Free Agency has started !!

#31
Man oh man the new CBA doesn't seem to have slowed down the crazy offers at all. What that means for us as normal is that we just have to keep our head down and concentrate on just trying not to lose any of our own guys until the frenzy is over. Then like a lowly scavenger we can come creeping out afterward to see if we can't steal some leftover scraps.
And this has been our story for several years now. All Petrie had come-up for us are over-payed left-over scraps.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#40
This already is frustrating to watch.

1) Seeing team put a premium on defending with Hibbert/Asik offers.

2) Seeing the market value for bigs being set and JT will most likely get a substancial offer.

3) Even a team like Minn is rumored to be after Brandon Roy, Jamal Crawford, Greg Steisma and Batum. That's aggressive and wanting to improve.
What is your freaking deal with JT. You constantly hammer away at not signing him. I simply don't get it. He was one of our most productive players last season, and yet you just want to let him walk, and use our bad signings as an example of why. One has nothing to do with the other. I also don't get this frustration over no news from the Kings orginization. Today is the first day of freeagency for gods sake. Am I going to have to read this crap from now till training camp. I think we all get the idea that the Maloofs are no longer rich. But frankly, after a while, its gets a little annoying to have post after post referring to it. Hell, why don't we all just shoot ourselves, or find a different team to root for.

Here's a great idea. Lets just let JT walk and pursue Kirilenko or Batum or Prince, etc. and end up signing none of them, and thusly, end up with freaking nothing. Hows that for some outstanding logic!!!!! Boy, I'm certainly looking forward to a rotation of Cuz, Hayes and Robinson, instead of Cuz, Jt, and Robinson. I bet our bench will lead the NBA in rebounds with Hayes leading the way...
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#42
Man oh man the new CBA doesn't seem to have slowed down the crazy offers at all. What that means for us as normal is that we just have to keep our head down and concentrate on just trying not to lose any of our own guys until the frenzy is over. Then like a lowly scavenger we can come creeping out afterward to see if we can't steal some leftover scraps.

Asik -- 3pts 5rebs -- $8mil
Hibbert -- 13pts 9rebs -- MAX
Batum -- 11pts 4reb -- $12mil

and so it goes. The good news is if this keeps up by the end of the summer John Salmons won't have a bad contract anymore.
You beat me to it. I was just going to say that Salmons contract may look a lot more tradable when all the smoke clears. It looks like the best way to fill our hole at SF might be to find a gem thats been overlooked on someone's bench. Someone that really didn't get a fair shake and changing teams might just help him blossom.
 
#43
What is your freaking deal with JT. You constantly hammer away at not signing him. I simply don't get it. He was one of our most productive players last season, and yet you just want to let him walk, and use our bad signings as an example of why. One has nothing to do with the other. I also don't get this frustration over no news from the Kings orginization. Today is the first day of freeagency for gods sake. Am I going to have to read this crap from now till training camp. I think we all get the idea that the Maloofs are no longer rich. But frankly, after a while, its gets a little annoying to have post after post referring to it. Hell, why don't we all just shoot ourselves, or find a different team to root for.

Here's a great idea. Lets just let JT walk and pursue Kirilenko or Batum or Prince, etc. and end up signing none of them, and thusly, end up with freaking nothing. Hows that for some outstanding logic!!!!! Boy, I'm certainly looking forward to a rotation of Cuz, Hayes and Robinson, instead of Cuz, Jt, and Robinson. I bet our bench will lead the NBA in rebounds with Hayes leading the way...
i think our friend is simply saying it might be harder and more expensive to retain jt now
 

rainmaker

Hall of Famer
#44
What is your freaking deal with JT. You constantly hammer away at not signing him. I simply don't get it. He was one of our most productive players last season, and yet you just want to let him walk, and use our bad signings as an example of why. One has nothing to do with the other. I also don't get this frustration over no news from the Kings orginization. Today is the first day of freeagency for gods sake. Am I going to have to read this crap from now till training camp. I think we all get the idea that the Maloofs are no longer rich. But frankly, after a while, its gets a little annoying to have post after post referring to it. Hell, why don't we all just shoot ourselves, or find a different team to root for.

Here's a great idea. Lets just let JT walk and pursue Kirilenko or Batum or Prince, etc. and end up signing none of them, and thusly, end up with freaking nothing. Hows that for some outstanding logic!!!!! Boy, I'm certainly looking forward to a rotation of Cuz, Hayes and Robinson, instead of Cuz, Jt, and Robinson. I bet our bench will lead the NBA in rebounds with Hayes leading the way...
I explained it in full in a response to you in kings rap. How about having the decency to reply given I took the time to write out exactly how I feel? Otherwise we get this, where you act like you know how I feel without acknowledging it and jumping to assumptions. Why even take the time to post how I feel if you simply ignore it, and launch accusations while misrepresenting how I feel?

That post you just quoted doesn't say I don't want to resign JT, does it? How about you take the knot out of your panties and actually read what I've written instead of jumping to conclusions? All that post refers to regarding JT is that the market price for bigs is being set and JT might be expensive. Unless I'm freaking blind, where did I post I don't want to resign JT?

I have said in a response to you which you have yet to respond to and happily ignore, conveniently, that I'd offer JT 5M. I've also said I'd be afraid to offer 7-9M as it might handicap us elsewhere. Guess what, you've said you'd have to think about anything over 6M for JT. So, we're not far off, yet you'd rather sit here ***** and moan, ignore my posts which state exactly how I feel, and instead fabricate some argument about me not wanting JT at all. For someone who complain about arguments around here, you sure like to start them.

Now, I wouldn't be surprised if you now do what you did last time I responded in detail, which is log off, come back a couple days later, act like I never stated how I feel, and start another argument.
 
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bajaden

Hall of Famer
#45
Realistically we knew Batum was going to get $12-14 million a year which means Minnesota has actually set the low end here. He's the exact combination of production and potential that every team is looking for. Whoever ups the offer to 4 years and $56 million is going to sign him. I've known this for months and still advocated signing him. The advantage for us is that we already have Robinson, Evans, Cousins, Thornton, and Thomas which means we really only need one player -- specifically a SF -- to start making some noise next year and lead the march back to relevance. If you can't bite the bullet and overpay a bit for potential, than you're just not competitive in this league.

Because of age and injury concerns, Gerald Wallace should be a little cheaper. In the $8-10 million per year range sounds about right to me. 4 years at $40 million is a reasonable offer for him and he's not restricted like Batum. But that would require Geoff to go out and sell Wallace (a) on playing in Sacramento -- which might be a tough sell since he's an east coast guy with a family and (b) that Evans/Cousins/Robinson is the foundation for a young playoff team. Petrie has never struck me as a particularly good salesman in the past. So our dreams of solid production at the SF spot are probably going to have to come via trade. Igoudala is probably best-case scenario for us and they did just draft Moe Harkless who duplicates a lot of his skills. Then again, he's got one year left so they might just hang onto him and trade him for picks at the deadline.

[Doing a little quick salary cap math -- Cousins gets a max extension in two years, Evans probably gets a deal close to Batum's with a 5th year because of the bird rights, and Robinson is on a 4 year rookie deal so giving Batum $14 million a year shouldn't affect our ability to re-sign Cousins or Evans provided Salmons gets amnestied and the Maloofs will allow for player salaries to meet or slightly exceed the salary cap. Yeah, I know, I'm laughing at that one too. Trying to rebuild with broke owners sucks! Hmm, since Lowry is still on the trading block, trading Thornton for Lowry would be one way to save some cash.]
According to the new CBA, the max salary for Batum is 12.5 mil. Thats based on his rookie salary and four years in the NBA. So Minny actually is offering the most they can offer. Now maybe you knew that Batum was going to get that much money, but I sure didn't. Batum is a very nice player, but he's not a star, and thats star money. Its only 3 mil less than what Wade makes this next season.

Don't get me wrong, I really, really like Batum, but I don't think he's a locked in proven player yet. So I don't think he's worth that kind of money. Maybe I'm out of touch. Or, maybe I'm sane, and everyone else is nuts!
 
#46
According to the new CBA, the max salary for Batum is 12.5 mil. Thats based on his rookie salary and four years in the NBA. So Minny actually is offering the most they can offer. Now maybe you knew that Batum was going to get that much money, but I sure didn't. Batum is a very nice player, but he's not a star, and thats star money. Its only 3 mil less than what Wade makes this next season.

Don't get me wrong, I really, really like Batum, but I don't think he's a locked in proven player yet. So I don't think he's worth that kind of money. Maybe I'm out of touch. Or, maybe I'm sane, and everyone else is nuts!
Wade took a pay cut to sign LBJ and bosh.

Batums salary is more about hoping he improves in the future more than what he has done.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#47
I explained it in full in a response to you in kings rap. How about having the decency to reply given I took the time to write out exactly how I feel? Otherwise we get this, where you act like you know how I feel without acknowledging it and jumping to assumptions. Why even take the time to post how I feel if you simply ignore it, and launch accusations while misrepresenting how I feel?

That post you just quoted doesn't say I don't want to resign JT, does it? How about you take the knot out of your panties and actually read what I've written instead of jumping to conclusions? All that post refers to regarding JT is that the market price for bigs is being set and JT might be expensive. Unless I'm freaking blind, where did I post I don't want to resign JT?

I have said in a response to you which you have yet to respond to and happily ignore, conveniently, that I'd offer JT 5M. I've also said I'd be afraid to offer 7-9M as it might handicap us elsewhere. Guess what, you've said you'd have to think about anything over 6M for JT. So, we're not far off, yet you'd rather sit here ***** and moan, ignore my posts which state exactly how I feel, and instead fabricate some argument about me not wanting JT at all. For someone who complain about arguments around here, he sure like to start them.
I haven't as yet read the response your referring to. Sorry, but I've had a house full of guests, and contrary to what you might think, I do have another life outside of this fourm. But I will happily go back and read it. All I know is that just about every post I've read from you seems to think that resigning JT is a bad idea. Now if I'm wrong, I apologize. I've always had respect for you, and suddenly I find you full of negative comments. I realize that this whole afair with the Maloofs has left a bad taste in our collective mouths, but at some point we have to stop beating the dead horse. And that doesn't mean I don't agree with the spirit of the comments. It means I get tired of reading the same thing over and over and over again.

I mean if thats what this fourm has come to, then count me out. I'm done! I don't have an interest in doing research to put together intelligent ideas just to have it overwhelmed with nothing but negative comments about the Kings and the Maloofs. Even if I happen to agree with those comments. I get it. Its like being surrounded by the enemy in a foxhole with another soldier whose screaming "Were all going to die". Excuse me for trying to find a little hope out there.

And by the way, this isn't being directed at you. Over the years you've been a positive person, as have I. But I refuse to get sucked into this bandwagon mentality of finding a way to pee on any constructive idea posted, with anti-maloof sentiment.
 

rainmaker

Hall of Famer
#48
Here Baja, copy and pasted. It was in response to you.

I do think he is a priority for the right price. Thing is I think JT has considerable value around the league and I agree with what you've said on his improvement. But, I also think it depends on the situation and different players have more or less value depending on those situations. If we didn't draft TRob and say drafted a SF instead, then JT is probably worth 7M to us as we're incredibly short on a frontline rotation. However with TRob, and given their somewhat similarities in style of play, his value to use becomes less than he might to another team. I jsut don't think we're in a position to risk overpaying another bench player.

Now, stacked up against Chuck, Salmons, Cisco, I'd much rather overpay JT a little compared to them. But given we also have all those guys on the bench, and possibly MT as well, we're paying our bench a crap load while not not solving two glaring problems imo, in a defensive SF or 3rd big rim protector. I like JT a lot, but don't want signing him to negate our ability to fill other needs. If JT were to get an offer for 6M and we match, and I think he'll get a little above that, than were paying JT/Chuck/Salmons/Outlaw ~22M and our glaring problems haven't been touched.

I'm just extremely wary of of the trend of overpaying bench players and handicapping our flexibility to solve other problems. How high to do you personally go with JT? I'd go about 5M, but doubt that would get him as I think he'll get better offers and think he's worth more than that. But given our current situation I don't think he's worth more to us. BTW, I do like the TRob pick, just think whoever is behind him ideally should bring something not as similar to his skillset as JT would. Maybe Asik. Call around and see what we could possibly get in a trade. It's not an easy situation and we're mostly brainstorming here and the smaller window to accept offer sheets compicates things.

Would you rather pay JT 7M or possibly a bit more, and not have room to go after a SF, or would you rather offer AK/GW/Ilyasova 10M, and try to find a cheaper 3rd big than what JT would be? You're right we could end up without JT and be stuck with Chuck/Hassan, or we could go after and resign JT, and be stuck with Salmons/Cisco/Reke at SF. Could go either way and they both effect each other. But I agree with Arcitect that I'd rather stay away from duplicative players, and would rather steer towards variety.



and in response to your above post which I just saw, I don't think this opinion here is negative at all but just my honest opinion which I laid out for you previously. Now, how about calling a truce as we each respect one another, and I'd rather not argue with you. If we disagree at times we disagree but it both comes from us being die hard Kings fans.
 
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#49
According to the new CBA, the max salary for Batum is 12.5 mil. Thats based on his rookie salary and four years in the NBA. So Minny actually is offering the most they can offer. Now maybe you knew that Batum was going to get that much money, but I sure didn't. Batum is a very nice player, but he's not a star, and thats star money. Its only 3 mil less than what Wade makes this next season.

Don't get me wrong, I really, really like Batum, but I don't think he's a locked in proven player yet. So I don't think he's worth that kind of money. Maybe I'm out of touch. Or, maybe I'm sane, and everyone else is nuts!
I have been one of the biggest Batum supporters on this forum, but I agree with you that he is not worth it at 12.5 mil. You absolutely don't overpay for role players especially when you are a small market team. Batum is a starting role player. He is not a star. He doesn't deserve max money. Cousins and Evans (if he shows improvement this next season) are the type of players that deserve max contracts. Let other teams overpay for their roleplayers. Unfortunately the Kings are overpaying for Salmons, Garcia, and Hayes, but hopefully they can learn from their mistakes.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#50
Here Baja, copy and pasted. It was in response to you.

I do think he is a priority for the right price. Thing is I think JT has considerable value around the league and I agree with what you've said on his improvement. But, I also think it depends on the situation and different players have more or less value depending on those situations. If we didn't draft TRob and say drafted a SF instead, then JT is probably worth 7M to us as we're incredibly short on a frontline rotation. However with TRob, and given their somewhat similarities in style of play, his value to use becomes less than he might to another team. I jsut don't think we're in a position to risk overpaying another bench player.

Now, stacked up against Chuck, Salmons, Cisco, I'd much rather overpay JT a little compared to them. But given we also have all those guys on the bench, and possibly MT as well, we're paying our bench a crap load while not not solving two glaring problems imo, in a defensive SF or 3rd big rim protector. I like JT a lot, but don't want signing him to negate our ability to fill other needs. If JT were to get an offer for 6M and we match, and I think he'll get a little above that, than were paying JT/Chuck/Salmons/Outlaw ~22M and our glaring problems haven't been touched.

I'm just extremely wary of of the trend of overpaying bench players and handicapping our flexibility to solve other problems. How high to do you personally go with JT? I'd go about 5M, but doubt that would get him as I think he'll get better offers and think he's worth more than that. But given our current situation I don't think he's worth more to us. BTW, I do like the TRob pick, just think whoever is behind him ideally should bring something not as similar to his skillset as JT would. Maybe Asik. Call around and see what we could possibly get in a trade. It's not an easy situation and we're mostly brainstorming here and the smaller window to accept offer sheets compicates things.

Would you rather pay JT 7M or possibly a bit more, and not have room to go after a SF, or would you rather offer AK/GW/Ilyasova 10M, and try to find a cheaper 3rd big than what JT would be? You're right we could end up without JT and be stuck with Chuck/Hassan, or we could go after and resign JT, and be stuck with Salmons/Cisco/Reke at SF. Could go either way and they both effect each other. But I agree with Arcitect that I'd rather stay away from duplicative players, and would rather steer towards variety.



and in response to your above post which I just saw, I don't think this opinion here is negative at all but just my honest opinion which I laid out for you previously. Now, how about calling a truce as we each respect one another, and I'd rather not argue with you. If we disagree at times we disagree but it both comes from us being die hard Kings fans.
Ha ha! I should have just waited. I went over to Kings rap and copied the same post. Anyway, I apologize for not reading it sooner. Probably my age catching up with me. Anyway, I have a better understanding of where your coming from now. So to be clear, I'm not for resigning JT at any cost. I'm not more willing to over pay for JT than I'am Batum. So if some team wants to offer JT 8 mil or above, I'm going to wish him well and say goobye. I think 7 mil is my limit with JT, and I'd rather have him for 6 mil a year. Ideally it would be nice to front load the contract so we'd have more capspace when Cuz's contract comes up. However that would cut down on our available capspace now.

The only other answer I can give to finding additional capspace is amnesty. And yeah, I know! Its universally believed that the Maloofs won't use amnesty. And I can understand not wanting to pay Salmons contract for the next three years, especially since the last year isn't guaranteed if they let it play out, but becomes guaranteed if we use the amnesty clause. However, Cisco is an expiring contract, so unless he's filler in a trade because of his contract, then use the amnesty clause on him. We'd pick up an additional 6 mil of capspace, and we'd just be paying him to sit on the bench this year anyway.

In short, we agree on one thing for sure. Don't over pay for a player. This may be a strange way of looking at it, but I approach it the same way I approach bidding on E-Bay. It there's something you want, you put a value on it. You decide before making a bid, what is the most your williing to pay for said item. As anyone thats bid on E-Bay knows, you always put in your max bid, which is kept secret to everyone else, and you either win or you lose. But the point is, you don't overpay! You don't get into a bidding war and end up paying more than you wanted. You might leave disappointed at times, but there's always another time. You just have to be patient.

Peace brother, we both want the same thing. And I have to remember to follow up on my posts....
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#51
At this point, I'm fairly certain Daryl Morey has gone insane. Bringing in Eric Gordon despite already having Kevin Martin on roster as SG with Lee behind him and having just drafted Lamb. Combine that with the fact that he figured out a way to get 7 undersized powerforwards on his roster while simultaneously not having a center. What the hell is going on down there?
 
#52
According to the new CBA, the max salary for Batum is 12.5 mil. Thats based on his rookie salary and four years in the NBA. So Minny actually is offering the most they can offer. Now maybe you knew that Batum was going to get that much money, but I sure didn't. Batum is a very nice player, but he's not a star, and thats star money. Its only 3 mil less than what Wade makes this next season.

Don't get me wrong, I really, really like Batum, but I don't think he's a locked in proven player yet. So I don't think he's worth that kind of money. Maybe I'm out of touch. Or, maybe I'm sane, and everyone else is nuts!
Agree. I get that MN has to overpay free agents like we do. But they are paying Batum for his ceiling and not his current production. And considering he can't create and isn't a great passer or rebounder, they are paying a lot of money for a player whose ceiling is likely a high end role player.

Will also be interesting to see what happens in three years when they will be matching RFA offers (or having extensions kick in) for Rubio and Pekovic. Not sure they can afford to pay Love, Rubio, Pekovic and Batum over 8 mil each.

Though I at least applaud them taking a shot at getting their team to the next level. Batum could be a great complement for their squad.
 
#54
Wade took a pay cut to sign LBJ and bosh.

Batums salary is more about hoping he improves in the future more than what he has done.
If a team wants to draft a player based on potential I understand that, or even take a flier on a player who has bounced around with a small contract. But you don't throw $12 million at player in hopes he will get good enough to earn it IMO.
 
#56
At this point, I'm fairly certain Daryl Morey has gone insane. Bringing in Eric Gordon despite already having Kevin Martin on roster as SG with Lee behind him and having just drafted Lamb. Combine that with the fact that he figured out a way to get 7 undersized powerforwards on his roster while simultaneously not having a center. What the hell is going on down there?
Rockets just signed Omar Asik to a 3yr 25m deal..
 
#58
Rockets just signed Omar Asik to a 3yr 25m deal..
JT, IMO, is a better player than Asik. So there is a good chance that his agent would make this amount as JT's floor. If that's the case, I can't see the Maloofs holding on to JT.

They're more likely to trade with Houston to get one of their dozen PF with possibly IT or Outlaw as the trade piece.
 
#59
I know petrie/maloofs won't really sign anyone outside of the Kings' free agents so I'm fine with this line-up next season:

PG -Isaiah Thomas
SG - Reke
SF - Terence Williams
PF - Thomas Robinson
C - DMC

Bench:

Marcus Thornton
Jason Thompson
Salmons
Chuck Hayes
Jimmer

Garbage Time:

Whiteside
Travis Outlaw
Cisco

Playoffs baby lol
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#60
JT, IMO, is a better player than Asik. So there is a good chance that his agent would make this amount as JT's floor. If that's the case, I can't see the Maloofs holding on to JT.

They're more likely to trade with Houston to get one of their dozen PF with possibly IT or Outlaw as the trade piece.
Again, there is a gap between defensive bigs and other bigs. That contract is ridiuclous (reportedly backloaded to $15.1mil in the final year?!?), but its being paid on the DeAndre Jordan scale, not the "other bigs" scale.