Ok, lemme preface this by saying I doubt you guys are going to like this. Let me explain my thought process before you completely flame me.
1. I think this team is worse with Kevin Martin in the lineup. I love Kevin, he's a great guy, a talented player, and a good team mate. I just don't like the idea of having our two best players at the 1 and 2 and i think it's detrimental to getting other guys into the flow of the game.
2. I think Cisco will fit extremely well with the team both from a personality and personnell standpoint when he returns. He's got the same fire that our young guys seem to have. He's a solid defender at the 2. He's a good ballhandler who can split handling duties with Tyreke.
3. I think Donte Greene and Omri Casspi can be special players who need to be on the court a ton to ensure they develop fast. They may not be as good as some of our vets right now, but in my oppinion they will be better in time (i really beleive both have higher ceilings than KMart).
4. I beleive Beno and Noc's contracts are huge negatives to adding to this team. We have roughly 2 years to be able to sign a big free agent addition before we're going to have to resign our young guys which will kill our cap space. If we don't get rid of these guys we will never have a big free agent summer. (we may never anyways, but at least with the contracts gone we have the chance at it)
ok so that being said:
Sacramento trades:
Kevin Martin
Andres Nocioni
Beno Udrih
Milwaukee trades:
Hakim Warrick
Dan Gadzurick
Luke Ridnour
Joe Alexander
2010 and 2012 1st round draft picks
Why the Kings do it:
- I know I know Kevin is too good to trade in a pure salary dump.... BUT this is a really really really really BIG salary dump. Like monumentally huge. Cisco suddenly becomes the highest paid player on our team followed by rookie contracts.
- We still get two first rounders as well as financial flexibility. Of the five guys we get Warrick is a decent talent who has shown he can score in the post and defend no one at all. Joe Alexander is a former top ten pick who never put it together in Milwaukee and gets a tryout in Sacramento.
- Here's the gamble part... The East stinks, and a lineup of:
Jennings/Martin/Mah a Moute/Noc/Bogut
looks like a fairly legitimate eastern conference playoff squad with a true point and a low post and perimeter scorer. So the draft picks could stink (not that it really matters with GP drafting). On the other hand the team seeded eigth in the east at the moment is Chicago, and you could definitely make the argument that even with Kevin on that team the Bucks still miss the playoffs. In which case you have 1 maybe 2 lotto picks plus massive cap releif for Kevin.
The Kings lineup moving forward:
PG: Tyreke/Sergio
SG: Cisco/Udoka
SF: Greene/Omri
PF: JT/Warrick
C: Hawes/Brock
Is that lineup really worse than the one we've seen over the past few games? The perimter defense out of the starting lineup would be stifling, and if Donte gets into foul trouble you still have Udoka defensively and Omri offensively. Also Cisco could handle the backup point guard duties if sergio isn't cutting it.
Why the Bucks do it
They might balk at two draft picks being added to the package and taking on a ton of salary, but Martin is the perfect perfect guy to pair with Jennings and Bogut. Not only is he a tremendous shooter, but he's lightning quick. The combined speed of Martin and Jennings would be exhausting for opposing teams back courts, and they could really really push the ball. Martin fits better with Jennings since Jennings is a guy who is much more pass first than Tyreke is. When you combine that quickness with a legitmate low post scorer and defender like Bogut, you have a scary combination offensively.
While it's a fairly weak defensive backcourt, Mah A Moute is one of the best defenders in the league and can guard the other teams top guy every night to off set the guards limitations. Noc and Beno while overpriced are significant improvements over the rest of the Bucks depth.
The Bucks are Gambling here that the lightning in a bottle back court makes them a contender in a weak eastern conference. If Martin and Jennings don't click then they have mortgaged their future. They won't have a draft pick and they'll be stuck in salary hell. In a weak eastern conference, however, and given that they haven't been to the playoffs since 2002 I think its a risk they would consider.
1. I think this team is worse with Kevin Martin in the lineup. I love Kevin, he's a great guy, a talented player, and a good team mate. I just don't like the idea of having our two best players at the 1 and 2 and i think it's detrimental to getting other guys into the flow of the game.
2. I think Cisco will fit extremely well with the team both from a personality and personnell standpoint when he returns. He's got the same fire that our young guys seem to have. He's a solid defender at the 2. He's a good ballhandler who can split handling duties with Tyreke.
3. I think Donte Greene and Omri Casspi can be special players who need to be on the court a ton to ensure they develop fast. They may not be as good as some of our vets right now, but in my oppinion they will be better in time (i really beleive both have higher ceilings than KMart).
4. I beleive Beno and Noc's contracts are huge negatives to adding to this team. We have roughly 2 years to be able to sign a big free agent addition before we're going to have to resign our young guys which will kill our cap space. If we don't get rid of these guys we will never have a big free agent summer. (we may never anyways, but at least with the contracts gone we have the chance at it)
ok so that being said:
Sacramento trades:
Kevin Martin
Andres Nocioni
Beno Udrih
Milwaukee trades:
Hakim Warrick
Dan Gadzurick
Luke Ridnour
Joe Alexander
2010 and 2012 1st round draft picks
Why the Kings do it:
- I know I know Kevin is too good to trade in a pure salary dump.... BUT this is a really really really really BIG salary dump. Like monumentally huge. Cisco suddenly becomes the highest paid player on our team followed by rookie contracts.
- We still get two first rounders as well as financial flexibility. Of the five guys we get Warrick is a decent talent who has shown he can score in the post and defend no one at all. Joe Alexander is a former top ten pick who never put it together in Milwaukee and gets a tryout in Sacramento.
- Here's the gamble part... The East stinks, and a lineup of:
Jennings/Martin/Mah a Moute/Noc/Bogut
looks like a fairly legitimate eastern conference playoff squad with a true point and a low post and perimeter scorer. So the draft picks could stink (not that it really matters with GP drafting). On the other hand the team seeded eigth in the east at the moment is Chicago, and you could definitely make the argument that even with Kevin on that team the Bucks still miss the playoffs. In which case you have 1 maybe 2 lotto picks plus massive cap releif for Kevin.
The Kings lineup moving forward:
PG: Tyreke/Sergio
SG: Cisco/Udoka
SF: Greene/Omri
PF: JT/Warrick
C: Hawes/Brock
Is that lineup really worse than the one we've seen over the past few games? The perimter defense out of the starting lineup would be stifling, and if Donte gets into foul trouble you still have Udoka defensively and Omri offensively. Also Cisco could handle the backup point guard duties if sergio isn't cutting it.
Why the Bucks do it
They might balk at two draft picks being added to the package and taking on a ton of salary, but Martin is the perfect perfect guy to pair with Jennings and Bogut. Not only is he a tremendous shooter, but he's lightning quick. The combined speed of Martin and Jennings would be exhausting for opposing teams back courts, and they could really really push the ball. Martin fits better with Jennings since Jennings is a guy who is much more pass first than Tyreke is. When you combine that quickness with a legitmate low post scorer and defender like Bogut, you have a scary combination offensively.
While it's a fairly weak defensive backcourt, Mah A Moute is one of the best defenders in the league and can guard the other teams top guy every night to off set the guards limitations. Noc and Beno while overpriced are significant improvements over the rest of the Bucks depth.
The Bucks are Gambling here that the lightning in a bottle back court makes them a contender in a weak eastern conference. If Martin and Jennings don't click then they have mortgaged their future. They won't have a draft pick and they'll be stuck in salary hell. In a weak eastern conference, however, and given that they haven't been to the playoffs since 2002 I think its a risk they would consider.
