So you want the Kings to get a backup center, OK who?

King Baller

King Baller

All-Star
Hey folks,

There has been lots of discussion about the Kings need of a backup center. There is a mention Of the Nets player Sean Williams on another portion of this board.

What would be nice is someone who could defend Oden, Shaq, Howard etc. Who could the Kings get realistically without giving up one of the young core?

KB
 
Uh, KB, there is a reason that Sean Williams thread, and those like it are in the Personnel forum. ;)
 
We don't need another 5. We need another big that plays like Millsap. Brockman is looking like a quick fix for this problem. We don't need another 5 if we move Thompson to center. Hawes/Brockman/Thompson with a little cassipi works for me, and for our chances at another high lottery pick.
 
USNAVY15 said:
We don't need another 5. We need another big that plays like Millsap. Brockman is looking like a quick fix for this problem. We don't need another 5 if we move Thompson to center. Hawes/Brockman/Thompson with a little cassipi works for me, and for our chances at another high lottery pick.
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What are you talking about? We currently have 1 center... We could be the only team in the league with 1 center. Behind Hawes (who is still developing mind you) nothing exists. Much like a pure point guard would have helped this team, a big defensive minded C would do that same.
 
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Kings Faithful said:
What are you talking about? We currently have 1 center... We could be the only team in the league with 1 center. Behind Hawes (who is still developing mind you) nothing exists. Much like a pure point guard would have helped this team, a big defensive minded C would do that same.
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I thought Sergio was the "pure point guard" on the team.
 
It doesnt matter. We dont need anything at this point. All we need to do this year is evaluate what we already have. If a deal or two come up and it will benefit us then sure, go for it .. but saying we need a backup center doesnt really make a whole lot of sense. No backup C we get is going to impact this teams future. Maybe best case scenario we win 2 more games because of that backup 7footer .. is that really important?

Personally, I rather see more of JT at the five and give Casspi and Greene minutes at the 4 then see some over the hill veteran play 15 mpg.

Now, if were talking about trading for a young center who can help us in the future, Im all for that. Fesenko or Williams, I'll take either of them .. but I wouldnt say we 'need' to make that deal right now.
 
MassachusettsKingsFan said:
It doesnt matter. We dont need anything at this point. All we need to do this year is evaluate what we already have. If a deal or two come up and it will benefit us then sure, go for it .. but saying we need a backup center doesnt really make a whole lot of sense. No backup C we get is going to impact this teams future. Maybe best case scenario we win 2 more games because of that backup 7footer .. is that really important?

Personally, I rather see more of JT at the five and give Casspi and Greene minutes at the 4 then see some over the hill veteran play 15 mpg.

Now, if were talking about trading for a young center who can help us in the future, Im all for that. Fesenko or Williams, I'll take either of them .. but I wouldnt say we 'need' to make that deal right now.
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Thats what I'm talking about... someone young and meaningful. No one here is campaigning for Ilgalskus or Ben Wallace. What would be the point?
 
Realistically, I don't think we have any shot at anyone who isn't either old or untalented. We just don't have anything to offer. I think that ship sailed on draft night.
 
USNAVY15 said:
We don't need another 5. We need another big that plays like Millsap. Brockman is looking like a quick fix for this problem. We don't need another 5 if we move Thompson to center. Hawes/Brockman/Thompson with a little cassipi works for me, and for our chances at another high lottery pick.
Click to expand...

I'm liking Brock also and I think what your saying makes sense! There is supposed to be a couple of good bigs in next years draft.

KB
 
Kings Faithful said:
What are you talking about? We currently have 1 center... We could be the only team in the league with 1 center. Behind Hawes (who is still developing mind you) nothing exists. Much like a pure point guard would have helped this team, a big defensive minded C would do that same.
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Whom would you suggest we aquire, and how? I can sit here all day and throw out things the team needs, but how do you fill those needs. The freeagent market this offseason was pretty sparse where centers were concerned. I'm not really arguing with you or even disagreeing with you. But its one thing to say it, and another thing to do it.
 
MassachusettsKingsFan said:
It doesnt matter. We dont need anything at this point. All we need to do this year is evaluate what we already have. If a deal or two come up and it will benefit us then sure, go for it .. but saying we need a backup center doesnt really make a whole lot of sense. No backup C we get is going to impact this teams future. Maybe best case scenario we win 2 more games because of that backup 7footer .. is that really important?

Personally, I rather see more of JT at the five and give Casspi and Greene minutes at the 4 then see some over the hill veteran play 15 mpg.

Now, if were talking about trading for a young center who can help us in the future, Im all for that. Fesenko or Williams, I'll take either of them .. but I wouldnt say we 'need' to make that deal right now.
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A voice of reason.. Ditto that.:)
 
fnordius said:
Realistically, I don't think we have any shot at anyone who isn't either old or untalented. We just don't have anything to offer. I think that ship sailed on draft night.
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Just curious, what was the name of that ship? Not the Titanic I hope?:eek:
 
kingsnation said:
Well, we just could've drafted one. :rolleyes:
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True, and if it had been Thabeet, Bricky would be doing backflips right now. But other than him, who I still have serious doubts about, who would you suggest we should have drafted? It just wasn't a good draft for bigs. Next year doesn't look all that good either, but there are a couple that I like. At least at the moment.:)
 
bajaden said:
True, and if it had been Thabeet, Bricky would be doing backflips right now. But other than him, who I still have serious doubts about, who would you suggest we should have drafted? It just wasn't a good draft for bigs. Next year doesn't look all that good either, but there are a couple that I like. At least at the moment.:)
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I'm afraid I might be reviving the draft strategies thread with this post but here goes.. ;)

Even if we didn't draft Thabeet which I'm glad we didn't, We could have gotten BJ mullens instead of Omri which would've given us a 5 AND freed up minutes for Donte.

For the record, I am glad we drafted Omri, but just saying. :cool:
 
kingsnation said:
I'm afraid I might be reviving the draft strategies thread with this post but here goes.. ;)

Even if we didn't draft Thabeet which I'm glad we didn't, We could have gotten BJ mullens instead of Omri which would've given us a 5 AND freed up minutes for Donte.

For the record, I am glad we drafted Omri, but just saying. :cool:
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This is where the boat should have gone during the draft night. We should have drafted another very young project, a 7-footer to develop ( in BJ Mullens ), instead of another SF who won't see meaningful minutes anyways. It is not as if we must draft the best player available at 23 anyways. We should have drafted for our "need" at #23. And knowing Hawes had a previous injury that can recur anytime it could have been the most prudent move if we took BJ Mullens instead of Casspi. All these talks about needing a back-up center could not have surfaced if we just drafted Mullens.

But of course, just like Kingsnation I am also glad we drafted Casspi. Now, don't tell me I did not try to be politically correct on my post. :D
 
Other than being big, I'm not sure how BJ Mullens would help our interior defense or toughness. At this stage of his career the guy's a wuss.

In the draft, there was basically only 1 guy (Thabeet). In free agency, a few more, with no real signs we made a play for any of them. For a thread of this nature, a trade is the way to approach it, but you of course never know who exactly is available. Typically you either want a) spare personnel on a team overloaded at one position...except of course no team but us is EVER going to think its overloaded with interior defenders; b) teams in financial distress looking to shed contracts (and this particular year this goes for teams looking to clear cap space for the summer free agency derby too); c) disappointing teams looking to blow it up (this does not apply until the season is under way); or d) veteran elite type teams without time to develop a young player (if you are looking for a young guy), or young rebuilding teams looking to shed their vet contracts (if you are looking for a vet).
 
Chupacabra said:
Am i the only person that knows the Kings signed Melvin Ely? It feels like im taking crazy pills!
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You're not on the sauce. Melvin Ely was signed, but he's not a long term solution. He's a stop-gap at best, if he does stick with the team. I think the genesis of this question is to find a legitimate replacement/ backup should something happen to Hawes. Unfortunately, as has been posted by others, that option did not exist on draft night, nor did it exist in the FA market...which is why we have Ely.
 
Bricklayer said:
Other than being big, I'm not sure how BJ Mullens would help our interior defense or toughness. At this stage of his career the guy's a wuss.

In the draft, there was basically only 1 guy (Thabeet). In free agency, a few more, with no real signs we made a play for any of them. For a thread of this nature, a trade is the way to approach it, but you of course never know who exactly is available. Typically you either want a) spare personnel on a team overloaded at one position...except of course no team but us is EVER going to think its overloaded with interior defenders; b) teams in financial distress looking to shed contracts (and this particular year this goes for teams looking to clear cap space for the summer free agency derby too); c) disappointing teams looking to blow it up (this does not apply until the season is under way); or d) veteran elite type teams without time to develop a young player (if you are looking for a young guy), or young rebuilding teams looking to shed their vet contracts (if you are looking for a vet).
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I think you covered all the bases. At this point the Kings should be looking for pieces that fit into their long term plans. If they can't be immediately found, then only stop gap measures should be taken. Thus Ely! I can name several players around the league that I would love to have on the team. But that doesn't mean that their available, and if so that the price is right. I'm sure its obvious that the frontcourt needs help, and for all we know there might be a deal in the works. I kind of doubt it at this point, but who knows. Maybe we can trade Nocioni back to the Bulls for Miller. :eek:
 
If this is a playoff team, than backup center is clearly a position of need. But coming off a historic low, anybody who's thinking playoffs right now is crazy. Anyone who's thinking wins right now is crazy. I know losing basketball is not all that fun to watch, but the only goal here is to make the team better -- to get back to being a contender. You don't do that by patching holes, you do that by establishing a foundation.

To that end, we will need another big man sometime soon but it shouldn't be the best guy we can get right now for a minimum contract. The only players that sign minimum contracts are fringe NBDL players and players who join top playoff teams. We need someone who's going to be around for awhile, someone who's going to get better, and preferably someone who's going to add the size and toughness that our existing frontcourt lacks. Until that player becomes available (either through an upcoming draft or free agent year) we'd be better off focusing on ways we can improve right now like playing the young guys more and developing chemistry with these players and this coach. If that means Hawes and Thompson have to go toe-to-toe with bigs like Oden and Duncan more often than so be it. They're both young enough and motivated enough that they should benefit from being dominated right now. The good players find a way to fight back.
 
Dwight Howard :p ….Seriously, the only person that I think we might have been able to get (and not give a valuable big/player back) would have been Yi. The guy was underperforming these last 2 years and we might have been able to grab him, but I’ve heard some great things about him during the off season so I don’t think that’s going to happen.

Melvin Ely was signed? I thought he was brought in and then we had a choice of letting him go during pre-season? Huh…ok then.
 
bloom said:
Dwight Howard :p ….Seriously, the only person that I think we might have been able to get (and not give a valuable big/player back) would have been Yi. The guy was underperforming these last 2 years and we might have been able to grab him, but I’ve heard some great things about him during the off season so I don’t think that’s going to happen.

Melvin Ely was signed? I thought he was brought in and then we had a choice of letting him go during pre-season? Huh…ok then.
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As far as I know, Ely hasn't been given a guaranteed contract yet.
 
Maybe Hawes & JT can handle the center position for the full year, without being injured or fouling out, but it's improbable. And, the reason for picking up a backup center isn't for long term development or to make us a playoff team, It's to keep from being blown out game after game after game. A backup center isn't going to make us a playoff team, but it sure would be nice to go to a home game with the expectation that we had a chance to win against a below 500 team.

JT was pathetic against Oden, and May wasn't any better. And, there are plenty of big Centers in the West, that make it reasonable to believe that we are going to be outsized in the front line most of the year.

There were vet centers that signed for min one year contracts this summer. Whether they would have signed with us for the same amount, I can't know. But, there were players better than Ely that were available, back when we had $7M in cap space.

Even PW said in a recent interview that the team needs height.
 
There is a guy out there, he's ready, willing, and able. He'd stop Oden for sure. He's pummeled Yao before.












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84870837_debe256040.jpg



I don't think he's the right guy for us, but if I was putting somebody on Shaq or Oden, I think Tag would be in my top 5.
 
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