See, now that's giving up. Why won't we ever have a team as good? Sure we aren't going to materialize a player as good as the pre-injury Webber out of thin air, I'll give you that, but we can certainly be an efficient, high-scoring team again and even one that defends. Though we certainly aren't there yet.
About Mobley leaving, first of all, he's said from the beginning he was going to opt out and nothing he's said or done since has been to the contrary. I doubt that the Kings will be able to pick up a better scoring SG with what they've got and what they can offer (so I guess that means no Larry Hughes
) BUT they could pick up a guy who scores maybe 10 points a game and plays tough defense and makes passes to set up teammates. In other words, a young Doug Christie. That's why Doug was such a benefit to this team. He's the type of guy that makes the team play better and that's what we need. We've got plenty of scoring already in Brad, Peja, and Mike. And don't forget that Bobby may be coming off the bench. He's been good for 15 points a game in the past. And in Skinner, Thomas, and Williamson we've got some more scoring punch off the bench (assuming whatever deals we make, we'll retain at least one of them).
But then I think the best case for the Kings may be if he does resign. The Kings aren't going to be below the cap whether he signs or not, so we still have the same MLE to offer. If he does stay, maybe the offseason will give him time to learn the Kings offense. Or failing that, it gives us a pretty good trading chip in addition to whatever we can get for the MLE. He's a quality SG which represents instant offense and he'll have an expiring contract. Maybe the Kings could use him and some combination of other players to pick up a quality PF mid-season. (ie Theo Ratliff
) I could see BJax starting at SG if need be and a big man with skills is a hard thing to find.
Anyway, I don't think the Kings are that far off from being an elite team again. Brad is more versatile than Vlade was when he was here. Bibby obviously has gotten alot better (offensively anyway) and the same with Peja. Those are guys that know how to play the passing game and they know how to score. So now we need some guys with the thoughness and athleticism to make our defense better. Assuming we can retain BJax and one of the three new guys in the process, we can count on more offense of the bench than we've had in awhile and that adds up to a team which can challenge for the title.