[Grades] Grades v. Suns 4/16/2014

[Bricklayer]

Alright, and there it is. And while its been a long time since we could say this, now might be when the real fun of this season kicks off as we have a front office theoretically on a mission to finally build us a winner again. We lost, but upon hearing that Detroit had lost earlier, really in the end that was probably for the best. And while it was loosey goosey and clearly two teams just scrimmaging on out, it was a good show for the fans and a bit of a party despite everything, so good show. And Congrats to Ben on easily his career game. It would be miserly to point out that Kings from Vinny Del Negro to Ike Diogu have gone big in the final game without it meaning anything. Let's instead remember that DeMarcus Cousins did once too, and he's now the best center in the NBA.

Tonight we're going to keep it light and do a closing theme on The Graders who've given their time all season long. In upcoming days and weeks there is a lot of stuff planned and in the works, season wrapup grades, a wiki project I am looking for volunteers on, the Kingsfans Scouting Department's annual scouting reports, and then something a little special I've been cooking up for a couple of months. Eventually during the darkest days of TDOS, I imagine we'll kick off another set of Tropical Island Draft threads.

Should be an interesting summer, and gerbil wiling, maybe the last one in a long time that we begin this early. Thanks for reading and sticking with it through another long season. Don't be strangers in the upcoming months. We've kept the lights on around here for years holding out until the worm finally turned, and with a franchise center, a new arena, and an aggressive mandate to win, the long wait may finally be over. We'll be seeing you.

Your Consoritum Graders tonight:
Bricklayer
Uncia03
Rainmaker
Capt. Factorial
Bajaden
MassacheusettsKingsFan

Boxscore

Stats: 16min 6pts (3-8, 0-1, 0-0) 6reb 2ast 0stl 0blk 1TO
Gay ( C ) -- Tonight Rudy Gay played what could be his final game in a Kings uniform, pending his decision on a ludicrously lucrative player option this summer. I doubt this was exactly the game that Rudy would want to go out on. Hampered by his back injury (and moving like it), he played only 16 minutes and seemed to pick his spots. He picked one outstanding spot - flying to an open basket in the third quarter, he jumped higher than any man with a bad back has right to and found a perfect lob pass from Isaiah for the one hand receipt and an iconic throwdown. He only made two other baskets, one a somewhat reluctant jumper out of baseline post position where it looked to me like he just didn't trust in having the agility to make the drive he normally would have opted for. I assume that Rudy's back also forced a bit of a change in game plan, where instead of quickly getting down court on offense Rudy was charged with being the primary man to bring the ball up court. This resulted in Rudy crashing the boards to great effect - his long arms pulled down six rebounds in his two brief stints, five of those defensive. On the defensive end, the Suns didn't really attack Rudy, missing all four shots they took. P.J. Tucker took advantage of him a couple of times, once losing him on a cut and the other time driving right around him baseline but both times Rudy was bailed out, once on an unforced dribble error and the other by a block at the rim from Ben. Suffice it to say, this game is not how we're going to remember the season we got out of our first real SF in who knows how long. I want him back next year, and I hope the feeling is mutual, but the summer will tell. Until then...Long Live The Kings! --Capt.

Capt. Factorial -- the Consortium's own human calculator, Capt. is actually probably better with numbers than any of us and I have long suspected him of being a closet metrichead, but he has the endearing good taste not to call me on it when I take liberties. He was also been the Consortiuum's most serious grader of defense, a difficult position to stake out for this franchise, and one that sometimes resulted in eyebrow raising grades based on a personal play play log that should have made the Synergy Sports beancounters blush.

Stats: 31min 7pts (3-8, 0-2, 1-2) 3reb 1ast 1stl 1blk 0TO
Williams ( D+ ) -- Williams’ last game went with a whimper and will leave all of us fans curious as to what his future holds in regards to the Sacramento Kings. He got the start playing PF which made sense as he was matched up against a cupcake in Channing Frye. With Rudy being hampered and Cousins out this would have been the time for him to really step it up especially since Frye has no hope to stay with him on the defensive end. Unfortunately, as has been a season-long trend, he simply wasn’t aggressive enough in this one. He had a few very nice plays in the open court for finishes at the rim on the fast break, but his jumper was off, and other than 1 nice play where he slipped a pick and Rudy found him at the rim, he received only two other passes on his rim cuts which seriously limited his scoring opportunities. On defense he sort of had the same problem he had against Brewer as he spent most of his time guarding the perimeter-oriented Frye which limited his rebounding opportunities. But he still only managed to grab 3 in 30 minutes which just isn’t great production. He played all of the 1st and 3rd quarters but didn’t get into the game in the 4th as Malone decided to ride that 4th quarter unit all the way to the finish line. It’s been clear since the Rudy trade that he just doesn’t seem to be aggressive coming off the bench, so his future as King could very well depend on what Rudy decides to do in the off-season. The one thing that it is important to remember is that he’s still incredibly young and so there is time for him to continue to develop both the mental and physical aspects of the game. What I do know is that his performance tonight didn’t shed any light as to what to project for him going forward. --Uncia

Uncia03 -- the Consortiuum's International Man of Mystery, Uncia is a mysterious figure from the southern reaches of California, and hence my completely random choice of avatar. One of the Consortiuum's most reliable graders, he was a welcome addition to the Consortiuum despite suspected underworld ties to certain dubious individuals south of the border.

Stats: 21min 8pts (4-9, 0-0, 0-0) 11reb 0ast 1stl 1blk 2TO
Thompson ( ) -- First off, JT probably doesn't deserve this high a score, but tonight may be the last time we see JT in a Kings uniform, and he did pull down 11 boards in just 21 minutes of play. Those are Reggie Evans numbers. JT only took 9 shots making 4, and I believe all of his made baskets except for a 16 footer in the second half were at the basket. He just couldn't get his jumper going tonight. He made a nice steal defending out on the perimeter which led to a three by McLemore. His scoring came from a reverse spin to the baseline and and a kiss off the glass. He also had a dunk from a nice pass by McLemore. He had a couple of bad moments, like driving into the lane and losing the ball. But on the whole, he was solid but not spectacular. Typical JT. I'd like to add that this was a fun game to watch. Very little isolation for the most part, and more creative ball movement than I've seen in a while. It was nice to see unselfish play, and it was also nice to see them feeding McLemore when he got hot in the first half. It would have been nice to get a win, but if you can't win, at least be entertaining. And tonight they were.. --Baja

Bajaden -- one of the two original Consortiuum members (with Capt. Fact. last year), it was Bajaden's consistent availability and enthusiasm that first made me alive to the advantages of assigning work to the less employed. Aside from several unfortunate incidents where he naively dabbled with the idea of having "friends" (including the Man of Mystery above) rather than doing unpaid work for the Consortiuum, Baja's reliability was one of the basics making the Consortiuum possible. Since making his avatar I have since learned that he does in fact have hair (who knew?), but the beer is accurate.

Stats: 42min 31pts (9-20, 3-9, 10-15) 5reb 5ast 1stl 0blk 2TO
McLemore ( A ) -- So apparently Ben had the wool pulled over our collective eyes all year and decided to show us what he's really about as we head into the off season, by posting a statline that Ray Allen in his prime would have been proud of. Well, maybe not, to both Ben pulling the wool over our eyes or Allen being proud of this statline(5 missed FT's would be unacceptable to him) but this was quite a send off game for Ben going into the summer. Couldn't have been much better based on his body of work we've witnessed this year. Came out and hands down had his best half of the season. Given how well he played in the 1st half, I thought I'd list most of his highlights/positives since it's a rare occurrence thus far in his career and for anyone who didn't watch or get to see it.
-hit a left wing 3 as the defender played off him
-next possession attacked the rim off the dribble, finished and got fouled
-received a hand-off from IT and drove hard down the lane with his left, getting fouled and FT's. Great to see him attack the paint like that with his off hand
-had a great block at the rim in a help situation where he read the play and rotated quickly. Has shown this might be more common going forward as he's had a few nice blocks rotating from the weak-side
-off arguably the best passing sequence of the night, drilled a corner 3
-after Ray made a terrible pass, broke up Phoenix attack, stole the ball and got fouled
-on following possession set JT up with a beauty of a pass for the dunk
-checked back in in the 2nd and hit a pullup baseline 15 footer
-couple possessions later, came off an elbow screen and hit a jumper
-then came down, obviously feeling it and hit a pullup transition 3 off the dribble
-set up Acy with another nice pass
Ben basically carried us through the 1st half. Finished the half with 18 points(6-11). Came out in the 2nd half and immediately hit another pullup transition 3 off the bounce. Also finished a reverse off a feed in transition but definitely cooled off in the 2nd half. Was able to get to the FT and did draw some fouls off the bounce which was another positive to see but didn't shoot well from the line going 10-15. FT's might have been his only real blemish tonight aside from a horrible pass in the 1st half. Archie Goodwin went 11-13 for 29 pts which obviously is a problem and Ben deserves some real blame there, but it's the last game of the year, Ben had a breakout offensive game, not just scoring but all-around play as well(5rebs/5asts) and showed markedly improved decision making, and for tonight I'd prefer focusing on the positives with him as this kind of a game was unexpected. Great for Ben. Hopefully great for us and a sign of things to come. Now take three weeks off and get back to work.--Rain

Rainmaker -- a late addition to the roster (his avatar means nothing, it was late, I needed to quickly add him into the masthead, I did not know what he looked like and didn't want his pic to be the boring one, so I took the first funny pic I could find on my harddrive and threw a raincloud over it), some detestable thing called "work" as well as mounting dismay at the franchise's continued incompetence contributed to a late season swoon, but he finished with a bang, drawing the two Mac's tonight and catching Ben's career game.

Stats: 17min 4pts (2-5, 0-3, 0-0) 0reb 4ast 0stl 1blk 2TO
Thomas ( C- ) -- This was a fairly tough game to grade for Thomas. His minutes were way below his season average, he only played in two quarters, and I don’t know how healthy he is. I don’t even know why he played, really, but he was OK for the time he was out there. His defense on Bledsoe, whose minutes were also limited, was acceptable. He had one jumper and one layup for his four points, but his highlights, as few as there were, was his passing. And it wasn’t outstanding or anything, but he threw some nice alley-oop lobs that got the crowd, bench, and momentum on the Kings side. Certainly not one of Thomas’ best performances, but I don’t know if he could of, or should of had a great game tonight because of the circumstances. Thomas deserves a lot of credit for turning himself into a legitimate asset this season, and if this was his last game as a King I know I’ll personally have more good memories than bad. Despite how much Grant and Jerry shoves his ‘toughness’ down our throats, he’s become a much better pro than he had any business being. What the Kings ultimately decide to do with Thomas is anyone’s guess. I think it’s a real 50/50 situation here that could go either way, but I do think Thomas will (and should) follow the money after being one of the leagues best bargains for two straight seasons. It’s time to cash in. --Mass

MassachusettsKingsFan -- the man with the most trying name on the site to have to type out, Mass was the Consortiuum's early game specialist this season as your 4:30 is his 7:30. He was a gamer though, and chipped in with many late game grades which are tough to deal with unless you have a fascinating night owl/insomniac combination going for you. I had no idea what he looked like and so just made his avatar look like a chubby little Kennedy.

 

[Bricklayer]

Bench

Stats: 31min 13pts (5-12, 0-0, 3-4) 2reb 2ast 1stl 0blk 3TO
McCallum ( B- ) -- Ray was up and down tonight. Had some good moments, had some rough ones as well. Came in cold in this one and missed four of his first five shots, two of which weren't that close. Was shaky with the ball too and had two terrible passes. After getting a driving layup to go, appeared to settle in. Followed the layup with a nice pullup jumper and later, on the last possession of the half, hit a tough shot inside. Also stopped what would have been an easy 2pts inside for Pho by stripping the ball at the rim and getting the steal. Did a bit better in the 2nd half, his clear exciting moment being the ally-oop dunk to open the 4th off a pass from Outlaw. Did a solid job running the team most of the night and one thing I like about Ray is he gets us into our sets early and gets the ball moving. He also recognizes the hot hand and keeps feeding them. He only had 2 assists on the evening but I don't think that paints an accurate picture of the job he did running the offense. We really had some good ball movement at times and it was largely due to positive spacing, getting us in our sets early and making that initial pass with 14+ secs on the shot clock. After the Jimmer trade, Ray saw his mins increase significantly and after a rough go of it at first, took full advantage of his opportunity, impressed most of us in one manner or another and really made the discussion about what happens with our PG position over the next few months quite interesting. --Rain

Henkel -- the Consortiuum's weekday specialist (some more of that "work" stuff made it impossible for him to do weekend games unless they were very early), Henkel collects pet rocks and likes to watch reruns of Scarecrow & Mrs. King. Well...the last couple of things I just made up, but the first part is true.

Stats: 25min 15pts (5-10, 1-1, 4-4) 5reb 2ast 1stl 0blk 1TO
Outlaw ( B ) -- You know, Outlaw really did well to close out the year. He had a number of solid games, including this one and you have to go into the off-season thinking that if he can maintain this sort of production off the bench, he’s actually a positive contributor when looking at his salary. He came in as the back-up SF for 25 minutes and gave us 15 points on 50% shooting, went to the line four times and knocked them all down, grabbed 5 rebounds, had a pair of assists, as well as a couple of other nice passes in the half court. His best play of the night was a drawn-up play to start the 4th quarter where he lobbed the ball from the 3pt line and Ray (using a big Gray screen) got free for the alley-oop slam. He was very active when he got into the game at the tail end of the 1st and 3rd quarters as he was using screens to free himself up for shots, posting up, and he even had a really nice dribble-drive through two defenders while finishing with a one-handed shot in the middle of the lane. He was very quiet in the last half of the 4th quarter as he seemed to let both Ben and Ray dominate the ball. But this was a successful game for Outlaw to cap off a successful end of the season for Outlaw. Probably more than any other player on the Kings his minutes have been the most inconsistent, so you have to give him credit for being willing to work hard and put forth the effort when called upon. --Uncia

sdballer -- one of the rocks of the early season Consortiuum, Baller eventually made the dubious decision that for profit 'work" came before the for honor and glory work of the Consortiuum, and was only a sporadic participant thereafter. Still we thank him for his early season contributions (and no he's not a Cavs fan, that was just the only jersey they had available for the body).

Stats: 25min 9pts (3-6, 0-1, 3-5) 8reb 1ast 1stl 0blk 2TO
Acy ( B- ) -- Quincy played 25 minutes and he played his typical Acy game. He worked hard on defense, and managed to score 9 points going three for six from the floor. He didn't get off to the best start when he drove into a crowd and lost the ball for a turnover. He followed that by letting a full court outlet pass go right through his hands missing out on a sure basket. After missing a corner three, he finally scored on a beautiful pass from McLemore, who I think had 5 assists tonight. Maybe he'll turn out to be a player after all. The second half was more of the same. He started by hitting a little floater in the lane. After missing an 18 footer on one play, and getting his shot blocked on another, he finished strong by making a definitive dunk in a crowd, and was fouled. He scored again on a putback of a McCallum miss. Like JT, nothing spectacular, but solid. Well, the dunk was pretty spectacular. Well that's all folks until next season, unless I decide to cover our summer league team. Until then, we all get to recharge our batteries. --Baja

Spudfan -- suspected victim of a wild yeti attack after disappearing on a ski trip to the Sierras just before the Seahawks ended the Niners season, everybody's favorite potato (I very reasonably took a look at his username and went with the tuber rather than the miniature player) was a staple of the Consortiuum's early crops before burning out and being eaten by the abominable snowman.

Stats: 6min 0pts (0-0, 0-0, 0-0) 1reb 0ast 0stl 0blk 0TO
Cunningham ( INC ) -- I would love to give Cunningham a grade in what may be his last appearance on these grades, but when your guy come in, plays 6 min, does not take a shot, and has a grand total of 1reb and 2 fouls...what is there to say? He's looked better/more ready in earlier outings.--Brick

Bricklayer -- man, myth, legend, former teen idol and most interesting man in the world runner up, it really is impossible to oversing my praises, although I do my best. We've been doing these grades in one form or another for over a decade now, determined to keep the tradition alive until it once again became fun. But its hard to feed and cloth a volunteer Consortiuum on a steady diet of depressing losses. Its time the Kings built us a winner.

Stats: 26min 6pts (3-8, 0-0, 0-0) 13reb 2ast 2stl 0blk 4TO
Gray ( B+ ) -- I was going to say that he finished his time with us with his longest stint as a King, but I had forgotten the 35min he logged once earlier in the season back when Boogie was out with injury. So his second longest stint, and while it was nothing spectacular, he made his closing game count a bit, pulling down 13 boards in only 26min just on size alone against the undersized Suns. Unfortunately the rest of his game was not as effective, but we still ran him most of the way and he was doing what was necessary to try to get the rooks open shots etc. A few too many turnovers, including trying to throw a Love baseball pass fullcourt and getting it picked off in his first stint. And defensively just too slow to be effective protecting the rim. But he kept on hustling for boards, hit a long 18 foot jumper in the late 3rd just for a fun splash, and got the entire 4th to rack up boards. Also added a nice pass from the top of the three point arc to a cutting Outlaw for a layup. Ironically got called for an unfortunate offensive foul on maybe the last big screen he'll be setting for us with 3 min to go in a close game down 5. --Brick
Guest Graders -- thanks as well to The Jamal, Padrino and the rest of the guest graders who filed in for one night or another over the course of the season.

 

[VF21]

Thanks for the grade threads and all the work you and the consortium put in on a nightly basis, even when the mere task of watching the whole game would bring lesser mortals to their knees.

 

[TyFreak Evans]

B-/C+ because, well........We stayed in Sacramento. Excitement's coming back to the Cap City, and the new ownership group consists of some pretty cool people, and the man behind the mayhem is one kick @$$ individual.

Now, to the team on the court.....D Cuz was a beast. Rudy, Quincy, Aaron were fine acquisitions. Ray Mac showed us that he can play. B Mac, while starting off very shaky, put in his effort and, as a result, was rewarded with some nice playing time, towards the end of the season. Jason Thompson needs to go. Some other pieces could be spared. Whoever comes to us via the draft should be able to fit in very nicely.

PDA has done a fabulous job constructing the roster, and he will continue to do a fabulous job improving it.

Michael Malone has proven that, for now, he was the right choice to lead this team.

Now, why not a B/A? Because play hasn't been that great on the court at times. We need to be more consistent.

 

[VF21]

I gave the season a B. The homer in me would have gone for the A simply because we're still the SACRAMENTO Kings, so I showed some rational thought.

We kept our team, we have a new arena on the horizon and the fans are returning. That kicks the grade up a notch.

We got rid of Marcus Thornton and John Salmons, which also adds some weight on the positive side. PDA was able to bring Rudy Gay to the Kings, which is gonna really pay off for us in the future. Our two draft picks are showing promise as of the close of the season, which is another plus.

We lost Tyreke but if you believe as I do that you couldn't have two cooks in the kitchen, then it was DMC over Tyreke and I'm fine with that.

And the biggest reason for the grade? The front office didn't fool around. They made DMC the face and future of the franchise and got him signed early to a nice contract. And they showed him what it means for the owner/staff to have a player's back. Malone and DMC as a team is gonna pay dividends for all us fans.

So, it's a solid B for me. Wins and losses were irrelevant, just as Vivek said they would be. And I don't care. We're headed back in the right direction and I'm still alive to enjoy the ride.

GO KINGS!!!

 

[pshn80]

I guess I just can't pick a grade right now. I really enjoyed the season and of course a few more wins would have been better. I guess I see the season as a bit of each grade in the spectrum.

Thanks to Brick and the Consortium for their good work that made the season all the more enjoyable. Thanks to the web site and all those that make it work so well. And thanks to that nutty, intelligent bunch of posters that contribute so much to my experience hrere.

That's all on top of the Kings who are the cat's meow for me.

 

[Dreadnought]

Incredibly excited for next season! In the ~8 years of our bad teams, this wasn't the worst, not by a long shot. However, to me, this was one of the least fun to watch. Glad it's over and I'm pretty sure it can only get better from here. Excited for the lottery, the draft, potential trades, etc.

 

[King Baller]

I gave them an A:

1) They stayed!
2) They signed Cousins long term.
3) The new Coaching Staff and Front Office is first class.
4) They traded for Rudy Gay.
5) They drafted the McRookies.
6) They traded for Evans, D Will, Acy.
7) They stayed!

KB

 

[jcwkings]

I say a B, the roster turnover from the beginning of the season to the end is staggering. If the team as it stands right now were to get a whole training camp together we would have won at least 35 games and you could argue closer to 4o.

Glad Ben put a whole game together that validated his clear improvement from beginning of season to end. It will be interesting what kind of strides he makes in his second season. McCallum was another nice second round find, and at the least will be a solid backup PG for years to come.

I personally would like to see JT and Derrick Williams traded in the off season. JT seems like he has worn out his welcome in Sacramento and could really use a change of scene. Williams just doesn't fit for this team, especially if Gay stays long term. He is another guy that needs volume shots to get in rhythm and needs to be fed to stay motivated and playing hard(much like Thornton).

 

[lwc]

I went with a B-. for a review of this season (not looking forward focusing on THIS season).

Pros
#1- Kings stayed in Sacramento.
#2- New arena is coming.
#3- Malone appears to be a good coach but it is hard to judge the chef when the ingredients for the recipe keep changing. However, it appears as if when Cuz, IT, and Gay are healthy and on the court the Kings are at least a .500 team.
#4- Pete D seems to have no fear as a GM. He will make the unusual trade and also let a player walk if they cost too much.
#5- Drafting Ray in the 2nd round.
#6- Moving Hayes and Salmons!

Cons
#1- Carl Landry. I know hindsight is 20/20 but that signing looks really bad right now.
#2- Even though the wins/losses didn't matter, consistent good play does. Even with massive roster turnover, the team only finished a game or two better than last season. This particular point really shouldnt exist but I'm not a fan of losing, even if I did make the case in another thread to semi-tank once we were ruled out of the playoffs, lol.
#3- Taking Ben in the draft. Again, hindsight is 20/20 and I am sure Ben will turn out to be one of the better players in that terrible draft. If we are talking about a review of THIS season, I have to list it as a negative.

I judged somewhat harshly but if we think seasons like this are great, the future will blow our minds.

 

[CruzDude]

I too went with a B- in what was a difficult year to evaluate.

On the Plus side:
New, really good coach and FO
New, really better Cuz
Good ole consistent JT
Emergence of IT as major offensive force
Trading for Rudy
Giving minutes to bubble players to better see what they bring
Getting major minutes for McRookies for 30 games or so to help them develop
Improvement in Ben's offense and Ray's defense

On the minus side:
Not putting IT back as 6th man
Becoming too enamored with 3 20pt scorers while losing at same rate
Two significant trades into the season dealing 3 starters
Trading both Marcus and Jimmer and not getting any new 3pt shooters
Realizing that current roster cannot guard perimeter with no solutions
Injuries to key players at the wrong times
Dysfunctional effort on defense with not much improvement during year but trades hurt this
No apparent improvement in consistency with most players

NOTE: my minus side is not necessarily a negative but rather the situation as I see it.

 

[Kingster]

B Grade. McLemore made a sales pitch in this last game to get out of the B-/C+ territory.

It looks like DA did very well in the draft. Both McLemore and McCallum look like they are going to be solid NBA players. McLemore could potentially be a star. The D-Will trade is a question mark; personally, I don't think he's with the Kings in the long term, and maybe not the short term. The Landry move was by far the worst move of his first year.

Cousins: The second half of the season was heartening. His attitude was much better. His play was very good. Unless there is some bizarre retrogression, he looks like he's turned the corner. To seal the deal, he's got to keep this up until next year's All Star break. If he does, he'll be an All Star.

Isaiah Thomas: Played better than last year, which was pretty good. He continues to improve. I expect he's going to have a very good year next year.

The Gay trade: With Cousins, IT, and Gay on the floor, it looks to be a .500 team. I still have questions what happens with Gay, but regardless, the trade was a positive, at least for now. This trade's final grade will be after Gay's contract is finalized one way or another, and, if he is on the team next year, how it works on the floor.

Malone: He gets a B-. Better D, not great, but definitely better when the team wanted to play it. Offense stills needs a lot of work in my view. His relationship with Cousins appears very positive. I want to see what offense he wants to run next year. This year it seems like he threw it together and had the team run set plays when they went far into the ISO reservation.

 

[mac]

I gave the team a D. Despite Cousins putting up all star all NBA all everything numbers, despite "getting rid of junk", despite adding a new coach who's supposed to be way better than Keith Smart, despite having this magnificent 3 20 point scorers thing, despite having IT who is an elite PG better than Tony Parker and Kyrie Irving combined, despite finally having all this stability in knowing the team was gonna stay, despite culture change and better defense, we only matched our win total last season.

That to me is an abysmal failure.

I don't think this group of guys we have has any more potential than the group we had heading into last offseason. Ben and Ray could have been added to last season's group of guys anyway. Whether or not moving certain contracts pays off for us is yet to be determined - we could have cap space and end up signing Carl Landry v2.0, or maybe Gay walks and we sign IT to a massive contract. Since that remains to be seen, I'm judging the season on the performance of the team alone, not whether we're set up to be a much better team next year or not. And I don't see how anyone can look at the performance of the team and not give the team a poor grade, seeing as we didn't get any better than we were under Keith Smart and that multitude of ill-fitting pieces and bad-attitude players.

There were however highlights to the season itself. I don't think the team staying counts, because that wasn't part of the actual basketball season. Cousins being both a beast on the court and also improving tremendously in controlling in his emotions, a little promise from our rookies, and some differences in the way the organisation was run compared to seasons past. I thought letting Jimmer go was a very classy move at the time. I liked the Gay trade as well. Which is kinda why I'm extremely disappointed with the performance of the team, because we simply shouldn't have only matched last year's win total. There's just no excuse for that when you consider the improvement that Cousins has made alone.

 

[Sniggles]

Perhaps a separate thread for a season review?

Regardless, graded the season a B. Aside from not winning the championship it's hard to find significant faults the season considering the entire franchise from top to bottom is a work in progress.

-DMC signed a fat contract and lived up to it
-Few apparent issues with coaching staff
-Made some decent trades
-New arena coming (will do my absolute best to visit as soon as it's open)

Negatively I don't see anything that can't be fixed in the short-medium term
-Roster still lacks the capacity to play consistent D
-Injuries affected what should have been an improved season

 

[Chupacabra]

I graded the season as a D. Not much improvement on the defensive end. Win total is very far removed from a playoff spot.

 

[Hallama]

Thanks to all the graders - something I look forward to reading after every game. And Brick, your dedication to the grades is amazing...year after year.

 

[bubulina]

Reasons for grading the kings A:

1. Cousins
2. Cousins
3. Cousins

Well you get the picture. Plus kings are still in Sacramento and kingsfans is still alive and kicking... thanks bricklayer and all the contributors.

 

[Hallama]

I voted B-/C+.

I like the way Pete'D has set up this team for next season. If Gay opts in, I think we may see a MLE signing of a vet SG or defensive big, or even trade the 1st round pick. If Gay opts out, I think we'll see another season of trades and internal development.

Demarcus Cousins rise to a star level player is the biggest positive that I saw for the season. He and Gay make a very good star pairing. I hope Rudy St(Gay)s. Heh.

 

[andjel]

Is this soon enough to judge moves in the preseason as well?

Preseason D
-Trade Reke for Peanuts
-Make sure well payed Landry is with us for years to come
-Jury on Ben is still out though I do not see reasons yet for celebration when he was drafted
-Did not miss to sign Cousins hence avoiding F

Season B
-Turn Peanuts into Gay who is a good fit with Cus
-Cousins dominating and no issues with coach
-Coach feels like a real coach not accidental tourist in that role, reasonable rotation, work on defense with garbage provided in the offseason, not Adelman, but not the other charlatans either
-Despite playing 4 on 5 throughout the season (first without SF than without G) I cannot go higher than B due to the overall record
-Do not see benefits of MT for JT and Evans trade except for locker room presence improvement. Not negative.

Will try to ignore disaster that previous offseason was, there are high expectations for this offseason and lot of similar questions
- Gay, Pay him or not
-IT, Pay him or not
-Draft (directly can impact whether above 2 are payed or hopefully dealt for someone that fits the position in need)

If we end up after offseason with 5 starter level players in proper position without IT being starter, that will qualify with at least C.

We still have full year before we can be players in the open market. Next year is Kings audition year for 2015 free agents.

Damn you Landy's contract, I almost want to change D to F for that, grumble...

 

[gunks]

C-/D+ ..... Thats as low as I go with the Kings staying in Sacramento.


Positives: Kings are not the Sonics, resigned Cousins, our rookies look like NBA players (was wondering about Ben for most of the season, but he came around that last month), better coach, infinitely better ownership, we cleared out some junk (no more MT...YAY!!!).

Negatives: No improvement in wins, we traded Tyreke, we signed Landry (why, oh why, did we sign Landry!?), we sucked but didnt suck our way into decent lotto position. Offense and defense still need a lot of work, but that should come with a stable roster.

"Meh's": The Rudy Gay trade. I was eating crow the first month of the trade, but now it looks like Gay's stellar play was an outlier. As 20ppg scorers go the guy is fool's gold. He's still a black hole, streaky and prone to inefficient games, and he gets torched, TORCHED, by star level SFs. I'm not expecting Gay to outplay the Lebrons and Durants of the NBA, but he just gets destroyed by anyone with talent.... Doesnt bode well for the playoffs. So maybe he leaves, maybe we trade him....Worst case we resign him to a fat contract. He has the talent to be a #1 option, but he plays like a #3 option. If he wants to be a King for #3 option money, I'd be down with keeping him.

 

[pshn80]

Prospects for next season: good with what we have, our record wil be better. IF we keep Gay and IT our greatest need is for a journeyman SG defender and ball handler to start letting Ben come off the bench. That addition would bring us more wins, maybe enough to get us to the playoffs. If Gay or IT go we will need another player for each. If we get even more useful talent then all the better. All this is doable and I believe our FO is up for it. Forever optimistic.

 

[HereWeBoogie]

I wonder how many players on the roster today (im not counting 10 day contract guys like Willie Reed and Cunningham) will be gone by the time October rolls around. Im guessing at least 5

 

[mac]

A+ to Brick and the rest of the graders. You guys made this season more fun for me than the actual Kings team did. Thanks for all the hard work and non-stop effort!

 

[ninjabiscuit]

Thanks consortium! Awesome work grading the games all year. Always entertaining to watch the game and then come see what everyone else thought. I give the team an unapologetic A because we're still bleeping here. Not very scientific, I know, but compared to what I thought was going to happen, I'll take this season ten times out of ten.

 

[Padrino]

i give the kings' 2013-2014 season a solid "C." the fact that the team remains in sacramento is, of course, a wonderful reality. but the sale and transfer of the team was completed long before this season officially began. once last offseason kicked into gear, it was time for the new regime to get to work, and i feel compelled to judge that work based on its own merits...

obviously, i was elated when the kings extended demarcus cousins. i also liked the mike malone hire, though i was a bit concerned about the disconnect between that hire and the decision to bring pete d'allesandro on board as general manager after securing malone's services. i was not a fan of drafting ben mclemore, who was a big fat minus for the majority of the season. i was also not a fan of the sign-and-trade that sent tyreke evans to new orleans. i hated the carl landry signing, and still do...

i applaud PDA for unloading some of the junk leftover from the previous regime. buying low on rudy gay was a very prudent investment in talent, and shipping out marcus thornton for one of the league's most notorious goons in reggie evans was a major plus in my book. but i thought the front office missed an opportunity to trade isaiah thomas while his value was peaking. now they've got tremendous uncertainty across their entire backcourt rotation...

yet for all of the upheaval that occurred this season, for all of the changes that took place from the sale of the team to now, the result has been a net nothing with respect to the win/loss column. the kings finished this season with exactly the same record as last season, and they may very well end up with exactly the same draft position. i thought for sure that getting out from under the tyranny of the maloofs, the complacency of geoff petrie, and the ineptitude of keith smart would be worth at least an additional 5-8 wins, especially considering how much demarcus cousins was likely to improve (and he ended up exceeding even my expectations)...

ultimately, i'm left with lots of question marks as to where this team is headed, but demarcus cousins' breakout season alone is worth a "C" in spite of all the uncertainty. no matter what happens, he'll be a king next year, and he hasn't even scratched the surface of his prime yet. i don't know that i fully trust the new front office, but i also know that they'd have to be idiots to screw this up. they were gifted with one of the few legitimate franchise centers in existence, and they locked him up at 23 years of age. now it's time to make some noise...

 

[FaStRmAn]

B- / - C+ was my grade as well. We stayed, we improved, we got rid of the Magoofs, and we now have a solid FO with a solid coach. A new direction that will certainly improve the team over time. I believe this summer is the most important summer in Kings history. What happens this summer will either put this team back on the map again, or conversely mire this team in mediocrity for years to come. No pressure guys !!

On a side note: BIG THANK YOU to the Graders who have been so consistent and reliable. For what they got paid, they did outstanding work. Love this website and I love the KINGS !

 

[Bricklayer]

I had forgotten poor Gray. He's done now too.

 

[KingMilz]

One of the few games all year where we actually moved the ball, really enjoyed that offence. As far as for the grade all year it's a C-/D+ range for me, we didn't play quality basketball at either end of the floor and the effort game to game was questionable at best and a lot of the time non existent. I didn't really see a culture change cause it was basically the same sort of stuff we have seen in the past it just looked better cause Cousins was beasting at times.

Positives for the year
#Cousins improvement
#The beard Bro's energy/hustle
#Ray Mac's stint getting extended playing time
#Mclemore's confidence improving late in the season
#Trading eMTpty who quit on us a long time ago

Negatives
#Really selfish basketball that will never lead us anywhere
#Lack of effort on defence
#Still have not got the right pieces around Cousins (if we are building around him and I can't tell if we are with the moves we make)
#Derrick Williams after exciting us as a starter went back to being garbage.
#Everything Carl Landry

Hopefully this is the last time we see a number of these players in a Kings uniform. To me ideally we keep Cousins/the Mac's/Beard bros'/IT (only if he accepts being a 6th man) and bring in solid players and trade/let go of almost everything else.

 

[Turgenev]

I voted C.

If the Kings finished top 10 in the west (would have required 40 wins) I would have given an A. A top 12 finish (34 wins) would have scored a B. If we did worse than 28 wins I probably would have given a D. There is reason for optimism and we can hope for an improved on court product next season.

 

[Bosnian Diehard]

I gave us a B+.

Positives:

-- DeMarcus Cousins: extended and transformed into beast
-- McRookies had a very good April
-- got a legit #2 option to play with Cousins
-- DMC/Gay/IT trio produced .500 basketball
-- got a real head coach
-- didn't regress in win total compared to last season
-- we'll be playing in Sacramento in 2014/15 on beyond...

Negatives:

-- Carl Landry's contract
-- no consistent play, especially on the defensive end
-- too many forwards but none are great defenders

I honestly don't care that we only had 28 wins. For one, I knew this whole season the Playoffs would be unrealistic considering this is rebuild year one for the new management. Coach Malone even stated himself that they wouoldn't judge this season by wins. Also, we were a .500 ballclub with DMC/Gay/IT, so our record would obviously be much better had that core had a full training camp and started the season together.