[Grades] Grades v. Wizards 2/9/2014

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

It's more apparent in game threads where every little mistake is the end of the world because the game is still on the line. Post-game analysis is usually more fair.

I suppose I'll have to take your word for it. I read through all of the [Game] threads, and I'm not seeing it. Perhaps it's just become white noise to me.

IT shoulders a lot of criticism of late 1) because the team stopped progressing after the Houston game that shall not be named, 2) he has been trending more toward chucking and less toward playmaking, and 3) losing is hard on a fanbase, players, coaches, and the natural instinct is to look for someone to pin the blame to.

I don't question whether he's shouldered a lot of criticism; I question whether he's shouldered a disproportionate/unfair amount of criticism.

Coming from an unrepentant Jimmer fan (awkward, slow shooters unite!), I can sympathize with IT guys who feel their guy doesn't get a fair shake. The tough to accept fact is that posters on this board are generally pretty savvy and when a lot of criticism gets flung toward a guy that you like to watch play, it likely means that there is a pretty significant fault with the guy you're rooting for.

Perhaps this is why all of my favorite Kings are ex-Kings. I haven't allowed myself to become emotionally invested in any Kings player since Webber got traded.

 

[Gilles]

http://imgur.com/a/02wXX

Cousins seems to have a lot more on his mind lately than just hanging out and having fun...

 

[Chubbs]

I believe brick said we would get a backup pass first pg and I still think that is a bit wimpy. If we got a starter to put IT as a 6th man, I'd be excited.

If a backup is the goal, yeah, I just don't buy it. They're looking for a guy to mask his deficiencies.

This may be radical idea, but the FO may even be thinking move him to sg and get a real pg to start with him (iverson/billups scenario). I mean, he plays a sg game already. Sure, he'd be the shortest sg in the history of basketball, but if they aren't looking to bring a guy in to start, they are certainly wanting a guy that can play the point in the 4th and actually run an offense.

Either way, it's a slap in the face to supreme leader. It's at least saying we need to cut his minutes. It's also saying to the guy who wants to be the best ever little guy that he's not good enough, and that one way or another, we want the ball in his hands a lot less. That seems a clear implication of the rumors.

 

[Padrino]

If a backup is the goal, yeah, I just don't buy it. They're looking for a guy to mask his deficiencies.

This may be radical idea, but the FO may even be thinking move him to sg and get a real pg to start with him (iverson/billups scenario). I mean, he plays a sg game already. Sure, he'd be the shortest sg in the history of basketball, but if they aren't looking to bring a guy in to start, they are certainly wanting a guy that can play the point in the 4th and actually run an offense.

Either way, it's a slap in the face to supreme leader. It's at least saying we need to cut his minutes. It's also saying to the guy who wants to be the best ever little guy that he's not good enough, and that one way or another, we want the ball in his hands a lot less. That seems a clear implication of the rumors.

i seriously doubt that the kings have any long-term designs to start isaiah thomas at SG. they may craft situational small ball lineups with thomas at some point, depending on any future guards they may acquire, but i think that, more than anything, they recognize they're in a bit of a bind. after the rudy gay trade, thomas was promoted into the starting PG position by virtue of a lack of available PG's on the roster. coach malone had been starting greivis vasquez in the hopes that he would develop some tangible chemistry with demarcus cousins, but vasquez wasn't given enough games in sacramento for anybody to find out if that chemistry would form, and he obviously wasn't provided an opportunity to play alongside both cousins and gay...

at this point, i'd quite easily argue that the kings don't have one PG on their entire roster. thomas is a me-first combo guard and a sixth man masquerading as a starting PG. jimmer is a slow-footed, undersized SG masquerading as a PG. i don't know what ray mccallum is yet, but he's certainly not an nba-caliber PG of note at this early juncture. so what do you do? well, you don't balk at the rudy gay trade just because you're worried that you'll have an unsuccessful guard rotation in the aftermath. the playoffs were always going to be well out of reach. unfortunately, now that thomas is a starter, he's putting up big numbers [on a losing team], so the kings may not be able to get away with paying him a sixth man's salary. and they don't really have the assets outside of thomas himself with which to acquire a starting-caliber PG...

so, again, what do you do? do you wait it out and see what the market dictates for thomas, biting the bullet on a big contract if you must? do you package him with a larger contract to bring back better-fitting pieces? if it were me, i'd trade him, but we haven't heard much in the way of those kinds of whispers. so, if they intend to keep him, i'd seriously do whatever i could to acquire at least a temporary solution at the starting PG position in the hopes that returning thomas to a sixth man's role drives his price down a bit in the offseason. he's best-suited to the sixth man role, anyway, and if i were the kings' gm, i wouldn't want to have to pay IT a starter's salary when i eventually intend to acquire a different long-term starting PG...

 

[Glenn]

so, again, what do you do? do you wait it out and see what the market dictates for thomas, biting the bullet on a big contract if you must? do you package him with a larger contract to bring back better-fitting pieces? if it were me, i'd trade him, but we haven't heard much in the way of those kinds of whispers. so, if they intend to keep him, i'd seriously do whatever i could to acquire at least a temporary solution at the starting PG position in the hopes that returning thomas to a sixth man's role drives his price down a bit in the offseason. he's best-suited to the sixth man role, anyway, and if i were the kings' gm, i wouldn't want to have to pay IT a starter's salary when i eventually intend to acquire a different long-term starting PG...

I would not bite the bullet and sign IT to a big contract. That is risky and to take such a risk for an oh, so, imperfect pg is, well, silly IMO. If he cannot be packaged and traded by the trade deadline, we will have boxed ourselves in. Well, maybe. PDA seems inventive.

Pssst, I heard the quietest of whispers yesterday.

 

[sdballer]

Pssst, I heard the quietest of whispers yesterday.

And what was whispered?

 

[Padrino]

I would not bite the bullet and sign IT to a big contract. That is risky and to take such a risk for an oh, so, imperfect pg is, well, silly IMO. If he cannot be packaged and traded by the trade deadline, we will have boxed ourselves in. Well, maybe. PDA seems inventive.

Pssst, I heard the quietest of whispers yesterday.

eh, i'm not buying it. i've been on the "trade IT" bandwagon since long before the acquisition of rudy gay; gay's presence has only further amplified my desire to see thomas traded. but that doesn't mean the front office agrees with me. these "whispers" haven't changed since vasquez was moved: the kings are looking for a "pure PG" to help shoulder some of the playmaking responsibility. it may be that they're looking for a long-term starter. it may also be that they're looking for a back-up. and maybe they really are considering trading IT, but there hasn't been a single rumor stating so. thus i'm inclined to believe that the kings want to move forward with thomas in some capacity or another, with only nine days left to accomplish a trade if that is actually their intent. we'll know soon...

 

[Glenn]

As with all whispers, sometimes the volume is so low you don't know what you have heard. Damn, it was meant to be funny.

 

[Padrino]

As with all whispers, sometimes the volume is so low you don't know what you have heard. Damn, it was meant to be funny.

haha, well apologies for ruining the joke. it's just become popular around these parts to believe that the kings' reported interest in acquiring additional help at PG corresponds with a desire to trade isaiah thomas. with nine days until the trade deadline, i have yet to see any worthwhile rumors to that effect...