Rondo to the Bulls

[Iced Espresso]

This continues our pattern. We let Reke walk for nothing and replace him with Ben. We let IT walk for nothing, although the Collison replacement was better.

In any case, for a team that can't attract FAs and has drafted like poopoo, we have been alarmingly cavalier about letting the little talent we do get walk out the door. Of course a contributing factor to why we have been so miserable for so long.

I am rather taking it on faith than anything else that this time we have a coach with a plan to make this particular sacrifice work.

I think Vlade should have told the coach, not much out there this off season, Rondo's contract will only be a partial next season, so if it doesn't work that well, we will build it together next year.

This wasn't a 3 or 4 year deal.

What did we get back in return really?

Dang shame.

 

[biltalent]

Well, Vlade made sure to adress that.

James Ham ‏@James_Ham
For what it's worth, DeMarcus Cousins has been asking for Barnes for a few years. Loves him.

 

[Sac.Kings]

I wasn't sure until today, but I guarantee you it's going to happen at some point. No sense worrying about it any longer. Have we ever drafted a player that stayed in Sacramento for their whole career anyway? Oakland traded Yoenis Cespedes and Josh Donaldson -- they suck now but I still watch them. The Niners gutted a Super Bowl team -- they suck now but I still watch them. All this armchair GM stuff passes the time, but ultimately it matters little if I can put together a championship level team on paper or not. Sooner or later you just have to realize that sports teams rise and fall at the whims of their owners. I'm not even sure if we saved this team anymore. Vivek put up the money and got the arena built so technically he saved the team. We're allowed to believe we played a role in it so long as they can continue to sell us jerseys and season tickets. The rest of the league tolerates a team in Sacramento only because we spend money. Maybe I don't need to be a fan of a particular team to enjoy watching basketball anymore. I'm an adult now -- I can see what's actually going on. The NBA exists to make money just like Star Wars exists to make money. The only reality in any of it is the individual players working hard to make a living playing professional sports for as long as they can until their body or talent tops out and they've got to find something else to do. I don't need an arbitrary jersey to appreciate excellence, hard work, determination, failure, perseverance. Once a King, always a King. That applies to players. I wonder if it could apply to fans too?

It applies to me. If I made it to this point (we have all been through some rough crap in the last 10 years), I can certainly continue to strive forward. All is not lost, maybe we need to hit the reset button one last time.... which leads me to:

There's a certain east coast team that has a skinny 7' Russian kid that oozes potential and skill.... That is literally one of the few trades I would ever agree with for our star player. With all of the rookies we drafted, it's not a far fetched idea and with D-Rose, Melo, Lee, Noah... maybe Phil Jackson can be talked into going full "vet" mode. We would have to take back a ton of salary as he is on a rookie contract, but you get the idea. Now excuse me while I go hide behind a brick wall for suggesting a Cuz trade

 

[ParniValjak]

If we do indeed follow this up with a Rudy trade, and quite possibly Ben and Kosta trades as well, its really a new start here under a new theory of how to build a team. We've got no choice but to trust Vlade/Joerger trying to build a scrappy young roleplaying team, because we're nto going to be able to measure it in traditional proven talent ways.

If you look a the contracts and whatnot we're handing out, I highly suspecct that what Joerger would like to do is build a scrappy defensive hard working culture around Cuz pummeling in the middle, and then have a whole crapload of capspace next year to either a) pitch to big name free agents to come join an already established strong support group of roleplayers with a major star; or 2) if it fails, to be able to bail out and go full rebuild.

No doubt this is the hope. The only thing is that it is going to be almighty tough making the play offs in the west with just Cuz as the star player. With Rudy, I can kind of see it but if you trade Rudy for scrappers and youth, when the Cuz misses his mandatory few games next season we are left with a bottom 5 team in the league.

There is no doubt we are trying to create enough cap space to get some good free agents next year. Possibly 2 max contracts before extending Cousins or as you say go a full blown rebuild.

 

[kingsboi]

I'm perfectly fine with letting him go. He can take his efforts to the Windy City. Let's see if he is motivated to play for the Bulls or if we get to see a little more of the same dosage of non interested Rajon. Either way, I don't see how he fits with Jimmy but hey, good luck on all that.

 

[Mojo]

Thank you Rondo #pro

 

[kingsboi]

No doubt this is the hope. The only thing is that it is going to be almighty tough making the play offs in the west with just Cuz as the star player. With Rudy, I can kind of see it but if you trade Rudy for scrappers and youth, when the Cuz misses his mandatory few games next season we are left with a bottom 5 team in the league.

There is no doubt we are trying to create enough cap space to get some good free agents next year. Possibly 2 max contracts before extending Cousins or as you say go a full blown rebuild.

Exactly this. You don't put all of that burden on Cousins and say...go make the playoffs in the West! It's not a realistic approach and the Kings will fall short once again, wasting another season of Boogie Prime and inching that much closer to the inevitable.

 

[Iced Espresso]

Exactly this. You don't put all of that burden on Cousins and say...go make the playoffs in the West! It's not a realistic approach and the Kings will fall short once again, wasting another season of Boogie Prime and inching that much closer to the inevitable.

I'm not sure about that. But I think someone of Rondo's caliber is worth another season to take a look at, especially if the second year is not a guarantee.

 

[sactownfan]

We needed a huge off-season to restore some hope and instead we had, well, basically an average Sacramento Kings off-season. Our 2 key free agents went elsewhere and we overpaid some mid-tier veterans to fill out the roster. This is what drove me crazy about Geoff Petrie -- every year he would dole out his helping of cap space on filler instead of targeting key players. The quality of your top 3 or 4 guys more often than not is what determines your winning potential. Nobody we've signed comes close to mattering in that context.

couple of key points against this...

• The Kings as pointed out by Aaron Bruski avoided all the major landmines of overpaying and over committing for questionable talent (Anderson, Rondo, basically the majority of FA's)
• All these contracts are EXTREMELY reasonable. These are very trade friendly and can easily be moved.
• 2 of the 4 contracts allow the Kings to opt out. Barnes has a player opt out after year 1, Temple has a 2nd year opt out.
• We will definitely be making a trade or two so EVERYONE NEEDS TO CHILL... its not over yet.

 

[Larry89]

Well we will get to see that Rondo-less offense, and I have a feeling it isnt pretty..

 

[King Baller]

Best of luck Rondo! I loved watching you play with the ball in your hands.

 

[Tetsujin]

Man, usually it's Kings fans loving the offseason with the national media hating every move but this season the national media seems to be really into what the Kings have been doing whilst the Kings fans run around screaming like Hades

 

[sactownfan]

Man, usually it's Kings fans loving the offseason with the national media hating every move but this season the national media seems to be really into what the Kings have been doing whilst the Kings fans run around screaming like Hades

I know... people are cracking me up... I love everything the Kings have done... Just replacing Dave Joerger with Karl last year probably would have gotten us the 8th seed... Having a decent PG instead of "pad your stats, no defense, no shooting RONDO" would have probably added another 8-10 Wins.

THERE WILL BE A TRADE OR TWO GUYS.... this FO has not done anything stupid so far

 

[sactownfan]

Plus NOTHINGS GETTING LEAKED

until its basically agreed to

 

[ockingsfan]

couple of key points against this...

• The Kings as pointed out by Aaron Bruski pointed out avoided all the major landmines of overpaying and over committing for questionable talent (Anderson, Rondo, basically the majority of FA's)
• All these contracts are EXTREMELY reasonable. These are very trade friendly and can easily be moved.
• 2 of the 4 contracts allow the Kings to opt out. Barnes has a player opt out after year 1, Temple has a 2nd year opt out.
• We will definitely be making a trade or two so EVERYONE NEEDS TO CHILL... its not over yet.

So what you are saying is that these are all "movable" parts.

Where have I heard that before?

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Have we ever drafted a player that stayed in Sacramento for their whole career anyway?

Only Lionel Simmons.

 

[Merdiesel]

Rondo was definitely fun to watch at times but 15 assists in a game don't mean **** when you play the kind of defense he played last year.

Good luck in Chicago, Rajon. I'll always appreciate you giving Sacramento a shot last, even if we were the only option.

 

[ParniValjak]

I am just not convinced that this will work for the Bulls. If they keep Butler, I cannot see Rondo and Butler meshing well. Both ball dominant guards. There will be drama in Chicago again next season.

 

[VF21]

the free agency period just began two days ago and nothing is official including trades until the 7th.

Not understanding why everyone is so bummed lol the season doesn't start next week

Actually I think there are just a couple of people who are bummed. The majority seems to be at least cautiously optimistic.

 

[VF21]

Man, usually it's Kings fans loving the offseason with the national media hating every move but this season the national media seems to be really into what the Kings have been doing whilst the Kings fans run around screaming like Hades

Not all Kings fans.

I think some people have to find a reason to complain. I, on the other hand, am pretty impressed with what Vlade has done so far. Time will tell, but I tend to look at it the same way Aaron Bruski does - Vlade has avoided a lot of pitfalls and didn't throw buckets of money at players who are going to be impossible to get rid of by the ends of their bloated contracts.

 

[VF21]

Only Lionel Simmons.

Well, and Ricky Berry.

 

[ElRey]

Looks like they're pretty pissed off over there at Blog a Bull... a lot of colorful language over there LOL

 

[The_Jamal]

If we do indeed follow this up with a Rudy trade, and quite possibly Ben and Kosta trades as well, its really a new start here under a new theory of how to build a team. We've got no choice but to trust Vlade/Joerger trying to build a scrappy young roleplaying team, because we're nto going to be able to measure it in traditional proven talent ways.

If you look a the contracts and whatnot we're handing out, I highly suspecct that what Joerger would like to do is build a scrappy defensive hard working culture around Cuz pummeling in the middle, and then have a whole crapload of capspace next year to either a) pitch to big name free agents to come join an already established strong support group of roleplayers with a major star; or 2) if it fails, to be able to bail out and go full rebuild.

This is what it should have been in the first place. shooting, defense, players who move the ball as opposed to 3 guys sucking up all the usage while the other 2 fight for the table scraps.

 

[The_Jamal]

This continues our pattern. We let Reke walk for nothing and replace him with Ben. We let IT walk for nothing, although the Collison replacement was better.

In any case, for a team that can't attract FAs and has drafted like poopoo, we have been alarmingly cavalier about letting the little talent we do get walk out the door. Of course a contributing factor to why we have been so miserable for so long.

I am rather taking it on faith than anything else that this time we have a coach with a plan to make this particular sacrifice work.

Rondo isn't a talent. Dude just doesn't make teams better. He puts up flashy numbers, but that's because he has so much control of the ball. And his defense took an even further step back last season.

Reke and IT decisions are different as we didn't have better replacements already on the roster.

 

[sactownfan]

So what you are saying is that these are all "movable" parts.

Where have I heard that before?

they don't even need to be movable because 3 of the 4 are basically 1 yr deals... TOTALLY NOT THE SAME

 

[Bricklayer]

Rondo isn't a talent. Dude just doesn't make teams better. He puts up flashy numbers, but that's because he has so much control of the ball. And his defense took an even further step back last season.

Reke and IT decisions are different as we didn't have better replacements already on the roster.

Rondo is a BRILLIANT "talent".

Results and effort may vary however.

And no, sorry, he puts up big numbers by doing EXACTLY what every other huge assisting guy in NBA history has done. That is, indeed, the trick. Dominate the ball, and rack up huge assist numbers. But unlike scrubs like Nash who effectively got all the assists on their teams while the overall team lagged near the back of the pack in assists, our teamwide assists shot from near the back of the pack for years to Top 5 with Rondo pushing the issue.

Kings Assists past 5 years:
15-16 24.5 (t-3rd)
14-15 20.3 (26th)
13-14 18.9 (30th)
12-13 20.8 (25th)
11-12 19.3 (26th)


So nto only racking up huge numbers himself. Fascilitating one of the top assisting offenses in the NBA in absolute start contrast to the crap that had come before, with many of the same non-passer/ballhandlers around him.

I rather doubt our new "ball movement" offense will approach those teamwide numbers.

 

[kingsboi]

Rondo is a BRILLIANT "talent".

Results and effort may vary however.

And no, sorry, he puts up big numbers by doing EXACTLY what every other huge assisting guy in NBA history has done. That is, indeed, the trick. Dominate the ball, and rack up huge assist numbers. But unlike scrubs like Nash who effectively got all the assists on their teams while the overall team lagged near the back of the pack in assists, our teamwide assists shot from near the back of the pack for years to Top 5 with Rondo pushing the issue.

Kings Assists past 5 years:
15-16 24.5 (t-3rd)
14-15 20.3 (26th)
13-14 18.9 (30th)
12-13 20.8 (25th)
11-12 19.3 (26th)


So nto only racking up huge numbers himself. Fascilitating one of the top assisting offenses in the NBA in absolute start contrast to the crap that had come before, with many of the same non-passer/ballhandlers around him.

I rather doubt our new "ball movement" offense will approach those teamwide numbers.

Can't wait to see how better the Bulls are going to become because of Rondo -__-

 

[peacelate]

1. How do we know the team finished top 5 in Assists because of Rondo's leadership vs. Karl's free flowing system. His Denver teams were known for their assist total without having great passers.
   
2. Did you just call Nash a scrub?
3. Not only Did Rondo help the Kings become a top-assist team, he helped them become one of the worst turnover teams (28th).

 

[Bricklayer]

Can't wait to see how better the Bulls are going to become because of Rondo -__-

No doubt he will be able to replace their former starting PG, C and PF singlehandedly. Not to mention help them to rediscover the soul that got torn out when their arrogant management decided it wanted a pretty new toy rather than its established bridge troll and canned Thibs.

 

[Iced Espresso]

1. How do we know the team finished top 5 in Assists because of Rondo's leadership vs. Karl's free flowing system. His Denver teams were known for their assist total without having great passers.
   
2. Did you just call Nash a scrub?
3. Not only Did Rondo help the Kings become a top-assist team, he helped them become one of the worst turnover teams (28th).

1. I guess Dre wasn't worth mentioning here?