New Ownership on the Horizon, New Possibilities

[twslam07]

With new ownership on the horizon, it opens the door for aggressive moves and big changes. This is a plan I drafted up that I think would help get us to the top of the league.

Our team going into the 2013 offseason:
PG – Thomas/Douglas/Fredette
SG – Evans/Thornton
SF – Salmons/Johnson/Outlaw
PF – Thompson/Patterson
C – Cousins/Hayes/Aldrich

We have some work to do. Let’s get to it.

2013 Draft
At this point, the Kings need a PG who can defend, pass, and knock down open shots, SF who can defend, board, and knock down open shots, and PF who can defend, board, and block shots. The only players that fit this description at the top of the draft are Noel, Smart, and maybe Porter. I don’t think we will be lucky enough to draft Noel this draft so I would like to see us go after Smart.

When draft night comes, I suggest we trade our 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] rounder for a future 2014 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] rounder to make room on the roster for the upcoming free agent signings. However, we could always use the pick this year and send him to the D-league.

After the draft, our roster will look like this:
PG – Smart/Thomas/Fredette
SG – Evans/Thornton
SF – Salmons/Outlaw
PF – Thompson/Patterson
C – Cousins/Hayes

2013 Free Agency
This offseason is not the best time to go after that SF we have been searching for. That is reserved for the 2014 offseason. However we’re going to need someone better than Outlaw to backup Salmons at SF for one more year. I think Barnes or Carroll would be a good choice. Both would be relatively cheap and are tough-nose, defensive minded players.

Although it might not be the best time for SF acquisitions, there are some pretty good bigs to be had. I would absolutely love to see Dalembert back in a Kings uniform. With a new owner, new GM, and new coach, I don’t see how he could still have any bad blood (if there was even any to begin with) against the Kings. Okafor would also be an option if Dalembert is a no go. I would also love to see us go after another defensive minded center. Biedrins would be my first choice. He has an early termination option and at 9 mil a season, I can’t see why the warriors wouldn’t exercise it. O’Neal, Mohammed, and Pryzbilla are other names we could go after to fill that void.

At this point, I know we have 3 PGs (Smart, Thomas, and Fredette). One of them will be moved sooner or later so I suggest we bring in another PG who won’t see any playing time, but can be a veteran teacher to our young PGs. I think Tinsley would be a perfect man for the job. He was and still is a very good passer. I think the way he sees the floor would rub off on some of our young PGs (and maybe even Evans!)

Lastly, we resign Evans. If it has to be for the max, so be it. I would give it to him. I think he has shown enough to deserve it. I know some of you may disagree with me, but that is my opinion on the matter.

If we resign Evans to the max, sign Dalembert to 6 mil for 3 years, sign Biedrins to 3 mil for 3 years, sign Barnes to 2 mil for 3 years, and sign Tinsley to 1 mil for 2 years, we will be sitting at just under 58 mil in total payroll.

After the 2013 free agency, our roster will look like this:
PG – Smart/Thomas/Fredette/Tinsley
SG – Evans/Thornton
SF – Salmons/Barnes/Outlaw
PF – Dalembert/Thompson/Patterson
C – Cousins/Biedrins/Hayes

2014 Trade Deadline
Obviously this team will need a trade to balance it out, I recommend we make a trade for Granger. The sooner we can make a trade for him the better, but we might have to wait until the trade deadline. With George seeming to be the SF of the future, Granger’s recent injury, and Granger’s contract expiring at the end of the 2014 season, the Pacers will probably be looking to trade him for some valuable pieces. My proposal would be:

Thornton
Patterson
Fredette

For

Granger

The pacers would have a nice young SG to pair with George. Patterson would be a good shooting compliment to Hibbert and Fredette would be the backup PG to Hill. This is what their roster would look like:

PG – Hill/Fredette
SG – Thornton/Stephenson
SF – George/Green/Johnson
PF – Patterson/Hansbrough
C – Hibbert/Mahinmi/Plumlee

The Kings would finally gain an established SF, gain cap flexibility, and clear up log jams on their roster. This is what our roster would look like:

PG – Smart/Thomas/Tinsley
SG – Evans/Salmons
SF – Granger/Barnes/Outlaw
PF – Dalembert/Thompson
C – Cousins/Biedrins/Hayes

2014 Draft
Considering the roster previously listed, I see us making the playoffs and thus giving up out first round pick to CLE. We will have two 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] round picks to work with (we traded our 2013 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] rounder for a 2014 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] rounder). I want us to target a big man and a winger with these picks as these are the positions we will need some added depth.

After the 2014 draft, our roster will look like this:
PG – Smart/Thomas/Tinsley
SG – Evans
SF – Barnes/Outlaw/2[SUP]nd[/SUP] rounder
PF – Dalembert/Thompson/2[SUP]nd[/SUP] rounder
C – Cousins/Biedrins/Hayes

2014 Free Agency
At this point we have our PG of the future (Smart), SG of the future (Evans), defensive shotblocking big (Dalembert), C of the future (Cousins), and sixth man (Thomas). We still need a legitimate SF who has size, can play defense, rebound, and knock down open shots. If we waive Hayes and Outlaw (who would only have this year left on their contract), we would have around 14-16 mil in cap space depending on the salary cap. That is more than enough to sign one of the big 3 free agent SFs (Deng, Iguodala, and Granger). I would be happy with any of them to be honest, but for the sake of this post, we’re going to go with Iguodala.

We still would need a backup SG to Evans. We don’t need someone who will demand a lot of minutes. We just need someone who can give spot minutes. De Colo, Jordan Crawford, X. Henry, Meeks, Liggins, English, or Bazemore could be viable options.

If we sign Iguodala to 12 mil for 4 years, sign X. Henry to 1 mil for 2 years, and resign Cousins to the max, our roster will look like this going into the 2014 season:

PG – Smart(21 min)/Thomas (27 min)/Tinsley
SG – Evans (37 min)/Smart (11 min)/Henry
SF – Iguodala (35 min)/Barnes (13 min)/2[SUP]nd[/SUP] rounder
PF – Dalembert (20 min)/Thompson (28 min)/2[SUP]nd[/SUP] rounder
C – Cousins (38 min)/Dalembert (10 min)/Biedrins

8 Man Rotation
Cousins – 38 min
Evans – 37 min
Iguodala – 35 min
Smart – 32 min
Dalembert – 30 min
Thompson – 28 min
Thomas – 27 min
Barnes – 13 min

This team’s perimeter defense would be superb. Smart, Evans, and Iguodala would be one of the best lockdown perimeter defenses in the league. To add to that defense, you have a great post defender and shotblocker in Dalembert and above average rebounders at every position. Smart, Evans, and Iguodala can all knock down shots from three when their feet are set. All 3 of them can handle the ball really well and find teammates at an above average clip. By the way, throw in Cousins to that group of above average passers.

The bench would also be solid. Thomas would be our spark plug off the bench who can provide shooting and bench scoring. Thompson would be a great big off the bench – someone who can do it all. Biedrins would be a solid 4[SUP]th[/SUP] big who could give us another defensive minded big who can board and block shots. Lastly, we would have Barnes who would provide toughness, defense on the perimeter, and the ability to knock down spot up shots.

This team has it all. Size, athleticism, ball handling, passing, shooting, scoring, defense, shotblocking, rebounding, bench scoring, depth, you name it. I think this is a solid plan that would net us great success.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

damn how do you have the time to come up with these nba 2k13 trades

 

[Spike]

Hey, props for thinking it through. You might want to edit your first part though, because it says "Our team going into the 2014 offseason" instead of 2013.

I would try and move Thornton/Fredette sooner if possible, as well as Thomas, especially if you're looking to bring in someone like Tinsley. (In which case I'd rather keep Jimmer, but I know that moving Thornton/Jimmer would net us more than Thomas).

Ultimately, we're still probably going to have to draft a ready to play PF instead of picking one up during FA, unless new management somehow thinks about overpaying to get players to come and/or stay in Sac. That is what I find to be the sticky wicket.

 

[Darth Divac]

Here's my Plan:


Immediate actions:
First priority: RESIGN EVANS AND COUSINS. No matter how big a payday they demand, we need to do EVERYTHING
Based on where we sit now, we'll likely be drafting in the 4-7 range. BUT- we won't be using our pick, well be trading our pick as well as IT for the draft rights to Nerlens Noel, probably to Washington, who have a desperate need of scoring, and a defense that is already extremely strong, as well as several good bigs. They don't need Noel and they do need a new 6th man after trading Jordan Crawford, so Isaiah is perfect for them. Then, trade Thompson and Fredette for the rights to Trey Burke, a great, passing, playmaking PG who has great court vision and scores in a pinch. Once we do that, sign Matt Barnes, for all the reasons listed above: defense, toughness, veteran presence, as well as perimeter shooting and the fact that he's a native of Sacramento. Give Chuck's minutes to Cole Aldrich so he becomes dead salary, and waive him. That makes our roster going into 13-14 this:

Cousins/Aldrich
Evans/Thornton
Barnes/Salmons
Burke/Douglas
Noel/Patterson

Benchwarmers
JJ
Outlaw

This is a strong roster, both offensively and defensively. You get great defense out of Barnes and Noel, outstanding offense out of the Burke/Evans/Cousins trio, you have a solid bench and 6th man, strong rebounding, and good passing. All this in one year.


2014

Sign Andre Iguodala.


That's it.

 

[Kingsnbucs1987]

I know we shouldn't get younger, but looking at the Big East semis with Syracuse and Georgetown, James Southerland looks like he could be a good rotational player. Plays D, can hit the open jumper and rebounds decently. If we somehow got Noel Nerlins with our first pick, I'd like to see us grab Southerland in the 2nd round and package Thorton and one of Thompson or Patterson in a trade for a SF. What does everybody think if the line up was

PG - IT/Douglas
SG - REKE/Jimmer/Salmons
SF - Trade/Southerland/Salmons
PF - Noel/Patterson/Hayes
C - Cousins/Aldrich/Hayes

 

[DesertFox]

Keep it simple.

Re-sign Reke.
Between MT and a draft pick they should come up with a new SF and veteran PG.

Cuz/Pat/JT. Hayes and Aldrich/generic shotblocker to battle for 4th big minutes.
New SF, Salmons as a backup. Outlaw riding the bench.
Reke/New PG/IT as the guards, with Jimmer and Douglas/FA for the 4th guard minutes.

Reke and JT are the only long-term deals, and Cuz/Pat/IT are up for extensions. Salmon's contract can fade into oblivion, while Hayes/Outlaw become expiring deals.

 

[twslam07]

damn how do you have the time to come up with these nba 2k13 trades

haha it takes me weeks to write these up, so the free time builds up.

I think calling this a "2k13 trade" is doing it a bit of a disservice. There is only one trade proposed in the entire post (unless you want to count the 2nd rounder trade). If you want to argue the Granger trade is not feasible, we can do that, but don't call this a 2k13 trade because it is much more than that.

 

[twslam07]

Hey, props for thinking it through. You might want to edit your first part though, because it says "Our team going into the 2014 offseason" instead of 2013.

I would try and move Thornton/Fredette sooner if possible, as well as Thomas, especially if you're looking to bring in someone like Tinsley. (In which case I'd rather keep Jimmer, but I know that moving Thornton/Jimmer would net us more than Thomas).

Ultimately, we're still probably going to have to draft a ready to play PF instead of picking one up during FA, unless new management somehow thinks about overpaying to get players to come and/or stay in Sac. That is what I find to be the sticky wicket.

In this scenario, the sooner we can move Thornton and Fredette after the 2013 free agency period, the better.

I would be fine with holding onto Thomas. I think he could be a good sixth man in this league. I don't want to see him starting on our team, and I hate how often times Evans gets freezed out. However, he does bring some skills that could help this team in the long run. His contract is dirt cheap which would give us more cap space to sign other players.

I don't think bringing in Tinsley warrants us to get rid of Thomas. Tinsley would be our 3rd PG. He wouldn't be seeing huge minutes unless we get hit with an injury bug. The main reason I would like us to sign him is to be a mentor to our young guards. I think he could help Smart, Thomas, and Evans with their court vision, passing, and floor management.

It's quite possible that we are unable to sign any significant players to come play in Sacramento. It's also quite possible, that with new owners, new management, and new coaches that we would be a more attractive destination. We have talented players. The league and its players know that. The problem lies with the management of those players. If the management of our players changes, it might change some of the perceptions about coming to play for Sacramento. As long as Smart is still coaching, we will find it very difficult to sign free agents. Seriously, who would want to come play for a coach like him?

 

[twslam07]

Here's my Plan:


Immediate actions:
First priority: RESIGN EVANS AND COUSINS. No matter how big a payday they demand, we need to do EVERYTHING
Based on where we sit now, we'll likely be drafting in the 4-7 range. BUT- we won't be using our pick, well be trading our pick as well as IT for the draft rights to Nerlens Noel, probably to Washington, who have a desperate need of scoring, and a defense that is already extremely strong, as well as several good bigs. They don't need Noel and they do need a new 6th man after trading Jordan Crawford, so Isaiah is perfect for them. Then, trade Thompson and Fredette for the rights to Trey Burke, a great, passing, playmaking PG who has great court vision and scores in a pinch. Once we do that, sign Matt Barnes, for all the reasons listed above: defense, toughness, veteran presence, as well as perimeter shooting and the fact that he's a native of Sacramento. Give Chuck's minutes to Cole Aldrich so he becomes dead salary, and waive him. That makes our roster going into 13-14 this:

Cousins/Aldrich
Evans/Thornton
Barnes/Salmons
Burke/Douglas
Noel/Patterson

Benchwarmers
JJ
Outlaw

This is a strong roster, both offensively and defensively. You get great defense out of Barnes and Noel, outstanding offense out of the Burke/Evans/Cousins trio, you have a solid bench and 6th man, strong rebounding, and good passing. All this in one year.


2014

Sign Andre Iguodala.


That's it.

The team you built is pretty good. I don't think there is any way we can package Thomas with our pick to get Noel regardless of what team drafts him. Right now, it looks like Noel is going to be the first pick in the draft despite going down with his knee injury. When was the last time someone traded the first overall pick in the draft? It doesn't happen very often. I don't think Noel is going to be a realistic option for us.

I like Burke too. I think he is going to be a good PG in this league. However, Thompson has been a very solid player for us. In my mind, he is an ideal backup big. For that reason alone, I would love to hold onto him. He has a long contract with us that is reasonably priced. There are only 4 players I want to keep on this roster (Cousins, Evans, Thompson, and Thomas). Why? Cousins and Evans are the type of players you build around. You don't ship them out unless you're getting an equal player back. Thompson and Thomas would be excellent backup players. Thompson has a nice all-around game and is 6'11 with the ability to play PF or C. Thomas would be a great change of pace guard who could score in bunches off the bench. Your team should have a lot of success if you're bringing two players like Thompson and Thomas off your bench. Now back to the point, I would much rather give up Patterson in your deal, but most teams would probably not do that trade considering Thompson is a more valuable player and Patterson is a small PF, below average rebounder, and a free agent soon.

Another problem I see is that you still have Thornton in your plans. I don't want a player who should be getting 28-32 minutes a game and only plays SG backing up my star SG. I really want Evans to get all of his minutes at SG. As long as Thornton is on the team, he is going to be seeing time at PG or most likely SF. It's been said many times in many ways, but I will say it again. You don't fit your star players around your team. You fit your team around your star players. Set Cousins and Evans up for success for a change, and hey, we might see some good basketball.

 

[twslam07]

I know we shouldn't get younger, but looking at the Big East semis with Syracuse and Georgetown, James Southerland looks like he could be a good rotational player. Plays D, can hit the open jumper and rebounds decently. If we somehow got Noel Nerlins with our first pick, I'd like to see us grab Southerland in the 2nd round and package Thorton and one of Thompson or Patterson in a trade for a SF. What does everybody think if the line up was

PG - IT/Douglas
SG - REKE/Jimmer/Salmons
SF - Trade/Southerland/Salmons
PF - Noel/Patterson/Hayes
C - Cousins/Aldrich/Hayes

Southerland has been having a very solid season. He has been efficient and effective. He has good size for the SF position. He would just need to keep adding weight, but at 22 years old, I'm not sure how much he can continue to add. But hey, you can't draft a player in the second round without at least one fault. I think he would be a solid 2nd round pick. I'm not sure he warrants an early 2nd round pick (which will be where we are picking), but nonetheless, I think he could come in on day one and be a productive player for us.

I firmly believe Noel will be the 1st pick in the draft, but I've been wrong before. If he slid down to us, I would be ecstatic. I'm not throwing down any money down on it no matter what odds you give me.

The trade you proposed is very similar to mine (Thornton, Patterson, and Fredette for Granger). This is what the roster would look like with your scenario and my trade:

PG - IT/Douglas
SG - Evans/Salmons
SF - Granger/Southerland/Outlaw
PF - Noel/Thompson/Hayes
C - Cousins/Aldrich

That's a pretty good looking team. I would like to see Thomas coming off the bench, but I could live with that for now. Maybe have Douglas start over him. He'll give you great defense on our opponents starting PG, knock down open 3s, and he seems like he would defer to Evans. Another possibility would be to start Evans/Salmons/Granger/Noel/Cousins, but that pushes Evans to PG (something I was hoping we would stay away from). It would be a huge team though (6'5", 6'7", 6'9", 6'11", 6'11") and the length of Evans and Salmons would cause problems for a lot of PGs and SGs.

 

[twslam07]

Keep it simple.

Re-sign Reke.
Between MT and a draft pick they should come up with a new SF and veteran PG.

Cuz/Pat/JT. Hayes and Aldrich/generic shotblocker to battle for 4th big minutes.
New SF, Salmons as a backup. Outlaw riding the bench.
Reke/New PG/IT as the guards, with Jimmer and Douglas/FA for the 4th guard minutes.

Reke and JT are the only long-term deals, and Cuz/Pat/IT are up for extensions. Salmon's contract can fade into oblivion, while Hayes/Outlaw become expiring deals.

Sometimes keeping it simple won't net you an NBA championship. I agree that we should resign Evans and that Thornton should most likely be dealt for a SF. In my trade that involves Thornton, we get a good SF who's contract will expire after the season. Hopefully that taste of being with the team will want him to take a bigger bite and sign long term; otherwise, we have a lot of cap space to go after the plethora of free agent SFs in the 2014 free agency period (Iguodala, Deng, Granger, Ariza, World Peace, Marion, C. Butler, Battier, M. Williams, R. Jefferson).

When it comes to a PG, the only viable free agent PGs we could go after to man the starting role would be Calderon and Jack. I don't see them as a part of this successful team we are trying to build. Lowry and Chalmers are free agents in 2014. Both of those guys get me a little more excited, but if we're going to be signing one of Deng, Iguodala, or Granger in 2014, we won't have the cap space to sign Lowry or Chalmers. If we sign Ariza, World Peace, or C. Butler, we could make a run at signing Lowry or Chalmers. This is why I opted for drafting Smart (who will be on a cheap rookie deal) and signing one of Deng, Iguodala, or Granger. We get the best of both worlds.

 

[Kingsnbucs1987]

Southerland has been having a very solid season. He has been efficient and effective. He has good size for the SF position. He would just need to keep adding weight, but at 22 years old, I'm not sure how much he can continue to add. But hey, you can't draft a player in the second round without at least one fault. I think he would be a solid 2nd round pick. I'm not sure he warrants an early 2nd round pick (which will be where we are picking), but nonetheless, I think he could come in on day one and be a productive player for us.

I firmly believe Noel will be the 1st pick in the draft, but I've been wrong before. If he slid down to us, I would be ecstatic. I'm not throwing down any money down on it no matter what odds you give me.

The trade you proposed is very similar to mine (Thornton, Patterson, and Fredette for Granger). This is what the roster would look like with your scenario and my trade:

PG - IT/Douglas
SG - Evans/Salmons
SF - Granger/Southerland/Outlaw
PF - Noel/Thompson/Hayes
C - Cousins/Aldrich

That's a pretty good looking team. I would like to see Thomas coming off the bench, but I could live with that for now. Maybe have Douglas start over him. He'll give you great defense on our opponents starting PG, knock down open 3s, and he seems like he would defer to Evans. Another possibility would be to start Evans/Salmons/Granger/Noel/Cousins, but that pushes Evans to PG (something I was hoping we would stay away from). It would be a huge team though (6'5", 6'7", 6'9", 6'11", 6'11") and the length of Evans and Salmons would cause problems for a lot of PGs and SGs.

I want Noel on the team bad, to me he's the perfect compliment to Cuz, big defender who cares more about D than Offense. The only reason I'm not sold on Granger cause he seems like a taller version of Thorton who puts up a lot shots, but I don't follow the Pacers so I could be really wrong about him.

 

[Darth Divac]

New strategy:

Obtain the draft rights to Noel.
Tank the S*** out of the ensuing season, using his ACL as an excuse.
Hopefully with our tanking, we get a top 3 pick in '14 draft, which gives us a future MVP candidate as well as an SF (said class is extremely deep SF wise)

 

[LongLiveIverson]

Trade Thornton to Suns for Jared Dudley.
Suns probably do this for their dire need for scoring

Trade Isiah Thomas and 2nd to Knicks for their first rounder
Knicks need a pg to challenge Felton, we get to move up about 10 spots

Draft Trey Burke..Potential Tony Parker/Ty Lawson type player. Exerts effort on D, can shoot, distribute, run the pick and roll.
Jamal Franklin..With knicks pick. Gives us a nice athlete, great rebounder for a wing

FA - Sammy Dalembert, Matt Barnes, Jose Calderon

C. Cousins/Dalembert/Cole
F. Patterson/Thompson/Chuck
F. Barnes/Salmons/Outlaw
G. Tyreke/Dudley/Franklin
G. Burke/Calderon/Jimmer

 

[Siranthony]

All I have to say is Alex Len.

 

[Darth Divac]

All I have to say is Alex Len.

I say why the bloody hell would we ever do that. He's not better than our current PF's and I don't have a clue why we'd replace our center.

 

[ppine]

Kudos to everyone for the level of intense thought necessary to come up with these ideas. How can the Kings afford all of those moves? They seem like one of the cheapest franchises in sports. I agree that a quality player at the 3 that has defense is the top priority. A player better than Thompson at the 4 would be a wonderful addition especially if he had a vertical game and some shot blocking ability. The Kings' guards are kind of a platoon of differing abilities but the talent maybe enough to get to .500 or beyond.

 

[uolj]

How can the Kings afford all of those moves? They seem like one of the cheapest franchises in sports.

See thread title: New Ownership on the Horizon, New Possibilities