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Excluding the likes of Lebron, Durant, Carmelo, etc. which of the following small forwards make the most sense for the Kings? I'm talking realistically, financially, and impact to the improvement of the team. Note that Petrie recently stated that the Kings will be looking for better shooting and defense. Unless we land the #1 pick I say we trade our pick w/filler (Salmons, Garcia, Outlaw, cap space) to address our needs.

In no particular order, possible players via trade & my comments:

Rudy Gay- Young, athletic, good shooter, more offensive minded, likely available due to high contract & Memphis wanting to stay out of luxury tax.
25 years old
3 years left at $53,666,790

Josh Smith- Young, athletic, can provide shot blocking, not a great shooter, will he stay after 1 year?
26 years old
1 year at $13,200,000

Andre Iguodala- Athletic, versatile, defender, leader, if 76ers advance is he even available?
28 years old
2 years at $30,623,000

Luol Deng- Bulls committed to a lot of money, good fit guy but Bulls sound like they want to make another run once Rose returns next year.
27 years old
2 years at $27,638,825

Paul Pierce- Champion, leader, older, still has some left but would he be okay with coming to Sac? If he was we could likely attract other FA's (i.e. Garnett).
34 years old
2 years at $32,123,679

Danny Granger- Seems to have fallen off a little from past years but still well rounded. May be available because of Paul George.
29 years old
2 years at $27,080,394

Players via free agency:

Nicolas Batum- Very young, good defender & shooter. Do Kings need more youth? Plus he's restricted.
23 years old

Gerald Wallace- Hustle, defense, one time King, not known for shooting, how much would we need to pay?
29 years old

I rate my wish list for the above players like this:

1. Josh Smith- He's a tweener SF/PF but I like that because we could then target Ryan Anderson or Ersan Ilyasova (also tweeners but shooters) via free agency to pair with him at forward. Becomes "the man" along with Cousins which is something he wants.
2. Andre Iguodala- He's a glue guy that would lead & get others involved both offensively & defensively.
3. Rudy Gay- Great fit offensively but that contract is a question. He's probably most attainable though because of Memphis' cap. Can grow with young team.
4. Paul Pierce- Concern is his age but he brings immediate star power & leadership to team that desperately needs it. May help in attracting free agents. But will he be done when Kings are ready to contend?
5. Danny Granger- Afraid he could be on downside of career even though he's only 29.
6. Gerald Wallace- Been here before, another King SF retread (Salmons)?
7. Luol Deng- Just don't see the Bulls making a move yet.
8. Nicolas Batum - He's a restricted FA, young, and not the leader this young team needs.

Thoughts?

Lebron James

artest420 wrote:Lebron James

Obviously didn't read my opening sentence. Your answer correlates to your forum user name. You either think like Artest the nut job or you're high.

My list in order of my personal preference would be
1. Batum
2. Gay
3. Iggy
4. Jsmoove
5. Deng
6. Keep the pick (Barnes)
7. Granger
8. Pierce/Gforce

Josh Smith isn't a SF, this was yet another year where he excelled at PF. Would love the Kings to pick him up to put next to Cousins, not at SF.

Still ain't paying Rudy Gay max if it's me.

Some of the others are in the it depends column. Is Evans still here? How many shots are left over?

Still like Batum out of that group. Another I would add is Landry Fields, he would be a PERFECT fit for this team at SF. He would flourish in this teams offense and he straight up busts his butt defensively. Then of course Barnes, great fit.

Top three:

1. Iggy
2. Danny Granger
3. Batum

Iggy for sure. nearly perfect fit if not the contract.

Defensive juggernaut - franchise changing defensively type of player, good character, fantastic creater/ball handler, VERY good catch and shoot player, glue guy, leader.

I like Iggy, Batum and Gay in that order. Josh Smith is great but i'm not trading a top 5 pick for someone on a one year deal unless its a bonafide superstar.

Granger or gay, buh our owners might be too cheap again

It seems to me that the majority of the SFs that the Kings might be looking at are in the "paid more than their worth" camp. I am talking about the Deng, Granger, Iggys of the world. Also, to get them, you have to give up a piece to get them, likely Thornton or Tyreke.

Or we can offer Nic Batum an over pay contract ($12.5 million a year for four years?), hope the Blazers don't match, and get our SF for nothing.

I am not saying Batum is in the Deng/Granger category of SFs, but I think it is in the Kings best interest to go after him instead of the veteran bunch.

Only way for us to get Batum is to put him in that same paid more than they're worth group tbh.

As we all know, the major issue with the Kings has been defense and that is why I have Smith and Iguodala at the top of my list. I know the Nets are in hot pursuit and we made an offer to him last year but how about Andrei Kirilenko? We could trade for Smith and go after Kirilenko as a free agent. If Kirilenko decides to go with the Nets then would they still look into resigning Gerald Wallace? Here's my plan.

Trade 5th pick, 36th pick, John Salmons & Travis Outlaw to Hawks for Josh Smith & 43rd pick
Dump Francisco Garcia in cost savings trade for unguaranteed contracts.
Draft PF Furkan Aldemir from Turkey with 43rd pick
Sign UFA SF Gerald Wallace (4 yrs/$38 mil) (I think Kirilenko is signing with Nets)
Sign UFA PG Andre Miller (2 yrs/$13.5 mil)
Resign RFA PF Jason Thompson (4 yrs/$26 mil) & RFA SF Terrence Williams (1 yr/$2.5 mil)

This would put the Kings salaries at about $66 million which is just about in the middle of pack of the NBA and $20 million more than last year. I don't expect them to go into the luxury tax (which this wouldn't) but its time to fork out the money Maloofs like you said you would.

Andre Miller/Isaiah Thomas/Jimmer Fredette
Tyreke Evans/Marcus Thornton
Gerald Wallace/Terrence Williams/Tyler Honeycutt
Josh Smith/Jason Thompson/Furkan Aldemir
DeMarcus Cousins/Chuck Hayes/Hassan Whiteside

This team can run, run, and run some more plus finally play defense. Miller can get guys the ball, our bench is stacked, and I can imagine our own version of Lob City with passes to Crash and JSmooth.

boogie-reke wrote:Only way for us to get Batum is to put him in that same paid more than they're worth group tbh.

I think that is true, but you also get to keep the pick/Tyreke/Thronton.

Is Batum + Tyreke > Rudy Gay? I think so...

PetrieUnderstudy wrote:Andre Miller/Isaiah Thomas/Jimmer Fredette
Tyreke Evans/Marcus Thornton
Gerald Wallace/Terrence Williams/Tyler Honeycutt
Josh Smith/Jason Thompson/Furkan Aldemir
DeMarcus Cousins/Chuck Hayes/Hassan Whiteside

I like the idea, but I don't think it works. Our starting lineup would have the worst deep shooting in the history of the NBA, so teams could just stack the key. Our only shooters would be IT, Thronton, and Jimmer...but the issue would be that you pretty much have to paly Wallace, Smith, and Tyreke 35 minutes a night, based on their ability. You wouldn't have enough PT for the shooters....

Nicolas Batum

http://www.csnnw.com/pages/landingblazers?Batum-not-doing-Blazers-any-favors-will-=1&blockID=708138&feedID=5212

becorz wrote:

PetrieUnderstudy wrote:Andre Miller/Isaiah Thomas/Jimmer Fredette
Tyreke Evans/Marcus Thornton
Gerald Wallace/Terrence Williams/Tyler Honeycutt
Josh Smith/Jason Thompson/Furkan Aldemir
DeMarcus Cousins/Chuck Hayes/Hassan Whiteside

I like the idea, but I don't think it works. Our starting lineup would have the worst deep shooting in the history of the NBA, so teams could just stack the key. Our only shooters would be IT, Thronton, and Jimmer...but the issue would be that you pretty much have to paly Wallace, Smith, and Tyreke 35 minutes a night, based on their ability. You wouldn't have enough PT for the shooters....

To address your shooting concerns...

Trade #5, Salmons & Outlaw to 76ers for Iguodala
Sign PG Mo Williams
Sign Ersan Ilyasova (drafting Aldemir could help in signing him)

Mo Williams/Isaiah Thomas/Jimmer Fredette
Tyreke Evans/Marcus Thornton
Andre Iguodala/Terrence Williams/Tyler Honeycutt
Ersan Ilyasova/Jason Thompson/Furkan Aldemir
DeMarcus Cousins/Chuck Hayes/Hassan Whiteside

PetrieUnderstudy wrote:

artest420 wrote:Lebron James

Obviously didn't read my opening sentence. Your answer correlates to your forum user name. You either think like Artest the nut job or you're high.

Obviously I'm a high nut job...

Either way, a serious answer is Paul George. I'd base a trade around Tyreke for him

artest420 wrote:

PetrieUnderstudy wrote:

artest420 wrote:Lebron James

Obviously didn't read my opening sentence. Your answer correlates to your forum user name. You either think like Artest the nut job or you're high.

Obviously I'm a high nut job...

Either way, a serious answer is Paul George. I'd base a trade around Tyreke for him

Isn't George a shooting guard? Or is that only because Granger is the small forward?

DieHardKingsFan wrote:Nicolas Batum

http://www.csnnw.com/pages/landingblazers?Batum-not-doing-Blazers-any-favors-will-=1&blockID=708138&feedID=5212

And that's what happens when a team screws around with a player and then tries to showcase him when they eventually change their mind. Could be a good thing for the Kings.

I just don't think SF should be that high of a priority for us. I think we should exhaust our options at PG and for a PF/C to play next to Cuz first.