH:
PG-Udrih
PG/SG-Fredette
SG-Taylor
SF-Garcia
SF-Greene
PF/C-Thompson
C-Whiteside

D-LEAGUE, INACTIVE:
PG-Jeter
PF-Smith

Mine would be very similar. I wouldn't have a clue who I would like us to draft because I have no idea about the draft class.

What I would do in addition is try to sign a couple of veterans for some leadership and steadiness. I would try and sign Earl Watson as a 3rd PG and another veteran front court player who won't play much but will bring the right attitude and leadership to the group. Someone like Kurt Thomas or someone preferably a bit younger but in that type of player

 

[funkykingston]

Re-sign Thornton
Re-sign Dalembert
Trade for Casspi and a protected future 1st for Iguodala
Draft Hamilton
Go after an active big in the 2nd to take Darnell Jackson's role and push Whiteside. Nikola Vucevic, Jajuan Johnson, Keith Benson, Greg Smith or Willie Reed perhaps. Maybe even Jeremy Tyler.
Sign a third PG to take Jeter's role. Barea would be nice but expensive for what you'd get and hard to pry from Dallas. I'd say Earl Watson would be a nice pickup.

This gives the Kings a lineup of

Dalembert
Cousins
Iguodala
Thorton
Evans

with Beno, Thompson, Garcia, Watson, Hamilton, Greene, Whiteside and filler off the bench.

Good versatility with this lineup. The Kings could go big with Iguodala swinging to the 2 with either Hamilton or Donte at the three or go small and quick. Very solid defensively with enough passers to keep the ball moving and while Iguodala hurts them with his lack of shooting at the 3, Hamilton would be the ideal bench guy from this draft.

I'd be VERY happy to see that team play next year. Hell, I'm happy to see any Kings team play in Sacramento next year. But I think this offseason is feasible and would set the Kings up to make a big jump if Evans and Cousins step up their games as we hope they will.

 

[est.1999]

My ideal offseason: trade Landry for Thornton.

 

[bajaden]

Re-sign Thornton
Re-sign Dalembert
Trade for Casspi and a protected future 1st for Iguodala
Draft Hamilton
Go after an active big in the 2nd to take Darnell Jackson's role and push Whiteside. Nikola Vucevic, Jajuan Johnson, Keith Benson, Greg Smith or Willie Reed perhaps. Maybe even Jeremy Tyler.
Sign a third PG to take Jeter's role. Barea would be nice but expensive for what you'd get and hard to pry from Dallas. I'd say Earl Watson would be a nice pickup.

This gives the Kings a lineup of

Dalembert
Cousins
Iguodala
Thorton
Evans

with Beno, Thompson, Garcia, Watson, Hamilton, Greene, Whiteside and filler off the bench.

Good versatility with this lineup. The Kings could go big with Iguodala swinging to the 2 with either Hamilton or Donte at the three or go small and quick. Very solid defensively with enough passers to keep the ball moving and while Iguodala hurts them with his lack of shooting at the 3, Hamilton would be the ideal bench guy from this draft.

I'd be VERY happy to see that team play next year. Hell, I'm happy to see any Kings team play in Sacramento next year. But I think this offseason is feasible and would set the Kings up to make a big jump if Evans and Cousins step up their games as we hope they will.

Hey, Iike all of your moves. Including Watson. It also gives the team a chance to use Hamiltons scoring by putting him on the floor with Iggy. Get it done!

 

[Larry David]

I don't think there will be an off-season this summer. I think, like hockey, the CBA wipes out a season and we come back with a harder and lower cap - which includes the one and only one Larry Bird / franchise exception.

So you're talking about two drafts, two years worth of free agents, and the Kings having more profit sharing money, and a lot of cap room for unknown free agency rules.

Yet another reason I think they draft PBA this June and the league goes away for 9-14 months the next day. So, I think this summer is Leonard and the offseason resumes in July 2012.

If you want "realistic" that's probably the off-season ... unless you want to start factoring lower caps and 2012 free agents as well.

 

[bajaden]

I don't think there will be an off-season this summer. I think, like hockey, the CBA wipes out a season and we come back with a harder and lower cap - which includes the one and only one Larry Bird / franchise exception.

So you're talking about two drafts, two years worth of free agents, and the Kings having more profit sharing money, and a lot of cap room for unknown free agency rules.

Yet another reason I think they draft PBA this June and the league goes away for 9-14 months the next day. So, I think this summer is Leonard and the offseason resumes in July 2012.

If you want "realistic" that's probably the off-season ... unless you want to start factoring lower caps and 2012 free agents as well.

Well, you've given us the worse case scenario. Personally I don't think thats going to happen. And the reason why, is because right at this moment the league is enjoying some of its highest ratings and popularity. I don't think either the league, or the players association, want to throw water on that. Thats probably why Hunter and Stern are having one on one meetings on a regular basis. I think both sides will find a compromise. I think the worse case scenario would be another 50 game season. To cancel the entire season, especially when there's a possibility of no football, would not only be doing harm to all the restored good will, but it would be missing an opportunity to capitalize on the football fans that are looking for an alternate form of intertainment.

 

[Larry David]

The league has record profits and popularity ... but a lot of teams are losing money. Even the teams making money can't save themselves from handing out bad contracts and would love see contracts shorter and only partially guaranteed.

Between teams that will save money by not playing a season, owners that got crushed in 08, and greedy owners ... I wouldn't bank on having 15 owners to save next season.

If they can take a lot of money back from the players with a HUGE paycut, then yes we can have a shortened season. When the players bargain under your mistaken assumption that the owners are asking for the moon and will compromise in the middle, the season will be lost. Which will give the owners a clear path to impose a huge paycut, while changing the whole model of the NBA - just like hockey did.

You are right, the owners aren't locked into getting a new system, just making their profits look like they used to. So we may not see harder cap. But if the game of chicken costs them the season, then those profits will be locked in with a new system.

The owners are committed and will hit their target. The only questions are when the players see the writing on the wall, and if that's beyond mid-December 2012, how radical the change will be.

 

[bajaden]

The league has record profits and popularity ... but a lot of teams are losing money. Even the teams making money can't save themselves from handing out bad contracts and would love see contracts shorter and only partially guaranteed.

Between teams that will save money by not playing a season, owners that got crushed in 08, and greedy owners ... I wouldn't bank on having 15 owners to save next season.

If they can take a lot of money back from the players with a HUGE paycut, then yes we can have a shortened season. When the players bargain under your mistaken assumption that the owners are asking for the moon and will compromise in the middle, the season will be lost. Which will give the owners a clear path to impose a huge paycut, while changing the whole model of the NBA - just like hockey did.

You are right, the owners aren't locked into getting a new system, just making their profits look like they used to. So we may not see harder cap. But if the game of chicken costs them the season, then those profits will be locked in with a new system.

The owners are committed and will hit their target. The only questions are when the players see the writing on the wall, and if that's beyond mid-December 2012, how radical the change will be.

The players have already conceded giving back more of the profits than in the previous CBA. The main bone of contention is the hard cap, with a lower cap, and loss of all the exceptions. They have a choice. They can compromise now, or later. Odds are both will have to give up something they want. I think there's incentive for both sides to do so. Especially since there seems to be a new found sense of urgency. I think in the end, the owners will end up with more than the players want to give up, since I think they have all the leverage at the moment.

I just don't think either side wants to kill the goose the lays the golden eggs. Just speculation on my part, and to be honest, I originally thought along the same lines as you are. But everything I've read has swayed me toward my current conclusions. I guess we'll see.

 

[Larry David]

In many ways, the NBA owners no longer have the golden goose they once had. They want it back. The hard cap ensures the goose says golden not just now - but for the forseeable future.

You are wrong about hardcap being the sticking point. The players have moved but aren't anywhere close to where this ends up. If they players took a monster pay cut, they could keep a lot of this system and try to build it back up. For the owners, they take a bird in the hand, and the owner try to use restaint for as long as they can going forward.

But the players aren't going to make that offer, so its going to probably end up with a hard cap after they break the union when the season goes bye bye.

I think the good news is based upon the NBA having smart lawyers. This probably has a lot more to do with not getting hit win an injuction that being close to saving the season.

 

[Hallama]

I like Dalembert, but I'm a reluctant to give him the $/years he will be looking for after a contract year, and possibly being his last NBA contract. Of course, he may be the best and only option if Nene doesn't opt-out. So since this is just for kicks anyway, I go hard after Nene if he opts out, probably in the 5/80 million range. Ouch, yes, but that will be a pretty accurate number imo.

Fortunately, that still leaves enough for an Iggy trade. I could see the Sixers being interested in Omri, but Francisco Garcia would actually be a better, cheaper replacement @ 6 million a year...who am I kidding? More realistic would be Casspi and hopefully Donte as well. This would offset a little of Iggy's contract hit. Kings would also add the 7th pick to sweeten the deal, getting Philly's 16 back.

Thorton is a no-brainer to bring back - he wants to be back and he fits well with Tyreke. How much? I could see him getting 5/30-35 million.

G: Evans
G: Thorton
SF: Iggy
PF: Cousins
C: Nene

16th pick: Fredette (I think he'll be gone), so let's say Faried. Hustle, rebounds, hustle, rebounds. 2nd rounders: not exciting, but I'd take guys like Duke's Singler or Smith.

Bench: PF/C depth will need to be addressed. Thompson and Beno are quality players off the bench. Garcia can play a lot of positions. Huge need will be for shooters.

 

[Shabazz916]

id say resign thornton & see if we can give dally a 2 year deal because i think he played extra good this year being his contract year. and if we can't keep dally draft a center will shot blocking and defense so that way we have two defensive centers in whiteside and regardless and cousins and thompson for offense.

 

['89 Kings Fan]

I guess I am the only one who would rather keep Casspi then Garcia. I was really hoping Garcia would sieze the oppurtunity to be the starting 2 or 3 and have his best season. Even in the final 22 games where he started he only averaged:
Min Pts Rbd Asst Stl Blks TO FG% 3% FT%
24:55 9.8 1.9 1.4 1.2 .8 .8 40.6 31.6 86.2

That's not going to do it from your starting SF. So I guess my ideal offseason would be this.

1. Resign Dalembert
2. Resign Thorton
3. Trade Garcia -> Billups + $3,000,000
This saves $700,000 long term, gives us some of that Veteran Leadership, and sets us up for next year by paying for Billups up front.
4. Trade #7 Pick for Houstons #14 and #23
5. Draft Chris Singleton at #14
When you have 3 guys who are going to demand 90% of the offensive possessions in Evans, Cousins and Thorton why not draft the best defensive player.
6. Draft Kenneth Faried at #23
With so many question marks in this draft why not draft the leading rebounder. You could do worse for a fourth big.
7. Draft Nolan Smith at #35
After all those moves might as well have one more PG in case someone gets hurt. So take the Senior with the National Championship under his belt.

Final Rotation

PG Evans/Beno/N. Smith
SG Thorton/Billups
SF Greene/Casspi/Singleton
PF Cousins/Faried
C Dalembert/Thompson/Whiteside

I don't really want to mortgage our future on a fourth option at SF, so I went with this. I think they just need time to mature and play together.

 

[funkykingston]

I don't think it's that most people would rather keep Garcia than Casspi, it's that given Casspi's potential and low contract and Garcia having reached his peak, having an injury history and a much less palatable contract, Casspi has much more trade value. Especially in a deal where the Kings would give a team cap relief by trading out a small contract for someone else's big contract, such as Iguodala.

Given that New York has Carmelo at the SF I don't see any way that they'd trade Billups for Garcia and I'm not sure why you'd have Billups as the backup SG.

I do like all three of the guys you mention picking up in the draft. But with such a young team I don't think trading our pick to get an additional rookie is worthwhile. I'd rather stay at 7, trade up or trade the pick altogether than add more kids to this mix.