Glad to see this thread has inspired debate.
I'm quite happy with the rebuild at this point. Folks have focused in on Salmons, which is fine, but I'm of the mind that he's somewhat irrelevant to this discussion--he's not really a core rebulding piece. I see Salmons as a short-term (1-2 year) stop gap who provides the team with much of what they need at the SF position until a long-term upgrade is acquired. He's not the perfect fit by any means, but Salmons is a clear upgrade at SF. Also, his contract and age are made more palpatible when you consider the Kings' league lowest payroll and mean age of 23 or so ...
But back to the point: my thoughts on the rebuild. Lets consider the backcourt rotation of Fredette, Thornton, and Evans. I'm surprised that fans aren't hyped about this rotation because they may very well team up to form an offensive powerhouse. Petrie has done a very good job surrounding Evans with shooters who can play off the ball and create their own shots. Defenses will have to pick their poison: double Evans and leave Jimmer or Marcus open or single Evans and watch him drive to the rim.
I've also noticed some discussion about point guard play and it's important to specify exactly what we mean by "ball handlers" and "distrubuters." IMO, ballhandlers are able to break a press, get the ball across the timeline quickly, and initiate the offense. Your definition may differ, but let me define distrubuters next. Effective distrubuters tend to rack up assist numbers in the open and half court by drawing defenders and using their vision to find the open man. In regards to the Kings, I consider Fredette their ballhandler. The rub is that since he probably will not start, this may be an issue. But, in terms of the rebuilding discussion, I believe that Fredette will ultimately start over Thornton, who I envision as the perfect guard "sparkplug" a la Bobby Jackson, so this issue may be short-term. I'm sure that Fredette will also distrubute some, especially off pick and rolls, but I think that Evans will remain the primary halfcourt distrubuter, especially now that he has very good outside shooters to kick out to in Thornton and Fredette.
Now Backcourt defense is a different story. Evans has the phyiscal profile and "feel" to become a very good defender, but he must improve his conditioning, focus, and motivation. Thornton is scrappy defender with a strong body, but he lacks the foot speed to guard quicker PGs. Fredette will probably be the biggest defensive liability of the three. Thus, if the Kings roll with Fredette, Thornton, and Evans as their 3 guard rotation, they will need some legitimate team defenders and weak side shot blockers to compensate.
On to the SF position, a point of contention around these parts, so it seems. In regards to rebuilding, I consider this the weakest position. Again, this stance is mostly because I don't consider Salmons a rebuilding piece (the same goes for Garcia). That leaves the Kings with Greene and Honeycutt. This is a make-or-break year for Greene as his contract expires. As some have alluded to, he is probably destined for 10th players status on the ro-ro, but lengthy defenders who can guard big SFs and stretch PFs are important these days, so I see him as a kind of low cost specialist who wont complain--not so bad, all things considered. Honeycutt is intriguing but it's way too early to tell. I like his size, defensive potential, vision, and shot, but we will see how that translates to the NBA.
IMO the beauty of the SF spot for this team is that there's enough offensive fire power at the other positions for the starter to be a young defensive specialist/glue guy who can hit corner 3's. The Kings don't need much else, just a guy who can defend and keep defenses honest. Now these types are not necessarily easy to acquire--otherwise the Kings would already have one--but they are sure easier to find than the pieces already in place. In regards to Salmons, this is the only place I see him as relevant to the conversation: his bloated contact will be hard to move, so even if the Kings find a younger option that they like at SF, they must figure out how to move Salmons. It's not like this is a total imperative though, worse case scenario he can just brood on the bench a la Kenny Thomas--the Kings have lots of cash...
As to the front court, I'm pretty happy with the Hickson, Thompson, and Cousins rotation. Similar to the backcourt, there's plenty of offensive potential, especially with Cousins and Hickson. Both players are pretty raw however, so I'm a little concerned with chemistry, shooting percentage, and turnovers. You can also presume that they will get burnt defensively quite a bit. Nonetheless, many teams would kill to have a couple of young front court pieces with loads of potential on their roster. I would just be very careful with the development process and try to use Thompson as a role model as much as possible. Thompson seems like the consumate professional and his motor is truly admirable. For rebuilding purposes, acquiring a veteran big man that has "been there and done that," demanding some respect, should be a priority. If that continue to be Dalembert, fine, he seems like a leader who is willing to share, plus he brings much needed defense. Whiteside as a 5th big waiting in the wings is a real luxury and he may ultimately develop into that weakside shot blocker that the Kings covet, providing spot minutes at center when weaker defenders, like Fredette, are in.
Looking over my post, I'm definetly an optimistic Kings fan--always have been. But I'm really excited to see how these pieces fit, especially Fredette, Thornton, Evans, and Cousins. I'm still trying to figure out how Hickson fits on both side of the floor if he's made a starter, but I'm still thankful that the Kings managed to pick him up because of what he's accomplished AND his potential.
As an aside, I liked Casspi's potential but Hickson is an upgrade. Folks are making too much of the pick IMO, as it's HEAVILY protected. In fact, the Kings only lose the pick IF they make the playoffs next year. Now, if the Kings make the playoffs with a mean age of 23 or so, exactly how important is another draftee?
Sorry for the long post.
KOTJ
Sounds like a dysfunctional marriage... let's not go there....
