Playoffs or high draft picks?

[Mozart]

You know what? I'm with Artest with his belief that the Kings are a playoff-worthy team. Despite having KM out for over a month, I still feel that the Kings are playoff-bound THIS year. At the start of this season, I posted with my belief that this year's Kings were playoff-worthy and I still feel this way with this year's team.


What's the point of all the talk about high draft picks? This year's Kings team is too talented to lose enough games for the highest draft picks, so the team would more likely either get the worst of all worlds, which is to finish just short of the playoffs and miss out on the higher draft picks, or qualify for the playoffs with the attitude of being a dark-horse, underdog team in the playoffs.


I suppose that all this conjecture at this point may be a bit premature, considering that the biggest test of the season with the upcoming multi-city road games will soon happen. If the Kings survive that stretch with slightly more games won than lost, then they will have passed the test with flying colors.


Tough road games are the ultimate test, so we'll see.


The biggest reason why the Kings may make the playoffs? Theus.


And it's really great that this year's team is so fun to watch.


You watch...coach Theus is going to get Coach of the Year.

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[MassachusettsKingsFan]

Personally, Im from MA so I now have the Celtics who are finally good, but i know what its like to wait and it blows. I say go for the playoffs this year, i hate the idea of 'tanking' .. i kno its early im just saying, i think playoffs are possible and i say go for it. Theus has done good enough IMO by not playing K9 or SAR, even though hawes doesnt get as much time as i'd like, theus going with the people who deserver it rather then players who are young (hawes.. guys only 19, and douby.. who can score but i'd be surprised if hebecame a real good player ) or have a rep of being decent players (sar, k9 ) is nice. say what you want against moore but at least he trys and is probly a better fit out there with brad then hawes and moore is the only starting position that is even questionable and i think theus has managed the rotation perfectly.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

The Kings are not one of the eight best teams in the western conference. No chance. No way. No how.

 

[piksi]

we are the only team in the NBA that hasn't won on the road and You are talking playoffs.

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

we are the only team in the NBA that hasn't won on the road and You are talking playoffs.

Exactly. I think this fact is too hard to ignore...we may win 30 games in our own gym, but what good is it if we continually get blown out of other teams' arenas and arent competitive? I dont think winning 5-10 games on the road will get us in the playoffs this year.

 

[D13]

Consider that 5 of the 7 road losses happened at the beginning of our season without Artest and basically no point guard or real rotation...

 

[juicij36]

Yea, shoot 4 the p.offs. What they do when they get there, we can pretty much fig that out. SAC p.off b.ball is what made me a fan earlier this century. Totaly diff team NOW, but nothin' beats the excitement/intensity of the post-season:

 

[Kingzrool]

Playoffs or high draft picks?

Geez. I think the answer is obvious, NEITHER.

Right in the middle = mediocreville.

Kings will not make the playoffs. But they are to good to get a high draft pick. GP is going to have to make it happen in trades.

 

[Heuge]

we are the only team in the NBA that hasn't won on the road and You are talking playoffs.

this reminds me of the famous Jim Mora playoff tyraid. "Playoffs???"

 

[Glenn]

Mozart,

To post a note of blatant homer optimism is like throwing a pile of dung into a room full of flies. You will be buried by the intelligentsia who must rain on your parade. To be a person who has a belief in his/her team is simply not allowed without negative comment.

I am enjoying them this year and think the ship is in the process of being righted. I hope the team and its fans are rewarded with a playoff appearance. Realistic? Maybe not. A fan's attitude? You bet!

 

[Mozart]

Three things

Playoffs or high draft picks?

Geez. I think the answer is obvious, NEITHER.

Right in the middle = mediocreville.

Yes, the weighted probabilities are that they'd get the worst of worlds, like what happened last year with Muss; however, this year's team has one huge difference: Theus.


It is Theus who already has effectively orchestrated the team to several important wins over top-tier teams, albeit at home. NOBODY expected the Kings to beat those teams and, yet, they did. Theus was the primary factor in those wins, imo. Seriously, did ANY of you expect this year's Kings to beat the Spurs, the Rockets, the Jazz recently? I sure didn't, yet, they did and it was Theus who was the decisive factor in those wins.


I think that the jumpermania lesson learned with the loss to the Warriors really has sunk in with the result of the Kings' being able to close out games with wins over top-tier teams and build confidence for the upcoming road trip.


In the last game win over the Jazz, Artest started getting into his "Superman" crap and Theus quickly called a timely timeout and put a stop to this with the result of Artest playing WITH the team, as opposed to dominating. Ever see Muss do that? Nah. I can relate to Artest's Superman crap because that's how I used to play and my coach would pull me out of the game right away and give me shiat, big-time. So I learned my lessons and became a part of the team, eventually.


Critical keys to wins in the hostile-environment road games are three things:

• Assists
• Boards
• Drives to the basket

Assists require dynamic team play and ball movement, as well as player movement without the ball. Being without KM's sharp-shooting, the team must rely more on assists, especially given that they are one of the lowest-assist teams in the NBA now. That must change.


The rebounding has increased as of late and that's a good thing, but the rebounding still needs to increase some more to compensate for being in hostile road games. As usual, more jump shots are missed in road games, as opposed to home games, so the boards are critical to compensate for missed shots and second-chance opportunities.


Drives to the basket--both the single-man and assisted kinds--are huge factors on road games, as the shots are higher-percentage shots, as well as the fouls generated on the opposing teams, not to mention the valuable free-throw shots that can enable the Kings to close out games with wins on the road, and not to mention the foul trouble that the opposing teams can get into as a result of a lot of effective drives to the basket.

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[RunNGun]

I think its fair to believe in your team, especially when injuries can change everything. Baron Davis receives one of his trademark injuries=no way that GS can make the play-offs. New Orleans started hot last year, but were killed by injuries by mid-season. Denver...their depth is a problem. Houston is another team where a single injury could change everything, not to mention the lack of that 3rd scorer. The Lakers, of course, are a huge question mark especially in the off chance Kobe heads East.

My point is, never make your bets that you can predict everyone who makes the playoffs in the first 20 games. You'll lose that one almost every time. If all these teams play to their potential, then the Kings don't have a chance. Should the dice roll in our favor, then you never know.

The only locks I see are San Antonio, Phoenix, Dallas, and Utah. Though you can make good guesses for the 5-8th spot, there are no locks there.

 

[The Hammer]

I've been thinking about this lately. I say screw trying to get high draft picks. Let the guys play. Let the coach coach. There if you do bad, a high draft pick isn't even guaranteed! Plus we seem to make pretty good draft selections even if they're not high picks. Is it really worth it? Also because if there is more of a winning attitude around here rather than a 23 and 59 ish attitude, this market alone isn't big enough to attract top free agents. I think we do much better overall if we just win as much as possible. And I've been on the fence for a while. Suddenly it just hit me. Screw it. Let's just try to win games and let the rest take care of itself. I think it will. If we go the other direction, I think it just brings a black cloud over the organization. Unless of course you trade for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett in the same offseason, but there again, there is the big market and the Celtics history as factors too. So again yeah, let's just win games!

 

[The Hammer]

Playoffs or high draft picks?

Geez. I think the answer is obvious, NEITHER.

Right in the middle = mediocreville.

Kings will not make the playoffs. But they are to good to get a high draft pick. GP is going to have to make it happen in trades.

Or a good draft pick. Or a luck lottery bounce and a good draft pick. C'mon people, seriously. Gerald Wallace came at #26 or whatever, now he'll be an all star. Peja at #17, Kevin at 20 whatever? And, yes, agreed, trades!

 

[Showtime]

In order for the Kings to be in the playoffs, they have to beat out these teams for a spot:

Spurs
Suns
Mavs
Jazz
Rockets
Nuggets
Hornets
Lakers
Warriors

...and I don't know if they can do that this year.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

In order for the Kings to be in the playoffs, they have to beat out these teams for a spot:

Spurs
Suns
Mavs
Jazz
Rockets
Nuggets
Hornets
Lakers
Warriors

...and I don't know if they can do that this year.

i say kings for the 5th seed

 

[Mozart]

Yup

I'd rather make the playoffs. If you don't, you slowly lose your fans and excitement in the city.. And what for? A top 10 draft pick?

Let's not forget that a high draft pick doesn't mean a good pick. You can miss the playoffs, and get a Bogut, or you can make the playoffs, keep the excitement, please the fans, and get a Kevin Martin.

Amen to that.


I think that the Maloofs really want to have a dynamic team NOW that not only plays hard, but wins more often than not and the present Kings are showing that now on their home stand. Let's see if they can keep it up on the road and I do hope that they can, but worry that they wouldn't.


A long season of tanking and sucking is not gonna work for the Maloofs, as evidenced with their willingness to pay Muss millions of $ to not to coach. The sacrifice of the several million that they paid Muss to get the hell out of here paid for itself with the prevention of a further deterioration of the value of the team franchise, which is worth several hundred million bucks, so firing Muss was a cut-the-losses move.


Without a doubt, the Maloofs are very much encouraged with the job that Theus has done so far, especially on the cheap, as Theus is getting, what, a couple of mil per year? Cheap, if ya ask me.

.

 

[HndsmCelt]

This is a clasic example of how failure to plan=planning to fail. This squad is not bad enough to nab a top 3 pick. Unless someting changes radically this team is also not on track to nab that ever so important 7-8 play off spot

So we can expect another high pick but probablly not high enough to get a truely NBA ready tallent. In short we are still Pre-rebuild.

 

[Arkitect]

Well if the Kings don't mind being mediocre for the next ten years, lets go for the playoffs! The fact of the matter is this team has no way to improve except for the draft. Unless we are going for a championship there is absolutely no reason to be aiming for the playoffs at this point. We can enjoy the wins I guess, but only if we are happy with being average. A top 3 draft pick has won finals MVP for every team for the last 20 years at least(I didnt check back any further), with the exception of Tony Parker. You don't find guys to lead your team to a championship in the midrange of the draft. In the recent history of the NBA, it doesn't happen. Now in 5 years when Portland and Seattle are contending, we will be sitting here enjoying our wins at home, continuing to be mediocre, probably having this same conversation. I would much rather have a young team with the chance of competing for a championship behind our stud top 3 pick big. And business people like the Maloofs should recognize that a quick buck right now is nothing compared to the money they make from having a real contending team a few years down the road. Then again, many of the decisions they have made since taking over the team have been shortsighted. I am starting to believe the reason we got good was the cavalier attitude that the Maloofs had when they got here caused the front office to make some good short term decisions. After the first few years it has just been a series of bad financial decisions for short term gain with no regard for the long term consequences. And that has just been frustrating to watch.

 

[SacTownKid]

Keep on upping that trade value boys!

Seriously though, it they are set on rebuilding this isn't the best team to do it with. They could very well get hot and push for a playoff spot. There is too much talent on the team, even with the injuries, to be a guaranteed flop.

 

[AleksandarN]

Draft is a way to rebuild in our case. Our core right now is too old.

 

[uolj]

If the question is playoffs or medium draft pick, then sure, I'd take the playoffs. But this team doesn't need playoff seasoning, they need one or more major talents, so between playoffs and a high draft pick I choose the high draft pick.

Is it possible to rebuild and still compete for the playoffs every year? Of course it's possible. And for some, that's the only way it should be done.

But you have a better chance of succeeding if you stop aiming for the playoffs, play all your young guys, trade away older veterans for picks/cap space/young players, and let the wins come where they may.

Is it possible to get an all-star with a mid to late first rounder? Of course it's possible. But it's a lot more likely to happen with a high pick. Besides, what the Kings really need is a superstar, and while it's still possible it's much less likely to find that in the second half of the draft.

If you're saying, "I understand that continuing to compete for the playoffs makes it less likely that the Kings will become contenders soon, but I'd still prefer to take that risk," then I'm totally fine with that opinion. If you're arguing that it will work just as well then I disagree.

 

[ZZE916]

Mozart,
I'd like you to post this subject again after the trading deadline. With the current team, I vote higher draft pick. If the team looks significantly different after the trading deadline (and I hope it does), I may have a diffferent opinion.

 

[Tarindel]

My answer to "playoffs" or "high draft picks" would be... either would be fine. The worst spot is to be is in-between, eg. just missing the 8th spot because then you get the benefits of neither.

I agree with the sentiment that this team is going to have to be rebuilt through the draft. Our core is too old to have much trade value. I'd rather see this team play hard but flop for a year or two and then come back strong than tread a path of mediocrity for the next ten years. Long-term planning is something this team has really lacked (see: no backup PG for Bibby at the start of the year), and it's biting us in the *** now.

 

[Jerryaki]

Let's not forget that a high draft pick doesn't mean a good pick. You can miss the playoffs, and get a Bogut, or you can make the playoffs, keep the excitement, please the fans, and get a Kevin Martin.

or you can make the playoffs, get crushed by a san antonio (see 05 playoffs), and draft a garcia. you're cheering for maybe 5 extra games of "excitement" versus the potential to nab a cornerstone player?

it's not an either or situation, there's many possibilities. going for a high draft pick is just the better percentage one, IMO.

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

this reminds me of the famous Jim Mora playoff tyraid. "Playoffs???"

had to do it

 

[John Galt]

or you can make the playoffs, get crushed by a san antonio (see 05 playoffs), and draft a garcia. you're cheering for maybe 5 extra games of "excitement" versus the potential to nab a cornerstone player?

it's not an either or situation, there's many possibilities. going for a high draft pick is just the better percentage one, IMO.

crushed???? What series did you watch? 6 games, and a very lucky bounce on a Brent Barry 3 ball or we might have upset them or at least pushed to a seventh game. Two rousing games at Arco.

I'll take a repeat of the '05 playoffs over a tankfest any day of the week and twice Sunday.

Where do you get "crushed"?

 

[VF21]

I guess I'm the rarity. I don't think about the future that much. To me, for my personal enjoyment of the team and sports in general, being a fan means living in the now. I'll leave it to others to try and figure out who the Kings should draft in 2010 and what they'll do in between.

I root for the guys to do the best they possibly can. The chips fall where they may...

And proof that it's all in the hands of powers other than ours is pretty clear when you look at the injury to Kevin Martin. It's all basically a crap shoot, anyway.

 

[Jechtsphere]

I would rather a high pick and for the chance to have a real championship contender down the road than being a first round exit year after year...I can't be that excited if we're going to the playoffs say 5 straight years and getting the hell beat out of us in the first round...I want to see a great team created.

Sure it's possible if your really lucky to get very good players with the 20-25th pick but we also need a superstar and the chances are higher of getting one in the first 5 picks.

I love wins as much as anyone but I always think about the future...I want to see us get back to being a great team...getting to the first round is only fun for so long until the beatings take their toll, I want to go further.

That's just me though.

 

[VF21]

So basically, Jechtsphere, I think you and I may pretty much represent close to the polar opposites of the spectrum. But it is the same spectrum. We both are Kings fans. That's the part I think people forget sometimes. We can both be fans without having to maintain the exact same POV.

That, IMHO, is what being part of a message board community is about. Learning to see things from other viewpoints while understanding that we both want the same thing - we just may not agree on how to get there.