i have to say, i'm surprised by terrence williams' productivity so far. even though its only been a few games, he's given the kings much more than i had expected he could. its a positive development, but it also exacerbates the kings' existing problems. here's the most aggravating thing about their backcourt: this team is absolutely overloaded with talented players who might crack the starting rotation on a more competitively-balanced team. marcus thornton, isaiah thomas, and terrence williams all fit the bill of potential 6th man of the year candidates. any one of them can certainly start on this kings team, but, if you put them on the court together in combination with the other starters, its difficult to see how it would work in the long term...
truly, there's not much hope in continuing to start thomas and thornton alongside evans, because the defensive issues of such a backcourt are beyond glaring. however, evans and williams could form a strong, athletic, and defensively-tuned backcourt together, provided their matched with a SF who can spot up from the outside and help to move the ball. and if that SF is also a lockdown defender, then the kings could go from being one of the most pathetic defensive teams in the league to one of the strongest, outside of the frontcourt, at any rate. in this scenario, you'd also be asking demarcus cousins and jason thompson to play more pick and pop to help spread the floor, something that they're both capable of doing in spurts. all told, its a pretty attractive idea to me, if you can acquire the right kinda SF:
PG evans
SG williams
SF batum
PF thompson
C cousins
but people will still incessantly complain that evans can't play the PG; not that he shouldn't, or that he's simply better at the off-guard position. according to some, he flat out CAN'T play PG. its one of the most asinine assertions made on this board, but i'm willing to account for it anyway, since this is all hypothetical. that said, i can see terrence williams spending most of his time at the starting SF spot under keith smart. i am not satisfied with such a solution, but i could live with it. it certainly would render the john salmons acquisition even more moot and boneheaded. regardless, in this scenario, thomas could possibly coexist with evans and williams, although i maintain that thomas is not a long term solution at the starting PG position. his size really is a tremendous problem, defensively, and refusing to see that is blind escapism. he'd make an electric 6th man, though, and there's nothing wrong with that role for the 60th pick in the draft. then there's the possibility that marcus thornton could likewise coexist alongside evans and williams. thornton would become your go-to outside shooter, and if williams proves to be the unselfish, stat-stuffing glue guy that he's been for a few games, it could work. the key is shifting one of either thomas or thornton to the bench, but in either case, this scenario assumes an in-house remedy:
PG thornton/thomas
SG evans
SF williams
PF thompson
C cousins
i'd like to see such a lineup for the remainder of the season, at the very least, if only to solidify the notion that thornton or thomas will be coming off the bench next season. evans/thornton/thomas will NOT work any other way. they cannot share three starting spots in the long term if the kings want to taste any legitimate success, unless thornton wants to commit to defense. so, apart from trading thornton, who has showcased considerable value this season as a 20ppg scorer, smart needs to lock down that 6th man role as this team moves forward...