i would happily part with $5-7 million per for isaiah thomas to return in a sixth man's role, and not a penny more. above that, i pass, no questions asked. with a powerhouse duo of cousins/gay who are capable of dropping 50 a night a la shaq/kobe, the kings are not in desperate need of scoring. they are in desperate need of defensive help, though, and isaiah thomas simply doesn't fit that bill. personally, i'd package him in a trade before the deadline while his value remains so high. the kings could very well net a piece or two that better balances their roster...
What is our PG worth? SI takes a stab at it.
- Thread starter Chubbs
- Start date
offer him 4yr/12m or 4yr/16m (last year unguaranteed or team option) if he balks ship him out before the trade deadline. if this team is serious about contending for a championship, 5-10m a year for a undersized 2 guard is insanity. if gay is part of the future, he will command around 10m a year. we need to balance out the rest of the roster with some solid vets and injection of talented youth. IT's value is at an all time high, time to cash in on it.
they should try to package him w/ an undesirable contract for a ender or youth + pick(s). IT is playing for a new contract. you know damn well when his agent comes to the negotiating table, he will pull out all those me-first stats and demand something ridiculous. gerbil needs to man up and move him while he has a bunch of value.
i'd much rather see the kings attempt to move thomas for some veteran talent, if at all possible. if cousins and gay are the kings' dynamic duo going forward, then they just need to properly fill in the gaps. they already have the raw and developing ben mclemore on the roster, as well as ray mccallum and an upcoming 2014 lottery pick to add to the puzzle. in my mind, adding more youth is no longer the goal. rudy gay has quite emphatically and quite stubbornly proven me wrong; he's made this team considerably better, and cousins has rather definitely arrived amongst the nba elite. the time to make a playoff push is next season. this team needs veterans who can adequately defend and help shoulder the leadership role when things get tough...
we'll be looking at the end of the lottery if the vet is good. imo, we need to be dumping some contracts and getting some capspace to pick a vet considering how good this draft is expected to be.
scenario 1 pair IT with MT for ender + pick or youth. use that capspace in the offseason to sign a vet or trade the capspace for vet. yeah, we suck for another season but we might get a game changer in what is touted to be best draft since 2003.
scenario 2 trade for vet. if he is any good, we'll be looking at more wins in the column and losing out in the draft process. cousins, gay, maccallum, m16, vet, lower draft pick (might miss out on the game changer at top of draft)
i agree that we need to be looking at the playoffs next year. this team has 2 solid pieces in cousins & gay. we need to put some more supporting players around them.
scenario 1 pair IT with MT for ender + pick or youth. use that capspace in the offseason to sign a vet or trade the capspace for vet. yeah, we suck for another season but we might get a game changer in what is touted to be best draft since 2003.
scenario 2 trade for vet. if he is any good, we'll be looking at more wins in the column and losing out in the draft process. cousins, gay, maccallum, m16, vet, lower draft pick (might miss out on the game changer at top of draft)
i agree that we need to be looking at the playoffs next year. this team has 2 solid pieces in cousins & gay. we need to put some more supporting players around them.
sneer all you want, but in the last ten games, cousins and gay have combined to average 49 ppg on 55% shooting (191-346), and a 6-4 record. i wasn't claiming that cousins/gay would be as dominant as shaq/kobe, but simply that, as a duo, cousins and gay are capable of shouldering a similar scoring load...
I would re-sign IT at about 4 years 30mil if I was Pete D'Alessandro. IT is worth it and at the same time we can still look for a starting PG. Until then we do have a serviceable player in IT. IT was scoring something like 19ppg off the bench at about 28mpg which is pretty good for a bench guy. We need that kick off the bench because since IT moved to the starting lineup we have had issues with bench scoring.
My only worries was is we get a PG like Rondo then I can see Malone playing him and IT together. That would be bad to have a 6'1 and 5'9 backcourt.
My only worries was is we get a PG like Rondo then I can see Malone playing him and IT together. That would be bad to have a 6'1 and 5'9 backcourt.
This is a TOUGH conundrum! We can be sure teams will make offers over 5 mill per, and we also know that IT can CONSISTENTLY score big so the Kings will have to decide first, do they want him to continue as a starter? (Hope not) Second what is he worth to US as a TOP 6th man? OKC thought 10 mill per was too much for Harden to come off the bench, so Houston got him, but now have a 10 mill a year PG who has some of the worst defense in the league, this might indicate that we will have to let him walk if we do not want him to start, I am ok with that but I will say that i would LOVE to see IT playing off the bench behind a good steady PG.
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The FO needs to ask IT what his ball park number is so that we can decide whether to trade him or not come deadline. I think we can get a quality player in return for him just have to do it soon while IT is hot. His stars are obviously through the roof for a pg but they are highly inflated numbers due to our system. He would never play in a team like Greg Popovich for example cause he's too short and can't play defense worth squat.
Agreed...Cousins and Gay are absolutely 2 guys we can build around going forward. Need to surround them with the pieces now and I think we have some of those pieces unless they price themselves out. IT at a reasonable contract is a keeper......IT at an inflated contract puts a great deal of pressure and need for Ben to develop to be the player the FO thinks he can be. We still need a few pieces....I'd be afraid if IT is signed for too much, we are stuck at .500
Shaq and Kobe were both two-way players. Shaq was a beast on the boards, a mobile shot-blocker, and a huge scoring threat. Kobe, in his heyday, was a lockdown perimeter defender.
Gay plays pretty good defense on a regular basis. Cousins less so. That is the major difference that I see between the shaq-kobe comparison.
Gay plays pretty good defense on a regular basis. Cousins less so. That is the major difference that I see between the shaq-kobe comparison.
After Cousins extension, and if Gay decides not to opt out, a likely scenario, then the Kings, barring any future moves between now and then, will be hock for $68,026,204.00 in salaries, and that's without resigning Thomas. Sign Thomas for 8 mil, and you now owe $76 million in salaries. Throw in a first round and your up another 3 to 4 mil, depending on where we pick, and not were up to $80 mil in salaries and well into the luxury tax. That is a ton of money for a non playoff team, and a team so in hock, its impossible to make any other significant moves. Yeah, in the following year we'll have some salary relief in losing Thornton and Outlaw, and maybe resigning Gay to a lesser contract in the 14 mil range, but we would still be over the regular salary cap when its all said and done.
This isn't a matter of what Thomas is worth around the league, but what he's worth to us, and what were willing to pay for what he brings. So the question is, do you think Thomas is a starting PG that can lead you to a championship? Not just the playoffs, but a championship? If not, then you don't pay that much money for him. If you box yourself into a corner financially, you'd better be sure you have all your ducks in a row, because your flexibility is gone. Yes, you can always figure out a way to shed salary eventually, but why would you put yourself in that position to begin with. You never want to take steps that you'll have to undo if you can avoid it.
This isn't a matter of what Thomas is worth around the league, but what he's worth to us, and what were willing to pay for what he brings. So the question is, do you think Thomas is a starting PG that can lead you to a championship? Not just the playoffs, but a championship? If not, then you don't pay that much money for him. If you box yourself into a corner financially, you'd better be sure you have all your ducks in a row, because your flexibility is gone. Yes, you can always figure out a way to shed salary eventually, but why would you put yourself in that position to begin with. You never want to take steps that you'll have to undo if you can avoid it.