Ramon Session at PG?

[Peter_Gibbons]

Now that we have our front court set, we need a SF and a starting PG. I like IT but in the long run, he is just too small as a starter to defend many of the big and super athletic PGs in the league.

Also, IT will come back down to earth some next season now that teams have some experience and tape on him. I like IT as an instant energy guard off the bench with Thornton.

If Sessions can be had for $6 million a year, he would be a good starter for us. Instead of giving up assets to bring in Lowry, we can just go out and sign Sessions and use assets to trade for a SF if there is one available that we want.

Sessions has good PG instincts, is very quick, can take the ball to the rack, decent defender and fits Smart's style of making this into a running team.

Thoughts?

 

[swisshh]

I think Sessions opted out to get a bigger or longer term deal from LA. I don't think he'll be moving.

 

[Peter_Gibbons]

From the chatter in LA, Kupchak hinted that they may not be able to resign Sessions and he really hoped that he had opted in.

Remember, the lakers are under are lot more constraints financially under the new CBA. Teams like the Heat, lakers will have to play more by the "rules" now.

Now that the draft is over, we'll find out a lot more very soon. Free agency starts this weekend.

 

[DesertFox]

This team will not be signing any FA, and if they do, it better not be a guard.

 

[rainmaker]

No. Better defender please. Also showed he was out of his depth in the playoffs while getting blown by repeatedly.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

Let's not get our hopes up. Given that the Maloofs are selling non-guaranteed draft picks for peanuts ... how can we possibly expect that they'll spend $$ for a worthwhile FA? At this point, I think their big offseason plan is to re-sign JT, sign our new draft pick and call it a day. If their still short of the minimum cap, they'll extend Tyreke too.

I'm not expecting anything more.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

Nope.

 

[swisshh]

From the chatter in LA, Kupchak hinted that they may not be able to resign Sessions and he really hoped that he had opted in.

Remember, the lakers are under are lot more constraints financially under the new CBA. Teams like the Heat, lakers will have to play more by the "rules" now.

Now that the draft is over, we'll find out a lot more very soon. Free agency starts this weekend.

That's not good for him.

As for Sessions, I like him. I'm pretty sure he was a FA target awhile ago here on the forum. I think he would function well here as a setup guy and sense of consistency. If he ends up here, I think it will be LA fallout. As in, there's no money for him in LA or elsewhere.

If the Maloofs spend--and that's an IF with the weight of Dom Deluise's glorious casket, I think it will be on a SF or shotblocker.

 

[Tetsujin]

The love for Ramon Sessions on these forums is only matched and exceeded by the irrational love for and devotion to Aaron Afflalo

 

[Peter_Gibbons]

No. Better defender please. Also showed he was out of his depth in the playoffs while getting blown by repeatedly.

If you are referring to the OKC series against Westbrook, is there someone that can really stay in front of him one on one now that he has a jump shot? For the short stretches that kobe (the supposed defensive stopper) was on Westbrook this year, kobe got eaten alive just the same. You can no longer drop back to play for the drive against Westbrook. The reason people kept complaining about sessions' defense in the playoffs is because they though Fisher couldn't stay in front of the super quick guards because he was too slow and sucked at defense. The stupid media kept pushing Sessions as the solution to defending fast PGs just because Sessions is quick on offense.

In today's NBA where palming/carrying is allowed, no one can stay in front of the super quick Westbrooks and Roses of the league. Thats the way Stern wants it.

 

[Uncia03]

Sessions is Ok, but I do not want to even think about signing another guard until we get a starting quality SF on the roster.

 

[Dime Dropper]

Felton is a much better fit if we look for a PG. Doesn't demand shots and is a good defender. Of course it would depend on price, and I doubt the Maloofs will spend anyway even if he came affordable. Not a great shooter but I'm not worried about that.

Re-sign JT, sign Felton and Kirlilenko = almost perfect off-season. Or Batum instead of Kirilenko (I'd prefer AK as he provides shotblocking but Batum is still an excellent fit).

Of course, signing impact FAs is nothing more than a pipe dream. Expect a mid-level type deal to be thrown to someone that won't contribute and that we don't need.

Actually I wouldn't be surprised to see us go for Lin given the media attention it would bring. Would be typical of the Maloofs.

 

[Kingster]

Now that we have our front court set, we need a SF and a starting PG. I like IT but in the long run, he is just too small as a starter to defend many of the big and super athletic PGs in the league.

Also, IT will come back down to earth some next season now that teams have some experience and tape on him. I like IT as an instant energy guard off the bench with Thornton.

If Sessions can be had for $6 million a year, he would be a good starter for us. Instead of giving up assets to bring in Lowry, we can just go out and sign Sessions and use assets to trade for a SF if there is one available that we want.

Sessions has good PG instincts, is very quick, can take the ball to the rack, decent defender and fits Smart's style of making this into a running team.

Thoughts?

If you think that, what did you think of Bibby in the backcourt? He couldn't hold a candle to IT's defense. Not even in the same time zone in terms of quickness and ability to stay in front of his man. Same thing holds for Beno. Not even close to IT's ability on D.

 

[Dime Dropper]

If you think that, what did you think of Bibby in the backcourt? He couldn't hold a candle to IT's defense. Not even in the same time zone in terms of quickness and ability to stay in front of his man. Same thing holds for Beno. Not even close to IT's ability on D.

Bibby at the time was a far superior player to IT. He also played on a team that was far, far superior to this one defensively. Besides, the league has changed now in terms of PGs - they are much more athletic now. I think you'd struggle to find star PGs at that time in the class of Rose/Westbrook when it comes to athleticism. And it's not even a good example as Bibby was a terrible defender and I don't think anyone was happy with it. Doesn't mean we should settle for it now, especially in a completely different situation.

BTW, I love IT. He's a perfect PG off the bench. Starter on a contending team, he is not.

 

[jdbraver]

If you think that, what did you think of Bibby in the backcourt? He couldn't hold a candle to IT's defense. Not even in the same time zone in terms of quickness and ability to stay in front of his man. Same thing holds for Beno. Not even close to IT's ability on D.

I agree despite all the tall about how he can play defense bc of his size, he is probably one of the better defendrs on the team.

 

[mac]

Lol, everyone gets on Tyreke for not being able to shoot. Pairing Evans with Twill isn't a good idea cos both can't shoot etc. But you want to get Ramon Sessions, the guy who didn't dare take an open 3 pointer against OKC?

 

[Kingster]

Bibby at the time was a far superior player to IT. He also played on a team that was far, far superior to this one defensively. Besides, the league has changed now in terms of PGs - they are much more athletic now. I think you'd struggle to find star PGs at that time in the class of Rose/Westbrook when it comes to athleticism. And it's not even a good example as Bibby was a terrible defender and I don't think anyone was happy with it. Doesn't mean we should settle for it now, especially in a completely different situation.

BTW, I love IT. He's a perfect PG off the bench. Starter on a contending team, he is not.

If you think Bibby was a superior player on D to IT then we agree to disagree. No point in discussing it further. And if the league is more athletic and it's a "different time", all the more reason to have IT; he can actually stay in front of people.

 

[Dime Dropper]

If you think Bibby was a superior player on D to IT then we agree to disagree. No point in discussing it further. And if the league is more athletic and it's a "different time", all the more reason to have IT; he can actually stay in front of people.

Not on D, I meant a superior player overall, so he had more benefit to the team.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

Drawing conclusions after 1 season is bad form. I really don't understand why so many constantly do it. I mean, if one season, a rookie season at that, defines a players abilities for the rest of their career, why all the love for Kyle Lowry? Funny how those pandering for Lowry, who took several years to develop, have already closed the book on IT after a strike-shortened season with no training camp.

Is IT an all-world defender right now? No. But he did show some promise and a lot of effort on that end of the floor. It's easy to point to his size and claim he'll never be a good defender. That's a lazy assessment. I'd rather wait and see how he looks his 2nd season after a full Summer to work on his weaknesses. Even then, I'm still inclined to wait until after year 3 before coming to any conclusions.

 

[Bricklayer]

Drawing conclusions after 1 season is bad form. I really don't understand why so many constantly do it. I mean, if one season, a rookie season at that, defines a players abilities for the rest of their career, why all the love for Kyle Lowry? Funny how those pandering for Lowry, who took several years to develop, have already closed the book on IT after a strike-shortened season with no training camp.

Is IT an all-world defender right now? No. But he did show some promise and a lot of effort on that end of the floor. It's easy to point to his size and claim he'll never be a good defender. That's a lazy assessment. I'd rather wait and see how he looks his 2nd season after a full Summer to work on his weaknesses. Even then, I'm still inclined to wait until after year 3 before coming to any conclusions.

His size will ALWAYS limit what is possible, ALWAYS. Waiting for IT to rewrite the rules of physics is just folly. That does not change that he fights hard for a guy his size, but there is just simply a cap.

P.S. People who think Lowry's rep is recently earned just weren't very attuned to the NBA in years past. He was highly thought of from his rookie season. Very physical and aggressive and with lots of defensive potential from the beginning. Injuries and lack of a shot early in his career limited him, once he got past tha the began to blossom.

 

[Glenn]

If you think that, what did you think of Bibby in the backcourt? He couldn't hold a candle to IT's defense. Not even in the same time zone in terms of quickness and ability to stay in front of his man. Same thing holds for Beno. Not even close to IT's ability on D.

Let's see what happens now that the league knows who IT is. Comparisons to Bibby are premature, imo. Comparisons to anybody are premature.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

P.S. People who think Lowry's rep is recently earned just weren't very attuned to the NBA in years past. He was highly thought of from his rookie season. Very physical and aggressive and with lots of defensive potential from the beginning. Injuries and lack of a shot early in his career limited him, once he got past tha the began to blossom.

There you go with the condescending "people are confused or aren't very attuned" shtick, yet again, when someone doesn't see things your way. How convenient.

I'm not going to get into a pissing match over who has seen or knows more, but will say that I've been "attuned" to the NBA game for many, many years so you can cross that reason off your list. I'm fairly confident that I've seen IT and Lowry play as often as you have, however, I just don't have the same opinion or outlook about them that you do. Trying to come up with a condescending reason why is an insult to everyone with an opinion one way or the other.

That said, I'm completely open to having my opinion changed. Let's see how both players perform this upcoming season.

As for the topic at hand, I'd pass on Sessions. The Kings would likely have to drastically overpay to get him and that would be a deal breaker for me. However, since it looks as if the Maloofs aren't going to spend anymore money than they have to, it's probably a moot point.

 

[Kingster]

Let's see what happens now that the league knows who IT is. Comparisons to Bibby are premature, imo. Comparisons to anybody are premature.

I'll accept your point when it comes to comparing the players *overall* games. Time will tell on that. There will be assist numbers, point totals, and percentages to compare. But not on defense. Bibby had a certain quickness level when he came into the league: He couldn't stay in front of his man. That's not going to change. Nor will IT's quickness (At least for another 10 years or so). That's just the way it is.

 

[rainmaker]

Kupchak came out and said resigning Sessions is a priority.