I'm content with this off season

[RookieOfTheDay]

They didn’t mess around when it came to retaining Marcus Thornton.

They brought in an elite defender with leadership skills in Chuck Hayes.

They picked up a nice backup in Travis outlaw at a bargain.

They made a nice offer to AK47, which I assume still stands.

And perhaps most importantly, they DIDN'T waste all of their cap space by greatly overpaying a player like Gasol, Chandler, or Nene.

The team was improved over last year’s roster and they still have about 10$ million in cap space that they can use in a big trade or next year’s FA market.

At the end of the day, it wasn’t a knock it of the park type of off season. They didn’t sign LeBron, Wade, and Bosh or anything like that but considering the players that were available this year and the salaries that the top big men were commanding, I think things went about as well as could be expected.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

amen

 

[Chupacabra]

Im fine with this offseason as well. The only thing that i dislike is when i look at the probable starting lineup of Cousins/Hayes/Salmons/Thornton/Evans I notice that everyone is about 6 and a half feet tall until you get to Cousins. Its gonna be rough.

 

[Letsgokings13]

I thought i was the only one who liked the Outlaw pick up. Very cheap, relatively young, good defender, can hit the three, knows his role. Why wouldnt anyone like this?

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

Im fine with this offseason as well. The only thing that i dislike is when i look at the probable starting lineup of Cousins/Hayes/Salmons/Thornton/Evans I notice that everyone is about 6 and a half feet tall until you get to Cousins. Its gonna be rough.

Hopefully Hickson and JT can provide some good minutes off the bench.

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

I thought i was the only one who liked the Outlaw pick up. Very cheap, relatively young, good defender, can hit the three, knows his role. Why wouldnt anyone like this?

I think a lot of people look at the fact that he didn't play well last year. He's only 27 though, so he's young enough to bounce back from a bad year.

 

[whozit]

They didn’t mess around when it came to retaining Marcus Thornton.

They brought in an elite defender with leadership skills in Chuck Hayes.

They picked up a nice backup in Travis outlaw at a bargain.

They made a nice offer to AK47, which I assume still stands.

And perhaps most importantly, they DIDN'T waste all of their cap space by greatly overpaying a player like Gasol, Chandler, or Nene.

The team was improved over last year’s roster and they still have about 10$ million in cap space that they can use in a big trade or next year’s FA market.

At the end of the day, it wasn’t a knock it of the park type of off season. They didn’t sign LeBron, Wade, and Bosh or anything like that but considering the players that were available this year and the salaries that the top big men were commanding, I think things went about as well as could be expected.

Despite the drama, I'm sort of along the lines of blah. It seemed overall, the moves were lateral in terms of getting better. Improved in some areas like shooting, passing and such but possibly weakened it terms of not having someone to protect the rim or at the very least make a player coming into the paint think that there is someone to protect the paint. Time will tell.

 

[CruzDude]

Thought team did very well indeed considering where Kings finished last year. Backup for Cousins is the big issue I see and hopefully can be done by any combination of Hayes, Hickson or JT. Otherwise, did better than was expected. Now its up to coaches, player attitudes and health.

 

[pshn80]

Agree with OP. The team makeup is very interesting to look forward to. We all knew that Cousins and Evans were givens. In my book the two are very talented, have shown some great stuff, are quite inconsistent in their greatness, need more experience and more improvement and consistency. That's our stars. Fortunately we have more experience by a lot in the support troops. That's a big plus. Now see them play together for 15 games or so. Very intriguing. Go Kings.

 

[ElRey]

If Hayes can bring a strong veteran presence and leadership, then I would consider this offseason a success. Our problem last year was we had all the youngsters running around headless and didn't know how to win. Dalembert was a veteran but he has low BB IQ and not much of a leader. This team needs a veteran leader, and I'm hoping Chuck Hayes will be it. We have talent in Evans and Cousins, but they just need seasoning.

 

[Kingsguy881]

I think the Chuck Hayes signing was huge. I consider him a high IQ, veteran leader and locker room glue guy. I think the Salmons trade was savvy because he brings a lot to the table and is seasoned enough to do his job and know his role, and especially if the plan was to get Jimmer all along. No matter how much we love Beno, Jimmer has a brighter future (and will be a bigger crowd fave). When Marcus Thornton arrived in town, something changed about the Kings. They started to win those close games. They had a finisher. And then they traded a malcontent and brought in one of the more promising PFs in the league to either light a fire under JT's rectum or put him on the block.

 

[Kingsguy881]

^^^^^I forgot to mention I was pleasantly content too.

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

I forgot to mention that they were also one of the teams that was reported to be seriously interested in Tyson Chandler, so it's not like they didn't put the effort in. In the end I'm sure they just didn't feel he was worth more than 15$ million and backed out. Can't say i blame them either.

Would anyone really have been happy if they paid Tyson Chandler 17$ or 18$ million a year just to get him here? I'd think most fans would have been disgusted by paying him that kind of money, especially on a four year deal that would have impacted resigning Evans and Cousins. Gasol and Nene got similar contracts so the same applies to them. Getting one of those guys just wasn't happening unless you wanted to seriously jeopardize keeping our two stars long term.

The only reason I can see why someone would be upset with this off season is if they just really had their heart set on Dalembert coming back and didn’t mind overpaying him to do it.

 

[PurpleHaze]

Marcus Thornton signing was priority #1 - A+ Bringing onboard some quality bigs for our bit shaky front line was priority #2 - B+ I love Chuck Hayes signing as he will give as much or more than Daly in his own special way. Travis Outlaw at a long 6'9" is going to be very pleasant surprise I bet and make everyone finally stop going gaga for no rational reason over the immortal "Buckets." Speaking of Mr Outlaw, did he ever get a welcome thread by Kings fans? Probably so, but this is just about best article up I've come across on who he really is, plus what I know. Starksville, Mississippi native. Extremely humble (not unlike Chuck Hayes), cool southern drawl when speaking (could have been some Mississippi delta blues artist with that down home demeanor), explosive scorer and NBA professional who has made VERY big buckets for every team in the league played on so far. Kings fans are going to be pleasantly surprised, as I said. Ok, let's go win a bunch of the 66 games in front of us. Go Kings!

http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=120216469037036400

 

[Kingster]

When Chuck Hayes didn't sign, I was pretty negative, largely because the Kings had sooo much FA $ with relatively little to show for it. Now that he is going to sign, I'm fairly positive on the offseason. (It's like being told your auto repair is going to cost $500 and they only charge you $250). I would be over-the-top positive if the Kings would sign Kirilenko at a reasonable price and if they had signed Barea. If this team plays D like they mean it, and if they can just take care of the ball and pass moderately well, they could be a .500 team. Can they take care of the ball? The assist/to ratio continues to be the #1 stat I look at to determine their success.

 

[Kingsguy881]

Marcus Thornton signing was priority #1 - A+ Bringing onboard some quality bigs for our bit shaky front line was priority #2 - B+ I love Chuck Hayes signing as he will give as much or more than Daly in his own special way. Travis Outlaw at a long 6'9" is going to be very pleasant surprise I bet and make everyone finally stop going gaga for no rational reason over the immortal "Buckets." Speaking of Mr Outlaw, did he ever get a welcome thread by Kings fans? Probably so, but this is just about best article up I've come across on who he really is, plus what I know. Starksville, Mississippi native. Extremely humble (not unlike Chuck Hayes), cool southern drawl when speaking (could have been some Mississippi delta blues artist with that down home demeanor), explosive scorer and NBA professional who has made VERY big buckets for every team in the league played on so far. Kings fans are going to be pleasantly surprised, as I said. Ok, let's go win a bunch of the 66 games in front of us. Go Kings!

http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=120216469037036400

Wow! That was a damn good read and insight into Outlaw (yes I know his first name lol). Dude went home to go fishing instead of partying? All he cares about is his team and helping make them better and win games? Dude I LIKE this cat. I think the FO needs to apologize to us for bringing him in ::eyesroll::

 

[Kingsguy881]

When Chuck Hayes didn't sign, I was pretty negative, largely because the Kings had sooo much FA $ with relatively little to show for it. Now that he is going to sign, I'm fairly positive on the offseason. (It's like being told your auto repair is going to cost $500 and they only charge you $250). I would be over-the-top positive if the Kings would sign Kirilenko at a reasonable price and if they had signed Barea. If this team plays D like they mean it, and if they can just take care of the ball and pass moderately well, they could be a .500 team. Can they take care of the ball? The assist/to ratio continues to be the #1 stat I look at to determine their success.

Turnovers are going to be the key between W's and L's imo. And the biggest culprits are......Reke and Cousins. They both gotta slow down and take what is given as opposed to rushing and forcing. It'll come tho.

 

[Kingster]

Turnovers are going to be the key between W's and L's imo. And the biggest culprits are......Reke and Cousins. They both gotta slow down and take what is given as opposed to rushing and forcing. It'll come tho.

Totally agree. The two most talented guys on the team have got to take care of the rock. If I had the time, it would be interesting to chart the turnovers of each of them on a game by game basis.

 

[Kingsguy881]

Totally agree. The two most talented guys on the team have got to take care of the rock. If I had the time, it would be interesting to chart the turnovers of each of them on a game by game basis.

I'd be willing to bet that if you did do that you would wind up seeing that the TOs are of a very similar variety for both players. Getting into trouble ie.. out of control and either losing the rock or making a terrible pass to get out of trouble.

 

[bajaden]

I'd be willing to bet that if you did do that you would wind up seeing that the TOs are of a very similar variety for both players. Getting into trouble ie.. out of control and either losing the rock or making a terrible pass to get out of trouble.

Too many of their turnovers are of the unforced kind, and those are the one's that give a coach gray hair. In Cousins case, its usually trying to thread the needle with an impossible pass. Especially bad in the last game, but there was a lot of unfamiliarity going on in that game. It should get better.

 

[bajaden]

Very good article on Outlaw. I think we tend to forget that these players are human beings, and each one is different. Chemistry to a large degree depends on the makeup of the players. Guys like Outlaw always seem to fit in. Looks like a good deal for the Kings.

 

[SacTownKid]

Too many of their turnovers are of the unforced kind, and those are the one's that give a coach gray hair. In Cousins case, its usually trying to thread the needle with an impossible pass. Especially bad in the last game, but there was a lot of unfamiliarity going on in that game. It should get better.

It's his one on one play that kills his ratio. Last year only about 1/3 of his turnovers were from passes. If he cut out the silly travels and offensive fouls he would have had a positive a/t ratio. I know it's hard, I get frustrated myself about things when they don't go right, we all do, but he needs to stop worrying so much about it and move on. He finally did that towards the end of the last preseason game and then he turned up his defense as an answer.

 

[PurpleHaze]

Very good article on Outlaw. I think we tend to forget that these players are human beings, and each one is different. Chemistry to a large degree depends on the makeup of the players. Guys like Outlaw always seem to fit in. Looks like a good deal for the Kings.

Thanks, I found it and thought Kings fans would appreciate his downhome Mississippi modesty and some special talent we can hopefully put to good use. It's now a 4 year old article so I don't know if Travis has changed much, I seriously doubt it. Don't know if he still has his Filipina girlfriend or perhaps is now married. He's way more mature from days as an 18-year-old NBA'er, but he's always been a very grounded guy as the article highlights.

 

[SacTownKid]

Thanks, I found it and thought Kings fans would appreciate his downhome Mississippi modesty and some special talent we can hopefully put to good use. It's now a 4 year old article so I don't know if Travis has changed much, I seriously doubt it. Don't know if he still has his Filipina girlfriend or perhaps is now married. He's way more mature from days as an 18-year-old NBA'er, but he's always been a very grounded guy as the article highlights.

Did you see his first interview with the media? Nah, I don't think he's changed much, LOL. He was talking about being a leader and the whole time I'm like, no way, way too much of a sweetheart. Good thing Hayes is back, now Travis can be that "glue" guy.

Here's the vid BTW:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in7Hnqo8TQw

 

[kingsboi]

At first I wasn't too content with the offseason because we weren't getting any significant players that would of helped us, then I realized that I was glad that we didn't over do it this offseason because next year's FA crop should be much better and while no big players want to come to Sac unless they get a ridiculous amount of money, I'd rather take my chances to overpay someone next offseason. With that being said, I like the addition of Chuck, Salmons I just dislike, never liked him to begin with so I don't understand that. If he can just move the ball and play team oriented ball while providing tough defense for 30 something minutes, I will be a happy camper with John. I don't know what to make of the Outlaw signing, I mean I can understand signing him for a year or two but four? A bit too much IMO.

 

[Tetsujin]

I thought i was the only one who liked the Outlaw pick up. Very cheap, relatively young, good defender, can hit the three, knows his role. Why wouldnt anyone like this?

He's essentially a better version of Donte Greene. I liked this move too.