Did anyone else catch how TNT's telecast had the facts all wrong on the Entertainment and Sports Complex last night? Lost in all the excitement of the game was the fact that they made several statements about the Kings leaving.

I appreciate that the announcers all expressing how it would be travesty if they left, but Webber and Miller both made it sound as if leaving was a foregone conclusion. It sounded as if they had misinterpreted the city council's 5-4 vote on the parking as a deal killer.

Peaches called CWebb about it today on his show, and Webber apparently got mad and hung up on him. I didn't hear the conversation, but I tuned in a little later and had to chuckle, listening to him hypervenilate about getting hung up on.

Anyone else hear the telecast or Grant's show?

So, in my opinion, we have two good starters that have the potential to be all-stars, and some solid rotational players in Marcus Thorton and JT that ideally would complete a 3 man guard and big man rotation. We also have a lottery pick this year, some intriguing young players in Jimmer Fredette and JJ Hickson, and a fair amount of cap space.

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I believe the most important part of turning a franchise around is correctly assessing the talent you currently have. When looking at our Kings, I think there is room for guarded optimism as we have a number of solid pieces. I really believe the problem is the roster, as it's currently constructed, doesn't fit together, pieces don't compliment one another, or players are playing out of position, and the end result, unfortunately, can be grotesque. This leads people to overreact, and the hue and cry to blow the whole thing up has gotten louder and louder by the day; however, I don't think we need a complete overhaul.

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What if we sign Jimmer (2 mil) and Marcus Thorton (7 mil) as expected, and we are left with 11 million to sign a free agent, except everyone we have our eye on re-signs with their existing teams (i.e., Gasol with Memphis, Nene with Denver, Chandler with Dallas, etc.).

We would have to spend 9-11 mil (depending on the math) on mediocre players just to get to the minimum salary floor per the new CBA (which is something in season's past we were pretty good at), but in terms of our long term success, could be problematic.

I may be missing something or we may find a solution (like helping teams get under the cap for future draft picks), but with a compressed free agency period, there is a distict possibility, we could end up having to sign someone we don't really want or need. Plus, are there new rules regarding contract length? Could we sign someone for 1 year only or is there a minimum contract length? If we have to sign someone for longer than a year, we could be in trouble.

What if, after years of hording cap space, we have to use it on a combination of players like Chuck Hayes, Kwame Brown and/or Josh McRoberts. Please tell me this isn't possible.

The past few weeks have been a rollercoaster, and I wanted to jot down a few thoughts in the wake of the BOG meeting.

First off, I was elated (just like everyone else) with the news of Burkle being on board and with the decision for a stay of execution by Stern.

Then, when pouring over the details of the meeting, I was admittedly was very frustrated with the comments made by Stern when he dismissed Burkle and a new ownership as being not a "high priority" at this point, and stating quite clearly that we had failed miserably at getting a new arena built.


And, when Clay Bennett was appointed the head of the relocation committee and Jerry Buss was removed from the committee entirely, I became clinically depressed.

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Maybe I'm delusional. Maybe I'm looking for anything, grasping at straws, but I don't know why everyone, local and national media alike, is simply assuming the vote on the move to Anaheim is a foregone conclusion.

I understand that in the past, these votes have been overwhelmingly approved by other owners, but that assumes this move is similar in nature to Vancover, Charlotte and Seattle. Guess what? It's not. So if the situation is different, why are we assuming the end result (the vote) will be the same?

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Now, before I get labeled as an apologist for Paul Westphal, I would like to say that I am not sure he is the right fit for the team long term. That remains to be seen (and I believe that should depend more on player development than wins and losses).

That being said, watching how this season has unfolded and how he has been blamed for pretty much everything under the sun, I think we should also recognize that he has not been dealt a very good hand.

The reason is this team is a vastly different from the one we ended with last year. Not only in terms of personnel, but also in terms of style of play and offensive philosophy.

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StR has had a wide array of discussions about what's the matter with the Kings. We have discussed the turnover on the roster, and having half of the roster playing elsewhere last year certainly doesn't help with the chemistry.

Others have pointed to the youth, which, again, has certainly to contributed to the overall lack of execution.

And, yet others have pointed the finger squarely at the coach, Paul Westphal, and his tendency to rotate players in and out of lineup at an alarming rate. Again, can't argue that this also contributes to the breakdowns on the court as the players just don't look like they know one another.

That being said, I have a different take on why our squad has done so poorly to open the season.

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Maybe I'm just getting old and cranky, but I pretty much don't like anyone's free agency moves, outside of Miami and OKC.

Seriously, I think almost every team that spent big money  has hurt themselves in the long run. Like the aftermath of a bad night in Vegas, I predict these teams are going to wake up with splitting headaches and empty pockets in the near future. So let's take a look at the damage:

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After Spencer was traded, I noticed an interesting trend in the threads that followed. To some here, Spencer was a potential star that had shown flashes of brillance, and this trade was a huge gaffe on Petrie's part as it represented the Kings giving up on 22 year old, 7 footer way too soon (and for the love of Voisin, you never give up on 22 year old, 7 footers).

To others, this trade cemented the belief that Spencer was a huge bust, a weak rebounding big man that was allergic to defense. Petrie finally realized this (i.e., finally saw what they saw a long time ago), and  traded him away for a mere pittance (also known as: Samuel Dalembert, a 29 year old that was really just an expiring contract). The fact that we received so little in return only reinforced the belief that Spence was next to worthless.

What is a little surprising is the divergence of views, and the fact that so few seemed to share my view of Spence.

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(From the FanPosts. Interesting comments from J.R. ... and an interesting divination from R-Man. --TZ) 

OK, so last year (almost to the day), I am listening to the Rise Guys talk with Jerry Reynolds and he drops some hints as to who we may or may not draft. He specifically mentions that we may not take the popular pick, but he is confident we will get a good player at the #4 spot. He had also name dropped Tyreke Evans prior to that, and I posted that I thought Jerry had made a couple of comments that led me to believe that we were going to pass on Ricky Rubio and take Tyreke.

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I mentioned this before in a thread, but I don't think it has really been discussed. I think the Kings will have a very good handle on what the situation is with DeMarcus Cousins and his "baggage."

With Tyreke being close to Coach Cal, we should know all of the dirt on Cousins. If Calipari trashes the guy behind closed doors, we should be one of the teams with the best information. That being said, Tyreke seemed really high on Cousins when he mentioned who he wanted to us to pick, and you would think if Coach Cal had said bad things about the guy, Tyreke wouldn't have been campaiging for him.

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If Cousins slips to 5, I am inclined to take him; however, if Petrie isn't crazy about him (and I could see that very well being the case), we might be in a position to deal him and pick up another asset.

The teams below us in the draft (Warriors and Pistons) might be very interested in him and might part with some assets to move up or take on a bad contract or two.

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As I see it, we now have a team that revolves around Tyreke, so the question then becomes," What players will work well with Tyreke?"  In essence, we need to look at how best to leverage his talents and hide his weaknesses.

To do so, we need to look at Reke's strengths and weaknesses (objectively) to better understand what pieces are needed to be successful. When I look Tyreke, I see a player that is great at driving and finishing at the rim; good at driving and kicking to perimeter shooters; poor at shooting from outside and (at this point) limited in terms of playmaking.

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OK, before I get too far along, I want to preface this by saying that this is just something I am throwing out there, and before everyone makes a snap judgment and starts screaming for my head (he's a witch, buuuuurrrrrrrn him), please at least hear me out.

So here goes: If we were to get the first pick in the draft, I propose we trade the pick. Ha, Ha, that's rich, R-Man. He said what? Are you kidding me? Trade John Wall? You, sir, are a jackass. John Wall is a franchise player, once in a generation kind of guy. You don't pass on that. You never pass on that. You, R-Man, are a bonafide idiot. Yes, yes, and yes. We are in agreement on all points.

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I had always assumed that Grant had overstepped his bounds within the Kings organization with how he handled Kevin Martin's situation on his talk show. Like many of you, I felt he went way over the line, calling Kevin soft when it turned out he actually had a broken wrist, and I wasn't enamored with how he had insinuated that Kevin should have just toughed out the high ankle sprain/bone bruise and just played through it. In fact, I felt a lot of the scrutiny on Kevin's every move the past few week was a direct result of the comments he made on air and the turmoil that it created. Simply put, I wasn't happy with Grant because I felt he had stirred the pot, and we were left with a disgruntled player as a result.

 

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This may have been covered in another thread, but I am both too lazy and too dimwitted to find it, so I am going to apologize in advance.

I am trying to take the family to a Kings game, and I wanted to take advantage of a family pack/KHTK deal.

However, when I go to order the 4 tickets, I get hit with a whole mess of fees. For example, when I order a upper bowl ticket for $11.40, I also get the pleasure of paying a $2.50 facility charge and a $4.75 convenience charge. And, if I choose to print the tickets out at home rather than take my chances with the US Post Office, I get hit with another $2.50 charge.

When you add this up, it essentially doubles the cost the tickets from roughly $45 to $90, which seems crazy to me. Is this really the only way to buy a ticket? I want to support the team, but I really feel like I am being taken advantage of. I am hoping there is a better way to get a ticket. Please let me know what to do.

Thanks in advance.

I don't know if we were going to confine speculation to one stupid trade thread or if we were going to start one up every week, but I figured I would throw this out there (BTW--I have enough stupid ideas to do this daily).

After reading the Yahoo tidbit on Kevin Martin (Nay on the trade of Speed), the article went on to mention that the Cavs were looking for a 4 that can shoot and I thought about Nocioni. Sure he's not a true 4, but he is a 3-4 hybrid that can bang and shoot the 3. He would be absolutely perfect next to LeBron. Also, I would love to have Big Z's expiring contract along with Kenny Thomas' going into next season. I am sure the salaries don't match up (help me out here Pookey) and we would need to add someone into the mix, but I would love to package Noc before Cisco gets back and getting a gigantic expiring would be my ideal scenario, especially with what I have seen from Omri and Donte.  It makes too much sense to happen, of course, but I have my fingers crossed.

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Back when it went down, quite a few people complained about what Petrie got in return for for Ron-Ron. I felt it was about as good as we could get, but quite a few people felt we should have gotten more, likening it to the Bibby trade (which was pretty bad in retrospect).

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Do not continue reading if you hate purely hypothetical situations that have no real chance of becoming reality.

There. You've been warned. If you are still with me, consider this implausible scenario:

First, from the not so crazy file, we will suck balls next year, and be in the lottery. That much is grounded in reality. Then allow youself a flight of fancy, and consider the possibilites if the Kings were, in fact, to completely luck out and win the top spot in the lottery.

 We now are in position to draft a potential superstar in John Wall.  But wait, there's more...

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...because of the nagging feeling of regret.

I want to be the first to say I like Jason Thompson, and I appreciate his effort and hustle. I also want to say that Jason has an NBA body and he will probably will be a solid  pro for 10-15. That being said, I think we made a mistake not drafting Anthony Randolph.

Last night, Randolph showed that he could become an All Star. He is long, quick and now has a smooth jumper.  He was lethally efficient scoring last night. He showed he could drive, post up and shoot the J. He blocked shots and grabbed rebounds.

Jason, on the other hand, plays hard, fights for the ball in traffic and gets his hand on it, but ultimately plays much closer to the ground. Lots of rebounds went to other players that were close to him. When Randolph went after a rebound, he snatched out of the air and it was his, end of story.

My fear is that Jason will be a solid starter; Randolph, a star.

Randolph could have been ours. We chose the safe pick over the gamble, and it looks to me like the Warriors are going to reap the benefits.

Imagine our squad with Randolph, Evans, Hawes and Martin. That would be an exciting and athletic group. Not to mention that Randoph and Evans would help tremendously in the defensive and rebounding departments.

Again, I'm not trying to bash JT; it's just hard to imagine him turing out as a better pro. I realize that it's only one game and it's just a summer league game at that, but I saw much of the same things in the second half of last year. Despite likeing what I saw from Tyreke, I was left feeling depressed.

Alade Aminu

Has anyone seen this guy? He went undrafted and I remember people talking about him being a late first early second pick. He's 6"10" with a 7' 3" wingspan and he's athletic and only 21. It looks like he needs to add more weight, but he excels in pick and roll situations and getting out into the open floor and running.

Very few guys that go undrafted ever turn into something, but I think we should take a flyer on him. The price is right and we are going to need 3 d-league type players to fill out the roster.

What do you guys think? Anyone remember watching him?

I don't understand. Prior to the drat, everyone seemed to agree that we needed to take the best player available. The sentiment was that we have so little talent that we really shouldn't concern ourselves too much with positon. Back when we had dreams of drafting #1, no one seemed too upset if we drafted Griffin despite having Hawes and JT. And then on draft day, Geoff does the unthinkable: he takes the best player available on his board, and everyone completely craps the themselves.

Yes, I know that most on this board had a serious mancrush on Ricky, but I am not upset that we took Tyreke Evans. And I am not that surprised. Jerry had been dropping hints for months. He mentioned him as one of his top picks on telecasts long before he was even being considered as a top 5 picks by DX and ESPN. He mentioned that they were going to take the "best player, not necessarily the player everybody wants" in interviews with the Rise Guys. And then, they did exactly that. I wasn't sure if he was talking about Flynn or Curry or Evans, but I wasn't surprised that we didn't pick Ricky even though he was on the board.

I have no idea what will happen down the road, but given Petrie's track record, there is a good chance that Evans could become the best player from this draft. Better than Griffin. Better than Rubio. Better than Thabeet, etc., etc. And, if Evans does turn out to be the best player in this draft despite not being a pure point guard, will you really be that upset?

If he is in a 3 man rotation between the 1 and 2 and turns out to be a lethal scoring option, are we really worse off. Would we really be better off with a "pure" point guard that lacks top-shelf athleticism or a consistent jumper at a position that demands, at the very least, one or the other, and often both to be successful?

Case in point: I can't name one successful point guard that lacked both of these traits and was successful in the modern era (and, please don't compare Rubio to Kidd. I'm sorry, but Jason Kidd in his prime was unbelievably quick, fast and strong for his position).  I don't care how good you are at the pick and roll, it's just not going to matter if your defender slides under the pick and dares you to shoot (no pick-no roll).  I agree it would have been nice to fill our biggest need with the best player available, but Geoff obviously didn't think that Rubio was the BPA.

Outside of Griffin, I honestly believe that most scouts would point to Tyreke as the player most likely to become an All-Star from this draft, and I don't think we can't afford to pass on that.

If Rubio slides, would you trade Rubio and Donte for Brandon Jennings and Anthony Randolph (assuming Jennings slides to #7)?

Put Randolph and 3 and Jennings at the 1. I think it would make us more athletic, better defensively and better in rebounding. If Jennings and Randolph worked on their Js, we would be unbelievably fun to watch.

What say you?

PS--Nice work on the radio TZ.  Really was hoping for the "Peaches" reference, but I liked that Pooky got some love.

I've heard an awful lot about Brandon Jennings calling out Rubio (which is all fine and good), but there hasn't been much comment on the fact that Amick is reporting that he outplayed Flynn who was guarding him (and who is more athletic and quick than Rubio).

Amick's blog this morning was eye opening. It sounds like Jennings can get anywhere he wants on the floor, and his jumper (at least yesterday) was better than advertised. We had 300 comments on whether or not was professional to call out Rubio (it wasn't), but very little on the impact of the workout.

Jennings came off as cocky or confident afterwards, but it sound like he had a right to be. If he did clearly outplay the other two, I don't care if he is cocky, I want him on our squad. We need a little swagger and athleticism, and it sounds like Brandon Jennings has both in spades.