ParniValjak
All-Star
Unfortunately two of the prospects that are fighting it out for the #1 pick.
Wiggins and Embiid
How would you grade D'Alessandro so far to this point??
- Thread starter BamBam52
- Start date
Wiggins and Embiid
LPKingsFan
All-Star
Don't look now, but T-Rob had 14 points, 18 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 assists last night...
TyFreak Evans
Bench
I would give him an actual grade here, but to be honest with you, I had to go with an "Incomplete" for the time being, and here is my reasoning....
This is PDA's first year with the team, and we are rebuilding. Right now, I think his primary focus is to gear up for the long term. And for that reason, I find it unfair to give him a "grade" right now. Certainly, we can see that this team is slowly starting to go in the right direction, and that is always a plus whenever assessing talent and front office performance during the course of the regular season. If all of these moves that PDA has made up to this point do not directly result in a blockbuster acquisition, or a high draft pick that pans out into a superstar down the road, then I will fairly assess PDA at that time. But to come out and say he deserves an "A" or a "B", or even an "F" is unfair to PDA, and more importantly, to the entire franchise...Give the guy some more time before asking for a grade. The Great Wall of China wasn't built overnight. The Sacramento Kings won't be, either...
This is PDA's first year with the team, and we are rebuilding. Right now, I think his primary focus is to gear up for the long term. And for that reason, I find it unfair to give him a "grade" right now. Certainly, we can see that this team is slowly starting to go in the right direction, and that is always a plus whenever assessing talent and front office performance during the course of the regular season. If all of these moves that PDA has made up to this point do not directly result in a blockbuster acquisition, or a high draft pick that pans out into a superstar down the road, then I will fairly assess PDA at that time. But to come out and say he deserves an "A" or a "B", or even an "F" is unfair to PDA, and more importantly, to the entire franchise...Give the guy some more time before asking for a grade. The Great Wall of China wasn't built overnight. The Sacramento Kings won't be, either...
On the one hand, he has been very active. The roster turnover is pretty incredible considering most of it has taken place during the course of the season where we're unaccustomed to seeing much activity from our front office. We also managed to ship out a number of players who weren't helping us and in return brought in some legitimate talent. Rudy's talent comes with an obvious caveat which is why he was not in high demand but Williams and Acy are young players halfway through their rookie deals. I was going to go with a B- (negatives being that the team hasn't actually improved much or at all if you factor out Cousins' development and the questionable Landry signing) but then the uneventful trade deadline caused me to knock it down a half grade into C range. I'm sure Pete tried to get something in return for IT or Jimmer and it just didn't work out, but right now this goes alongside the Tyreke sign-and-trade, last year's draft, and the Igoudala saga as a lot of getting things "almost" done.
The grade so far doesn't mean much though. If the next three or four moves are brilliant than the setup looks considerably better in retrospect. We're not there yet though so I'm going with the C. Which if you think about it, is almost the same thing as an incomplete. It's a 5 on a 1-10 scale... so in other words, I still have no idea what we have in Pete.
The grade so far doesn't mean much though. If the next three or four moves are brilliant than the setup looks considerably better in retrospect. We're not there yet though so I'm going with the C. Which if you think about it, is almost the same thing as an incomplete. It's a 5 on a 1-10 scale... so in other words, I still have no idea what we have in Pete.
NewArena
All-Star
B
We got Gay and Williams for a little bit of nothing, as far as I'm concerned. Did we fill every need? No, but that's the only reason I'm not giving him an A. Although every need can't be covered in one season, and I wish fans understood that.
This is now a .500 team with our new look (since Gay got here) and without including the games we've had key members out due to injury, I don't hate what I see. I'm looking forward to the offseason, and a full training camp with our new squad and additions we'll more than likely make.
NewArena
All-Star
Yeah, cuz tanking always works.
enigma99a
Bench
We could have had Lillard
Dreadnought
Bench
A bit premature, but I tentatively give him a C. I still think he deserves the upcoming draft and off-season to really see if he gets something done, and if he does, it could easily be an A. I am happy about trading for Rudy Gay, very disappointed in signing Landry, and neutral on every other move (including drafting McLemore).
If I had to give PDA a grade thus far I'd say a D.
I think if you are trying to assess a GM's success you are primarily looking for at least one of the following two things and ideally both:
(1) improvement in terms of wins and losses
(2) evidence of a brighter future
This year's Kings team is 20 & 36 after 56 games. Last year the team was 19 & 37 at the same point. So if improved short term success has not been achieved then we are looking at whether the Kings have a brighter future. And here we are talking on the court only as that is PDA's realm. Obviously the stable ownership, new arena, commitment to Malone as a quality coach etc are all very positive things but not D'Allesandro's domain per se.
So is the future brighter for this roster? Well, Rudy Gay looks to potentially be a great wingman for DMC who himself was locked up long term. I think those are positive moves. But the Kings still have virtually no cap room, no added draft picks, several misfitting pieces (including one that PDA signed to a big FA contract in Landry), a first round pick that has yet to show he's an NBA caliber player, a score 1st PG who will be a RFA this summer and just enough talent to potentially play their way out of a top five pick in a deep draft.
The reason I said "if I have to give PDA a grade" is that right now I simply don't have any idea what the actual long term strategy of his FO is. The early indications were that the Kings were trying to win now yet the results had the team out tanking the Sixers who were telegraphing their intentions as clear as possible.
We'll see.
I think if you are trying to assess a GM's success you are primarily looking for at least one of the following two things and ideally both:
(1) improvement in terms of wins and losses
(2) evidence of a brighter future
This year's Kings team is 20 & 36 after 56 games. Last year the team was 19 & 37 at the same point. So if improved short term success has not been achieved then we are looking at whether the Kings have a brighter future. And here we are talking on the court only as that is PDA's realm. Obviously the stable ownership, new arena, commitment to Malone as a quality coach etc are all very positive things but not D'Allesandro's domain per se.
So is the future brighter for this roster? Well, Rudy Gay looks to potentially be a great wingman for DMC who himself was locked up long term. I think those are positive moves. But the Kings still have virtually no cap room, no added draft picks, several misfitting pieces (including one that PDA signed to a big FA contract in Landry), a first round pick that has yet to show he's an NBA caliber player, a score 1st PG who will be a RFA this summer and just enough talent to potentially play their way out of a top five pick in a deep draft.
The reason I said "if I have to give PDA a grade" is that right now I simply don't have any idea what the actual long term strategy of his FO is. The early indications were that the Kings were trying to win now yet the results had the team out tanking the Sixers who were telegraphing their intentions as clear as possible.
We'll see.
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
We could have had Lillard
Drummond.
We had an excuse on Lillard -- already had too many ball dominant shot needing guards. But Drummond...no excuse there whatsoever. Except just being Geoff Petrie. Now that he's gone people have abruptly quit making excuses for his fatal aversion to interior defenders.
enigma99a
Bench
We'll hopefully this summer we can make it right. It sucks when you are a bad team but you get the wrong picks year after year, and makes you to continuely suck.
Kingsfan23
All-Star
A lot of pressure when you have a top pick to go consensus, although the results did hurt the franchise
macadocious
Starter
I don't see how anyone can argue with PDA taking Ben. Except for MCW and Hardaway Jr., who drafter after Ben has played convincingly better?
MCW may end up being better, but I don't think we can say that about Hardaway.
MCW may end up being better, but I don't think we can say that about Hardaway.
The only thing Hardaway Jr does better than McLemore is shooting, and that is coming back at some point for BMac. Yes, no-dribble, no-defense, no-rebound Ben is still doing all those things better than TMJ.
And the moment Philly becomes interested in winning, MCW gets dropped to the bench, because no one tolerates low-efficiency, high TO playmaker, when wins are on the line. It's not just rookie struggles. He looked the same in college, and guys inefficient in college very rarely become efficient in the pros, unless you limit their role.
Last year's draft was simply this bad.
And the moment Philly becomes interested in winning, MCW gets dropped to the bench, because no one tolerates low-efficiency, high TO playmaker, when wins are on the line. It's not just rookie struggles. He looked the same in college, and guys inefficient in college very rarely become efficient in the pros, unless you limit their role.
Last year's draft was simply this bad.
Indeed. MCW has the benefit of simply being the #1 man for a horrible Philly. While he puts up Gaudy PPG, APG, RPG etc, they become extremely shallow numbers when you look at what it took for him to get them.
He's certainly the best rook thus far, but I wouldn't take bet that remains the case 3 years down the line. McLemore was one of the few guys in this draft with some boom potential. We just haven't seen it yet.
FaStRmAn
Starter
I gave PDA a "B". I love the moves he has made to flush the Maloof era mediocrity out the door. Maloofs were incompetent owners, and stuck with Petrie way past his prime because they didn't want to spend to get another GM. Rudy Gay deal netted us a very good SF, and I liked the way they were able to parlay Luc Ba Amote into Derrick Williams, a younger player with more potential. Jettisoning Thorton for 2 contracts that are easier to offload is also a great move. PDA has been aggressive without being fool hearty. So far so good.
FaStRmAn
Starter
Reminds me of the inflated numbers Tyreke got his rookie season as the ownership pushed the coach to play Tyreke big minutes to inflate his stats so they could lobby for the ROY. It does not change the fact that we lost most of those games....
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
My lord that remains a stupid argument. Stupid stupid stupid stupid.
And comparing what Reke did to what Mac is doing is even stupider.
Backcourt options Reke's rookie year: Beno 31.4min, Cisco 23.0min, Udoka 13.7min, Sergio Rodriguez 13.3min, Desmond Mason 5gms (at SF), Garret Temple 5gms, and 1 month of Kevin Martin shooting .398 before being traded. At SF you can thrown in Casspi at 25.1min and Donte at 21.4min, both career highs as well.
But yes, the reason Tyreke played big minutes that season was because management was artificially pushing us to play a guard who could average 20-5-5 while spending time at 3 positions instead of playing the All Stars around him.
rainmaker
Hall of Famer
I have July 31st circled in my head. I'll wait and see how we do around draft day and through the opening month of free agency where most of the action happens. By that point our roster for next season will be mostly set and whatever blueprint PDA has should be clear. But a lot can happen and likely will happen between now and then.
Roster right now is a complete mess. If there's an actual successful plan behind it, it'll be clear in July. If not and we're just winging it, that'll also be clear. Won't be any excuses come July, a full year after PDA has taken over and the roster and supporting talent better fit much better than it is now and better give us a considerable better chance at winning than the current one. Any strategy centered around a continued rebuild next year is not one I'm supporting. Time to win. Time to take a serious step towards postseason ball.
Roster right now is a complete mess. If there's an actual successful plan behind it, it'll be clear in July. If not and we're just winging it, that'll also be clear. Won't be any excuses come July, a full year after PDA has taken over and the roster and supporting talent better fit much better than it is now and better give us a considerable better chance at winning than the current one. Any strategy centered around a continued rebuild next year is not one I'm supporting. Time to win. Time to take a serious step towards postseason ball.
FaStRmAn
Starter
I was comparing MCW today vs Tyreke during his 20/5/5 season. I did not mention Mac.
They did play Tyreke more than most rookies would have so that he could maintain the 20/5/5 illusion of future allstar potential (oh and sell season tickets)
And its not like he has suddenly become a world beater in N.O.
It does not change the fact that we lost most of those games....
2008-09 Record 17 - 65
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Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Which was no doubt the fault of the guy averaging 20-5-5 and not the fault of the utter scrubs filling out the roster. Let's see, Donte, Ime, Sergio, and Mason are out of the league (in fact I think only Donte even lasted beyond that year). Temple is a deep bencher. Beno just got released by a cellar dweller. Only Cisco and Casspi off that whole list can claim even low rotation minutes in the NBA at this point.
J
jdbraver
Guest
GMing is half skill and half luck. You gotta play with the hand you are dealt and you won't win every time and likely need to wait til next round. Patience people. If we are having this conversation three years from now then it's open season.
FaStRmAn
Starter
NO, not entirely his fault. But he has to share some of the blame. MCW is putting up great numbers too, but Philly continues to lose none the less. Stats are not always an indication of how good players are if the team they are on is pathetic. Any good player on a bad team will likely have good stats because they are one of the few options on offense.
I hope the best for Tyreke in N.O. but he suffers from the same limitations there as he did here. A shooting guard with no consistent jump shot.
Chubbs
Starter
His lack of a shot is crippling. I was a big fan, but he might be the worst shooter in NBA history before all is said and done (Rubio is giving him a run for it). He's getting worse (15% from 3). He barely even takes jumpers, and misses them at a truly amazing rate. Slipped under 40% on the season overall. And that's with 47.26% of his shots coming at the rim, with 74.31% of his makes at the rim. I've really never seen a players numbers go down every year although I'm sure it has happened. I mean, the guy has made 8 3s. THIS SEASON!
http://stats.nba.com/playerShotchart.html#PlayerID=201936&display-mode=performance
FaStRmAn
Starter
Yea, i too was a huge fan. But at some point you have to accept that he is never going to develop a consistent jumper. Then you have to look at his other talents. He is never going to be a assist leader and so his defense is going to have to be his calling card. Teams sag off of him on defense daring him to shoot and it clogs the lane. He would be the threat we all thought he would be if he was even a good shooter, but alas he does not seem to be improving. At this point the die is set.
gunks
Hall of Famer
This. When there honestly isnt any other good option out there, might as well swing for the fences on a high potential guy like Ben. This upcoming draft (and the season following it when we see the rookies play) will be more telling on PDA's abilities as far as evaluating draft talent.
