Blob
Starter
Lost in the commotion of taking a 7"2 18 year old with 27 syllables to his name was the timely dismissal of the Italian Stallion whose performance last season resembled glue more than Nyquist.
I cannot emphasize the glee that infused my soul and every fiber of my being when announced Marco had been dispatched for the 22nd pick in the 2016 draft. It is NOT an exaggeration to say his play resembled two of the worst performing SGs in Kings history:
- Jimmer
- Stauskas
What do the aforementioned trio have in common? A propensity to miss wide open shots, to betray their reputation, AND get abused on defense on the perimeter, in screen and roll and anywhere or anytime else resistance is required.
In fairness to Marco, he did experience a mini-resurgence towards respectability when Karl belatedly inserted him in the starting line-up. But this uptick in play was short-lived, until the team and front office declared "NO MAS! NO MAS!" and sent him to the bench with FAKE injury so remainder of meaningless games could be used to see if Seth was a real NBA player.
To add insult to injury, Marco wanted to blame his sorry performance on system and locker room drama. In 25 years of following NBA basketball, never have I heard a player declare he doesn't like plays called for him, as if attempting to exploit his skill set was an affront to his sensibilities.
Then there is the contention he was misused. That the pass-and-cut system in San Antonio was misaligned with the pound-the-ball preference of Rondo until an assist could be had. There might be merit to this perspective until realization that Rondo and Marco spent very minutes on the court together, and his horrible stretch for the first five months of the season were in reserve capacity with DC running the point.
Then there is the notion that Marco is a spot-up shooter and the Kings did not ask him to play a spot-up role. I have yet to hear a viable argument in this regard since even if you are a spot-up shooter, you are still required to move without the ball, and work yourself off screens and cut back door to make yourself open in spots to receive the ball.
The bottom line is the guy had a bad year and it did not work out. Kudos to Vlade for realizing this and parting ways instead of suffering more of the same incompetence in 2016-17!
Now onto the brilliance of Vlade:
462 players are ranked for real plus/minus, a statistic that measures the effectiveness of a player adjusted for teammates and opponents. Marco ranked 450 out of 462 players, sharing company with mega-scrubs like Nik Stauskas, Ty Lawson, Nik Young and Andrea Barganini....
AND VLADE DUMPED HIS CONTRACT WITH $13M DUE AND GOT A 1ST ROUND PICK FOR HIM.
But it gets better than this, my fellow Kings fans, with a hat tip to James Ham and Inside Kings Podcast for this insight I am about to share....
The Kings are going to be targeting free agents SGs in less than one week. I can say with 100% certainty ONE of the guys we will be pursuing aggressively is:
My first choice would be Allen Crabbe....because I think he has ALL-STAR potential, but I want to focus on the last guy, Lee.
The Hornets have a bunch of cap space and a bunch of free agents they want to resign, namely, Al Jefferson, Batum, Marvin Williams AND Courtney Lee (not to mention Jeremy Lin and Tyler Hansborough).
Because the Kings DUMPED a $6 million contract onto the Hornets payroll at a position Lee plays, he becomes LESS of a priority in their re-signing efforts. This means if and when the Kings do target Lee as a their new starting SG, a guy Joerger coached and knows well, they are more apt to steal him away with minimal resistance.
A 3 year 24 million contract offer ought to get 'er done!!!
The first three names are more appealing to me than Lee, but Lee is a legit baller who defends, fights through screens (something Marco never did and Rondo rarely does) and plays the game the right way, and will a significant upgrade over Ben.
The bottom line is Vlade did well....strategic and timely and setting to steer the Titanic away from the iceberg. My eyes and ears could not have taken another year of Marco flailing and bailing and excuse making.
Share your comments on this trade below....agree or disagree.
I cannot emphasize the glee that infused my soul and every fiber of my being when announced Marco had been dispatched for the 22nd pick in the 2016 draft. It is NOT an exaggeration to say his play resembled two of the worst performing SGs in Kings history:
- Jimmer
- Stauskas
What do the aforementioned trio have in common? A propensity to miss wide open shots, to betray their reputation, AND get abused on defense on the perimeter, in screen and roll and anywhere or anytime else resistance is required.
In fairness to Marco, he did experience a mini-resurgence towards respectability when Karl belatedly inserted him in the starting line-up. But this uptick in play was short-lived, until the team and front office declared "NO MAS! NO MAS!" and sent him to the bench with FAKE injury so remainder of meaningless games could be used to see if Seth was a real NBA player.
To add insult to injury, Marco wanted to blame his sorry performance on system and locker room drama. In 25 years of following NBA basketball, never have I heard a player declare he doesn't like plays called for him, as if attempting to exploit his skill set was an affront to his sensibilities.
Then there is the contention he was misused. That the pass-and-cut system in San Antonio was misaligned with the pound-the-ball preference of Rondo until an assist could be had. There might be merit to this perspective until realization that Rondo and Marco spent very minutes on the court together, and his horrible stretch for the first five months of the season were in reserve capacity with DC running the point.
Then there is the notion that Marco is a spot-up shooter and the Kings did not ask him to play a spot-up role. I have yet to hear a viable argument in this regard since even if you are a spot-up shooter, you are still required to move without the ball, and work yourself off screens and cut back door to make yourself open in spots to receive the ball.
The bottom line is the guy had a bad year and it did not work out. Kudos to Vlade for realizing this and parting ways instead of suffering more of the same incompetence in 2016-17!
Now onto the brilliance of Vlade:
462 players are ranked for real plus/minus, a statistic that measures the effectiveness of a player adjusted for teammates and opponents. Marco ranked 450 out of 462 players, sharing company with mega-scrubs like Nik Stauskas, Ty Lawson, Nik Young and Andrea Barganini....
AND VLADE DUMPED HIS CONTRACT WITH $13M DUE AND GOT A 1ST ROUND PICK FOR HIM.
But it gets better than this, my fellow Kings fans, with a hat tip to James Ham and Inside Kings Podcast for this insight I am about to share....
The Kings are going to be targeting free agents SGs in less than one week. I can say with 100% certainty ONE of the guys we will be pursuing aggressively is:
- Kent Bazemore
- Allen Crabbe
- Evan Fournier
- Courtney Lee
My first choice would be Allen Crabbe....because I think he has ALL-STAR potential, but I want to focus on the last guy, Lee.
The Hornets have a bunch of cap space and a bunch of free agents they want to resign, namely, Al Jefferson, Batum, Marvin Williams AND Courtney Lee (not to mention Jeremy Lin and Tyler Hansborough).
Because the Kings DUMPED a $6 million contract onto the Hornets payroll at a position Lee plays, he becomes LESS of a priority in their re-signing efforts. This means if and when the Kings do target Lee as a their new starting SG, a guy Joerger coached and knows well, they are more apt to steal him away with minimal resistance.
A 3 year 24 million contract offer ought to get 'er done!!!
The first three names are more appealing to me than Lee, but Lee is a legit baller who defends, fights through screens (something Marco never did and Rondo rarely does) and plays the game the right way, and will a significant upgrade over Ben.
The bottom line is Vlade did well....strategic and timely and setting to steer the Titanic away from the iceberg. My eyes and ears could not have taken another year of Marco flailing and bailing and excuse making.
Share your comments on this trade below....agree or disagree.
