I'm sorry, Vlade

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#91
If Vlade could undo that dumbass Philly trade, he'd look like a really good GM right now. However, that Philly trade is probably the most horrible trade in NBA history. It's so bad that there aren't words to describe it. So in my mind, Vlade the drafter has been solid. Vlade the GM..has been horrible.
Yep, if he was doing the move as a way to free up cash to build around Cuz, you can at least squint and fool yourself into seeing it as a semi-(barely)reasonable trade.

But seeing as Vlade was reportedly looking to ship out Boogie the whole time, the trade makes no sense.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#92
I'm starting to think he was really only a DeMarcus Cousins fan and not a real Sacramento Kings fan. I can understand being upset with the trade, especially if you were a huge DMC guy, but to completely disappear as a fan I don't get (and there were a few high profile posters who have done that). Being a fan is just that --- being a fan. Even though we have gone through pretty much hell and back, except for those good years which were painful in their own special way, we've pretty much been poopoo on as fans from Day 1. But you know what? That's now going to stop me from being a fan. It's in my DNA. I can't just turn it off. It's like your kids, even though they can disappoint you at time you still love them and support them no matter what. And when they get good again, I can be proud of the fact that I had the character to stick with them. That's what true fans do.

On top of all of that, it's hard to believe that any true fan can't be somewhat excited about the future of this team. Sure, we aren't winning as much but was it really that big of a deal winning less than 30 games each year anyway?
*checks Brick's join date*
*checks the date we drafted Boogie*

Yeah... No.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#94
So where is he then? He's just gonna run away because his guy was traded?
Contrary to popular belief, running one of the bigger sports communities on the internet and writing grades threads for every single game is a lot of work (as a guy who wrote extensive game threads almost every night for several years, I can tell you it's freaking exhausting). Brick, like most of us (hopefully), also lives a busy life beyond the Kingsfans.com confines.

After slogging through over a decade of aimless losing basketball and finally seeing the beginnings of a team that had a fighting chance at some form of competitiveness (like it or not, this team'd probably still be right in the thick of things for the 8th seed race were Boogie still on the team), seeing the franchise decide to punt on yet another season of basketball would be frustrating to say the least. If the team isn't going to put in the effort to field a winning product, some of us decided that(for better or worse) we weren't going to put in that effort as "good fans".

Happened after the C-Webb trade as well. When the truck decides to make a quick swerve left, some are going to get thrown off of the wagon. Don't need to antagonize them for it.
 
#95
Contrary to popular belief, running one of the bigger sports communities on the internet and writing grades threads for every single game is a lot of work (as a guy who wrote extensive game threads almost every night for several years, I can tell you it's freaking exhausting). Brick, like most of us (hopefully), also lives a busy life beyond the Kingsfans.com confines.

After slogging through over a decade of aimless losing basketball and finally seeing the beginnings of a team that had a fighting chance at some form of competitiveness (like it or not, this team'd probably still be right in the thick of things for the 8th seed race were Boogie still on the team), seeing the franchise decide to punt on yet another season of basketball would be frustrating to say the least. If the team isn't going to put in the effort to field a winning product, some of us decided that(for better or worse) we weren't going to put in that effort as "good fans".

Happened after the C-Webb trade as well. When the truck decides to make a quick swerve left, some are going to get thrown off of the wagon. Don't need to antagonize them for it.
I can totally get not wanting to put the work in doing the grades and all of that, but to renounce your fandom like some high profile posters did is not something I can relate to nor respect.
 
#96
*checks Brick's join date*
*checks the date we drafted Boogie*

Yeah... No.
Things change. I dare say for the past few years he's been very much of a Cousins fan over and above being a Kings fan. The difference is whether you want the team to succeed for the player's legacy or whether you want the player to succeed for the team's legacy. It was not a reactionary thing, he made it very clear for a long time that if Cousins was traded he was gone. Guess he wants nothing to do with a franchise that "has the basketball intelligence of a flatworm". But that's just my observation, and it's not my place to question people's allegiance. Regardless, we have a good number of posters who ARE here and excited about the team
 
#97
I'm starting to think he was really only a DeMarcus Cousins fan and not a real Sacramento Kings fan. I can understand being upset with the trade, especially if you were a huge DMC guy, but to completely disappear as a fan I don't get (and there were a few high profile posters who have done that). Being a fan is just that --- being a fan. Even though we have gone through pretty much hell and back, except for those good years which were painful in their own special way, we've pretty much been poopoo on as fans from Day 1. But you know what? That's now going to stop me from being a fan. It's in my DNA. I can't just turn it off. It's like your kids, even though they can disappoint you at times you still love them and support them no matter what. And when the team gets good again, I can be proud of the fact that I had the character to stick with them. That's what true fans do.

On top of all of that, it's hard to believe that any true fan can't be somewhat excited about the future of this team. Sure, we aren't winning as much but was it really that big of a deal winning less than 30 games each year anyway?
It does seem funny how he always had Cousins back and had all the stats ready to defend him no matter what. Now Cousins is gone and he is like peace out. No more grades. No more brick.
 
#98
Contrary to popular belief, running one of the bigger sports communities on the internet and writing grades threads for every single game is a lot of work (as a guy who wrote extensive game threads almost every night for several years, I can tell you it's freaking exhausting). Brick, like most of us (hopefully), also lives a busy life beyond the Kingsfans.com confines.

After slogging through over a decade of aimless losing basketball and finally seeing the beginnings of a team that had a fighting chance at some form of competitiveness (like it or not, this team'd probably still be right in the thick of things for the 8th seed race were Boogie still on the team), seeing the franchise decide to punt on yet another season of basketball would be frustrating to say the least. If the team isn't going to put in the effort to field a winning product, some of us decided that(for better or worse) we weren't going to put in that effort as "good fans".

Happened after the C-Webb trade as well. When the truck decides to make a quick swerve left, some are going to get thrown off of the wagon. Don't need to antagonize them for it.
I did the same as Brick after the FIRST CWebb trade. Sometimes you reach a point where you need a break. How long it is varies from person to person.
 
#99
Vlade gets a pass for the Cousins trade, because now, it becomes evident that it was the best thing available on the table.
However, he doesn't get a pass for that horrible Stauskas trade. There's still no justifying that trade at all. It's horrible all-around. Kings had no problem waiving Barnes' 3mpy contract. Kings could've used stretch provision on Landry.. but again, I don't want to get into that horrific trade.
He gets an OK for drafting WCS. Willie has been solid for the Kings, but he still passed up on more talented players for an older rookie.
Suns trade has always been good.
Still in the air about drafting Papagiannis.
Richardson was a good pick.
Labissiere was a very good pick.

Vlade brought into players with extremely questionable characters..then after he trades Cousins, he talks about character mattering..oh ok.
Vlade doesn't get a pass for changing his approach 3 times within the span of 2 years. Goes all-in with Rondo, Belinelli, and Koufos. Then drafts an older WCS. The next year, he goes semi-rebuild. Drafts all young players, while bringing in no real scoring help for Cousins. It looks like we're about to make a playoff push, then he decides to rebuild and trade Cousins. However, Vlade doesn't commit into fully rebuilding. Still had Collison and Lawson on the roster despite them being FAs.



If Vlade could undo that dumbass Philly trade, he'd look like a really good GM right now. However, that Philly trade is probably the most horrible trade in NBA history. It's so bad that there aren't words to describe it. So in my mind, Vlade the drafter has been solid. Vlade the GM..has been horrible.
So far the results of the Philly trade are the loss of Staukas. No pick swap was done last season. The Kings Have Kosta and Malachi on the roster as a direct result of that move. I don't get all the gnashing of teeth on the Philly trade???

By the way Kosta was born in Canton Ohio.
 
So far the results of the Philly trade are the loss of Staukas. No pick swap was done last season. The Kings Have Kosta and Malachi on the roster as a direct result of that move. I don't get all the gnashing of teeth on the Philly trade???

By the way Kosta was born in Canton Ohio.
Philly trade was ok in my eyes, until lately.
It is ok trade when your strategy is to fight for playoff and the pick you are giving is mid to late teens at worst and pick swap would need a lot of bad luck to happen.

However, when you go to full rebuild mode and that pick becomes easily top 10 and pick swap does not require that much bad luck to happen, the trade does not look so good anymore.

That is what happens when you make solid long term plans, and then flip those plans upside down a year later.
 
It was an awful trade and there's not really any way to defend it. But so far it has cost the Kings a 2019 pick. Depending on where that pick lands it could prove to be a disaster but so far it hasn't actually cost anything but Stauskas. And had the Kings not traded Cousins the pick swap likely wouldn't even be in play this year courtesy of another terrible trade - the Casspi/Hickson deal.

But there are plenty of worse trades.

Billy Owens for Mitch Richmond and even Richmond for Webber as far as the Kings go were worse deals.

The Clippers trading an unprotected pick (that ended up being Kyrie) for Baron Davis was worse.

So was the Bucks haul for Kareem.

Joe Barry Carroll for McHale and Parish?

A bad trade? Sure. Worst of all time? Not close. Maybe it becomes a top 10 worst trade if the Kings land the #1 pick in 2019 and have to hand it over, but right now? It hasn't even hurt the team yet.

Hell, the Nets trade for Garnett, Pierce and Jason Terry was so, so much worse. THREE first round picks AND a pick swap, as well as a handful of players (Gerald Wallace and I think Humphries and Marshon Brooks?) for guys that Ainge knew were past their prime and no longer the core of a contending team.
Thanks for adding a little perspective!
 
1 positive development that has come from all this, is while there are still valid concerns in regards to Vlade in handling trades, the play of all 3 of the rookies he selected gives me a lot of optimism that maybe he can turn this franchise around through the draft. This time last summer I was all in on the build around Cousins camp because I saw the draft as a disaster and thought Cousins was the only hope. Fast forward to today and it is looking like Vlade may be a magician when it comes to scouting young players. Even Buddy much more promising as a prospect than I thought. We have also yet to see Bogdan.

If indeed Vlade does have a special skill in regards to picking young players, that is incredibly valuable and would shoot him up the GM rankings board. And the trade record is mixed as well. Call the philly and the Cousins trade losses, the Belinili trade for a 1st was a clear win and its looking like the Suns trade was a win as well. So there is even a little hope on the trade part of his GM game that he isn't totally incompetent. And we must consider the catch of Joeger in the "grade" as well.

All in all, clearly a big question mark in regards to handling complicated trades, but there are a number of positives, the big one being his ability to judge young talent. With the future hanging on the ability to draft well, I've switched my position of dreading Vlade making those picks to happy and optimistic. Combine this with the coaching staff and I would switch the future outlook of this team to positive.
 
Philly trade was ok in my eyes, until lately.
It is ok trade when your strategy is to fight for playoff and the pick you are giving is mid to late teens at worst and pick swap would need a lot of bad luck to happen.

However, when you go to full rebuild mode and that pick becomes easily top 10 and pick swap does not require that much bad luck to happen, the trade does not look so good anymore.

That is what happens when you make solid long term plans, and then flip those plans upside down a year later.
Gotta freestyle like a jazz band sometimes when your ahead of the curve. Dont worry, we got the data to back up these moves. Excuse me while i look for my barf bag
 
Haven't seen this mentioned, but doesn't this trade seem pretty similar to the Memphis Laker Gasols trade? Memphis appeared to get fleeced but down the road a few years the trade looked much better.
 
The Kings are a very exciting team to watch right now. Whoever left because Cousins is missing out on something that could be special. For the first time in an eternity, Kings have a core of young players that can become part of a new era of Kings basketball. Add to that 3 potential draft picks coming in next year and things get interesting. There's also some emotional attachment watching home grown talent develop right now, so it's not hard to follow this team.
 
The Kings are a very exciting team to watch right now. Whoever left because Cousins is missing out on something that could be special. For the first time in an eternity, Kings have a core of young players that can become part of a new era of Kings basketball. Add to that 3 potential draft picks coming in next year and things get interesting. There's also some emotional attachment watching home grown talent develop right now, so it's not hard to follow this team.
We had Tyreke Evans, Demarcus Cousins and IT a few years ago......

Having decent young guys is only the very first step in a long Journey to become a solid Nba team.
We need long years of consistency, development and most of all smart decisions to be successful and contra popular believe right now, the odds are still very much against us, because so far this franchise hasnt been consistent nor smart. Let's hope this has finally changed.
 
One thing I dont see mentioned much anymore is Viveks obvious infatuation with Buddy. I cant link it but I am confident we have all seen the signs. Going so far as telling Buddy personally "We are still going to get you" .

If Vlade knew for a while, for whatever reasons, DMC had to go but Vivek was never on board. Then his only window opens in that Vivek agrees to a trade only if we get Buddy in the deal. Vlade had to make the choice. Make the move he thinks is better for the long run, even at the cost of looking like "he rushed it" or "got fleeced". Or stick with Cuz and ink him to 40% of our cap against his gut feeling it wasnt ideal moving forward.

Whether his decisions as GM are better or worse than GM X, I think he took this job to better this franchise over the long haul.Period.

And since it will be tied to his name, win or lose, may as well win or lose his way. Now the Vivek "irritant" as his boss puts him in a tough position. One I hope does not hinder him going forward.
 
@kingsfan1984 You make really good points and I hope your right about Vlade and the draft. This franchise needs a shot in the arm and someone knowing what they're doing in the draft would certainly help jump start things. I do like the the players from the past 2 drafts, though we still need to see a lot more development. But so far, so good.