Kenny Thomas-where's the love

[dbl07]

I know that KT doesn't match up well with premiere PFs in the West. Duncan, KG, Nowitzki, and Brand obviously, but is there anyone else THAT much better than KT? I'm really interested in KT at the SF position. Not gonna happen, but interesting thought IMHO. I know we want more defense in the Kings, but that's gonna take a lot of work. It's not one player torching us at a single position. It's everyone playing us. I like our starting 5. I don't think we need a truly dominating PF or shot blocker, just a tad more of it from maybe a nice big bodied bench player. I'm all for the big PF but reality is that it isn't going to happen this offseason (unless a big trade happens)

 

[thesanityannex]

i'll go ahead and give KT some love. i was impressed how he somewhat meshed with the kings lineup midway through the season. the kings offense is one of the more difficult offenses to get accustomed too. especially after KT just watched iverson dribble around for 48 mins a game. i say give him another shot and see if he can blend in with this team.

 

[sloter]

I like Kenny Thomas.

 

[Bricklayer]

I know that KT doesn't match up well with premiere PFs in the West. Duncan, KG, Nowitzki, and Brand obviously, but is there anyone else THAT much better than KT?

Well let's look at that.

Starting power forwards in the West:

Duncan
Garnett
Nowitzki
Stoudemire/Marion
Brand
Gasol
Randolph
Boozer
Odom
Martin
Murphy
Evans
Howard
Brown


You could trade KT for exactly two of the guys on that list. He of course is "better" than Evans as well, but Evans' banging/boarding game was so critical to the Sonics' success this year that they would almost surely value Reggie higher.

Much as I really really enjoyed those great old lottery days for us, I have absolutely no desire to return to them with a new mini-lottery team PF. And that's what KT is, has been for his entire career. A part time starting/low minute PF on a succession of lottery teams.

There are three things right at the core of being a "power" forward that KT cannot give you:
1) no post game, so no spacing problems for other team, no double teams, no structured ability to throw the ball in and play the inside/outside game. He can post a smaller player, but there are no smaller PFs.
2) no shotblocking, so no ability to be a significant help defender. People dirve at the rim at will against him and ignore him -- indeed half the OGs/SFs out there are bigger than he is. If somebody beats one of our perimeter players, they are going right to the hoop and we have no answer.
3) no ability to stop a good post player in the post, or great offensive PF period. If you had a great shotblocker playing next to him you might be able to make up for #2, but there is no real way to make up for #3 other than putting in somebody else or switching him off to somebody else to cover for his weakness. Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowtizki -- these are the gatekeepers, and they're 7'0" tall, while Kenny is the same height as Doug Christie, and not particularly powerfully built either. They completely ignore him.

 

[NewMonkey]

There are three things right at the core of being a "power" forward that KT cannot give you:
1) no post game, so no spacing problems for other team, no double teams, no structured ability to throw the ball in and play the inside/outside game. He can post a smaller player, but there are no smaller PFs.
2) no shotblocking, so no ability to be a significant help defender. People dirve at the rim at will against him and ignore him -- indeed half the OGs/SFs out there are bigger than he is. If somebody beats one of our perimeter players, they are going right to the hoop and we have no answer.
3) no ability to stop a good post player in the post, or great offensive PF period. If you had a great shotblocker playing next to him you might be able to make up for #2, but there is no real way to make up for #3 other than putting in somebody else or switching him off to somebody else to cover for his weakness. Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowtizki -- these are the gatekeepers, and they're 7'0" tall, while Kenny is the same height as Doug Christie, and not particularly powerfully built either. They completely ignore him.

Your description applies almost as much to Brad Miller as it does to Thomas. Just saying. I understand that's why you need a better defensive Power Forward.

 

[SacTownKid]

As far as Thomas being a guaranteed 15/10/5 guy, I'll have to see it to believe it.

I

Well this season in 26 games with the Kings Kenny averaged just about:

15 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and shot 49% in 31 minutes a game.

Those are pretty good numbers if you ask me. Expecially when you consider that the team had so little experience together.

 

[VF21]

We're just going to have to agree to disagree for the simple reason I'll wait for a whole season before I look at his stats as anything relative as far as his performance on the Kings is concerned. That is, if he's still here next year - which I'm not convinced of in any way.

You want to give love, no problem. I'm just not ready to put the future of our team in his hands. The power forward slot is critical - and should be filled by someone ... well, powerful. All the points I would agree with have already been posted quite eloquently by Brick above, so I see no need to repeat them.

We'll just have to see what happens.

 

[SacTownKid]

We're just going to have to agree to disagree for the simple reason I'll wait for a whole season before I look at his stats as anything relative as far as his performance on the Kings is concerned. That is, if he's still here next year - which I'm not convinced of in any way.

You want to give love, no problem. I'm just not ready to put the future of our team in his hands. The power forward slot is critical - and should be filled by someone ... well, powerful. All the points I would agree with have already been posted quite eloquently by Brick above, so I see no need to repeat them.

We'll just have to see what happens.

I agree with you about the PF situation. The way our team is constructed we are going to have to get a defensive minded / rebounding big man to make up for the deficiencies. All I am saying is that Kenny Thomas is a good quality player and my hopes wouldn't be completely dashed if he happened to be a starter on the Kings next season. Along side a dominant big man in the post he would be great.

 

[iheartBrad]

He's a solid player, Kings can use his rebounding and inside game but he's not a starting material.

Yeah thats how I feel...I think he could still be effective off the bench...bringing in toughness, rebounding and a little bit of scoring off the bench

 

[SacTownKid]

Yeah thats how I feel...I think he could still be effective off the bench...bringing in toughness, rebounding and a little bit of scoring off the bench

That is the problem. Kenny has a bit of an attitude if I remember his tenure in Philly correctly. He may not want to come off the bench. He would be a great player off the bench and possibly a sixth man canididate if he did though.

 

[VF21]

That is the problem. Kenny has a bit of an attitude if I remember his tenure in Philly correctly. He may not want to come off the bench. He would be a great player off the bench and possibly a sixth man canididate if he did though.

Bingo! And that attitude already showed up a couple times with Sacramento. I'm sure Kingsgurl could name the game, but it was one she and 1kingzfan attended and we mentioned afterwards that Thomas had a bit of a melt-down. I don't see him accepting a bench role in any way, shape or form...

 

[Andriod_KiNg]

KT is a good, but hes too small to be a PF in the West, and hes getting payed **** loads of money...