I hope this doesn't come back to bite me in the butt, but the likelyhood of losing our pick is slim. Not impossible, but the odds, fortunately or unfortunately, are in our favor. Beyond that, without knowing where we'll pick, its impossible to predict how much we may or may not improve. We get lucky for a change and move into the top three, the improvement could be huge, if not immediate. If projections prove to be correct in regards to the salary cap next season, and we don't retain any of of our freeagents, we will be somewhere between 14 and 16 mil under the cap. More than enough to acquire a so called impact player, or a couple of good rotational players that are a better fit in Karls system.
While at times, we fans look at everything from the woe is me prospective, I don't. For starters, I don't think we're that far away from being a playoff team. This team falls more into the dysfunctional group than it does the lack of talent group. Insert a good coach (Done), and replace a few of the ill fitting pieces, and your right there knocking on the door. But we want to do more than knock on the door. We want kick down the door and enter the conversation. To do that, we need at least one more impact player, that actually fills an important need. And because I use the word impact, that doesn't necessarily mean an expensive star player. It might be filled through the draft if the ping balls bounce the right way. It might be a player that doesn't fit on his current team, or feels misused on his current team and wants his turn in the sun.
I've never bought into the concept that no one wants to come here because were a small town or at the bottom of the standings. If your an aging veteran looking for his last contract, yeah, then I get it that maybe you'd like to go out with a bang on a contender. But one of the reasons Gay resigned with us was because his wife liked the family atmosphere of Sacramento. Gay liked our dearly departed coach, Malone. My point is that players make their team choices for various reasons. Some just want to play on the west coast. Hell, I doubt it would be hard to convince any player playing on an east coast team that playing in Sacramento has a few climate perks. That said, it comes down to our front office doing their job. Hopefully with Karl on board, they'll have the right imput to make good choices. We should have a draft pick, and we will have money under the cap. And despite what some might think, we do have some assets that are desirable to other teams. So there are no excuses.
I could be a Debbie Downer here. Hell why not, its popular and easy. Problem is, I see no benefit to taking that road. To be honest, if I felt in my heart of hearts, that there was no hope. That no matter what we did, we would always be wallowing in the sewer, I'd find another team to root for. What would be the point of rooting for team that I believed would never get any better? That would be an exercise in futility. On the other hand, if I believed that there was hope. That I could see a light at the end of the tunnel, then I would say so, and I have. Don't mistake my words as being critical of those who find fault with the team. To be critical of a player or a trade, is entirely different than being negative about having any future success. One is specific, while the other breeds hopelessness.
