Holy moly. Well, I'll give you this, Padrino: At least you have the cajones to come out with a number, unlike some others on this board who blather on but never come out with actual numbers.
well, for me, this argument is terribly obvious. on the one side is everybody who believes in tyreke evans' potential. on the other side are the usual suspects: yourself, section 101, gary, etc., who don't value tyreke evans the way i and others do. i'm just waiting for one of you to present a viable strategy for the future of this team. letting go a combo guard who is one of the best in the league at getting to the rim is hardly a worthy pursuit, whether you like tyreke's game or not...
personally, i see no strategy in which letting go of tyreke evans is a smart move. but, if there are theoretical choices that allow me to square myself with letting tyreke walk, then i certainly consider those options, though i would do so begrudgingly. for example, if andre iguodala is interested in signing with sacramento, then i consider letting tyreke walk. if i can swing a trade for rajon rondo, then i consider letting tyreke walk. but i am
not letting tyreke walk for a less-than-sure thing in the draft, an MCW, a trey burke, a cj mccollum, etc. and i am
certainly not putting my faith in isaiah thomas to fill in the hole left by tyreke. that's not good enough for me if i'm this team's GM, because i
hate the hope-and-a-prayer strategy, especially when evans' talent is so readily apparent...
in my estimation, a small market franchise
must take its destiny into its own hands. it can't act like it's los angeles or new york or boston or chicago or even dallas, the kind of places that players want to play via free agency, via the draft, and even via trade demand. you have to be proactive, you have to draft smart, and, perhaps most importantly, you have to spend the money. i consider tyreke evans to be a wise investment, because defense and a strong rim attack gets you into the playoffs. tyreke's already got the strong rim attack, and a coach like mike malone can squeeze even more out of 'reke, defensively...
further bolster the team's defense, add a couple off-the-ball shooters, center the kings around demarcus cousins, and they'll be over .500 in a season or two, and pushing towards the playoffs shortly after that. and, for the record, the kings
need to be playoff-bound sooner rather than later. the new owners didn't pay waaaaaaaaaayyy over market value for this franchise to fail to put asses in the seats once the new arena is built. so i lock down cousins and evans long term, and i build around them intelligently, rather than haphazardly, as the previous regime did...