My first Personnel post since this debacle and it feels good!

[pupsingh]

first off, it feels so good to be writing abotu something about the kings not related to anaheim!! didnt realize how good it was to be talking about kings future players IN SAC. well here goes.

Sign: Shane Battier. Good Defense, team player, decent 3 pt shot, VET EXPERIENCE, leader, all the intangibles

draft: guard( irving, firdette maybe?) all depending on where we pick obviously

but heres a problem:

i love the starting five:

evans
thornton
Cousins
Dalembert
Battier

but the bench:

beno
draft pick guard
JT
Cisco
Casspi
Greene

that bench is wayyy to SF happy

cisco is unmoveable, but i like both casspi and greene. Greene came on real solid at the end of the season and was showing consistency coming off the bench playing solid defense, while casspi sat the bench and wanted to be traded. So it seems logical to get rid of casspi but i jus dont feel right about letting go, i guess it has to do with him being a good shooter and i dunno why I like having a euro player on our team. So im torn as to which SF to let go cuz not all will get playing time. what do you guys think?

 

[Kings Faithful]

first off, it feels so good to be writing abotu something about the kings not related to anaheim!! didnt realize how good it was to be talking about kings future players IN SAC. well here goes.

Sign: Shane Battier. Good Defense, team player, decent 3 pt shot, VET EXPERIENCE, leader, all the intangibles

draft: guard( irving, firdette maybe?) all depending on where we pick obviously

but heres a problem:

i love the starting five:

evans
thornton
Cousins
Dalembert
Battier

but the bench:

beno
draft pick guard
JT
Cisco
Casspi
Greene

that bench is wayyy to SF happy

cisco is unmoveable, but i like both casspi and greene. Greene came on real solid at the end of the season and was showing consistency coming off the bench playing solid defense, while casspi sat the bench and wanted to be traded. So it seems logical to get rid of casspi but i jus dont feel right about letting go, i guess it has to do with him being a good shooter and i dunno why I like having a euro player on our team. So im torn as to which SF to let go cuz not all will get playing time. what do you guys think?

Force them both to stay over the offseason. See who brings it at the beginning of next year and trade who doesn't. IMO Greene is more valuable should he figure it out, and it almost looked like he did at the end of last season.... but I'm skeptical, could be the Ike Diogu effect. Casspi is more of the sure thing... he's almost guaranteed to be a great SF off the bench (which he will have none of), and perhaps a good starting SF. If Greene comes out big next season though, he's my guy... especially since he has shown no sign of bitterness about his situation, as opposed to Casspi who seems to be sour grapes about everything. I don't like him talking behind the franchises back, different language or not.

 

[pupsingh]

what do u think of battier addition? i think that starting five has all the elements...one thing im torn about is whether thornton should come off the bench and be a bjax type instant offense 6th man of the year type of guy to make the bench stronger, but he seems too good and consistent for that

 

[funkykingston]

what do u think of battier addition? i think that starting five has all the elements...one thing im torn about is whether thornton should come off the bench and be a bjax type instant offense 6th man of the year type of guy to make the bench stronger, but he seems too good and consistent for that

I don't see any reason to bring Thornton off the bench as a scorer. There's a school of thought that says get a "true PG" and move Tyreke to the SG spot. Regardless of whether you view Tyreke as a point or an off-guard, he's ball dominant and needs the rock in his hands to be effective. So I don't see how bringing in a traditional PG helps.

Thornton, on the other hand, is a combo guard who handles and passes well enough to take some pressure off Evans, shoots well from outside to stretch the floor and is big enough to punish teams who try to guard him with a PG. Thornton certainly could be an instant offense sparkplug, but then the question is, who is starting in front of him and why?

 

[Glenn]

We have a whole thread where the discussion of SFs has been beaten to death. You ought to check it out.

 

[PurpleHaze]

first off, it feels so good to be writing abotu something about the kings not related to anaheim!! didnt realize how good it was to be talking about kings future players IN SAC. well here goes.

Sign: Shane Battier. Good Defense, team player, decent 3 pt shot, VET EXPERIENCE, leader, all the intangibles

draft: guard( irving, firdette maybe?) all depending on where we pick obviously

but heres a problem:

i love the starting five:

evans
thornton
Cousins
Dalembert
Battier

but the bench:

beno
draft pick guard
JT
Cisco
Casspi
Greene

that bench is wayyy to SF happy

cisco is unmoveable, but i like both casspi and greene. Greene came on real solid at the end of the season and was showing consistency coming off the bench playing solid defense, while casspi sat the bench and wanted to be traded. So it seems logical to get rid of casspi but i jus dont feel right about letting go, i guess it has to do with him being a good shooter and i dunno why I like having a euro player on our team. So im torn as to which SF to let go cuz not all will get playing time. what do you guys think?

We still have one even if Casspi is traded - Beno Udrih. Plus, if Kings keep Greene he was born in Germany - that make him Euro too

 

[bajaden]

what do u think of battier addition? i think that starting five has all the elements...one thing im torn about is whether thornton should come off the bench and be a bjax type instant offense 6th man of the year type of guy to make the bench stronger, but he seems too good and consistent for that

I would have liked Battier better three years ago. I still like him, but I'd like Kirilenko better at this point. Battier will be 33 years old in sept, and his skills are probably starting to decline. Statwise, he hasn't dropped off that much, but it can happen in a hurry with some players, and he's played a lot of minutes in his career.

I think it would all depend on the circumstances. Such as length of contract. He probably has at least two good years left in him, maybe three. If we were to get lucky in the lottery and draft Derrick Williams, then Battier would be the perfect guy to have in front of him to mentor him. Of course in that scenario, we no longer have a need for both Greene and Casspi.

So I would look at Battier as a short term solution while you groom player X for the long term. Whereas Kirilenko, who is three years younger, would be more of a long term solution. His stats are very comparable to Battiers, and he's a better passer and a better offensive player.

A third option would be to go after Wilson Chandler who is only 23 years old. He's not quite as good a defensive player as either Battier or Kirilenko, but he's a lot younger, and he's a better defensive player than we have right now, with all due respect to Greene. Chandler would also give us a little more offense than either Battier or Kirilenko. Although if we resign Thornton, I don't think offense is going to be much of a problem.

Kirilenko and Battier are both unrestricted freeagents. Chandler is a restricted freeagent, and Denver will be enough under the cap to resign him if they want. So he may be out of the picture depending on what Denver wants to do. Of the other two, Battier would be the cheapest, although I sincerely doubt that Kirilenko is going to command the 17 mil he was making this past season.

 

[funkykingston]

I think it would all depend on the circumstances. Such as length of contract. He probably has at least two good years left in him, maybe three. If we were to get lucky in the lottery and draft Derrick Williams, then Battier would be the perfect guy to have in front of him to mentor him. Of course in that scenario, we no longer have a need for both Greene and Casspi.

I like Williams but not for the Kings, and certainly not as a SF where I think he'd struggle mightily on the defensive end.

Kirilenko and Battier are both unrestricted freeagents. Chandler is a restricted freeagent, and Denver will be enough under the cap to resign him if they want. So he may be out of the picture depending on what Denver wants to do. Of the other two, Battier would be the cheapest, although I sincerely doubt that Kirilenko is going to command the 17 mil he was making this past season.

As I believe I said in the SF thread, Kenyon Martin, and JR Smith are free agents, Nene can (and likely will, barring massive CBA changes) opt out and both Chandler AND Afflalo are restricted free agents. Denver can possibly afford them all but I'm guessing Chandler could be pried away if the Kings really wanted to.

But while I like him, I dont like him enough to get into a bidding war with the Nuggets and overpay for him.

 

[Hoovtrain]

I'm all for taking a flyer, albeit a cheap flyer, on Oden or Yao to help with PF/C depth. Who know, maybe Whiteside develops into something next season. As far as FA's, 1st choice would be AK47 and 2nd would be Chandler. I really like Battier, but his age is a concern.

 

[mr. moustache]

RE: Chandler
But while I like him, I dont like him enough to get into a bidding war with the Nuggets and overpay for him.

I didn't realize Chandler was a FA(restricted). I think the Kings are in a fantastic position to make offers on some restricted FA's. Whether or not the offer is accepted; we have something to gain either way. It's absolutely in our best interest to have other teams sign their RFAs to market prices, not below market prices. Think Portland with Millsap.

Best case, we get a guy we like, worst case; we make someone pay more than they wanted.

 

[funkykingston]

I didn't realize Chandler was a FA(restricted). I think the Kings are in a fantastic position to make offers on some restricted FA's. Whether or not the offer is accepted; we have something to gain either way. It's absolutely in our best interest to have other teams sign their RFAs to market prices, not below market prices. Think Portland with Millsap.

Best case, we get a guy we like, worst case; we make someone pay more than they wanted.

I'd actually say the worst case would be getting a guy we like but at a vastly inflated price, but I understand your point.

My concern is that yes, the Kings have caproom, but while you want to add talent to improve the team, it has to be done in such a way that when Tyreke and DMC finish their rookie contracts there is still the ability to resign them.

I like Chandler, but he's nowhere near being a break-the-bank difference maker IMO.