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Vegas has us around 30 games. I have to admit a few weeks ago I was higher on this team than I think I am tonight. At media day the veterans were saying the right things, I thought we had made some correct offseason moves, and the homer in me really had an eye towards making an 8th seed run (we can all dream). Then came preseason. The team seamed lackadaisical and the chemistry wasn't right and the results for the most part weren't there. Serious questions also remain regarding the roster - the SG situation, can Rudy function optimally in this offense, the bench/starting issues..

Coming out of the gate with our schedule this could get ugly. Its never good when the coach has to come out and say things like "I'm aware to the reality of our situation", and "it won't happen overnight", foreshadowing what might come. The western conference is murderous as well, and "bottom feeders" like Utah and the Lakers even won't be easy outs. To me I think I think we are looking at 32. Even if we don't succeed this year in terms of wins/losses I expect directional progress. I want a better foundation and clearer expectation that we can get things done before Boogie's contract runs out. As for trades, I'm not sure I see the undervalued piece that we will move on.

If only 30 games are won the decks might be cleared in the office and on the bench, and I'm not talking about the players. The franchise still seems like it's tugging in multiple directions. Seeing a draft day war room with 87 people in it is enough to make anyone wonder. It's hard to get that many people on the same page and could be the answer as to why there have been so many head scratching moves when putting in pieces around this teams core.

Half of the attempted moves seems to make sense, but it seems like when they can't follow through on the moves that make sense (Iggy, Smith, Livingston) they end up just saying F it and go in the exact opposite direction (Landry, Williams, consecutive lotto picks at SG, Sessions).

32 wins

I think Cousins will powers us to win a few more, look for Collison to increase his teammates effectiveness a little more than IT.

I say we win 34. We over achieve at 40.

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36 wins. We start out terrible, with many of us calling for heads and a lot of I-told-you-so's from SacKingZZZ, but we start to hit our stride shortly before the All-Star break (which Cousins and Stauskas will be participating in), with the rest of the season foreshadowing the future success of the franchise. Many will question the logic behind not tanking at the end of the season, but they will eventually be silenced by Pete when his grand plan finally comes to fruition.

Wolfay wrote: they will eventually be silenced by Pete when his grand plan finally comes to fruition.

Cherry picking

City of Trees wrote:

Wolfay wrote: they will eventually be silenced by Pete when his grand plan finally comes to fruition.

Cherry picking

Wolfay wrote:36 wins. We start out terrible, with many of us calling for heads and a lot of I-told-you-so's from SacKingZZZ, but we start to hit our stride shortly before the All-Star break (which Cousins and Stauskas will be participating in), with the rest of the season foreshadowing the future success of the franchise. Many will question the logic behind not tanking at the end of the season, but they will eventually be silenced by Pete when his grand plan finally comes to fruition.

I told you so's? Haha, in what way? I like some of what they are doing. They are finally talking about implementing the right system among other positives. I just don't think they've put all their eggs in the right basket in regards to personnel moves. I think the PG spot is solid, I like Stauskas as a fit player, and I think this team has two legit offensive studs to start their offensive scheme with. If that offensive scheme is right and Malone sticks to this system through the growing pains, the players buy in, and Malone uses the personnel he does have that can work in it, this team can be highly competitive IMO. I never like to go with wins guessing because I don't think any Kings fan can look at it in an entirely objective way, but I will say that this team can be more competitive than they were post trade last year. As is with marginal success in the system this team should gut it out around a .500 level, anything below that would be a major disappointment to me. But if the idea is to showcase the players who don't really make this team better than that could go down dramatically with hopefully a better long term payoff. My opinion on that is showcasing is a waste of time at this point. Time to call a turd a turd and move on sans moves if you have to. I say it's time to start finding out who on the team does fit, rather than finding a way to get rid of the ones that don't.

I will agree about the start of the season. Not that it's a certainty to be that horrible but I would say with the way Malone ran preseason this team should by all rights be woefully unprepared from the start.

City of Trees wrote:

Wolfay wrote: they will eventually be silenced by Pete when his grand plan finally comes to fruition.

Cherry picking

Coinciding with the trade they intended on the whole time with Detroit as Jason Thompson gets moved for Brandon Jennings. It's then revealed they never even discussed a Josh Smith trade, they wanted the ideal fit for position-less basketball. They then roll out the first 4 PG lineup around Cousins because this team needs to up the assists right?

Aside from more organizational clarity I also want at the end of the year to hopefully not be so daunted by the West.. You have 8 solid teams from last year.. but even PHX, New Orleans, the JAzz etc. look to be on the way up. Really, I want to feel as if we have the chance to even compete before Cousins contract ends

35 wins, but 82 games of Cousins excellence and excitement for the future.

Starting to feel a bit cynical about this team. I think we have a lot of talented players, but an overall lack of IQ. I just don't see players like McLemore, DWill, JT, Evans and others having the intellect to understand how they can be effective in game time situations. Collison is an improvement in this area. This is definitely one of McCallum's strengths, and I'm hoping Stauskas' lack of overall athleticism is balanced by an evolved understanding of the game. I think Coach Malone's comments pouring salt on the prospect of this team doing well are probably coming from the realization that many of these players just aren't very coachable. I imagine its hard to coach players in the way you want them to play, when each player has been programmed with a lifetime of playing the game another, perhaps wrong, way to play.

I'd be happy with 30+ wins, and a better understanding of who belongs on the court and who doesn't.

enderwilson wrote:Starting to feel a bit cynical about this team. I think we have a lot of talented players, but an overall lack of IQ. I just don't see players like McLemore, DWill, JT, Evans and others having the intellect to understand how they can be effective in game time situations. Collison is an improvement in this area. This is definitely one of McCallum's strengths, and I'm hoping Stauskas' lack of overall athleticism is balanced by an evolved understanding of the game. I think Coach Malone's comments pouring salt on the prospect of this team doing well are probably coming from the realization that many of these players just aren't very coachable. I imagine its hard to coach players in the way you want them to play, when each player has been programmed with a lifetime of playing the game another, perhaps wrong, way to play.

I'd be happy with 30+ wins, and a better understanding of who belongs on the court and who doesn't.

JT plays within himself, he has the IQ to do what he does. Collison did a great job 8 assists, 5 steals, 1 turnover. He would have had 12 assists roughly if people could have made their shots. Evans is a fantastic role player when used appropriately.

Sessions looked horrible. Omri forced too much, Williams does little to nothing. McLemore has to be the worst starting scoring SG in NBA history. I mean Thabo seems elite by comparison, yes it is that bad. Nik is just now getting his shot. I don't blame Rudy much for trying to be a 1 man show with all the garbage we were throwing up.

Basically it is going to come down to this.

Cousins and Gay respect Collison enough to run the offense, Collison plays as well as he did last night, but gets more vocal and directs more.....if we can do that we will be ok.

I'm counting this year as still part of the Vivek transition phase. I'm calling 33 wins right now, and really see no way we do much better than that. Next summer is the summer where we have the flexibility and opportunity to get better with Gay, Williams, Evans, Hollins, and Casspi coming off the books (~$30 million), and this alleged "trade interest" in Jason Thompson. The 2015 free agent class is superb and we will need to make some major splashes then. Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, Marc Gasol, Rajon Rondo, Brooke Lopez, Robin Lopez, Greg Monroe, Roy Hibbert, DeAndre Jordan, Omer Asik are all 2015 restricted or unrestricted FA's we can throw significant money at. We'll have a high pick to offer up in trades and hopefully an improved Landry and McLemore to use as trade bait as well. So, in the end, I don't expect improvement this year and that doesn't worry me. But if I don't see major strides next year, I'll be worried.

Thompson was just signed to a MAX deal and Leonard will be right behind him. So...

SacKingsPejaFan wrote:I'm counting this year as still part of the Vivek transition phase. I'm calling 33 wins right now, and really see no way we do much better than that. Next summer is the summer where we have the flexibility and opportunity to get better with Gay, Williams, Evans, Hollins, and Casspi coming off the books (~$30 million), and this alleged "trade interest" in Jason Thompson. The 2015 free agent class is superb and we will need to make some major splashes then. Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, Marc Gasol, Rajon Rondo, Brooke Lopez, Robin Lopez, Greg Monroe, Roy Hibbert, DeAndre Jordan, Omer Asik are all 2015 restricted or unrestricted FA's we can throw significant money at. We'll have a high pick to offer up in trades and hopefully an improved Landry and McLemore to use as trade bait as well. So, in the end, I don't expect improvement this year and that doesn't worry me. But if I don't see major strides next year, I'll be worried.

Could you imagine adding Kawhi Leonard and Asik? I know it is not likely to happen, but just like that the entire pace of the franchise changes.

I always prefer to stay flexible unless you have a true long term asset, or are forced to by demand of talent. This season was always gonna be hosed I've thought. Hopefully Pete has the patience to avoid long term salary commitment today, but can move some of our junk around to fit a little better in the meantime.

We could have just drafted Leonard in the first place instead of you know who. What's frustrating is we even had him visit twice...

RIPskaterdude wrote:Thompson was just signed to a MAX deal and Leonard will be right behind him. So...

I mean, I'd say we need to go ahead and lock up Rudy due to the lack of competition he might face in FA and the rising cap but what a question mark has this turned into? Can Rudy fit into what the organization is trying to do in terms of the motion? Would he be willing to tone down his FGA and become a more team-oriented SF if that is what is called for? I want this to work because I like him

RIPskaterdude wrote:We could have just drafted Leonard in the first place instead of you know who. What's frustrating is we even had him visit twice...

I doubt he would be the same player today growing up in San Antonio so to say. But yeah 100% agree.

Kings2013 wrote:

RIPskaterdude wrote:Thompson was just signed to a MAX deal and Leonard will be right behind him. So...

I mean, I'd say we need to go ahead and lock up Rudy due to the lack of competition he might face in FA and the rising cap but what a question mark has this turned into? Can Rudy fit into what the organization is trying to do in terms of the motion? Would he be willing to tone down his FGA and become a more team-oriented SF if that is what is called for? I want this to work because I like him

That's a bad move. Rudy is talented sure, but he is the type of guy we will have to overpay more than anyone else to stay. He will wait for our offer to be used as leverage to another even if he signs with them for less. No need to rush it with him. I'd like to see more of him first too, and you never know what you can get with flexibility until you have it.