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Here's an article from Grant Cohn of CSN Bay Area about the outlook of the 2 northern california teams:
http://www.csnbayarea.com/06/28/11/bCoh ... eedID=8306

Goes over the topics of

-- Who has a better core, the Kings or the Warriors? (Fredette/Evans/Cousins or Curry/Ellis/Lee)

-- Who has the better backcourt? (Fredette/Evans/Thornton or Curry/Ellis/Thompson)

-- Which team has more depth and a better bench?

-- If next season happens, who wins more games, Kings or Warriors?

-- Who wins more games two seasons from now?

I'm curious to see everyones take on this. I think both backcourts are pretty solid. We definitely have more depth if Thornton is resigned. But as far as talent, I see it pretty close to even. Though overall, I think we do have a better core due to the presence of a possibly dominating inside force in Cousins.

Kings still need a veteran leader and better management. I think the warriors will win more games next year tho.

Well 2/3 of Minny and the Cavs core are unknown on the NBA level so it's too hard to judge them one way or another. As far as Washington goes I'd take Wall over any of the other players listed with the exception of maybe Cousins, I don't know anything about Vesely and Mcgee's ceiling is Sam Dalembert type player so I'll rule out Washington. Comes down to Warriors and Kings. I'd take the Kings. I'd take Curry over Jimmer, Evans over Ellis, and DMC over Udoh or Lee easily. Plus the Kings have more depth, lower payroll, we are younger, stronger and have more potential IMO. Plus the Dubs have the weakest defensive backcourt in the league. I was cracking up reading some of the posts in that article where Dub fans say Evans is not even close to being in the same class as Ellis, really? Lol Ellis is so overrated IMO. He puts up lots of points so he gets a ton of attention but I don't think he makes anyone around him better and he can't play defense.

In looking at that, I'd say that the Kings have the most boom/bust potential of all of them. On paper, the Wolves and Kings look like the best. Wizards can't shoot so I don't know, certainly the most athletic.

ADoaN17 wrote:Kings still need a veteran leader and better management. I think the warriors will win more games next year tho.

If the Kings don't make significant strides in putting together a system and Evans and Cousins don't make personal strides it's possible. Next year isn't what the Kings are fighting for, it's the 4-5 years after it. Sure, you may buy the smallest plant, but if in time it can grow a lot bigger than the others, you take it.

Even before the trade/draft, I thought our team was pretty decent. Small sample size of course, but in the games where Evans/Thornton/Cousins all got time on the court, I think our record was around .500. Now we should have more consistency at SF and shooting, and if we resign Dalembert or find a suitable replacement, I think .500 is quite doable.

It's hard to say because each one of those triads has at least one guy that's basically an unknown and/or a guy that has huge bust potential.

Golden State might be on top, except Curry & Ellis are too small to be paired together long term.
Minnesota has a lot going for it, but I expect Rubio to fall far short of expectations
Cleveland - Irving only played a handful of games in college
Washington - Vesley still a grand unknown
Sacramento - If Thornton resigns, I think he's got greater claim to be the 3rd than Fredette does. Fredette may not have what it takes to be a big deal on the next level

I honestly do believe the Kings have a chance to be the best out of the bunch, because I think we have the most talented young big to build around in Cousins.

Still, it really is hard to say considering how young all those players are. The development of some players may plateau while others pass them up. We also don't know how trades and FA will change the course of the franchises over the next few years.

Minnesota
Kings
Washington
Golden State
Cleveland

You can't forget about Minnesota having Wes Johnson as well.

The only thing about Minnesota is that they are so far from making sense roster wise. A lot of one thing, not enough of another. Too many guys playing the same spot and while depth looks great on paper, when it's sorted out like that it usually stays on the paper.

Wes Johnson would be much better as a SF IMO. Just doesn't have the offensive tools they need at SG. He would a PERFECT SF for the Kings however!

I'm biased, but even attempting to take the bias out, I still think it's the Kings.

Kings
Wizards
Warriors
Wolves
Cavs

I just can't comprehend the Wolves doing ANYTHING substantially right until Kahn is gone. That guy is a fool. He'll likely trade Kevin Love soon. He's so unpredictable in a bad way. I like the Wizards core too. I'd put Nick Young ahead of Vesely at this point for them(I guess he's there version of Thornton).

Long term, I take the Kings core.

Jimmer is unknown at this stage but one thing that will absolutely translate to the NBA is that jump shot. Its pure.

The way I see it is that with Cousins we have a major low post offensive talent. He is the sort of player you can throw the ball to in low post and let him go to work against anyone. A real offensive beast in the making who enjoys the contact in the low post.

In Tyreke we have an absolute load of a guard. He is un-guardable one on one and if he ever gets a consistent jump shot that demands respect, he will be un-guardable full stop.

I am confident that we will re-sign Thornton who is a better 3rd weapon than anything Golden State can throw our way. He is a dynamite scorer who can score in a lot of different way.

The trick is getting everyone to work together and play like a team. If we can do that, we will be back in the picture pretty quickly.

Although I put Wall at the top of the guard list (maybe even right now wqith Evans and Curry), and I give a right now nod to Love over ANY of the other bigs on the list, the fact is that if DMC pans out to even 80-90% of his potential level there isn't another player on this list that even APPROACHES his impact. That is not a speculation, or homerism, that's a FACT. Franchise Centers just have an impact that other players can't match unless they are a Jordan/Kobe type of talent - which coincidentally Tyreke may still end up being.

In addition, although I am not totally on board yet with the whole Jimmer is the next Nash movement (because that is basically what is happening and Nash took 3-5 years to become the player we know today), you can currently drop Marcus Thorton into that third guy spot and we STILL have the better core by far going forward.

OGSactownballer wrote:...and I give a right now nod to Love over ANY of the other bigs on the list, the fact is that if DMC pans out to even 80-90% of his potential level there isn't another player on this list that even APPROACHES his impact.

Yeah, after giving this a little more thought, I think the Timberwolves do have some pretty interesting pieces. How often can you find a 4 that gives you 15 / 15 per night AND can hit the 3? And then draft another 3/4 that can possibly do the same. The big question is though, can KAAAHHHNNNN surround them with enough complimentary talent to build a great team.

Krle_12 wrote:In Tyreke we have an absolute load of a guard. He is un-guardable one on one and if he ever gets a consistent jump shot that demands respect, he will be un-guardable full stop.

That's the biggest IF. If he doesn't develop that shot, teams can clog the lane and stop his ability to penetrate. I think DMC is our most valuable piece to build around.

Cleveland right now is the weakest out of the 5, with a lot of overlap and unproven talent.

SacKingZZZ wrote:In looking at that, I'd say that the Kings have the most boom/bust potential of all of them. On paper, the Wolves and Kings look like the best. Wizards can't shoot so I don't know, certainly the most athletic.

Well, the 3 guys listed can't shoot. But they do have Jordan Crawford and Nick Young.

SacKingZZZ wrote:The only thing about Minnesota is that they are so far from making sense roster wise. A lot of one thing, not enough of another. Too many guys playing the same spot and while depth looks great on paper, when it's sorted out like that it usually stays on the paper.

Wes Johnson would be much better as a SF IMO. Just doesn't have the offensive tools they need at SG. He would a PERFECT SF for the Kings however!

Hey lets be quite about that and hopefully the TWolves figure that out soon and just trade him for nothing like they did Jonny Flynn to us.

408Kings wrote:

OGSactownballer wrote:...and I give a right now nod to Love over ANY of the other bigs on the list, the fact is that if DMC pans out to even 80-90% of his potential level there isn't another player on this list that even APPROACHES his impact.

Yeah, after giving this a little more thought, I think the Timberwolves do have some pretty interesting pieces. How often can you find a 4 that gives you 15 / 15 per night AND can hit the 3? And then draft another 3/4 that can possibly do the same. The big question is though, can KAAAHHHNNNN surround them with enough complimentary talent to build a great team.

Krle_12 wrote:In Tyreke we have an absolute load of a guard. He is un-guardable one on one and if he ever gets a consistent jump shot that demands respect, he will be un-guardable full stop.

That's the biggest IF. If he doesn't develop that shot, teams can clog the lane and stop his ability to penetrate. I think DMC is our most valuable piece to build around.

Cleveland right now is the weakest out of the 5, with a lot of overlap and unproven talent.

Trade Love to Sac, Kahn. You know you want to!
Actually no, they can't clog the lane anymore. That's PRECISELY what we have Thornton, Fredette, and (to a degree) Salmons for. That was the whole point of taking a shooter in the draft.

Call me biased, but I think we have the better core.
Taking into account the way we played in the second half of last season, and looking at the talent and potential of this roster on paper, I say we can at least "challenge" for a playoff spot. We have quality talent at every position, it's just a matter of getting them all to play well together.

I've posted this poll in the GSW board too, just to get others' perspectives, and here are the results:

43% - Golden State Warriors - Curry, Ellis, Udoh

22% - Minnesota Timberwolves - Rubio, Williams, Love

17% - Sacramento Kings - Freddette, Evans, Cousins

4% - Cavaliers - Irving, Thompson, Hickson

13% - Washington Wizards - Wall, Vesely, McGee

Seems a bit of homerism is going on with both teams, haha.

408Kings wrote:I've posted this poll in the GSW board too, just to get others' perspectives, and here are the results:

43% - Golden State Warriors - Curry, Ellis, Udoh

22% - Minnesota Timberwolves - Rubio, Williams, Love

17% - Sacramento Kings - Freddette, Evans, Cousins

4% - Cavaliers - Irving, Thompson, Hickson

13% - Washington Wizards - Wall, Vesely, McGee

Seems a bit of homerism is going on with both teams, haha.

thats all you see now a days. Homerism