Natt sucked, but i actually think muss and theus were better coaches than westphal. I have yet to figure out exactly what his strenghts are. Our team defense is a mess. We have the worst offensive structure in the league. He alienates our young bigs, falls in love with crappy vets, and creates absolute chaos with his rotations. Oh, and he hasn't developed a young guy yet.
"Kings trying to lure AK from Russia" Jones Tweet
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Natt sucked, but i actually think muss and theus were better coaches than westphal. I have yet to figure out exactly what his strenghts are. Our team defense is a mess. We have the worst offensive structure in the league. He alienates our young bigs, falls in love with crappy vets, and creates absolute chaos with his rotations. Oh, and he hasn't developed a young guy yet.
If we were to get AK47, its realy not a concern. He becomes a spare guy. Sitting behind him is Francisco. Now it would certianly work better for everytone if he came to play and we could run a veteran Ak47/Salmons SF platoon. But if not more min for AK47 backed up by Cisco is not that huge of a downgrade at this point.
Its not about punsihing Salmons. Its jsut about him no longer being important enough to our team in that scenario to cater to his idiosynchisies.
Its not about punsihing Salmons. Its jsut about him no longer being important enough to our team in that scenario to cater to his idiosynchisies.
Winning would balance all that, and also quiet any potential malcontents. Salmons may have had an argument before about why he should have the ball, if he doesn't look around these days and notice a very different set of circumstances in his second go around with the Kings, then he needs his head checked!
I don't know where you got this idea we handed him anything. He was signed by either Milwaulkee or Chicago, forget which.
And that stuff has never mattered. Are you kiidding me? Who plays guys just because they cost a lot? At that rate Eddie Curry should have been starting for years in New York no matter how round he got.
All that matters is that if we were to sign Ak47 Salmons would have no argument for being better than the 5th best guy on our team, and would have debates form 3-4 other guys even for that spot. He's just a guy at that point. He could help, but if not? Would barely be missed.
And that stuff has never mattered. Are you kiidding me? Who plays guys just because they cost a lot? At that rate Eddie Curry should have been starting for years in New York no matter how round he got.
All that matters is that if we were to sign Ak47 Salmons would have no argument for being better than the 5th best guy on our team, and would have debates form 3-4 other guys even for that spot. He's just a guy at that point. He could help, but if not? Would barely be missed.
This team as constructed should be regularly in the playoffs. NOW is the time to move. No more waiting. Please, no more waiting. An NBA shampionship isn't the only goal a team should be shooting for as many will be horribly disappointed if so.
Look at our team and tell me the weakness that puts them in the lower half of the league. No team has everyone mature at the same time. It's simply not possible. We have a good mixture of young and old. If we get AK47, we will have a player in his prime. I know a lot of people like to view this as the down side of his career but he IS in his prime.
This is a time for optimism.
Look at our team and tell me the weakness that puts them in the lower half of the league. No team has everyone mature at the same time. It's simply not possible. We have a good mixture of young and old. If we get AK47, we will have a player in his prime. I know a lot of people like to view this as the down side of his career but he IS in his prime.
This is a time for optimism.
And they went after him. They traded Beno's contract (shorter and cheaper), and moved down in the draft to get him. I don't think you are getting this. I'm saying that for what we know he can do (and his attitude problems in the past), the team spent too much. My point is that the price isn't worth it. You say we can just dismiss him, and my point is all that does is show how poorly the team's decisions have been regarding him, especially if that happens. They are throwing money down the toilet, and you are fine with that. I am not.
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If it comes down to it Salmons is a moveable piece.
He isn't viewed around the league like Hedo is, someone who has a bad contract and isn't playing up to it.
Jimmer is an upgrade over Beno when you consider what he brings as well as his salary, so I don't think the Front Office feels they sacrificed in order to get Salmons.
AK is a clear upgrade of Salmons, and if he becomes an issue he can be traded. But truthfully, Salmons was one of our best, if not our best player, before we got Artest. This time around is very, very different, and I expect him to play team basketball in a manner which reflects the new reality of this team.
Could there be issues? Sure.
I just don't think the odds are really that high, and if he does cause problems, then he'll be traded.
He isn't viewed around the league like Hedo is, someone who has a bad contract and isn't playing up to it.
Jimmer is an upgrade over Beno when you consider what he brings as well as his salary, so I don't think the Front Office feels they sacrificed in order to get Salmons.
AK is a clear upgrade of Salmons, and if he becomes an issue he can be traded. But truthfully, Salmons was one of our best, if not our best player, before we got Artest. This time around is very, very different, and I expect him to play team basketball in a manner which reflects the new reality of this team.
Could there be issues? Sure.
I just don't think the odds are really that high, and if he does cause problems, then he'll be traded.
Valid point. However, Petrie knew we needed an upgrade at SF and had no assurance a better option would be available in free agency. So he trades a decent back up PG for a decent Sf knowing he will add a PG replacement thru the draft. If an opportunity came up to replace John with a better player you can still utilize him at the backup guard and sf positions. Im not a big fan of Johns but he is certainly an upgrade over our current sfs and who knows maybe he will fit in better off the bench this time around.
You already destroyed that argument previously. You would be fine with benching him if he acts up (of if they get AK), which means you have a 8 mil a year player not producing, and not getting minutes. Who would want him? It would be Kenny Thomas the SF version, with a guy who used to be productive, but has become unmovable due to his contract and limited output.
I have no problems with upgrading, I have a problem if the method of doing so is stacking up contracts that will be difficult to move, thus overpaying for what you are getting. If they sign AK for 9+ a season, IMO they are over-committing on their wing.
Why don't they just move Evans to point-forward? Magic did it, why not Evans? Evans isn't 6'9", but he is 6'6", a huge body and wingspan, and could handle the ball and exploit whoever they put on him. Don't see why they don't use Jimmer/Thornton/Garcia in the backcourt, move Evans over to play with Salmons, alternate that rotation depending on if they want to go big or small, and have the position set.
Why don't they just move Evans to point-forward? Magic did it, why not Evans? Evans isn't 6'9", but he is 6'6", a huge body and wingspan, and could handle the ball and exploit whoever they put on him. Don't see why they don't use Jimmer/Thornton/Garcia in the backcourt, move Evans over to play with Salmons, alternate that rotation depending on if they want to go big or small, and have the position set.
Looks like Westphal is very happy with the team he has and its unlikely we make any more changes. Just as I expected, re-sign Thornton, replace Dalembert with Hayes and call it a day!
IMHO, not good enough. We still don't address the issue of shot blocking. We still lack the genuine size at SF where bigger SFs of the league will cause us all sort of issues especially now that we don't have Dalembert to cover for the mistake of others.
Lay up drills coming up in Sacramento this season.
If we sign AK47 (which I doubt) then we would have done well over all despite losing Dalembert. If we stay as is, we have actually gotten worse since the start of the lockout and used up a large chunk of our cap space in the process. We need to either sign AK47 or re-sign Dalembert otherwise we are not much better than we were last year.
IMHO, not good enough. We still don't address the issue of shot blocking. We still lack the genuine size at SF where bigger SFs of the league will cause us all sort of issues especially now that we don't have Dalembert to cover for the mistake of others.
Lay up drills coming up in Sacramento this season.
If we sign AK47 (which I doubt) then we would have done well over all despite losing Dalembert. If we stay as is, we have actually gotten worse since the start of the lockout and used up a large chunk of our cap space in the process. We need to either sign AK47 or re-sign Dalembert otherwise we are not much better than we were last year.
Well, that was an interesting 24 hours none the less. If AK47 isn't coming, well just hope now that Honeycutt breaks out and morph into the Tayshaun Prince comparison this season. UCLA players normally gets better in NBA than college, see Kevin Love.
But I don't think we're done. The money intended for AK still have to be used on someone else. I could still see Dally in the picture here. Houston's offer to him was just around the 9M so let's hope Petrie revisits Dally with a 10M/11M offer.
But I don't think we're done. The money intended for AK still have to be used on someone else. I could still see Dally in the picture here. Houston's offer to him was just around the 9M so let's hope Petrie revisits Dally with a 10M/11M offer.
He shouldn't! People that should be copping it are our broke owners (if you can't afford to put a good team on the floor spare us all your bull**** and sell) and our front office for no knowing what it takes to win.
Just by the sheer improvement in Reke, Cousins and Thornton we should be better but you are right in saying that overall we are not much better that last year. We might have bit more raw talent but it is not well matched talent. We have more weaknesses this year than we did last year in our rotation.
Like I have said many times, keep our key free agents and coupled with the trades before lockout and we would have done a great job. Go the extra mile and sign a defensive SF (AK47 or Prince or Battier) and its an exceptional job.
Hayes would have been a great signing (not so much the $$$ but the thought behind it) if we would also keep Dalembert but on its own, its a clear downgrade in size, fit, and overall defence.
I could live with Salmons as an undersized SF if we had Dalembert back there to cover everyone's backside. We would have been undersized in one position but now with Westphal's proposed starting 5 we are undersized in 2 positions and this is a league where size matters.
In one off-season we went from a team that had by far the tallest frontline in the NBA to the one that is barely average. Our team's fettish with short and stubby continues. There is nothing wrong with being bigger than the opposition at every position. Its actually a great advantage.
Just by the sheer improvement in Reke, Cousins and Thornton we should be better but you are right in saying that overall we are not much better that last year. We might have bit more raw talent but it is not well matched talent. We have more weaknesses this year than we did last year in our rotation.
Like I have said many times, keep our key free agents and coupled with the trades before lockout and we would have done a great job. Go the extra mile and sign a defensive SF (AK47 or Prince or Battier) and its an exceptional job.
Hayes would have been a great signing (not so much the $$$ but the thought behind it) if we would also keep Dalembert but on its own, its a clear downgrade in size, fit, and overall defence.
I could live with Salmons as an undersized SF if we had Dalembert back there to cover everyone's backside. We would have been undersized in one position but now with Westphal's proposed starting 5 we are undersized in 2 positions and this is a league where size matters.
In one off-season we went from a team that had by far the tallest frontline in the NBA to the one that is barely average. Our team's fettish with short and stubby continues. There is nothing wrong with being bigger than the opposition at every position. Its actually a great advantage.
We are not better than last year. This is the same bad team from last year, but with the problematic Salmons versus the less problematic Casspi, Hayes and Hickson instead of Dalembert(undersized and unreliable vs legit shotblocker), Jimmer versus Beno(rookie semi-PG versus effecient Vet semi-PG) and some second round draft guys. For this team to be better, DMC and Reke would have to suddenly turn the corner big time.
It's kind of silly to say whether we're better than last year or not when there's half a dozen guys on the roster that we've yet to see play a game in a Kings uniform. Hickson, Jimmer, Hayes, Salmons, Honeycutt, Thomas are all wild cards at this point. If they end up working out, the team could end up being a lot better than last year. If they don't, they'll still suck. Ridiculous to even speculate about it at this pint.