Cleveland/ Kings

#92
Here's what I don't understand. This is what everybody in the universe knows the Kings needed:

1. Dump the Clowns and get a REAL ownership group
2. Dump Smart and get a competent coach
3. Dump Petrie and get a GM that has a pulse
4. Get moving with the new Arena
5. Build around Cousins and Reke

1-4 are a done deal. Why are some people so eager to abandon #5? You absolutely HAVE to give that a try. It is the only good/salvageable thing left behind by the Clowns and your ONLY shot at being remotely decent for the next few years while the logjams and needs/gaps are addressed and the cap situation is managed properly. And on top of that, if you do address the logjams and needs/gaps properly, those two are two TREMENDOUS building blocks. Why would you dismiss them without giving them a REAL chance? The last five years don't count. You have to give this a real try. As long as they are not demanding a trade, you just simply do not give away players like that.

There's a reason why so many teams are interested in these two. You rarely ever get talent like that (via FA, trade or draft) - you usually get talent like that when you screw the other team in a trade. Let's stop being the ones getting screwed, please!!!
My feeling on this is because, in significant part, of Grant's vendetta against Cousins.

You mostly have low information posters making hyperbolic claims about Cousins' "problems"... hmm... wonder where they got that schtick from.

If I was GM of this board, I would trade away people who want to trade Cousins.
 

funkykingston

Super Moderator
Staff member
#93
My feeling on this is because, in significant part, of Grant's vendetta against Cousins.

You mostly have low information posters making hyperbolic claims about Cousins' "problems"... hmm... wonder where they got that schtick from.

If I was GM of this board, I would trade away people who want to trade Cousins.
What is interesting to me about Grant's role in this is that he's always very obviously gotten some of his marching orders from the Maloofs which is evidenced by the fact that he NEVER bad mouthed a single move by Petrie or the Maloofs. And often times he started badmouthing a guy when behind the scenes the team was getting ready to sever ties with that player. Since that's not presumably not the case now, why the badmouthing of Cousins? My honest guess is that it has less to do with any real concern about the team and Cousin's place in it and much more to do with the fact that he has had run ins with Cousins and doesn't like the way DMC interacts with him.

Obviously DeMarcus can be truculent with the media and he seems to hold grudges. But lest we lay all the blame for that frayed relationship at Cousins' feet, remember that Grant Napear has also severely strained things between himself and Chris Webber. Not to mention the drama between he and Bobby Jackson years ago when he was publicly questioning BJax's injury/toughness. For many reasons beyond these sorts of things I hope Grant gets limited to one job going forward. Either radio show host or play-by-play man.
 
#94
What is interesting to me about Grant's role in this is that he's always very obviously gotten some of his marching orders from the Maloofs which is evidenced by the fact that he NEVER bad mouthed a single move by Petrie or the Maloofs. And often times he started badmouthing a guy when behind the scenes the team was getting ready to sever ties with that player. Since that's not presumably not the case now, why the badmouthing of Cousins? My honest guess is that it has less to do with any real concern about the team and Cousin's place in it and much more to do with the fact that he has had run ins with Cousins and doesn't like the way DMC interacts with him.

Obviously DeMarcus can be truculent with the media and he seems to hold grudges. But lest we lay all the blame for that frayed relationship at Cousins' feet, remember that Grant Napear has also severely strained things between himself and Chris Webber. Not to mention the drama between he and Bobby Jackson years ago when he was publicly questioning BJax's injury/toughness. For many reasons beyond these sorts of things I hope Grant gets limited to one job going forward. Either radio show host or play-by-play man.
Grant started his rampage against DMC I believe sometime in Feb, and hasn't taken his foot off the gas pedal since. I don't know what started it, but I can't remember him ever treating a player like this (for this long) in the past. DMC is someone who strongly believes in loyalty, and obviously feels betrayed by Grant judging how he has acted around him since this has started. It will be interesting to see how they interact in the future.
 
#95
Yes, it is implied, and yes, I haven't read the quote from Vivek: "I don't like Cousins." There's no doubt though that he's having conversations with potential GMs on Cousins. Yes, there is a question mark about Cousins. The way I look at it: either Cousins is gone over the summer, or Cousins gets a very short leash for the beginning of next year. There isn't going to be a 3-year wait and see period. Black and white; yes or no; he's either gone or he's playing as an adult in a Kings uni next year. I'm good with either one of those scenarios. It's the open-ended wait and see for the next few years approach that is ridiculous.
You forgot another, quite possibly the most likely scenario....Cousins get a contract extension over the summer and is used as the building block of the franchise.
 
#97
You forgot another, quite possibly the most likely scenario....Cousins get a contract extension over the summer and is used as the building block of the franchise.
I hope this happens. You just don't trade a big with skills that Cousins possesses. Even with all his tantrums and getting ejected and not playing up to his potential he still averaged 17 and 10. Imagine him with an organization that tells him "we go as far as you go." He will carry us far!
 
#98
You forgot another, quite possibly the most likely scenario....Cousins get a contract extension over the summer and is used as the building block of the franchise.
Probably won't happen. He and Tyreke could be but are not max players right now. I seriously doubt their agents will recommend that they sign an extension unless it's a max extension. I doubt we'll be eager to throw max contracts at them. I suspect the process with these two will be very simple: QO, wait, match.
 

rainmaker

Hall of Famer
#99
Grant started his rampage against DMC I believe sometime in Feb, and hasn't taken his foot off the gas pedal since. I don't know what started it, but I can't remember him ever treating a player like this (for this long) in the past. DMC is someone who strongly believes in loyalty, and obviously feels betrayed by Grant judging how he has acted around him since this has started. It will be interesting to see how they interact in the future.
I don't know why it started, but it's bad, and I've listened a few times where Grant has basically used bashing Cuz as the main talking point for his show over the course of an afternoon. Then he came out last week and some something along the lines of Reke doesn't like playing with Cuz. First, that's pretty hard to believe given Reke looked for Cuz more than just about anyone on this team and worse, imo that crosses the line of keeping some things in house. Not everyone gets along on a team and not everyone likes each other, but having your radio broadcaster, the only one in town covering the team putting that out there really is unprofessional.

Then when you look at how Grant struggles to say anything but exaggerated positives about IT(there are positives, he just regularly exaggerates them), while struggling to say anything positive about Cuz. Seriously, even after Cuz puts up games like 25/13, Grant's reaction is more, "it's about damn time". I really hope Vivek considers either a new tv pairing and letting Grant/Jerry go, or makes Grant do either radio or tv, but he's proven he can't do both objectively.
 
I don't know why it started, but it's bad, and I've listened a few times where Grant has basically used bashing Cuz as the main talking point for his show over the course of an afternoon. Then he came out last week and some something along the lines of Reke doesn't like playing with Cuz. First, that's pretty hard to believe given Reke looked for Cuz more than just about anyone on this team and worse, imo that crosses the line of keeping some things in house. Not everyone gets along on a team and not everyone likes each other, but having your radio broadcaster, the only one in town covering the team putting that out there really is unprofessional.

Then when you look at how Grant struggles to say anything but exaggerated positives about IT(there are positives, he just regularly exaggerates them), while struggling to say anything positive about Cuz. Seriously, even after Cuz puts up games like 25/13, Grant's reaction is more, "it's about damn time". I really hope Vivek considers either a new tv pairing and letting Grant/Jerry go, or makes Grant do either radio or tv, but he's proven he can't do both objectively.
u put it perfectly. i cant stand grant on the radio. he gets to rip into ppl who disagree with him.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
Here's what I don't understand. This is what everybody in the universe knows the Kings needed:

1. Dump the Clowns and get a REAL ownership group
2. Dump Smart and get a competent coach
3. Dump Petrie and get a GM that has a pulse
4. Get moving with the new Arena
5. Build around Cousins and Reke

1-4 are a done deal. Why are some people so eager to abandon #5? You absolutely HAVE to give that a try. It is the only good/salvageable thing left behind by the Clowns and your ONLY shot at being remotely decent for the next few years while the logjams and needs/gaps are addressed and the cap situation is managed properly. And on top of that, if you do address the logjams and needs/gaps properly, those two are two TREMENDOUS building blocks. Why would you dismiss them without giving them a REAL chance? The last five years don't count. You have to give this a real try. As long as they are not demanding a trade, you just simply do not give away players like that.

There's a reason why so many teams are interested in these two. You rarely ever get talent like that (via FA, trade or draft) - you usually get talent like that when you screw the other team in a trade. Let's stop being the ones getting screwed, please!!!
Very well said.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
Would you prefer two years of painful growth followed by a decade of dominance, or 12 years of decent with the occasional good? That's essentially what the decision to move Cousins boils down to. Telling a kid he has to "grow up now" is less productive than having the patience to actually let him grow up.
For the record, I think he will be a different person next year. There's an attempt to put a winning culture in place, and I believe Cousins wants to be to Sacramento what Duncan is to San Antonio - what a gift that would be. He hasn't had the benefit of a winning environment or players on the same page - he should get that now. I think this year will indeed tell us a lot, and I'm betting on the positive side of things.
I don't buy in to this notion that Cousins is essential to the Kings ever having a chance at a championship. Absolute rubbish. Like you say, the Kings are the very beginning of establishing a winning culture. And the foundation of that culture is that the team is valued more than any one talented malcontent. The organization of that culture is willing to jettison the cancer of a talented player if they believe he's not going to buy into that culture. They will not coddle that individual indefinitely on the hope that one day he will come around. They will not make exceptions. Enough with the drip, drip, drip of the Cousins saga. Cousins isn't bigger than the team.

Schlenk talks about looking at the bench interplay when evaluating players to glean whether they are in fact team players. Well, if you've looked at that interplay of team and Cousins you see Cousins is radioactive. His teammates don't even want to talk to him because of the response they get from him. They turn away from him on the bench. They ignore what he says. The new guys from Houston try to talk to him and then they figure it out - he can't be reasoned with. After that they are embarrassed because they really don't know what to do with Cousins - do I ignore him or not? Tyreke walks onto the floor and says something to Cousins coming out of a timeout and Cousins starts screaming at him. Everything about the GS experience, the consideration of Schlenk, and the Vivek info that I've read leads me to believe that there is a high value put on the team chemistry, and not on babysitting players that throw that team into disarray. I highly doubt that the new ownership group and management team are going to put up with this much longer. They want to establish an identity very soon, a new winning culture. So I believe Cousins is gone, or like I say, they give him a very short leash for the coming year. If he buys in; great. I he doesn't, then goodbye.
 
I don't buy in to this notion that Cousins is essential to the Kings ever having a chance at a championship. Absolute rubbish. Like you say, the Kings are the very beginning of establishing a winning culture. And the foundation of that culture is that the team is valued more than any one talented malcontent. The organization of that culture is willing to jettison the cancer of a talented player if they believe he's not going to buy into that culture. They will not coddle that individual indefinitely on the hope that one day he will come around. They will not make exceptions. Enough with the drip, drip, drip of the Cousins saga. Cousins isn't bigger than the team.

Schlenk talks about looking at the bench interplay when evaluating players to glean whether they are in fact team players. Well, if you've looked at that interplay of team and Cousins you see Cousins is radioactive. His teammates don't even want to talk to him because of the response they get from him. They turn away from him on the bench. They ignore what he says. The new guys from Houston try to talk to him and then they figure it out - he can't be reasoned with. After that they are embarrassed because they really don't know what to do with Cousins - do I ignore him or not? Tyreke walks onto the floor and says something to Cousins coming out of a timeout and Cousins starts screaming at him. Everything about the GS experience, the consideration of Schlenk, and the Vivek info that I've read leads me to believe that there is a high value put on the team chemistry, and not on babysitting players that throw that team into disarray. I highly doubt that the new ownership group and management team are going to put up with this much longer. They want to establish an identity very soon, a new winning culture. So I believe Cousins is gone, or like I say, they give him a very short leash for the coming year. If he buys in; great. I he doesn't, then goodbye.
Your talking about specific instances which happen with every player. I see Cuz and teammates talking all the time. Walking off the floor, on floor and on the bench, but you don't hear about those being reported only the bad stuff.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Cuz 2 da Mavs 4 Kaman and Brand.

Maek it happen, Vivek!
Ahhhh, both Kaman and Brand are unrestricted freeagents. I don't think you'll be trading for them anytime soon. Now we could try and sign one of them. That said, I wouldn't trade Cuz for both of them if they were under contract.
 

rainmaker

Hall of Famer

Glenn

Hall of Famer
It's in here, but no, haven't heard anything else about it.

http://news-herald.com/articles/2013/06/01/sports/nh7018348.txt?viewmode=fullstory

If true, it could mean either we're going full steam ahead looking for an upgrade at PG, which is risky given we don't know who we could get, or that Reke back to PG is an option.
At it's worst, it may not work out well but the good side is that the ownership understands what one of the problems is. At this point, I will grab at this and be happy. I suspect we had the same idea in mind.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
Anyone hear anything else on that rumor of IT being offered to Cleveland for the 19th pick?
No way this happens. We've got Isaiah for chump change. Why would we give him up for the 19 pick in a weak draft? The rumor mill is in full swing, as usual, with wishes posing as rumors from a wide variety of sports writers/bloggers/parking lot attendants.

Logic will prevail.
 

rainmaker

Hall of Famer
No way this happens. We've got Isaiah for chump change. Why would we give him up for the 19 pick in a weak draft?
You kind of answered your own question. His contract is worth chump change around the league, and with such a small contract it's nearly impossible to get a player of equal value in return. And part of it would also be how serious our new FO/ownership are about clearing out the backcourt mess. It could actually make more sense as trading IT straight up for a player or adding him to a deal with other players doesn't accomplish much, if anything, due to his tiny contract.

Doesn't mean there's truth to it though, but it's not illogical.
 
You kind of answered your own question. His contract is worth chump change around the league, and with such a small contract it's nearly impossible to get a player of equal value in return. And part of it would also be how serious our new FO/ownership are about clearing out the backcourt mess. It could actually make more sense as trading IT straight up for a player or adding him to a deal with other players doesn't accomplish much, if anything, due to his tiny contract.

Doesn't mean there's truth to it though, but it's not illogical.
Hmm, Dallas for the 13th since they want to dump it.
 
You kind of answered your own question. His contract is worth chump change around the league, and with such a small contract it's nearly impossible to get a player of equal value in return. And part of it would also be how serious our new FO/ownership are about clearing out the backcourt mess. It could actually make more sense as trading IT straight up for a player or adding him to a deal with other players doesn't accomplish much, if anything, due to his tiny contract.

Doesn't mean there's truth to it though, but it's not illogical.
This. Plus Cleveland has the 31st and 33rd picks in the draft. If you could turn part of our backcourt cluster into a couple of extra draft assets, I can see the logic. The only other way to get trade value out of IT is to package him with one of our other contracts but it means so team is going to want a Salmons, MT, Hayes, etc. back and that might be a little tougher to do.

It probably is just a silly rumor but if I thought about it, I may rather have less mini gunners and two valuable draft picks to fill other holes or stash a guy overseas. Tough call but I see some reasons
 
Hmm, Dallas for the 13th since they want to dump it.
I think that's the benefit to acquiring draft assets. Let's say they get the 19th and 33 from Cleveland. Dallas really doesn't want to take salary back and apparently aren't asking for much at all. It's possible you could swing the 33 and/or our 36th for the 13th since it would mean no guaranteed salary going back. You walk away with the 7th, 13th and 19th picks in the draft.

You could conceivably end up with Len, Schroeder and Bullock/Saric or package to move up and grab someone you like better. It would be nice to view extra picks as assets the way some other teams have instead of our usual make a good pick and waste a second strategy.
 

rainmaker

Hall of Famer
This. Plus Cleveland has the 31st and 33rd picks in the draft. If you could turn part of our backcourt cluster into a couple of extra draft assets, I can see the logic. The only other way to get trade value out of IT is to package him with one of our other contracts but it means so team is going to want a Salmons, MT, Hayes, etc. back and that might be a little tougher to do.

It probably is just a silly rumor but if I thought about it, I may rather have less mini gunners and two valuable draft picks to fill other holes or stash a guy overseas. Tough call but I see some reasons
Thing is, as soon as you add IT to a package including guys like Salmons, Outlaw or MT, you're most likely not getting good value for him return, as he most likely turns into either a filler salary wise or is traded to help negate the poor value of other players included, so we'd give him up in order for another team to take a player we don't want anymore or has poor value, which usually doesn't end well. It's more MT or Salmons who make up the bulk of the value in a trade dollar wise which will determine what we get in return if they're traded.

Trade IT straight up for a player, we don't get equal value. Include him in a package, due to his low salary, his value is also negated. That leaves trading for a pick. This all assumes balance, roles and defense is more a priority for the new regime than just collecting talent. If Malone wants to bring back a guy like Douglas for his defense and doesn't consider IT a starter, he immediately becomes expendable as the 19th pick or 13th as section suggested, could have more value than a 3rd PG, as most 3rd PG's won't get you close to the 13th or 19th pick in a trade.
 
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rainmaker

Hall of Famer
I think that's the benefit to acquiring draft assets. Let's say they get the 19th and 33 from Cleveland. Dallas really doesn't want to take salary back and apparently aren't asking for much at all. It's possible you could swing the 33 and/or our 36th for the 13th since it would mean no guaranteed salary going back. You walk away with the 7th, 13th and 19th picks in the draft.

You could conceivably end up with Len, Schroeder and Bullock/Saric or package to move up and grab someone you like better. It would be nice to view extra picks as assets the way some other teams have instead of our usual make a good pick and waste a second strategy.
IT is due 884K next year. The cap hold for the 13th pick would be 1.65M, so unless Dal were to draft a Euro and keep him overseas, trading for IT might be their cheapest option, especially if they want anyone who can produce.
 

rainmaker

Hall of Famer
The legitimate query might be are you really going to consistently find a better player than IT at the #13 spot.
Player or fit? Might find a better role player, a 3rd big or SF but they might not be as talented as IT.

You wanted Henson last year who I like. Taken at 14.

Leonard taken at 15, Shumpert at 17, Faried at 22 the year before. Leonard and Faried I'd hands down take over IT, and Shumpert I would if Reke were moved to PG.

I'd personally go for fit than better player. If it's star talent at the top of the draft I probably go BPA.
 
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