I arrived home at 4:00 on Thursday afternoon to get settled for an exciting draft night. I changed clothes, grabbed a plate of food and cuddled up to the computer to check for updates. Within 10 seconds I transitioned from anticipatory excitement to WTF! To say that I was disappointed in the John Salmons trade after getting my hopes up for a Tony Parker/Richard Jefferson level veteran help for this team is an understatement. In a state of bewildered shock, I turned on KHTK to see the take of local fans. After 10 minutes of Grant homerism, chastizing fans, and saying that Salmons can hang defensively with any 3 man in the league my migraine was sufficient for me to mute that nonsense and return to the couch to absorb the drama.
I was frustrated because Salmons is quick enough sure, but look at the Carmellos, Artests, Pierces, LeBrons of the world who are physical specimens. They will abuse Salmons down low and muscle him for rebounds, dribble drives, and post ups, and he doesn't have the weight or the strength to counter. IMO he is a quicker, steadier Cisco; quick and crafty, but too small to hold his ground against the bull rush of power three men listed above...
Begrudgingly, I pressed on, determined to see how this played out. I was surprised with the #4 pick of Tristan Thompson to Cleveland, and the subsequent river of oversees big man projects and potential. The name I kept seeing flow downstream was BRANDON KNIGHT. I understood that it was all but inevitable that the Kings would draft Jimmer, and I'm actually ok with that prospect, but ever since the relocation fiasco, I've had a dwindling trust in the organization's ability to make the correct choices, and the Maloof's ability to spend like the championship caliber owners I had grown accustomed to in their early days with this franchise. I understand the elephant in the room is the looming CBA, but in order to compete in modern American sports it takes owners with deep pockets or equally significant quantities of brilliance and I remain skeptical on the current ownership in both of these fronts.
After the Jimmer pick I was a bit relieved that at least it went to plan, but I was still so peeved by the John Salmons trade, not because I had anything against Salmons, and freeing up PG minutes for our lotto pick does make sense, but Beno was our most consistent player for the last several seasons. Most of all, my trust was shaken so fully with the organization that I mostly believed that they would take the draft day moves and sit with them until the season began, saying look we did spend, we added the salary of John Salmons and he gives us a veteran at a position of need.
In the aftermath of Thursday's action I have come around to the trade to some degree. The most promising information I have heard was the interview with Geoffe Petrie in which he stated the following: "We're not done making moves. Going into the season now we would be around 28 million in salary so yes we will try to improve this team further. We are expecting to be near the salary cap once the season begins."
Later he stated: "the offseason plan is to aggressively pursue a major front court talent whether by free agency or trade." Music to my ears...The team is not done! Unlike previous seasons, they have stated the willingness to spend to improve this team. Furthermore, they appear to have a great back court in place and are aggressively looking to upgrade the front court.
Dalembert is an obvious choice here, or Marc Gasol, or Dwight Howard, or Nene, or David West even...The good news is that they aren't done building this offseason! So who should the Kings go after next via free agency or trade? Donte/Garcia/Casspi are all fair game to go in a trade and this will help alleviate the log jam at SF. I love the versatility of the Tyreke/Thornton/Fredette guard line, and the Cousins/Thompson/Dalembert three headed front court worked well at the end of last season. It's a new frontier. Each season is unique from the rest, and I'm coming around to the fact that change can be good. At least we have a team to follow, for good times and bad. Go Kings!
I was frustrated because Salmons is quick enough sure, but look at the Carmellos, Artests, Pierces, LeBrons of the world who are physical specimens. They will abuse Salmons down low and muscle him for rebounds, dribble drives, and post ups, and he doesn't have the weight or the strength to counter. IMO he is a quicker, steadier Cisco; quick and crafty, but too small to hold his ground against the bull rush of power three men listed above...
Begrudgingly, I pressed on, determined to see how this played out. I was surprised with the #4 pick of Tristan Thompson to Cleveland, and the subsequent river of oversees big man projects and potential. The name I kept seeing flow downstream was BRANDON KNIGHT. I understood that it was all but inevitable that the Kings would draft Jimmer, and I'm actually ok with that prospect, but ever since the relocation fiasco, I've had a dwindling trust in the organization's ability to make the correct choices, and the Maloof's ability to spend like the championship caliber owners I had grown accustomed to in their early days with this franchise. I understand the elephant in the room is the looming CBA, but in order to compete in modern American sports it takes owners with deep pockets or equally significant quantities of brilliance and I remain skeptical on the current ownership in both of these fronts.
After the Jimmer pick I was a bit relieved that at least it went to plan, but I was still so peeved by the John Salmons trade, not because I had anything against Salmons, and freeing up PG minutes for our lotto pick does make sense, but Beno was our most consistent player for the last several seasons. Most of all, my trust was shaken so fully with the organization that I mostly believed that they would take the draft day moves and sit with them until the season began, saying look we did spend, we added the salary of John Salmons and he gives us a veteran at a position of need.
In the aftermath of Thursday's action I have come around to the trade to some degree. The most promising information I have heard was the interview with Geoffe Petrie in which he stated the following: "We're not done making moves. Going into the season now we would be around 28 million in salary so yes we will try to improve this team further. We are expecting to be near the salary cap once the season begins."
Later he stated: "the offseason plan is to aggressively pursue a major front court talent whether by free agency or trade." Music to my ears...The team is not done! Unlike previous seasons, they have stated the willingness to spend to improve this team. Furthermore, they appear to have a great back court in place and are aggressively looking to upgrade the front court.
Dalembert is an obvious choice here, or Marc Gasol, or Dwight Howard, or Nene, or David West even...The good news is that they aren't done building this offseason! So who should the Kings go after next via free agency or trade? Donte/Garcia/Casspi are all fair game to go in a trade and this will help alleviate the log jam at SF. I love the versatility of the Tyreke/Thornton/Fredette guard line, and the Cousins/Thompson/Dalembert three headed front court worked well at the end of last season. It's a new frontier. Each season is unique from the rest, and I'm coming around to the fact that change can be good. At least we have a team to follow, for good times and bad. Go Kings!
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As well as Chalmers hehe. 