Am I the only one who feels like the Kings are even weaker now?

[jcassio]

I think as Kings fans sometimes we overvalue our pieces on the market, hence expectations for Rudy's market return (if they indeed tried to move him)

I liked your post, but I couldn't disagree more on this statement. I have observed that when Kings fans think their team is bad, then they undervalue the Kings players. This is a natural tendency, but it's exaggerated in a place like Sacramento where people tend to have an inferiority complex.

 

[Kingsfan23]

I liked your post, but I couldn't disagree more on this statement. I have observed that when Kings fans think their team is bad, then they undervalue the Kings players. This is a natural tendency, but it's exaggerated in a place like Sacramento where people tend to have an inferiority complex.

I think there are separate issues about undervaluing them as players and undervaluing their market value. On a lot of the boards I see many complaining about some of the players we have while expecting a good trade return for them, which IMO doesn't help to understand Vlade's position

For instance there is another website where a decent sum of the populace has anti-Cousins leanings. They complain about all the ways he is potentially having a negative impact yet expect a large sum for him in a trade, not understanding the issue to that

but it's opinion I guess

 

[206Fan]

I've rethought about this roster a lot since the 49ers opening win the of the season.

Here are starting players in their prime:

• C: DeMarcus Cousins
• SF: Rudy Gay

Here are solid players in their prime:

• PG: Darren Collison
• PG: Ty Lawson
  
• SF: Omri Casspi
• C: Kosta Koufos

Players just out of their prime:

• SG: Arron Afflalo
• SG: Garett Temple
• SF: Matt Barnes
• PF: Anthony Toillver

Young talents(If I'm putting Willie, I have to add Ben. They're less than a year apart):

• SG: Ben McLemore
• SG: Malachi Richardson
  
• PF: Skal Labissiere
• C: Willie Cauley Stein
  
• C: Georgios Papagiannis

From a big picture stand point, the Kings have MORE than enough bench to be a playoff team. Hell, we have enough solid players to have 2 playoff bench teams. Don't believe me?
Collison, McLemore, Temple, Casspi, Koufos

Lawson, Afflalo, Barnes, Tolliver, WCS
(maybe you can fit these players in better lineups).

However, we just don't have enough good starting caliber players. We don't have enough stars on this team. Yes, we can get by with sneaking in Collison/Lawson as our starting PG, and even WCS as our starting PF. But, it's just still just not there yet.


I believe the Kings are 1 piece away from being contenders for the playoff. We have a crap ton of depth, and I believe the Kings should make a pull for a good player before the deadline.

Guys who will probably be available: Monta Ellis and Dwayne Wade. Ellis could be the odd man out in Indiana. Wade is an extremely poor fit next to Rondo and Butler.

I think we could easily do these trades without involving Gay or Cousins.

This roster isn't bad at all. But it just seems like we're timid about winning. Hence, the reason why we have a backup plan. We have 3 extremely young players on this team who were all 1st round picks.

I think the Kings can push all in, without having to give up any real chips. I'm thinking a similar trade we did for Gay. Afflalo and Casspi?

Lots of rambling, yes. The only reason why the 9ers made me think of this is because they've done something a bit similar to Vlade. Signed a bunch of vets in the previous years, but drafted a lot of young players at positions not needed. Fast forward till now, the 9ers have a luxurious youthful depth at DL, CB, OL, and S.

 

[King Baller]

Since it's all speculation, here's mine. Gay doesn't want to be on the team, and he plays like it. (He had the temerity to admit that he didn't even know who the Kings had drafted and sounded as if he were totally apathetic about the team). Cousins, I believe, is going to be peaking into the future imagining much greener grass. It seems like when players have been on a losing team for many years they start to detach mentally and emotionally when they closer to contract expiration, not buying in to whomever the new coach happens to be; it's a self-defense mechanism. If the Kings start out slowly I think that attitude could snowball. It will be a major check-out. Cousins has a difficult time sustaining his emotional balance and effort over the course of a season, and those attributes could magnify the greener pastures mindset. The rookies are rookies - 'nuff said. The vets are mediocre vets - 'nuff said. Add to the above, a real void in the character department of this team. All in all, there's more potential for major disaster on this team than there is for moderate success.

Well Rudy Gay is going to be a Free Agent after this season so I expect he will report in great shape and be ready to play for Joerger and Turner. Cousins is coming off the Olympics and is ready to make his mark on the NBA. Boogie has the best coaching staff and players around him since he was drafted. The Rookies are a young infusion of talent that every team needs. If one or two turns into a rotation player the draft was wildly successful. The Vets all came from winning organizations. So did the Coaches. As far as character you have two Vets voted teammates of the year by their fellow players. All in all the Kings are poised for a great season! Heck these are well paid young men in the prime of their lives playing a game for pay they used to play for free! What do they have not to be happy about?

 

[SacKings384]

Really had the opportunity to address some personnel weaknesses in the draft. Didn't do it. I'd say that we are weaker from a personnel front, but better from a coaching standpoint. I think we can make up some of the losses just by having the team all on the same page.

 

[Padrino]

the kings' roster as it stands is certainly perplexing. with coach joerger at the helm, there will be every opportunity for this team to overachieve. of course, it's just as likely that the lack of talent surrounding big cuz will result in the same sub-.500 basketball that we've seen since demarcus was drafted. flip a coin, i guess. it seems like a fool's errand to try and project what this roster will accomplish. lesser teams have made the playoffs with the kind of blue collar work ethic that dave joerger brings to the table, but that's still no guarantee of success here. we'll just have to see how it all gels on the court...

on a separate note, even though i'm as steadfast a cousins supporter as you're likely to find in kingsland, more and more i find myself agreeing with this perspective:

Even worse, because we missed our chance to get our rebuild done in 2 years by not trading Boogie to Boston. There's next to a 0% chance Boston says no to a Crowder, Smart, 3 and a future first for 2 years of Cousins+them being confident they'd get the rest of his prime in an extension. Then you can still make Vlades draft day trades, which are excellent for a rebuilding team. That would give us

Smart
Crowder
Dunn (my pick at 3)
Papagiannis (Makes WAY more sense without Cousins on the roster)
Skal
Malachi
Bogdan
WCS
A likely top 3 pick after we lose 60 games
A Mid-first round pick in 2017

A core lacking a bonafide potential #1 (Dunn? The top pick next year?), but the defensive potential would be amazing, especially with Joerger at the helm. I also think Crowder and Smart aren't done growing as offensive players by any means. Regardless, we'd actually have something to develop here to build on and grow with a young coach.

i'm not at all convinced that the kings would have been able to pry quite so much away from boston in exchange for cousins, but if that deal was on the table, then it would have merited my utmost consideration. personally, i'd have a hard time not pulling the trigger on such a trade, especially since the ceiling for a core of cousins/gay/lawson is no higher than the ceiling for a core of cousins/gay/rondo, coaching aside. again, this is coming from one of demarcus' most fervent supporters. i just think the kings have blown their shot to win with him. perhaps coach joerger will prove me wrong, and i would be absolutely thrilled to see boogie play post-season games in a kings uni at the golden 1 center, but i also don't see many pathways to improve the roster around cousins, given that cousins himself is the only really significant trade chip that the kings have, unless cauley-stein or any of the rookies explode into star material...

put another way, if the kings fail to make the playoffs with cousins and fail to recoup a significant haul for him in a trade.... well, then that would just be the most #KANGZ move of them all...

 

[gunks]

Hmmmmm,

Your theory isn't holding up so well, now that we signed Farmar, OP!

 

[lwc]

This team won 33 games last season when most of the team had thrown in the towel on the season because they refused to play hard for Karl. To me, a team can add 3 wins (at minimum) for correcting that. That brings the Kings to 36 wins. Add 5 wins for a better coach and a healthier DMC (he had been dealing with a nagging foot injury that was aggrivated by a run-n-gun system). That brings us to 41 wins. Subtract about 4 wins because the West is overall better and healthier. That drops us back down to 37 wins. Add 4-5 wins for such a deep roster with capable NBA players to thwart and major injury (as in, I do not think that with this coach and this roster than we are an automatic 0-10 with Boogie out as we were in previous seasons. Joerger has shown he can make the playoffs with major stars injured). That puts the Kings right around .500 with 41 or 42 wins. Will that be enough for the playoffs? Maybe not. Will it be enough for Boogie to agree to an extension knowing Bogdanovic is coming? Maybe. Is it a great improvement? Yes!

There is no way this team isn't better by subtracting Karl and adding Joerger.

 

[miltonap]

I actually feel good about this season. For the 1st time in 10 years we have stability at the top. That in itself is huge. 6th, 7th, or 8th seed, I'm callin it

 

[King Baller]

I actually feel good about this season. For the 1st time in 10 years we have stability at the top. That in itself is huge. 6th, 7th, or 8th seed, I'm callin it

43 wins and the 7th spot

 

[TheJewishKing]

While reading your comments it seems like most of the members here who commented on this thread are pretty sure and calm about the upcoming season, people feel like we can make it to the playoffs and that our current bench is even better than our previous bench, as I was proclaiming before I don't see it that way but I'm glad you guys do, it makes me feel like I am the one who might be wrong about his feelings towards this team in this season, I sincerely look forward to be mistaken.

Let's hope we can clinch a playoff spot this season.

 

[King Baller]

While reading your comments it seems like most of the members here who commented on this thread are pretty sure and calm about the upcoming season, people feel like we can make it to the playoffs and that our current bench is even better than our previous bench, as I was proclaiming before I don't see it that way but I'm glad you guys do, it makes me feel like I am the one who might be wrong about his feelings towards this team in this season, I sincerely look forward to be mistaken.

Let's hope we can clinch a playoff spot this season.

I could agree about last years team being better except for three things. Rondo no longer is a good defender. Marco had an awful year shooting the ball. Then there was George Karl

 

[Kingsfan23]

I personally cant really put a number on it as there are large variables. If Lawson shows up 85-90% of what he was in Denver and clicks with starting unit, or implodes and brings a funk to the locker room is potentially a 10 game swing if Collison remains out an extensive period. He looks good on social media and has me encouraged in interviews

 

[BeerNerd916]

Direct answer to the OP: yes you are if you dont realize the importance of team chemistry and continuity as well as confidence in the leader (coach).


Edit: Also..role players knowing their roles and playing them without trying to 'get their own' and playing in a team oriented system...

 

[datamanwes]

This team under performed last year. I feel we are a much deeper team this year. so I don't think there is any way we are a weaker team than last year

 

[TheJewishKing]

This team under performed last year. I feel we are a much deeper team this year. so I don't think there is any way we are a weaker team than last year

Last year was the same old boring plateau for our Kings, just another bad, unsatisfying and frustrating season that the fans got used to see in last decade or so... I say it just because this is how I feel, even though I thought that we had a better roster (potential wise) last year, we still weren't able to rise above mediocrity which is characterising the Sacramento Kings for a long period of time, the team with the best fans just couldn't deliver a playoff run for its fans.

Reading the comments of most of the members in this thread make me feel like I am worrying to much, or maybe I am missing an important point here, and for some reason I love it, I want to be mistaken here, I want the Kings to get more than 41 wins, I want the Kings to make the playoffs, I want the Kings to be a powerhouse in the Western conference, and I want the Kings to be a fun team to watch.

According to the comments in this thread there is a vast chance that it might happen this year, and I am impatiently waiting for it to happen.