t-rex
Bench
Isaiah Thomas says that's "highly unlikely". I think he moves on this summer with delusions of starting somewhere else.
Kings active in trade talks?
- Thread starter The_Jamal
- Start date
- Status
Isaiah Thomas says that's "highly unlikely". I think he moves on this summer with delusions of starting somewhere else.
Gary
All-Star
Is Cousins done for the year? If he's not then why would you assume this? IT/Gay/Cousins are almost .500 as a group so I see no reason they cannot continue to grow.
Padrino
All-Star
i seriously doubt that. unless the figure is outrageous, i fully expect the kings to match any offers for IT, if only to attempt to trade him next season. with so little established talent on the roster past cousins and gay, they won't allow thomas to walk for nothing...
Kingster
Hall of Famer
t-rex
Bench
bajaden
Hall of Famer
I would suspect that some of it depends on whether Gay opts out or not. If Gay doesn't opt out, the Kings payroll will be at 71.1 million, just 600 thousand below the luxury tax, and that's without resigning IT, or our 1st round pick for next season. There's no way to resign him without going over the luxury tax threshold. Now it likely would only be for one year, but it makes IT a lot more expensive than his salary.
T
Toasty
Guest
The Kings have to let Ben play no matter how bad. Youth needs time and we have a ton now. We won't be good for at least 3 or more years.
Padrino
All-Star
Like the $11 mill for Tyreke Evans?
other than this being a personal dig at my preference to retain tyreke last offseason, i don't understand what you're attempting to compare here. obviously, the pelicans were foolish to sign evans to $11 million per to join a crowded backcourt in new orleans. you don't shell out that kind of money to make evans your sixth man, not under the terms of the new CBA. but evans, when healthy, is a dynamic two-way player, so if they had envisioned him as a long-term starter after ditching, say, eric gordon, then you can justify the price tag. isaiah thomas, on the other hand is a dynamic one-way player. he's a great scorer and an utter liability on defense who functions best as a change-of-pace guard, so the kings certainly shouldn't behave in a manner similar to the pelicans and re-sign thomas to an oversized deal just to be a sixth man. if they do so out of fear of bleeding talent, i suspect they'll try to trade him before the deadline next season...
HereWeBoogie
Hall of Famer
unfortunately i don't really see any PG's in the draft that you could say will come into the NBA and be a starting PG right away
Padrino
All-Star
if gay doesn't opt out, i still think they eat the cost of re-signing thomas, unless it approaches the obscene. even if they're jumping up and down like idiots over their 2014 draft selection, as they were with mclemore, they just can't risk bleeding talent, and the chances of executing a sign-and-trade of thomas, as they did with tyreke evans, are pretty slim...
now, personally i think it's foolish to throw a bunch of money at an undersized chucker with an aversion to defense that edges you into luxury tax territory when you're a basement-dweller. it's why i was such a staunch proponent of shopping isaiah thomas as part of a larger package in advance of the deadline. after cousins and gay, and considering that the kings' 2014 draft pick can't be traded until draft day, isaiah thomas was the team's most valuable and movable asset, and they would have been selling at an all-time high...
the rumors were that IT could be had for the right deal, but i never got the sense that PDA was aggressively attempting to trade him. now he will likely have to ask his owner to swallow a luxury tax bill for a losing team. bummer for vivek, but i think he'll take it on the chin in the hopes that PDA will continue improving the team's competitive chances heading into next season...
And therein lies my biggest issue with us basically not doing anything - a lack of continuity. Suffice to say you and I don't see him as a long-term (winning) solution next to Cousins and Gay as a starter, and I pray dearly that the FO doesn't either or we're doomed for a good number of years as a mediocre playoff team at best. IT is now playing for a contract even more, and I wouldn't blame him for jacking up shots and just trying to inflate his stats. Even if he does make an attempt to fit in, where does that leave us? We're still going to want to move him back to a 6th man role, so if I'm IT I'm asking why on earth I should bother deferring to Cousins and Gay. Better I get my stats now - "worst case" is I get resigned as a 6th man. Best case is some other team signs me to a bigger contract as a starter.
What I wanted was some kind of certainty so that we could start building a team going forward. Right now there are still so many things that are uncertain. Rome wasn't built in a day, but if we finish this season and all we have to show for it is acquiring (which isn't even certain mind you) Rudy Gay for the future then we're going to be well, well behind while other teams make good moves and actually play well. Look at the Phoenix Suns! How come they could turn things around so quickly? It's not so much a matter of us having no future, but rather at some point we have to get a core group of guys that we see as our future and start building around them! We're wasting precious time building chemistry and consistency while other teams aren't just standing still! Again, what have we accomplished this season beyond getting Rudy Gay? Absolutely nothing! Ben McLemore doesn't look promising, and in any case Malone's system doesn't even use his SGs much offensively so I don't even get the point of holding on so dearly to dear Ben.
Say the offseason comes round and we have somewhat of a perfect but realistic offseason. IT moves back to the bench, we get a starting PG somehow. Then it's going to take time and the same excuses are going to come around, that it takes time for chemistry to develop, that Ben's only in his 2nd year, that they've only had one proper training camp under Malone as a team, etc etc.
I'm just sick and tired of being told that we're a team just a year away from taking the NBA by storm, only to see us stand still year after year after year while other teams actually improve. We're not the only frikin team that has/had culture problems y'know? The Cavs and the 76ers positioned themselves to be playoff teams, but simply got screwed by Andrew Bynum. Have we put ourselves in a position to even be a playoff team?
twslam07
All-Star
Baja, I've already told you that this 71.6 mil Luxury Tax Level is most likely false. The Luxury Tax Level for next year has projected to be $75.7 mil.
Gary
All-Star
You're right. They just keep getting better and better.Ok 6 games.
Well other than being totally wrong......... nevermind.. I probably would agree with you if Cousins was done for the year but for the Kings to go 6-21 or 5-22 (I believe there are 27 games left) while having the big three playing in most of the games is just absurd.. If you are right though then you get a big pat on the back and a beer!
Ben is a tough one to catch. Last night when we had no Thornton and the sky was the limit for him, he commits too many fouls right off and the bottom falls out of his playing time for the game. He has worked against his own future all year. He continues to have an open field opportunity for the rest of the season but I'm not confident he can make it work out for himself and the team. A young potential needs time, maybe years, to reach his potential but he also needs to tilt the development scale in a slightly upward direction. I haven't seen such signs yet.
rainmaker
Hall of Famer
First off, I think that's a terrible strategy but agree it might happen. Second point though which I haven't seen brought up is that if IT looks to move elsewhere do you really think PDA/Vivek would want to match? They have the ability to do so but also have shown they won't keep players who don't want to be here. Hell, they pulled the offer to Iggy off the table immediately because he wasn't fully committed to playing here. It appears they did the same with Rondo who wasn't committed to playing here. I think Vivek has actually said if a player isn't completely committed and doesn't give the answer he wants, he doesn't want that player here.
If IT is not committed to playing here and looks to move on, I don't see our FO based on their short track record bringing him back and matching despite his wishes and I do think he'll be looking at other offers after being in trade rumors.
whozit
Starter
He said 'unless the figure is outrageous
If that is the mindset of the front office and if they truly don't think IT will be committed to come back, all the more reason to sit him if he's looking for his own stats over the team. Bunch of ifs .............
T
Toasty
Guest
I agree, but he was that way at Kansas as well. I think with time he can take ownership of his game. It would be easier on a better team. We missed some things with him I believe.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
$11 mill as the price tag for a bench guy. That's a great comp. IT has to just love that...
Not only was he in running for the 6th man of the year (when he was the sixth man), now he's a starter. Start at $11 mill and go up from there.We'll see how it plays out. There just isn't enough history with this management team for me to make a prediction. They will be in a hurtin' place though if they don't resign IT and end up with someone worse.
Dime Dropper
All-Star
$11 mill as the price tag for a bench guy. That's a great comp. IT has to just love that...
We'll see how it plays out. There just isn't enough history with this management team for me to make a prediction. They will be in a hurtin' place though if they don't resign IT and end up with someone worse.
I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and presume this is tongue in cheek.
Sac.Kings
All-Star
I am more inclined to take a big man anyway, although Exum does intrigue me a bit. Now the long wait to the draft on a season going to waste.
HereWeBoogie
Hall of Famer
me too. Embiid would be my #1
K
KingMilz
Guest
He's actually a fairly decent post defender as well I remember him completely turning the LA Clippers vs Grizzlies series on it's head with his energy and hustle and completely shutting down the likes of Z-Bo and Gasol when he was out there.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
The bidding starts at $11 mill! Do I hear 11.5?!
whozit
Starter
I think the proper cent sign is supposed to go after the number .........................
upinsmoke
All-Star
I won't say it's a wasted season first off the management has done away with so much of the waste land roster they inherited and locked up Cuz. From what i can make of it were waiting to see where we will pick in the draft before any more moves are done for example maybe we don't go forward with Gay if we pick up Wiggins or Parker or we trade JT if we can land Embiid ect ect.
ParniValjak
All-Star
That sounds like a line from the "Maloofs' manual for running a professional franchise"
In basketball terms, it serves no purpose what so ever. The money that we get is probably just slightly more than what the buyout is going to cost and we give up a 2nd rounder albeit heavily protected and unlikely to ever be conveyed.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
- Poll
