Well, see you in a different uniform next season IT

pshn80 said:
The title of this thread from the first put me off as being mean spirited and it still does. It has the air of being happy that he's gone. I know that's how many of you look upon him. I don't. And I'm not talking about basketball.
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I love what he does for the community and he's a really nice guy. If they retain him as the starting PG of this team, it tells me the Sacramento Kings aren't serious about winning basketball games. I do hold his height against him. It goes against the history of the NBA. Go find any NBA championship team that has had a starting PG at that size that had one of the higher usage rates in the league. You won't. He very well may become the best ever at his but I'd rather let another team find out if they can win big with a player like that. With super freaks at PG like John Wall and Russell Westbrook running around the NBA nowadays, its imperative we have a player at the PG to combat these guys. We had one but they decided to sit him in the corner and make him a SF instead of properly developing him at PG. Thats why I want them to draft Marcus Smart or Elfrid Payton or sign Eric Bledsoe. I want another shot of having a super freak at PG.
 
Čarolija said:
I would LOVE to keep IT but only as a 6th man which also comes with a certain price tag!
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Personally I find that his me-first attitude will end up being a detriment to the team. He may perform better than the starter on an individual level, and would command being a starter, but I feel like he's not the kind of guy who's willing to take a back seat individually to see others (and the team as a whole) perform better. As such I'd be hesitant to even have him as a 6th man. Not unwilling, but hesitant. I could be wrong of course.
 
The current problem with IT is that he thinks that the more points he scores, the better PG he is. When we bring in other PGs to try to replace him, he just tries to put up more points. He has no reason to change his approach because of the cheers he gets when he hits a three or the ooh and aahs when drives to the basket. The casual fan is feeding his ego. The fact that is lost on him is that no matter how many more ppg he gets, the teams win total is not changing. Our team got better when we got Gay, not simply because Gay is a good player, but IT was forced to defer a little more to another player. Thus, making it slightly more of a team game. Imagine if IT would share the ball with the entire lineup.
 
stop this hate.

why did OKC and MIA lose in the playoffs? lack of post scoring and a third player who could put up 20 ppg. the kings have BOTH of those things. if they could just get some defenders, a decent bench, and veterans, they would absolutely wreck teams. stop trying to make us worse!!!
 
CurseOfTheSalmons said:
stop this hate.

why did OKC and MIA lose in the playoffs? lack of post scoring and a third player who could put up 20 ppg. the kings have BOTH of those things. if they could just get some defenders, a decent bench, and veterans, they would absolutely wreck teams. stop trying to make us worse!!!
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no. our overall offense and defense suffers for all that he brings in scoring. i can't believe they are willing to give him that much if that rumor is true. i had him pegged at 4m/yr tops.
 
Big Cuz 15 said:
no. our overall offense and defense suffers for all that he brings in scoring.
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yea, and ben mclemore and the bench had nothing to do with it. that's nonsense and blind hatred.

Albatros said:
The Kings will keep IT up to 6m a year according to Jason Jones (Rumor of course)
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thankfully, i don't think other teams will offer him this much. i hope he stays! 6m is above the mid level exception, right?
 
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Agent23 said:
I love what he does for the community and he's a really nice guy. If they retain him as the starting PG of this team, it tells me the Sacramento Kings aren't serious about winning basketball games. I do hold his height against him. It goes against the history of the NBA. Go find any NBA championship team that has had a starting PG at that size that had one of the higher usage rates in the league. You won't. He very well may become the best ever at his but I'd rather let another team find out if they can win big with a player like that. With super freaks at PG like John Wall and Russell Westbrook running around the NBA nowadays, its imperative we have a player at the PG to combat these guys. We had one but they decided to sit him in the corner and make him a SF instead of properly developing him at PG. Thats why I want them to draft Marcus Smart or Elfrid Payton or sign Eric Bledsoe. I want another shot of having a super freak at PG.
Click to expand...
Albatros said:
The Kings will keep IT up to 6m a year according to Jason Jones (Rumor of course)
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Don't think that's gonna be enough.
 
Livinthedream said:
The current problem with IT is that he thinks that the more points he scores, the better PG he is. When we bring in other PGs to try to replace him, he just tries to put up more points. He has no reason to change his approach because of the cheers he gets when he hits a three or the ooh and aahs when drives to the basket. The casual fan is feeding his ego. The fact that is lost on him is that no matter how many more ppg he gets, the teams win total is not changing. Our team got better when we got Gay, not simply because Gay is a good player, but IT was forced to defer a little more to another player. Thus, making it slightly more of a team game. Imagine if IT would share the ball with the entire lineup.
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And the "casual fan" who attends the games, buys the jerseys, etc. is what helps to pay the salaries for the players.

IT is a work in progress. What I saw towards the end of the season was a player willing to adapt his game to the best advantage of the team, as directed by the coaching staff. He isn't going to be perfect, but he's not the devil incarnate or mule-headed fool some want to make him out to be. IT was put into a role and he did his best at it. I've been very critical of him at times, but I'm wiling to give him the benefit of the doubt and watch and see what happens after he's gotten a training camp with our current roster under his belt.
 
CurseOfTheSalmons said:
stop this hate.

why did OKC and MIA lose in the playoffs? lack of post scoring and a third player who could put up 20 ppg. the kings have BOTH of those things. if they could just get some defenders, a decent bench, and veterans, they would absolutely wreck teams. stop trying to make us worse!!!
Click to expand...
Not nearly that simple.

OKC lost in part because Ibaka was hurt and Brooks runs one of the worst offenses in the league. Miami lost for a number a reason beyond not having more PG scoring, starting with their defense which IT doesn't help. A guy like IT could help Miami btw, but SA still would have beaten them. Not even Melo on Miami changes the outcomes of that series IMO. They needed more defense, more 3&D perimeter players, Wade to not look 45 yrs old, Bosh to not play like a pansy and more youth/athleticism across the board.

That said, if IT can buy into a 6th man role, and that's a big if, I have nor problem keeping him around. A bench spark is quite valuable.

BTW, the 6M ceiling for IT? That's likely because with Rudy opting in and with our pick we're 6M below the tax line. We could of course make some other moves to free up room. That's quite a tight fit though as we need upgrades elsewhere as well.
 
CurseOfTheSalmons said:
stop this hate.

why did OKC and MIA lose in the playoffs? lack of post scoring and a third player who could put up 20 ppg. the kings have BOTH of those things. if they could just get some defenders, a decent bench, and veterans, they would absolutely wreck teams. stop trying to make us worse!!!
Click to expand...

Careful, your starting to lose touch with reality. Miami and Oklahoma lost because they got beat by a better team.
 
Albatros said:
The Kings will keep IT up to 6m a year according to Jason Jones (Rumor of course)
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Sounds more like a planned leak, than a rumor. Jason Jones doesn't usually report a rumor without saying it's a rumor. This is similar to the Tyreke situation, where the team leaked how high we would be willing to go to keep him. In reality we didn't want to keep him unless we could keep him at a discount. Might be the same situation with IT. I see a sign and trade in the future.
 
bajaden said:
I hate to beat a dead horse, but if the Kings can resign IT for a fair price, and play him as our backup 6th man, then I'd love to have him back. But not as our starter. It has nothing to do with hating IT. I like IT! Just not as our starter.
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i agree with all of this.

And depending on what happens Thursday with who is still available at #8 and if any trades are available for us (Rondo) we might have to continue using Isaiah as the starter for a little while
 
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Albatros said:
The Kings will keep IT up to 6m a year according to Jason Jones (Rumor of course)
Click to expand...
Jason jones blah. I hate seeing his name. Has to be the worst beat reporter for any team in professional sports. He writes nothing interesting and doesn't care enough about fans or the team to even get any breaking reports about the kings.
 
CurseOfTheSalmons said:
stop this hate.

why did OKC and MIA lose in the playoffs? lack of post scoring and a third player who could put up 20 ppg. the kings have BOTH of those things. if they could just get some defenders, a decent bench, and veterans, they would absolutely wreck teams. stop trying to make us worse!!!
Click to expand...

If I could just get some botox done and a nice face-lift or two and really really worked out a lot, I could be an underwear model!
 
Full quote for context, but why bother with context when we can continue the IT twitter freakouts:

“It would mean a lot,” Thomas said of receiving an offer sheet from the Lakers. “Not even just the Lakers, but just to have other teams trying to get you, it means you’re wanted. Like I’ve said in interviews before, I just want to be wanted. I want to be wanted for being 5’9 and I want to be wanted for being a scoring point guard. That’s all that I can say. If that’s the Lakers, I’d be happy. If that’s the Kings, then I’d be happy. I just want to be wanted and I want to win.”
Read more at http://www.basketballinsiders.com/n...ens-up-about-free-agency/#f0dkQpWhz71y0W5s.99
 
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LPKingsFan said:
Full quote for context, but why bother with context when we can continue the IT twitter freakouts:

“It would mean a lot,” Thomas said of receiving an offer sheet from the Lakers. “Not even just the Lakers, but just to have other teams trying to get you, it means you’re wanted. Like I’ve said in interviews before, I just want to be wanted. I want to be wanted for being 5’9 and I want to be wanted for being a scoring point guard. That’s all that I can say. If that’s the Lakers, I’d be happy. If that’s the Kings, then I’d be happy. I just want to be wanted and I want to win.”
Read more at http://www.basketballinsiders.com/n...ens-up-about-free-agency/#f0dkQpWhz71y0W5s.99
Click to expand...

That's actually a very revelatory context on a number of fronts.
 
More:

“I have a lot [of goals],” Thomas said. “I want to be an All-Star; I’ve always said that when given an opportunity, I can showcase that I can play at a very high level and numbers don’t lie. I think the next thing in my career is just winning, and winning takes care of all of the individual success. I know with the numbers that I have, if I lead a team to wins then those accolades will come. I’m just going to continue to work and continue to try to reach my goals and win. … I feel like I’ve gotten a lot of better in the last few years. I was watching actually film of my rookie year a few weeks ago and I was like, ‘I didn’t even look good!’ I felt like I wasn’t even that good. The jump that I’ve made, I think it’s going to happen every year just because of the work I’ve put in. I’m ready for every opportunity that’s thrown at me. I’m ready to show the world that I can play at a high level. This summer, I’m going to keep working too. I’m continuing to work on shooting, but also working on my off-hand passing and learning how to pass through traffic. I just want to keep getting better at being a passer and making my teammates better.”

Read more at http://www.basketballinsiders.com/n...ens-up-about-free-agency/#Ceg0tq7gKfEv35lD.99

Really, you can read from these whatever you like. There's also some stuff about his relationship with Malone, hopes for the Kings next season, etc.
 
His mindset doesn't fit in with our team dynamic of Boogie/Rudy being the top options. He shouldn't even be the 3rd option but rather a bench option. Nothing he's said tells me he'd be on board with that scenario.

His first priority appears to be proving any doubters wrong. He also seems far too concerned with his numbers.
 
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