So, you think that Salmons as a SF is cheap at $7-8M?
That Salmons who clearly is a guard and clearly cannot match most SF in the league and yet Petrie sees him as the answer to our SF problem?
So, you think Petrie giving Garcia $6-7M is not overpaying?
And what about a 4th BIG in Hayes that costs another $5M?
Is that really Petrie trying to save money for the Maloofs?
Look, its obvious that you don't like Petrie. I get that! But I think you have to take all the information you have and apply it, and then come to some conclusions. Yes Petrie made the trade for Salmons. But why? Well it was reported that Westphal wanted Salmons instead of another rookie player at the SF position. So if your the GM, you rightly or wrongly decide to try and get your head coach what he wants in order to help him be successful. Is that Petrie's fault? Of course it is, but it might not have been something he would have done without Westphal's influence. Being one that didn't like Westphal from the beginning, I wouldn't have given him anything he wanted, and I would have made him use what I wanted.
At the time we resigned Garcia, I didn't think he was being overpaid. He had showed improvement and the promise of more improvement to come. No one could have known he would become an injury magnet. Hayes actually got paid the market price at the time. . Hayes wouldn't have been my first choice, but as it turned out, with a shortened freeagency, and a shortened season, he was about the last chance to shore up our front line, once Dalembert opted to sign with Houston. Turns out it was a good signing since Hickson turned out to be a bust. Otherwise we would have had a rotation of Cuz and JT.
Of the deals mentioned, the only one I really hate is the Salmons deal. I didn't like it at the time, but hoped it would work out. I actually think Salmons is a good player, and on the right team, can be valuable. Unfortunately, although Salmons is a veteran player, he doesn't bring those intangibles that you need from a veteran player. For the moment, we're stuck with him, so hopefully he can be a good player off the bench for us.
I think logicaly, you have to separate the Petrie with money to spend, from the petrie without money to spend. When he had the freedom to just go and do what he wanted, he appeared to have the magic touch. He didn't win GM of the year twice for nothing. However, since he's had financial restrictions put on him, not so good. But during that time, he's drafted well, and without those draft choices, the Kings wouldn't even be revelant.
My point is, its not just black and white. For every action, there's a reaction. A little physic's there. Any deal you make has risk, but the more money you have to spend, in order to attract better talent, the easier it is to reduce that risk. When your trying to make a major impact on your team, with beer money, it gets much harder. Example: If you were to add a Jon Barry to this current team, how much impact would he really have? Would he turn the team around? No, of course not. But if you add a Jon Barry to a team of Vlade, Webber, Peja, Christie, and Bibby, he suddenly becomes revelant. A player like Cisco might not look so bad on that team, but on the current team, too much is expected of him, as it is Hayes.
You have to step outside the box and take an objective look at the team. We're still missing some parts, and until we aquire those parts, the supporting cast just isn't going to matter as much, nor appear as important as one would desire.