Who would you go after?

[Bricklayer]

Assuming:

a) we decided to make a move, and broke into our cache of kids and bigs (Landry + Donte, whatever); and
b) decided to make use of our capspace now by taking back more salaary than we traded away, rather than save it for the summer; and
c) decided to add a major piece/dependable 2nd/3rd option at one of our unsettled positions by consolidating talent; but
d) weren't going to get stupid and chase old guys or guys wiht max contracts

Taking into account, age, contract, what it would get them, fit etc., which of the folowing potentially, maybe, theoretically available players would you go after:

Andre Igoudala -- Age:26; Contract 4yrs $56.5mil; SF/SG does most everything, rebounds, passes, defends, bigtime athlete, not a shooter nor bigtime scorer. Overpaid?
Josh Smith -- Age: 25; Contract 3yrs $37.2mil; SF/PF (NOT the other way around) hyper athletic, shotblocker, not great ballhandler, formerly dumb
Marvin Williams -- Age: 24; Contract: 4yrs $30mil; SF/PF (too weenie for PF), decent scorer/shooter, not a second option, maybe not a 3rd. How much better than Omri/Greene?
Gerald Wallace -- Age: 28; Contract: 3yrs $32.0mil; SF/PF (NOT the other way around) only be dealt for salary reasons, does all the bigtime athletic things, rebounds, defends, shaky shooter, injury prone
Jeff Green -- Age: 24; Contract: 1yr $4.5mil; SF/PF (NOT the other way around), second tier outside/in skills, ender will be lookng for major pay raise
Tayshaun Prince -- Age: 30; Contract: 1yr $11.3mil; SF defensive roleplayer, not really 2nd or even 3rd option stuff, has won, ending contract
Ben Gordon -- Age: 27; Contract: 4yrs $48.0mil; SG/PG (PG only due to height) major shooter, does nothing else, Kevin part 2?
Jamaal Crawford -- Age: 30; Contract: 1yr $10.1mil; SG/PG shooter, ender, selfish

 

[KingsInBrazil]

My vote goes to Josh Smith, I have always been a big fan of him... hes a great defender who would immediately turn the Kings a great defensive team if put together with Dalembert in the starting 5... but I really dont know if theres any realistic way to get him off atlanta withou giving up too much...

A line-up of Evans, Garcia, Smith, Cousins and Dalembert would have everything the Kings need to win right now...

A) Evans dribble-penetration and score/dish to Garcias greatly improved shooting..
B) Size starting by backcourt with Evans defending the other team point guards while Garcia (who has always been a good defender IMO) on the other team SG
C) Outside D with Smith, he could easily guard the other team best player
D) Post scoring with Cousins and some extra size/rebounding once Big Cuz start to get out of foul trouble
E) Inside D with Samy-D.

Expendable players along with picks in my opinion would be either Landry or Thompson and Greene plus taking back some extra cash with our cap space like u stated...

The package should be something like this:
Greene and Landry plus a lottery-protected 1st round pick
Greene and Thompson plus a lottery-protected 1st round pick

IF the Hawks thinks thats not enough we could offer Beno Udrih if they could lure a 3rd team to give us a backup point guard to make up for that...

 

[KingsInBrazil]

Andre Iguodala would also be a good addition and would probably take less to have him but Id still prefer Josh Smith and still think hes a better fit.. I dont like adding none of the others mentioned thought.. Id rather stick with what we have right now

just saying...

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Assuming all of these were available for a Landry/Donte-type deal, I would go in order of preference:

Wallace: Best contract of the bunch. Yes, he's injury-prone. Yes, he's done all of his damage as a #1 option and would probably have to take a backseat to Tyreke here. But he's a true 3, he brings big-time effort and would help both the D and the O.

Smith: Athletic. Shotblocker. Not a whole lot of offense, but does pull some exciting highlight reels. Defense is more interior (where Dalembert, maybe Whiteside will make an interior contribution maybe less important).

Iguodala: Overpaid. But great perimeter D, and will certainly be OK with 'Reke/Cuz being in front of him on O. I wouldn't mind running out an Evans/Iggy/Omri line with Garcia and Beno off the bench. Might actually be the best fit, position-wise.

Green: I think he's a step down from the guys above. Not sure how much money he's going to want, so unless Donte is rally in the doghouse I might rather hold onto the extra "e".

I'm not really excited about any of the others, certainly not in trade. Prince, if his D is what we really need, can probably be had in FA. It's not like we're going to win this year anyway.

 

[BMiller52]

Tayshaun Prince is the best fit. Long defender at the 3 which is where we struggle, and he can handle the ball and spot up for 3s. He fits this team perfectly.

 

[asakkings]

I would have said no to Tayshaun Prince earlier but I think our team needs a good veteran with a winning attitude, especially on the D. I hate to make cross sport comparisons but Richard Seymore's trade has done wonders for the Raiders locker room, I am not a Raiders fan either.

I also wouldn't mind getting Battier from Rockets, I am sure they will be willing to trade him if they keep losing.

 

[asakkings]

How about somebody like Brandon Rush, I liked him in Kansas and I dont think he's getting too much burn with Pacers.

 

[Prince_XY]

1.) Andre Igoudala
2.) Tayshaun Prince
3.) Gerald Wallace

Iguodola is the perfect candidate among the listed players just because he clearly is a SG/SF and very young and can still grow together with our young players. He also plays two positions we need to improve on urgently. The downside on him is his expensive contract.

Tayshaun Prince with his relatively short contract is also attractive. He can be a very good mentor to our young SFs (Casspi and Greene) for a year. If we get him, I'd rather trade Landry and Thomspon for him. With Thompson out, Greene can now play either PF/SF which I think suit him more while we wait for Whiteside to develop. A future rotation in our frontline of Cousins, Greene, and Whiteside seems good.

Gerald Wallace might be okay, but I am fraid Westphal might go extremes on the rotation again and play him regularly at PF.

I don't want to get Josh Smith for the simple reason that Westphal might not be able to see that he very well fit as a SF for our team and play him at the PF/C.

 

[UK_King]

I've no idea why atl would trade him but obviously Josh Smith.

Guy is a monster.

 

[TTown Kings]

Michael Beasley would've been nice. Just sayin'...

 

[UK_King]

Beasley hasn't really done anything to special apart from against us... go figure.

 

[asakkings]

No love for Battier? I would like to have a real professional like him here. Tyreke would have to compete against him everyday in practice and the team will see how hard he prepares for his defensive assignments.

 

[KingsInBrazil]

I'm not a big fan of Battier, hes an excellent defender but thats about it.. hes not that consistent of a shooter nor cant make a drive to save his life, not a hustler or great passer... IMO even Iguodala or Prince are a lot better than him.. but like I said I'd rather have Josh Smith even thought Atlanta wouldnt give him up just yet... they are contenders in the East and Josh is a great part of that...


EDIT: But you guys want to know whats really funny about this thread?

Most of the mentioned guys are from teams we have recently traded with:
Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, Jamaal Crawford, Hawks: we traded Bibby to them
Shane Battier, Rockets: Kevin Martin for Landry
Andre Iguodala, Sixers: Hawes and Noche for Dalembert

Only the Pistons, OKC and the Bobcats left for us to make a proposed trade... OKC wont trade for our young "talent" since they are already stacked with that.. Pistons and Bobcats left
T. Prince (OK), B. Gordon (No thanks, we already have LUTHER HEAD! bingo!) and G. Wallace (OK)

After all.. in my honest opiinion Prince and Wallace are the only real targets we could go after...

 

[Arby's Roast Beef]

Everyone wants Iggy, don't think it's feasible. Philly desperately needs bigs that can play on the defensive side of the ball, but they obviously won't take Dalembert back (even though they might have regretted sacking him in retrospect). They have a glut of versatile athletic wings like Young, Iggy, Turner and combo guards like Lou Will and Holiday. They might want Donte Greene, Thompson, but probably not Landry as he's eerily similar to Speights. We can give away Greene, Thompson and a first if that's what it takes I think, but we'll have a couple of questionable shooters out there with Reke and Iggy out there. But I like the idea with the defensive potential and versatile guys who can play three positions offensively and defensively is the way to go in this league. Iggy also has enough tricks in his game to sustain his production, he's always been incredibly underrated in this league.

Josh Smith will take a lot to pry away--Atlanta's realizing with Marvin Williams getting injured their house of cards is collapsing--great starting lineup, lousy bench. ATL's strength is their frontcourt--Williams, Smith, and Horford all have impacts that are greater than their stats alone, which in particular is amazing for Smith since he's an absolute stat stuffer. He's been a past headcase but is making way better decisions and seems to have improved his free throw touch, so I'm pretty sure he's not available. If he was, it would take getting rid of someone like Cousins as well as some of our other good prospects, which may or may not be worth it.

Gerald Wallace is a guy who probably won't fit in--he's sustaining well, but he's nearing 30 and his game is still incredibly based on athleticism so a steep dropoff might occur in the next several seasons. If it doesn't, the injuries might take him out unfortunately. Won't fit what we're trying to accomplish here.

I still like Prince as that underrated guy who's great for cog championship teams, because a guy like him in a terrible team like Detroit just wouldn't ever have a chance of working. Not for us.

The other guys are just purely forgettable.

 

[hrdboild]

Wallace, Igoudala, or Smith. Each one fills a different niche. Igoudala could play big SG to Reke's big PG with both able to handle the ball and hold their own on perimeter defense. I think Tyreke's jumper will improve enough in the next 2-3 years that the lack of outside shooting from that backcourt won't be a major issue. The stability of having the starting backcourt locked in for years would be nice as well. Wallace or Smith fit in right away at SF with Casspi moving back to the bench. Josh Smith is younger, taller, and less injury prone which makes him a more effective combo SF/PF but Wallace is cheaper, a significantly better outside shooter, and a more fundamentally sound defensive player (ie less likely to get beat off the dribble or give up position going for a block). With either one we'd need a three point threat at the other guard spot, though I think people tend to under-estimate Wallace's three-point shooting. I'd be happy with any of those three guys. And I'd go to every Kings game I can possibly get to if we managed to bring Wallace back.

As for the rest... I don't think Jeff Green is available. Prince would be a good fit but I'm worried about him breaking down in a couple of years and we don't need a veteran rental for this season. I can't see Crawford co-existing with Tyreke plus he'll probably be expensive to re-sign, I wouldn't pay that much to have Marvin Williams on my team, and Ben Gordon can't guard a chair.

The funny thing is, every time I play the Kings on NBA 2K I always end up trading for one of Josh Smith, Gerald Wallace, or Andre Igoudala so I'm already used to seeing them in a Kings jersey. Once I think I even had all three at once. (Geoff Petrie's dream all-swingman lineup!)

 

[Smills91]

I picked Ben Gordon. I like his fit in the backcourt. He's big enough to guard the big PG's in the league. He can stroke it from deep and has some ball-handling/playmaking skills that would fit well next to Tyreke. He's also a good starter or 6th man candidate. I wouldn't mortgage the farm on him, but if Detroit is looking to cut some salary, I doubt we do better in Free Agency than Ben Gordon and his current contract.

 

[hrdboild]

I picked Ben Gordon. I like his fit in the backcourt. He's big enough to guard the big PG's in the league. He can stroke it from deep and has some ball-handling/playmaking skills that would fit well next to Tyreke. He's also a good starter or 6th man candidate. I wouldn't mortgage the farm on him, but if Detroit is looking to cut some salary, I doubt we do better in Free Agency than Ben Gordon and his current contract.

I like Ben Gordon's shooting next to Tyreke too, but have you seen him play defense? Exactly, because it hasn't happened. I don't think any move which takes our terrible defense and makes it worse is going to be an improvement for this team.

 

[KingsInBrazil]

I picked Ben Gordon. I like his fit in the backcourt. He's big enough to guard the big PG's in the league. He can stroke it from deep and has some ball-handling/playmaking skills that would fit well next to Tyreke. He's also a good starter or 6th man candidate. I wouldn't mortgage the farm on him, but if Detroit is looking to cut some salary, I doubt we do better in Free Agency than Ben Gordon and his current contract.

Correct me if I'm wrong but u just described a guy named Beno Udrih..

Ben Gordon is Beno v2.0 with an improved shot and a waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay bigger contract... thanks, but no thanks?

 

[Big Cuz 15]

Correct me if I'm wrong but u just described a guy named Beno Udrih..

Ben Gordon is Beno v2.0 with an improved shot and a waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay bigger contract... thanks, but no thanks?

yeah, if we are going after a backcourt mate for reke, might as well go for a full sized one. we already have a undersized combo guard that plays well next to reke.

 

[UK_King]

Smith is lighting it up again tonight.

Amazing player.

 

[Uncia03]

Unfortunately I sort of agree with the premise of the thread.
With the banishment of Greene and JT to the netherworld, two of the players who I thought would be pushing to take their games to the next level are stuck in quicksand.
If I had to choose at this point in time to make a trade and take on more salary for a player who I know can produce, I'd rather do that, then watch as the organization allows the value of these players to dwindle to nothing, and then either let them go or sell them for pennies on the dollar.

My preference at this point in time would be to play Donte/Casspi/JT all heavy minutes, hope that they blossom, while shopping Landry. But if we are going to play the trade game, then here is my thinking.

The only two constants for me are Tyreke and Cousins. You build around them. So we know that Tyreke can be a great offensive and defensive player. The main question surrounds Cousins and his defense. I believe that with time he'll be a solid man defender in the post, but he doesn't have the instincts to be an intimidator at the rim.

So if we're going to spend money on a third talent, I'd want that talent to be a superior defensive player, which would have at least 2 of our 3 main players being good defenders.

Taking age into account, to me that leaves either Josh Smith or Andre Igoudala as possible choices.

I think that it would be easier to pry Josh Smith from Atlanta than it would be to get Andre Igoudala from the 76ers.
I think that AI's mentality and maturity would be a far better fit for this team than Josh Smith.
The biggest problem with both of them is that neither of them are good shooters, which means you can't rely on them to space the floor, so you're going to have to make certain that you plug the other positions with floor-spacers.

As long as we played AI primarily as a SG and Josh Smith primarily as a SF, either one of these guys could really help our team.

I would probably lean towards AI, just because I think he's a bit better fit from an emotional/maturity standpoint, and we just have more depth in the front-court, so Josh Smith would be coming in to an already stacked line-up.

With AI, I'd love to see a line-up of:
Tyreke
AI
Casspi
Whiteside/Dalembert
Cousins

With Josh Smith I'd love to see a line-up of:
Tyreke
Garcia
Smith
Whiteside/Dalembert
Cousins

I'll admit that both line-ups lack elite level shooting and potential pass-play. But both of these line-ups should be very good defensively, and physically overwhelming. And I believe that defense and physicality would prevail and allow for a very potent team.

 

[stevetaebo]

I would have said no to Tayshaun Prince earlier but I think our team needs a good veteran with a winning attitude, especially on the D. I hate to make cross sport comparisons but Richard Seymore's trade has done wonders for the Raiders locker room, I am not a Raiders fan either.

I also wouldn't mind getting Battier from Rockets, I am sure they will be willing to trade him if they keep losing.

Excellent Post. I agree with everything and will add nothing.

 

[Prince_XY]

With AI, I'd love to see a line-up of:
Tyreke
AI
Casspi
Whiteside/Dalembert
Cousins

With Josh Smith I'd love to see a line-up of:
Tyreke
Garcia
Smith
Whiteside/Dalembert
Cousins.

Be cautious my friend. A lot of smart people think Dalembert should never play PF. Remember? Dalembert is a center, period!? That was taboo in this board, especially if you'll pair him with another C named Cousins.

I wonder why those people are so quiet now.

 

[Bricklayer]

Be cautious my friend. A lot of smart people think Dalembert should never play PF. Remember? Dalembert is a center, period!? That was taboo in this board, especially if you'll pair him with another C named Cousins.

I wonder why those people are so quiet now.

If Daly and Cousins are both out there, Cousins is the PF.

 

[Smills91]

yeah, if we are going after a backcourt mate for reke, might as well go for a full sized one. we already have a undersized combo guard that plays well next to reke.

Once again theoretics. Please name a name, as a full-sized back court mate for Reke that plays defense, shoots the ball and can handle the rock are, apparently, very rare, and they have to be available for our tradeable assets too. Oh an can't have a long-term contract that's bloated either....APPARENTLY. :rollseyes: But please name names of this backcourt target.

 

[mac]

I'd go for Iguodala, but I'm not thinking in terms of salary and all. Just strictly as a player, not considering what we'd have to do to get him I'd like to go for Iguodala. I was tempted to go for Josh Smith who would give us better inside defence, but I think that with Reke's skillset we need someone who can stretch the defence a little bit more, hit the outside shot etc. And that would be Iguodala more so than anyone I think.

Ben Gordon like you said, would be like having Kevin all over again. Crawford wouldn't work as a secondary option - needs the ball too much, and again I'm trying to avoid having our backcourt contain both our main offensive options.

Gerald Wallace is most similar to A.I. I would think. I'd be ok with him too.

Marvin Williams is interesting and has a better shot than any of our bigs, but seeing as how we already have so many players in our front court I'll pass.

Prince is old.

 

[Smills91]

I'd go for Iguodala, but I'm not thinking in terms of salary and all. Just strictly as a player, not considering what we'd have to do to get him I'd like to go for Iguodala. I was tempted to go for Josh Smith who would give us better inside defence, but I think that with Reke's skillset we need someone who can stretch the defence a little bit more, hit the outside shot etc. And that would be Iguodala more so than anyone I think.

Ben Gordon like you said, would be like having Kevin all over again. Crawford wouldn't work as a secondary option - needs the ball too much, and again I'm trying to avoid having our backcourt contain both our main offensive options.

Gerald Wallace is most similar to A.I. I would think. I'd be ok with him too.

Marvin Williams is interesting and has a better shot than any of our bigs, but seeing as how we already have so many players in our front court I'll pass.

Prince is old.

Iguodala's knock is his inability to hit the 3 ball consistently at a high clip. So I have to disagree with you. Also, Ben Gordon I disagree about being K-Mart 2.0. Ben Gordon is a much better ball-handler and passer than Martin was overall. I don't think Marvin is all that great a fit for our roster quite frankly.

 

[bajaden]

I'm not a big fan of Battier, hes an excellent defender but thats about it.. hes not that consistent of a shooter nor cant make a drive to save his life, not a hustler or great passer... IMO even Iguodala or Prince are a lot better than him.. but like I said I'd rather have Josh Smith even thought Atlanta wouldnt give him up just yet... they are contenders in the East and Josh is a great part of that...


EDIT: But you guys want to know whats really funny about this thread?

Most of the mentioned guys are from teams we have recently traded with:
Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, Jamaal Crawford, Hawks: we traded Bibby to them
Shane Battier, Rockets: Kevin Martin for Landry
Andre Iguodala, Sixers: Hawes and Noche for Dalembert

Only the Pistons, OKC and the Bobcats left for us to make a proposed trade... OKC wont trade for our young "talent" since they are already stacked with that.. Pistons and Bobcats left
T. Prince (OK), B. Gordon (No thanks, we already have LUTHER HEAD! bingo!) and G. Wallace (OK)

After all.. in my honest opiinion Prince and Wallace are the only real targets we could go after...

I don't think you become one of the best defenders in the NBA without hustling. Just saying! Also he's a career 38.6% 3pt shooter. Which is pretty good mi amigo...

 

[bajaden]

Lets see! We need consistent scoring from whoever we obtain. We also need that player to play defense. So were looking for an all around player, and preferly at either the SF or SG positions. Igoudala comes close to answering the bell. His weakness as mentioned is long distance shooting. However he does consistently get his 15 pts per game, and plays outstanding defense. He doesn't help spread the floor though, and if anything helps clog the post a little more. But I'd take him.

Smith has played primarily PF his whole career. A position we seem to have plenty of players capable of playing. So he would have to play SF for us. As with Igoudala, his 3pt shot isn't something to write home about.. But he does bring a very active body that plays above the rim and blocks a lot of shots. As a defender at SF I can see him making an impact. Personally I think SF is the position he should be playing. I like him, but it would depend on what we would have to give up to get him.

Gerold Wallace is one of my favorite players, and the dude can do it all. He's a good scorer whose outside shot has improved, and he's a good defender as well as being one of the better rebounders in the league, and probably the best rebounding SF in the league. There is nothing not to like except for his propensity to injury. If God could give me a guarantee he wouldn't be injured, he would be hands down my first choice. He would bring instant credibility to the team.

Green was one of my favorites coming out of college. I still like him and would love to have him. He's a good rebounder. He's a good defender. He can play outside or inside. He can play SF or PF. He's not a finished product yet, but I think he still has plenty of upside. I just don't see the Thunder letting go of him. But who knows, for the right price?

Prince is more of a one dimensional player. A very good defender who also rebounds well for his position. He would certainly help the team on that side of the court, but not enough on the other side to make a big enough difference for my taste. Wouldn't turn him down by any means, but he's not my first choice.

Gordon is a player that I've never been attracted to. He can score, and thats about it. Not a bad ballhandler and passer either. But not much help at the other end of the floor and undersized to boot. There would certainly be times when his shooting would be a big help, but once again, not my first or second choice.

Crawford is someone that I probably like more than most on this fourm. I watched him play last year quite a bit. I was actually tuning in to see Horford play, but I couldn't help but notice the play of Crawford. He's a better defender than given credit for, and he can definitely score. He's a very good ballhandler and passer and he seems to have become more unselfish than in earlier years. He averaged 18 points a game for the Hawks last year and was and important part to that team. His being 30 years old doesn't help, but he's a good player with several good years left. Once again, he's not my first choice, but I wouldn't mind having him on the team and I think he could bring some stability to the team.

If I had to list the players I'd want in the order I'd pursue them:

1. Wallace
2. Igoudala
3. Green
4. Smith
5. Crawford

Why Green ahead of Smith? Better outside shooter who can do a lot of the other things Smith does. Just not as athletic as Smith. In other words, he's at the moment, more of a complete player.

 

[asakkings]

I like the idea of bringing Wallace in too, plus he brings excitement to the crowd and the team that doesn't show up in the statline.