Zack Randolph

[beb0p]

I think Zach has mellowed a bit with age, people usually do. Your concerns actually make more sense than the "we don't need a 20 and 13 guy" line of thinking, though.

Thanks, I honestly don't mind another 20-10 guy. But NOT THIS ONE. Don't tell me that he has mellowed when his drug operation was busted just last summer. Don't tell me that he doesn't know there is a secret compartment in his vehicle and that he doesn't know what it's for. Don't tell me that he doesn't know one of his crew is transporting illegal substance using his car. The police may not be able to tie this back to him, but don't tell that he is innocent and don't tell me that this is the definition of "being mellow."

 

[funkykingston]

One thing that needs to be considered in these scenarios is that the Kings have two big free agents themselves this summer. One is Landry, who I don't expect back and could see being traded before the deadline for that reason. The other is Dalembert who I hope the Kings retain.

Remember that Randolph currently makes $17 million and is playing well for a Memphis team that just signed Rudy Gay for 5 years, $82 million. Do you really want to see the Kings in a bidding war for Randolph? Especially if it means losing Dalembert? Bear in mind that the two are basically the same age and Dalembert will likely be the cheaper resign without the highly checkered past. That's without even really looking at the fit in basketball terms.

Randolph is a good player and would improve the Kings. But he's also a selfish offensive player whose groundbound nature (and inconsistent effort) keep him from being a strong defender. And probably most importantly, I don't want someone with his attitude and history being a major piece for this young Kings team.

This offseason is a crucial one for the Kings. They will have a lottery pick (hopefully their last for a long while) and lots of caproom to add some combination of shooting, a backcourt mate for Evans, perimeter defense and in general build around Evans and Cousins.

In my eyes there are only two given starters next year. Randolph would defintely be a third but I think there are better options going forward.

 

[TTown Kings]

I know the guy has been in a lot of trouble throughout his career, but as some have said maybe he has mellowed with age. Just won this award for community service. Not saying I do or don't want him, but maybe the character issues are not as big an issue as they once were. Just something to think about.

http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2011/01/zach-randolph-receives-nba-community-assist-award/

http://www.nba.com/grizzlies/news/z..._nba_cares_community_assist_award-110114.html

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

Thanks, I honestly don't mind another 20-10 guy. But NOT THIS ONE. Don't tell me that he has mellowed when his drug operation was busted just last summer. Don't tell me that he doesn't know there is a secret compartment in his vehicle and that he doesn't know what it's for. Don't tell me that he doesn't know one of his crew is transporting illegal substance using his car. The police may not be able to tie this back to him, but don't tell that he is innocent and don't tell me that this is the definition of "being mellow."

From what I read he just made the mistake of letting the wrong people have access to his money and vehicles. Not saying I believe or disbelieve him, but it's certainly possible. At any rate, if he's not facing any jail time over it, it really shouldn't effect his basketball career.

 

[funkykingston]

Randolph lost his shot at being Indiana's Mr. Basketball in high school basically because he received stolen handguns. He was linked to major drug trafficking in Indiana as of this summer. I don't think he's changed at all.

Perhaps Randolph really had no idea that people were using his cars for drug dealing. But EVEN IF that's the case, it's pretty clear the level of people he chooses to associate himself with.

And he's still expecting (in his words) "Pau Gasol money" which equates to a 3 year $65 million extension.

I don't want him on the Kings. Not basketball fit wise, not money wise and certainly not character wise.

 

[LPKingsFan]

Varejao's current contract is a serious dealkiller though

I keep seeing this posted, but don't understand it in the least. Good defensive big men are a rare commodity in the league, and accordingly are not cheap. Yet Varejao is locked in for less than $10 million/per for the next few years. That's less than the Cambys, Chandlers, and Dalemberts of the world are making.

Sure, the CBA may change that somewhat, but not as much as people expect. The dime a dozen role players (Ciscos of the world) aren't going to make the full MLE anymore, but solid defensive big men are still going to be paid well.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

From what I read he just made the mistake of letting the wrong people have access to his money and vehicles.

Do you suppose he let the wrong people install secret durg compartments in his vehicles, too? I don't really buy that, personally.

 

[Bricklayer]

I know the guy has been in a lot of trouble throughout his career, but as some have said maybe he has mellowed with age. Just won this award for community service. Not saying I do or don't want him, but maybe the character issues are not as big an issue as they once were. Just something to think about.

http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2011/01/zach-randolph-receives-nba-community-assist-award/

http://www.nba.com/grizzlies/news/z..._nba_cares_community_assist_award-110114.html

That is almost irrelevant. Seriously.

You take your Kings team with Zbo added, I'll take my Kings team with a guy who actually fits but puts up lesser numbers, and I'll beat you inthat 7 game series.

We have our #1 and #2 options in town. EVERYBODY else who comes ot town a) has to understand that; and b) has to be able to contribute when they aren't shooting the ball. No more dumb volume scorer threads please.

This again goes back to just knowing basketball history. Its not much diferent than the guard positons really. Last year I repeatedly challenged people on the Martin/Evans backcourt to name one longterm successful 20pt/20pt sscoring backcourt. I could do the same thing here -- name me a successful, or for that matter just any, 20pt/20pt frontcourt. Don't waste your time. San Antonio might have had it for one year while Admiral was passing the torch to Duncan. Ditto possibly with Sampson passing the torch to Hakeem in Houston. Then one guy ascended, the other fell back, and notably those duos invoved multiple all time great DEFENSIVE duos. But offensively it doesn't work. Again. Basketball is a spacing game. You could hardly pick a worse player on that front for the PF position for the Kings than Zbo. You worry about Cousins turning into a jumpshooter? Well you can just about guarantee it if you try to stuff a high volume and notoriously selfish post scorer in there. And how exactly is Reke supposed to be able to drive with 600 pounds of beef trying to post up on either side of the lane? You are not only getting the absolute least out of your talent, and your money spent on adding the piece, but you are actively interfering with the natural functioning of the future team.

You can't pair multiple 20ppg bigs in the frontcourt anymore than you can pair multiple 20ppg guards int eh backcourt. Its never worked. One guy or ther other is going to stuffed into an uncomfortable underacheiving secondary role for which they are not suited. And then you are paying a secondary player superstar money. The Twin Towers was a fun name, but they never won it all, and Ralph Sampson's game deteriorated even before his knees as he got squeezed out fo the paint. Admiral politely got old, but he wasn't cloe to 20ppg for most of that pairing. The Magic actually traded Chris Webber away for Penny Hardaway just to avoid a Shaq/Webber frontcourt mess.

That's not how its done folks. There is a long and decorated history of the type of PF you put next to your stud center, and its not some 20ppg defenseless scorer. It is ALWAYS a guy who defends, almost always a guy who rebounds. Its a tough guy, and the hardest dirtworker on the team. Your absolute scoring cap for the guy is 15-17ppg, on the outside. And that is on teams that have no potent perimeter scoring. When you have a star guard as well, that scoring is probably closer to 10-12. These are the guys we are talking about over the years:

Oakley
Haslem
Rodman
Horry
Thorpe
Nance
D. Davis
Green
Rambis
PJ Brown
H. Grant
M. Lucas
B. Jones
T. Cummings *included just to be comprehensive, but clearly the odd man out, and their rep was as softies while he as there. Repace by Rodman, who was then replaced by Duncan. Think they figured something out?

feel free to point out to me the guys who look anything like ZBo as a player. And it should be noted that most of those defensive studs on that list were playing alongside dominant defensive centers. Not all -- Nance wasn't, maybe not Jones. But most of them were great fits even playing alongside a center who cleaned up inside himself. And here we come along, with a young stud center who is notably stronger on the offensive end than the defensive end, and people are seriously trying to argue that the way to go is to find another offensively orented non-defending PF to go next to him? Learn the history. Think about why its always worked the way it has. Two guys can't occupy the same space. A scorer brought in who has his own scoring suppresed or suppreses other's scoring is working at below his capacity, or making the rest of the team operate at below theirs, while doubtless bieng paid as if he was putting up the giant numbers. But a defensive/rebounding roleplaying type guy can play alongside a great center and operate at 100% capacity. Thrive without ever getting in the way. Pat Riley knew this. Phil Jackson knew this. Lenny Wilens, Rudy T... But I suppose people think they've figured out something those guys didn't because they looked at a statsheet and saw lots of pretty numbers.

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

Do you suppose he let the wrong people install secret durg compartments in his vehicles, too? I don't really buy that, personally.

If he wasn't aware they were doing it, the word "let" wouldn't apply.

 

[TTown Kings]

That is almost irrelevant. Seriously.

I posted it only due to all the "he's a cancer/problem" arguments going on. Nothing to do with fit on the team. Like I said, I'm making no argument for or against him.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

If he wasn't aware they were doing it, the word "let" wouldn't apply.

Let me be more precise in my phrasing: Do you suppose that the people to whom he loaned his vehicle installed these secret compartments in which to hide drugs without his knowledge or permission? I don't find that likely. Possible, but not likely.

 

[bajaden]

It is not, an never has been about stacking up mismatched talent in the NBA. You personally make that mistake all the time. And its just..you need to watch more games around the league. You don't win games by putting the biggest scorer you can find at every position. There is only 1 ball. There are only so many shots. Scorers are the one thing in the NBA you absolutely CAN have too many of. While he may be for a different team, Zach Randolph is not 20-13 for the Kings. Or if he is, then DeMarcus isn't 20, or Reke isn't 20. And there certainly aren't enoguh shots aroudn to justify Beno or Omri. Name me your teams with 3 20pt scorers? And none of the normal cheating I encounter when I throw out that challenge -- well...he averaged 17, so close enough. Have you watched Chris Bosh in Miami? And that's with a remaining roster filled out wiht NBA scrubs.

Meanwhile he's a strong rebounder. This year he is a very strong rebounder, but if you trust Zach Randolph's numbers in a contract push year you are just nutty. This is Erick Dampier territory. And we, as a team, are already one of the best rebounding teams in the league (#6 at the moment). Its not an area of weakness.

If Zach Randolph were a defender, if Zach Randolph were a passer, if...but there is no point in all those ifs. He's not. Never has been. The only way you get your moeny's worth, not to mention youtr team chemistry's worth out of Zach Randolph is to feature him as a scorer. The only way to feature him as a scorer on a team as loaded wiht young offensive talents as we are is to cut out other people. That is not worth it on a young team -- in fact its basically never done.

I differ with you a little bit on how many scorers you need on a team. Where you and I differ is in capablility rather than yearly stats. I think having three or four guys in your lineup that are capable of giving you 20 plus points on any given night is a great thing to have. As long as all of them are unselfish, and know when to pick their spots. Basicly the Celtics are as good as they are because they can hurt you from so many different positions. But at the same time, they don't seem to worry about whose doing the damage on a nightly basis. So it works for them. The Lakers are the same way, although they tend to argue over it from time to time. Now on how someone like Randolph would fit into that scenario, I tend to agree with you. I see Randolph as a player thats going to go out and try and get his points everynight. And on the right team, thats a good thing. On the Kings, maybe not.

As to Randolph's rebounding. He's always been a good rebounder and has averaged 10.6 rebounds per game for the last six years including the current year. He's also averaged 20 plus pts per game for the last six years. So offensively he's a good player, and a consistent one. Defensively his biggest attribute is his rebounding. 60% of his rebounds are defensive rebounds. I know a lot of people don't count that as defense, but every defensive rebound takes away one more posession by the other team. Like Thompson, away from the basket, he's a fairly good defender. Under the basket he's worse than Thompson.

 

[Gary]

If he wasn't aware they were doing it, the word "let" wouldn't apply.

Yah my birthday present last year was my buddies installing a bunch of drug compartments in my car.. I didn't know about it until they finished but I was happy with the gift because I had a bunch of places to stash my weed now...


You seriously think they just did this without letting him know? haha seriously?

 

[funkykingston]

As long as all of them are unselfish, and know when to pick their spots.

Now on how someone like Randolph would fit into that scenario, I tend to agree with you. I see Randolph as a player thats going to go out and try and get his points everynight. And on the right team, thats a good thing. On the Kings, maybe not.

Having three guys that can carry the load offensively on any given night is a big plus. But even then it's usually options 1A, 1B and a third guy who can occasionally rachet it up when needed. The Lakers are clearly Kobe first, then Gasol etc.

But I don't see Randolph being at all willing to be a third option, which he'd have to be here. And he IS selfish offensively. That's not always bad, you want a guy who wants the ball. But we've already got Evans in that mold. Cousins needs the ball too, but is a much more willing passer/playmaker which makes me think that eventually it will work out as Tyreke option 1A and DeMarcus as 1B.

Ideally I'd want the third option to be a sweet shooting forward with 3 point range.

Not a 30 year old and ground bound, post playing black hole of a PF who wants big money and has always been trouble. Randolph seems to have found a great fit in Memphis. In all honestly I think he should stay there.

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

Yah my birthday present last year was my buddies installing a bunch of drug compartments in my car.. I didn't know about it until they finished but I was happy with the gift because I had a bunch of places to stash my weed now...


You seriously think they just did this without letting him know? haha seriously?

If they were using vehicles of his for extended periods of time it's certainly possible. Believe it or not, NBA players own more than one car and loaning a car out to buddies or family members probably happens all the time.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

Yah my birthday present last year was my buddies installing a bunch of drug compartments in my car.. I didn't know about it until they finished but I was happy with the gift because I had a bunch of places to stash my weed now...


You seriously think they just did this without letting him know? haha seriously?

lmao

surprised people would want this cancer on a young budding team. there are no strong veteran voices on the club to keep a guy like zbo in check. if this was the celtics and they wanted to bring in zbo it could work due to all the vets on the team.

 

[Gary]

If they were using vehicles of his for extended periods of time it's certainly possible. Believe it or not, NBA players own more than one car and loaning a car out to buddies or family members probably happens all the time.

grasping now... So basically you are saying that Zach had no idea who put those drug compartments in HIS car, and that he just loans his car out to his drug dealing friends... Doubt it.

 

[bajaden]

Having three guys that can carry the load offensively on any given night is a big plus. But even then it's usually options 1A, 1B and a third guy who can occasionally rachet it up when needed. The Lakers are clearly Kobe first, then Gasol etc.

But I don't see Randolph being at all willing to be a third option, which he'd have to be here. And he IS selfish offensively. That's not always bad, you want a guy who wants the ball. But we've already got Evans in that mold. Cousins needs the ball too, but is a much more willing passer/playmaker which makes me think that eventually it will work out as Tyreke option 1A and DeMarcus as 1B.

Ideally I'd want the third option to be a sweet shooting forward with 3 point range.

Not a 30 year old and ground bound, post playing black hole of a PF who wants big money and has always been trouble. Randolph seems to have found a great fit in Memphis. In all honestly I think he should stay there.

I don't think were in disagreement here. As I said stated. I think Randolph is guy that going to go out and get his no matter what. My perference would be a situation like the Jazz had when they had Stockton, Malone and Hornacek. Hornacek and Stockton both only averaged around 15 PPG, but either of them could lay 20 to 25 on you on any given night. But Malone was the main guy.

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

grasping now... So basically you are saying that Zach had no idea who put those drug compartments in HIS car, and that he just loans his car out to his drug dealing friends... Doubt it.

Just because he owns the car doesn't mean he knows what's going on with it 24/7 when other people are using it.