Kings-Nuggets-Lakers Trade

[ockingsfan]

George Karl wants Ty Lawson and Lawson wants out of Denver. The Kings need a big 3 and Lawson could be the last piece to make the Kings playoff contenders.

The Kings trade Ben McClemore, Darren Collison and Jason Thompson.

McClemore and Collison go to Denver for Ty Lawson.

Jason Thompson goes to the Lakers for Nick Young.

Why the Kings do it? The Kings get the coveted point guard for Coach Karl and a viable "Big 3" of DMC-Gay-Lawson. The Kings finally trade JT. The trade JT for a Shooting Guard, that can start or become a sixth man of the year canidate. Young can start at SG, while Nik Stauskas develops. Once Nik is ready, he starts, and Young becomes your super 6th man.

Why Denver does it? Lawson has worn out his welcome in Denver. He has gone public on wanting to be traded to Dallas already and Denver is probably ready to trade him for the best offer. Ben Mac still has a lot of upside and still has room to improve. He's proven to be a rising young player in the league. Collison gives Denver a reasonable replacement for Lawson on a fair contract. Denver gets a young player with potential and a replacement PG.

Why the Lakers do it? Nick Young has been in Coach Byron Scott doghouse all last year. Rumor is they want to trade him ASAP. Jason Thompson is the type of player that can fill in and be a viable 3rd big for the Lakers rotation.

The Kings keep the #6-7 pick and draft Willie Cauley-Stein to compliment DMC and become the defensive anchor for the Kings. The Kings resign Andre Miller and Omri Casspi. The Kings sign a back up center (i.e. Cole Aldrich or Alexis Ajinca, or Kosta Kusof) for a resonable 2-3 year $2 mil/year contract.

The Kings new Line-up:

PF: WCS / Landry / Moreland
SF: Rudy Gay / Casspi
C: DMC / Aldrich
SG: Young / Stauskas / McCallum
PG: Lawson / Miller / Stockton

Trade works on RealGM: http://basketball.realgm.com/tradechecker/saved_trade/6578423

 

[twslam07]

I really hate this trade. Basically any trade that brings Lawson here while sending out any type of assets is a no in my book. Lawson is a defensive downgrade from Collison, and Lawson's offense is not needed with our current roster.

Offense is not the problem with this team. I see no reason to give up assets to improve this area of our team. How about we change our mindset and focus on improving our defense for a change?

PG - 3 and D player / facilitator
SG - 3 and D player
SF - Gay
PF - shotblocking, defensive player
C - Cousins

That starting lineup has more than enough talent & balance to compete, and should be the framework we seek to build our team around. Anything less than this roster makeup is a failure in my book. Then you have a guy at PG or SG to be your sixth man off the bench. If this team drafts Cauley-Stein, this team has the potential to have that roster makeup.

PG - Collison (as the 3 and D, facilitator)
SG - McLemore (as the 3 and D SG - Danny Green) / Stauskas (as the sixth man - Manu Ginobli)
SF - Gay
PF - Cauley-Stein (as the shotblocking, defensive player - Tyson Chandler)
C - Cousins

Again, this team has the potential to develop into a roster that emulates the one I called out above. The question is will they all reach their potential? However, this team at least seems headed in the right direction as far as fitting pieces go. I would hate to see us go after a player that doesn't fit with our current core pieces.

 

[206Fan]

I honestly don't like this very much because I'm not a huge fan of Lawson's.

What about this trade that involves the same teams?

Kings trade: McLemore, Ray Mac, and Landry
Lakers trade: Randle and Clarkson
Nuggets trade: Lawson and JJ Hickson

Kings receive: Jordan Clarkson(save over $9million in cap space.)
Lakers receive: Ty Lawson and JJ Hickson(it gives them another year to compete with Kobe)
Nuggets receive: Ben McLemore, Julius Randle, Ray McCallum, and Carl Landry(they're trying to rebuild with young pieces)

Clarkson/Collison/Nenad Miljenovic
Green/Stauskas/Barton/Marc Garcia
Gay/Casspi/KJ McDaniels
WCS/Moreland/Evans
Cousins/Thompson/Nikola Milutinov


I'm really high on Clarkson because I believe he has the potential to be a good pg in the NBA.

 

[ockingsfan]

I honestly don't like this very much because I'm not a huge fan of Lawson's.

What about this trade that involves the same teams?

Kings trade: McLemore, Ray Mac, and Landry
Lakers trade: Randle and Clarkson
Nuggets trade: Lawson and JJ Hickson

Kings receive: Jordan Clarkson(save over $9million in cap space.)
Lakers receive: Ty Lawson and JJ Hickson(it gives them another year to compete with Kobe)
Nuggets receive: Ben McLemore, Julius Randle, Ray McCallum, and Carl Landry(they're trying to rebuild with young pieces)

Clarkson/Collison/Nenad Miljenovic
Green/Stauskas/Barton/Marc Garcia
Gay/Casspi/KJ McDaniels
WCS/Moreland/Evans
Cousins/Thompson/Nikola Milutinov


I'm really high on Clarkson because I believe he has the potential to be a good pg in the NBA.

The Lakers are very high on Clarkson and he is on a cheap rookie contract. No way they trade Clarkson and Randal. The Lakers will try to improve by Free Agency, they will not give up young cheap assets.

 

[ockingsfan]

I really hate this trade. Basically any trade that brings Lawson here while sending out any type of assets is a no in my book. Lawson is a defensive downgrade from Collison, and Lawson's offense is not needed with our current roster.

Offense is not the problem with this team. I see no reason to give up assets to improve this area of our team. How about we change our mindset and focus on improving our defense for a change?

PG - 3 and D player / facilitator
SG - 3 and D player
SF - Gay
PF - shotblocking, defensive player
C - Cousins

That starting lineup has more than enough talent & balance to compete, and should be the framework we seek to build our team around. Anything less than this roster makeup is a failure in my book. Then you have a guy at PG or SG to be your sixth man off the bench. If this team drafts Cauley-Stein, this team has the potential to have that roster makeup.

PG - Collison (as the 3 and D, facilitator)
SG - McLemore (as the 3 and D SG - Danny Green) / Stauskas (as the sixth man - Manu Ginobli)
SF - Gay
PF - Cauley-Stein (as the shotblocking, defensive player - Tyson Chandler)
C - Cousins

Again, this team has the potential to develop into a roster that emulates the one I called out above. The question is will they all reach their potential? However, this team at least seems headed in the right direction as far as fitting pieces go. I would hate to see us go after a player that doesn't fit with our current core pieces.

The only thing different on your starting roster is WCS and you think this team is going from 29 wins to a 45-50 win team and compete for the playoffs?

Very few rookies come in and make an immediate impact. Another year of 28-34 wins and DMC is out the door in 2 years.

The Kings need veterans now and they need to start competing for the playoffs come next year.

There needs to be a big roster turnover and I think the Kings will target Lawson for many different reasons, #1 reason: He was the floor general for Karl on a 57 win team in Denver just a couple of years ago. #2: He gives the Kings a viable #3 player to compete NOW.

One more year of hoping every player steps up, is another year DMC waste of his career and further pushes him out the door once he comes to his contract year.

 

[twslam07]

The only thing different on your starting roster is WCS and you think this team is going from 29 wins to a 45-50 win team and compete for the playoffs?

Very few rookies come in and make an immediate impact. Another year of 28-34 wins and DMC is out the door in 2 years.

The Kings need veterans now and they need to start competing for the playoffs come next year.

There needs to be a big roster turnover and I think the Kings will target Lawson for many different reasons, #1 reason: He was the floor general for Karl on a 57 win team in Denver just a couple of years ago. #2: He gives the Kings a viable #3 player to compete NOW.

One more year of hoping every player steps up, is another year DMC waste of his career and further pushes him out the door once he comes to his contract year.

You basically have made an argument that isn't there...

Never did I say the Kings don't need veterans/impact players right now. Never did I say that I don't advocate trying to improve the team immediately to persuade Cousins to stay here.

It just so happens that I think there are far better deals to be made to improve this roster. It just so happens that you are trading for a player who might not even improve our team that much when looking at the players we're sending out. If we're going to be making a trade, we need to bring in players that make sense and fit with our current core.

As for the roster I listed out, you understand what potential means, right? Nowhere did I say that this roster would reach their potential next year let alone ever. My point was that we have players on our team who can develop into the framework we need to build around Cousins and Gay. Again, not saying they will get there, but if I'm going to make a trade, it's going to be for veterans who fit the framework we should be trying to build. Lawson just so happens to not be that type of player.

I'm also surprised that many Kings fans like to point to "lack of talent" being the reason we're such a bad team. I'm not saying we can't/shouldn't pick up better players, but this team has talent, and it was apparent this season when Malone was coaching a healthy Cousins. At that time, we were on pace for 53 wins (while having the 2nd hardest schedule at the time). Now am I saying we would have won 53 games last year if we didn't fire Malone and Cousins didn't get sick? No, but to assume that our talent is reflective of a 28-34 win team is naive. There were many other factors this season that contributed to our record. Kings fans should know this.

The two biggest holes on the Kings are SG and PF. If we're making a trade, we should be fixing one or both of these positions while not sacrificing the other 3 positions. So again, why would we trade 3 assets for a position that we don't need help in? All that does is limit the amount of assets we can use to try and fix our SG PF problems. Nick Young would also be a terrible SG to start alongside Cousins and Gay. He's too selfish of a player to defer to them. I think he would do more harm than good.

Summarizing my main points:

1. The Kings need to win immediately to keep Cousins happy
2. The Kings showed last year that they can compete with the current talent that they have
3. The Kings should focus on improving SG & PF by finding reliable vets who compliment our core players
4. The Kings should focus on improving defense over offense as their offense is not the problem
5. The Kings have young pieces that are projected to develop into players that would compliment their core players (WCS - if drafted, McLemore, Stauskas)
6. Lawson is a downgrade defensively and his offense is not needed when we have Cousins, Gay, Collison, and a developing McLemore in the starting unit
7. Nick Young would be a bad fit as the starting SG because he would take shots away from our main guys and possibly disrupt chemistry

Bottom line, I would only welcome an upgrade to our PG position if the PG coming in is at least as good as Collison defensively. Knowing our offensive production right now, there is no reason to sacrifice defense for offense. No reason.

 

[ockingsfan]

If somehow the Kings can send Landry to the Lakers for Nick Young, instead of JT, that would be better.

Don't know if Lakers would bite on Landry, but they probably would for JT.

Ideally Landry would replace JT in a trade for Nick Young.

 

[ockingsfan]

You basically have made an argument that isn't there...

Never did I say the Kings don't need veterans/impact players right now. Never did I say that I don't advocate trying to improve the team immediately to persuade Cousins to stay here.

It just so happens that I think there are far better deals to be made to improve this roster. It just so happens that you are trading for a player who might not even improve our team that much when looking at the players we're sending out. If we're going to be making a trade, we need to bring in players that make sense and fit with our current core.

As for the roster I listed out, you understand what potential means, right? Nowhere did I say that this roster would reach their potential next year let alone ever. My point was that we have players on our team who can develop into the framework we need to build around Cousins and Gay. Again, not saying they will get there, but if I'm going to make a trade, it's going to be for veterans who fit the framework we should be trying to build. Lawson just so happens to not be that type of player.

I'm also surprised that many Kings fans like to point to "lack of talent" being the reason we're such a bad team. I'm not saying we can't/shouldn't pick up better players, but this team has talent, and it was apparent this season when Malone was coaching a healthy Cousins. At that time, we were on pace for 53 wins (while having the 2nd hardest schedule at the time). Now am I saying we would have won 53 games last year if we didn't fire Malone and Cousins didn't get sick? No, but to assume that our talent is reflective of a 28-34 win team is naive. There were many other factors this season that contributed to our record. Kings fans should know this.

The two biggest holes on the Kings are SG and PF. If we're making a trade, we should be fixing one or both of these positions while not sacrificing the other 3 positions. So again, why would we trade 3 assets for a position that we don't need help in? All that does is limit the amount of assets we can use to try and fix our SG PF problems. Nick Young would also be a terrible SG to start alongside Cousins and Gay. He's too selfish of a player to defer to them. I think he would do more harm than good.

Summarizing my main points:

1. The Kings need to win immediately to keep Cousins happy
2. The Kings showed last year that they can compete with the current talent that they have
3. The Kings should focus on improving SG & PF by finding reliable vets who compliment our core players
4. The Kings should focus on improving defense over offense as their offense is not the problem
5. The Kings have young pieces that are projected to develop into players that would compliment their core players (WCS - if drafted, McLemore, Stauskas)
6. Lawson is a downgrade defensively and his offense is not needed when we have Cousins, Gay, Collison, and a developing McLemore in the starting unit
7. Nick Young would be a bad fit as the starting SG because he would take shots away from our main guys and possibly disrupt chemistry

Bottom line, I would only welcome an upgrade to our PG position if the PG coming in is at least as good as Collison defensively. Knowing our offensive production right now, there is no reason to sacrifice defense for offense. No reason.

Please give us some suggestions on who we could get at PG, SG, and PF that would make an immediate impact and help us make the playoffs.

Potential can only bring you so far, you need people that can produce every night to win in the Western conference.

 

[twslam07]

Potential can only bring you so far, you need people that can produce every night to win in the Western conference.

Again, you're making an argument that just isn't there. Show me where I took a stance against this statement? I would really like to know where I disagreed with this particular statement. Nowhere did I say that we should rely on the potential we have to start winning immediately. All I'm saying is the players we have are projected to become players that would compliment our core. I'm not saying that these players will become the players we hope to be and that we should not be looking to add veteran talent because we have these young guys that will develop into the players we need. Not saying that at all.

Please stop trying to push me to an opinion I don't have just so you can shoot it down to make yourself look right.

Please give us some suggestions on who we could get at PG, SG, and PF that would make an immediate impact and help us make the playoffs.

Are you not understanding? I'm saying we don't need an upgrade at PG. We should not be actively looking to upgrade that position. SG and PF are the positions that we need immediate help with, but sure I'll bite...

1. Draft Cauley-Stein
2. Trade Stauskas and lower the 2016 pick protection from top 10 to top 7 for Taj Gibson
3. Stretch Carl Landry
4. Sign Marco Belinelli for $6 mil/year
5. Sign Jeremy Lin, Patrick Beverley, Cory Joseph, Mo Williams, or Norris Cole for $3 mil/year
6. Sign Omri Casspi to the room exception
7. Sign Andre Miller to vet min
8. Sign Hedo Turkoglu to vet min
9. Sign Cole Aldrich to vet min

PG - Collison/Joseph/McCallum/Miller
SG - Belinelli/McLemore
SF - Gay/Casspi/Turkoglu
PF - Gibson/Cauley-Stein/Moreland
C - Cousins/Thompson/Aldrich

That team to me is much more balanced and has more talent than last year. Belinelli would be an elite floor spacer for Cousins and Gay, and he would also be able to handle the ball and pass better than McLemore. His defense would be average at best, but McLemore's defense was shaky again this year. He showed flashes that he could be a good defender, but he is still inconsistent at this point. With that in mind, we're not getting worse defensively at starting SG. Then you add Gibson (who would be an excellent compliment to Cousins defensively and offensively) and Joseph (who would give us 48 minutes of solid, defensive PG play each game between him and Collison). On top of that you have great big man depth with Cousins, Gibson, Thompson, Cauley-Stein, Aldrich, & Moreland on the team.

Adding two vets at starting SG & PF while improving our PG depth will go a long way. Not to mention, if McLemore develops into the 3 and D player we hope he can be, he would take the starting job with Belinelli (on a very affordable contract in the new CBA) moving into that sixth man/scorer/shooter role off the bench where his average defense will not matter as much.

With Gibson and Thompson still on the team, you give Cauley-Stein two solid years getting limited minutes while he develops in the background. We win because we don't have to rely on a rookie to give us third big minutes and we also win because we get to bring along our big man slowly to assure his development goes in order to plan. After 2 years, Gibson and Thompson come off the books and we have flexibility to push Cauley-Stein into a starting role. If Cauley-Stein shows he is ready sooner, we could always trade one of Gibson/Thompson or we could release Thompson next year (considering the majority of his contract is non-guaranteed) to make immediate space for Cauley-Stein.

I think this scenario is very realistic and would improve our team quite a bit. I would much rather see a move(s) that improves our team defensively while adding veteran talent at the starting SG & PF spots, and this scenario does just that.

 

[Gilles]

Nick Young is a chucker, who thinks too much of himself and doesn't know, what defense is. Lawson, whose biggest strength is controlling the ball and distributing it to finishers, just doesn't make sense next to Boogie/Rudy. Plus he's only a step up from Young on D - at least he tries, when motivated.
Plus the idea, that "George Karl wants Ty Lawson" was getting traction, until Karl actually got to Sacramento. After he saw Boogie and Rudy in person, and likely got their account of DC's abilities, no piece with renewed claims of imminent reunion of Karl and Lawson was published since.
P.S. Kings fans should know better by now, than trying to stick JT into any trade. 6 of 8 PO teams from the West built around guys, that JT has ability to slow down.

 

[randymoss1881]

Again, you're making an argument that just isn't there. Show me where I took a stance against this statement? I would really like to know where I disagreed with this particular statement. Nowhere did I say that we should rely on the potential we have to start winning immediately. All I'm saying is the players we have are projected to become players that would compliment our core. I'm not saying that these players will become the players we hope to be and that we should not be looking to add veteran talent because we have these young guys that will develop into the players we need. Not saying that at all.

Please stop trying to push me to an opinion I don't have just so you can shoot it down to make yourself look right.


Are you not understanding? I'm saying we don't need an upgrade at PG. We should not be actively looking to upgrade that position. SG and PF are the positions that we need immediate help with, but sure I'll bite...

1. Draft Cauley-Stein
2. Trade Stauskas and lower the 2016 pick protection from top 10 to top 7 for Taj Gibson
3. Stretch Carl Landry
4. Sign Marco Belinelli for $6 mil/year
5. Sign Jeremy Lin, Patrick Beverley, Cory Joseph, Mo Williams, or Norris Cole for $3 mil/year
6. Sign Omri Casspi to the room exception
7. Sign Andre Miller to vet min
8. Sign Hedo Turkoglu to vet min
9. Sign Cole Aldrich to vet min

PG - Collison/Joseph/McCallum/Miller
SG - Belinelli/McLemore
SF - Gay/Casspi/Turkoglu
PF - Gibson/Cauley-Stein/Moreland
C - Cousins/Thompson/Aldrich

That team to me is much more balanced and has more talent than last year. Belinelli would be an elite floor spacer for Cousins and Gay, and he would also be able to handle the ball and pass better than McLemore. His defense would be average at best, but McLemore's defense was shaky again this year. He showed flashes that he could be a good defender, but he is still inconsistent at this point. With that in mind, we're not getting worse defensively at starting SG. Then you add Gibson (who would be an excellent compliment to Cousins defensively and offensively) and Joseph (who would give us 48 minutes of solid, defensive PG play each game between him and Collison). On top of that you have great big man depth with Cousins, Gibson, Thompson, Cauley-Stein, Aldrich, & Moreland on the team.

Adding two vets at starting SG & PF while improving our PG depth will go a long way. Not to mention, if McLemore develops into the 3 and D player we hope he can be, he would take the starting job with Belinelli (on a very affordable contract in the new CBA) moving into that sixth man/scorer/shooter role off the bench where his average defense will not matter as much.

With Gibson and Thompson still on the team, you give Cauley-Stein two solid years getting limited minutes while he develops in the background. We win because we don't have to rely on a rookie to give us third big minutes and we also win because we get to bring along our big man slowly to assure his development goes in order to plan. After 2 years, Gibson and Thompson come off the books and we have flexibility to push Cauley-Stein into a starting role. If Cauley-Stein shows he is ready sooner, we could always trade one of Gibson/Thompson or we could release Thompson next year (considering the majority of his contract is non-guaranteed) to make immediate space for Cauley-Stein.

I think this scenario is very realistic and would improve our team quite a bit. I would much rather see a move(s) that improves our team defensively while adding veteran talent at the starting SG & PF spots, and this scenario does just that.

Couple things
1. Lin, Beverly, and Joseph would laugh at a 3mill a year offer they will get 2x that on the market

2.Noah is falling off and I think Gibson is there to stay especially when Thibs gets fired. I could see them trading Noah instead (bulls fans seem to agree)

3. I like the Belinelli signing too but he will come off the bench due to poor defense. Also let's hope Ben can take another step foward in year 3.

 

[twslam07]

Couple things
1. Lin, Beverly, and Joseph would laugh at a 3mill a year offer they will get 2x that on the market

2.Noah is falling off and I think Gibson is there to stay especially when Thibs gets fired. I could see them trading Noah instead (bulls fans seem to agree)

3. I like the Belinelli signing too but he will come off the bench due to poor defense. Also let's hope Ben can take another step foward in year 3.

A few things...

1. There's a reason why I listed so many options at PG. Saying those 3 guys will laugh at 3 mil does not hinder the plan at all. In fact, it sets us up to not overpay for a backup PG with many decent ones available.
2. I could see them trading Noah as well. However, Mirotic is a PF, and seems to be the PF of the future. Many Bulls fans seem to be extremely open to trading Gibson. They even go as far as shopping him in trades on other forums. More specifically, the Bulls trade I posted was pulled verbatim from a Bulls fan. It wasn't even originated from a Kings fan. I think it's pretty safe to say that the Bulls are open to trading both Gibson and Noah.
3. No, he would be a starter as long as Ben is still inconsistent on defense. Once McLemore becomes a more consistent defender, I'm all for switching them in the starting lineup, but right now, I would take the veteran who has proven to be a better shooter, ball handler, and passer knowing the difference in defense between McLemore and Belinelli isn't very significant.

 

[Gilles]

It is universally acknowledged, that Noah is battling minor leg injury(-ies), that slows him down, so it's certainly not a given, that Bulls would like to keep Taj over Noah, if they had to make a choice.
Mclemore is actually a significantly better defender than Belinelli.
The list of possible backup PGs include players, who are while being relatively close in value have drastically different playing styles: with Joseph and Beverley you like must have a strong secondary ballhandler, maybe even make them a secondary creator, while Lin plays well, only when you give him full reigns. Problem is Beverley will get over MLE, Lin thinks, he should start, and Joseph is an RFA. They will sign with Kings late in the process, when their demands and expectations are not met. Kings absolutely must find quality vets, even if they are only a smidge above average. This means they cannot be picky and wait for bargains. Kings should identify their targets by July, 1st, and come out right at 12:00:01 AM with "overpaying" offers, otherwise known as market price. Given that we are talking about a lottery team from deep, deep West, that apparently has a questionable FO, I would target FAs, that are either low priority or not wanted by their teams. That's a rather short list, if we're talking about quality, or at least decent players. Until LMA decides to leave Portland or Dirk calls it the end, I'm not sure, you can find good hire in the Western Conference, and East has such a low threshold for getting into POs, that declaring a desire to get into postseason might be enough to get attention from FAs. So again Kings should aim rather low and act swiftly, if they want definite results coming into training camp.

 

[mac]

Even assuming that WCS is good enough to become our starting PF from day one, I still don't like the depth this leaves us at PG. Andre Miller can maybe give you 10 good minutes a game by next season, and I'm not ready to turn the keys to city over to David Stockton. No no, definitely not enough depth.

 

[ockingsfan]

Even assuming that WCS is good enough to become our starting PF from day one, I still don't like the depth this leaves us at PG. Andre Miller can maybe give you 10 good minutes a game by next season, and I'm not ready to turn the keys to city over to David Stockton. No no, definitely not enough depth.

Kings would still have Ray McCallum as a backup PG/SG. The Kings can also sign a low key FA like Kendall Marshall to fill some minutes.

 

[Iced Espresso]

If Lawson really wants to come here, we need to do nothing but pay the man once his contract expires with the cap going up a season from now. I see no reason to give up any assets for him. Collison is budget friendly too, allowing us to invest in a number of ways while having someone decent too.

Collison's contract is golden, think not of just what he does, but what he allows you to further invest in. You are not going to be able to replace that option, so you better hit a home run replacing him. Certainly including McLemore for someone who is on an expiring contract is not going to get it done.

 

[ockingsfan]

If Lawson really wants to come here, we need to do nothing but pay the man once his contract expires with the cap going up a season from now. I see no reason to give up any assets for him. Collison is budget friendly too, allowing us to invest in a number of ways while having someone decent too.

Collison's contract is golden, think not of just what he does, but what he allows you to further invest in. You are not going to be able to replace that option, so you better hit a home run replacing him. Certainly including McLemore for someone who is on an expiring contract is not going to get it done.

Lawson has two years left on his contract.

Lawson would not coming here as a FA. If you trade for him and he gets comfortable and wins with DMC, then he would resign.

NO top tier FA is signing here as a Free Agent, until we start winning big. You have to trade for players under contract to improve.

 

[ockingsfan]

Here is the THING:

NO top tier or second tier Free Agent will sign here. NONE.

We do not have the ability to overpay for any top tier FA this year, we would get out bid by teams with cap space.

Next year, the cap will go up, so everyone will be able to pay the good Free Agents more, so no advantage then either.

Our only hope is to trade for good players under contract and get good fast. Then, Free Agents may give us a shot at signing them next off season.

But, this year we are stuck. No giant cap space and a FO with a bad rep around the league.

The only players, ruling out DMC and Gay, with any trade value are Darren, Ben and the Draft pick.

Now, if we don't want to deal Darren or Ben, then the only option is to trade the Draft Pick, which could wind up being WCS or better.

Teams are not going to trade their good players, unless they get something good back.

Take your pick of asset, but we have to give up something to get back a good core player in return. Trading Nik or JT is not going to get us much, if anything good, in return.

SO, our only hope to get better this off-season is trading DC, Ben or the Pick. So, pick your poison.

 

[Gilles]

You are absolutely correct, that you can't get a good player for scraps, and barren FA land.
The argument is
1) you are forgetting the group of assets, that should have pretty good perceived value around the league - future picks, starting with removing protection on 2016 first-rounder
2) you're not really improving Kings with players, you propose they acquire.

 

[sdballer]

Really bad deal. We'd have the worst defensive backcourt (starters and bench) in the league with marginal improvement on offense.

 

[sdballer]

Here is the THING:

NO top tier or second tier Free Agent will sign here. NONE.

We do not have the ability to overpay for any top tier FA this year, we would get out bid by teams with cap space.

Next year, the cap will go up, so everyone will be able to pay the good Free Agents more, so no advantage then either.

Our only hope is to trade for good players under contract and get good fast. Then, Free Agents may give us a shot at signing them next off season.

But, this year we are stuck. No giant cap space and a FO with a bad rep around the league.

The only players, ruling out DMC and Gay, with any trade value are Darren, Ben and the Draft pick.

Now, if we don't want to deal Darren or Ben, then the only option is to trade the Draft Pick, which could wind up being WCS or better.

Teams are not going to trade their good players, unless they get something good back.

Take your pick of asset, but we have to give up something to get back a good core player in return. Trading Nik or JT is not going to get us much, if anything good, in return.

SO, our only hope to get better this off-season is trading DC, Ben or the Pick. So, pick your poison.

You're right in the sense they we have limited assets so let's not focus on the 3rd or 4th greatest position of need.

 

[Iced Espresso]

Lawson has two years left on his contract.

Lawson would not coming here as a FA. If you trade for him and he gets comfortable and wins with DMC, then he would resign.

NO top tier FA is signing here as a Free Agent, until we start winning big. You have to trade for players under contract to improve.

You are correct
12,404,495 and 12,213,482 I thought he was expiring.

That definitely could change things then incentive wise.

 

[Iced Espresso]

Here is the THING:

NO top tier or second tier Free Agent will sign here. NONE.

We do not have the ability to overpay for any top tier FA this year, we would get out bid by teams with cap space.

Next year, the cap will go up, so everyone will be able to pay the good Free Agents more, so no advantage then either.

Our only hope is to trade for good players under contract and get good fast. Then, Free Agents may give us a shot at signing them next off season.

But, this year we are stuck. No giant cap space and a FO with a bad rep around the league.

The only players, ruling out DMC and Gay, with any trade value are Darren, Ben and the Draft pick.

Now, if we don't want to deal Darren or Ben, then the only option is to trade the Draft Pick, which could wind up being WCS or better.

Teams are not going to trade their good players, unless they get something good back.

Take your pick of asset, but we have to give up something to get back a good core player in return. Trading Nik or JT is not going to get us much, if anything good, in return.

SO, our only hope to get better this off-season is trading DC, Ben or the Pick. So, pick your poison.

A lot of truth here, if you can secure a veteran long term solution who is not too old with the pick maybe. But you'd need to also get rid of Landry most likely in that scenario which is no easy feat.

Thompson becomes interesting though next off season, can buy him out or send him out to be bought out if necessary.

Right now I find it hard to believe you can pull a quality long term veteran with just the 6 and insisting Landry goes away too.

But next season when he is expiring it may be easier to.

 

[Iced Espresso]

Looks like Thompson's guarantee has to be decided on June 26th, which means that decision will have to be made on draft day that year.

 

[ockingsfan]

Really bad deal. We'd have the worst defensive backcourt (starters and bench) in the league with marginal improvement on offense.

Ok. Let's scrap the idea of trading for Nick Young and we keep JT as our 3rd Big.

If the Kings can swing a deal for someone else, to start until Nik is ready to start at SG.

 

[206Fan]

If we can trade Stauskas for Taj Gibson I'd do it even if it means lowering the protection. I'd make it top 5 protected.

The Lakers are very high on Clarkson and he is on a cheap rookie contract. No way they trade Clarkson and Randal. The Lakers will try to improve by Free Agency, they will not give up young cheap assets.

Do they like him enough NOT to draft Mudiay or Russell? If you say no then that is why they'd have no problem trading Clarkson.

Clarkson will be an expiring next year anyways though,

If they are THAT high on Clarkson, then it's a good sign for us especially if Mudiay or Russell starts slipping.