Trading Our Cap Space

#63
I’d rather have Parker at 15 mil a year than a mid to late 1st round pick if I am being honest. I know you think these moves are genius practice by Atlanta and the Nets, but what have they accomplished in the last 5 years or let alone 20 that the Kings have not? They both suck just like we do... So yes in theory stock piling picks is a wise move, but in practice the Nets and Hawks are just as much of a joke as we are. In addition we have 8 young players we are currently attempting to develop- (bagley, Giles, skal, Fox, buddy, bogdan, Jackson, mason) - do we really need more players in that vein ? Again I’d rather use the cap space to take a chance on a high potential free agent that had more upside than a pick in the 15-30 range.
 
#65
I’d rather have Parker at 15 mil a year than a mid to late 1st round pick if I am being honest. I know you think these moves are genius practice by Atlanta and the Nets, but what have they accomplished in the last 5 years or let alone 20 that the Kings have not? They both suck just like we do... So yes in theory stock piling picks is a wise move, but in practice the Nets and Hawks are just as much of a joke as we are. In addition we have 8 young players we are currently attempting to develop- (bagley, Giles, skal, Fox, buddy, bogdan, Jackson, mason) - do we really need more players in that vein ? Again I’d rather use the cap space to take a chance on a high potential free agent that had more upside than a pick in the 15-30 range.
Brooklyn was totally f****d by King but Marks has done a good job creating assets out of nothing, nowhere near comparable situation to Kings. Brooklyn had many many years without their own pick and without any talent, Kings have had their own pick except "the trade" by Vlade.

Atlanta just started their rebuild last year. Hard to say yet how they are doing, I think they should've shopped Millsap sooner to get a bigget haul but other than that its too early to say much.

The thing about rebuilding is generating as much assets as possible. That means drafting, trading and using cap space. We havent utilized our cap space at all. In fact you could say our use of cap space has done more harm than good. We havent signed contracts that are assets and we havent rented out our cap space for assets. Rebuilding is hard and thats why its crucial to do everything you can during the rebuild in order to create assets to build a core and a sustainable path to succes.

Ps. There arent many franchises that have been awfull for the past 10 years straight besides Kings and there is a reason for that. Bad decisions over bad decisions and lack of patience to do a correct rebuild.
 
#67
Great post Gguod.
I agree that assets are key to a rebuild, but the selfish side of me has been patient long enough. I want some talent on this team. There are only 2 teams with major space, and teams are getting great value right now. I don't want other teams trash, I need a player that fits what we are trying to build.

For the better part of the last two weeks I was all aboard the take Denver trade, but that ship has sailed, so lets move on.

There is still A LOT of talent out there
Smart, Hood, Parker, Capela
 
#69
I stand corrected. I do think the gerbil would shaft the Kings if he could--> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_D'Alessandro
Good God. How is he currently employed as an assistant GM in this league? I have complaints about Vlade (including seemingly sitting on the sidelines while the Nuggets were looking to hand out draft picks...), but he did clean up an absolute dumpster of crap that Pete left the Kings front office in.
 
#70
Great post Gguod.
I agree that assets are key to a rebuild, but the selfish side of me has been patient long enough. I want some talent on this team. There are only 2 teams with major space, and teams are getting great value right now. I don't want other teams trash, I need a player that fits what we are trying to build.

For the better part of the last two weeks I was all aboard the take Denver trade, but that ship has sailed, so lets move on.

There is still A LOT of talent out there
Smart, Hood, Parker, Capela
I would like to get any of those four for a team friendly team. But unfortunately them being restricted free agents, team friendly offers and even "fair offers" will get matched. Basically only way you will get a rfa is overpaying and if you overpay, the player isnt an asset anymore. Thats just how it works in a salary cap sport.

And I feel you and your lack of patience. I truly wish this rebuild wouldve been done correctly five years ago with Boogie being part of it. I really wish we wouldve taken a few years just to grow our asset base, generate high draft picks and doing deals to gain future assets. Unfortunately we didnt. We pushed it ahead hoping that "maybe if we get to the 8th seed everything will change". Thats just not how it works.

Personally I'm quite furious by this team getting constantly f****d over. First its Maloofs, then its Vivek, then its Vlade getting rid of our own 1st and not being able to gain assets ect. This fanbase deserves a lot better and it should/it will demand better. If somehow Vlade has this Job year from now, its probably going to get pretty ugly. Fans will get annoyed there is no draft pick and no draft hype and then they will see a quality player drafted in "our pick" and they will be furious.

For the better part of the last two weeks I was all aboard the take Denver trade, but that ship has sailed, so lets move on.
Im not going to move on and I'm hoping other fans arent either. If we want better, we need to demand better. Nothing will change if we just keep making excuses for the people in charge. Nothing will change if we keep getting fooled by Grant on how "this year is going to be special" and how "these decisions by the current bad gm have been awesome". We want quality, we deserve quality after all this time and we should demand quality. This incompetence is not something to be satisfied with.
 
#71
Im not going to move on and I'm hoping other fans arent either. If we want better, we need to demand better. Nothing will change if we just keep making excuses for the people in charge. Nothing will change if we keep getting fooled by Grant on how "this year is going to be special" and how "these decisions by the current bad gm have been awesome". We want quality, we deserve quality after all this time and we should demand quality. This incompetence is not something to be satisfied with.
It's cute that you think fan sentiment has that much impact on the personnel decisions of a professional sports franchise. ;)

I've been as frustrated as any Kings fan across the last decade. I was a freshman in college when the last of the Rick Adelman teams got physical with the Spurs in the first round of the 2006 playoffs. I watched the Kings lose game 6 of that series in the community living room of the dorms. Since then, I graduated first with a B.A., then with an M.A., worked a half-dozen sh*tty jobs, traveled the world, eventually started my career, and married the love of my life.

Through all of that time and all of that change, the Kings have remained terrible. No amount of protest on my part was ever going to make a bit of difference, though protest often I did. Hell, I left in a huff when Demarcus Cousins was traded, and nothing changed except the Kings' luck. They landed the 2nd pick in the draft despite their inability to fully commit to "tanking." It turns out that timing and the twists and turns of fate will always matter more than anything the fans might say or do.

The fans could boycott the team en masse for an entire season, and who knows if it would actually result in meaningful improvement. There are so many factors that lead to a small market franchise's success or failure, though bad stewardship and bad management are certainly among them. As with all things in professional sports, the fans don't really get much of a say. Owners and GM's will defer to and acknowledge the fans when speech time comes, but their decisions ultimately exist in a world apart from ours. We're just along for the ride, for better, and for worse. And hey, things seem to be swinging in the direction of "better," so I'll count it as a win.

After all, to be a Sacramento Kings fan is to know pain. They've been in this town for 33 years, and they've had exactly eight winning seasons to show for it. The Kings fan doesn't root for the Kings because they expect a winner. The Kings fan clings to hope against all odds, and that makes the Kings fan mighty. Let's not pretend that striking a haughty, "no excuses" kind of posture is the only acceptable form of fandom to adopt, especially when it doesn't actually do anything.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#72
Im not going to move on and I'm hoping other fans arent either. If we want better, we need to demand better. Nothing will change if we just keep making excuses for the people in charge. Nothing will change if we keep getting fooled by Grant on how "this year is going to be special" and how "these decisions by the current bad gm have been awesome". We want quality, we deserve quality after all this time and we should demand quality. This incompetence is not something to be satisfied with.
You do realize, I hope, that NOTHING you post here is going to make even a microscopic bit of difference to what the front office does.

Oh wait. I see Padrino has addressed this with much more eloquence than I could muster.
 
#73
I’d rather have Parker at 15 mil a year than a mid to late 1st round pick if I am being honest. I know you think these moves are genius practice by Atlanta and the Nets, but what have they accomplished in the last 5 years or let alone 20 that the Kings have not? They both suck just like we do... So yes in theory stock piling picks is a wise move, but in practice the Nets and Hawks are just as much of a joke as we are. In addition we have 8 young players we are currently attempting to develop- (bagley, Giles, skal, Fox, buddy, bogdan, Jackson, mason) - do we really need more players in that vein ? Again I’d rather use the cap space to take a chance on a high potential free agent that had more upside than a pick in the 15-30 range.
You left our future 2nd round picks. We traded our pick because we were worried about roster spots. So we passed on Bates Diop and Mykhailiuk who both could have played SF.
 
#74
It's cute that you think fan sentiment has that much impact on the personnel decisions of a professional sports franchise. ;)

I've been as frustrated as any Kings fan across the last decade. I was a freshman in college when the last of the Rick Adelman teams got physical with the Spurs in the first round of the 2006 playoffs. I watched the Kings lose game 6 of that series in the community living room of the dorms. Since then, I graduated first with a B.A., then with an M.A., worked a half-dozen sh*tty jobs, traveled the world, eventually started my career, and married the love of my life.

Through all of that time and all of that change, the Kings have remained terrible. No amount of protest on my part was ever going to make a bit of difference, though protest often I did. Hell, I left in a huff when Demarcus Cousins was traded, and nothing changed except the Kings' luck. They landed the 2nd pick in the draft despite their inability to fully commit to "tanking." It turns out that timing and the twists and turns of fate will always matter more than anything the fans might say or do.

The fans could boycott the team en masse for an entire season, and who knows if it would actually result in meaningful improvement. There are so many factors that lead to a small market franchise's success or failure, though bad stewardship and bad management are certainly among them. As with all things in professional sports, the fans don't really get much of a say. Owners and GM's will defer to and acknowledge the fans when speech time comes, but their decisions ultimately exist in a world apart from ours. We're just along for the ride, for better, and for worse. And hey, things seem to be swinging in the direction of "better," so I'll count it as a win.

After all, to be a Sacramento Kings fan is to know pain. They've been in this town for 33 years, and they've had exactly eight winning seasons to show for it. The Kings fan doesn't root for the Kings because they expect a winner. The Kings fan clings to hope against all odds, and that makes the Kings fan mighty. Let's not pretend that striking a haughty, "no excuses" kind of posture is the only acceptable form of fandom to adopt, especially when it doesn't actually do anything.
I think fans can have an impact on the team. Cleveland Browns from Nfl is one example. They started a total rebuild, a complete tear down. After two years openly tanking, trading down on drafts, generating a lot of assets and going 1-31 on two seasons, the fanbase and beat writers started to get very annoyed and the atmosphere was very toxic. The fanbase was divided, one part very vocally trashing the front office for losing and the other part defending the analytic approach. Imo that played a part of the gm getting fired, even though he had drafted well and built an unbelievable asset base and the plan was finally use those assets in win now moves. Imo if the fanbase werent getting vocally annoyed and demanded change, the gm wouldnt've neccesarily got fired in the middle of three year plan which had worked just the way it was supposed to work.

Obviosly the fanbase only played a small part in that but it played a part. How big the part was is debatable but imo their actions counted for something. Thats one example where the fanbase expressed their opinion and it might have had an impact on the owner making changes.

You do realize, I hope, that NOTHING you post here is going to make even a microscopic bit of difference to what the front office does.
You can hope whatever you want. I hope that this cycle of incompetence and bad decisions ends one day and I think the fanbase can have an impact on that.

Imo if the fanbase vocally questions the bad decisions, the owner will be more pressured to question the person making those bad decisions. Obviously a single fan himself/herself doesnt have any impact whatsoever. Its the fanbase in whole that can have an impact. The impact might be small but its still something.
 
#75
Apparently Chicago will use the rest of their cap space on Parker (however nothing from Woj yet). If thats the case, the Kings are the only team left with significant cap room. Hopefully this means teams come with strong offers.
I still have Washington and OKC on the radar. Both are probably looking for a salary dump and have interesting assets. Washington ist really interesting to me as they could dangle Oubre and their 2019 pick for taking Mahinmi. With adding Dwight to this team their pick might have some upside if their locker room gets even worse. Kings probably don't take it because they love their 2019 cap space. However I think that is a mistake as their cap space will go nowhere with a bad team and both LA teams looking at massive cap space as well.
 
#76
Vlade's unwillingness to trade cap space for a pick is linked directly to his awful Philly trade. Instead of acquiring assets for future use (which would make sense for a rebuilding team), Vlade feels he must win now to avoid the embarrassment of having traded away what turned out to be a high lottery pick. The effects of the bad trade continue to plague the team.
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
#77
Vlade's unwillingness to trade cap space for a pick is linked directly to his awful Philly trade. Instead of acquiring assets for future use (which would make sense for a rebuilding team), Vlade feels he must win now to avoid the embarrassment of having traded away what turned out to be a high lottery pick. The effects of the bad trade continue to plague the team.
Unless you have been in on the meetings, your speculating on several things. Here let me try......vlade’s unwillingness to get in on the Jimmy Butler turning down his contract extension and seeking a deal with Minnesota for Butler shows he’s in over his head.
 
#78
You left our future 2nd round picks. We traded our pick because we were worried about roster spots. So we passed on Bates Diop and Mykhailiuk who both could have played SF.
Doesn’t that further back up the notion that we have enough youth to develop already? In addition is it possible that maybe the front office knows more about Justin Jackson’s potential than we do ? Finally are you really going to lose faith based on vlade not selecting a second round pick that you thought might work at SF? I just think you are nitpicking to the nth degree because you don’t have faith- which is understandable - but your reasoning for the lack of faith in this instance is unfounded.
 
#79
Vlade's House of Cap Space is officially open (Feed Me Seymor)

Spent some time looking at 5 teams paying Luxury tax (wilh tax bill amount)
OKC 145M,Raptors22M,Portland14M,Miami6.6M,Wash19m

What would I take (Doesn't mean we get it) start with my best deals first

Miami- Tyler 2 yr 19m,Winslow 3.5m 1st rd pick for Temple 8 mil
(Saves 14 mil and 6.6 tax, can use 5 mil except for Melo)
Portland - Harkless 2yr 11 m and 1st rd pick
(Saves 11mil and 14m tax has 2 other SF)
Wash - Oubre 3.2, Mahinmi 2yr 16m, 1st rd pick for WCS 4.7
(Talent swap, Saves 14.5M and 19m tax,)
Raptors - CJ Miles 8.3 2yrs ,Delon wright2.5 1st rd pick for 2nd rd pick
(Saves 10.8 M, most of 22m tax bill)
Okc - Melo28m, Bunch of picks! for KK8.7m
(Saves 19.5m sal and tons of tax)

Start the bidding!!! Who wants to save some Tax!!!
 
#80
OKC is stuck on the Melo dump situation. Sac is only team with space, but I don't think OKC can trade their first rounder for 2018 due to trading away their pick this year. They also have condiitonals on their 2020, making getting any of their near future picks nigh impossible.

If I'm right that means a third team must get involved.
 
#81
OKC is stuck on the Melo dump situation. Sac is only team with space, but I don't think OKC can trade their first rounder for 2018 due to trading away their pick this year. They also have condiitonals on their 2020, making getting any of their near future picks nigh impossible.

If I'm right that means a third team must get involved.
Id be fine getting their 2022 pick with other compensation as well. Thats the year the high schoolers will be back in and that draft will be LOADED because of it. Having an extra pick could be HUUUUUGE.
 
#82
I’m starting to talk myself into a Wiggins trade, which is surely a sign of desperation. I think it is more prudent to sit on the space and wait for something really interesting to come available though. Like Bradley Beal’s seemingly inevitable early season trade demand once he spends a couple weeks with Wall AND Dwight. What a terrible locker room.

Or McCollum might get fed up with Lillard’s “quirky” personality and demand his own team somewhere. Jaylen Brown will not be cool with being the 4th or 5th option and will be semi-available.
 
#83
I’m starting to talk myself into a Wiggins trade, which is surely a sign of desperation. I think it is more prudent to sit on the space and wait for something really interesting to come available though. Like Bradley Beal’s seemingly inevitable early season trade demand once he spends a couple weeks with Wall AND Dwight. What a terrible locker room.

Or McCollum might get fed up with Lillard’s “quirky” personality and demand his own team somewhere. Jaylen Brown will not be cool with being the 4th or 5th option and will be semi-available.
Wiggins is a good player, don't get sucked into the "black hole player" narrative because we saw the same thing happen to Rudy Gay. Howver Gay has turned out to be our 2nd best player in the past decade.

If we do decide to make a big trade for one of those names, I think our cap situation would be fine regardless of whether or do something like getting Melo, then releasing him. We'd have to give up Buddy/Bogdan+ another possitive asset. To make salaries match, we'd just dump any one of our expiring deals.
 
#84
Great post Gguod.
I agree that assets are key to a rebuild, but the selfish side of me has been patient long enough. I want some talent on this team. There are only 2 teams with major space, and teams are getting great value right now. I don't want other teams trash, I need a player that fits what we are trying to build.

For the better part of the last two weeks I was all aboard the take Denver trade, but that ship has sailed, so lets move on.

There is still A LOT of talent out there
Smart, Hood, Parker, Capela
Here's the problem with that thinking: 1) it is bad timing to sign a FA, and 2) it is bad to sign a FA period. Why?

I'll tackle 2 first. This franchise, like any other franchise, has three main ways of acquiring talent: draft, trade, and free agency. We all know nobody wants to come to a losing franchise, let alone the Kings. Until we can prove to be winners, that will remain the case. So it is a catch 22 situation: we need talent to win, but we need to win to attract talent. The end result is that to get a FA, we have to overpay for guys who would be "depth" players, aka not a top 2 or 3 player on a contender. This is why the team gave Hill 20 million a year. Guys like Parker, or Lavine, are not worth 15-20 million per season, and if they DO get that from a playoff team, most of these types of contracts for this level of talent ending up being some of the worst in the league (see: Ryan Andersen's deal with Houston). It hamstrings teams to be just good enough to compete for a playoff spot, but no real chance at getting past the first round.

This is why looking to sign a player is the last resort for this team. They should be focusing on the other two areas to acquire talent.

Now onto timing. Parker signed a two year deal, and Lavine four. The vast majority of NBA rookies take 3 or 4 years to develop. It isn't like they aren't good during that time, but it is almost always the case that players don't make dramatic improvements in years 5+. That, if ever, is an extremely rare instance. Most players coming into their fourth or fifth years are playing at the level and ability they will play at the rest of their time in the NBA.

So, why sign a free agent (worst option for the team) to a 2-4 year term when this team isn't going to make a playoff push until their core has developed? We are talking at least another 2 or 3 full seasons. So, when you take the worst option, and combine it with the worst time period, it doesn't make any sense to sign somebody now, because it will end up getting the kings 36 wins instead of 30. What good does that do?
 
#85
Why is winning more games good?
Because the goal is to win games.

I don't agree with the timeline argument. Do you want a team composed entirely of young pups?

Our core is essentially established
Fox, Buddy, Bogi, Giles, Bagley. Players added beyond this core are complimentary pieces.

Talent is talent. The right talent could turn this team around. Let's take Smart for instance. A great defender, if Shump gets to where he was and Giles is a beast then that could change the identity of the team.

36 wins is a step in the rigjt direction. We dont have a first next year, plus I'm tired of hearing "next year."

Finally, I have moved to the final stage of grief, so I'm at the acceptance stage.
 
Last edited:

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#86
...

Talent is talent. The right talent could turn this team around. Let's take Smart for instance. A great defender, if Shump gets to where he was and Giles is a beast then that could change the identity of the team.

36 wins is a step in the rigjt direction. We dont have a first next year, plus I'm tired of hearing "next year."

Finally, I have moved to the final stage of grief, so I'm at the acceptance stage.
That's the one phrase to keep in mind. Bringing a free agent here just for the sake of bringing a free agent here isn't gonna help. I trust that Vlade is going to continue to look for the RIGHT talent and not succumb to the temptation to sign someone just because they're willing to come here.
 
#87
Wiggins is a good player, don't get sucked into the "black hole player" narrative because we saw the same thing happen to Rudy Gay. Howver Gay has turned out to be our 2nd best player in the past decade.

If we do decide to make a big trade for one of those names, I think our cap situation would be fine regardless of whether or do something like getting Melo, then releasing him. We'd have to give up Buddy/Bogdan+ another possitive asset. To make salaries match, we'd just dump any one of our expiring deals.
Rudy Gay is actually a winning basketball player. Maybe not as much as his stats make you believe but he definitely contributes to wins. Whether people want to call him a black hole is up for debate. At least his contributions to the game help his teams win.

Wiggins is a negative player. He's actually the worst high scoring player statistically that I've been able to find in the 2000s. Advanced stats have him as the 3rd worst player on the TWolves roster despite the fact that he played the most minutes. I've harped on a lot of guys because of their advanced metrics but none of them, not Hood, not LaVine and not Parker are anything near as bad as Wiggins. Giving up anything for him, especially one of our best players would be a massive blunder that I can guarantee you will not pan out in the future. This guy has had 4 years to not suck and he's actually been worse the last two years than he was during his freshman and sophomore seasons in the NBA. Hard pass.
 
#88
Rudy Gay is actually a winning basketball player. Maybe not as much as his stats make you believe but he definitely contributes to wins. Whether people want to call him a black hole is up for debate. At least his contributions to the game help his teams win.

Wiggins is a negative player. He's actually the worst high scoring player statistically that I've been able to find in the 2000s. Advanced stats have him as the 3rd worst player on the TWolves roster despite the fact that he played the most minutes. I've harped on a lot of guys because of their advanced metrics but none of them, not Hood, not LaVine and not Parker are anything near as bad as Wiggins. Giving up anything for him, especially one of our best players would be a massive blunder that I can guarantee you will not pan out in the future. This guy has had 4 years to not suck and he's actually been worse the last two years than he was during his freshman and sophomore seasons in the NBA. Hard pass.
I've made the argument that Wiggins is the least valuable player in the entire NBA. Like I'd rather have JJ at 1.8 mil, than Wiggins at 25 every day of the week and twice on Sundays
 
#89
Rudy Gay is actually a winning basketball player. Maybe not as much as his stats make you believe but he definitely contributes to wins. Whether people want to call him a black hole is up for debate. At least his contributions to the game help his teams win.

Wiggins is a negative player. He's actually the worst high scoring player statistically that I've been able to find in the 2000s. Advanced stats have him as the 3rd worst player on the TWolves roster despite the fact that he played the most minutes. I've harped on a lot of guys because of their advanced metrics but none of them, not Hood, not LaVine and not Parker are anything near as bad as Wiggins. Giving up anything for him, especially one of our best players would be a massive blunder that I can guarantee you will not pan out in the future. This guy has had 4 years to not suck and he's actually been worse the last two years than he was during his freshman and sophomore seasons in the NBA. Hard pass.
Memphis and Toronto got better after trading Rudy Gay away. The Grizzlies defense was stronger and their offense stayed consistent. They were 29-16 before the trade and finished the season 27-10, then made their way to the conference finals. As for the Raptors the trade helped them develop into the team they are today, their offense opened up and their defense was significantly more efficient.

What did Rudy bring to us other than a near 20 a night guy?

Not a great deal. In 12-13 the year before he arrived we finished 28-54. In the year he arrived we finished with the same win count, and our best win total was 33 wins when we finished 10th in the West. So realistically he didn't do much to help us win games with Cousins.

When it comes to Wiggins he's another inefficient offensive player that doesn't play much defense. I wouldn't want him as a main option on a team. I want players that at least buy into playing defense even if it's not their strong suit. Unless we got a bargain deal to take Wiggins on I'd pass and let the t-wolves continue to pin their hopes on Wiggins and Towns doing something, which I doubt will result in a finals appearance let alone a ring.