Wow, some people here are so quick to get rid of Tyreke. So glad that some of you aren’t our gm.
The reason Tyreke hasn’t been able to improve on the slashing and passing is because for his first two years his coach didn’t have rules for him, and last year he was injured most of the time. How do you expect him to improve on the court when the coach doesn’t tell him what he needs to do? Paul didn’t even have a offense for our players to run, if I’m not mistaken I think that in itself is a huge problem.
Now, I’m not happy how we’re using Tyreke at the SF position. The guy needs the ball in his hands and I think he’s finally getting some coaching/teaching that he needed in his first 2 years. And I hope I’m not the only one but I see the improvement.
Tyreke needs to use the summer and make sure he works with a proven shooting coach. It would be nice if he came back next year with a midrange game – which I think he can do.
Also, the Maloofs need to relax and stop interfering with our players and how they’re used. I love I.T’s game but we need him off the bench. There is no reason to not use him to his strength.
i am also dismayed by this ramped-up anti-reke talk. its as if this particular contingent of fans has no desire to see the kings win in the foreseeable future. whether they're aware of it or not, they're advocating for the kings to take backward steps. trade this player or that player to get draft picks. make isaiah thomas the permanent starter. its all just the spinning of wheels with nowhere to go but the lottery every single year...
tyreke evans may not have improved to the degree that we would like to have seen thus far, but he's still a serious offensive threat on any given night, the kings' most consistent wing defender, and their best passer. you don't trade a player as deadly as tyreke to get more passing or better court vision. you bring in additional pieces to supplement 'reke's and demarcus cousins' talents. the kings' front office has not done that so far. in fact, its becoming more and more clear that they traded away the most consistent backcourt mate tyreke has had so far in his career. beno udrih was certainly not the long term answer at PG, but he helped to keep a young team steady. sometimes that's more valuable than talent level...
now, damn near everybody here is in agreement on demarcus cousins. his talent is obvious. he's already got the potential of a once-in-a-decade big man. but how do you think demarcus is gonna feel if the kings do as so many of you suggest? cousins has said all the right things since westphal was fired. he remains committed to sacramento. if the winning doesn't start to come, however, i don't know how attractive the kings are gonna look come free agency, the future of a new arena notwithstanding. and how do you win in the nba? with some measure of consistency. you can not keep retooling your roster every season and expect to win...
i mean, what if oklahoma city had decided not to commit to their future? they were 20-62 in their first season with kevin durant, and 23-59 in their second season with durant and russell westbrook. these things take time. and in oklahoma city's case, it didn't take a whole lot of time for them to turn it around. but once a young team turns a franchise around, watch out. winning begets more winning. the kings may not have OKC's trajectory (because tyreke is obviously no durant), but you simply DO NOT trade away evans unless you're netting an all star in return, and i just don't see that happening. sorry, folks, but, ultimately, you're talking idiocy. its a potentially franchise-crippling prospect. if you trade evans for lesser players and draft picks, i guarantee that the kings continue in their losing ways, and i guarantee that demarcus cousins takes a walk in free agency...
in short, you've just set yourself back another decade, when you had the opportunity to set yourself up for winning in that same decade. you sell your young talents on a plan. the kings rolled the dice on tyreke evans and demarcus cousins. now its time for the front office to start taking their jobs seriously and surround those two players with complementary, role playing, and, in some cases, veteran talent that can help them improve. a starting SF who can defend, move the ball, and shoot a decent percentage from outside would be a fantastic start. and such a player is not some kinda rarity in the nba. believe it or not, scrappy sparkplugs like isaiah thomas aren't rarities, either. isaiah thomas is nowhere near approaching the talent level of bobby jackson, for example, and jackson was better equipped for the nba by size, but he was still a sixth man. he was certainly an important piece on a winning team, but again, players like that are not rarities in the nba. there are dozens of them doing an excellent job of providing support for their teams
off the bench...
however, players with the talent, upside, and physical builds of cousins AND evans are, in fact, rarities, whether you naysayers want to believe it or not. a front office doesn't just flippantly trade those away because they're not developing at light speed, especially when that lack of development is because of
the front office's shortcomings. tyreke evans has not been put in any kind of enviable position to succeed as a player of any position so far in the nba. he's been jerked around by two different coaches now, he's been given conflicting instruction on how to play the game, he's been surrounded by players who don't complement his skill sets (apart from cousins), he's been beaten down by a local newspaper and a fanbase that doesn't believe in him, and he STILL manages to showcase all star level talent on a near-nightly basis. of course, he has to take the initiative to get better, and i think he will. he's very much a work in progress, but at 22 years old and 21 years old, respectively, i take my chances on a bull like evans and a freight train like cousins. i don't break that up for anything but an established all star that's either at superstar level talent or near-superstar level talent...
in my estimation, cousins AND evans remain the two untouchable pieces of this kings team. saddle them with
complementary talent, and i STILL maintain that they will tear this league apart. i don't care how petrie and co. get it done. just ****ing
get it done. the arena deal has passed. they'll be breaking ground in the near future. i wanna see this team competing in the playoffs by the time those doors have opened. anything else is just the spinning of wheels...