At what point does Donte become a PF?

[Entity]

I know Donte hit nearly 240 lbs last season. Not sure what his weight is up to at this point in time. But how long does a nearly 7 footer in the NBA continue to play SF and spot min at SG. I know he don't posses the talents needed to be a low post guy but geez if you think about it he is just freakish. I am suprised Don Nelson isn't offering the world for him to be his center.

Anyway my point is coming. Alot of us agree that Landry and Dalembert are probably not the long term future of the team type. Cousins, Whiteside, Thompson is a good start to a young frontcourt core. Now just saying If Donte was to develop the skills needed to play the PF and still be able to slide to SF of course. Our Frontcourt would be set for several years with no need of addidtion. with 5 guys

Thompson
Greene
Whiteside
Cousins
Brockman

 

[Tetsujin]

There's no need to keep trying to turn an apple into an orange.

Donte is SF, end of story. If you move him to the 4, he loses the freakishness that he possesses at the 3.

 

[Kingstime]

If dante has the quickness to guard 3s I really dont see the point to make him play the 4. We have 2 players there that can completely split all 48 minutes there while being completely effective. If we ran the dreaded small ball Dante would be great as our stretch 4 eventually but I just dont see the need for him to play the position. These days you have to really exploit your mnismatches and eventually hopefully we will have mismatches at the 1 and 3.....eventually.

 

[Chupacabra]

Seeing as how size is now a huge advantage for the Kings I dont see why theyd ever try to use a small ball lineup. When you posses such a size and depth advantage you use it as much as possible.

 

[Entity]

This is not meant for this year more of down the road when landry is not here. Also I don't consider it small ball when Greene is bigger than landry and just as big and taller than Thompson. How is a 7 foot 240 pounder at PF considered small ball?

 

[Tetsujin]

This is not meant for this year more of down the road when landry is not here. Also I don't consider it small ball when Greene is bigger than landry and just as big and taller than Thompson. How is a 7 foot 240 pounder at PF considered small ball?

The thing is that at the most Donte is a Dirk style PF (not saying he's going to be that good). He's never going to possess that monstrous interior dominance. Instead, he'll be dominating from the outside in.

 

[rainmaker]

You can't always judge a player by his height. Just because he grew an inch or two, doesn't change his skillest, and playing him at pf takes away a lot of the good things he can do. He's a walking mismatch at the sf, and everything about his game says sf. I see no reason to to move him to pf, and ask him to change the way he plays basketball, and generally make his life miserable on the defensive end. Especially given our depth at the 4.

You do know if we move Donte to pf, we will have 5 pf's, and 1 sf. I consider Cisco a 2, especially given our current backcourt situation. Makes no sense at all. This is an extreme example, but when Magic grew to 6'9", nobody was asking when will he become a sf? You have to play the game to your strengths, and as a player, you hope you have a coach who puts you in a position to succeed, and knows best how to utilizes your skills.

 

[Chupacabra]

This is not meant for this year more of down the road when landry is not here. Also I don't consider it small ball when Greene is bigger than landry and just as big and taller than Thompson. How is a 7 foot 240 pounder at PF considered small ball?

When you take a wing player off of the wing to guard bigmen.

 

[Vlade4GM]

When he plays like one.

 

[Bricklayer]

I simply cannot comprehend why every single time the Kings get lucky enough to acquire a player OVERsized for their positon, that instantly we have to go through apparently serious proposals to give that all away. Oh noes! We have an advantage! We need to get rid of that as soon as possible!

Donte is a SF. Period. He has the skills of a SF. The athleticism of a SF (a rather athletic SF at that). And the ability to guard (and guard well) SFs. This is not something to bemoan. This is something to dream big over.

 

[Prince_XY]

There's no need to keep trying to turn an apple into an orange.
Donte is SF, end of story. If you move him to the 4, he loses the freakishness that he possesses at the 3.

Another short-sighted post brought about by inflexible thinking. If you happen to be one of my workers, I'll see to it that you don't get promoted to a managerial position. Very rigid mentality who would shoot down good ideas before even exploring on the merits.

I think the OP is brilliant for thinking that we should not discount the viability of Greene at the 4 in the future. He is not advocating making Greene a full-time 4, but more of a Lamar Odom type of player. Size/weight-wise he already fullfils the requirement of a power forward. Last season he also had shown he could also be a very important player for us at the 4.

This thread makes a lot of sense especially there is no certainty that Landry and Dalembert will be here for the long term. Maybe the coaching staff in-charge for players development should explore the possibility of expanding Greene's versatility not only to include the current 2 and 3 positions, but also at the 4.

I don't know what is so wrong with developing verstiity in our "still developing" young players. It's like some fans consider it as taboo. Just to remind everyone - the current NBA champions has 2 key players ( Gasol and Odom ) who can play C/PF and PF/SF respectively.

 

[Tetsujin]

Another short-sighted post brought about by inflexible thinking. If you happen to be one of my workers, I'll see to it that you don't get promoted to a managerial position. Very rigid mentality who would shoot down good ideas before even exploring on the merits.

I think the OP is brilliant for thinking that we should not discount the viability of Greene at the 4 in the future. He is not advocating making Greene a full-time 4, but more of a Lamar Odom type of player. Size/weight-wise he already fullfils the requirement of a power forward. Last season he also had shown he could also be a very important player for us at the 4.

This thread makes a lot of sense especially there is no certainty that Landry and Dalembert will be here for the long term. Maybe the coaching staff in-charge for players development should explore the possibility of expanding Greene's versatility not only to include the current 2 and 3 positions, but also at the 4.

I don't know what is so wrong with developing verstiity in our "still developing" young players. It's like some fans consider it as taboo. Just to remind everyone - the current NBA champions has 2 key players ( Gasol and Odom ) who can play C/PF and PF/SF respectively.

No, I have no problem with spot minutes at the 4 spot. What the OP seemed to be indicating was that Donte should move to 4 the entire time and that just seems stupid. He's a 3 and that's where he should be getting the bulk of his minutes not at the 4 where even if we get rid of Dalembert and Landry, we'd still have JT and Whitesides.

 

[mac]

Another short-sighted post brought about by inflexible thinking. If you happen to be one of my workers, I'll see to it that you don't get promoted to a managerial position. Very rigid mentality who would shoot down good ideas before even exploring on the merits.

I think the OP is brilliant for thinking that we should not discount the viability of Greene at the 4 in the future. He is not advocating making Greene a full-time 4, but more of a Lamar Odom type of player. Size/weight-wise he already fullfils the requirement of a power forward. Last season he also had shown he could also be a very important player for us at the 4.

This thread makes a lot of sense especially there is no certainty that Landry and Dalembert will be here for the long term. Maybe the coaching staff in-charge for players development should explore the possibility of expanding Greene's versatility not only to include the current 2 and 3 positions, but also at the 4.

I don't know what is so wrong with developing verstiity in our "still developing" young players. It's like some fans consider it as taboo. Just to remind everyone - the current NBA champions has 2 key players ( Gasol and Odom ) who can play C/PF and PF/SF respectively.

Umm ... no one said that he shouldn't be given any minutes playing PF. People are simply saying that Donte's strength is at the 3, and you wouldn't want to take that away. The OP's question was "at what point does Donte become a PF", to which the answer should be at no point because you wouldn't want that to be his main position. Artest sometimes played at the 4 when he was on the Kings but you don't call him a PF.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Another short-sighted post brought about by inflexible thinking. If you happen to be one of my workers, I'll see to it that you don't get promoted to a managerial position. Very rigid mentality who would shoot down good ideas before even exploring on the merits.

Isn't the suggestion that Donte should be playing PF the case of pigeon-holing (basing position on his size and not actual strengths on the court)? If we're going to play him out of position I'd prefer we do it at the 2 where he has a huge size advantage and can still defend well vs. a position that turns all his advantages into averages.

 

[KingsCitizen]

I always see Donte as a tweener forward and opposed to those who see him as a guard/forward. He probably right now should stick to playing 70% SF and 30% PF. If he continues to play well at PF, with his range he can play the early Dirk type of PF who mostly spot from the perimeter.

We'll if somehow Donte becomes more comfortable with being PF then I might agree with the OP of sticking with Cousins, Whiteside, Thompson, Donte as core bigs of the future. But of course this will depend if how all these young guys show up this season.

Anyway, the good thing I can see if Donte moves to PF, is that we can sign Carmelo Anthony as our SF next summer (wishful thinking). If Cousins delivers as expected of a big man then Evans/Anthony/Cousins >>>> Wade/Lebron/Bosh.

 

[mac]

I always see Donte as a tweener forward and opposed to those who see him as a guard/forward. He probably right now should stick to playing 70% SF and 30% PF. If he continues to play well at PF, with his range he can play the early Dirk type of PF who mostly spot from the perimeter.

We'll if somehow Donte becomes more comfortable with being PF then I might agree with the OP of sticking with Cousins, Whiteside, Thompson, Donte as core bigs of the future. But of course this will depend if how all these young guys show up this season.

Anyway, the good thing I can see if Donte moves to PF, is that we can sign Carmelo Anthony as our SF next summer (wishful thinking). If Cousins delivers as expected of a big man then Evans/Anthony/Cousins >>>> Wade/Lebron/Bosh.

In the international game yes - Anthony's range is perfectly suited for international ball. But I'm not sure they'd beat Wade/Lebron/Bosh in the NBA.
We probably won't ever have Evans/DonteorOmri/Cousins >>>> Wade/Lebron/Bosh. I'm hoping that we will have Sacramento Kings >>> Miami Heat though.

 

[steelevt]

In the international game yes - Anthony's range is perfectly suited for international ball. But I'm not sure they'd beat Wade/Lebron/Bosh in the NBA.
We probably won't ever have Evans/DonteorOmri/Cousins >>>> Wade/Lebron/Bosh. I'm hoping that we will have Sacramento Kings >>> Miami Heat though.

or better yet Sacramento Kings >>> rest of the NBA

 

[Andre87]

isn't he a missmatch for the pfs as well? with his quickness and he isn't undersized for the position also - 6'10" right?
But yea as of now he hasn't got any post moves so don't know how to answer your question

 

[mac]

isn't he a missmatch for the pfs as well? with his quickness and he isn't undersized for the position also - 6'10" right?
But yea as of now he hasn't got any post moves so don't know how to answer your question

He's not exactly a mismatch for PFs unless you're playing him at the 4 but running the offense with him as a 3. Because Donte Greene is probably going to get outrebounded by any legitimate PF, and he is also going to get backed down quite easily against bigger PFs. The only way you take advantage of his quickness is if you play him in a very Spencer Hawes-ish fashion. Like you said, he doesn't have the post moves to utilise.

 

[SacKings7]

He doesn't. Just because he has the height to be one doesn't mean he has to play there. He's a SF

 

[Entity]

Somehow this got into a weird argument. I guess I am the only one that can think beyond tomorrow. I am talking way later when landry is gone Omri has improved and we can't keep just spliting time with Greene and Omri at SF. Thompson starting with Donte getting min at SF and PF. At no point did I ever say Donte would be the PF of the future. Just on the depth chart.

 

[mac]

But err Hassan is already projected to be a PF for us. And in case you didn't realise Donte was already getting minutes at the 2 and 4 last season, although scarce. So to me at least the impression I got from this whole "when does Donte become a PF" was that you were asking when Donte becomes like a primary option at PF, be it starting or off the bench. But ok then, if you want the answer to "when does Donte start getting extra minutes at PF when Omri is playing SF" then my answer is when 2 of our current big men are gone. Even then, if Whiteside turns out to meet his potential a 3 man rotation of JT, Whiteside, Cousins as our bigs is pretty much good enough.

 

[Jechtsphere]

Somehow this got into a weird argument. I guess I am the only one that can think beyond tomorrow. I am talking way later when landry is gone Omri has improved and we can't keep just spliting time with Greene and Omri at SF. Thompson starting with Donte getting min at SF and PF. At no point did I ever say Donte would be the PF of the future. Just on the depth chart.

Who's to say Omri will ever be a better SF than Donte, we don't know so we should just sit back and see how it develops. Donte should get the majority of his minites at the 3 and there is nothing wrong with both Omri and Donte splitting minutes at the SF unless one of them turns into a star and we have to play one 40 minutes a game.

 

[Bricklayer]

isn't he a missmatch for the pfs as well? with his quickness and he isn't undersized for the position also - 6'10" right?
But yea as of now he hasn't got any post moves so don't know how to answer your question

People can take their "quickness" mismatch and I'll stuff it right down their throats with my power/post play/rebounding mismatch every time.

 

[Insomniacal Fan]

Hassan hasn't proved that he's capable of being an NBA player yet.

Donte was more effective defending the post last year than he was defending SGs. Also, if you keep Donte near the rim, and you can take advantage of his size and athleticism for weak-side shotblocking. A 7 ft PF is not small ball.

The real problem with him at PF is his inability to post up anybody he doesn't have a 6 inch height advantage on. Offensively he's a SF. Though if he keeps growing...

Edit::Oh yeah, and rebounding is a problem to

 

[Showtime]

This is not meant for this year more of down the road when landry is not here. Also I don't consider it small ball when Greene is bigger than landry and just as big and taller than Thompson. How is a 7 foot 240 pounder at PF considered small ball?

Why assume Landry will not be re-signed? Personally, I think he can be more productive than JT.

 

[Spike]

Isn't the suggestion that Donte should be playing PF the case of pigeon-holing (basing position on his size and not actual strengths on the court)? If we're going to play him out of position I'd prefer we do it at the 2 where he has a huge size advantage and can still defend well vs. a position that turns all his advantages into averages.

This man speaks my mind. Putting him at the 4 negates all of his advantages. If you match him up w/ the opposing PF, he'll get bruised. The only way it would work (I guess) would be if you ran a 4-1 offense, with Cousins/Dalembert on the inside. Works if you have the right personnel, but not in the NBA. That would be, as they say, ludicrisp.

 

[macadocious]

I have a serious question about Donte. He shows signs of brilliance, but also dissapears. He has had immaturity issues, which he seems to have gotten past. He is still very young, but at this point is there any chance of him becoming a star player at the 3? Could he put up 20/6/3 in the right situation?

 

[Lafayette]

The day DONTE GREENE becomes a POWERFORWARD is DEC 17th, thank you. This is message was brought to you by "GREENE IS A SF CORP" in association with "LANDRY WILL RESIGN BECAUSE HE HAS A HUGE UPSIDE". Thanks again.

 

[bajaden]

I think a players position is determined by his skill set. That being said, Donte is a SF. He has little or no post game to speak of. He's a terrible rebounder for a player of his height and athleticism. Using the logic that he should move to a different position because of his height alone, would mean that Magic Johnson should have been moved to PF for the Lakers instead of playing Point guard. And in truth, its not about whether Magic could have played PF, or whether Greene could play PF. Its a matter of where they're the most effective and comfortable. Greene is a long way from a finished product. I suggest that his learning curve will be easier if he concentrates on just one position for now.