Kings trade JT, Nik and Landry to Sixers (renamed)

[9x1x6]

Supposedly Danny Green was the #1 target. Didn't even get off the floor with him.

Probably because he never planned on leaving SA.

 

[Jerichoholic]

No, and that goes for almost every FA.

Exactly! Free agency just isn't a realistic option for us. Not enough money to overpay anyone and could perhaps be thought of as the worst destination in the league right now. It was hard enough to convince players to come here before this mess.

Trading is the only to change this roster and I just don't see how we do it.

 

[John Galt]

Unless they are playing the Kings, I'm rooting for the Spurs to smack down the Warriors. That is a hell of a franchise over there.

I wish Vlade could snag some unknown junior exec from there (like the nerd in Moneyball). Those guys just really know what they are doing. And if you've ever been in San Antonio in summer you know that the place just sucks to high heaven with the sweat and Cicada bugs - so to make it a top NBA destination you gotta really have some black magic.

 

[Kingster]

When you start off by saying Rondo doesn't play defense I can't take anything else you say seriously.

You have to account for the fact that he was disgruntled severely last year, basically knowing his time in Boston was up, and then the usage problems with Carlisle in Dallas.

We're talking about a 4x All Defensive team player here. He may have lost half a step, but the guy can play defense. It's just a matter of getting him to buy in and team chemistry.

Hammer, I don't see why anyone would want a guy on their team who totally alienated his teammates on the last team he played with. Is this supposed to improve the culture? It's a no-brainer to me to look elsewhere.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

What kills me is that our three best players are on bargain contracts, but because of Landry and JT contracts we have chump change to work with. 12 million between those two, and they project as a guy who cannot even see the floor and a 20 min a night 3rd big.

You could look at the other way and say that Danny Green is getting $11M, Carroll is getting $15M, Brook Lopez is getting $20M, and it looks like Lillard is getting about $25M, and we're still complaining about having a solid third big who gets less than $6.5M.

 

[Kingster]

Ailene is terrible. Not only the shot at Cousins but she couldn't even take the time to figure out Dennis Schroder's name, tweeted that the Kings are interested in "the Hawks backup PG"

I've like Schroder from his first summer league game. He hasn't begun to reach his ceiling as a pg. I'd love to have him on the Kings.

 

[pdizo916]

You could look at the other way and say that Danny Green is getting $11M, Carroll is getting $15M, Brook Lopez is getting $20M, and it looks like Lillard is getting about $25M, and we're still complaining about having a solid third big who gets less than $6.5M.

lol, right! Thompson at 6.5 million isn't a bad deal now and days.

 

[The_Jamal]

I see the Rondo justifications have already begun.

 

[Kingster]

Why all the doubt about Rondo signing? There is strong mutual interest and I don't see any others clamoring for him. Time to be positive.

Yep, there' a reason why nobody wants the potato salad that has green mold growing on it.

 

[The Hammer]

I guess I just don't see starting PG as a high priority - especially if you are looking at an oft-injured, bad teammate, poor shooting malcontent as an "upgrade" for $10 million a year. Our starting 5 were among the best in the NBA last season (especially under Malone) - why are we looking so much at addressing problems that don't exist? Our bench needs fixing, not Collison. He's not the best, but he isn't a major problem, either.

Collison fixes the bench, don't you see my friend? He's absolutely the best bench PG we could get. He's perfect for it. That's where the real fit works. And, we absolutely need perimeter defense at the PG position. We also need a distributor who doesn't need shots. We have 1-3 offensive weapons accounted for (Ben being third). I think we ask Ben to really step up, and with two fantastic passers (Cuz and Rondo) in the lineup... that's how it can work. If WCS can have a decent mid range shot... we're actually an excellent shooting team. Best shooting center in the league, passable shooting 4, good shooting from Gay, and possible top 10 shooter in Ben, if he can take another step and get wide open looks from Cuz passouts and Rondo creating.

I can see it being an excellent fit with Rondo, and an even BETTER fit with Collison leading the bench.

 

[The Hammer]

Hammer, I don't see why anyone would want a guy on their team who totally alienated his teammates on the last team he played with. Is this supposed to improve the culture? It's a no-brainer to me to look elsewhere.

Because one of his best friends in the league is on our team... because he'll be playing with, according to him, the best young player in the game, because he wants to be here and sees a future. He didn't have that in Boston towards the end or even in Dallas.

Rondo is a hard headed winner. He doesn't play for a paycheck, but plays, like Cuz, to win. For players like that, fit, leadership, proper usage, and team-wide buy in toward a common goal are key. To me, he is an excellent candidate to pull a Rudy Gay and all the sudden come back to form, and better, when in the right situation. HE WANTS TO BE HERE.

 

[TheGOAT1006]

Your hittin these nails right on the head Hammer! In Ben I Trust!

 

[Letsgokings13]

Yep, there' a reason why nobody wants potato salad that has green mold growing on it.

So because someone else may not want something, we shouldn't either? We have to try and go all in this season, or it will most likely be our last with DMC. We have to take risks. Especially because of who we are.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

I see the Rondo justifications have already begun.

Let's not call differences of opinion "justifications", shall we? There are certainly folks around who think signing Rondo would be a good thing, which is WAY different than "trying to pretend a bad thing isn't that bad".

 

[Kingster]

So because someone else may not want something, we shouldn't either? We have to try and go all in this season, or it will most likely be our last with DMC. We have to take risks. Especially because of who we are.

That kind of thinking is exactly how you screw up an organization even more than it already is. It's coming from a place of weak desperation.

 

[Dime Dropper]

I see the Rondo justifications have already begun.

It's not that hard to see why. He was elite not too long ago. We're not in a position to snub talent like that. It's a risk yes, but one that could pay dividends. If DeMarcus wants it, then I'm fine with it.

 

[Letsgokings13]

That kind of thinking is exactly how you screw up an organization even more than it already is. It's coming from a place of weak desperation.

What should we do? If DMC is gone we are rebuilding anyways. Might as well take the risk.

 

[steelevt]

Collison fixes the bench, don't you see my friend? He's absolutely the best bench PG we could get. He's perfect for it. That's where the real fit works. And, we absolutely need perimeter defense at the PG position. We also need a distributor who doesn't need shots. We have 1-3 offensive weapons accounted for (Ben being third). I think we ask Ben to really step up, and with two fantastic passers (Cuz and Rondo) in the lineup... that's how it can work. If WCS can have a decent mid range shot... we're actually an excellent shooting team. Best shooting center in the league, passable shooting 4, good shooting from Gay, and possible top 10 shooter in Ben, if he can take another step and get wide open looks from Cuz passouts and Rondo creating.

I can see it being an excellent fit with Rondo, and an even BETTER fit with Collison leading the bench.

Talentwise collison would be a great bench player. But he played well as a starter and I don't see a reason he needs to be replaced. How would you like being sent to the bench after you were brought in to start and played well. Then the team goes and signs someone who had a horrible season on a 1 year deal (meaning he will prob leave next season) and give him the spot. I would see ZERO loyalty from the front office. This plus how they treated malone...another reason free agents would avoid sac.

 

[Kingster]

Because one of his best friends in the league is on our team... because he'll be playing with, according to him, the best young player in the game, because he wants to be here and sees a future. He didn't have that in Boston towards the end or even in Dallas.

Rondo is a hard headed winner. He doesn't play for a paycheck, but plays, like Cuz, to win. For players like that, fit, leadership, proper usage, and team-wide buy in toward a common goal are key. To me, he is an excellent candidate to pull a Rudy Gay and all the sudden come back to form, and better, when in the right situation. HE WANTS TO BE HERE.

He may want to be here one day, and then not want to be there on another. He was a cancer on Dallas. He stopped playing for them, and their players didn't even want to play with the guy. Is it really going to be different this time? Adding Rondo is just adding a hand grenade to the fire, imo.

 

[Kingster]

What should we do? If DMC is gone we are rebuilding anyways. Might as well take the risk.

What you do is not acquire Rondo. I'd rather have the boring consistent good character guy in Collison over Rondo any day. Give me another Collison type at another position and we'll call it a good FA day.

 

[swisshh]

Compiling a list of what I'll term the fresh leftovers. Players that won't be chased with big money, but will likely be left after all the big cap space is gone. I've filtered out any players that don't fit the PG/wing types that Vlade seems to be targeting. I don't know all these players that well. Namely, I don't know the defensive level of all of them. If others want to chip in some analysis, please do.

John Jenkins - G
Alan Anderson -G/F
Leandro Barbosa - G
Corey Brewer - G/F
Rodney Stuckey - G
Austin Rivers - G
Jeremy Lin - PG
Wesley Johnson - F
Gary Neal - G
Gerald Green - G


Far more guards than swingmen.

 

[ovrush]

I like the Beverly fit. We don't need a creator at the 1, just someone who can get the ball in to cuz and hit open shots. Combine that with an affordable price tag and him being the best defensive pg in the league and we're talking. He has interest from several teams, however so we'd have to overpay probably. Also im not sure you can start him over collison. How much of his elite defensiveness is given up if he's guarding sg? Theres a dearth of full sized sg in the league right now so you could potentially run collison and him together, but youd still need pg depth if you did that.

 

[Rain man]

That kind of thinking is exactly how you screw up an organization even more than it already is. It's coming from a place of weak desperation.

We know that simply adding WCS is not going to turn our sorry 29 win team into a playoff team. So either we waste our last years with Boogie and watch him walk (or force his way out), or we try and build a team around him. Could things go south with Rondo? No doubt. But things will be much worse if Cousins leaves. We are talking complete rebuild again. I think you absolutely have to gamble to build a winner around Cousins.

 

[randymoss1881]

Because one of his best friends in the league is on our team... because he'll be playing with, according to him, the best young player in the game, because he wants to be here and sees a future. He didn't have that in Boston towards the end or even in Dallas.

Rondo is a hard headed winner. He doesn't play for a paycheck, but plays, like Cuz, to win. For players like that, fit, leadership, proper usage, and team-wide buy in toward a common goal are key. To me, he is an excellent candidate to pull a Rudy Gay and all the sudden come back to form, and better, when in the right situation. HE WANTS TO BE HERE.

Dallas was a title contender before he got there. Did talked big game about that to even said his defense would be phenomenal. Said he hadn't played defense for years in Boston but now it would change we saw how that ended up.

It's cool he's friends with Gay and like cousins. But what happens when Karl benches him cause teams will pack the paint vs a team starting WCS/Rondo. Karl's already on thin ice with the players Rondo will start a war in the locker room when his minuets decrease.

 

[TheGOAT1006]

Collison is NOT a starting PG on a playoff team. Yes he's been great, yes he may be high character over Rondo, but we are trying to build a legit contender here at the end of the day are we not? Might as well start with risk/reward Rondo.

 

[Jerichoholic]

Because one of his best friends in the league is on our team... because he'll be playing with, according to him, the best young player in the game, because he wants to be here and sees a future. He didn't have that in Boston towards the end or even in Dallas.

Rondo is a hard headed winner. He doesn't play for a paycheck, but plays, like Cuz, to win. For players like that, fit, leadership, proper usage, and team-wide buy in toward a common goal are key. To me, he is an excellent candidate to pull a Rudy Gay and all the sudden come back to form, and better, when in the right situation. HE WANTS TO BE HERE.

If he was so excited to come here, to play with his friend and to play with a young great player like Cousins, then why was he so against coming here at last year's trade deadline? We had Gay and Cousins at the time. He didn't want to come here and made it clear he would not re-sign if traded here.

Now he is so excited to come here, why? He needs us, his career has gone from playoff hero to a guy who was voted out of a playoff bonus by his teammates. The Kings are the greatest now! Make no mistake, he indeed plays for a paycheck and he likes things his way. I'm not saying he doesn't play hard, he probably will, but his attitude will come through eventually and it can destroy teams. Combine that with the delicate Cousins situation and this could turn into a huge problem.

 

[rhythmless]

Probably because he never planned on leaving SA.

"I thought there was a strong possibility that I wouldn't be back," Green said in a telephone interview with ESPN.com. "But the Spurs found a way to offer me something nice."

He got what he thought was a fair offer from the place that makes him the happiest. No need to shop around. Such is the power of the model franchise.

 

[Gilles]

Collison is NOT a starting PG on a playoff team. Yes he's been great, yes he may be high character over Rondo, but we are trying to build a legit contender here at the end of the day are we not? Might as well start with risk/reward Rondo.

Collison actually started many games for PO teams in 2 of 3 his last stops before coming to Sacramento. And third was for PO contender, who was just bare bone thin behind Dirk.

 

[MANoICE]

I like the Beverly fit. We don't need a creator at the 1, just someone who can get the ball in to cuz and hit open shots. Combine that with an affordable price tag and him being the best defensive pg in the league and we're talking. He has interest from several teams, however so we'd have to overpay probably. Also im not sure you can start him over collison. How much of his elite defensiveness is given up if he's guarding sg? Theres a dearth of full sized sg in the league right now so you could potentially run collison and him together, but youd still need pg depth if you did that.

This. I mean really.

He has all the defense Rondo could (potentially) give you and he can shoot at the league average from 3 and FT. He's younger and got to experience (albeit from the bench) what his team had to do to make a fairly deep playoff run. He's likely to command what we would pay Rondo, though over more years hopefully. Let him and Collison battle it out for the starting position. With the right matchups you can play them together.

 

[The Hammer]

Talentwise collison would be a great bench player. But he played well as a starter and I don't see a reason he needs to be replaced. How would you like being sent to the bench after you were brought in to start and played well. Then the team goes and signs someone who had a horrible season on a 1 year deal (meaning he will prob leave next season) and give him the spot. I would see ZERO loyalty from the front office. This plus how they treated malone...another reason free agents would avoid sac.

Totally different situation with Malone. Collison is a team guy. The stated goal of the team MUST be to win a champoinship, and Vlade (good leadership) must hold that vision, with authority. So the question for Collison becomes "do I want to be a starter on a playoff team or do I want to do everything I can to win a championship". If it's yes to the former and no to the latter, we don't want him anyway. But I have a feeling he is a yes to the latter type player, which is why we signed him in the first place (Malone's work btw). He's not about personal glory, he's about team glory. He's not getting fired, he's getting the same amount of money, only this time with a better chance to win it all.