Characterization of the Kings future

[Bac2Basics]

Posted this on the trade board in an effort to represent the Kings position based on their current roster and their "foreseeable" future plans

would like to hear whether or not my fellow kings fans would agree with these statements generally or specifically, and to what extent you may disagree with it

SACRAMENTO KINGS
*Working swing shift, I haven't been able to watch much, so if my fellow Kings fans choose to correct me anywhere I may be mistaken, so be it, I've followed things as much as I can*

CURRENT ROSTER
(w/ salaries according to ESPN's Trade Machine)
Bobby Brown $442,114
Quincy Douby $1,427,040
Francisco Garcia $1,983,454
Donte Greene $809,300
Spencer Hawes $2,180,760
Bobby Jackson $6,487,888
Kevin Martin $8,760,335
Brad Miller $11,375,000
Mikki Moore $5,632,200
John Salmons $5,104,000
Kenny Thomas $8,562,500
Jason Thompson $1,893,840
Beno Udrih $5,585,000
Shelden Williams $3,395,760

CURRENT STATUS:
Kings are clearly in a rebuilding mode. They have traded away veteran assets like Bibby & Artest after the window closed, and still have a couple they'd like to move.

AS UNTOUCHABLE AS THE KINGS HAVE: (Any thoughts of trading for these players better include among your best players without question.)
Kevin Martin - Kevin one of the most effieicent scorers in the league. He may not be the #1 player on a championship team, but he clearly capable of being a #2 for such a team and has all-star level skills.
Spencer Hawes - Spencer has shown that he's got what it takes to be the "center of the future". He's made tremendous process from his rookie season and is clearly NBA capable. Indications seem to be he's basically Brad Miller 2.0
Jason Thompson - Kings are still figuring out what they have in him, but have good reason to be very optimistic. He's put up very solid numbers for the limited minutes he's gotten thus far.

MORE VALUABLE TO US THAN YOU
John Salmons - There have been those out there that say that the Kings need to move Salmons as part of their rebuilding process, I disagree. Salmons is on the right side of 30 and is putting up very good numbers. Unlikely he gets moved unless it's part of some pretty significant deal.
Francisco Garcia - Garcia has become a regular part of the Kings rotation and rightfully so. Garcia could start on many teams in need of a wing player. The 3 man rotation of Martin, Salmons & Garcia has our wing situation covered for the forseeable future.
Donte Greene - Kings don't know what they have in him yet, at this point, he might be available but it's unlikely
Bobby Brown - Probably the most likely to be available in this section, but the Kings clearly see something in this guy based on the contract they gave him compared to what others were offering.

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE
Quincy Douby - Streaky shooter that would probably do better with a new environment.
Shelden Williams - Potential there, but still a significant project type of there
Bobby Jackson - Kings would love to have B-Jax retire in Sacramento, and probably had him included in the Artest trade at least in part for that purpose, however if he were needed to make a deal happen, there's no reason to think the Kings would call a trade off.
Beno Udrih - Beno would probably only get traded in a situation where Sacramento was upgrading the position. Ideally, I think the Kings would like to do that and have Beno as their #2 PG, but it's unclear of how they'd do that currently.

THE REST OF THE ROSTER & THE BIG 2010 CLASS with a twist
What I expect to happen with Brad Miller, Kenny Thomas, & Mikki Moore, is that they will be the linchpin of the Kings strategy for big 2010 class These 3 players will combine for roughly $25 million in expiring contracts after this season, and Moore's contract can be bought out for something like 1/3 of it's total.
Because Sacramento has never been a big free agent destination, I see Geoff Petrie taking that large bit of expiring money and using it to trade it to a team that wants to be major players for 2010. Knowing this, Petrie will probably be expecting a high quality player, probably either a PG or an athletic big. With $25+ million, there would be enough space to trade for a team's unhappy franchise player and still take on a moderately sized bad contract. Taking this direction, Kings guarantee themselves some quality talent rather than clawing their way through with the rest of the 2010 suitors.
It's hard to say what the best player Sacramento would be able to get with that package, but I feel confident that Petrie will be able to do what he has in the past, just like when he brought in players like Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, & Mike Bibby.

[KingInExile]

Thanks for posting that on the trade board b2b. I didn't want to be the one to do it. There may be some disagreements here or there, but in general I think you've got a good write up. I'm definitely interested in what others have to say (I'll probably add more when I have a little more time). If we end up with some good ideas in this thread, I'll post a link to this thread in the "Teem Needs" thread on the trade board.

[SacTown Kings]

I agree with pretty much everything except Hawes being Miller 2.0. Hawes has a post game and can block shots, he reminds me of Miller in some ways, he reminds me of Lafrentz in other ways, and he even reminds me of Duncan a little (has a nice running one hand hook shot that goes glass from time to time and can run the floor like Duncan).

Also, maybe Garciaq is more valuable to us but I know there are a lot of teams that would love to have Garcia and would be willing to give up something valuable for him.

[ICMTM]

IMO I see Kevin Martin more "touchable" than I see Cisco. Cisco can start at 3 positions and be effective. He can come off the bench and be effective. He's an above average defender. He's paid MLE money. I have a hard time seeing Cisco being traded.

Then again we did trade for Nick Anderson....

[Smills91]

IMO I see Kevin Martin more "touchable" than I see Cisco. Cisco can start at 3 positions and be effective. He can come off the bench and be effective. He's an above average defender. He's paid MLE money. I have a hard time seeing Cisco being traded.

Then again we did trade for Nick Anderson....

Agree about Cisco....but why bring up one of the 3-4 poor moves that Geoff has made in 15 years. Bad form.

I also agree about Hawes, he reminds me of a Bill Gates version of (pre-injured) Raef LaFrentz.

[SacKingZZZ]

Sounds good to me B2B.

[Downtown]

From an outsider here's my take on your original post.

You definitely have a solid, reliable trio at shooting guard/small forward in Martin, Salmons, and Garcia. I see no need to touch that.

I agree that Hawes is your center for many years to come(hopefully). And Thompson, while not spectacular in any way, has the ability to be a solid, steady, dual position player. He's a keeper as the main backup at both center and power forward for years.

Both Brown and Greene are cheaper paid players that are worth having on any teams roster, they need some time to evaluate, and unless it's imperative to a trade to include them you keep them around.

The rest should all be available. But Miller does bring that experience in the middle that's valueable. I wouldn't just give him away.

I used to love watching Bobby Jackson, but that was a long time ago. He's showing wear and tear around the edges and for what he's being paid if another team wants him for equal value then depending on what the player in return has to offer I'd listen.

I'm sorry but I'm not impressed with Udrih. I think he's overpaid and I would like to see your team with a different pointguard. But who wants Udrih at his cost?

Miki Moore is what he is. Decent, but expendable.

Sheldon Williams was a guy I thought was going to have a good NBA career. But to me he looks a little lazy, a little slow, and a little outmanned skillwise. I think he has some value in a trade though.

I'm not going to comment on Thomas and Douby as they are roster fillers at best.

So I see good things depending on what you can add to the roster for next year. A much better pointguard would certainly help. A tough post presence at power forward as well. But that means at least two consolidation trades need to happen. You can keep your key core but lose a few average role players.

Just my opinion.

[KingInExile]

^^I would agree with about 95% of your assessment. My only differences would be that I think Jason Thompson is more than a future back-up. He's still a bit raw now, but I think he has the ability to grow into being a very solid starting 4. Also, even though I don't much care for Douby, I still do view him as more than "roster fill". He may be "filler" for the Kings, but I think he would be a decent role player for a team like the Knicks. He's a guy that would really benefit from a change of scenery.

As for the rest of your assessment, you basically took the words out of my mouth (thanks for saving me the time to type it all in...I'm lazy).

[mobiuseinz]

I think we should trade Martin on draft day for one of the top 3 picks... he should be worth that. Considering we get a top 3 pick, we would have two top 3 picks or even 2 top 5 picks.

With that we draft a combo of Griffin, Harden or Jennings.

The more I watch Harden play the more im amazed by him. He reminds me of D.Wade in the way that he is physical and the way that he scores and defends. And then with Griffin or Jennings we get the second piece to our franchise.

[boffacheerios]

so you want to trade martin for a top 3 pick in a weak draft class? sorry, not sure i follow you there, and Harden is not wade unless Wade has suddenly become just a well-rounded descent player.

[mobiuseinz]

so you want to trade martin for a top 3 pick in a weak draft class? sorry, not sure i follow you there, and Harden is not wade unless Wade has suddenly become just a well-rounded descent player.

Martin will never be a number 1 option, ever... and the way his injuries started going (and with our luck) we should get rid of him for a top 3 pick while we still can.

[pillwenney]

so you want to trade martin for a top 3 pick in a weak draft class? sorry, not sure i follow you there, and Harden is not wade unless Wade has suddenly become just a well-rounded descent player.

Martin will never be a number 1 option, ever... and the way his injuries started going (and with our luck) we should get rid of him for a top 3 pick while we still can.

Right, but I still wouldn't trade him for anybody unless I knew that that player would fill a more important role for us, and was equal in talent. So a first option, or a second tier PG would work (since first tier would be guys like Paul and Deron, and those aren't going to happen).

[mobiuseinz]

so you want to trade martin for a top 3 pick in a weak draft class? sorry, not sure i follow you there, and Harden is not wade unless Wade has suddenly become just a well-rounded descent player.

Martin will never be a number 1 option, ever... and the way his injuries started going (and with our luck) we should get rid of him for a top 3 pick while we still can.

Right, but I still wouldn't trade him for anybody unless I knew that that player would fill a more important role for us, and was equal in talent. So a first option, or a second tier PG would work (since first tier would be guys like Paul and Deron, and those aren't going to happen).

Maybe if we sign Joe Johnson, we can get a PG for Martin... or even a young PF that will develop into something special... remember the Richmond for Webber deal... which in reality happens very very rarely.

[Cruel_Ruin]

IMO I see Kevin Martin more "touchable" than I see Cisco.

Just... no.

My list would go something like this, in order:

As untouchable as it gets:
1. Spencer Hawes- Our most talented player
2. Kevin Martin- Our best player, and still young

More valuable to us than to you:
3. Jason Thompson- low risk, high reward big man
4. Francisco Garcia- good roleplayer, do-it-all type off the bench and still fairly young
5. Beno Udrih- most are really low on him, but we don't have a legit PG on the roster besides him
6. Donte Greene- Highest ceiling on the roster, jury's still out
7. Bobby Brown- Potential change of pace combo guard off the bench

Available in the right deal:
8. John Salmons- nice player on a bargain deal, but not in long term plans
9. Shelden Williams- will eventually carve out a role in this league
10. Quincy Douby- same as above

Get their ass off the roster:
11. Brad Miller- old, pouty, disinterested in trying on a rebuilding squad, Spencer's ready to replace him
12. Mikki Moore- he's in the way of young guys who need the development time
13. Kenny Thomas- 'nuff said

[Bac2Basics]

so you want to trade martin for a top 3 pick in a weak draft class? sorry, not sure i follow you there, and Harden is not wade unless Wade has suddenly become just a well-rounded descent player.

Martin will never be a number 1 option, ever... and the way his injuries started going (and with our luck) we should get rid of him for a top 3 pick while we still can.

Just because Martin isn't a clear #1 option, doesn't mean that the best possible move is to "trade him before.......", and for a draft pick.

That's like spending millions of dollars on a single lottery ticket.

[Downtown]

In my opinion Martin also has a good contract in comaparison to other shooting guards with his production. I definitely would hang onto him, unless a miracle happened and you could trade him, along with Jason Thompson and a future first round pick to Toronto for Chris Bosh. Something is going to break within that organization soon. Their GM Brian Colangelo has never been the type to sit by and watch things go downhill long before making a big move.

[Bac2Basics]

In my opinion Martin also has a good contract in comaparison to other shooting guards with his production. I definitely would hang onto him, unless a miracle happened and you could trade him, along with Jason Thompson and a future first round pick to Toronto for Chris Bosh. Something is going to break within that organization soon. Their GM Brian Colangelo has never been the type to sit by and watch things go downhill long before making a big move.

As good as Bosh is, that would clearly be overpaying for him.

[OGSactownballer]

Yeah, I agree wholeheartedly on that one. As high as everyone on Real GM always is on Bosh (and don't get me wrong, I like him a lot), you have to look at how far TO has gotten with just him, and with him plus different combos of other players. I just am not that impressed with him that I would overpay that much to get him. In addition, there is a better than even chance that if things keep going cruddy like thay are in TO, he could easily be signed away in 2010.