Grantland (Bill and Jalen) Kings Preview

[Larry David]

While the All Star game has featured many many players coaches weren't thrilled with over the years, Cousins will most likely need to be voted in by the coaches from a crowded field of great players, guys that get in on legacy, and rewarding very good players on teams that are winning. Most likely, the Kings will not have a good record. If you don't think that some western conference coaches will factor in Cousin's past and current behavior with the refs, his teammates, and others if he's on the bubble ... I think you are kidding yourself.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

Not sure if it belongs in this thread, but will our home opener sell out? I have a slight feeling that it won't because of the ticket prices. Or if it does, it'll mostly be warrior fans.

Pete will be in the hot seat if the team doesn't start winning.. no one wants to attend a sucky team, but it also feels like the prices went up as soon as the new reign came in.

I have no idea what the prices are like, but man, I hope that game sells out. It should sell out. I'd go if I could.

 

[Livinthedream]

More likely scenario:

10/15 (or whatever)
grantland.com article:

Point #19 (or whatever) -- Believe it or not Boogie Cousins might make an All Star team

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

10/16
To: PWestphal@bnets.com (Paul Westphal)
From: ZLowe@grantland.com

Paul,

I just predicted that Boogie Cousins might make the All Star team this year in my article 33 Random Things (or whatever). I feel dirty. You coached him -- do you think that's a real possibility?

-- Zach

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10/17 (or whatever)
To: ZLowe@grantland.com (Zach Lowe)
From: PWestphal@bnets.com

**** that ****.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yep.

 

[swisshh]

I wasn't a Cousins fan when he came here, but I've turned into a big Cousins fan over the years. If there's one thing I've learned in regards to Demarcus, it's that you don't trust second hand accounts of him.

 

[bajaden]

I know I said I prefer Payton, but I can't disagree with anything you said here. Stauskas was the "get better now" pick and with Cousins ready to dominate, I can see why they went that direction. It's also a little over-simplified to say we don't need a SG because we already picked McLemore. We watched Ben play all of last season, Bill and Jalen didn't. It's clear he's still got a lot of work to do before you write his name into the starting lineup in permanent marker. The appeal with Nik Stauskas is that he's an all-around offensive player who can shoot the lights out but also help to keep your offense working by making smart decisions with the ball. Guys with his shooting talent who can also chew gum and dribble a basketball at the same time are a valuable commodity in the NBA. Stauskas will continue to be an asset wither he's starting or coming off the bench because you always need roleplayers who can shoot. With Elfrid Payton, he really has to stick as your starting PG or you've basically wasted the pick. And it's also fair to question whether a team that's trying to put rebuilding behind them can afford to go into the season with an unproven rookie and a shaky sophomore as their starting backcourt (though Collison/McCallum/Payton sounds solid to me on paper).

So there's a lot of good reasons to take Stauskas over Payton, objectively speaking. Every time NBA analysts rate the draft they look only at obvious surface level criteria (what positions do they need) without considering all of these other factors. When you're picking 7th in the draft, it's wise to consider bolstering your depth at a given position rather than just looking to fill an immediate need because the talent level gets thinner as you move down the draft board. But at the end of the day, it's really just talent that wins. I see all the reasons for picking Stauskas and I don't hate the pick, but I believe Payton has got a good shot at being the best defender in the league at his position in 3 or 4 years and he's not a liability offensively either. All of the same criticisms people make about Elfrid Payton were made of Rajon Rondo before the draft as well and he turned out alright. If Payton is the better player long-term, it was the wrong pick. I think he will be, but we're a long way away from making that determination.

The draft day video thing though, I did cringe when I saw that video the first time. It sure looks like Vivek made the pick and it also looks like Pete wasn't completely comfortable with it. It was an awkward moment to expose to the world, but it's not a huge deal. We know Vivek is enthusiastic and involved, and I'm sure there were a lot of discussions that went on before this that weren't captured in the video. I suppose there's worse things that could happen with your team than a new owner coming in, getting a new arena built, and wanting to be a little too hands-on with player decisions. As long as he's willing to hold himself accountable for wins and losses along with everyone else, I don't really have a problem with it. By all accounts, Vivek is a pretty smart guy. I think he's smart enough to try a different approach if the moves he champions backfire.

I think were pretty much in agreement. Even on Payton. Rondo is a good comparison, and no folks, I'm not saying that Payton is the next coming of Rondo. Just that their abilities coming into the league are very similar. As to whether choosing Stauskas over Payton is right or wrong, for me it depends on whether the Kings are successful with Stauskas, and whether he had some impact on that success. If Payton becomes and all star, and Stauskas doesn't, but the Kings win 60 games, then the Kings made the right choice. I'm all about team success, not individual success, and yes, I realize that the two do go hand in hand most of the time.

Not sure whether you saw it or not, but there was another video prior to draft day when everyone was discussing the choice, and many names were bandied around the table, including the name of Marcus Smart (I cringe at the thought). So to me, that video would have more significance if they had showed a few minutes of what was said prior to when they came to decision time. Vivek doesn't strike me as the imperialist type. Many times when introducing a new member of the Kings organization, he states that their smarter than he is. So in closing, I think it's far too easy to take things out of context, which is what happened with the video, and make something into what its not.

 

[Chubbs]

meh. "league sources," huh? i'd absolutely take that with a grain of salt. in the last year, zach lowe has been forced to begrudgingly admit to demarcus' undeniable improvement across the board. he works for grantland, bill simmons is his boss, and simmons f***ing loves boogie. i think it gets under lowe's skin a bit. he's a smart guy, with a top-notch analytical mind for the game. but smart guys also don't like to be wrong, and it seems to me that he's going to continue to look for every opportunity to undermine boogie that he can find...

Speaking of which. From this article (http://grantland.com/the-triangle/33-crazy-predictions-for-the-nba-season/) Lowe had this to say about Cousins:

"27. DeMarcus Cousins will make his first All-Star team.
I have no idea how this is even possible, but what the hell. Let’s boogie. Love has traipsed East, but Kobe Bryant and Russell Westbrook are healthy again, and Durant should be back in time to claim his rightful spot. There is no obvious big man to excise from last year’s roster, and Cousins’s tech-filled preseason hasn’t been encouraging.
Still: Boogie’s got that sheen of Team USA maturity, he’s going to put up monster numbers, and he has made huge strides on defense — at least when he tries."

Tech filled preseason, doesn't try. Yet all-star. Ok Zach. Just can't miss a chance to take a shot at him.

I saw the two techs Cousins got. Both were cheap. Zach knows that and doesn't care.

 

[macadocious]

I think were pretty much in agreement. Even on Payton. Rondo is a good comparison, and no folks, I'm not saying that Payton is the next coming of Rondo. Just that their abilities coming into the league are very similar. As to whether choosing Stauskas over Payton is right or wrong, for me it depends on whether the Kings are successful with Stauskas, and whether he had some impact on that success. If Payton becomes and all star, and Stauskas doesn't, but the Kings win 60 games, then the Kings made the right choice. I'm all about team success, not individual success, and yes, I realize that the two do go hand in hand most of the time.

Not sure whether you saw it or not, but there was another video prior to draft day when everyone was discussing the choice, and many names were bandied around the table, including the name of Marcus Smart (I cringe at the thought). So to me, that video would have more significance if they had showed a few minutes of what was said prior to when they came to decision time. Vivek doesn't strike me as the imperialist type. Many times when introducing a new member of the Kings organization, he states that their smarter than he is. So in closing, I think it's far too easy to take things out of context, which is what happened with the video, and make something into what its not.

Do you have a link to the other video you are talking about.

I have always found the "this guy is smarter than me..." spiel to be completely disingenuous. He doesn't believe it, at all. I know what he is trying to do, but after the second time he said it, it's just blowing smoke up people asses.

That being said, I have no idea if he pushed Stauskas over Payton, but regardless I think it was the right decision. Payton could be great, but it will be a couple years for sure and has been stated ad nauseam, if we don't start winning soon we will lose Fans, Boogie, Rudy, and potential free agents. Regardless of how great or not great Payton is, Stauskas will be a top 10 3pt shooter in this league. At worst he is Korver/Reddick/Wesley Person type player.

 

[macadocious]

Speaking of which. From this article (http://grantland.com/the-triangle/33-crazy-predictions-for-the-nba-season/) Lowe had this to say about Cousins:

"27. DeMarcus Cousins will make his first All-Star team.
I have no idea how this is even possible, but what the hell. Let’s boogie. Love has traipsed East, but Kobe Bryant and Russell Westbrook are healthy again, and Durant should be back in time to claim his rightful spot. There is no obvious big man to excise from last year’s roster, and Cousins’s tech-filled preseason hasn’t been encouraging.
Still: Boogie’s got that sheen of Team USA maturity, he’s going to put up monster numbers, and he has made huge strides on defense — at least when he tries."

Tech filled preseason, doesn't try. Yet all-star. Ok Zach. Just can't miss a chance to take a shot at him.

I saw the two techs Cousins got. Both were cheap. Zach knows that and doesn't care.

To play Devils advocate Lowe and Voulgaris both said it didn't matter if he was changed because the refs all hate him regardless, which we have seen this pre-season.

 

[Chubbs]

To play Devils advocate Lowe and Voulgaris both said it didn't matter if he was changed because the refs all hate him regardless, which we have seen this pre-season.

The refs aren't the ones who decide who makes all star teams though.

 

[bajaden]

Do you have a link to the other video you are talking about.

I have always found the "this guy is smarter than me..." spiel to be completely disingenuous. He doesn't believe it, at all. I know what he is trying to do, but after the second time he said it, it's just blowing smoke up people asses.

That being said, I have no idea if he pushed Stauskas over Payton, but regardless I think it was the right decision. Payton could be great, but it will be a couple years for sure and has been stated ad nauseam, if we don't start winning soon we will lose Fans, Boogie, Rudy, and potential free agents. Regardless of how great or not great Payton is, Stauskas will be a top 10 3pt shooter in this league. At worst he is Korver/Reddick/Wesley Person type player.

You can choose not to believe Vivek, and I certainly understand why you might feel that way. After the Maloofs, its hard to trust what anyone says within the Kings organization. Truth is, neither you, nor I, know for sure one way or the other. As to the video, no, I haven't been able to find it again. But all I did was a quick search. I'll try and dig a little deeper and see what I can come up with. Ironically, if I remember correctly, most of the discussion in the video was around Smart, Stauskas, Randle, and Vonleh. From what was said, those were the four they thought might be available that they were considering for their pick. I think they liked Payton, but never considered taking him that high. Which is probably why PDA wanted to acquire a later pick. But that's not in concrete. That's just my opinion based on what I heard. I do know that Mullins was a huge Stauskas supporter, and he does seem to have Vivek's ear. Doesn't really matter now, does it?

 

[bajaden]

To play Devils advocate Lowe and Voulgaris both said it didn't matter if he was changed because the refs all hate him regardless, which we have seen this pre-season.

If a ref did, or does indeed make a statement like that, then he should be fired immediately. To admit that you can't be objective about a player, should be an instant disqualification.

 

[KingMilz]

To play Devils advocate Lowe and Voulgaris both said it didn't matter if he was changed because the refs all hate him regardless, which we have seen this pre-season.

If the refs hated Cuz he would not be one of the League Leaders in free throw attempts and I read in a article he leads the NBA in fouls drawn per touch http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...g-come-out-on-top-in-new-way-to-measure-fouls.

He just has to stop talking crap to them, they don't hate him it's just like with everything you get fed up with someone doing something consistently annoying and always complaining. The whole refs hate Cousins thing is overblown.

 

[macadocious]

You can choose not to believe Vivek, and I certainly understand why you might feel that way. After the Maloofs, its hard to trust what anyone says within the Kings organization.

Do I believe him when he says all these people he hires are smarter than him? No, no I do not. He is an MIT grad, the % of people on this earth that are smarter than him are minuscule, let alone every single person he has ever hired.

 

[PBNJ85]

Lets give him a year or three before we make claim to the state of our brain trust.

 

[kingsnation]

Just so nobody feels they HAVE to watch this, I'll sum up:

Boy do we love Boogie.
Some gimmicks.
Why did they get rid of IT?
Pizza Guy gimmicks.
Why did they draft Stauskas instead of Payton?
More gimmicks.
Sight gags.
Gimmicky gimmicks.
Wow, the Kings should trade for Deron Williams and his hideous contract, but the Nets would never do it.
Gimmicks.
Cousins will be an All-Star (note: this section takes about 1.4 seconds)
Gee, I wonder if Boogie and Isaiah didn't like each other?
Oh, and they won't make the playoffs.
Cool we found our gimmicky song!

Thanks for saving me time.

 

[kingsfan101]

If Stauskas helps now, he is a good pick. We can't afford to lose DMC. While his play has been stellar, and his maturity improving, the team has sucked for a long time. I guess he would be itching to be on a winning team, getting more time on national TV, making all star team, playing in the play-offs and more. If he can get there sooner, he is more likely to stay longer.

If this helps DMC stay, I would call this a good decicision, even if Payton turns out to be a star in future, while Nick plateaus as an excellent role player. That's a lot asking from a rookie, but hopefully, he provides some immediate help, and hope for the immediate future.

 

[randymoss1881]

If Stauskas helps now, he is a good pick. We can't afford to lose DMC. While his play has been stellar, and his maturity improving, the team has sucked for a long time. I guess he would be itching to be on a winning team, getting more time on national TV, making all star team, playing in the play-offs and more. If he can get there sooner, he is more likely to stay longer.

If this helps DMC stay, I would call this a good decicision, even if Payton turns out to be a star in future, while Nick plateaus as an excellent role player. That's a lot asking from a rookie, but hopefully, he provides some immediate help, and hope for the immediate future.

Nothing he can do to leave until 2016/2017 when he has 1 year left on his contract. If he tried to force his way out he ruins the image he is now repairing.

 

[The_Jamal]

bill and jalen's nba previews can be pretty entertaining. this one was... okay. that said, i find myself agreeing with much of their "analysis" (admittedly, because i've already shared similar opinions heading into this season). i liked elfrid payton over nik stauskas, and i still do. i certainly didn't like the decision to select SG's in back-to-back drafts, and i also think vivek liked stauskas perhaps a bit more than some of the other decision-makers in the kings' war room. i think bill and jalen were fair regarding the team's limited potential as constructed, and i appreciate that they've always been among boogie's biggest supporters as nationally-recognized talking heads. bill's prediction of about 34 wins strikes me as on-the-money, unless, as he notes, the kings make another splashy trade, which i certainly believe that PDA will attempt to do...

If this preseason is any indication of how Ben and Nik are going to play this season, then I'm absolutely glad we ended up drafting Stauskas over Payton. Collison and Sessions are much better players at PG than Payton is and likely will be for a few years. It would have been a massive mistake to put all our cards into the Ben improving basket after the year he had last year and expect him to be a 30+ MPG player. Having both will help each guys develop and take the pressure off as far as.

 

[Glenn]

If this preseason is any indication of how Ben and Nik are going to play this season, then I'm absolutely glad we ended up drafting Stauskas over Payton. Collison and Sessions are much better players at PG than Payton is and likely will be for a few years. It would have been a massive mistake to put all our cards into the Ben improving basket after the year he had last year and expect him to be a 30+ MPG player. Having both will help each guys develop and take the pressure off as far as.

I think that the FO did very well with the guards. The two headed PG position is as good as we need and a good investment for what we paid. Nik was necessary and might have been the guy to pick even if Ben becomes a real NBA player. Unfortunately I don't know how Nik will be at the end of the season. I think we are all assuming he will be a better player than Ben. Certainly he is a better shot and if all his press is accurate, he may fit in well as a jack of all trades which again is what we needed. I wish he was more aggressive in wanting the ball but then he's a rookie and darn well knows it.

Let's get the season going, huh? I want a real game to discuss. TDOS is full of conjecture and is really nothing I enjoy.

 

[kingsfan101]

Nothing he can do to leave until 2016/2017 when he has 1 year left on his contract. If he tried to force his way out he ruins the image he is now repairing.

You don't want to think this about your superstar. You want to keep him happy, and believe in the coach, management, and team mates.

A superstar typically finds his way out to his desired destination if he wants. You can check cases like Carmelo, Love, Howard, etc. Damaged image repairs over time (no one talks much about "The Decision" anymore), but the damage to the franchise will be huge.

 

[Spike]

If Cousins wanted out he would have been gone by now. He didn't have to agree to an extension, but he did. He didn't have to say that he wants to turn Sacramento around, but he did. Despite the consistent Maloofery, he decided to stick it out.
That said, I don't think we've done enough to build a winner around DFC. I think we've made positive strides in that direction, but there are several things that we are dependent upon:

1. The continued cohesion between Cousins and Gay.
If they work a good 1-2 game, then that will go a long way. If they ever have to fight over the ball, then all bets are off. History shows, however, that Gay is fine being a #2 option, and will succeed in that role, so I don't see this as an issue.

2. Bringing in the right players through trade/FA.
I think this has been pretty inconsistent, but I give the FO kudos for at least trying to shuffle things around until they fit. So far, it seems like we're getting lower-level versions of the types of players we're looking for, and geez, is anyone still defending the Landry move? That said, at least they're trying...

3. The rookies/youth developing.
That's the sticky wicket, isn't it? If Stauskas becomes what he could be by next year (if not sooner), McLemore doesn't suck, and Moreland becomes a viable option sooner rather than later, then we've added good pieces around Cousins. Pie in the sky would be a backcourt of Stauskas/McLemore (which theoretically could happen), and Moreland would be like Evans with better defense. Yes, I know that's best case scenario, but that's kind of what we need at this point, right?

If we hit a home run on all three, then I think this is a non-issue. Cousins doesn't seem to want a bigger market, and Kevin Durant has proven that it isn't necessary. If we miss out on issue #1, I think we can salvage it somewhat through #2, but then we're taking a step back unless we absolutely get it right. #3 to me is the biggest concern, as these players need to be hitting their peak near the end of Cousins's contract. If they do, we're winning games, and he's not going anywhere. If not, it's either because they've been traded away for better (fitting) players, which goes back to #2. I'd like to get to a cycle where our kids aren't being relied upon from the start, and we can just plug them in later because we have the luxury to do so, but we're not there yet. Fair or not, there's a lot of pressure on them right now.

 

[uolj]

Do we have a generic thread for all the season previews? Here's a short one from Grantland's sister site FiveThirtyEight (scroll down to the third capsule for Kings):

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features...kers-are-even-worse-than-they-were-last-year/

...

They’ll have to mix in with DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay, who are coming off successful World Cup campaigns for the U.S. national team. It’s a defining season for both players, as Cousins is entering what should be his prime and Gay is in a contract year at the end of a much-maligned max deal. Both of them love to shoot — Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are the only pair of teammates who can match the duo’s elevated Usage Rates (32.7 percent for Cousins, 27.6 percent for Gay) — and it’s likely their Usage Rates will climb with Collison running the point instead of Thomas.

With DeMarcus Cousins, anything is possible, but given the depth and quality of the Western Conference, any realistic hopes of the Kings contending likely left with Thomas.

 

[Bricklayer]

Do we have a generic thread for all the season previews? Here's a short one from Grantland's sister site FiveThirtyEight (scroll down to the third capsule for Kings):

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features...kers-are-even-worse-than-they-were-last-year/

Heh, like their little table even if I don't entirely agree with it.

But why does Rudy have a little red hospital truck next to him? Since when is he injury prone?

 

[randymoss1881]

You don't want to think this about your superstar. You want to keep him happy, and believe in the coach, management, and team mates.

A superstar typically finds his way out to his desired destination if he wants. You can check cases like Carmelo, Love, Howard, etc. Damaged image repairs over time (no one talks much about "The Decision" anymore), but the damage to the franchise will be huge.

Yes you want to keep him happy but you can't make short sighted moves you need to be patient we are in the west. Like people bringing up Martin for Ben swap that is a terrible move 2-3 year down which is what we should be look for. In 2-3 year how do we look that's what Boogie will be looking at. do we have a second fiddle for him ( Gay or someone else signed if he left). Do we have young talent ( Ben, Nick, Collison, ect). If we make trades we shouldn't do it for this season but for how they will fit with us this season and beyond.

 

[Bricklayer]

Yes you want to keep him happy but you can't make short sighted moves you need to be patient we are in the west. Like people bringing up Martin for Ben swap that is a terrible move 2-3 year down which is what we should be look for. In 2-3 year how do we look that's what Boogie will be looking at. do we have a second fiddle for him ( Gay or someone else signed if he left). Do we have young talent ( Ben, Nick, Collison, ect). If we make trades we shouldn't do it for this season but for how they will fit with us this season and beyond.

The outlook 2-3 years down the road depends very much on this critical season.

This is the one bad season it may take to send us hurtling toward disaster. Cuz is one bad season from losing his coach, losing his wingman, an quite possibly losing his confidence we can get it done. At the end of the year the new TV deal will kick, teams will get cap room, but nobody will want to come here to join the now 9 straight years of futility. This si the year that DeMarcus Cousins' fate and future could become divorced from ours, just as Kevin Love's did from Minnesota. Cousins goes out, has success, tastes victory, begins to receive individual accolades, and then he comes back home and finds we can't deliver any of that to him. There is better out there for him now, and he now knows it. You wallow about taking shots on random kids who may or may not even be in the NBA in a few years at your peril. Once your star(s) are ready to win, you persist in losing at your extreme peril. And once those stars start to grow dissatisfied, start to cast a wandering eye, you might be screwed no matter which rookie you groom or what longterm moves you make.

 

[SacTownKid]

If this team wins 29 games I think bad Vivek comes out and the firings are going to start pouring down.

As for the original video I can't really disagree with some of what they say. They are clearly not that educated on the Kings situation but there is a reason that this new brain trust is raising so many eyebrows. This year they will either surprise a lot of the experts or they themselves may learn a lesson or two.