Kings, Post-Trade

[Uncia03]

If I didn't follow college basketball than I think I'd be a little bit more torn as to whether I wanted the Gay move to give us 15+ more wins or if I'd rather continue to struggle a bit.
The issue is Cousins. He's a flat out beast and an absolutely physically dominant franchise big-man in a league where there are basically no physically offensive dominant franchise bigs. So I'm with Brick in the sense that it will be harder and harder to lose games as Cousins and Malone work together to continue to make Cousins dominant, and it will come down to surrounding Cousins with the correct players to get this team play-off bound, and if Gay can take steps towards being the #2 guy than we are well on our way.

With that said, if we end up with a top 9 pick in the draft than we are 100% guaranteed to pick up either a franchise player or a perfectly complimentary piece who could be in our starting line-up today if it could happen.
If we end up with the 9th pick you're virtually guaranteed one of Embiid, Cauley-Stein, Vonleh and all three of those would immediately become a starter as the other big next to Cousins.
So if we don't win the lottery...in a perfect world we somehow swap our remaining assets to get a PG (and though I'm not super high on Rondo...with the way this team is now constructed he would be the perfect fit) and then were able to draft Embiid or Cauley-Stein while retaining IT and having him come off the bench....then you have a team who could absolutely grow into a championship team, with-out a doubt.

Having said all that, if we somehow flip our spare parts to bring in Asik then that changes the complexion completely. There is really only 1 PG in the draft that would really fit with this team and that is Exum, and to get him you'd basically need to win the lottery as he'll probably go no later than 4th or maybe 5th. So if we go and get that other big to fit next to Cousins, then the draft isn't going to help us as much unless we win the lottery, and at that point you'd have to consider trading the pick to get that PG (Like NO did to get Jrue Holiday in the last draft).

So I guess for me it ends up going down like this: If we make a trade to bring in a PG then I want us to have our draft pick available because if we can end up in the top 9 then we can definitely get one of our guys...and if we get a 10-12 pick there is still the chance that some other players jump into the mix and push one of our guys out to our level.
If we make a trade to bring in a big who will be a long-term starter (Asik) then at that point I wouldn't mind winning more even if it pushed us all the way out to the 12th spot or even the 8th seed in the playoffs. Either way, the only truly disasterous scenario would be to finish with the 13-14 pick and fail to make the play-offs and lose our draft pick in the process.

 

[Glenn]

If I didn't follow college basketball than I think I'd be a little bit more torn as to whether I wanted the Gay move to give us 15+ more wins or if I'd rather continue to struggle a bit.
The issue is Cousins. He's a flat out beast and an absolutely physically dominant franchise big-man in a league where there are basically no physically offensive dominant franchise bigs. So I'm with Brick in the sense that it will be harder and harder to lose games as Cousins and Malone work together to continue to make Cousins dominant, and it will come down to surrounding Cousins with the correct players to get this team play-off bound, and if Gay can take steps towards being the #2 guy than we are well on our way.

With that said, if we end up with a top 9 pick in the draft than we are 100% guaranteed to pick up either a franchise player or a perfectly complimentary piece who could be in our starting line-up today if it could happen.
If we end up with the 9th pick you're virtually guaranteed one of Embiid, Cauley-Stein, Vonleh and all three of those would immediately become a starter as the other big next to Cousins.
So if we don't win the lottery...in a perfect world we somehow swap our remaining assets to get a PG (and though I'm not super high on Rondo...with the way this team is now constructed he would be the perfect fit) and then were able to draft Embiid or Cauley-Stein while retaining IT and having him come off the bench....then you have a team who could absolutely grow into a championship team, with-out a doubt.

Having said all that, if we somehow flip our spare parts to bring in Asik then that changes the complexion completely. There is really only 1 PG in the draft that would really fit with this team and that is Exum, and to get him you'd basically need to win the lottery as he'll probably go no later than 4th or maybe 5th. So if we go and get that other big to fit next to Cousins, then the draft isn't going to help us as much unless we win the lottery, and at that point you'd have to consider trading the pick to get that PG (Like NO did to get Jrue Holiday in the last draft).

So I guess for me it ends up going down like this: If we make a trade to bring in a PG then I want us to have our draft pick available because if we can end up in the top 9 then we can definitely get one of our guys...and if we get a 10-12 pick there is still the chance that some other players jump into the mix and push one of our guys out to our level.
If we make a trade to bring in a big who will be a long-term starter (Asik) then at that point I wouldn't mind winning more even if it pushed us all the way out to the 12th spot or even the 8th seed in the playoffs. Either way, the only truly disasterous scenario would be to finish with the 13-14 pick and fail to make the play-offs and lose our draft pick in the process.

Read it and believe it, folks.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

I'm still holding out hope that we move Gay again before the trade deadline. In the short term, I only want to be good enough to get Cousins to New Orleans. If we go to hell in the second half of the season, so be it.

 

[Padrino]

The issue is Cousins. He's a flat out beast and an absolutely physically dominant franchise big-man in a league where there are basically no physically offensive dominant franchise bigs. So I'm with Brick in the sense that it will be harder and harder to lose games as Cousins and Malone work together to continue to make Cousins dominant, and it will come down to surrounding Cousins with the correct players to get this team play-off bound, and if Gay can take steps towards being the #2 guy than we are well on our way.

in my opinion, this is one of the great curiosities of 2013-in-kings-basketball so far. can demarcus cousins stay out of foul trouble long enough to be that "absolutely physically dominant franchise big man"? and what steps will mike malone take to keep demarcus on the court? while coach has done a much better job already than keith smart ever could at organizing his rotation, i've noticed a bit of a strange trend when it comes to malone's managing of cousins' minutes. i like the idea of taking cousins out with a couple minutes left to go in a quarter, so he gets that time to breathe, as well as the time between quarters. but then coach occasionally seems to hold demarcus out far too long in the beginning of the second and/or fourth quarters...

against the jazz on wednesday, coach went so far as to keep demarcus planted on the bench for the entirety of the second quarter, seemingly to spare him from picking up a third foul before the half. of course, by the time the second half started, the kings were in too big of a hole to claw their way back into the game. i don't know if it necessarily represents a "tanking" strategy to be so hyper-conservative with cousins' minutes, but it certainly doesn't quiet those kinds of rumors, either. that said, if cousins can't get on the court for more than his 30.4 mpg average so far this season, i'm not convinced that the team will win enough to avoid the kind of finish that results in a top 5-8 draft pick, even with the addition of rudy gay...

 

[Kingsfan23]

If I didn't follow college basketball than I think I'd be a little bit more torn as to whether I wanted the Gay move to give us 15+ more wins or if I'd rather continue to struggle a bit.
The issue is Cousins. He's a flat out beast and an absolutely physically dominant franchise big-man in a league where there are basically no physically offensive dominant franchise bigs. So I'm with Brick in the sense that it will be harder and harder to lose games as Cousins and Malone work together to continue to make Cousins dominant, and it will come down to surrounding Cousins with the correct players to get this team play-off bound, and if Gay can take steps towards being the #2 guy than we are well on our way.

With that said, if we end up with a top 9 pick in the draft than we are 100% guaranteed to pick up either a franchise player or a perfectly complimentary piece who could be in our starting line-up today if it could happen.
If we end up with the 9th pick you're virtually guaranteed one of Embiid, Cauley-Stein, Vonleh and all three of those would immediately become a starter as the other big next to Cousins.
So if we don't win the lottery...in a perfect world we somehow swap our remaining assets to get a PG (and though I'm not super high on Rondo...with the way this team is now constructed he would be the perfect fit) and then were able to draft Embiid or Cauley-Stein while retaining IT and having him come off the bench....then you have a team who could absolutely grow into a championship team, with-out a doubt.

Having said all that, if we somehow flip our spare parts to bring in Asik then that changes the complexion completely. There is really only 1 PG in the draft that would really fit with this team and that is Exum, and to get him you'd basically need to win the lottery as he'll probably go no later than 4th or maybe 5th. So if we go and get that other big to fit next to Cousins, then the draft isn't going to help us as much unless we win the lottery, and at that point you'd have to consider trading the pick to get that PG (Like NO did to get Jrue Holiday in the last draft).

So I guess for me it ends up going down like this: If we make a trade to bring in a PG then I want us to have our draft pick available because if we can end up in the top 9 then we can definitely get one of our guys...and if we get a 10-12 pick there is still the chance that some other players jump into the mix and push one of our guys out to our level.
If we make a trade to bring in a big who will be a long-term starter (Asik) then at that point I wouldn't mind winning more even if it pushed us all the way out to the 12th spot or even the 8th seed in the playoffs. Either way, the only truly disasterous scenario would be to finish with the 13-14 pick and fail to make the play-offs and lose our draft pick in the process.

I think your overrating the impact Gay will have on our record. The jazz are still looking like the only other firm cellar dweller in the west and the east teams play a much easy schedule

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

I'm willing to believe that Malone's decision to keep Cousins out had nothing to do with anything resembling a "tanking strategy." I'm inclined to believe that, either Malone thought that Cousins was getting frustrated, and was worried that he would lose his ****, or he saw Cousins doing something out there he didn't like, and wanted that extra time to "coach him up" from the bench.

 

[macadocious]

I think it was as simple as Malone doesn't trust him to not pick up his 3rd/4th foul in the first half.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Better to be safe than sorry, in that case; rather have Cousins coming out aggressive in the second half, than being scared of picking up that fourth foul.