The Drive for Billlups

[Fear the Putin]

Let's face it. We have no leadership on this team. Though Garcia has a leadership voice on this team and is a great communicator, he can't really back it up with years of great play as he is still a bonehead on the floor at times.

Enter Billups. A champion. A calm, collected, and disciplined winner. We would finally have someone to help Tyreke with his game and at the same time be a great glue guy in the locker room for Cousins. Add to the fact that he will easily help this team in the win column as well.

Any one of these trades I would fully support:

Dally for Billups straight up. We would probably have to throw in a pick or one of our craptastic young guys.

Landry and Beno for Billups.

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

Either of those sounds OK to me as long as the pick is protected. You don't want to give up too much for Billups because he only has a year and a half left on his contract and odds are he wouldn't stay after that unless The Kings had drastically improved.

 

[hrdboild]

Billups probably doesn't have a lot left in the tank and he's got an expensive team option for next season. Trading for him now is only going to help us this season, maybe, so it would be a mistake to contribute valuable assets to the cause. If Denver wants to dump him for nothing it might not be a bad move for us to return some respectability to the team right away, but giving up Dalembert or Landry in the process is probably just a lateral move in terms of overall improvement anyway.

 

[Dr. Spaceman]

Billups probably doesn't have a lot left in the tank and he's got an expensive team option for next season. Trading for him now is only going to help us this season, maybe, so it would be a mistake to contribute valuable assets to the cause. If Denver wants to dump him for nothing it might not be a bad move for us to return some respectability to the team right away, but giving up Dalembert or Landry in the process is probably just a lateral move in terms of overall improvement anyway.

The move wouldn't necessarily be about returning to respectability (though I'd imagine it would push us more in that direction than someone like Landry would), but to bring that veteran guiding hand into the locker room that we're so sorely lacking. Another major benefit is that you now have one of the best PGs in the business to school Tyreke in the ways of running a team, both on and off the court. He can be a calming presence (as the OP stated) when we're in those close 4th quarters that we tend to find ourselves in.

Teach Tyreke to better decide when to take matters into his own hands and when to help others find their spots to contribute. I think bringing Billups in just for developmental reasons is worth every penny of his contract. I wouldn't expect the move to lead to a complete turnaround or for us to start winning a whole bunch more games, but he could come in and establish a foundation and winning habits for our young guys while the concrete is still wet. Of course, he's getting old, so we absolutely need to be smart about what we give up, but that should almost go unsaid for Petrie.

 

[Bricklayer]

Billups doesn't even have a year and a half left -- he's down to half a year at this point because NOBODY is paying him $15 mil or whateber for next year, and its a team option with a small buyout. So you are talking short term rental, and more than that, you are talking short term rental wiht a player who really doesn't want to be in this suituation and is going to be looking to catch on with a contender ASAP. You just can't give up much for that. Even less now than you could have given up at the beginning of the year.

 

[Dr. Spaceman]

Billups doesn't even have a year and a half left -- he's down to half a year at this point because NOBODY is paying him $15 mil or whateber for next year, and its a team option with a small buyout. So you are talking short term rental, and more than that, you are talking short term rental wiht a player who really doesn't want to be in this suituation and is going to be looking to catch on with a contender ASAP. You just can't give up much for that. Even less now than you could have given up at the beginning of the year.

A damn shame, that reality, isn't it? Wish I would've looked up his contract situation beforehand. He could've been a great and much needed influence on this team.