Peja --- Will he ever become a defender?

[bozzwell]

Defender? As in Defender of the Realm? He'll have to be Knighted first.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I don't really care about his defense, his role has always been that of the shooting specialist. This year he isn't doing that. He isn't even getting touches late in games - either because he has been written out by design or he can no longer do the work to get an open look. I've always liked Peja, I even think he has shown the ability to play decent defense at times, but this season he is not doing the job he is out there to do. I don't want to run him out of town but he is an extremely weak link right now who still has some value based on his past accomplishments and we may as well get something while we can before he walks away.

Unlike Brad, I don't think Peja would respond to any major shakeup including a coaching change for more than a few games. If being in a contract year isn't enough motivation for him to step up then something is very seriously wrong. For this reason the Magloire deals that people have been floating around are starting to appeal to me even though I don't really know Magloire's game all that well. Is that the best we can do? I have league pass so maybe I'll watch more non-Kings games. This would give us a chance to see what Brad can do at the 4 spot and if it doesn't work we could package him with someone from the Webber deal to find someone that compliments Shareef at the 3 or 4. Maybe it even allows one of the Webber 3 to work his way back into a useful spot as 6th man.