Yeah. I find it disturbing that while Denver is said to be offering us a fine rebuilding package, we're supposedly turning it down because we want a "win now" refurbishing package. If true, someone isn't learning from their mistakes.
"Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results."
-- Rita Mae Brown
If it's Nene you're referring to, I don't think acquiring an oft-injured 25 year old big man who's still being paid on potential rather than production really qualifies as "win now" mode. It doesn't necessarily mean an end to the idea of salary cap space either. Unless we manage to trade or buy out Brad Miller, Kenny Thomas, Shareef,
and Mikki Moore than we're not going to have significant cap space for three years anyway. At that point the only players we've still got signed are Kevin Martin and John Salmons so another 10 million or so on the cap isn't going to prevent us from going after any free agents with a max deal. So the real question isn't whether we're rebuilding or not, it's whether Nene would be a good acquisition or not from a talent standpoint.
Considering how hard it is to predict what you can get out of the draft, I think acquiring a young big man might not be such a bad idea for the future of the team. Looking forward, the only position with any certainty on our roster right now is starting SG. We need a lot of players and we're not going to be able to draft them all. And considering the way salaries tend to inflate from year to year, 3 or 4 years from now $10 million dollars may look like a bargain for a starting PF. Of course if you think Nene's a bust than the whole issue is moot, but that's a different issue than roster management. Financially I don't think his longterm contract is a deal breaker for the rebuild plan. And the risk involved could be canceled out by the relative difficulty of acquiring a big man in the draft. Remember Nene was drafted 7th overall. Can anyone say for sure we'll even get a pick as high as 7th in the next few years with the Eastern Conference the way it is?
It's the Linas Kleiza hang up that doesn't make sense to me. Yeah he's a decent player, but we don't have playing time for him anyway unless we trade someone else. Sure his rookie deal is low-risk, but I don't see why acquiring him should be a deal breaker from the Kings' point of view. If we can get a first round pick out of a player we're going to lose anyway, what's the holdup? Whether to acquire Nene or not is one thing, but holding out for Linas Kleiza doesn't really have any advantage for us unless Denver is more desperate than we think they are. Which could be the case, I suppose, considering all the recent trades.
