Yeah I think it’s clear Nique needs to start. I would prefer him over Dennis or DDR.
Nique’s display of poise and vision last night make signing both Dennis and Westbrook seem even worse.
This is the trouble with these kinds of signings. During Keegan's rookie campaign, he began the season on the bench. Mike Brown toyed around with starting KZ Okpala, which was a bunch of silliness. Before too long, he realized it was silliness. And by the fourth game of the season, Keegan was starting.
But with the likes of Schroder
and Westbrook
and DeRozan
and LaVine in the fold at the start of this season, I expect no such deference to the rookies from Doug Christie. Much like Keegan during his first year, Nique probably should be starting. He's an older rookie with the poise necessary to be thrust right into a starting role.
My preferred route to developing the Kings youth while positioning themselves for a high draft pick next off-season would be as follows:
Schroder
Ellis
Nique
Murray
Sabonis
with Carter first off the bench.
That's certainly not a playoff team. It's not even a play-in team. But it's one that's worth watching, and with a bit of lottery luck, it's a team that could add a significant piece to the fold in the draft. Of course, such a rotation requires trading DeRozan, waiving Westbrook, and benching LaVine with the promise of relocating him if/as soon as a taker can be found. Highly unlikely, all of that, which is why the Schroder and Westbrook signings were so counterproductive. It creates
more unnecessary difficulty for the Kings to set up a proper rebuild.
