Vlade talking with Grant about our draft selections

[Iced Espresso]

I think the Kings should go hard after Conley. If they can't get him, I would be fine with Lin or trying to trade for someone like Rubio, Bledsoe or Knight.

Pipe dream IMO. That would be ideal.

Assuming he isn't coming, Rondo has a good shot to come.

I'm serious about Delly too, will the Cavs match 5 million? I'm not sure they do. And at least we know we've got a scrapper with finals experience. That's my guy for backup pg for bang for the buck, fit, and still cool to have if we get someone better later.

Think about if we added him and a Matt Barnes and what it would say about our roster toughness.

 

[ParniValjak]

I swear a couple people mention Vlade and Marc gasol and suddenly papagiannis is a shooter/passer.

Where did that come from?

Watch his tape. The kid can shoot and is a decent passer for his size and experience. Just because his coach for most of this season (who happens to be the man in my avatar) is someone who likes his centers to play close to the basket. This season he had Raduljica and Kuzmić as the big Cs and Papagiannis is a young kid who happened to be the 3rd C in the rotation and still getting decent minutes.

His coach for most of the season was a Serbian National Team coach Aleksandar Djordjević who spent brief time with Portland as a player when Sabonis was there. Anyway, Djordjević and Divac have come through the youth teams together, have played together both with Partizan and the Serbian National Team since they were 14. They are VERY good friends so if anyone has any inside information on Papagiannis it would be Divac. People need to trust this pick. I doubt there would be a better prepared team when it comes to this particular player given the connection between Divac and the Serbian contingent at Panatanaikos starting with Djordjević who was the head coach for most of the season.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

After Ben and Nik, I find it kinda mind boggling that people on here think that drafting a raw guard project is a "win now" move.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think that Big George at 13 is any more "win now", but we absolutely need veterans in our guard rotation.

There's always more guards out there than bigs in the FA pool. Vlade has a plan. We don't even need a home run signing, just a solid 12ppg type of guy who isn't awful on defense.

One thing for sure: I'm definitely looking forward to summer league this year.

theres still trades/free agency. theres plenty of time before the season starts and even the trade deadline..

 

[gunks]

Rubio is on the market.

I been ruminating over the same thing lately. I'd prefer him to Rondo honestly. Runs the offense just as well, same broke arse shot, but actually plays defense. .... you'd be weighing Rubio's injury concern vs Rondo's age. .... Well, assuming we actually have the luxury of choosing between the two.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

we're getting mike conley this offseason. book it.

 

[jcwkings]

we're getting mike conley this offseason. book it.

No we are not, don't even dream it.

 

[Merdiesel]

On the radio, Vlade was asked about Bogdanovich and if he's coming over next year and Vlade said well....hold on....I still have to talk to his agent about this year.

Maybe we get that kid over this year......I'd love for this kid to come over this year based on the video and his reputation and intangibles.

See this is what I'm talking about.

While the entire world is laughing at Vlade, he just keeps doing his thing. Vlade please do what the Suns couldn't and bring Bogdan over this year. (maybe he's sandbagging and knows he can get him in a Kings Uni for 2016, might be the reason he passed on so many guards.)

BTW, this is a man who smoked cigarettes during halftime. He doesn't give a flying **** what anybody thinks and I f'ing love him for it.

 

[Bricklayer]

I been ruminating over the same thing lately. I'd prefer him to Rondo honestly. Runs the offense just as well, same broke arse shot, but actually pays defense. .... you'd be weighing the injury concern vs Rondo's age. .... Well, assuming we can land him, that is.

You did NOT just try to say that Rondo was a bigger injury concern than Rubio did you?

 

[ESP47]

I been ruminating over the same thing lately. I'd prefer him to Rondo honestly. Runs the offense just as well, same broke arse shot, but actually pays defense. .... you'd be weighing the injury concern vs Rondo's age. .... Well, assuming we can land him, that is.

Rubio's never even shot better than 38% from the field. That is beyond terrible. Rondo's career average is .468 while Rubio's is .368. Plus Rondo's 3 point shot may be fixed. He was solid from 3 with us and Dallas.

 

[gunks]

You did NOT just try to say that Rondo was a bigger injury concern than Rubio did you?

Haha, no. Poorly worded. What I meant was it would be a case of Rubio's injury risk vs Rondo's age. Edited for clarity! I'm well aware of what a DNP timebomb Rubio is.

Not that Rondo is THAT old, but the dude is looking for what could be his last big payday. Gotta consider him being north of 30 given that.

Maybe I'll just drink the Conley coolaid with Big Cuz 15. I'm used to being disappointed.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

Haha, no. Poorly worded. What I meant was it would be a case of Rubio's injury risk vs Rondo's age. Edited for clarity! I'm well aware of what a DNP timebomb Rubio is.

Not that Rondo is THAT old, but the dude is looking for what could be his last big payday. Gotta consider him being north of 30 given that.

Maybe I'll just drink the Conley coolaid with Big Cuz 15. I'm used to being disappointed.

its the purple stuff

 

[ParniValjak]

See this is what I'm talking about.

While the entire world is laughing at Vlade, he just keeps doing his thing. Vlade please do what the Suns couldn't and bring Bogdan over this year. (maybe he's sandbagging and knows he can get him in a Kings Uni for 2016, might be the reason he passed on so many guards.)

BTW, this is a man who smoked cigarettes during halftime. He doesn't give a flying **** what anybody thinks and I f'ing love him for it.

While its good that Vlade will talk to the agent I would not get my hopes up if I were you for a number of reasons.

First has been well documented that if he waits a year, Bogdan can negotiate his own price rather than be boxed into a rookie contract. For someone than can earn major money in Europe, this is big. Remembering that salaries in Europe are after tax. One of the reasons that players like Navarro and Rudy Fernandez went back to Europe despite sromg interest from NBA teams.

The second is that Bogdanović has a pretty hefty buyout. When Fenerbahce bought him from Partizan they paid 1.5 million Euros to Partizan for him. Fenerbahce has smacked a big buyout on him and given that NBA teams are only allowed to pay $500k towards a buyout, the player pays the rest.

Bottom line, it would be a financial suicide for Bogdan to come over for next season. Not only would he get a significantly smaller contract (rookie scale) in the NBA but he would also have to pay majority of his payout to break the contract one year early. From his perspective, it would be better to stay another year, earn good money in Europe, have another shot at winning the Euroleague and the. As a free agent, sign with Sacramento at a better salary than what he would get this time around and with no buyout to worry about.

 

[Glenn]

Watch his tape. The kid can shoot and is a decent passer for his size and experience. Just because his coach for most of this season (who happens to be the man in my avatar) is someone who likes his centers to play close to the basket. This season he had Raduljica and Kuzmić as the big Cs and Papagiannis is a young kid who happened to be the 3rd C in the rotation and still getting decent minutes.

His coach for most of the season was a Serbian National Team coach Aleksandar Djordjević who spent brief time with Portland as a player when Sabonis was there. Anyway, Djordjević and Divac have come through the youth teams together, have played together both with Partizan and the Serbian National Team since they were 14. They are VERY good friends so if anyone has any inside information on Papagiannis it would be Divac. People need to trust this pick. I doubt there would be a better prepared team when it comes to this particular player given the connection between Divac and the Serbian contingent at Panatanaikos starting with Djordjević who was the head coach for most of the season.

I trust the pick very much. I don't know if he has a passing game or if he has been even asked to pass. I get visions of a young Vlade with a little more speed and agility and more strength. I hope I am right.

Cuz was bugged by the pick but I think Cuz will enjoy having another big body on the team. He won'r need to absorb all the blows. Koufos is the odd man out which breaks up the Greek connection but hopefully Kosta can get us a guard. In my mind, it shouldn't be difficult.

I am looking forward to a year from now when Bogdan should cross the big pond and become a California boy.

I think we are all seeing that Vlade hads the inside track in Europe, especially Eastern Europe.

 

[Entity]

How about going after Lin? Knight? Delly? I'm just not a fan of bringing Rondo back.

How about Ty Lawson, Brandon Jennings, Jerryd Bayless?


http://www.nba.com/freeagents/2016/


Not too horrible of a FA pool of stop gaps before we decide to unload the truck for Rondo

Those names you guys threw out was exactly my point. Those are the BEST you could come up with. None of them are a better pg than Rajon Rondo. Stop gap isn't the answer. McLemore is a stop gap at sg

 

[funkykingston]

We can (and should, honestly) argue over who Vlade picked and if they were the right pick at each slot, but one thing I love about what Divac did was add to the roster with guys on their rookie deals. With the salary cap exploding, guys on rookie contracts that can contribute will be the biggest bargain in the NBA.

If Papagiannis, Richardson and Labissiere are capable of being end of the bench depth this year and something more in the years to come then that's great value. Should Arturas Guidatis and/or Isaiah Cousins show enough in summer league to be worthy of a roster spot then a 2 year deal with a team option for a 3rd gives even more depth for pennies on the dollar. Bogdanovic will wait until next year when he's not bound by the rookie wage scale but I'm guessing he'll come cheaper than established NBA free agent SGs.

Again, it's all contingent on these guys (at least some) becoming contributors but these could prove to be incredibly shrewd draft day moves by Vlade.

 

[hrdboild]

We can (and should, honestly) argue over who Vlade picked and if they were the right pick at each slot, but one thing I love about what Divac did was add to the roster with guys on their rookie deals. With the salary cap exploding, guys on rookie contracts that can contribute will be the biggest bargain in the NBA.

If Papagiannis, Richardson and Labissiere are capable of being end of the bench depth this year and something more in the years to come then that's great value. Should Arturas Guidatis and/or Isaiah Cousins show enough in summer league to be worthy of a roster spot then a 2 year deal with a team option for a 3rd gives even more depth for pennies on the dollar. Bogdanovic will wait until next year when he's not bound by the rookie wage scale but I'm guessing he'll come cheaper than established NBA free agent SGs.

Again, it's all contingent on these guys (at least some) becoming contributors but these could prove to be incredibly shrewd draft day moves by Vlade.

Yeah, this is a point worth making. On Thursday I was thinking that these guys may not take up active roster spots, but trading into those extra picks at least gives us a good base of cost-controlled players while the salary cap is shooting up and taking the average size of veteran contracts up with it.
Now I'm thinking this may be a way to fill end of the bench roster slots for next season cheaply while maximizing the available cap space that we can spend on our core rotation.

Cousins.......................15.7
Gay.............................13.3
Koufos.............................8
Collison........................5.2
McLemore......................4
Cauley-Stein................3.5
Casspi..............................3
Papagiannis..... .....1.8
Butler...........................1.5
Richardson........ ...1.2
Labissiere................1
Ellington.........................9
Cousins.......... .........9

60 million (34 million in cap space)

Before making any trades, we could have the minimum required 12 players under contract already and 5 of them aren't costing us much more than the minimum cap holds. If we want Rondo back at about 15 million, that leaves 17 million to spend. We could try to trade Koufos, Collison, and McLemore for a cheaper rotation player and/or future picks and push that cap space up to 26 million or so where we can target a max free agent without losing Cousins, Gay, Rondo, Casspi, or Cauley-Stein. We'll have to see what kind of demand is out there for Seth Curry but it's possible we could re-sign him with the room exception (about 3.5 million) once we spend our cap space.

 

[IfAt1st]

If we want Rondo back at about 15 million, that leaves 17 million to spend. We could try to trade Koufos, Collison, and McLemore for a cheaper rotation player and/or future picks and push that cap space up to 26 million or so where we can target a max free agent without losing Cousins, Gay, Rondo, Casspi, or Cauley-Stein.

Or Vivek and the owners could pony up some luxury tax money to pay for the mess they made and make a winning team here and make people want to come here, stop being a laughingstock, etc.

If it makes the team a winner, exceeding the cap by $5-10 million is not beyond the realm of possibility for a team that just got a half-BILLION dollar arena built for them.....

 

[Livinthedream]

Absolutely. The problem is we have a very serious issue of trying to keep our 10 player on our team past next season. We're very much operating under a strict timetable to win immediately or Cousins is going to force his way out.

And the inconsistency here is mind-boggling. People were praising Vlade for trading the 2019 unprotected pick and our previous 8th overall pick for 15 mil in cap space. He was "going for it" and "trying to win now." I wasn't the biggest fan of the deal, but at least I respected the overall direction; we were finally going to try and put a winner around Cousins. Even in the draft, we passed on much higher upside players like Mudiay, Winslow and Stanley Johnson in favor of the "safer" WCS, who could help us immediately. I still really like the pick but there's no doubt WCS was the lower ceiling, higher floor player of our options at that pick.

This draft is a complete 180 shift from a year ago. We passed on helping our team win now (which rebuilding the guard rotation absolutely would have done simply by the fact they actually would have played real minutes) in favor of high upside picks that are a few years away. Not only is that the wrong decision when our franchise player is out the door in a year, but it makes decisions we made last offseason look quite a bit worse.

Because it can't be fixed in one year. They tried for several years and missed. The Kings can't keep digging a bigger hole. I want to keep Boogie but if he leaves, it won't be because of this year. It was the cumulative effect of the past 3 that put us where we're at.

 

[Boogie_Fever]

Anyone see this video of Papagiannis hitting threes in practice?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BG4QcqmBvH2/

 

[hrdboild]

Or Vivek and the owners could pony up some luxury tax money to pay for the mess they made and make a winning team here and make people want to come here, stop being a laughingstock, etc.

If it makes the team a winner, exceeding the cap by $5-10 million is not beyond the realm of possibility for a team that just got a half-BILLION dollar arena built for them.....

It's not that easy though. You can only exceed the cap by re-signing your own free agents or trading for marginally more expensive contracts once you're already over the cap. What we can do right now is use every last cent of our cap space this summer (like we did last summer) then use our room exception on top of that. When we'll have to go over the cap is when it our core players' contracts end and they're eligible for a raise. If we're serious about building a winning team, we will have to go over the cap to re-sign Cousins when he becomes eligible for his next extension. Possibly Cauley-Stein too.

 

[DesertFox]

Anyone see this video of Papagiannis hitting threes in practice?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BG4QcqmBvH2/

I know it's just practice, but that is a nice looking shot.

If he, wcs, and cuz can be interchangeable going inside and outside...

 

[Boogie_Fever]

I know it's just practice, but that is a nice looking shot.

If he, wcs, and cuz can be interchangeable going inside and outside...

I looked at some other videos on his instagram page. The potential is there. I understand why Vlade drafted him.

 

[Section 101]

Anyone see this video of Papagiannis hitting threes in practice?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BG4QcqmBvH2/

that's not an nba 3.

 

[kingsboi]

Rubio is all of a sudden available for a reason. You can't count on him to play for a duration of a season and every season something comes up with him. At that point, I'd rather retain Rondo, Rondo takes great care of himself and physically is in the best shape I've seen him.

 

[Boogie_Fever]

that's not an nba 3.

Still, the potential is there despite it being an empty gym with no one closing out on him.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

twolves starting line up w/o rubio

KAT, Wiggins, Lavine, Dunn

thats a pretty athletic starting 5

 

[kingsboi]

twolves starting line up w/o rubio

KAT, Wiggins, Lavine, Dunn

thats a pretty athletic starting 5

That's a starting five that should compete for a playoff spot this season IMO.

 

[funkykingston]

twolves starting line up w/o rubio

KAT, Wiggins, Lavine, Dunn

thats a pretty athletic starting 5

It's such an athletic starting 5 that they only need 4!

I'll be curious to see if they keep starting Dieng next to Towns or if they try to add more shooting at the PF spot with KAT at center.

 

[funkykingston]

That's a starting five that should compete for a playoff spot this season IMO.

Can, but perhaps won't. New coach, new system and a most importantly a rookie PG. But KAT is talented enough to carry a squad to the playoffs on his second season. It'll be interesting to see.

I think if Dunn is the starter from day one it could be tough. If they keep Rubio or obtain a vet to start ahead of Dunn it becomes easier.

 

[pshn80]

See this is what I'm talking about.

While the entire world is laughing at Vlade, he just keeps doing his thing. Vlade please do what the Suns couldn't and bring Bogdan over this year. (maybe he's sandbagging and knows he can get him in a Kings Uni for 2016, might be the reason he passed on so many guards.)

BTW, this is a man who smoked cigarettes during halftime. He doesn't give a flying **** what anybody thinks and I f'ing love him for it.

Thanks for reminding me about Vlade's smoking. Does anyone know whether Vlade still smokes cigarettes?