Everybody talks about Rebuilding but....

[uopmatt]

realistically we are stuck with watching this same team for a couple years at the least. I've heard people say that we should just wait and get lottery picks and let Geoff rebuild this team, but is 1 decent lottery pick plugged in with the rest of the players we currently have going to dig us out of the deep hold we've dug ourselves into and back to the formiddable team we deserve as fans.
Brad Miller, arguably the slowest center/powerforward in the league, and one of the worst post defenders is signed through 2009-2010 season.
Bibby, one of the worst defensive point guards in the game, even though I still love him to death for all of his clutch shots in the past, is signed for 3 0r 4 more years.
Peja, who I used to think was at least a decent defender, only seems to help this team anymore if and when he has his shooting touch. My biggest problem with him is that the guy is a weakling who can't even play with the most minor of injuries.
Thomas and Sar are bascially the same inside post threat with decent shots from around 15 feet with decent rebounding ability but nothing that blows opponents aways. And we have both of these guys signed for 3 more years.
I like wells, becasue if nothing else, he gives great effort out every night on the court and I can always tell he has left everything he has out there when the game has been completed. This is a major deficit in effort exerted by our other starters everynight out on the court. I also love Bonzi's althelticism.
I am starting to like Martin and Garcia more and more everytime I watch them. I like their raw athletiscm, tenacious defense (you see garcia's blocks against the hornets) and their effort on rebounding although they both have a lot of work in front of them to improve their overall games.
My point is, especially with our starters, these guys, who on most nights, don't seem to play a lick of defense, display lackluster effort on both sides of the court, either have huge contracts that don't expire for a few years, or have decreased trade value becasue of reocurring injuries. It seems to me that we are going to be rebuilding for years to come and should look forward to lottery picks that may come in and help because which General Manager would be stupid enough to give up any talent for a players who have displayed lackluster effort over and over again and can't play a lick of defense.

 

[piksi]

it will get worse

 

[Wuster]

It will stay as bad as it is for some time to come. My best case scenario has the Kings finishing the season in respectable fashion, perhaps playing .500 ball after the all star break and healthy. They may engineer trades, fire Adelman or whatever, but even so that's my most optimistic projection.

 

[Padrino]

it will get worse

as much as i hate blind negativity, i'm starting to wonder how right you may be. i don't really think it can get much worse, but i don't foresee things getting a whole lot better in the relatively near future, either. i think the kings front office is discovering how much they have overvalued their "core." the kings may not be able to get what they "need" by trading away any or all of their overrated "big three." and everybody else is just trade bait that may or may not yield positive results in a trade situation. if the kings front office ever does get serious about rebuilding--as in, not on the fly--then i imagine it will take longer than it did to build the previous kings contender. unless, of course, petrie can pull some real magic out of his *** again. i think his luck's runnin' out, though.

 

[John Galt]

It will stay as bad as it is for some time to come. My best case scenario has the Kings finishing the season in respectable fashion, perhaps playing .500 ball after the all star break and healthy. They may engineer trades, fire Adelman or whatever, but even so that's my most optimistic projection.

I feel the brightest outlook for the Kings would be if they extend Adelman for 3-5 years, and get rid of Peja and Brad no matter what it takes to get that done. Those two moves would create a brighter outlook in my opinion. It would be a TRUE rebuild. They would lose some games, but I feel that Brad and Peja are huge ankleweights to this team. Their extreme mental fragility (whining, pouting, or both) is a huge drag. And having Rick as a lame duck makes this an automatic throwaway season. Extend him or fire him - I'm surprised the Mafools aren't acutely aware of how bad their PJax overtures in the offseason damaged morale on this team. They need to fix that one way or the other.

Still in "destruct" mode - not rebuild mode yet.

 

[SacTownKid]

Here is a "true" rebuild.

#1 change the coach. Always starts this way, and for a reason. You get a new coach and that coach decides what the style of game the team will play. Then that coach decides what players on the current team will fit into his system and make the moves necessary to bring in the players that do.

You can change all of the players you want, but Rick Adelman is going to do what he does. Right or wrong, its just simply what he does. He has had a lot of success with it in the past so don't look for any change from him.

ON ONE TRUE POSITIVE NOTE:

IMO we actually do have quite a bit of flexibility. We don't have any guys that I can think of that are a) a cap crippling contract, and are grossly overpaid, and b) have absolutely no value in the league.

I am very thankful that we are in the current situation we are. At least we have options. Why do you think most teams don't want to get over the tax threshold? Because by doing so you give up almost any ability to "quick fix" your situation. Unless you have a rich owner that doesn't value money, a la Mark Cuban. He has even admitted to losing money in his franchise. The last couple of years he has basically swapped talent with huge contracts for others hoping to find the right fit chemistry wise.

We have many options so don't fear. I think this thing could be turned around fairly quickly and a new direction could be taken. Of course that all depends on what the Maloofs think about the situation. Blow it up, or trade for some of the "right" talent combined with that new direction. I think they have a lot of options.

More than talent or a superstar, I just think the ground underneath everyone needs to become solid. Everything is in a state of limbo coaching wise and that creates an unstable atmoshpere, one that is clearly translating into on court production, or lack thereof.

 

[Padrino]

Here is a "true" rebuild.

#1 change the coach. Always starts this way, and for a reason. You get a new coach and that coach decides what the style of game the team will play. Then that coach decides what players on the current team will fit into his system and make the moves necessary to bring in the players that do.

You can change all of the players you want, but Rick Adelman is going to do what he does. Right or wrong, its just simply what he does. He has had a lot of success with it in the past so don't look for any change from him.

ON ONE TRUE POSITIVE NOTE:

IMO we actually do have quite a bit of flexibility. We don't have any guys that I can think of that are a) a cap crippling contract, and are grossly overpaid, and b) have absolutely no value in the league.

mike bibby & brad miller

 

[VF21]

I feel the brightest outlook for the Kings would be if they extend Adelman for 3-5 years, and get rid of Peja and Brad no matter what it takes to get that done. Those two moves would create a brighter outlook in my opinion. It would be a TRUE rebuild. They would lose some games, but I feel that Brad and Peja are huge ankleweights to this team. Their extreme mental fragility (whining, pouting, or both) is a huge drag. And having Rick as a lame duck makes this an automatic throwaway season. Extend him or fire him - I'm surprised the Mafools aren't acutely aware of how bad their PJax overtures in the offseason damaged morale on this team. They need to fix that one way or the other.

Still in "destruct" mode - not rebuild mode yet.

Sorry. I've been a Rick Adelman fan for years, but I strongly disagree about extending him. It's clear to me he's simply burnt out. He's tried to do the impossible for so long around here that he's simply run out of tricks to pull out of his hat. He doesn't focus on defense and the notion of parking players in the corner like lampposts to wait for someone to pass them the ball just defies logic - AND it's not working.

I do agree the Maloofs messed up big time by sneaking around talking to Jackson's agent. And they made it worse by not ever officially apologizing to Adelman...

 

[VF21]

IMO we actually do have quite a bit of flexibility. We don't have any guys that I can think of that are a) a cap crippling contract, and are grossly overpaid, and b) have absolutely no value in the league.

If I have to read that comment one more time, I think I may hurl up my spleen.

FLEXIBILITY is for contortionists. Flexibility in terms of moving contracts is only good IF it actually leads to contracts being moved.

How long are we going to stand by and admit those vaunted flexible pieces are actually "white elephants"? We don't have guys who are cap crippling, grossly overpaid or absolutely of no value. BUT we have guys whose contracts last forever, who aren't valuable enough to be truly desirable by others teams, and who are being paid more than comparable players (Miller and Bibby, as pointed out by Padrino).

If those bleeping flexible pieces were, in fact, so desirable, they would have drawn some interest by now. I cannot recall hearing even ONE rumor about someone really wanting to steal Kenny Thomas, Brian Skinner or Corliss Williamson from us. They are pretty much invisible when you're on other team boards reading about what their members would like to do to improve their teams.

Why? BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT THAT GOOD!!!!!

Face the truth, STK. The Kings right now are not a very good team. They have players with minimal trade value. They have no real bargaining chips to take to the table.

There isn't a quick fix to these problems.

Yes, we need a new coach. We also need a new SF, possibly a new PF, and we definitely need a couple of role players who can come off the bench and do what role players are supposed to do.

If you're really thankful about the position we're currently in, you would have gone nuts with ecstacy at the beginning of the 1990-91 season, when the Kings became the first team in NBA history to have four first-round draft picks. You might want to look that year up in the record books to see how well that worked out for us.

 

[SacTownKid]

mike bibby & brad miller

Well, actually I think ALL basketball players are grossly overpaid. But you have to look at the market value for PG's and C's. By comparison, they are not all that grossly overpaid.

By comparison, Erik Dampier, Raef LaFrentz, Tyson Chandler, Troy Murphy, and Theo Ratiliff make about the same dough if not more than Brad. Its called the "going rate".

Mike Bibby makes far less than Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis, Baron Davis which are PG's I think he is at least near or on par with talent wise.

They say PG's and C's are the hardest positions to fill, which means a lot of excess $$$ is thrown around to fill it.

Doesn't bother me at all.

 

[Padrino]

Well, actually I think ALL basketball players are grossly overpaid. But you have to look at the market value for PG's and C's. By comparison, they are not all that grossly overpaid.

By comparison, Erik Dampier, Raef LaFrentz, Tyson Chandler, Troy Murphy, and Theo Ratiliff make about the same dough if not more than Brad. Its called the "going rate".

Mike Bibby makes far less than Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis, Baron Davis which are PG's I think he is at least near or on par with talent wise.

They say PG's and C's are the hardest positions to fill, which means a lot of excess $$$ is thrown around to fill it.

Doesn't bother me at all.

easy to say when it aint your money. bibby's a shooting guard in a point guard's body and miller doesn't own any position whatsoever. neither necessarily does the things they are supposed to for their respective positions, so i find them to be overvalued and thus overpaid.

 

[VF21]

Well, actually I think ALL basketball players are grossly overpaid. But you have to look at the market value for PG's and C's. By comparison, they are not all that grossly overpaid.

By comparison, Erik Dampier, Raef LaFrentz, Tyson Chandler, Troy Murphy, and Theo Ratiliff make about the same dough if not more than Brad. Its called the "going rate".

Mike Bibby makes far less than Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis, Baron Davis which are PG's I think he is at least near or on par with talent wise.

They say PG's and C's are the hardest positions to fill, which means a lot of excess $$$ is thrown around to fill it.

Doesn't bother me at all.

It's not about whether or not all players are overpaid.

It's about how willing the Maloofs were to spend and spend big to try and build a team that could get us to the WCF and beyond.

Unfortunately, it didn't work. Now we're stuck with some pretty hefty contracts ... and those are murder when you're really trying to rebuild, especially if you aren't really that sure you want to rebuild your team around any of the guys pulling down the mega bucks.

It might not bother you, but I'm sure it makes Petrie's job a lot tougher. And it keeps us from going into the Free Agency supermarket and being able to fill up our cart with the Best Buys.

 

[SacTownKid]

If I have to read that comment one more time, I think I may hurl up my spleen.

FLEXIBILITY is for contortionists. Flexibility in terms of moving contracts is only good IF it actually leads to contracts being moved.

How long are we going to stand by and admit those vaunted flexible pieces are actually "white elephants"? We don't have guys who are cap crippling, grossly overpaid or absolutely of no value. BUT we have guys whose contracts last forever, who aren't valuable enough to be truly desirable by others teams, and who are being paid more than comparable players (Miller and Bibby, as pointed out by Padrino).

If those bleeping flexible pieces were, in fact, so desirable, they would have drawn some interest by now. I cannot recall hearing even ONE rumor about someone really wanting to steal Kenny Thomas, Brian Skinner or Corliss Williamson from us. They are pretty much invisible when you're on other team boards reading about what their members would like to do to improve their teams.

Why? BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT THAT GOOD!!!!!

Face the truth, STK. The Kings right now are not a very good team. They have players with minimal trade value. They have no real bargaining chips to take to the table.

There isn't a quick fix to these problems.

Yes, we need a new coach. We also need a new SF, possibly a new PF, and we definitely need a couple of role players who can come off the bench and do what role players are supposed to do.

If you're really thankful about the position we're currently in, you would have gone nuts with ecstacy at the beginning of the 1990-91 season, when the Kings became the first team in NBA history to have four first-round draft picks. You might want to look that year up in the record books to see how well that worked out for us.

I stand by my belief in saying that at least our contracts CAN be moved. As in at least for an expiring deal to actually "blow it up". Some teams do not even have the flex...(oops, I don't want you to have to spend the rest of the day cleaning spleen out of your keyboard ), chance to start over. And I agree with the statement above, and like I said its all up to Maloofs as to where that leads.

Truth is, you and I don't know what our players are worth to other teams. We don't have the GM's phone wrapped around our ears. All I can do is form my opinion by looking at other teams, and seeing what they have. I assume you were speaking of Kenny Thomas' deal in regards to the deal that lasts forever.

And I'll leave you with this:

http://www.hoopshype.com/salaries/new_york.htm

See it could always be worse.

 

[SacTownKid]

easy to say when it aint your money. bibby's a shooting guard in a point guard's body and miller doesn't own any position whatsoever. neither necessarily does the things they are supposed to for their respective positions, so i find them to be overvalued and thus overpaid.

Not my gripe, my question is, WHO ISN'T!!!

 

[KP]

Here is the problem, we DO have players that have huge overpriced contracts for their trade value. Another problem is, all of their trade value is dropping with each game. We are NOT in any kind of good position... either to win games or contract wise. We need to get lucky and Petrie needs to school someone again, but at this point I no longer believe he can.

 

[SacTownKid]

It's not about whether or not all players are overpaid.

It's about how willing the Maloofs were to spend and spend big to try and build a team that could get us to the WCF and beyond.

Unfortunately, it didn't work. Now we're stuck with some pretty hefty contracts ... and those are murder when you're really trying to rebuild, especially if you aren't really that sure you want to rebuild your team around any of the guys pulling down the mega bucks.

It might not bother you, but I'm sure it makes Petrie's job a lot tougher. And it keeps us from going into the Free Agency supermarket and being able to fill up our cart with the Best Buys.

I'd bet money that John Paxson would be down for a Brad Miller/Kenny Thomas for Tim Thomas swap any day of the week.

 

[VF21]

I stand by my belief in saying that at least our contracts CAN be moved. As in at least for an expiring deal to actually "blow it up". Some teams do not even have the flex...(oops, I don't want you to have to spend the rest of the day cleaning spleen out of your keyboard ), chance to start over. And I agree with the statement above, and like I said its all up to Maloofs as to where that leads.

Truth is, you and I don't know what our players are worth to other teams. We don't have the GM's phone wrapped around our ears. All I can do is form my opinion by looking at other teams, and seeing what they have. I assume you were speaking of Kenny Thomas' deal in regards to the deal that lasts forever.

And I'll leave you with this:

http://www.hoopshype.com/salaries/new_york.htm

See it could always be worse.

How LONG do we have to wait to see the results of that valuable flexibility? It's already cost us this season. If we cannot move any of them before next year, will you still be worshipping at the feet of the Flexibility idol?

Truth is, I do have a pretty good idea of what our players are worth to other teams. Do you ever visit other team boards? I do, frequently. And I look at what they're saying about our team. AND - without exception - what I'm NOT seeing is anyone talk about wanting to trade for Kenny, Brian or Corliss. NOT ONE TEAM. You can say it's just the fans, but look at our trade thread. See how many different players and combinations are being discussed. The same is true for other boards. The fact that I haven't found even ONE trade proposal that mentions those three - or virtually anyone else on the Kings, for that matter - speaks volumes even if you're not willing to listen to it.

The first step in recovering from an addiction is admitting you have a problem. The first step in really understanding what the Kings are going to be facing the next few months is to admit we're in a bad situation.

I love this team. I bleed purple and I am one of the most die-hard fans you'll ever meet. That doesn't mean I can't be realistic. There's a time when the purple-colored glasses have to come off at least long enough to face reality.

We are NOT one quick trade away from being good again. It's not gonna happen. And that's okay... We'll survive. Every single team in the league has had to go down the hill before they can come back up again.

 

[SacTownKid]

Rarely do you see trades for guys like Kenny, Brian, or Corliss on fan forums. Yet, guys like that are traded all the time. Go figure.

Another thing, I agree, we are not on top of the world. But I do see escape routes. Heck, we don't know even what Geoff Petries intentions are. For all I know, he may have never had any plan to unload any of our players. This is Geoff Petrie we are talking about, most times we won't know until its already over.

 

[BMiller52]

How LONG do we have to wait to see the results of that valuable flexibility? It's already cost us this season. If we cannot move any of them before next year, will you still be worshipping at the feet of the Flexibility idol?

Truth is, I do have a pretty good idea of what our players are worth to other teams. Do you ever visit other team boards? I do, frequently. And I look at what they're saying about our team. AND - without exception - what I'm NOT seeing is anyone talk about wanting to trade for Kenny, Brian or Corliss. NOT ONE TEAM. You can say it's just the fans, but look at our trade thread. See how many different players and combinations are being discussed. The same is true for other boards. The fact that I haven't found even ONE trade proposal that mentions those three - or virtually anyone else on the Kings, for that matter - speaks volumes even if you're not willing to listen to it.

The first step in recovering from an addiction is admitting you have a problem. The first step in really understanding what the Kings are going to be facing the next few months is to admit we're in a bad situation.

I love this team. I bleed purple and I am one of the most die-hard fans you'll ever meet. That doesn't mean I can't be realistic. There's a time when the purple-colored glasses have to come off at least long enough to face reality.

We are NOT one quick trade away from being good again. It's not gonna happen. And that's okay... We'll survive. Every single team in the league has had to go down the hill before they can come back up again.

Actually we could be but GP loves his pretty little peja too much so whatever...

 

[VF21]

Oh, please. Pretty little Peja? What do you hope to accomplish with a comment like that?

As far as the logic of your statement, without the silliness, that's not true. Peja has very little trade value right now. He's habitually injured, he's not shooting well when he's on the court, and he's a big question mark. He's in a contract year; he should be lighting it up, doing everything he possibly can to boost his market value.

Instead, he's apparently suffering from a chronic back problem. Teams aren't in a hurry to trade for players with back problems.

OUr problems go much, much deeper than trading Peja.

 

[BMiller52]

Yeah, it comes down to trading everyone besides bonzi.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Bah, trade Wells, too, if we can get talent in return...

Gawen isn't special; if Webber wasn't untouchable, then nobody should be.

 

[Kev.in]

realistically we are stuck with watching this same team for a couple years at the least.

I don't think that's a given. I do think that if we re-up with Peja than it is almost a certainty that we become the New York Knicks of the Western Conference.

I've heard people say that we should just wait and get lottery picks and let Geoff rebuild this team, but is 1 decent lottery pick plugged in with the rest of the players we currently have going to dig us out of the deep hold we've dug ourselves into and back to the formiddable team we deserve as fans.

If that one lotto pick addresses our weakest areas, then yes. Look at the Suns. They drafted Amare, stunk it up and only won 29 games, made some moves and then as he developed into a star they turned into a 60 win team. Obviously, that's the best-case scenario and there were other moves but without that pick they've basically got nothing.

Brad Miller, arguably the slowest center/powerforward in the league, and one of the worst post defenders is signed through 2009-2010 season.
Bibby, one of the worst defensive point guards in the game, even though I still love him to death for all of his clutch shots in the past, is signed for 3 0r 4 more years.
Peja, who I used to think was at least a decent defender, only seems to help this team anymore if and when he has his shooting touch. My biggest problem with him is that the guy is a weakling who can't even play with the most minor of injuries.

They obviously aren't good enough as a "core" group and at least one has to go (if not two). If the Kings front office doesn't see that or can't get it done, then we're looking at lottery teams for at least the rest of the decade. The good news is that Brad Miller is still a good center, lots of teams are still hurting for good bigs and Peja's contract will be up soon so he could be dealt as an expiring contract or in a sign-and-trade.

Thomas and Sar are bascially the same inside post threat with decent shots from around 15 feet with decent rebounding ability but nothing that blows opponents aways. And we have both of these guys signed for 3 more years.

The Shareef signing isn't looking that good, because he doesn't add much and the more he plays the lower Thomas' value gets. This is the roughest part of the roster. The fact that we have all these power forwards and none of them can really play the position right doesn't sit well with me. This has to be addressed immediately. There aren't any star power forwards on the block, so that means the draft. There is a pretty solid pool of big men in the 2006 draft, so this could end up being the easiest position to address.

I like wells, becasue if nothing else, he gives great effort out every night on the court and I can always tell he has left everything he has out there when the game has been completed. This is a major deficit in effort exerted by our other starters everynight out on the court. I also love Bonzi's althelticism.

He's definitely a keeper, unless the unlikely scenario comes up that he could be part of a trade to get a legitimate superstar. I think he represents what this team needs to become. Hopefully the Kings don't have to overpay to keep him.

I am starting to like Martin and Garcia more and more everytime I watch them. I like their raw athletiscm, tenacious defense (you see garcia's blocks against the hornets) and their effort on rebounding although they both have a lot of work in front of them to improve their overall games.

They're worth keeping and we can actually give them time to develop, unlike the last swingman with potential that we had.

My point is, especially with our starters, these guys, who on most nights, don't seem to play a lick of defense, display lackluster effort on both sides of the court, either have huge contracts that don't expire for a few years, or have decreased trade value becasue of reocurring injuries. It seems to me that we are going to be rebuilding for years to come and should look forward to lottery picks that may come in and help because which General Manager would be stupid enough to give up any talent for a players who have displayed lackluster effort over and over again and can't play a lick of defense.

I feel the same way. Petrie has been patient and right now it's not working, so he's going to have to show more patience. These guys can play better and the league will change over the next few months. A few lottery picks wouldn't be the worst thing anyway, especially with O.J. Mayo and Greg Oden on the horizon.

It looks bad, but not as bad as it was looking in the early 90s or in '97-'98 when they only won 27 games and had even less pieces to trade.

 

[HndsmCelt]

Bah, trade Wells, too, if we can get talent in return...

Gawen isn't special; if Webber wasn't untouchable, then nobody should be.

Yup no one on this roster is or should be untouchable... with very few exceptions you have to trade tallent to get tallent. As noted else where this is a horrible year to be looking for great players in the draft or off of the FA market, so it's time to make a few deals.

 

[piksi]

Yup no one on this roster is or should be untouchable... with very few exceptions you have to trade tallent to get tallent. As noted else where this is a horrible year to be looking for great players in the draft or off of the FA market, so it's time to make a few deals.

Well, it is the summer when Vlad Radmanovic will be on of the best FAs out there. NBA sucks!!!

 

[BawLa]

We are NOT one quick trade away from being good again. It's not gonna happen. And that's okay... We'll survive. Every single team in the league has had to go down the hill before they can come back up again.

One quick trade would not neccessarily make us good but it could help us to begin heading in the right direction. I think that trade might just be for a new coach. I love Adelman but I think he flopped on us one year too late. We missed out on Phil, Flip, and Larry. Oh well. We are likely to be stuck with many of these players for the next few years, but we are not stuck with RA.

We might be able to bring in a new coach that could exploit our talents. We have good players and maybe a new system could help our situation. At least if a new coach were able to exploit some of our players' talents then those players would become more tradeable. I don't presume to know who that coach is, but that does not mean he doesn't exist.

 

[VF21]

Dude, you don't trade coaches. You fire coaches...or allow them to walk away when their contract is up.

(The comment of mine you're quoting was in reference to the continued and mistaken belief by some around here that we are ONE GOOD TRADE away from regaining our status as a really good on the edge of elite team. That is not going to happen. There simply isn't one trade that can repair all the broken pieces.)

And excuse me? I do not think we missed out on Flip, Phil or Larry. If anything, I personally think we dodged bullets on each and every one of them. There are coaches out there I would like to see come to the Kings. Saunders, Jackson and Brown -which sounds more like a sleazy law firm, BTW - aren't among them.

A new coach at this point isn't going to make us a better team. The pieces still won't fit.

 

[BawLa]

Dude, you don't trade coaches. You fire coaches...or allow them to walk away when their contract is up.

(The comment of mine you're quoting was in reference to the continued and mistaken belief by some around here that we are ONE GOOD TRADE away from regaining our status as a really good on the edge of elite team. That is not going to happen. There simply isn't one trade that can repair all the broken pieces.)

And excuse me? I do not think we missed out on Flip, Phil or Larry. If anything, I personally think we dodged bullets on each and every one of them. There are coaches out there I would like to see come to the Kings. Saunders, Jackson and Brown -which sounds more like a sleazy law firm, BTW - aren't among them.

A new coach at this point isn't going to make us a better team. The pieces still won't fit.

I know you don't trade coaches. In this case I meant fire RA and get someone new.

Flip has turned a defensive minded Detroit team into an offensive juggernaut. Minnesota seems to be doing worse without him. Phil Jackson is making the scrubs in LA look WAY better than they are. And Larry is just starting to turn things around in NY. It will still take a few more years but I expect them to make the playoffs in 07/08 if not sooner.

If we keep RA then we have to get those perfect, specific position players through miracles. I didn't say the pieces here fit but I think that a new coach MIGHT be able to exploit talents that are not being exploited right now. Then when the existing guys have more tradeable contracts we can get the pieces that WILL make us a better team. If we start with a new coach and a new system, we can see which Kings need to stay/go.

Just to clear it up, I agree that we are not one quick trade away from being a contender again. However, I do think that bringing in a new coach is one main step that is key to sparking our rebuilding process.

 

[VF21]

And I'm not averse to bringing in a new coach. The handwriting is pretty much on the wall about that one. I don't think, however, that Petrie is going to fire Adelman while we have 2-3 starters out and not much we can do about it. It just wouldn't look good IMHO.

My feeling is that this year is pretty much over as far as hoping for any kind of miracle recovery. Petrie said he's being patient, which means he's not going to take any actions precipitated on what the press likes to call "knee jerk reactions."

We'll all have to wait and see, of course, but I don't see any kind of shocking changes in the near future. As we get closer to the Feb. 23 deadline, perhaps. But right now it just doesn't seem logical.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Well, it is the summer when Vlad Radmanovic will be on of the best FAs out there.

You, sir, must have a VERY high opinion of Vladimir Radmanovic, because I just looked at RealGM's list of projected free agents for this offseason, and I don't know how up-to-date it is, but if they took last summer's contract signings into account, then I saw nearly two dozen guys that are going to be available that I would give serious consideration/make a serious offer to before I even looked at Radmanovic, including two of his teammates:

Ben Wallace
Al Harrington
Nene Hilario (Restricted)
Jason Terry
Drew Gooden (Restricted)
Bonzi Wells
Matt Harpring
Bobby Jackson
Chris Wilcox (Restricted)
Keith Van Horn
Jared Jeffries (Restricted)
Joel Przybilla
Reggie Evans
Fred Jones (Restricted)
Ronald Murray
Speedy Claxton
Tony Delk
David Wesley
Voshon Lenard
Rasual Butler
Nazr Mohammed
Lorenzen Wright