The Kings Future Might Be Brighter than One Thinks

#62
Granted they are injured, free agents, possibly past their prime along with a couple of solid current players. But there are six players who have played significant starting minutes in the NBA. Tyreke, Rudy, Ty, Kosta, Garrett and Darren.
Out of those you have listed only Rudy would start on most NBA teams. The rest are rotation players and that is the whole issue with the Kings. They have no NBA quality starting talent.

Have you ever wondered why the starting unit this year (even with Boogie) would start slowly and then the bench would come out and drag us back into the game? It's because with Cousins and Rudy healthy this team had 2 NBA starter level players. The other 3 positions were filled with players that would be coming off the bench for majority of the other NBA teams. Then the starters would sit and the bench mob (which BTW is NBA quality or has been for most of the season) would come in and kick the other team's bench's backside to drag the Kings back into the game. Even against the Nuggets Kings bench scored 72 points.

That is why the Kings are a lottery team and why they are even worse off now after a trade. You are not going to go too far if you have not NBA starter quality players starting for the team. Until the Kings get 5 genuine NBA starters, they will struggle in a mighty way.
 
#63
Curious, who do you guys think looks like the better player/prospect between Hield and Richardson?

I feel like Richardson has the upper-hand due to his better quickness and athleticism. Age plays a factor as well.
Said it before and will say it again. I might be wrong but to me Malachi has more of an NBA game that Hield.

Happy to be proven wrong but other than shooting spot up 3s, I can't see anything else that Hield does better. For the sake of the Kings, I genuinely hope I am wrong on this one.
 
#64
This is an important point that got lost in the thread. The trade was not just about Buddy (Vivekisms notwithstanding). Rather, the Kings saw they had a flawed franchise player and little hope of adding a second or third star in support. Now, the hope is to get those stars the next two years. Hopefully, this draft is as good as advertised.
Good luck with that. Give me a franchise player, even if you call him a flawed one, in Cousins and I would be a lot more comfortable in not making that 2019 pick pick hurt more than it will this way.

With Cousins, you had a building block. Without him what you have is a bunch of kids who are nor here nor there. There is a genuine possibility that Kings might not get a single pick in the lottery this year. NO if they continue to struggle with injuries just might play themselves into a top 3 picks and Kings might just slide out of the top 10. Not because they are good enough to get to the play offs but because the other team might be just be a hell of a lot better at tanking than the Kings. Imagine the disaster that would cause. That sparkling new Golden 1 Centre might just be a ghost town for years to come.

People seem to ignore the fact that with Cousins you just might have a better chance than without him. Think about it for a second, if Phoenix was to win the lottery or even get into the top 3, the player that they would be looking at would likely be a PG. All of a sudden someone like Bledsoe might be available and with Phoenix in a full rebuild more, they just might be interested in your lottery pick if you managed to keep it. Contracts coming off the books created enough cap space to attract solid FA because prior to the trade this team ALWAYS competed. Very rarely did they get blown out. Then you had Bogdan coming over, add to it the improvement from the young guys and you might just be a play-off team after another off-season.

Good luck becoming one this way within the next 5 years.
 
#65
Said it before and will say it again. I might be wrong but to me Malachi has more of an NBA game that Hield.

Happy to be proven wrong but other than shooting spot up 3s, I can't see anything else that Hield does better. For the sake of the Kings, I genuinely hope I am wrong on this one.
If Malachi proves to be a better player than Hield GREAT. It doesn't matter. Basketball is a TEAM game all day everyday. And that's what we need again a team that plays Sacramento Kings basketball again.
 

SLAB

Hall of Famer
#67
If Malachi proves to be a better player than Hield GREAT. It doesn't matter. Basketball is a TEAM game all day everyday. And that's what we need again a team that plays Sacramento Kings basketball again.
And you can't have a good team with crappy players. I don't care how hard they try, how much #culture they have, talent wins out. And we flushed our one talent down the toilet.
 

Glenn

Hall of Famer
#68
Said it before and will say it again. I might be wrong but to me Malachi has more of an NBA game than Hield.

Happy to be proven wrong but other than shooting spot up 3s, I can't see anything else that Hield does better. For the sake of the Kings, I genuinely hope I am wrong on this one.
Absolutely.
 
#71
I think it shows that generally speaking we have a wide spectrum of fans here as opposed to the hive mind that permeates some other Kings related sites.

There is always optimism to be found along with negativity. Some just see one a little more often than the other.
What's funny is the optimist/pessimist roles have almost entirely flipped after the trade :p
 

HndsmCelt

Hall of Famer
#73
I can understand trading away a draft pick as part of a package to acquire a special player, but I don't understand the concept of thinking, that in general, an established player is better than a draft pick. Every established player in the league was drafted. Cousins was drafted! Lebron was drafted! To think that way is an admission that you have no faith in Kings management (Vlade) to make good choices. To my mind, that's not a good starting point.

In most cases, an established player is going to cost you somewhere above 8 to 10 mil a year. A draft pick is going to cost less, and, if you've made a mistake, your only wed to that mistake for two years with team options on the remaining years. If you make a good choice, you have a young player you can mold to your system on a very cheap salary for five years. Or you can have an Afflalo making 12 mil a year. (just an example)

As I said, I'm not against trading a draft pick under the right circumstances, but I don't like it as a general policy.
I can't dispute your economics argument, and as I said I think we are in the position to pick prospects this year anyway. But my traditional "trade the pick" argument is usually reserved for the "Wee need this type of player so lets draft one" situation. Known quantities are more expensive for a reason. But yes when you essentially need to fill or upgrade literally the entire starting squad then why not get as many pics as possible, balance the books with a couple enders and see what we have. Then you decide what are keepers and repeat as many times as necessary until you are only looking for specific needs.
 
#75
Sorry, but having played significant starting minutes is not the same as what you initially said.
Well IMO at one time or another they were all NBA quality starters:) But really I do agree the Kings need better players. I also loved DFC and did not want to see him traded. BUT I also am not into running down the Fellas that are playing for the Kings right now because I'm upset about it. Nor am I'm going to predict the worst most bleak outcome for every freaking thing possible involving the Kings. I may even troll some of you that do:)
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#76
Well IMO at one time or another they were all NBA quality starters:) But really I do agree the Kings need better players. I also loved DFC and did not want to see him traded. BUT I also am not into running down the Fellas that are playing for the Kings right now because I'm upset about it. Nor am I'm going to predict the worst most bleak outcome for every freaking thing possible involving the Kings. I may even troll some of you that do:)
I don't think so. :p

Seriously, I think some just want to go through the grief process. This "Everything is gonna be fine" stuff isn't what I want to hear right now. In a few weeks, maybe. But now I have to sort through a lot of different feelings, including depression, anger, regret, etc. Some of you are all "The King is dead, long live the King." I'm all "The King is dead, can we at least mourn him before we forget about him?"
 
#77
I will celebrate what was, lament what could have been ( a specialty of Kings fans ) and keep an ember of hope burning for what may be. With the right conditions maybe I will get to watch the ember grow to a conflagration that burns the rest of the league.
 
#78
Granted they are injured, free agents, possibly past their prime along with a couple of solid current players. But there are six players who have played significant starting minutes in the NBA. Tyreke, Rudy, Ty, Kosta, Garrett and Darren.
Don't move the goalposts.

I said:
At this moment in time, based on their careers so far, there is not one NBA quality starting player on the entire roster.
Tyreke is done as an impact player on a playoff team. That ship has sailed.
Rudy is done as a starter on a competitive team for the foreseeable future, and likely his entire career.
Ty is a backup on any serious team. Same with Kosta, Garret, and Darren.

Seriously, other than Rudy, this franchise has never put one quality, starting-calibre player alongside Demarcus his entire 6.66 years here.
Oh, yeah - other than IT (with the 60th pick - real investment of resources there), who they thought $7 mil was too much to retain.

My thread from 2011 bemoaning this team's inability to get starter-quality players unfortunately proved to be a harbinger of things to come....
... but that's OK - everyone ended up blaming Demarcus for all the not-winning, due mainly to a certain petty serial slanderer named Grant Napear.

Oh yeah - all those KF's who told me over the years that Grant doesn't affect public perception of Demarcus, and has zero effect on whether he was traded or not, were all proven wrong.
 
#79
Don't move the goalposts.

I said:Tyreke is done as an impact player on a playoff team. That ship has sailed.
Rudy is done as a starter on a competitive team for the foreseeable future, and likely his entire career.
Ty is a backup on any serious team. Same with Kosta, Garret, and Darren.

Seriously, other than Rudy, this franchise has never put one quality, starting-calibre player alongside Demarcus his entire 6.66 years here.
Oh, yeah - other than IT (with the 60th pick - real investment of resources there), who they thought $7 mil was too much to retain.

My thread from 2011 bemoaning this team's inability to get starter-quality players unfortunately proved to be a harbinger of things to come....
... but that's OK - everyone ended up blaming Demarcus for all the not-winning, due mainly to a certain petty serial slanderer named Grant Napear.

Oh yeah - all those KF's who told me over the years that Grant doesn't affect public perception of Demarcus, and has zero effect on whether he was traded or not, were all proven wrong.
Tyreke is still recovering, you are being unfair. Rudy should come back as good as before, look at Wes Matthews.Ty and Kosta started for Playoff teams. Garrett had a nice run starting in place of Beal last season. Darren started all those games for the Kings when Coach Malone was channeling Red Auerbach just before Boogie got sick!

I agree with you that Chuckles has been spreading propaganda for a long time.
 
#80
Don't move the goalposts.

I said:Tyreke is done as an impact player on a playoff team. That ship has sailed.
Rudy is done as a starter on a competitive team for the foreseeable future, and likely his entire career.
Ty is a backup on any serious team. Same with Kosta, Garret, and Darren.

Seriously, other than Rudy, this franchise has never put one quality, starting-calibre player alongside Demarcus his entire 6.66 years here.
Oh, yeah - other than IT (with the 60th pick - real investment of resources there), who they thought $7 mil was too much to retain.


My thread from 2011 bemoaning this team's inability to get starter-quality players unfortunately proved to be a harbinger of things to come....
... but that's OK - everyone ended up blaming Demarcus for all the not-winning, due mainly to a certain petty serial slanderer named Grant Napear.

Oh yeah - all those KF's who told me over the years that Grant doesn't affect public perception of Demarcus, and has zero effect on whether he was traded or not, were all proven wrong.
Don't forget Seth Curry!
 
#83
Oh yeah - all those KF's who told me over the years that Grant doesn't affect public perception of Demarcus, and has zero effect on whether he was traded or not, were all proven wrong.
Proven? I must have missed the reports of Grant being in the meeting where Vlade finally convinced Vivek to sign off on the trade. I don't listen to his show or follow him on twitter though (not sure why most of you don't do this for your own sanity, frankly) so I must have missed him bragging about it
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#84
The Kings future could be very bright if the Kings get those #1 picks in the top 10 this year and if Divac makes outstanding selections with them. That said, it's going to be at least three years before could see this bright future even if Divac does make those excellent selections. The T-Wolves and the Utah experience shows that. There were interesting comments by Coach in the last presser in which he noted that you're looking at a couple of 10 time All Stars on the T-Wolves, but they still aren't at .500 ball. That's just the way it is - it takes time even if you have the talent. But at least you have something to wait for if you do have the talent; if you don't have talent you have nothing to work with to even imagine a brighter future.
 
#85
Proven? I must have missed the reports of Grant being in the meeting where Vlade finally convinced Vivek to sign off on the trade. I don't listen to his show or follow him on twitter though (not sure why most of you don't do this for your own sanity, frankly) so I must have missed him bragging about it
That's not the way it works (or worked) - don't be willfully ignorant to suggest that.

Anyone with eyes and ears can see and hear the way Grant has framed the local and national perspective on Demarcus.

He is a guest host on (the largest?) Nationally-syndicated sports talk show (Jim Rome), and was directly quoted as "The Voice of The Kings" on multiple shows and articles discussing the trade and informing the NBA at large about it.

Geez, that's actually rather embarrassing, that anyone would believe - despite copious historical evidence - that Vivek isn't strongly influenced by public outcry/opinion/outcry.
The man paraded and trumpeted his media sensitivity for 3 years running, yet someone still thinks someone has to be seated at the boardroom table to impact the Kings' decisions? :rolleyes:
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#86
That's not the way it works (or worked) - don't be willfully ignorant to suggest that.

Anyone with eyes and ears can see and hear the way Grant has framed the local and national perspective on Demarcus.

He is a guest host on (the largest?) Nationally-syndicated sports talk show (Jim Rome), and was directly quoted as "The Voice of The Kings" on multiple shows and articles discussing the trade and informing the NBA at large about it.

Geez, that's actually rather embarrassing, that anyone would believe - despite copious historical evidence - that Vivek isn't strongly influenced by public outcry/opinion/outcry.
The man paraded and trumpeted his media sensitivity for 3 years running, yet someone still thinks someone has to be seated at the boardroom table to impact the Kings' decisions? :rolleyes:
You're approaching the city limits of Trollville. Just letting you know...
 
#87
Don't forget Seth Curry!
I still wonder why the hell we didn't re-sign Seth Curry? Seems he could have been in our future plans, and he was cheap too... Now his next contract in a couple years will be 10-15/mil a year now that he's starting. Not signing him is what pissed me off most last summer.
 
#88
I still wonder why the hell we didn't re-sign Seth Curry? Seems he could have been in our future plans, and he was cheap too... Now his next contract in a couple years will be 10-15/mil a year now that he's starting. Not signing him is what pissed me off most last summer.
Take it with a huge grain of salt but per Grant Napear, Curry asked that the Kings not re-sign him because he didn't want to play with DeMarcus.
 
#90
You're approaching the city limits of Trollville. Just letting you know...
You think you can just arbitrarily label someone a troll whenever you like?

Here - I'll reword my post:

*I believe it is a matter of public record that Grant Napear influences the public narrative about the Kings and their players via his impact on the Kings' customer base, through his thousands of hours of local and national negative discussion and commenting about certain Kings players.

* Napear guest-hosts The national Jim Rome show, and is known and quoted as "The Voice of the Kings" in national media (USA Today, etc).

* Furthermore, I believe it is a matter of public record that Vivek Ranadive is known to be hyper aware of media about him and the team, as evidenced by the "Stauskas!" meme, the 4-on-5 meme (and his subsequent self-imposed media shamed silence), and the knee-jerk firing of Malone, veering back to supporting Tyrone Corbin, then canning him in favor of fan-mandated pick George Karl.

* You don't have to be in the decision-making room to influence decisions.

How is that remotely being a "troll"?
What the hell does that even MEAN, in this context?
That I'm only interested in causing uproar, and don't substantively add to this discussion about the Kings future?!
Or does it mean that you don't want to hear what I have to say about the Kings future (that is controlled by a tone-deaf Warriors fan, and influenced by a petty bully)?
Well, I've gotten more Likes than usual this past week, by trying to discuss what I see is the current and future Kings' situation, so other people obviously DO want to hear this perspective.

Unless one is aware of the factors that possibly affect the Kings present, one can't accurately project their future.