It's not just you and this single trade proposal. It's just that I've become a bit exasperated as of late by the growing notion on this board that Now that we've got Evans, not only is Martin a tradeable commodity in the right deal (sure, I buy that) but that he is a low-value, high-paid player that we need to scuttle ASAP. I wasn't trying to sound authoritarian (however one does that), I was trying to sound exasperated.
But I don't really think my words themselves were extreme. I do not think the front office is "desperate" to trade Martin, and that's an appropriate word. They may very well be "open" to trading Martin, I can't say. But they're not going to do it as a salary dump. Martin is not currently salary dump material. He's not toxic to the team. He's not demanding a trade or whispering in Tyreke's ear that Petrie doesn't like him. Martin has value, he has a lot of value, and if we trade him, we're going to net a great return.
"Crapshoot" is a perfect word to describe the action of trying to trade our best draft pick for somebody else's best draft pick 6 months before we know where those draft picks are going to be. If you prefer "roll of the dice" so be it; it's the same thing.
But I suppose I can back off from "insanity". How about "Russian Roulette" instead? This deal would be playing Russian Roulette with the franchise. And, considering our arena woes to date and the fact that Martin is still the face of the franchise for the casual Kings fan, it's probably Russian Roulette with fewer than 5 empty chambers. Pull that trigger, then try to convince the public to support a team that traded away the face of the franchise for not just a draft pick, but a draft pick that might not even be that good.
Actually, Russian Roulette is a good metaphor here. Trading Martin and a mid-teens pick for a 1/2/3 pick (best case scenario) is probably an empty chamber. You're right about where you were before, trading a fringe star and a role-player level pick for a pick that might turn into a star and might bust. There are circumstances under which you do it, but that's a push because sometimes it pans out and sometimes it doesn't. Trading Martin to move up 3-4 spots in the mid lottery is a bullet.
That's all true, nice post. So I return to my prior argument of "if our offense ain't broke....why have Martin?" I might be wrong, but after watching the Kings closely game after game, I feel they are a stronger, more cohesive team after the key injuries. We hung around with the Mavs in Dallas until the last second, and have convincingly (to me) blown out several teams. Through Grant Napear of KHTK radio I learned that superstars such as Durant, Deron Williams, as well the Mavericks owner Mark Cuban have had nothing but jaw dropping compliments for Evans. (Maybe "jaw dropping" an exaggeration for the superstars...but I feel this was their way of accepting him into the upcoming elite circle. If anybody knows, really, it's those two playing on the floor). Seriously. That is a good sign. And what would the Thunder be without Durant, the Jazz without Williams, the Blazers without Roy, or the Suns without Nash? In my opinion, in the future, this is Evans to the Kings.
Next, we mustn't forget that our attendance was absolutely horrendous last year, we presumably lost a lot of our fan base, and are trying to get it back. One thing to consider is the financial concerns of the Maloofs. They lost a lot of money last year, Petrie did an excellent job dumping salary in my opinion. Even so, the Maloofs lost a lot of money. I don't know how badly the recession hurt the net worth of their empire, and I almost don't even want to know. By trading Martin and acquiring a top rookie scale contract, would they like to save 15 million dollars over the next few years? Sure. That's the way the Trailblazers have done it. Portland is top tier with loaded youth, and yet have the 28th lowest team salary in the NBA. The Thunder are up and coming, and have the lowest (30th) team salary in the NBA. Now that's excellent value.
Further, and I believe this is the most important part, I believe without Kevin we will still turn around our attendence as we continue to win, continue to gain national coverage, and the Maloofs would get into the profit margin again. Maybe this all would motivate them further to get a new arena in Sac? I don't know if that is realistic at all, but that is my hope. Overall, it is so exciting how well we are doing. Last year, we we 17-63? This year, without 2 key players, we are 9-8? Really? That's fantastic. I am proud of our team exactly as they are now, and see this situation as trade leverage to get us over the hill into playoff worthy status. It's okay if most people do not agree with me, but either way I am so excited to witness the great turnaround of our franchise.
Looking back on your post I agree that we would be able to get more for Kevin. That is good news no matter which side of the fence you're on. Whether we trade Martin soon or even at all is probably unlikely, but the idea of it is exciting to me. I think that at the least, it is feasible to discuss on these boards.
