Nobody is set with a 6'6" power forward, unless his last name is Barkley or Rodman. And I don't care how good his offense is, he averaged six rebounds a game. To steal a line from the Round Mound himself, that's more like a small forward.
I think Rick Adelman got a wake up call on starting a short guy(Hayes) that plays with heart at center...let alone being undersized to play PF. Landry plays with heart, and has skill...but is he someone who we can win a championship with as our starting PF?? Probably not...now can he play that same role as 6th man...yes, he can. We'd be better suited to(barring FA signing, of course)draft Cousins to play the 5 and start Thompson at PF again, then just find out what the heck Mr. Hawes can offer in his young, inexperienced state.Nobody is set with a 6'6" power forward, unless his last name is Barkley or Rodman. And I don't care how good his offense is, he averaged six rebounds a game. To steal a line from the Round Mound himself, that's more like a small forward.
I read that sixers are ready will give number 2 NBA draft, but only with BrandIt means 51 milions$ for 3 years
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Brand can't be that bad. I'd take this deal. Number 2 and number 5 would greatly help our cause.
I will presume you mean the dwarf Landry is good enough for the mean time that we don't have any option at power forward. But if you mean Landry is good enough as our longterm starter at the 4 ( to match the likes of Gasols of the NBA ) I will suggest that we play in another league not named NBA. Maybe in the D-league we can win the championship.I think we are set at the PF with Landry if were able to put a starting defensive center next to him.
I seem to have limited vision on the future. Next year gets my attention. I think the Kings will attempt to bring one starter and one "6-7-8" at another position, one of these two newies a the big defender. Even without getting "a major free agent" I think achieving that is doable and they will if they can. On top of that I can imagine them making a big investment if they get what they want. So I look forward to next season where the Kings will have at least two significant new parts. I see the ownership feeling big pressure to up the talent now. Doing it is tougher than wanting it. Good luck, GP/Maloof.The steps we should know:
1) Next season, if we have a quiet summer, we should still be one of those teams that comes in talking about playoffs, is competitive, and then fades off for a win total in the mid 30s. This would be accomplished by nothing more than the arrival of one more talented kid, the development of all the youth we already have, and some smaller targeted FAs to patch weaknesses.
If we have a big summer in some way -- sign a major free agent, make a big trade, we could even get up into the 40s in wins, but in the West should still fall short of the playoffs.
1. So, you've run out of patience with a two-year player and a three-year player? Roger that; no sense of instant gratification with you... Nope, nuh-uh, nossir...
2. So, you'd like to trade both Thompson and Hawes AND Thompson?
Nobody is set with a 6'6" power forward, unless his last name is Barkley or Rodman. And I don't care how good his offense is, he averaged six rebounds a game. To steal a line from the Round Mound himself, that's more like a small forward.
And that point is two years?Instant gratification? "Nossir". I just think there's a point where you stop hoping and praying for a player to meet his "potential", and just call it what it is...
15/8/3/1/1 (which is what Laettner averaged before he got hurt) might be bust-worthy out of the third overall pick in the draft. Out of the twelfth pick? Not as much. But I find it fascinating that you think that a player who was drafted towards the end of the lottery should be held to the same standards for being able to be an immediate impact as a player drafted at the beginning of the lottery.But again, to each his own. Perhaps you wanted to give Bobby Hurley a contract extension so he could reach his full "potential"? Perhaps you feel we should sign Kwame Brown, since he's full of "potential". Perhaps we should have done everything we could've to sign Christian Laettner, again cuz of his "potential."
Program height, maybe.Dennis Rodman is 6'7", not 6'6"![]()
And that point is two years?
15/8/3/1/1 (which is what Laettner averaged before he got hurt) might be bust-worthy out of the third overall pick in the draft. Out of the twelfth pick? Not as much. But I find it fascinating that you think that a player who was drafted towards the end of the lottery should be held to the same standards for being able to be an immediate impact as a player drafted at the beginning of the lottery.
But, you're right: Thompson should totally be expected to make as immediate an impact as, say, Kevin Love. That's why they went fifth and sixth in that draft...
Hey... wait a minute!
Program height, maybe.
This is a bald-faced lie. Not a misinterpretation; a bald-faced lie. If that was, indeed "all you said," I would never have responded to you in the first place. The first time you even mentioned Hawes/Thompson and championship in the same sentence was after you replied to me.Where in any of my posts did I say that I expected an "immediate impact"? Where did I discuss JT's draft position? When did I ever say that JT should have the same impact as Kevin Love? Knocking down straw man arguments is fun, I know, but all I said is that no team will win a championship with Hawes and Thompson in their starting line-up, and I feel very confident saying that "after only two (three for Spencer) years".
i dont care where u were drafted if a team has gave you 20+ minutes consistently by your third year you should be making a drastic improvement.... i cant say that ive seen that with spencer hawes.. i think hes actually regressed since last season...
agree, the kings is going to be a very good team in a couple of years from now, tyreke is diamond and i think we have some good young players around him, and if we will be lucky like last year (almost will be fine too) we might be a playoff team in even this year and defenitly next year.I think were getting closer.
Were at the point where if we dont do anything, we'll get better. If we dont sign anyone .. even if we didnt have a draft pick, we would be a better team next year. Thats a good sign, we were on the decline for a while, but now we are trending up.
If this is true, then by all means let us get rid of this kid ASAP. Very bad "prima dona" attitude for a borderline BUST.a motivated hawes can give you 20 8 and 4 statline.... it has something to do with age and coaching we've barely had a steady coach for 2 years.... i dont think he regressed more like plateaued lets just hope he has another break through
If this is true, then by all means let us get rid of this kid ASAP. Very bad "prima dona" attitude for a borderline BUST.
Is your boy that big star already to act as if he is all high-up there and will only play well when he is motivated?
Hawes played relatively worse this year and under the current coach ( Westphal ). Does that mean we need to change our coach again so he can be motivated and play well?![]()
Well give him a season more to see how he progresses now that the team has some stability and he actually has real coaches he can work with. If he continues to play soft and not try hard then by all means get rid of him
I'm not entirely sure I buy the Hawes line...I certainly don't buy the 20-8-4 thing. That's just typical fan stuff where every player on their team could be an All Star if... He's a talented player in all the ways you normally use the word "talent", but its hard to be consistent night to night as a gravy without the meat & potatoes. Not even sure who to compare him to around the league right now. Maybe a Charlie Villanueva figure amongst the centers.
But either way the interesting, or rather the problematic thing right now is that he is going into the final year of his rookie contract now. And so easy enough to say let's see how he does, then make a call, but the problem is you really don't want to lose him for nothing at the end of next season. So he will be a restricted FA, and if he does well, maybe he gets a big offer, and then you are stuck paying him $8mil a year (or whatever the equivalent will be under the new CBA), or you end up just losing him for nothing. I'm not sure I consider it a position of power to either a) hope he doesn't do well so you can resign him reasonably to a long term contract off a poor season, or b) if he does do well have to match a big offer for him off one good season to avoid him walking for nothing.
If this is true, then by all means let us get rid of this kid ASAP. Very bad "prima dona" attitude for a borderline BUST.
Is your boy that big star already to act as if he is all high-up there and will only play well when he is motivated?
Hawes played relatively worse this year and under the current coach ( Westphal ). Does that mean we need to change our coach again so he can be motivated and play well?![]()
Back to the topic: We're about 100 light years from seriously contending for a championship. Get real folks! The West is loaded with young teams going up the ladder (Memphis, Oklahoma City, Portland) and the Kings have huge holes to fill.
Jason Thompson will be a good player, IMHO, but we need an impact big man, a shooting guard who can shoot and a point guard that can shoot. Tyreke should improve his outside shot in a year or so. The team needs to be MUCH better at defending the paint and 3-point arc. And we need a stronger bench.
The good news is that the Kings may be ready to get a playoff spot in a year or two. The Maloofs need to spend some money on a marque free agent big man to seriously contend for a championship.
Good post, Baja. Very pertinent and I agree on both of our big guys.I think one of the assertions was that the Kings would never win a championship with Thompson in the starting lineup. Hmmm! I suspect that depends on who the other four players are. Every player in the starting lineup of a championship team doesn't have to be a star. And they seldom are. But usually 2 out of the 5 are stars, and the other three are solid players that fit well and compliment the two stars. I can easily see Thompson being one of those. He did improve last year, although I'll admit it was a year full of ups an downs. But I was encouraged by his finish of the season. Hopefully it will carry over into next year.
Now Hawes is another story altogether. He did have a couple of nice games at the end of the year. But overall, its hard not to say your disappointed. The bad news is that he's already played three seasons and given us no reason to feel like he's the starting center of the future. Perhaps that was too lofty an expectation all along. Perhaps his future is as a backup center. Which does have value, but a disappointment none the less.
The good news is that he's still young. And to be fair to him, he been on a revolving door of coaches. The system has changed, along with the expectations of him, every year he's been here. This will be the first year where he starts the season with the same system, and coaching staff, as the season before. Lets not forget that Thompson went through 3 coaches in his two years. Now I know its easy to just discard that fact, but it does matter. Figuring out to what degree is the hard part. Systems do matter. Just ask Eddie Jordan. And players are stuck with whatever system the current coach wants to play. Some systems bring out a players strengths, and some do the opposite.
Why do you think Beno had a nice breakout year last year. Something he ate? No! Westphal found out what he was good at and ran plays to utilize those things. And Wa La, suddenly he looked like a player again. Having said that, it is a scarey thought that he couldn't do the same thing with Hawes. Anyway, I'm willing to give him another year, barring his inclusion in the trade that brings Bosh to the team. I'm certainly rooting for him to succeed. The team has three years and a lot of money invested in him. So it would be nice to see a return on it.