Who do you think should start?
- Thread starter Andre87
- Start date
91sickness
Bench
I agree with Rug King, not sure if JT will be ready to start right away, but my midseason hopefully the job will be his.
Aenadin
Starter
if Jason Thompson bulks up and shows his athlethicism then YES he definitely should start... its not a bad idea to get his feet wet together with hawes.. see what kind of tandem they will come up with
i feel this will be a Vlade Webber Duo V.2.
with hawes being the center that can pass and Thompson being the PF that can pass too.. im not saying they will be as good as both... they can be better.. IF things go right for us...
i feel this will be a Vlade Webber Duo V.2.
with hawes being the center that can pass and Thompson being the PF that can pass too.. im not saying they will be as good as both... they can be better.. IF things go right for us...
Sptsjunkie
Starter
I say start Shelden. JT shouldn't be thrown into the first to start the year (though he might start by the end) and Mikki is best utilized off of the bench and only a trade chip for his contract. I say we start Shelden to begin the year and see what we have with him. Also, if Shelden puts up any type of numbers in starters minutes, it will greatly increase his trade value.
Start Thompson. Bring Williams off the bench. And tell Mikki Moore to **** Mikki Moore.
tyrant
Starter
i voted for shelden. we are not going anywhere with moore as our starting pf. he's proved that he's worth nothing. bench him immediately. shelden hasnt gotten many minutes. and he deserves the same chance that we gave mikki and kenny thomas. if he cant get it done then at least we'd know thats 1 more guy that we dont need.
I'm inclined to agree. Nothing against Mikki, but we need to figure out what we have with Williams this season and we need to develop Thompson alongside Hawes since they are at least in theory the front court of our future.
FakeInjury
Bench
Technically, i would want one of the new guys to start, preferably our lottery pick. But, i would totally understand if he doesn't want to produce. Some people, whether they work for it or not, just cant seem to grab some statistics. For example, im 5-7, and a decent defender, but i cant get a block unless im standing under the guy. If he is deficient in any statistic, he will be benched, because we all know that the chances of 6-10 and shooting the 3 well, is not happiening. If he starts, its still going to be nerve racking because of rookie mistakes like inability to box another player out moment by moment. He has the physical tools, im not sure about his agility, but i like the raw ability. Hopefully we wont be calling him ason at the end of the year because he has no J.
bajaden
Hall of Famer
Well, what I would want and what will be, are probably two different things. I sincerly doubt that they will start JT at the beginning of the season. There's always the possiblility that he will exceed expections at picking up the offense and defense, and that would be great, but I doubt it.
I think that they would love to insert Thompson into the game at a pt where he can have the best possible chance to succeed. Let him build his confidence. Who knows, maybe after 20 or 30 games into the season he'll be playing so well that they'll have to start him.
Best case scenaro, I think, is to start Sheldon and have Mikki as the all purpose back-up to the center and PF position. In truth, I wish he could be included in some trade just to open up playing time. What I think will happen is that Mikki will start along with Miller. And then some combinination of Sheldon , Hawes, Thompson will come off the bench.
I think that they would love to insert Thompson into the game at a pt where he can have the best possible chance to succeed. Let him build his confidence. Who knows, maybe after 20 or 30 games into the season he'll be playing so well that they'll have to start him.
Best case scenaro, I think, is to start Sheldon and have Mikki as the all purpose back-up to the center and PF position. In truth, I wish he could be included in some trade just to open up playing time. What I think will happen is that Mikki will start along with Miller. And then some combinination of Sheldon , Hawes, Thompson will come off the bench.
bajaden
Hall of Famer
Having seen the guy play, I can quell some of your fears. He can jump, run, is very athletic, not a freak athlete, but very athletic, he's very agile, can shoot from the outside, is a very good passer and has a decent post game.
Two areas of need, and I said need, not concern, are getting stronger, which should happen over a period of time and to become a little better post player.
One thing you have to remember is that he went to college for four years, so he's more fundamentally sound than some of the other guys that are in the draft. There are exceptions, such as Kevin Love who is very fundamentally sound for a guy that was just a freshman.
My point is that he should be able to pick things up easier than a kid one year removed from highschool.
PurpleHaze
All-Star
I can't say until training camp and pre-season is complete. Mikki Moore presumably has starting PF until someone beats him out. Since Coach Theus has always said starting positions and amount of minutes awarded are based on effective play and hard effort - I'm sure he has no favorite. I'd love to see JT come in as a 21 year old rookie and win the job - but he shouldn't be just handed it for nothing. Same thing with Spencer Hawes - he needs to earn starting center job.
LPKingsFan
All-Star
I'd like to see Jason start, but I'll wait until I at least see him in summer league before stating so with any certainty. But given that he's a senior, I'd expect him to be reasonably ready to play right away. I could see Reggie starting Mikki in the first few games, but giving Jason at least 20 minutes off the bench. We'll see.
The big thing I see would be trading Brad. That way you could slide Mikki to the 5, and start Jason and Mikki together, if you don't think Spencer's quite ready yet. The key, to me at least, is getting Jason and Spencer the majority of the minutes (25 at least) at their respective positions. Mikki, I could see coming off the bench for 20 minutes or so. But not so with Brad.
The big thing I see would be trading Brad. That way you could slide Mikki to the 5, and start Jason and Mikki together, if you don't think Spencer's quite ready yet. The key, to me at least, is getting Jason and Spencer the majority of the minutes (25 at least) at their respective positions. Mikki, I could see coming off the bench for 20 minutes or so. But not so with Brad.
Gary
All-Star
We should start Thompson but probably will start Moore. Williams is probably going to ride out the rest of his contract on the bench. Remember, Thompson is 22 years old, and is a 4 year college player. More apt to start in the NBA than freshman that came out..
Also, Thompson had great games against other players that are looking to get significant NBA minutes this year.
Also, Thompson had great games against other players that are looking to get significant NBA minutes this year.
I would like to see Thompson start and Shelden Williams as his backup. Of course, I'm not the coach, with a reputation and job to protect. Theus is going to do what gets him the most wins RIGHT NOW, the future be damned. Mikki starts until Thompson pushes him out of the way, and Shelden will be seen only in garbage time.
Entity
Hall of Famer
I am by no means a Mikki Moore appologist. BUT he did do exactly what we brought him here for. he did not dissappiont in that aspect. We paid him based on what he did in NJ.
With NJ 9.8pts 5.1reb 0.9ast
With us 8.5pts 6reb 1ast
lost one point but also shot less but gained a rebound. I don't thing GP was expecting 20pts 10reb I think they may have wanted more reb but all in all I think they got what they expected. After all you can't get a Swan out of a Buzzard.
With NJ 9.8pts 5.1reb 0.9ast
With us 8.5pts 6reb 1ast
lost one point but also shot less but gained a rebound. I don't thing GP was expecting 20pts 10reb I think they may have wanted more reb but all in all I think they got what they expected. After all you can't get a Swan out of a Buzzard.
steelevt
All-Star
i really dont think our #12 pick is ready to start in the NBA. let mikki start, and have thompson learn a bit and see how he does in practice. unless thompson has a phenomenal summer league, i think he should learn first then after a few games/weeks see where it goes from there. its a big responsibility to start on an NBA team, and some rookies arent ready for it. lets not try to force anything throwing him to the wolves. those wolves being dirk, duncan, amare, west etc.
Vlade4GM
All-Star
What does where he's picked have to do with anything? Much lower picks have started in their rookie years.
If he has the ability to play above our other PF's, then he's ready to start; if not then he has no business being in the NBA. Rookie or not he's an NBA player and that means he's got to play against NBA players. There's no point in hiding him, he's not an 18 year old straight out of HS, he's 22 and played all 4 years in college.
J
jdbraver
Guest
Honestly, I haven't watch JT enough to know what skill level he has.
Gary
All-Star
3 year starter, 4 year college player. 22 years old (when he suits up), and he is already our best PF. Nice passing but a lot had to do with him playing with his brother, and them using the two man game. I saw a couple of the games this year but it was highly compressed and crappy quality.
One thing for certain. I want his brother on the Kings. Those two played VERY well together. Problem is that his brother plays 2guard. Ryan and Jason are the real deal though. I think the Kings fans will be happy with Thompson.
One thing for certain. I want his brother on the Kings. Those two played VERY well together. Problem is that his brother plays 2guard. Ryan and Jason are the real deal though. I think the Kings fans will be happy with Thompson.
steelevt
All-Star
you're right, his draft position shouldnt determine if he starts or not, but i personally think a higher pick seems like more of a sure thing and, depending on the situation, would usually start due to them being drafted by a crappy team that needs them to start, like lebron, durant, dwight howard, or carmelo.
what i dont understand is why everyone is so quick to say "dont judge thompson or say anything bad about him, he hasnt played a minute in the nba." yet you are ready to start him even though he hasnt played a minute in the nba. kind of a double standard. all i said was let mikki, our starting PF, start and see what thompson does before we start him. we havent ween him against nba talent let at least see how he does against other rookies in summerleague before you throw him against the NBA PFs on the first day of the season. but hey if you think he should start right away thats your opinion.
Vlade4GM
All-Star
That's fine, but I'm not down for just writing him off as a starter just because he's a rookie or protecting him or something. If he can play, he can play; and it's not like he has the stiffest competition with Mikki and Shelden. You're kind of jumping the gun here, I think most people here believe his starting should be contingent on whether he performs well in the SPL and training camp, if he totally bombs or something obviously he shouldn't start. If he does well, then why not start him? People make too big of a deal about starting games, like it's going to screw with their minds that they're coming into a game at the start instead of in the middle, it isn't as big of a deal as it's made out to be; he's got to start playing first string players eventually. Might as well get a real taste at what he should be expecting rather than being coddled.
Andre87
Bench
why trade Brad and not trade Mikki???!!! Brad is the best passing center in the nba and he can really make plays with his passing from the high post and he can take away centers from the key because of his good midrange shot unlke Mikki who is a major offensive liability and has the worst hands in the nba. Plus Brad had his comeback season last year and again started to rebound well.
