No King Exempt from a Trade

Warhawk

Give blood and save a life!
Staff member
#1
Article by Joe Davidson in the Sac Bee

"No one is sacred," says Joe Maloof, who admits defense is a top priority.

Trying to find the link to the online story.....
 
Last edited:

Warhawk

Give blood and save a life!
Staff member
#2
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/12911212p-13759563c.html


No King exempt from a trade

'No one is sacred,' says Joe Maloof, who admits defense is a top priority.

By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Wednesday, May 18, 2005

So, you're the Kings co-owner, Joe Maloof, and you're approached nonstop by friends, family and fans with suggestions on how exactly to revamp the franchise.

About how often?

"About 100 times a day," Maloof said Tuesday, then laughed. "But it's good that people are interested. Otherwise you'd have complete apathy."


Two subjects are off-limits to just about anyone, including interviewers. Maloof offered a "I can't comment" on any chance Phil Jackson would be the next Kings coach. He also said he couldn't talk about his concerns of an NBA lockout with the existing collective bargaining agreement set to expire June 30: "I'd get slapped with a million dollar fine by the league if I did."

Maloof did say no player is untradeable.

"In this business, no one is sacred," he said. "We proved that with the (Chris) Webber deal. I once said that I'd never trade Jason Williams, and boy, I caught hell for that, but we got Mike Bibby, so ... "

Maloof also said he and his brother, Gavin, club executives and coaches will meet in Las Vegas in the coming weeks to discuss the season and map out a plan for the rest of the summer, assuming there is no lockout.

He reiterated that decisions on players and coaches will, as always, be bounced off Geoff Petrie, the team's president of basketball operations.

"We depend on Geoff for everything; he's been so good for us," Maloof said.

Maloof also praised Rick Adelman, the only coach the Kings have had under the Maloof regime, without saying if he will be the long-term coach. The Maloofs picked up Adelman's club option for next season in February, and he produced another 50-game winner despite a roster turned upside down with the trades of Doug Christie and Webber (for a total of four new players) and a rash of injuries to key personnel.

Still, the Maloofs contacted Jackson's representatives to gauge his interest in the Kings' post. Jackson has not mentioned the Kings publicly as potential suitors or even said if he would coach next season.

Maloof said the Kings have a roster capable of making more playoff runs but stressed that defense is a major concern, pointing to the team's first-round loss to the Seattle SuperSonics.

"We have to stop the ball," he said. "We can't give up 122 points in a playoff game at home. The defense definitely has to get better. Not playing hard defense gets annoying. ... We can't hide from our weaknesses. We have to face it and get better."

The Kings gave up 122 points to the Sonics in Game 5 and an average of 106.6 in the series.

Solving that is a key topic of the Las Vegas meeting, but Maloof said the team has an excellent core with Bibby, Brad Miller and Peja Stojakovic.

Maloof said he'd have difficulty trading Stojakovic because, "Where else would you find the best shooter in the world? "We never got into a rhythm this season with all the injuries and trades," Maloof said. "If we do have (most of these players) back, and we go through a training camp and preseason together, with our tremendous depth we can be very good again."
 
Last edited by a moderator:
#5
The first step is to move the team to Las Vegas. There, I said it. No one else can.

So basically what Joe Maloof told us is that no player is untradeable. He woul,d however,like to keep Peja Stojakovic. I just want to see how they want to turn Mike Bibby into a defender, but I'm glad he pointed out the Kings biggest flaw.
 

Warhawk

Give blood and save a life!
Staff member
#6
Bricklayer said:
Getting slow in my old age. ;)

Did just add the actual link to your post, hope you do not mind.
Not at all. Since a lot of the sacbee stuff is now subscription only, I didn't bother.
 

Warhawk

Give blood and save a life!
Staff member
#7
xrzn said:
The first step is to move the team to Las Vegas. There, I said it. No one else can.

So basically what Joe Maloof told us is that no player is untradeable. He woul,d however,like to keep Peja Stojakovic. I just want to see how they want to turn Mike Bibby into a defender, but I'm glad he pointed out the Kings biggest flaw.
If Bibby would defend I would have no problem listing he and Brad as the most "untouchable" players on the team, along with Peja.

I think they are really trying to send a message to the team....
 
#8
Warhawk said:
If Bibby would defend I would have no problem listing he and Brad as the most "untouchable" players on the team, along with Peja.

I think they are really trying to send a message to the team....
Let's hope they get that message...
 
#9
Two points:

1-Defense, Defense, Defense. We've been talking about that for 7 years and the season day we played defense worthy of winning games on it was the year that we practically stumbled upon it. Yes, in the past, the Kings defense always seemed to pick up in the post season--BUT the key words there is "in the past," this is defintely not the same team

2-The Best Shooter in the world title means nothing if you can't shoot it when your team needs it. Peja is our best-if only-bargaining piece to get back to elite status. There are no mixing emotions with basketball operations, if nothing, we've at least learned that in the past 36 months.
 
Last edited:
#13
Quote:
He reiterated that decisions on players and coaches will, as always, be bounced off Geoff Petrie, the team's president of basketball operations.


Did this one make anyone else wonder just a bit?
Yes. It is possibe that it is in the context that ideas are bounced off Petrie, but then again? And I don't like the other scenerio.
 
#14
In my opinion Peja is not the best shooter in the league. The best shooter in the league belongs to Seattle. All of you know who I'm talking about.
 
#15
If you recall, Mike Bibby did play defense quite well on the Olympic team. And when asked about it he responded with something to the affect that "because Larry Brown demands it". Maybe it's just a matter of a team focus and attitude established from the beginning of camp. Just a thought.
 
#16
ReinadelosReys said:
Two points:

1-Defense, Defense, Defense. We've been talking about that for 7 years and the season day we played defense worthy of winning games on it was the year that we practically stumbled upon it. Yes, in the past, the Kings defense always seemed to pick up in the post season--BUT the key words there is "in the past," this is defintely not the same team

2-The Best Shooter in the world title means nothing if you can't shoot it when your team needs it. Peja is our best-if only-bargaining piece to get back to elite status. There are no mixing emotions with basketball operations, if nothing, we've at least learned that in the past 36 months.
Wellll ..... the best shooter in the world also is the best defender on the team, which then contradicts your #1.
The best trade bait in my opinion would be Cuttino Mobley + Corliss (or Kenny) for whoever bites for that.
 
#17
sloter said:
Wellll ..... the best shooter in the world also is the best defender on the team, which then contradicts your #1.
The best trade bait in my opinion would be Cuttino Mobley + Corliss (or Kenny) for whoever bites for that.
brad has good value. don't get me wrong i love brad but let's face it he is a 7' spot shooter with no athletic abillity. he gets worked by guys like kwame, kamen, pryzbilla. nobody has talked about trading him.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#18
sloter said:
Wellll ..... the best shooter in the world also is the best defender on the team, which then contradicts your #1.
The best trade bait in my opinion would be Cuttino Mobley + Corliss (or Kenny) for whoever bites for that.
He is an entirely disposable defender. Good enough to play for a good defensive team. Bad enough to play for a bad defensive team and have no impact. It weighs neither way, except to say that he wouldn't be the first guy you would move to fix our defensive woes (unless the broader hustle/reboudning issues are included, in which case he would be right up there).

Bottomline, we aren't tough enough, and Peja is the crown prince of not tough enough. Everyone is on the table.
 
#19
Captain Obvious Alert!!!!!

In order to be a "good" defensive team you need...............stand by...........................GOOD DEFENDERS!

Of which, the Kings have ZERO! I'm not sure Booby is still the defensive force he once was coming off the bench. Peja is adequate but other than that the team would need a MAJOR overhaul to become a GOOD defensive team.
 
#22
Defense is a matter of emphasis and hustle. Certainly the more talented will be able to block above the rim while the less talented will merely be able to stay with their man and play him within the context of the scheme devised by the coaching staff. But the same effort that makes a player an offensive threat can be channeled into making them a good defensive player as well. It is simply a matter of demanding they do so. But only certain coaches with the gravitas earned by years in the league or past success can "demand" since this is, after all, a player's league and most owners will side with players since coaches are much more readily available. I heard a quote from Larry Brown this AM saying (sic) "defensive players tend to be more team oriented", insinuating that they play better help defense and more together offensively.
 
#23
CaminoChaos said:
brad has good value. don't get me wrong i love brad but let's face it he is a 7' spot shooter with no athletic abillity. he gets worked by guys like kwame, kamen, pryzbilla. nobody has talked about trading him.
I still say that if Geoff can place a truly athletic, defensive-minded big guy next to Brad on the front line, that Brad will blossom more on the defensive end of the floor, despite his physical limitations. So, for now, I say keep Brad.

If Petrie can't find that right complimentary player, though, then include Brad in the trading mix with the rest of the roster.

Whatever it takes to get better....
 
#25
FullAB said:
If you recall, Mike Bibby did play defense quite well on the Olympic team. And when asked about it he responded with something to the affect that "because Larry Brown demands it". Maybe it's just a matter of a team focus and attitude established from the beginning of camp. Just a thought.
This keeps getting brought up here and other places over and over again.

Please keep in mind that Bibby was going up against lesser players, most of whom could not play in the NBA. It was only a "regional" tournament, not a showcase of the best teams in the world. And Bibby had enough athletic freaks playing behind him to cover for a bucketful of sins.

Sorry, but that regional qualifying tourney did not convince me that Mike is really a decent defensive player that doesn't perform in the NBA because he is not pushed to defend.
 
Last edited:
#26
Bricklayer said:
He is an entirely disposable defender. Good enough to play for a good defensive team. Bad enough to play for a bad defensive team and have no impact. It weighs neither way, except to say that he wouldn't be the first guy you would move to fix our defensive woes (unless the broader hustle/reboudning issues are included, in which case he would be right up there).

Bottomline, we aren't tough enough, and Peja is the crown prince of not tough enough. Everyone is on the table.
He is a good enough defender, and a good enough offensive player to pretty much outplay anyone he's matched up against. That's not where I would look for an improvement...
 
#27
They are ALL on the block...

Every player on the Kings roster is expendable. In fact, I'd go as far as saying that Peja, Brad and Bibby should be the trade bait.

They are good enough to build a team around, but let's face it, there are plenty of other players out there that are better than these guys. And don't think for a minute that the Brothers Maloof and GP wouldn't pull the trigger on a deal including any of these guys of it meant bringing in some "Super Star" talent.

I hope it happens.

I am sick of watching this team come up short in the post season.

Bring it on...
 
#28
Let's make one thing clear Miller , Bibby, and Peja can not play defense . They are all smart ,and talented on the offensive end ,but to be a good defender you must have some athletic ability (speed , quickness , hops) .None of which any of them possess.

To have a competitive team your starting five must have two good offensive players and two good defensive players and one who can do both regardless of positions.


Spurs parker-o manu-o bowen-d horry-d duncan both
Suns nash-o richardson-o marian-d johnson-d stoudamire-both
Pistons billups-o hamilton-o prince-d b.wallace-d r.wallace-both

You can do this with most teams still in the hunt

hopefully we have enough talent on the kings to make the trades to make that happen
 
#29
1kingzfan said:
I still say that if Geoff can place a truly athletic, defensive-minded big guy next to Brad on the front line, that Brad will blossom more on the defensive end of the floor, despite his physical limitations. So, for now, I say keep Brad.
Brad + Otag was a potent combination. I'm still trying to figure out why we didn't see more tag against Seattle. Sure, it would cut down our scoring, but the opponents score would go down too if we had been grabbing more rebounds.
 
#30
B.R.A.G. Dad said:
To have a competitive team your starting five must have two good offensive players and two good defensive players and one who can do both regardless of positions.
I can see what you mean from an ideal perspective,and the examples you mention lend credibility to that line of thought.

But emotionally i would be really sorry to see Bibby,Miller and Peja depart.

I was rather hoping we could be title contenders with a team which had a bias for offence, yet was (obviously) going to need to be much tougher on defence.

If the three players i mentioned are my perceived core then that still leaves room to hopefully acquire quality toughness in the other two starting slots.

Or are we saying that the rest of the current roster, excluding these three wont be attractive enough trade pieces to acquire the defensive talnt we are lookng for ?

Geting back to the atricle i see the Maloofs were complimentary about RA given all the personnel / injury issues he has had to deal with. If they recognise that massive roster changes are unhelpful in making it easy to win games inthe near term, perhaps they / Petrie will not be as extreme in making the changes which some hope for.
 
Last edited: