twslam07
All-Star
The way I look at it, the Kings have a bright future. They have their big three who are all capable of averaging 20 points per game and they all are still really young (Thornton – 24, Evans – 22, and Cousins – 21). Most players don’t hit their prime until they are 26 – 28 years old.
They got rid of Westphal which was a step in the right direction. It was pretty apparent that the team wasn’t very motivated to play for him anymore. From what I’ve read about Smart and heard him say, he seems like a good candidate to bring this team together and steer these youngsters down the right path.
When I look at what Jimmer has done in college and now what he has been doing on our team, I’m not panicking like many on this forum have done. No matter how many years he has played at the college level there is still a learning curve. Especially with the short offseason, a weak coach, and an offensive system that has been a mess. Give him time. He will adjust, he will adapt, and he will be fine.
Our small forward position has been a mess for some time now. The front office and/or Westphal thought Salmons was our answer. I, along with most of you, disagree. He is a selfish player who sees himself as a star rather than a role player. His defense has also not been as good as anticipated. I attribute this to the fact that he is playing out of position which forces him to attempt to guard bigger and stronger players which he has difficulty with. He is definitely not producing the way a player who is being paid 8.5 million a year should be producing. When I think of Outlaw, the word average comes to mind. I don’t mind him making up our roster while getting paid 3 million a year. Garcia is an average player too. He’s getting paid over 6 million next year which is too much considering his skill set. The front office will probably amnesty him next offseason allowing us more flexibility and cap space to upgrade our roster even further. I’m still unsure about Greene. He brings some skills that I really like, but I just want to see him get more playing time. This year is really the determining year if we should keep him or let him go. Honeycutt I like a lot, but he definitely does not have the NBA body that will allow him to compete at the next level. Like most rookies, he needs time.
Now that I have laid out our small forward mess, I want to go into how there is a future in it. If we start playing Greene more and he becomes the player we want him to be, then he could be our small forward of the future. If that doesn’t work out, we could try to obtain one in a trade or free agency. I mentioned in a post earlier about trading for Batum. We could also wait until free agency and try to sign Kirilenko or try to outbid the Blazers for Batum. If we’re unsuccessful, there is always the draft. Barnes, Gilchrist, or even T. Jones could be viable options for us at small forward. And on top of all this, we have Honeycutt developing in the background.
A lot of people have been talking about us needing a defensive big man to play next to Cousins who is obviously more mobile than him. I always hear everyone raving about Cousin’s offensive potential but hardly anyone talks about his defensive potential. From what I have seen he has shown improvement as a shot blocker and we must keep in mind that he has a 7’6” wingspan. Also just being 270 lbs will make it hard for anyone to back him down. I like his aggressiveness although he has been some times overly aggressive (4.9 fouls in 26 minutes), but I would rather have an overly aggressive player versus an under aggressive player. Again he is young and will learn to not commit as many fouls. His defense will only get better as he gets older. With that being said, I would still like to have a shot blocking presence next to Cousins (the more the better, right?). Ever since we lost Dalembert, I’ve always thought Tyrus Thomas would be a nice fit next to Cousins. He doesn’t require a lot of shots, he is a very mobile big man, and he has always been a very good shot blocker. I’m not sure how much Charlotte values him, but he is a possible player to target in a trade. McGee will be a restricted free agent next offseason. It’s unlikely but we could try to outbid the Wizards for him. He would be a great shot blocker for us. He‘s also a lot more mobile than Cousins which would help us with the quicker power forwards. We could also use the draft to fill that shot blocking void next to Cousins. Drummond, Davis, P. Jones, and Henson would all be great selections and could be our power forward of the future.
Again I’m pretty positive about the King’s future. I know everyone is tired of the losing that has been going on the last few seasons and everyone thinks because we have that “big 3” that we were going to be a lot better this year. We have to keep in mind that age, coaching, chemistry, and players that know their roles come into play. Which of those do the Kings have? Be patient. The Kings will be great again.
They got rid of Westphal which was a step in the right direction. It was pretty apparent that the team wasn’t very motivated to play for him anymore. From what I’ve read about Smart and heard him say, he seems like a good candidate to bring this team together and steer these youngsters down the right path.
When I look at what Jimmer has done in college and now what he has been doing on our team, I’m not panicking like many on this forum have done. No matter how many years he has played at the college level there is still a learning curve. Especially with the short offseason, a weak coach, and an offensive system that has been a mess. Give him time. He will adjust, he will adapt, and he will be fine.
Our small forward position has been a mess for some time now. The front office and/or Westphal thought Salmons was our answer. I, along with most of you, disagree. He is a selfish player who sees himself as a star rather than a role player. His defense has also not been as good as anticipated. I attribute this to the fact that he is playing out of position which forces him to attempt to guard bigger and stronger players which he has difficulty with. He is definitely not producing the way a player who is being paid 8.5 million a year should be producing. When I think of Outlaw, the word average comes to mind. I don’t mind him making up our roster while getting paid 3 million a year. Garcia is an average player too. He’s getting paid over 6 million next year which is too much considering his skill set. The front office will probably amnesty him next offseason allowing us more flexibility and cap space to upgrade our roster even further. I’m still unsure about Greene. He brings some skills that I really like, but I just want to see him get more playing time. This year is really the determining year if we should keep him or let him go. Honeycutt I like a lot, but he definitely does not have the NBA body that will allow him to compete at the next level. Like most rookies, he needs time.
Now that I have laid out our small forward mess, I want to go into how there is a future in it. If we start playing Greene more and he becomes the player we want him to be, then he could be our small forward of the future. If that doesn’t work out, we could try to obtain one in a trade or free agency. I mentioned in a post earlier about trading for Batum. We could also wait until free agency and try to sign Kirilenko or try to outbid the Blazers for Batum. If we’re unsuccessful, there is always the draft. Barnes, Gilchrist, or even T. Jones could be viable options for us at small forward. And on top of all this, we have Honeycutt developing in the background.
A lot of people have been talking about us needing a defensive big man to play next to Cousins who is obviously more mobile than him. I always hear everyone raving about Cousin’s offensive potential but hardly anyone talks about his defensive potential. From what I have seen he has shown improvement as a shot blocker and we must keep in mind that he has a 7’6” wingspan. Also just being 270 lbs will make it hard for anyone to back him down. I like his aggressiveness although he has been some times overly aggressive (4.9 fouls in 26 minutes), but I would rather have an overly aggressive player versus an under aggressive player. Again he is young and will learn to not commit as many fouls. His defense will only get better as he gets older. With that being said, I would still like to have a shot blocking presence next to Cousins (the more the better, right?). Ever since we lost Dalembert, I’ve always thought Tyrus Thomas would be a nice fit next to Cousins. He doesn’t require a lot of shots, he is a very mobile big man, and he has always been a very good shot blocker. I’m not sure how much Charlotte values him, but he is a possible player to target in a trade. McGee will be a restricted free agent next offseason. It’s unlikely but we could try to outbid the Wizards for him. He would be a great shot blocker for us. He‘s also a lot more mobile than Cousins which would help us with the quicker power forwards. We could also use the draft to fill that shot blocking void next to Cousins. Drummond, Davis, P. Jones, and Henson would all be great selections and could be our power forward of the future.
Again I’m pretty positive about the King’s future. I know everyone is tired of the losing that has been going on the last few seasons and everyone thinks because we have that “big 3” that we were going to be a lot better this year. We have to keep in mind that age, coaching, chemistry, and players that know their roles come into play. Which of those do the Kings have? Be patient. The Kings will be great again.
