Sacramento Kings: What a mess! They seem to be trying to keep their pick

[HomoSapien]

I certainly hope to be wrong, but I've been saying since the Deng trade was announced that we'd never see a first rounder out of Sacto. Nothing that has happened since then should have come as a surprise to anyone.

I said the same thing. It was a horrible trade.

yeah, that offer of exactly nothing from everybody else was soooooo tempting

We played our hand wrong. Could've had Barnes the previous year or could have simply kept Deng.

[dice]

I said the same thing. It was a horrible trade.

yeah, that offer of exactly nothing from everybody else was soooooo tempting

We played our hand wrong. Could've had Barnes the previous year or could have simply kept Deng.

the previous year we were supposed to be competing for a title and barnes was unproven. and we weren't gonna re-up with deng for what he was asking

[TheStig]

Kings have gone from being on the rise with Mike Malone as a head coach and Boogie playing the best ball of his career to a big mess really really quickly. Crazy to see them disintegrate that extreme. And I agree we won't see that lottery pick, not even in 2017.

Its not surprising though. There is still time for it to turn around, but this was always the most likely outcome.

I don't want to lay it all at his feet, and there have been a variety of mistakes made by others, but I said from the beginning that you can't pick Cousins as the core building block of a team and build around him. He's a valuable player, but he doesn't have the type of personality to be "the guy."

They had the uber talented young player. That's the toughest part. What they should have been doing the last several years is trade for established and reliable veteran leaders and role players. They went in the opposite direction, and you could see that it was going to be a huge mistake.

To be fair they absolutely messed up every pick after Boogie. Freddette, Robinson, McLemore and Stauskus. Their FO is a mess. The owner drafts guys, fires a successful coach and fired the whole FO for Divac.

If they kept malone and nailed one of those picks, lets say Lillard/Drummond instead of Robinson, they'd be pretty good. They have to have the worst draft record of any team over the last 4 years.

[HomoSapien]

yeah, that offer of exactly nothing from everybody else was soooooo tempting

We played our hand wrong. Could've had Barnes the previous year or could have simply kept Deng.

the previous year we were supposed to be competing for a title and barnes was unproven. and we weren't gonna re-up with deng for what he was asking

It's management's job to prepare for things like this! Pick a lane. If we're competing for a title keep Korver and other key pieces, if we're cutting costs then at least get good assets.

We wouldn't have signed Deng for what he was allegedly asking for, but he ultimately signed for the amount we wanted to extend him for. Again we played that hand poorly.

[TheSuzerain]

Kings have gone from being on the rise with Mike Malone as a head coach and Boogie playing the best ball of his career to a big mess really really quickly. Crazy to see them disintegrate that extreme. And I agree we won't see that lottery pick, not even in 2017.

Its not surprising though. There is still time for it to turn around, but this was always the most likely outcome.

I don't want to lay it all at his feet, and there have been a variety of mistakes made by others, but I said from the beginning that you can't pick Cousins as the core building block of a team and build around him. He's a valuable player, but he doesn't have the type of personality to be "the guy."

They had the uber talented young player. That's the toughest part. What they should have been doing the last several years is trade for established and reliable veteran leaders and role players. They went in the opposite direction, and you could see that it was going to be a huge mistake.

I disagree that this was always the most likely outcome. Today it certainly is, but not when the deal was made.

It takes basically an unprecedented streak of futility for us to not get the pick. But it looks like the Kings will be doing just that. Bravo, Sactown.

[TheStig]

I said the same thing. It was a horrible trade.

yeah, that offer of exactly nothing from everybody else was soooooo tempting

We played our hand wrong. Could've had Barnes the previous year or could have simply kept Deng.

Gasol has been better than Deng. I think this team would of been much worse last year with Deng instead of Gasol.

[HomoSapien]

yeah, that offer of exactly nothing from everybody else was soooooo tempting

We played our hand wrong. Could've had Barnes the previous year or could have simply kept Deng.

Gasol has been better than Deng. I think this team would of been much worse last year with Deng instead of Gasol.

That's certainly fair, but the roster would be better balanced with Mirotic and Deng in the SL and a better matchup against the Cavs.

[TheStig]

We played our hand wrong. Could've had Barnes the previous year or could have simply kept Deng.

Gasol has been better than Deng. I think this team would of been much worse last year with Deng instead of Gasol.

That's certainly fair, but the roster would be better balanced with Mirotic and Deng in the SL and a better matchup against the Cavs.

Yes, the balance would have been better. But I think you're overvaluing what a rookie will give you in the post season. Mirotic was pretty bad in the post season. His 3pt shot was very off. I think you would have seen a lot of the slowed down Gibson and Noah lineup. I think Mirotic will explode in the next year or two but he clearly wouldn't have changed the Cavs series. I think if Gasol didn't get injured, we could have beat them.

[MGB8]

The rumor is that the Lakers offered their 2 picks, Clarkson and Randle for Counsins and 6. If that's the case, the Kings were foolish to say no. They could have likely filled the #2 pick to Philly for the #3 and one of Philly's endless "assets" so that the Sixers would get Russell, maybe even traded down another spot so the Knicks could get Okafor, and still taken Stein if they really love him over the other options (or pairing him with Randle).

Or they could have just taken Russell and looked for a replacement center elsewhere - the Lakers future core of Clarkson, Russell and Randle is very talented.

Uh no, Cuz and WCS can be a dominant front court pair

Uh, yeah. Cousins and Karl are at odds. Do you think the Kings have any chance of sniffing the playoffs this year, next, or the following? WCS gives you zilch on offense at this point. He's thin, meaning that he might have trouble defending even the 4, at least for a while. He only gave the Wildcats 6.4 rebounds per game. On the one hand, he's comparable to Nerlens Noel in a lot of ways. On the other hands, Noel was considered a more talented player overall coming in - better rebounder (9.5 per game), better shot blocker, more basketball skills, even if also still raw, thin, and weak on offense.

When you have an explosive situation with a player in Cousins who doesn't like the coach, and who doesn't seem to really want to be in Sacramento... why keep that explosive mix when you could have added Clarkson, Russell, Randle and a decent prospect like a Montrez Harrell or Rakeem Christmas or Joe Young, then moved around other players to fill the center gap (where the league is moving away from big centers, anyway), with Thompson a mediocre fill in for a while to start. Heck, the Kings probably could have gotten either Ed Davis or Jordan Hill as part of that deal, since it seems the Lakers were keen on that #6 pick, and those guys can fill at center fine, too.

[drbg43]

I don't think it matters what Cal says, these nonsense rumors will just keep rolling in.

[TheSuzerain]

Let's not forget that the team improved after dumping Deng for Bynum's non-guaranteed deal.

[TheStig]

We played our hand wrong. Could've had Barnes the previous year or could have simply kept Deng.

the previous year we were supposed to be competing for a title and barnes was unproven. and we weren't gonna re-up with deng for what he was asking

It's management's job to prepare for things like this! Pick a lane. If we're competing for a title keep Korver and other key pieces, if we're cutting costs then at least get good assets.

We wouldn't have signed Deng for what he was allegedly asking for, but he ultimately signed for the amount we wanted to extend him for. Again we played that hand poorly.

Deng was clearly a salary cut. That move alone got them under the LT for that year.

They could have easily signed Deng in the offseason if they wanted. They didn't.

[dice]

We played our hand wrong. Could've had Barnes the previous year or could have simply kept Deng.

the previous year we were supposed to be competing for a title and barnes was unproven. and we weren't gonna re-up with deng for what he was asking

It's management's job to prepare for things like this! Pick a lane. If we're competing for a title keep Korver and other key pieces, if we're cutting costs then at least get good assets.

we let korver walk to avoid the tax. that was not an issue with deng and he was obviously more integral than korver (who we replaced with belinelli)

We wouldn't have signed Deng for what he was allegedly asking for, but he ultimately signed for the amount we wanted to extend him for. Again we played that hand poorly.

that doesn't make any sense. he TURNED DOWN our offer

[Kings2013]

The rumor is that the Lakers offered their 2 picks, Clarkson and Randle for Counsins and 6. If that's the case, the Kings were foolish to say no. They could have likely filled the #2 pick to Philly for the #3 and one of Philly's endless "assets" so that the Sixers would get Russell, maybe even traded down another spot so the Knicks could get Okafor, and still taken Stein if they really love him over the other options (or pairing him with Randle).

Or they could have just taken Russell and looked for a replacement center elsewhere - the Lakers future core of Clarkson, Russell and Randle is very talented.

Uh no, Cuz and WCS can be a dominant front court pair

Uh, yeah. Cousins and Karl are at odds. Do you think the Kings have any chance of sniffing the playoffs this year, next, or the following? WCS gives you zilch on offense at this point. He's thin, meaning that he might have trouble defending even the 4, at least for a while. He only gave the Wildcats 6.4 rebounds per game. On the one hand, he's comparable to Nerlens Noel in a lot of ways. On the other hands, Noel was considered a more talented player overall coming in - better rebounder (9.5 per game), better shot blocker, more basketball skills, even if also still raw, thin, and weak on offense.

When you have an explosive situation with a player in Cousins who doesn't like the coach, and who doesn't seem to really want to be in Sacramento... why keep that explosive mix when you could have added Clarkson, Russell, Randle and a decent prospect like a Montrez Harrell or Rakeem Christmas or Joe Young, then moved around other players to fill the center gap (where the league is moving away from big centers, anyway), with Thompson a mediocre fill in for a while to start. Heck, the Kings probably could have gotten either Ed Davis or Jordan Hill as part of that deal, since it seems the Lakers were keen on that #6 pick, and those guys can fill at center fine, too.

Karl will be gone if it isn't working out, Cuz comes first

We were a talented team last year, starting out 9-6 with tough strength of schedule, with losses 24 or more leads against Dallas and Memphis, and our starting unit was statistically one of the best in the league pre Collison injury. Why do I not think Collison, McLemore, Gay, WCS, Cuz, Casspi and a FA or two can potentially kick booty

Look at WCS pre draft vids please and his money jumper. His rebounding totals and offense went down because of who he played with and how he played

[dice]

Let's not forget that the team improved after dumping Deng for Bynum's non-guaranteed deal.

well, jimmy stepped up big. that was in no way expected

we also got the potential cleveland pick swap that didn't pan out

[TheSuzerain]

Uh no, Cuz and WCS can be a dominant front court pair

Uh, yeah. Cousins and Karl are at odds. Do you think the Kings have any chance of sniffing the playoffs this year, next, or the following? WCS gives you zilch on offense at this point. He's thin, meaning that he might have trouble defending even the 4, at least for a while. He only gave the Wildcats 6.4 rebounds per game. On the one hand, he's comparable to Nerlens Noel in a lot of ways. On the other hands, Noel was considered a more talented player overall coming in - better rebounder (9.5 per game), better shot blocker, more basketball skills, even if also still raw, thin, and weak on offense.

When you have an explosive situation with a player in Cousins who doesn't like the coach, and who doesn't seem to really want to be in Sacramento... why keep that explosive mix when you could have added Clarkson, Russell, Randle and a decent prospect like a Montrez Harrell or Rakeem Christmas or Joe Young, then moved around other players to fill the center gap (where the league is moving away from big centers, anyway), with Thompson a mediocre fill in for a while to start. Heck, the Kings probably could have gotten either Ed Davis or Jordan Hill as part of that deal, since it seems the Lakers were keen on that #6 pick, and those guys can fill at center fine, too.

Karl will be gone if it isn't working out, Cuz comes first

We were a talented team last year, starting out 9-6 with tough strength of schedule, with losses 24 or more leads against Dallas and Memphis, and our starting unit was statistically one of the best in the league pre Collison injury. Why do I not think Collison, McLemore, Gay, WCS, Cuz, Casspi and a FA or two can potentially kick booty

Look at WCS pre draft vids please and his money jumper. His rebounding totals and offense went down because of who he played with and how he played

lol at WCS "money jumper".

But hey, we're all pulling for you guys.

[TheSuzerain]

Let's not forget that the team improved after dumping Deng for Bynum's non-guaranteed deal.

well, jimmy stepped up big. that was in no way expected

we also got the potential cleveland pick swap that didn't pan out

I'm talking about the year prior when Jimmy wasn't an all star.

The team (the offense in particular) markedly improved by simply removing Deng from the equation.

[DarthDiggler69]

WCS was a great pick for the Kings. Hes one of my favorite players in the draft, hes like Noah 2.0 but with a slightly better offensive game.

Cousins and WCS potentially dominating

Go Kings! We want your pick!

[Kings2013]

Uh, yeah. Cousins and Karl are at odds. Do you think the Kings have any chance of sniffing the playoffs this year, next, or the following? WCS gives you zilch on offense at this point. He's thin, meaning that he might have trouble defending even the 4, at least for a while. He only gave the Wildcats 6.4 rebounds per game. On the one hand, he's comparable to Nerlens Noel in a lot of ways. On the other hands, Noel was considered a more talented player overall coming in - better rebounder (9.5 per game), better shot blocker, more basketball skills, even if also still raw, thin, and weak on offense.

When you have an explosive situation with a player in Cousins who doesn't like the coach, and who doesn't seem to really want to be in Sacramento... why keep that explosive mix when you could have added Clarkson, Russell, Randle and a decent prospect like a Montrez Harrell or Rakeem Christmas or Joe Young, then moved around other players to fill the center gap (where the league is moving away from big centers, anyway), with Thompson a mediocre fill in for a while to start. Heck, the Kings probably could have gotten either Ed Davis or Jordan Hill as part of that deal, since it seems the Lakers were keen on that #6 pick, and those guys can fill at center fine, too.

Karl will be gone if it isn't working out, Cuz comes first

We were a talented team last year, starting out 9-6 with tough strength of schedule, with losses 24 or more leads against Dallas and Memphis, and our starting unit was statistically one of the best in the league pre Collison injury. Why do I not think Collison, McLemore, Gay, WCS, Cuz, Casspi and a FA or two can potentially kick booty

Look at WCS pre draft vids please and his money jumper. His rebounding totals and offense went down because of who he played with and how he played

lol at WCS "money jumper".

But hey, we're all pulling for you guys.

Look at his pre draft work out vids . It was when he came out here

[dice]

Let's not forget that the team improved after dumping Deng for Bynum's non-guaranteed deal.

well, jimmy stepped up big. that was in no way expected

we also got the potential cleveland pick swap that didn't pan out

I'm talking about the year prior when Jimmy wasn't an all star.

i am too