The Perfect Offseason would be...

[Larry David]

1. Our ownership group gets on the same page and minority owners stop talking to the media
2. Team gets a local and personable PR person
3. Vivek is kept far away from any microphones and basketball operations person except to approve trades, salary above previously set budget and be advised who the team intends to pick.
4. Atlanta decides it just can't bring Danny Ferry back. We sign him to a 3 year deal, with Vlade being groomed to replace him and having a big role, but Ferry is calling the shots.
5. We draft whoever is left between Portzingis or Winslow
6. We wait to see who isn't getting enough love from the Robin Lopez, Asik, and Koufos group in the first few days of free agency and jump in at 115% of market to get one of those guys OR should that fail, I wait for the cap space to get eaten up (because teams are going to go crazy on 3 and 4 year deals overpaying early and getting value after the cap goes up) and sign 3 players for good value on one year contracts to rebuild or bench with vets looking to prove something and then probably move on when the cap goes up.

Hey, you said ideal.

Well, Danny Ferry is now on the market. His stock is so low, that we could probably get him. Since Bratz is an interim GM, we plan to hire somebody. So why not hire the best guy on the market? Ferry gives great advice, and Vlade is the manager / president of basketball operations. If our staff was Vlade, Ferry, Bratz ... that would be a very solid front office. Ferry could get his stock up and then leave in a few years if Vivek / the Kings stay a mess, at which point we'd know if Vlade was ready to make the calls. But, perhaps it could work well long term.

We have a need for somebody like Ferry. And Ferry's stock and reputation are so low that he probably needs to carry Vlade as his second banana to start his career rehab.

Come on Kings! Get this done.

 

[twslam07]

Perfect Offseason:

1. DON'T TRADE FOR TY LAWSON OR TAJ GIBSON.

Underrated players by some, but totally overrated and overvalued by most. Collison is just as good as Lawson and we've got him for a steal of a price, and Gibson is past his prime for what we'd have to give up for him.

Taj Gibson's per36 numbers have been very consistent over the past few years. Not sure why you necessarily consider him out of his prime. He's still producing at a high level.

Some like to point to his age and say he's too old and out of his prime, but the fact is he keeps producing. And a lot of people don't realize that he came into the league at 24 and has had to backup prime Boozer and Gasol for the majority of his career. He doesn't have as much wear and tear as other players do who are a similar age. To put it in perspective, Cousins has played more regular season minutes than Gibson. He had some ankle issues last year, but with a full offseason to recover, I expect him to be good to go.

And even if Gibson begins his decline this year, so what? He would still be better than anyone else we have currently or could could grab through trades or FA (Amir Johnson may be the only exception). Gibson only has 2 years left on his contract. It's not like we're locked into a 4 year deal with him.

I don't think the Bulls are going to be demanding too much for him. Something around Stauskas, Thompson, & lowering the 2016 pick protection should do the trick. Not necessarily all 3 of those assets, but a combination should be all it takes. I've already posted a 3 team trade with the Bulls & Sixers that would bring Gibson here with minimal cost to us.

SAC Gets: Gibson
CHI Gets: Covington, Thompson, McCallum, Thunder's 2016 1st Round Pick (Top 15 Protected)
PHI Gets: Landry, Stauskas, Kings' 2016 1st Round Pick (Top 3 Protected)

So basically, we package Stauskas and Thompson together to get a better defending, better complimenting PF to start next to Cousins, and we lower the protection of the 2016 1st to clear cap space for Landry. So essentially we upgrade our PF spot while losing two assets (Stauskas & 2016 1st) that won't help us win now. Meanwhile, we dump Landry and get even more cap space to go after vets that will improve the Kings in this critical year that will most likely decide if Cousins stays or if Cousins goes.

 

[pdizo916]

Perfect Offseason:

1. DON'T TRADE FOR TY LAWSON OR TAJ GIBSON.

Underrated players by some, but totally overrated and overvalued by most. Collison is just as good as Lawson and we've got him for a steal of a price, and Gibson is past his prime for what we'd have to give up for him.

2. Leave SG to Ben and Nik.

Ben's improvement over the past season was brilliant, and I really don't see where all the hate and "Trade him!" talk is coming from. Nik's had one season, and very limited minutes. If they want to bring in a vet backup should there be an injury or they fall off a cliff, then okay.

3. Keep David Stockton, trade Ray McCallum

Stockton showed me a bit to impress me late last season, and bring in Andre Miller as a mentor/coach, I really believe he could become a force in the league. With Collison and Stockton on the books, Ray Mac becomes surplus. If we could move him, and Landry for a second round pick and someone with expiring deals, then i'd be ecstatic.

4. Get a second round pick to draft Rakeem Christmas.

I watched him quite a bit through March Madness, and I knew he'd be quality. His stock is going up due to his workouts, but I still think we could get him with a 2nd-rounder. He's essentially Faried 2.0, but bigger.

I like #2. I want to see these two kids grow and I much rather deal with our other issues first. (bench, starting PF, etc) And if ben and nik are not getting it done, then we could probably address that at the trade deadline.

 

[hrdboild]

Elaborating on my last plan a bit, let me just assume that the players I want to draft at #6 and #9 are on the board since most mocks are projecting that they will be. And let me go one step further and add another shooter...

Draft E. Mudiay (6)
Trade D. Collison & N. Stauskas for M. Williams & #9 (CHO)
Draft S. Johnson (9)
Sign R. Rondo
Trade M. Williams for M. Webster (WAS)
Sign and Trade J. Thompson & R. McCallum for T. Robinson (PHI)
Sign K. O’Quinn
Waive and Stretch Carl Landry -- 2.6M/5yrs
Re-Sign A. Miller, D. Williams, O. Casspi

R. Rondo......B. McLemore.......S. Johnson......R. Gay................D. Cousins
E. Mudiay.....M. Webster......D. Williams..........T. Robinson...K. O’Quinn
A. Miller.........................................O. Casspi..............E. Moreland

Notes:

I tweaked the starting lineup here. I'll concede that with Rondo at PG, you probably want another shooter on the floor. George Karl experimented with playing Rudy at the 4 already anyway. I'm not a big fan of this approach, but I think it could work for limited stretches or against certain opponents.

Having both Robinson and O'Quinn come off the bench means Rudy should still get some minutes at SF anyway. O'Quinn is a defensive presence in the paint when DeMarcus is on the bench and Robinson replaces his rebounding presence. There's more than enough scoring elsewhere on the roster, so neither one needs to be a focal point offensively.

Is Stanley Johnson ready to start as a rookie? Probably not, however adding his defense in the starting lineup brings us an element that we badly needed this year and we still have 4 other players on the roster (Gay, Webster, Williams, Casspi) who can pick up the slack until he's ready for a bigger role.

I decided to bring back Derrick Williams on a minimum deal because we need more depth at SF if Rudy plays some PF. Williams' ability to run on fast breaks and finish above the rim could be a good match for gifted playmakers like Rondo and Mudiay. Also, he apparently already has a relationship with Stanley Johnson, both of them being Arizona guys, and probably won't get more than a minimum deal.

Washington might lose Paul Pierce this summer (he has a player option and his hometown Clippers are interested) which leaves them with Otto Porter. Webster was injured this year and hardly played, there are some reports they're trying to move the last 2 years of his contract. Marvin Williams gives Washington depth where they need it and an expiring contract so they have more money to target Kevin Durant next summer. Webster is a 38% 3pt shooter for his career.

Mudiay is the sixth man for now, and he can run the point for the second unit with two excellent passing PGs as his veteran mentors. That bench unit of Mudiay, Webster, Williams, and Robinson gives us a lot of explosive scoring potential so there won't be a lack of go-to options when Cousins is getting rest. It's also much more of a running unit than our starters, so we've got some change of pace potential here depending on how Karl wants to sort out his rotations.

And lastly, with Carl Landry I figured 2.6 million will be a drop in the bucket once the salary cap starts going up next year. Waiving him now gives us an additional 4 million in cap space to spend this summer which we'll need if we want to re-sign Dre Miller, Casspi, and Williams.

My goal here was to establish the foundation for a competitive team, not to solve all of our problems in one off-season with short-term fill-ins. The only real problem I have with this lineup is the lack of a dominant defensive big. Moving Rudy to the 4 is a short-term solution to get the most out of this roster, but the next step here would be to pursue options for a defensive PF the following summer and the one after that. Rudy could slide back to the 3, pushing Stanley Johnson into a super-sub role. Mudiay could eventually replace Rondo as the starting PG if he leaves for greener pastures or doesn't return to form. So we should have a competitive team next year and a lot of opportunities to improve in the future which is what I'm interested in.

 

[The_Jamal]

Elaborating on my last plan a bit, let me just assume that the players I want to draft at #6 and #9 are on the board since most mocks are projecting that they will be. And let me go one step further and add another shooter...

Draft E. Mudiay (6)
Trade D. Collison & N. Stauskas for M. Williams & #9 (CHO)
Draft S. Johnson (9)
Sign R. Rondo
Trade M. Williams for M. Webster (WAS)
Sign and Trade J. Thompson & R. McCallum for T. Robinson (PHI)
Sign K. O’Quinn
Waive and Stretch Carl Landry -- 2.6M/5yrs
Re-Sign A. Miller, D. Williams, O. Casspi

R. Rondo......B. McLemore.......S. Johnson......R. Gay................D. Cousins
E. Mudiay.....M. Webster......D. Williams..........T. Robinson...K. O’Quinn
A. Miller.........................................O. Casspi..............E. Moreland

Notes:

I tweaked the starting lineup here. I'll concede that with Rondo at PG, you probably want another shooter on the floor. George Karl experimented with playing Rudy at the 4 already anyway. I'm not a big fan of this approach, but I think it could work for limited stretches or against certain opponents.

Having both Robinson and O'Quinn come off the bench means Rudy should still get some minutes at SF anyway. O'Quinn is a defensive presence in the paint when DeMarcus is on the bench and Robinson replaces his rebounding presence. There's more than enough scoring elsewhere on the roster, so neither one needs to be a focal point offensively.

Is Stanley Johnson ready to start as a rookie? Probably not, however adding his defense in the starting lineup brings us an element that we badly needed this year and we still have 4 other players on the roster (Gay, Webster, Williams, Casspi) who can pick up the slack until he's ready for a bigger role.

I decided to bring back Derrick Williams on a minimum deal because we need more depth at SF if Rudy plays some PF. Williams' ability to run on fast breaks and finish above the rim could be a good match for gifted playmakers like Rondo and Mudiay. Also, he apparently already has a relationship with Stanley Johnson, both of them being Arizona guys, and probably won't get more than a minimum deal.

Washington might lose Paul Pierce this summer (he has a player option and his hometown Clippers are interested) which leaves them with Otto Porter. Webster was injured this year and hardly played, there are some reports they're trying to move the last 2 years of his contract. Marvin Williams gives Washington depth where they need it and an expiring contract so they have more money to target Kevin Durant next summer. Webster is a 38% 3pt shooter for his career.

Mudiay is the sixth man for now, and he can run the point for the second unit with two excellent passing PGs as his veteran mentors. That bench unit of Mudiay, Webster, Williams, and Robinson gives us a lot of explosive scoring potential so there won't be a lack of go-to options when Cousins is getting rest. It's also much more of a running unit than our starters, so we've got some change of pace potential here depending on how Karl wants to sort out his rotations.

And lastly, with Carl Landry I figured 2.6 million will be a drop in the bucket once the salary cap starts going up next year. Waiving him now gives us an additional 4 million in cap space to spend this summer which we'll need if we want to re-sign Dre Miller, Casspi, and Williams.

My goal here was to establish the foundation for a competitive team, not to solve all of our problems in one off-season with short-term fill-ins. The only real problem I have with this lineup is the lack of a dominant defensive big. Moving Rudy to the 4 is a short-term solution to get the most out of this roster, but the next step here would be to pursue options for a defensive PF the following summer and the one after that. Rudy could slide back to the 3, pushing Stanley Johnson into a super-sub role. Mudiay could eventually replace Rondo as the starting PG if he leaves for greener pastures or doesn't return to form. So we should have a competitive team next year and a lot of opportunities to improve in the future which is what I'm interested in.

Love everything about this roster EXCEPT Rondo at point. Dude is just done and he still thinks he's a star guy.

Mudiay, Ben, Stan, Robinson, Cuz, O'quinn is an awesome young core that does a lot of things well. Throw in a few vets and I could very easily see that team being highly successful.

 

[hrdboild]

Love everything about this roster EXCEPT Rondo at point. Dude is just done and he still thinks he's a star guy.

Mudiay, Ben, Stan, Robinson, Cuz, O'quinn is an awesome young core that does a lot of things well. Throw in a few vets and I could very easily see that team being highly successful.

That's fair. I would think of it as a short-term experiment. It gives us a chance at resurrecting Rondo's career and making the playoffs next year with a Rondo/Gay/Cousins veteran core. If it doesn't work out with Rondo, it's a short-term deal anyway (no more than 2 years) and you already have a young stud ready to take his place. Forcing Mudiay into a starting role in his rookie year is probably not a good idea for his development anyway. This allows us to bring him along slowly with experienced vets around him who are very comfortable running a team.

Rondo features in almost all of my off-season plans right now because he represents such good opportunity cost. He's the biggest veteran we're likely to get with our limited cap space so he represents our best chance of getting a lot better right now without throwing away assets we desperately need. Also his situation is going to force him into signing a short-term deal so he can prove himself and try to get a bigger long-term deal after the salary cap jumps. That means we're not locked into a bad deal for very long if he bombs as badly with us as he did in Dallas. It's a best of both worlds scenario. Keep our young players, add a potential difference maker, mitigate risk with short-term deal.

 

[Nikolizzle]

I don't think the Bulls are going to be demanding too much for him. Something around Stauskas, Thompson, & lowering the 2016 pick protection should do the trick.

As much as i'd like to rid the Thompson contract, any trade that involves Stauskas is giving up too much for Gibson for my taste. I'd rather keep the young guy, and draft someone like WCS or Portzingis.

 

[twslam07]

As much as i'd like to rid the Thompson contract, any trade that involves Stauskas is giving up too much for Gibson for my taste. I'd rather keep the young guy, and draft someone like WCS or Portzingis.

Why not both? Draft Cauley-Stein and upgrade your starting PF next to Cousins with Gibson. You have your veteran PF that pairs very well to Cousins immediately (thus helping us be a better team now) and a potential long term fit IF Cauley-Stein is able to become a player in this league.

People need to realize how important this next season is. If there's a chance to upgrade our team at the expense of a young player who gave practically nothing this past year, then you do it ten times out of ten. Now that doesn't mean I don't like Stauskas. I happen to have a lot of confidence in the player he will become. I've often compared his ceiling to Ginobli, but the talent of Gibson today is worth much more to us than the talent of Stauskas in the future.

 

[Nikolizzle]

Why not both? Draft Cauley-Stein and upgrade your starting PF next to Cousins with Gibson. You have your veteran PF that pairs very well to Cousins immediately (thus helping us be a better team now) and a potential long term fit IF Cauley-Stein is able to become a player in this league.

People need to realize how important this next season is. If there's a chance to upgrade our team at the expense of a young player who gave practically nothing this past year, then you do it ten times out of ten. Now that doesn't mean I don't like Stauskas. I happen to have a lot of confidence in the player he will become. I've often compared his ceiling to Ginobli, but the talent of Gibson today is worth much more to us than the talent of Stauskas in the future.

You make a good point here, but I just am not sold on Gibson. I'd rather go in on Tristan Thompson. Your plan does make absolute sense, i'm just a little nervous about it.

 

[Gilles]

Tristan is just as much of a pipe dream as Draymond is.

 

[206Fan]

Pretty dang good offseason:

1. Trade 6th pick+ Landry+ McCallum for 8th pick+ Jennings
2. Draft WCS
3. Trade Stauskas for Kevin Martin and 36th pick.
   
4. Draft Christian Wood
5. Sign Gary Neal to a vet deal
6. Resign Omri
7. Resign Evans
   
8. Sign Tayshaun Prince to a vet deal

Collison/Jennings
Martin/McLemore/Neal
Gay/Casspi/Prince
WCS/Wood/Evans
Cousins/JT

 

[KingMilz]

Pretty dang good offseason:

1. Trade 6th pick+ Landry+ McCallum for 8th pick+ Jennings

Collison/Jennings
Martin/McLemore/Neal
Gay/Casspi/Prince
WCS/Wood/Evans
Cousins/JT

He know he tore his achilles right? He did go on tear (so did the Pistons) straight after releasing JSmoove before he tore it. Also doesn't he make like 11-13 mil per year?

 

[randymoss1881]

Tristan is just as much of a pipe dream as Draymond is.

It's like people don't not understand a Restricted Free Agent isn't leaving his team if he's good.

 

[Gilles]

Pretty dang good offseason:

1. Trade 6th pick+ Landry+ McCallum for 8th pick+ Jennings
2. Draft WCS
3. Trade Stauskas for Kevin Martin and 36th pick.
   
4. Draft Christian Wood
5. Sign Gary Neal to a vet deal
6. Resign Omri
7. Resign Evans
   
8. Sign Tayshaun Prince to a vet deal

Collison/Jennings
Martin/McLemore/Neal
Gay/Casspi/Prince
WCS/Wood/Evans
Cousins/JT

Guys, who come earlier than a year from ACL, are useless, so Jennings is a non-starter, even as a backup.
Martin will fit better in the second unit, where bigs provide no post presence, so as much offense as possible is needed from backcourt.
Cristian Wood is as ready to play rotation minutes as Bruno Caboclo. Anthony Randolph 2.0.
Frontcourt is very thin in depth. Probably too thin at the start of the season. Reggie should be at least 5th, probably even 6th big on your depth chart for Kings to challenge for POs.
Neal and Prince on vet mins is decent value.

 

[twslam07]

It's like people don't not understand a Restricted Free Agent isn't leaving his team if he's good.

Unless you are the Kings (Evans, Thomas)

 

[206Fan]

Guys, who come earlier than a year from ACL, are useless, so Jennings is a non-starter, even as a backup.
Martin will fit better in the second unit, where bigs provide no post presence, so as much offense as possible is needed from backcourt.
Cristian Wood is as ready to play rotation minutes as Bruno Caboclo. Anthony Randolph 2.0.
Frontcourt is very thin in depth. Probably too thin at the start of the season. Reggie should be at least 5th, probably even 6th big on your depth chart for Kings to challenge for POs.
Neal and Prince on vet mins is decent value.

I just assumed Jennings would be good for the opener.. maybe not until December then? I think if we had a healthy Jennings, Ben would benefit from him a little bit more. Jennings is a good playmaker and both are up tempo type of players.
Wood is a nice young player we can develop. I see him being able to make minor impacts in the game for his rookie year. He's a very talented player with a lot of upside.

I think if that team is healthy, we're in the playoffs. We're good top to bottom. Maybe we add someone like Bargs to our PF/C. There's a lot of options. I think getting key players like Jennings and Martin boosts the team up. Then you pair those 2 along with Casspi and JT. It's a pretty solid team.

He know he tore his achilles right? He did go on tear (so did the Pistons) straight after releasing JSmoove before he tore it. Also doesn't he make like 11-13 mil per year?

Yeah he played great after Smith was traded. He's only owed $8million next year

 

[Gilles]

Rookies are always struggling. Great players often can't play a role for non-lottery teams right away. Even experienced college players need time to adjust. Underclassmen even more so.
WCS can make minor impacts as a rookie. Wood will enjoy NBA games from the first row until garbage time. Draymond was physically ready college star, whose defense and facilitating ability on offense was groomed in 4 years under Tom Izzo. He played 13mpg, averaging 2.9p+3.3r+0.7a on .404TS%, with 7.1 PER as an NBA rookie. Wood is a paper-thin big with 2 years of experience, who has no idea, how to play a role other than 1st option. Give him major minutes, and he's your rookie Lavine.

 

[bajaden]

Rookies are always struggling. Great players often can't play a role for non-lottery teams right away. Even experienced college players need time to adjust. Underclassmen even more so.
WCS can make minor impacts as a rookie. Wood will enjoy NBA games from the first row until garbage time. Draymond was physically ready college star, whose defense and facilitating ability on offense was groomed in 4 years under Tom Izzo. He played 13mpg, averaging 2.9p+3.3r+0.7a on .404TS%, with 7.1 PER as an NBA rookie. Wood is a paper-thin big with 2 years of experience, who has no idea, how to play a role other than 1st option. Give him major minutes, and he's your rookie Lavine.

OK, let me say something good about Wood. I like him better than Kevin Looney. That's not saying much is it? There are some things that I do like about Wood, but the truth is, he's about three years away from being a rotational player in the NBA, if indeed he does become one. But I like his chances. At worse he could become the latest version of Brandon Wright. Always on the edge looking in.

 

[ovrush]

I'll Give this a shot. With both WCS and Mudiay looking to be available when we pick I tried to find a way we could potentially land both.

Sacramento

Out:
Jason Thompson
Carl Landry
Nik Stauskas

In:
David Lee
#7

Why: David Lee fits fine next to Bogie offensively, but terribly defensively. He is a guy who can do what we hoped Landry was going to do, be an anchor scorer on a second unit, and spell Boogie during the regular season to keep him fresh. If you have WCS as a 3rd big, the three balance out nicely and you can re-sign evans or someone of that ilk as a fourth big. The #7 pick allows the Kings to take WCS as a 3rd big that compliments the other two, along with not passing on Mudiay who is built to be a dribble drive PG that Karl loves to have running his offense (while not being so small and puny as to allow other teams to abuse us on the other end). We retain Collison who has grown into a solid pro, and has functioned as a started and bench PG so there's flexibility there depending on how ready Mudiay is. Also, with Mudiay's size, they can play in the same back court together at times.

Golden State

Out:
David Lee
Pick #30

In:
Carl Landry

Why: Golden State sheds a massive amount of salary allowing them to work on extensions now. They move out a guy who wants to be on the court more and bring in Landry who can fill the role Lee had for cheaper and with less desire to be on the court for major minutes. They also Shed the 30th pick and the guaranteed salary that goes with it which is a detriment to them but is an asset to team like the Nuggets

Denver:

Out:
Pick #7

In:
Jason Thomson
Nik Stauskas
Pick #30

Why: Denver turns their one asset into 3 assets, two of which fill needs, neither of which is old. Thompson prvides size, length, and mobility in the middle of a team who has bigs that are either mobile and stubby, or long and slow, neither of which fits with their speedster pg. They acquire a young lottery pick from last year in a position they could use. They also acquire another 1st rounder in the draft.

(not sure if Denver does it, but I think it's a pretty good haul for a #7 pick which is pretty middling)

Kings lineup:

PG: Collison/Mudiay/Ray Mac
SG: Ben Mac/Vet depth (Let's say cheap Dorrell Wright and hope he rediscovers the shot he lost when he left Norcal)
SF: Rudy Gay/Resigned Omri
PF: WCS/Lee
C: Cuz/Evans

Not sure what veteran depth we could find at SG. Ideally a 3 and D guy, but there aren't many out there. I would envision Lee as a sixth man of the year type candidate, and you hope to resign him next year for cheap a la Rudy.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Denver:

Out:
Pick #7

In:
Jason Thomson
Nik Stauskas
Pick #30

Why: Denver turns their one asset into 3 assets, two of which fill needs, neither of which is old. Thompson prvides size, length, and mobility in the middle of a team who has bigs that are either mobile and stubby, or long and slow, neither of which fits with their speedster pg. They acquire a young lottery pick from last year in a position they could use. They also acquire another 1st rounder in the draft.

(not sure if Denver does it, but I think it's a pretty good haul for a #7 pick which is pretty middling)

I agree, I don't think Denver does it. I think we would likely jump all over that. Lee costs a lot, but it's only one year, and he'd actually be an upgrade. Then get the 7 for just Nik/JT while dumping Landry? OK! The problem is we'd be left a bit thin at PF, which means one of the two picks almost has to be WCS.

 

[hrdboild]

I've got a new one... that Pete D'Alessandro and his journalistically impaired buddies grow the hell up already and move on. You screwed it up Pete, and were justifiably run out of town. Nobody believes that Vivek forced you to fire Malone and nobody believes that George Karl came to Sacramento to force them to trade one of the 10 best players in the league for table scraps and sabotage his own career winning percentage. It's getting real old. As far as I'm concerned, anything credited to "league sources" regarding Sacramento's intentions is now suspect. I don't particularly care what national writers have to say about us anymore because it's almost certainly going to be misinformed, intentionally or not. Oh that we could simply go back in time and hire Larry Bird instead.

 

[Gilles]

I'll Give this a shot. With both WCS and Mudiay looking to be available when we pick I tried to find a way we could potentially land both.

Sacramento

Out:
Jason Thompson
Carl Landry
Nik Stauskas

In:
David Lee
#7

Why: David Lee fits fine next to Bogie offensively, but terribly defensively. He is a guy who can do what we hoped Landry was going to do, be an anchor scorer on a second unit, and spell Boogie during the regular season to keep him fresh. If you have WCS as a 3rd big, the three balance out nicely and you can re-sign evans or someone of that ilk as a fourth big. The #7 pick allows the Kings to take WCS as a 3rd big that compliments the other two, along with not passing on Mudiay who is built to be a dribble drive PG that Karl loves to have running his offense (while not being so small and puny as to allow other teams to abuse us on the other end). We retain Collison who has grown into a solid pro, and has functioned as a started and bench PG so there's flexibility there depending on how ready Mudiay is. Also, with Mudiay's size, they can play in the same back court together at times.

Golden State

Out:
David Lee
Pick #30

In:
Carl Landry

Why: Golden State sheds a massive amount of salary allowing them to work on extensions now. They move out a guy who wants to be on the court more and bring in Landry who can fill the role Lee had for cheaper and with less desire to be on the court for major minutes. They also Shed the 30th pick and the guaranteed salary that goes with it which is a detriment to them but is an asset to team like the Nuggets

Denver:

Out:
Pick #7

In:
Jason Thomson
Nik Stauskas
Pick #30

Why: Denver turns their one asset into 3 assets, two of which fill needs, neither of which is old. Thompson prvides size, length, and mobility in the middle of a team who has bigs that are either mobile and stubby, or long and slow, neither of which fits with their speedster pg. They acquire a young lottery pick from last year in a position they could use. They also acquire another 1st rounder in the draft.

(not sure if Denver does it, but I think it's a pretty good haul for a #7 pick which is pretty middling)

Kings lineup:

PG: Collison/Mudiay/Ray Mac
SG: Ben Mac/Vet depth (Let's say cheap Dorrell Wright and hope he rediscovers the shot he lost when he left Norcal)
SF: Rudy Gay/Resigned Omri
PF: WCS/Lee
C: Cuz/Evans

Not sure what veteran depth we could find at SG. Ideally a 3 and D guy, but there aren't many out there. I would envision Lee as a sixth man of the year type candidate, and you hope to resign him next year for cheap a la Rudy.

Rookie PF, Rookie PG or Ray and two rebounding, but no D, no shooting bigs as backups. That team is not going far, will get in the hole early in the season, and out of PO contention by ASG.

Kings are not getting #7 for JT, pick in the 20s and #30 anyway.

 

[Sac.1989]

the perfect offseason starts and ends with Demarcus still a king.

Its as simple as that.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

I've got a new one... that Pete D'Alessandro and his journalistically impaired buddies grow the hell up already and move on.

I had hoped that when he moved to Denver, the Blame-PDA-For-Everything trend would come to an end. I suppose that was naïve of me.

 

[hrdboild]

I had hoped that when he moved to Denver, the Blame-PDA-For-Everything trend would come to an end. I suppose that was naïve of me.

Are you not aware of the firestorm happening right now on Twitter and the Yahoo Sports article that started it? There's nowhere else this "news" report could have come from.

And I don't blame PDA for everything. I've never been one of those people. I do think he made a lot of crapty decisions while he was in charge and his use of the media has put a stain on our team's reputation that has so far proven hard to remove.

 

[Noble]

For me I want a defending 2 guard, definding 4, and a scoring 6th man.

Thabo Sefolosha
WCS in draft/ Kevin Seraphin in FA
Rodney Stuckey
Keep Casspi
Check into the Larry Sanders situation

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Are you not aware of the firestorm happening right now on Twitter and the Yahoo Sports article that started it? There's nowhere else this "news" report could have come from.

I think it's pretty fantastical to imagine that there's one evil antagonist out there wearing face paint and dressed in purple and green whose sole goal is to ruin the Kings' franchise by the magical superpower of Leaking False Info. Or heck, Leaking True Info as the case may be.

Our franchise is a mess. A downright mess. But it's not a downright mess because there's one villain out there determined to "get us". We're never going to know the full story, but there's very obviously blame to go around everywhere. PDA shares blame, as does Mullin, as does Vivek, as does Malone (yes, the "saintly" Malone), as does Karl, as does Boogie, as do any other number of employees and players and agents associated with the franchise, as do the media. But for all of that, I don't think that ANY of the actors in this debacle fundamentally started by acting out of spite or intentionally trying to hurt the franchise (rather we're looking at the ultimate consequences of a franchise trying to move in two different directions under severely failed leadership from Vivek that couldn't bring the goals into focus), and the only ones who are finishing by intentionally trying to hurt the franchise are the ones leaking damaging stuff to the media.

The thing is, we don't actually KNOW who is leaking this stuff to the media. Is it PDA, out of spite? Well, maybe. But he's got a new job, and this crapstorm isn't going to help him, and despite the fact that the majority of the fanbase got worked up over making him into a little demon in their minds that's not a good reflection of him. It's an easy one, because everybody wants there to be one villain that we can just point at and accuse and rally 'round the "Let's Hate That Guy" flag, but that's just not the way the world works the vast majority of the time.

As often, it's useful to ask "who benefits"? Well, as far as these leaks go, certainly not the Kings. These leaks could contribute to us not only losing the best player we've had since Webber, but losing for cents on the dollar on top of that. PDA? Only if he's a psychopath. And I've met PDA, and I've met psychopaths, and I feel pretty confident he's not one. Cousins' camp? Ohhhhhh. Cousins in L.A. means more money (both contract and endorsements). Cousins in L.A. means a better chance of a championship because L.A. can spend on talent. And when some of the leaks are things like "players told Cousins Karl was plotting behind his back"...whose point of view is that from? That doesn't come from the front office, that comes from Cousins' camp. I think the arrows point firmly there, unfortunately.

 

[Sac.Kings]

Roy Hibbert officially available after opting in for the last year of his contract. Indiana just drafted a big man to take his place. I know his last year is ridiculous in terms of money, but he provides defense and is a big body. Maybe we can send Landry and D-Will (after picking up his option)..... one can dream right? I don't love Hibbert, but he is a decent big man and could help us out for a year (or more) while WCS develops.

http://hoopshype.com/rumors/

Edit: Brook Lopez officially opted out of his contract as well. Same source.

 

[BaDgEraffe]

We should consider Tobias Harris as a possible target this offseason. I think a sign in trade with Rudy Gay would be a smart move. We could even add a few more of our guys in like Ben and Nik and pry Mario away.

 

[Noble]

For me I want a defending 2 guard, definding 4, and a scoring 6th man.

Thabo Sefolosha
WCS in draft/ Kevin Seraphin in FA
Rodney Stuckey
Keep Casspi
Check into the Larry Sanders situation

ooh boy mine is shaping up!