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With the lack of interest in the team last year and the issues with the arena plus with Geoff Petrie's contract ending soon I dont think we have as much time as we think to make this team competitive. If we dont put a good product on the floor Sacramento could potentially lose the Kings. If the fans continue with the lack of support for the team I could definitely see the Maloofs moving the Kings elsewhere. They are businessmen and are not from here, so the loyalty to the city is not there. I would like to see the following moves done to make this team competitive next year-

Sign Hedo Turkoglu. The Kings currently have no one they can give the ball to in the halfcourt and make a play, Hedo would do that for us. He would have the same role in Orlando here being the main playmaker.Not to mention this move alone would put fans in seats and get them excited even moreso than Bobby Jackson coming back did. Isn't our assistant GM Hedo's former agent or something? Maybe their friendship along with Hedo's past ties to the Kings+ loyalty to Geoff Petrie causes Hedo to sign with us assuming the Kings are willing to spend the money.


2 trades ONLY if we signed Turkoglu-
Trade #4 and Beno Udrih to Toronto for #9 and Jose Calderon/filler.Calderon is a perfect fit for this team and its offense. Being such a young team we make tons of mistakes and unforced turnovers. Calderon is a steady hand at the point and a great shooter, he lacks a little in playmaking and is a bad defender but Bibby wasn't strong in those areas either.And PG defense is overrated, the NBA is all pick and rolls now anyway. Calderon's shooting is perfect for us and he always makes the right decisions putting up 9 assists to only 2 TO's last year, plus 13 pts on great %'s from FG/FT/3. Then with the Raps pick draft Jonny Flynn. He could bring a spark off the bench and bring a different element from Calderon.

Trade Nocioni+KT's expiring for Dalembert and Willie Green. Dalembert would give us shotblocking and a defensive presence we sorely lack. Losing Noc hurts but this gives Donte Greene an opportunity he wouldn't get with both Noc and Garcia here.

Take Omri Casspi at 23 and Patrick Mills at 31. Sign Chris Mihm to the min.

New lineup-

Hawes/Dalembert/Mihm
Thompson/Greene
Turkoglu/Garcia/Casspi
Martin/Green
Calderon/Flynn/Mills

I think that team is great for the Princeton and is very Petrie-like, it has the potential to be a great offensive team. Our starting lineup gives us 5 guys who can all pass and make plays, handle the ball some and shoot from the perimeter. Defensively the starting lineup looks bad but team defense could be strong as some of the older Kings teams were poor on paper but played good team defense, and coming off the bench with Dalembert and Garcia will help in that area. A lot of our defense falls on Hawes and Thompson, hopefully they get better as they mature.

That team is a 7th seed at best, and w/o question a 1st round exit. No thanks

I doubt anyone will take on Udrih to move up in the draft and we definitely need a high pick PG. I like Casspi but I don't think he slips to #23 since he is no surprise this year. Dalembert just got traded I think.

We nearly made it to .500 with Beno/Kmart/Artest/Miller/Moore under Theus, this team with the #4 pick/Better Kmart/Noc/JT/Hawes this team is at least as good this year with Westphal. Rememeber the first Kings run had a year of lumps under Adelman (also Eddie Jordan as a rookie coach had been fired the year before for a really bad year) where they came in 8th but got killed in the first round. This is the first year with Westphal expect close to an 8th spot this year, after Natt's rookie coaching debacle. We will trade Kenny Thomas for a vet FA probably in the summer so there will still be supporting moves. This franchise hit rock bottom last year and there is no way this team is not at least competitive.

cdt3 wrote:I doubt anyone will take on Udrih to move up in the draft and we definitely need a high pick PG. I like Casspi but I don't think he slips to #23 since he is no surprise this year. Dalembert just got traded I think.

We nearly made it to .500 with Beno/Kmart/Artest/Miller/Moore under Theus, this team with the #4 pick/Better Kmart/Noc/JT/Hawes this team is at least as good this year with Westphal.

Who cares if that team narely made it to .500 that team was still 12 games short of the 8th seed.

The key factor was Artest.

Every team needs one player who will take over whenever games are tight. One player who has the mentality that "I'm the best on the court and I alone can win this game for us" We didn't have that last year...which is why we lost pretty much every single close game.

Great teamwork can only get you so far, before you need one or two guys to simply put the team on their back and career the team to the victory. Kevin Martin isn't that guy. He doesn't have the mentality or game to "take over." Everyone else on the team simply aren't good enough to pull it off.

Without that player, this team will be nothing.

cdt3 wrote:Rememeber the first Kings run had a year of lumps under Adelman (also Eddie Jordan as a rookie coach had been fired the year before for a really bad year) where they came in 8th but got killed in the first round. This is the first year with Westphal expect close to an 8th spot this year, after Natt's rookie coaching debacle. We will trade Kenny Thomas for a vet FA probably in the summer so there will still be supporting moves. This franchise hit rock bottom last year and there is no way this team is not at least competitive.

This comment is worthless.
You fail to mention that the previous team somehow added Webber, Peja, Vlade, Jason Williams and the entire bench mob....aka the entire team changed.
Last year's team and this year's team will be pretty much identical.

We will improve, but not drastically. IMO we will be a bottom 6 team next year.

deNIEd wrote:Every team needs one player who will take over whenever games are tight. One player who has the mentality that "I'm the best on the court and I alone can win this game for us" We didn't have that last year...which is why we lost pretty much every single close game.

Without that player, this team will be nothing.

Totally agreed. Thats why I'm liking Flynn and Evans more. Either one could be that kind of player.
Regardless if it ends up being one of them, we certainly need that type of player to be good again.

deNIEd wrote:That team is a 7th seed at best, and w/o question a 1st round exit. No thanks

The team isn't that far off from Orlando talent wise. They have a better PF/C but we would have a better bench and SG.

sackings916 wrote:

deNIEd wrote:That team is a 7th seed at best, and w/o question a 1st round exit. No thanks

The team isn't that far off from Orlando talent wise. They have a better PF/C but we would have a better bench and SG.

Uhh, They have a Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better Center. That's like saying, Oh Cav's, we'd be the same as them, they'd have a better SF but we'd have a better SG and C.

Lewis is better than Thompson. Nelson is better than Calderon. They have defense that team has zero defense. They have a better coach. They have more experience. The two teams aren't comparable at all.

Calderon/Martin would be the worst defensive backcourt in the league.
We would have to way overpay for Turkoglu.
Thompson and Hawes won't be nearly good enough to help bring push a team into the playoffs next season. Thompson isn't a top 20 PF yet and Hawes is barely a top 15...again that's as of now.

At the very best, it'll be a 7th seed, 1st round sacrificial goat to the Lakers.

Realistically, that team would be a 40-42 win team, finishing 10th in the west.

There really is no point to doing this...I don't know about you but seeing the Kings as a first round exit for the next couple years and unable to make a splash in the 2010 FA period looks very unappealing to me.

To make the Kings a win-now team, this is what I think should happen going in order of the off-season schedule:

Draft:
Ty Evans at #4.
Find another PF/C at #23 that can really bring it - a guy who physically is ready.
BPA at #31

Re-sign McCants
Dump Kenny Thomas!!!
Sign Hedo - Instant upgrade at SF
Beno worked into a trade???

All thats left is hope that the new coaching staff, specifically Mario Elie, can help develop the young guys both mentally and physically; all while hoping Westie can re-innovate the offense to have better success.

This obviously isn't the best scenario that can happen and I also know there is alot of "hope" involved, but without getting too far into fantasy land...this seems legit.

I'm alright signin Hedo, but I'd rather sign Ariza. Still Hedo is the one "older" FA that I would like to see this team sign. If we get Evans at PG we could revert to an all-team of strong passers.

Lightning Strike wrote:I'm alright signin Hedo, but I'd rather sign Ariza.

Interesting, never thought about Ariza. I still think I'd take Hedo though...I know he's older but he's familiar with the organization and has proven himself more in the NBA. I feel Ariza's success last season had a lot to do with the energy and mentorship he fed off of Kobe.

Everyone should read/listen to Ford talking about Presti and Cleveland. I think he nails it perfectly.

Basically he said that Cleveland was foolish for trying to win so fast, for surrounding Lebron w/ old veterans to make a push into the playoffs. Think about next year, you can't really say Cleveland is going to improve all that much, Lebron will get better, but most of the team will get older and degress as well.

Presti simply surrounded Durant w/ young players. They suck for a few years, most likely a lotto team next year as well, but each year all their young players develope and grow together. Come contract time, they will be making a run for the championship and none of the players will want to leave.

This is EXACTLY what Sacramento needs to do. Forget the playoffs. Even if we try to win next year, we'll still most likely miss the playoffs, at best 7th seed, with a team that has a ceiling of the 6th seed at its peak.

Gather young players that grow and learn to love to play w/ each other. Eventually things will get good.

This thread is (Please Use More Appropriate Word).

deNIEd wrote:Gather young players that grow and learn to love to play w/ each other. Eventually things will get good.

I read the article this morning...If I'm not mistaken, wasn't that pretty much the plan since the team took a dump? Over the last few years I've read on this forum how some wanted to develop a team something similar to what Potland has going for them now. Portland is young and has had about the same time to grow together as OKC. No matter what we do, I personally feel our issues start and end with the Maloofs.

I feel that the Magoofs don't have the brightest basketball minds....they wanna win now and seem kind of impatient. I mean, they delayed the rebuilding process for like 3 years because they honestly thought we could make the playoffs...

deNIEd wrote:
Uhh, They have a Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better Center. That's like saying, Oh Cav's, we'd be the same as them, they'd have a better SF but we'd have a better SG and C.

Lewis is better than Thompson. Nelson is better than Calderon. They have defense that team has zero defense. They have a better coach. They have more experience. The two teams aren't comparable at all.

Calderon/Martin would be the worst defensive backcourt in the league.
We would have to way overpay for Turkoglu.
Thompson and Hawes won't be nearly good enough to help bring push a team into the playoffs next season. Thompson isn't a top 20 PF yet and Hawes is barely a top 15...again that's as of now.

At the very best, it'll be a 7th seed, 1st round sacrificial goat to the Lakers.


Realistically, that team would be a 40-42 win team, finishing 10th in the west.

Uhh we have a wayyyyyyyyyyyy better SG and a better bench. Nelson better than Calderon? Out of his whole career Nelson has played well for half a season, Calderon has shown more for a longer period of time not to mention he was playing through a hamstring injury for almost all of last season. Lewis is better than Thompson but I think JT will close that gap some, and he's a more traditional PF and brings a high level of physicality to our lineup. If its up to you we'd tank for the next 3 years and watch the Kings leave Sacramento.

sackings916 wrote:
Uhh we have a wayyyyyyyyyyyy better SG and a better bench. Nelson better than Calderon? Out of his whole career Nelson has played well for half a season, Calderon has shown more for a longer period of time not to mention he was playing through a hamstring injury for almost all of last season. Lewis is better than Thompson but I think JT will close that gap some, and he's a more traditional PF and brings a high level of physicality to our lineup. If its up to you we'd tank for the next 3 years and watch the Kings leave Sacramento.

Sorry to burst your bubble but there is no way this team can compete in the West, it is just too tough. Kmart having another injury riddled season or Hedo going down and this team doesn't make the playoffs. Like others said, at full strength this team would be at best a 7th seed, swept by the Nuggets or Spurs. We have a better SG yes, but he essentially serves the same purpose as Lee on the Magic (move without the ball and score), except Kmart needs to score much more for us to win. And how would Calderon help us get much better? Yes, he is an upgrade over Beno but with Bosh in Toronto they couldn't even get close to making the playoffs in the East.

Howard is leagues better than Hawes right now, especially as a defensive presence, and our bench is worse compared to the Magic's. They have solid backup bigs in Gortat and Battie, while we only have "effective for 2 games" Diogu. And Pietrus, Redick, and Alston/Nelson are better than Nocioni, McCants and Donte Greene. Would you really wanna see the Kings circa '04-'05(1-4 first round loss to the Sonics) for the next 3-4 years? Because that is what you would get.

Flipstorm wrote:I feel that the Magoofs don't have the brightest basketball minds....they wanna win now and seem kind of impatient. I mean, they delayed the rebuilding process for like 3 years because they honestly thought we could make the playoffs...

Exactly how I feel. This last coaching search is a prime example, we were told that it was Petrie's decision and he had full control. WRONG! The Maloofs became unpatient and pressured him there at the end. I'm sure there was pressure regardless since the draft was approaching, but still my point is they get too involved. If they wanna play GM, then why bother having one? Focus on getting a new arena.