Barring a suprise signing of Dally, im 90% sure that Chuck will be starting for us alongside Cousins on opening day. His best strength is post defense, so whats the point of bringing him off the bench when the other teams play their reserves. He has to start on the best post defender and contain them from the beginning. So for those who think Hayes will be our 4th big man off the bench playing for 10 minutes, you are sorely mistaken. Chuck will be playing 25-30 mpg consistently.
First of all, Chuck Hayes is not the signing I wanted to see. However, I'm not going to judge this offer until I see what happens to Dalembert and Chandler.
If Dalembert goes for 13 million and Chandler goes for 15 million, then I'll be content with Hayes at 5 million.
If Dalembert ends up going for around 10 million, then I won't be happy, though it's possible that if given a choice between the Kings and another team (such as Houston) with both offering 10 million, he is a FA and can pick his spots.
If he ends up somewhere else for 8 million, then I'll be really upset.
I also want to mention that I would rather sign Hayes to a 5 million/year deal then spend 10+ million for Nene, because while Hayes isn't a shot-blocker, at least he brings things to the table which can gel with our young stars. He's a good post defender, a respectable passer, doesn't require the ball, a hard worker, and he's a team guy.
Finally, perhaps he can be a mentor to Cousins via the Kentucky connection, and if so, that would justify most of contract right there.
People have said it, and I just want to agree. The signing of Hayes for the contract, is actually a good signing. It's just the ramifications of the signing (Potentially losing our chance at an elite shot-blocking defender) which makes this more unpalatable than it would be in other cases.
I quoted the above, because, unfortunately I agree with it. I think the odds are slim that we end up with Dalembert. And if that's the case, I actually do think that Hayes will be our starter, and I'm not thrilled with that. I'd prefer him to be a big off the bench, to help with defense when needed, rather than a starter.
As to the comparisons between Landry and Hayes, they need to stop. Yes they are both tough guys, but are complete opposite players. Hayes' defense and rebounding compliments Tyreke and Cousins in a way that Landry's post-scoring would never do.
One other thing which I believe Hayes can really do is teach our young bigs how to set proper screens. I think that on the offensive end, Hayes can really help the offense with his screen-setting, and hopefully pass that on to the rest of our bigs.
All-in-all, it's just way too early for me to get bent-out-of-shape with this potential signing. Free-agency hasn't even really begun yet, so I'd like to see how things play out first, before praising or condeming the Kings organization.
This isn't the start I wanted to see, but there's still a ton of time and cap-space available for moves to be made.
