Key Off-Season Decisions

[UKF]

What would you like to happen?

[Bac2Basics]

If Ron doesn't opt out, Petrie's best move is to trade him for the best package available.

Beno is clearly at a point where he could play a significant role in the future of this team.

[KingInExile]

If Ron doesn't opt out, Petrie's best move is to trade him for the best package available.

Highly disagree! It's sounding more and more like Theus is sold on the guy and has plans for him on the roster. Petrie has to listen to his coaching staff about what they want (and he does that). If Ron doesn't opt out, then Petrie needs to work on an extension...not a "dump for whatever you can get" trade.

[BMiller52]

I'd like to see both of them back but I wouldn't be real upset to see Beno leave if we draft a PG(but we'd have to go after a guy like Carl Landry with the MLE that was for Beno). I like Beno a lot, but if Petrie thinks he has a potential star PG/PG that's BPA at our spot then I can understand why the Kings would use their money on other needs and Beno would go somewhere else. I'd like to see Beno back though for sure(and Justin actually).

[Bac2Basics]

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Highly disagree! It's sounding more and more like Theus is sold on the guy and has plans for him on the roster. Petrie has to listen to his coaching staff about what they want (and he does that). If Ron doesn't opt out, then Petrie needs to work on an extension...not a "dump for whatever you can get" trade.

I'm not suggesting that we send Artest out for nothing, but I don't see him as part of the long term vision that Petrie does or should have in mind for this team.

Artest isn't a rebuilding piece, but he can bring 2 or 3 rebuilding pieces in a trade, or improve the rebuilding effort in some other way.

It's just as likely, if not more so, that Theus said those things knowing that it would improve Artest's trade value because that's what he knew Petrie would want, and not because he wanted him back long term.

[Smills91]

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I'm not suggesting that we send Artest out for nothing, but I don't see him as part of the long term vision that Petrie does or should have in mind for this team.

Artest isn't a rebuilding piece, but he can bring 2 or 3 rebuilding pieces in a trade, or improve the rebuilding effort in some other way.

It's just as likely, if not more so, that Theus said those things knowing that it would improve Artest's trade value because that's what he knew Petrie would want, and not because he wanted him back long term.

Sounds an awful lot like diluting talent to me, I'm ALWAYS opposed to diluting talent. We need to CONSOLIDATE talent because the NBA takes STARS to win, Artest is the closest thing that we have to that. We've never had Ron for close to an entire season. Let's get him healthy and make a couple more tweaks and I think this team may actually have the ability to do something next year.

[UKF]

Personally I would rather we just re-sign Beno but I dont want to give him a whole lot of money. 4 or 5 million would be my limit for him. I like Ron a lot but I would rather he moved on to a new team. With him there are a couple distractions and I think it would be best for the rebuilding process, if he wasn't a part of it. I say we sign and trade him and wish him the best wherever he goes.

I think we will end up re-signing Beno, and Ron will be back next year after he doesnt opt out and the Kings do not deal him. That is what I think will end up happening...

[Smills91]

I'm starting to go on the fence with Beno.

He averaged 13 points, 4 assists 3 boards on 47%, 38% and 85%.

I wonder if we could get him to sign a similar deal to that of Mikki Moore? 3 year deal with a team option on the third that is for the full MLE.

That way if we want to get an additional 5-6 million in cap space in 2 years, we can.

[rpa]

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Highly disagree! It's sounding more and more like Theus is sold on the guy and has plans for him on the roster. Petrie has to listen to his coaching staff about what they want (and he does that). If Ron doesn't opt out, then Petrie needs to work on an extension...not a "dump for whatever you can get" trade.

I'd only listen to the coaching staff if the team is trying to contend (or, if the team is rebuilding, on young players).

To be honest, I think that the goals of Theus and Petrie may diverge a great deal. Theus, being a new coach, knows that he needs to be successful early on so that he isn't let go. Petrie, on the other hand, has the history to put together a longterm plan to get better.

Theus may want to keep Artest around but that's moreso because he wants to do well now; but if Petrie can get a piece that will help us rebuild in the next 2 years then he has to pull the trigger at the expense of this team sucking (or being worse) for the next couple years.

PostPosted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 3:27 pm Post subject:
I'm starting to go on the fence with Beno.

He averaged 13 points, 4 assists 3 boards on 47%, 38% and 85%.

My problem with Beno is that it's looking more and more like you need 1 of 2 things to be a top team in this league:
a) A super-duper-star
b) A top notch PG
Of the top 10 teams in the league this year, 6 have top notch PGs (Detroit--Billups, NO--Paul, Utah--Williams, San Antonio--Parker, Phoenix--Nash, & Dallas--Kidd). Of the remaining 4 (Boston, Orlando, Houston, & LA) at least 2 (Boston, LA) have super-duper-stars and the remaining 2 just happen to have the 2 best centers in the NBA today.

Since the Kings do not have nor will have 1 of the best 2 centers in the league nor will they have a super-duper-star they need to have a top notch PG in my opinion. Beno just isn't that. I think best case with him is he's right around 15th best in the league (he may spike to around 11 or 12 but never top notch).

It's really too bad the Kings don't own Beno's bird rights because I'd be the one pushing for trading him right now.


Oh ya, to respond to the actual post topic:

I want Ron traded (so long as we get a good return) and I'm somewhat iffy on bringing Beno back but I understand that the Kings can't gain anything from him leaving (since they don't own Bird rights for a S&T). Therefore, I'd like to see Ron traded and I'd like to see Beno signed to a reasonable deal that doesn't screw up our cap space and gives him decent value on the trade market.

However, I have a suspicion that both of them will be Kings next year (for the full season).

[KM44]

I really agree with the back2basics idea that we ship artest out. I dont care what theus thinks, he's kind of a dumbass from time to time. that shot at martin was a low blow. as for artest, we have two guys that have proven themselves as awesome players and possible starters at the three spot. beno is a given to keep, everyone knows that. I love the idea of giving a moore like contract, that would be perfect.

I really think that artest is overrated, and if we could trade him to the knicks and trade up or something, that would be awesome. lets hope petrie can do something good this offseason

[Smills91]

I really agree with the back2basics idea that we ship artest out. I dont care what theus thinks, he's kind of a dumbass from time to time. that shot at martin was a low blow. as for artest, we have two guys that have proven themselves as awesome players and possible starters at the three spot. beno is a given to keep, everyone knows that. I love the idea of giving a moore like contract, that would be perfect.

I really think that artest is overrated, and if we could trade him to the knicks and trade up or something, that would be awesome. lets hope petrie can do something good this offseason

I agree with everything here except that. THe Kings were ABOVE .500 with Artest in the line-up and FAR below .500 without him. Artest IS the Kings best player. I am not OPPOSED to trading him, but it HAS to be for the right deal, otherwise we're better off WITH Artest.

[Cruel_Ruin]

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Highly disagree! It's sounding more and more like Theus is sold on the guy and has plans for him on the roster. Petrie has to listen to his coaching staff about what they want (and he does that). If Ron doesn't opt out, then Petrie needs to work on an extension...not a "dump for whatever you can get" trade.

Coaching staff should follow the direction management sets. Who hires who again. If we re build like we should and likely will, Artest should be traded.

[a-rod]

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Coaching staff should follow the direction management sets. Who hires who again. If we re build like we should and likely will, Artest should be traded.

I agree...

[pillwenney]

I think that particularly with Beno, it depends on what happens in the draft, so we'll have to wait for that (sucks, I know).

As far as the Artest situation goes. I just think that either him or John has to go. I don't really care which one, but having John off the bench is a waste of his talent and our resources, so either space has to be cleared, or he has to be moved.

[KingInExile]

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Coaching staff should follow the direction management sets. Who hires who again. If we re build like we should and likely will, Artest should be traded.

So you're saying that the coaching staff should not have any say in the type of players that they want to have on the team they coach? That's crap. The fastest way for a program to fail is to give the GM complete autonomy in putting together players they think are the best for the team without consulting with the coaches to find out if those players mesh with the style of game they are going to coach. Prime example is the "Jailblazers" as assembled by Bob Whitsette. Trader Bob put together a lot of players who were talented on paper but never thought to check to see if these players were guys his coaches could work with. After going through three coaches and assembling one of the most dysfunctional group of bad characters any franchise has seen in many years, Bob finally got the ax and the Blazers set out on a multi-year process of rebuilding from ground zero.

Yes, the GM needs to have a say in the direction the team is going to go. But to say that the coaches (basically) need to shut up and coach the players he's handed is just a horrendous setup for failure.

To be honest, I think that the goals of Theus and Petrie may diverge a great deal. Theus, being a new coach, knows that he needs to be successful early on so that he isn't let go. Petrie, on the other hand, has the history to put together a longterm plan to get better.

This is highly doubtful. If Theus and Petrie had very different ideas on goals then Thues would never have been offered the job to begin with. Both want a competitive team, both know that the team is rebuilding. I believe both know that the primary goal is to get the team to continue to grow into a team that will challenge for a title withing the next few years. I also believe that both know that the only way to make sure this team works its way back into being a contender is to always be on the same page when it comes to strategies and (especially) the types of players that the coaching staff needs to implement their game plan.

I really agree with the back2basics idea that we ship artest out. I dont care what theus thinks, he's kind of a dumbass from time to time. that shot at martin was a low blow. as for artest, we have two guys that have proven themselves as awesome players and possible starters at the three spot. beno is a given to keep, everyone knows that. I love the idea of giving a moore like contract, that would be perfect.

Oh boo-hoo...If Martin (and Martin fans) can't stand an honest assessment of his current skill set when it comes to crunch time play, then she needs to move on to the WNBA where she belongs. Look, Martin is a great shooter and a dangerous scoring weapon (especially when he gets bailed out and sent to the line for pump fakes where he often initiates contact). But he has yet to prove that he is a reliable option down the stretch because he does not have the best abilities to score (or create for others) in iso plays with his back to the basket. This is what Thues goes to in the stretch and this is the type of game better suited for Artest. Martin may get there, but he's not there yet. If Martin doesn't like that assessment, then Martin needs to show that the assessment is not valid. I haven't really seen him do that.

[SacKingZZZ]

Just Beno because that most likely means Ron isn't going to bring us back much in a trade. I am holding out hope that we are somewhat ready to completely rebuild by the end of the offseason. At least that quite a bit of minutes are cleared for developing young players.

[Cruel_Ruin]

Theus should not be the one deciding if we're going to rebuild or not. Period. He's the coach, not the GM. If Petrie wants to rebuild, he shouldn't have to ask for the rookie coach's opinion.

[KingInExile]

Theus should not be the one deciding if we're going to rebuild or not. Period. He's the coach, not the GM. If Petrie wants to rebuild, he shouldn't have to ask for the rookie coach's opinion.

Who the hell said that Theus doesn't want to rebuild? Theus knows full well that the Kings are rebuilding and he has every damn right to register his opinion about the type of players to rebuild around. Just because some of you have the outlandish bias against Artest and view him as an anti-rebuilding component doesn't mean that he is not or should not be a piece (even a key piece) in the rebuilding plan. Some times some of you amaze me by your lack of creative thinking when it comes to how to rebuild a team.

[Smills91]

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Who the hell said that Theus doesn't want to rebuild? Theus knows full well that the Kings are rebuilding and he has every damn right to register his opinion about the type of players to rebuild around. Just because some of you have the outlandish bias against Artest and view him as an anti-rebuilding component doesn't mean that he is not or should not be a piece (even a key piece) in the rebuilding plan. Some times some of you amaze me by your lack of creative thinking when it comes to how to rebuild a team.

KIE the only way to rebuild is to trade off ALL your assets for expiring contracts, picks, MORE picks, EVEN MORE PICKS, and young talent like Jarrett Jack and Daniel Gibson etc. That's really the only way to rebuild. Tank for two seasons straight get the next two #1 picks and you're back in business. It's really as simple as that. I could run a franchise.



Keep RON!

[Cruel_Ruin]

Yes, brilliant idea, let's rebuild around the unreliable, 29 year old Ron Artest. Let's pretend that he's not in his prime right now and will magically morph into a franchise player over the summer. Lets just ignore that he led a team of mostly veterans to a 38 win season as "the man." All hail Ron Artest the infallible

If you want to win now, you keep Ron. If you want to rebuild, you trade him. And in no circumstance you build around him as a main piece. It is a one way ticket to mediocreville.