Bricklayer said:
Detroit picked up a star player for free. No comparison at all to what we did. This year is a loss championship wise -- real key to any future hopes will be what we decide to do in th offseason.
Conversly, it is in the best interest of everyone on this team to really press on with the rest of the season and provide spark and fireworks in the PO's (I am not saying win the title, but good showing is possible, 2nd round is within reach). There is a number of guys on this team who will be entering last or option year and who need to stake their cases now or be trade fodder in the offseason.
Cat would probably rather not pick the option and instead go for longer term deal. He needs to show something for numbers to work in his favor. Injury has interupted his immersion into Kings basketball, but maybe watching from the sidelines will do him some good.
Other newbies (Skinner, Nasty, Thomas) are playing and behaving like their dead-end careers were just granted clemency. Skinner and Thomas have good deals but they may want to continue with their good work if they don't want to become a byline in yet another Petrie scoop. They may like it in Sacto just enough to worry about their future despite all that guaranteed dough.
BJax - how unlucky can you get. This is second year in a row that he has been largely a non-factor. He is entering option year and he will not be getting a better deal here or elswehere unless he comes back strong this year.
Darius and Mo - great kids, showing improvement and promise (especially Mo) but all that is spotty and easily forgotten unless they sustain it for a period of time. Then, and only then will they get deals and/or minutes that they are hoping for.
Pedja - entering his last year under contract. He's clearly still out of sorts, same way that he was before The Trade, so now we know and everybody else does. The team is rapidly becoming Mike's team (not that there ever was any doubt), and for Pedja to take a next step in his career he will need to regain shooting confidence/numbers and keep working hard on other aspects of his game. The game against Memphis was a good Day 1. But that can only be a beginning.
Mike is expanding his game just nicely.
Brad will be back. It's all good.
I see a lot of guys taking up new and expanded roles or with a lot of new found enthusiasm (newbies) or with something to prove. Right now, they are a mug's bet to even make WCF, let alone to get to the finals, but I can see how they could sucker-punch a team that is better "on-paper" and send them out of the PO's.
Well, that's my opinion, let me get these rose tinted glasses off of my face, so that we can all return to the previously scheduled program.
