Who will/should we target next summer?

rpa · Post #1 » by **rpa** » Thu Jul 8, 2010 8:53 pm

We've been hearing for a while now about how the Kings plan on saving their cash this year and making a run at a free agent next year. While the main reason is obvious (the Maloofs don't feel the need to blow a whole lot of cash when they aren't going to contend anyways) I actually don't think it's all that bad of an idea (we avoid uber-overpayment and we'll have a better idea of the teams' weaknesses).

Recently Melo & Durant have signed (or will sign) extensions. Here's a list of the more prominent 2011 free agents (their free agent status in parentheses):

Samual Dalembert (ours w/ Bird rights)
Carl Landry (ours w/ Bird rights)
Jason Richardson
Leandro Barbosa (Player Option)
DeAndre Jordan (Restricted + Early Bird)
Kelenna Azuibuke
Jeff Green (Restricted)
Greg Oden (Restricted)
JR Smith
Nene (Player Option)
Tony Parker
David West (Player Option)
Marcus Thornton (Restricted + Early Bird)
Zach Randolph
Mike Conley Jr. (Restricted)
Marc Gasol (Restricted + Early Bird--I think)
Yao
Shane Battier
Caron Butler
Tyson Chandler
Jamal Crawford
Al Horford (Restricted)
Michael Redd
Troy Murphy
Mike Dunleavy Jr.
TJ Ford
Tayshaun Prince
Rodney Stuckey (Restricted)
Jonas Jerebko (Restricted + Early Bird)
Delonte West
Spencer Hawes (Restricted)
Thaddeus Young (Restricted)
Wilson Chandler (Restricted)
Kendrick Perkins

So, including our own free agents, who should the Kings make a run at next year, for how much, and why?

JSrose115 · Post #2 » by **JSrose115** » Thu Jul 8, 2010 9:01 pm

my boy JRICH!....this fool always has beastly games at Arco. I know I will get bashed on for this suggestion, but whatever.

=LarryLegend= · Post #3 » by **=LarryLegend=** » Thu Jul 8, 2010 9:29 pm

Al Horford and I have always liked Shane Battier although he will be 33.

YC42Balla · Post #4 » by **YC42Balla** » Thu Jul 8, 2010 9:30 pm

I'd love to get Mike Conley Jr. and resign Landry, that would be sick!!
--Conley is a great young PG, and we could really use someone like him on this very young team kings team (IMO)..

Either that, or get another vet guard.. at the 2 spot or 1 .. that would be fine as well..

king125 · Post #5 » by **king125** » Thu Jul 8, 2010 9:48 pm

No free agents on that list look attractive at all.

Make a trade for Danny Granger.

Could you imagine in 3 years the trio of Evans, Cousins, and Granger? WOW!!

I see Indy as possibly one of the worst teams in the NBA next year. Trade them one of our bigs (either Landry or JT, whichever one we decide is not a future piece) along with our 1st round pick, and grab Granger. They just drafted Paul George to possibly replace Granger in the future. I would be beyond happy if this happened.

PaKwAn · Post #6 » by **PaKwAn** » Thu Jul 8, 2010 9:49 pm

If you guy's want a big who can spread the floor, you might want to check Spencer Hawes..

SacTownKings4Life · Post #7 » by **SacTownKings4Life** » Thu Jul 8, 2010 10:25 pm

PaKwAn wrote:If you guy's want a big who can spread the floor, you might want to check Spencer Hawes..

Damn, you beat me to it! lol

Resign Landry & Dalambert, depending. I don't really know after that. Barbosa maybe? I know Tony Parker's a fat chance. TJ Ford? It's a crapshoot.

rpa · Post #8 » by **rpa** » Thu Jul 8, 2010 10:30 pm

king125 wrote:No free agents on that list look attractive at all.

Yeah; that was actually part of the basis for this thread. We hear about how the Kings are going to use their money next year but, low and behold, next years crop of FAs really sucks.

SacKingZZZ · Post #9 » by **SacKingZZZ** » Thu Jul 8, 2010 10:34 pm

If we're looking pretty good as early as this year than Battier and Prince certainly jump out. Depends on how Casspi and Greene look as well.

If Landry isn't re-signed than David West really intrigues me. I think he'd be a great fit next to Cousins and Reke. Landry kind of reminds me of a more athletic but less talented version of him.

deNIEd · Post #10 » by **deNIEd** » Thu Jul 8, 2010 11:58 pm

Way too early to tell. At this point, we have no idea how much Tyreke will improve. Also, we have no idea how Cousins/Whiteside will turn out. While I strongly believe that Cousins will be a solid player, there is a chance that he busts and clearly isn't a solid starter. Same with Whiteside. We really need to see how Tyreke, Cousins, Whiteside, Donte, Casspi progress. Also, it depends on where our draft pick is next year as well as who we draft.

Now, just for sh**s and giggles...

PG: T. Evans, B. Udrih
SG: S. Battier, F. Garcia
SF: T. Prince, D. Greene
PF: C. Landry, H. Whiteside
C : D. Cousins, J. Thompson

I wouldn't mind that at all going into the 2011-2012 season. *I believe that one of Donte and Casspi will be traded*

longfellow44 · Post #11 » by **longfellow44** » Fri Jul 9, 2010 12:10 am

Let both landry and dalembert go in favor of giving al horford the max. Then run with a 4 man lineup of horford, thompson, cousins, whiteside.

If horford isnt interested resign landry and let dalembert walk unless he signgs for cheap.

jeffjtk1234 · Post #12 » by **jeffjtk1234** » Fri Jul 9, 2010 1:35 am

doesnt Lebron deciding to join the heat change EVERYTHING. Reke and cousins in their prime meet the big 3!

SacKingZZZ · Post #13 » by **SacKingZZZ** » Fri Jul 9, 2010 4:54 am

longfellow44 wrote:Let both landry and dalembert go in favor of giving al horford the max. Then run with a 4 man lineup of horford, thompson, cousins, whiteside.

If horford isnt interested resign landry and let dalembert walk unless he signgs for cheap.

Sheesh, Horford the max!!?? No thanks. Solid player but holy crap.

ADoaN17 · Post #14 » by **ADoaN17** » Fri Jul 9, 2010 5:53 am

I sorta like tony parker, reunite parker and beno! Only interesting guy for me on that list.

Krimzen · Post #15 » by **Krimzen** » Fri Jul 9, 2010 1:56 pm

SacKingZZZ wrote:
longfellow44 wrote:Let both landry and dalembert go in favor of giving al horford the max. Then run with a 4 man lineup of horford, thompson, cousins, whiteside.

If horford isnt interested resign landry and let dalembert walk unless he signgs for cheap.

Sheesh, Horford the max!!?? No thanks. Solid player but holy crap.

Keep in mind that no one knows what exactly will constitute the "max" under the new CBA, and it may be less onerous than right now. Even if not in terms of dollar amounts, perhaps with less of it being fully guaranteed.

That is one of the nice things about staying out of the FA market this offseason though. Unless your Miami getting a LeBron/Wade/Bosh sort of player where it is clearly worth it no matter the cost, many of these fully guaranteed contracts could look more awful come next offseason.

longfellow44 · Post #16 » by **longfellow44** » Fri Jul 9, 2010 6:05 pm

I was thinking the max would be around 12 mil after the new cba. Horford is the perfectmcompliment to both tyreke and cousins. The guy has amazing passing skills and has been forced to guard centers and has done well with it when we put him on power forwards i would expect his production to improve significantly

deNIEd · Post #17 » by **deNIEd** » Fri Jul 9, 2010 6:18 pm

I have always been a huge fan of Horford.

I think, especially with the recent super Miami team, emerging OKC team, and the rest of the top teams, it's incredibly clear that you CANNOT win without size. Both Miami and OKC's greatest weaknesses is size in the front court. Look at both LAL and Bos. LAL with Gasol, Bynum, and Odom. Bos with KG, Perkins, Sheed.

Going after Horford, and running with a font court combo of Horford/Cousins would be an incredibly dominate one. Two guys who will likely average a combined 35-40 points a game and 20 rebounds a game. Add in Tyreke, and you're looking at roughly 50-60 points and 25-30 rebounds from your starting PG (or SG), PF, and C

We cannot win or even compete with the other contending teams based on our backcourt alone. IMO, even if Cousins becomes a beast, but doesn't have another legitimate big next to him, we still cannot compete. We need Tyreke to become a superstar as well as two amazing big men down low, with more size coming off the bench.

SacKingZZZ · Post #18 » by **SacKingZZZ** » Fri Jul 9, 2010 9:28 pm

Krimzen wrote:Keep in mind that no one knows what exactly will constitute the "max" under the new CBA, and it may be less onerous than right now. Even if not in terms of dollar amounts, perhaps with less of it being fully guaranteed.

That is one of the nice things about staying out of the FA market this offseason though. Unless your Miami getting a LeBron/Wade/Bosh sort of player where it is clearly worth it no matter the cost, many of these fully guaranteed contracts could look more awful come next offseason.

Whatever it is it's most likely going to still be a large percentage of an individual teams cap and that's the major problem.

SacKingZZZ · Post #19 » by **SacKingZZZ** » Fri Jul 9, 2010 9:30 pm

longfellow44 wrote:I was thinking the max would be around 12 mil after the new cba. Horford is the perfectmcompliment to both tyreke and cousins. The guy has amazing passing skills and has been forced to guard centers and has done well with it when we put him on power forwards i would expect his production to improve significantly

Then prepare for one of the longest NBA players strikes in history because that isn't going to happen. I predict the owners bend because in an economy like this they really, really can't afford for their team to be on the shelf for a season +. There might be some compromise but nothing on that level.

SacKingZZZ · Post #20 » by **SacKingZZZ** » Fri Jul 9, 2010 9:35 pm

deNIEd wrote:I have always been a huge fan of Horford.

I think, especially with the recent super Miami team, emerging OKC team, and the rest of the top teams, it's incredibly clear that you CANNOT win without size. Both Miami and OKC's greatest weaknesses is size in the front court. Look at both LAL and Bos. LAL with Gasol, Bynum, and Odom. Bos with KG, Perkins, Sheed.

Going after Horford, and running with a font court combo of Horford/Cousins would be an incredibly dominate one. Two guys who will likely average a combined 35-40 points a game and 20 rebounds a game. Add in Tyreke, and you're looking at roughly 50-60 points and 25-30 rebounds from your starting PG (or SG), PF, and C

We cannot win or even compete with the other contending teams based on our backcourt alone. IMO, even if Cousins becomes a beast, but doesn't have another legitimate big next to him, we still cannot compete. We need Tyreke to become a superstar as well as two amazing big men down low, with more size coming off the bench.

I'm super interested to see what Whiteside looks like next to Cousins because they really could be a great combo. Whiteside has the tools to be a perfect complimentary spot up shooting, shotblocking, defensive rebounding PF to go along with Reke and Cuz. Even though Whiteside has star potential in terms of his talent he really projects as more of a great role player type. He has an amazing stroke and attacks everything that makes it's way to the rim. If he can stay out of Cousins' and Rekes' way, spot shoot, and simply be long, he might be exactly what we need.