Favorite free agent signing?

[kingsboi]

For how much cap-space they had they could've done better At least bid and take a shot for Vucevic - yes it might hurt re-signing the younger players in the future, but barring injury it would bring the playoffs into clarity. Plus getting Vucevic also theoretically relieves pressure off the younger players. They probably could've signed Holmes to add too.

I like Vuc, but what I saw from him in the Playoffs was a major turnoff for me. He was paper tissue soft, he couldn't score and he was inefficient. On the biggest stage, he disappeared. Doesn't mean he won't grow and learn from it but I'm fine with Vlade not throwing 100 million his way, the cap space was distributed in a way that gives the Kings flexibility moving forward which is what you want as a small market franchise.

 

[kingdivac]

I like Vuc, but what I saw from him in the Playoffs was a major turnoff for me. He was paper tissue soft, he couldn't score and he was inefficient. On the biggest stage, he disappeared. Doesn't mean he won't grow and learn from it but I'm fine with Vlade not throwing 100 million his way, the cap space was distributed in a way that gives the Kings flexibility moving forward which is what you want as a small market franchise.

I dont think it was distributed too well anyway with Joseph and Barnes both being significantly overpaid. I actually dont know if they took a stab at Vucevic or not. I didn't watch the Magic series but will take your word for it.

 

[NME]

I don't know that we didn't inquire about Vucevic. There was interest around the league, but it seemed like he was set on staying with the Magic.

 

[bajaden]

I agree, the Holmes signing was the top value, with Dedmon and Ariza ok, but Joseph? Just too much for an average PG, a career backup. Pay him less, ok, or stay with Mason and see how Guy pans out for 2nd/3rd string.

This team needs to get better defensively, and Joseph is a step in that direction. He's a very good defender, and he's a good Passer as well. The only negative might be his 3 pt shot. He seldom turns the ball over and he a very good free throw shooter. We needed to get better at the backup position, and we did. If we had to overpay a little, so be it. If we make the playoffs and then make some noise, no one will complain about how much money he's making.

 

[kingdivac]

I don't know that we didn't inquire about Vucevic. There was interest around the league, but it seemed like he was set on staying with the Magic.

I was hoping they'd go full Eurostar with Bojan and Vucevic, and bring Stein back at backup, but none of that happened.

This team needs to get better defensively, and Joseph is a step in that direction. He's a very good defender, and he's a good Passer as well. The only negative might be his 3 pt shot. He seldom turns the ball over and he a very good free throw shooter. We needed to get better at the backup position, and we did. If we had to overpay a little, so be it. If we make the playoffs and then make some noise, no one will complain about how much money he's making.

You're right if they make the playoffs no will pay attention, but these over-payments are cumulative. I would've picked up Rose at half the cost and take my chances with injury and lower minutes. Rose absolutely torched the Kings in a game, that Joseph could only dreamed of doing. You need your backups to score as well, and as mentioned, you are trading defense for offense with Joseph.

 

[ESP47]

You'd have to be above average to be a top-tier backup. For as good as the Holmes signing, that's conversely how bad the Joseph signing was. 3 yr. 21, maybe ok.....3/37! Missed the dartboard.

He's the 26th ranked PG in the league as far as RPM goes and 4th in defensive RPM among PGs. By those numbers, he brings a nearly elite skill that we don't have in perimeter defense and his overall game is somewhere between back end starter and top end backup. So whether you call him average, above average or below average, it doesn't really matter because he helps win games.

Yeah Vlade overpaid him for sure. You won't get an argument there for me but IMO the Barnes signing is much more of a reach than Joseph is. More years and way more money for just "ok" production.

Besides in the end it's not like the Kings are able to ever fully utilize their cap space so both of our complaints will probably be moot in the end.

I'm actually pretty happy to find out that Vlade threw a nice offer over to Beverly. That was a nice attempt there.

 

[SacTownKid]

I highly doubt they'll be top 5 in offense. They don't have a Harden, Kawhi, James, Durant, Giannis etc etc player. The additions we signed don't make this team rise from the 16th rated offense to a top 5 offense. You'd have to sign one of the guys I mentioned in order for that to happen a year later.

The Blazers were a top 5 team. Also, the Clippers were top 10. Spurs and Nuggets as well. I think the Kings have a unique amount of shooting. Even low balling it, they better be well within top 10. The additions will make a slight difference but it's the usage of the 3 ball that might tell the tale.

 

[kingdivac]

He's the 26th ranked PG in the league as far as RPM goes and 4th in defensive RPM among PGs. By those numbers, he brings a nearly elite skill that we don't have in perimeter defense and his overall game is somewhere between back end starter and top end backup. So whether you call him average, above average or below average, it doesn't really matter because he helps win games.

Yeah Vlade overpaid him for sure. You won't get an argument there for me but IMO the Barnes signing is much more of a reach than Joseph is. More years and way more money for just "ok" production.

Besides in the end it's not like the Kings are able to ever fully utilize their cap space so both of our complaints will probably be moot in the end.

I'm actually pretty happy to find out that Vlade threw a nice offer over to Beverly. That was a nice attempt there.

Yes, I would've much rather seen them overpay Beverly moderately than greatly Joseph. Beverly is an elite defender for starters. And I agree both the Barnes the Joseph signings were just poor while the other signings were reasonable. The Holmes signing was very good.

 

[ESP47]

The Blazers were a top 5 team. Also, the Clippers were top 10. Spurs and Nuggets as well. I think the Kings have a unique amount of shooting. Even low balling it, they better be well within top 10. The additions will make a slight difference but it's the usage of the 3 ball that might tell the tale.

Well the Blazers have an elite PG in Lillard and one of the best 2nd fiddles in McCollum so that doesn't surprise me. The Clippers were 5th in points but 25th in points given up. I prefer to use the RTG stat because it doesn't rely so heavily on pace. Otherwise every Alvin Gentry team would look like a world beater because his teams are often up near the top in points per game. Anyway, the Clips ORTG was 9th and DRTG was 21st which actually kind of surprises me because I thought their defense was better than that. I think it's realistic the Kings can creep up into Clippers territory this next year barring any huge injuries.

Yes, I would've much rather seen them overpay Beverly moderately than greatly Joseph. Beverly is an elite defender for starters. And I agree both the Barnes the Joseph signings were just poor while the other signings were reasonable. The Holmes signing was very good.

I'm right there with you but in the end I don't mind it too much because there weren't many options left and you can't go into the regular season expecting to make an impact trade before the deadline. I would have offered Satoransky the contract we gave Joseph but he was probably eying a starting job. Other than that we might have just been left with Yogi as the backup and a burning hole in our pocket so I'm not too worked up about it. At least he's a good solid fit on the court and it's not a total head scratcher like the moves the Knicks were making.

 

[kingdivac]

I'm right there with you but in the end I don't mind it too much because there weren't many options left and you can't go into the regular season expecting to make an impact trade before the deadline. I would have offered Satoransky the contract we gave Joseph but he was probably eying a starting job. Other than that we might have just been left with Yogi as the backup and a burning hole in our pocket so I'm not too worked up about it. At least he's a good solid fit on the court and it's not a total head scratcher like the moves the Knicks were making.

To be accurate, we really won't know who is the solid fit, and who the odd-man out. They signed 5 players, and statistically 1 or 2 of them may be relegated to mop-up even given a 10-man rotation. That's one thing I liked about Joerger was his leeway in using 10 players. Did I say I wasn't too keen on Joerger's firing either? That's off-topic. Anyway, walton deserves a chance just like all the Free Agents. But first its the NFL (for me at least).

 

[Pizzaguy93]

Love the Ariza signing. Shows legitimate progress in the way people view this franchise

 

[Okas2001]

It would have been dedmon if he were a couple of years younger, if he were 26-27 I'd be delighted. I guess he's a stop gap. It's got to be CoJo and Holmes because of age and you know what you're getting and the latter could be a real spark plug. Barnes is what he is, good but not great at anything.

 

[ParniValjak]

To be honest I quite like all 4 signings. Dedmond fits very nicely in what we need from the position without taking away minutes from Bagley and Giles.

Barnes fits the team nicely and when you look around at the contracts handed out, it’s nowhere near as bad a contract as people we complaining about. Declining numbers are an added bonus for us.

Contrary to popular belief, I quite like the Ariza signing. Exactly the type of veteran we needed as a back up SF. With Barnes and Ariza you can get 48 minutes of very good defense from SF.

Joseph is a great signing for us. Can play on ball and off ball. Can play with any of Fox, Buddy and Bogi easily. Brings hustle and quality minutes at PG.

Holmes is a GREAT signing. Just a young bouncy big with potential. Fits the team style really well and could develop into a very important player for us going forward.

I think we have definitely improved in terms of talent and depth but then again so have many teams in the west. Whether we make the play offs or not will depend on continued improvement from the young players already on the roster more than the free agents we have signed.

I suspect we will look to negotiate extensions with Buddy and Bogi next.

 

[Okas2001]

To be honest I quite like all 4 signings. Dedmond fits very nicely in what we need from the position without taking away minutes from Bagley and Giles.

Barnes fits the team nicely and when you look around at the contracts handed out, it’s nowhere near as bad a contract as people we complaining about. Declining numbers are an added bonus for us.

Contrary to popular belief, I quite like the Ariza signing. Exactly the type of veteran we needed as a back up SF. With Barnes and Ariza you can get 48 minutes of very good defense from SF.

Joseph is a great signing for us. Can play on ball and off ball. Can play with any of Fox, Buddy and Bogi easily. Brings hustle and quality minutes at PG.

Holmes is a GREAT signing. Just a young bouncy big with potential. Fits the team style really well and could develop into a very important player for us going forward.

I think we have definitely improved in terms of talent and depth but then again so have many teams in the west. Whether we make the play offs or not will depend on continued improvement from the young players already on the roster more than the free agents we have signed.

I suspect we will look to negotiate extensions with Buddy and Bogi next.

I have no issues with what we've done from a conceptual standpoint but i still think that 25 million on ariza could have been spent elsewhere.

 

[ParniValjak]

I have no issues with what we've done from a conceptual standpoint but i still think that 25 million on ariza could have been spent elsewhere.

Its partially guaranteed. He still put up 15/6/4 last season. While we don’t expect him to do that he is a great veteran to have on the team on a short contract.

People need to realize that this team obviously puts a lot of emphasis on cap flexibility. In order to have that, the team needs to pay a bit more on the value of the contract per season plus offer than partial guarantee in a final year instead of a team option. I am OK with that. Didn’t Ariza earn $15m last season anyway? Its not like we offered $20m per season. Some $15m in guaranteed money is hardly an overkill.

 

[Entity]

PSA

Corey Joseph, Trevor Ariza and Dedmon are not going to be GoTo guys that we are counting on to give huge production. They are bench and/or role players. Comparing them to the Hill, Randolph, and Afflalo signing is ridiculous. Those 3 were starters and brought in the make a difference. Fox, Hield, Barnes, Bagley, Giles, and Bogi are the main players here. Any ideas of signing a major player this offseason was a flawed thought. That was never going to happen.

 

[Agent23]

PSA

Corey Joseph, Trevor Ariza and Dedmon are not going to be GoTo guys that we are counting on to give huge production. They are bench and/or role players. Comparing them to the Hill, Randolph, and Afflalo signing is ridiculous. Those 3 were starters and brought in the make a difference. Fox, Hield, Barnes, Bagley, Giles, and Bogi are the main players here. Any ideas of signing a major player this offseason was a flawed thought. That was never going to happen.

THANK YOU! Any chance this team has to be good, and I mean real good is on the shoulders of the kids.

 

[Telemachus]

PSA

Corey Joseph, Trevor Ariza and Dedmon are not going to be GoTo guys that we are counting on to give huge production. They are bench and/or role players. Comparing them to the Hill, Randolph, and Afflalo signing is ridiculous. Those 3 were starters and brought in the make a difference. Fox, Hield, Barnes, Bagley, Giles, and Bogi are the main players here. Any ideas of signing a major player this offseason was a flawed thought. That was never going to happen.

Having a deep bench can make a big difference between winning and losing. Part of the reason the Kings got off to a good start last year was because their bench played at a high level the first half of the season. As injuries (and Bogie slumped) in the second half, wins became harder to come by.

With the addition of Dedmon and Bagly to the starting lineup, it gets stronger IMO. All the other additions greatly strengthen our bench. Hopefully this will lead them to more wins.

 

[kingsfan1984]

Im expecting a big jump from Bagley next year, good jump from Fox and Giles, Bogs will look MUCH improved being able to focus on olaying the 2 and not flexing to the 3 or having to play pg etc. Hield i think can improve a little more with his handles.

That equals playoffs. We will be battling for a 4th or 5th seed next year.

Put it in the BOOK

 

[Volblorx8634]

Im expecting a big jump from Bagley next year, good jump from Fox and Giles, Bogs will look MUCH improved being able to focus on olaying the 2 and not flexing to the 3 or having to play pg etc. Hield i think can improve a little more with his handles.

That equals playoffs. We will be battling for a 4th or 5th seed next year.

Put it in the BOOK

I think 4th or 5th seed is a little optimistic. I'm hoping for the strides from the players you mentioned and hoping for fighting for a 6-8 seed is a bit more realistic. 4-5 seed would be awesome though, so I hope you are right!

 

[The_Jamal]

I have no issues with what we've done from a conceptual standpoint but i still think that 25 million on ariza could have been spent elsewhere.

Ariza was the bottom-tier signing for me as well, but relying on him for 30+ MPG as the Suns and Wizards were and relying on him for 15-20 MPG as we will are entirely different things. He's not starter quality anymore, but he can space the floor, still average on defense and can flex at the 3/4 and is decent depth if Barnes gets hurt.

I mean, Iman Shumpert, Justin Jackson, Troy Williams and Corey Brewer played 2600 combined minutes for us last season. Giving all those minutes to Barnes and Ariza is a pretty significant upgrade even if they're just "average" NBA players.

 

[NewArena]

We didn't sign any franchise cornerstones but you take a massively improved bench and combine it with a hopeful improvement in Fox, Bagley, Bogi and Giles and you have a team that could sniff the playoffs depending on what happens with the other teams in the west. Buddy doesn't even need to improve, just hold pat. Bagley and Giles didn't play winning basketball at all last year but if they can just improve up to average, we will see a good sized bump in wins. The team went from only having Fox, WCS and Koufos as above average defenders to Fox, Joseph, Ariza, Dedmon and Holmes. I don't see teams averaging 115pts against us again this year.

Last year the team was 16th in ORTG and 20th in DRTG. I can see a nice step up to 10th ORTG and 15th DRTG which should be good enough to make the playoffs.

Not to mention all the games Bagley and Bogie missed

 

[King Baller]

To be honest I quite like all 4 signings. Dedmond fits very nicely in what we need from the position without taking away minutes from Bagley and Giles.

Barnes fits the team nicely and when you look around at the contracts handed out, it’s nowhere near as bad a contract as people we complaining about. Declining numbers are an added bonus for us.

Contrary to popular belief, I quite like the Ariza signing. Exactly the type of veteran we needed as a back up SF. With Barnes and Ariza you can get 48 minutes of very good defense from SF.

Joseph is a great signing for us. Can play on ball and off ball. Can play with any of Fox, Buddy and Bogi easily. Brings hustle and quality minutes at PG.

Holmes is a GREAT signing. Just a young bouncy big with potential. Fits the team style really well and could develop into a very important player for us going forward.

I think we have definitely improved in terms of talent and depth but then again so have many teams in the west. Whether we make the play offs or not will depend on continued improvement from the young players already on the roster more than the free agents we have signed.

I suspect we will look to negotiate extensions with Buddy and Bogi next.

I pretty much agree on all points.

 

[mac]

Ariza was the bottom-tier signing for me as well, but relying on him for 30+ MPG as the Suns and Wizards were and relying on him for 15-20 MPG as we will are entirely different things. He's not starter quality anymore, but he can space the floor, still average on defense and can flex at the 3/4 and is decent depth if Barnes gets hurt.

I mean, Iman Shumpert, Justin Jackson, Troy Williams and Corey Brewer played 2600 combined minutes for us last season. Giving all those minutes to Barnes and Ariza is a pretty significant upgrade even if they're just "average" NBA players.

Ah yes our dear friend JJ.. just replace a third of his open bricks and we probably win another 5 games

 

[macadocious]

Ah yes our dear friend JJ.. just replace a third of his open bricks and we probably win another 5 games

That magical player that shoots 56% from 3?

 

[Nokidding]

I like Vuc, but what I saw from him in the Playoffs was a major turnoff for me. He was paper tissue soft, he couldn't score and he was inefficient. On the biggest stage, he disappeared. Doesn't mean he won't grow and learn from it but I'm fine with Vlade not throwing 100 million his way, the cap space was distributed in a way that gives the Kings flexibility moving forward which is what you want as a small market franchise.

To be fair he was getting doubled relentlessly and couldn't much with what he had around him, I thought the Magic gave the Raps a very good series despite being 4-1 losers. Marc Gasol had a number of games where Joel Embied was held in check far worse.

 

[Gary]

Harrison Barnes for sure. He's the SF we need. Allows us to keep Bogs on the 2nd team where he can come in for SF/SG/PG. Wouldn't be surprised this year if Barnes put up 18ppg 6rpg 2apg on 40%+ 3pt shooting and 85% FT shooting. This is exactly what we need.. As for Dedmon, I really want to like him and think he will fit in but I worry that he's padding stats on a bad team with an allstar (future allstar) PG giving him as many looks as he wants. So my #2 would be Richaun Holmes. Dude can score.. In bunches. Most 16mpg players don't put up anything close the the numbers he puts up. I am excited to give him more than 16mpg and see what he can do with it. Dedmon is #3. I love Trae Young so I watched Dedmon as well. He did well in Atlanta so I will give him the benefit of the doubt. I still would rather have WCS over Dedmon, but hopefully he can prove me wrong.

Ariza and Joseph are #4 / #5. I don't see us slowing down much so defenders in this situation aren't as important with a run and gin style of play a lot of teams go with.. Which is why I LOVED me some WCS. He altered so many passes and caused a lot of turnovers on the opposition. The almost perfect type of center for the team we were building. Not saying he was perfect but that type of center was more valuable to us than a plodding center that jogs back and forth on the court. Again, I am not saying WCS was perfect or an exact fit, but that type of center is the type I love to see on fast break teams.

 

[VF21]

I like them all, but I'm especially excited to see how Dedmon will fit with our young core. We're gonna have a whole lot of fun.

 

[kingsboi]

To be fair he was getting doubled relentlessly and couldn't much with what he had around him, I thought the Magic gave the Raps a very good series despite being 4-1 losers. Marc Gasol had a number of games where Joel Embied was held in check far worse.

no need for double teams when you have Gasol on you one on one. I mean, he shot 36% from the field, 23% from three and nearly 12 shot attempts for being their number one. Just not going to get it done. Magic had no choice but to re-sign him but even they don't believe he is their number one. That player is not on their roster at the moment.

 

[Nokidding]

no need for double teams when you have Gasol on you one on one. I mean, he shot 36% from the field, 23% from three and nearly 12 shot attempts for being their number one. Just not going to get it done. Magic had no choice but to re-sign him but even they don't believe he is their number one. That player is not on their roster at the moment.

They were doubling him the entire series with Gasol is what I'm saying