At what point does Donte become a PF?

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

I just don't see it. Can he play as our second tallest player on the court? Yea, sure.

Positions don't mean a whole lot now anyways. Everyone is playing everywhere. Westphal usually calls a player a guard, forward, or center anyway. I'm sure he'd call Greene a forward.

Especially on our team, with a 6'6 lead guard.. It almost impossible to put players into set positions.

A more likely solution for Casspi and Greene if they both develope would be to have them just play together. Call one of them the 2, and the other one the 3 if you like. There playing together in the summer league, they can both shoot.. We just need one of them to develope into a better ball handler and playmaker.

 

[nickmcclure]

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.

Word...

I think Donte could maybe play PF in limited minutes if the other team goes small, but he's a SF for sure and he's really becoming a pretty good SF thanks in part to his height advantage. Also, why is everyone on the ditch Landry bandwagon. I truly think he's our second-best player (behind Tyreke.) He was only given half a season in the Kings system but it appears as if he's gonna fit nicely. He's good enough to start yet he's comfortable off the bench should JT become a beast.

 

[CruzDude]

Donte is a SF and might be able to play PF depending on match ups. But SF requires a better and different kind of defender than does a PF. A SF requires quickness and the ability to successfully defend smaller/quicker SF. Just being really tall is not enough, it's a start, but the quickness issue is bigger to stay reasonably in front of your man. Donte can shoot the 3 and jumpers from anywhere so in reality he is a "Dirk" kind of 7-ft PF. But PF must be excellent rebounders and Donte is not a really good much less great rebounder.

So can we all agree Donte is a SF who can play/backup at PF depending on match ups? Both JT and Landry are better rebounders than Donte and better suited as PF. Hassan will likely start to fit in there better next year allowing the Kings some "bigs" flexibility next year they have never really had. Keep in mind too that Brockman is a better rebounder than all of them (except DMC of course) tho' not as consistent as needed to get more minutes based on last year.

All of which is why summer league this year should be much better and more fun than ever before.

 

[Entity]

I will start a new trend here at Kingsfans. I have changed my mind. It really wasn't the post with the smart comments. I'd say Brick Baja and Cruzdude really offerend insight and didn't have to call anybody's suggestion stupid or make up a corporation to drive their point home. Donte is best utilized as a SF that can play PF if the matchup was in our favor. So we could end up with 3 mismatches on the floor in our favor. Tyreke at PG Donte at SF and Cousins at C. With Tyreke and Donte able to defend multiple positions.

 

[Fear the Putin]

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

I disagree. He was inconsistent last year, but during the time when he is playing well, he can defend anybody out there with his length.

I remember when I was at the Lakers v Kings game in ARCO where Donte was switched on Kobe and caused him all sorts of fits and at times even blocked his shot a couple of times.

He is a versatile player who can obviously play the 2-4 positions, but we have the luxury of exploiting more than one positions with Tyreke at the 1 and Donte at the 2/3. When you have the luxury, you take advantage of it at all costs.

 

[EIM86]

The Kings want Greene to be a very good SF. It's a huge match up problem. In other words, he's potentially our lamar scrodom that can shoot the three.

 

[kupman]

Donte is a SF is the same mold that Kevin Durant is a SF. Not as good of course, but similar size and game.

 

[bajaden]

Word...

I think Donte could maybe play PF in limited minutes if the other team goes small, but he's a SF for sure and he's really becoming a pretty good SF thanks in part to his height advantage. Also, why is everyone on the ditch Landry bandwagon. I truly think he's our second-best player (behind Tyreke.) He was only given half a season in the Kings system but it appears as if he's gonna fit nicely. He's good enough to start yet he's comfortable off the bench should JT become a beast.

I don't think anyone is giving up on Landry. Some of us just wonder if the Kings will resign him at the end of this coming season. If they do, then great. It becomes a moot point. But there's always the possibility that they might not. We don't know what the new rules are going to be. The Larry Bird rule might disappear, making Landry a true unrestricted freeagent. Ditto Dalembert!. With Thompson still under contract along with Whiteside, the Kings might decide not to get into a bidding war. So some of our speculation is based on the possibility that Landry won't be with the team. That doesn't mean we don't want him on the team. Or that we've given up on him.

 

[ElRey]

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.

Agreed. We should not determine a players position by his height but by his skillset. People do the same crap on Tyreke Evans as well; he's 6'5" therefore he can't be a PG, etc. Donte grew up a small forward, and trying to change him into a PF will involve changing his entire game and skills. Besides, Donte can still get some minutes at power forward depending on the matchup. He'll do great against the softer PFs like Odom, Stoudemire, Bosh. But he will get abused if matched up against brutes like Al Jefferson or Carlos Boozer.

 

[Telemachus]

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.

Actually, I think you completely missed the point here. The OP indicated that Greene should be moved to the PF because of his size (not spot minutes). I would call his thinking to be limited and not "flexible". We all know that Donte can play PF at times. He has already been used there during his first two seasons, and I don't see that changing in the future. The real question is, what position would be best for him with his current skill set. He plays much more like a SF than a PF. At the same time, he is much better suited to defend SFs than PFs regardless of his size. He has even shown the ability to play some SG, though I think that is also on a ver limited basis. There are a lot of players around the league that have the size of one position but the skill of another (whether too big or too small), and putting them in the best place to succeed is always the real trick for the coaching staff (and player).

 

[Telemachus]

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 may be quicker than most PFs (not all), but he is not currently strong enough to defende most PFs in the post despite his height. He also is not a good rebounder for someone of his height and athleticism. Right now, the mismatch would more often than not be for the other team.

 

[ParniValjak]

Oh man!

I mean seriously, we end up with some size that can prove to be of great advantage to us and we are looking at ways of giving that away.

I dream of the day when we trot out our starting line up where Tyreke Evans is our shortest player. Done at SF gives us a HUGE mismatch on the offensive end and defensively he can do much more than hold his own against other SFs. If Donte reaches his potential at the 3, he might be our 3rd star to pair with Reke and DMC. A 7' SF who is athletic as hell, plays great D and is a good player offensively. I could see him becoming one of our most important players defensively. He would be a perfect match up for the likes of Durant, LeMe, Melo etc because he has the quickness to go with them but also great length to give them all sorts of trouble.

 

[mr. moustache]

He's a terrible rebounder for a PF. That's my biggest concern with him at PF. He's also ideally suited for SF, so playing him out of position while he develops his game probably isn't the best use if his game time.

 

[JB_kings]

Out of Donte's own mouth today at practice, a legit 6-10 1/2. Says he grew about a half inch. Don't know if his legit means without shoes or what. But all you need to know is that he's a half inch taller than a year ago.

 

[TheWileyVet]

Donte will nvr be a PF no matter how tall he gets - he has a SF game. Hopefully he'll turn into our version of Lamar Kardashian