Now that the threat of the Kings leaving Sacramento has gotten as real as possible, it seems many of our thoughts have turned from "what should be done?" and "who is to blame?" to "what does it mean?". What has been special about our time as Kings fans? Certainly, the answer is different for each of us.

That's why I propose we get as many Kings fans as possible to record 1-2 minute testimonials responding to this simple prompt: What has made your experience as a Kings fan special? It might be the memory of a thrilling moment, a touching connection, an amazing story, an accumulated bit of wisdom, or anything else. Whether it happened this week, or has been ruminating for a quarter century - all that matters is that it comes from the heart and you're able to express it in a brief, thoughtful way.

Shoot yours on a webcam, iPhone, video camera (whatever) and upload it to YouTube. Then tag it kingsfanstestify so that we can all easily find them, watch them, and vote the best ones up. Once we have a hearty group, we can create a blog that collects the most popular videos in an easily consumable format, and share it with the world.

Obviously we can't change the fortunes of the franchise. But this could be a great way to help ourselves, influential parties, our peers in other cities, and history understand that the Kings mean something special to us, and why that should be the case.

So get busy testifying, Kings fans! The red button means record, not stop.

Preposterous, I know. But, upon close inspection (by my standards), It actually seems like a pretty darn good idea for the Kings to make a run at signing free agent Lamar Odom. Here's the case against him: He'll turn 30 at the beginning of the season, he may or may not have a pathological addiction to candy, he has been accused of disappearing at times, the Kings aren't good enough yet to take a risk on a crowning piece like Odom. What follows is the argument in favor of his signing with the Kings.

 

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Though the tide of opinion has turned somewhat as Paul Westphal's hiring became a reality over the course of the last couple days, it seems to me that there's still a lingering displeasure with the choice floating around this community. The first rumors of Westphal's candidacy inspired little excitement from SactownRoyalty, due in large part to votes of no confidence by ClipperSteve and Kevin Pelton whose basketball opinions TZ (apparently) trusts. Since most of us trust TZ's opinions on the Kings, some mathematical property with a name that I forgot in seventh grade applied and we branded Westphal a "retread" (an ironic accusation, since one of the few qualifications that Petrie called for was head-coaching experience). But the lures of Westphal's conference-winning rookie season as head coach of Phoenix, stellar overall winning percentage in the NBA, and distinguished playing career were too appealing for me to ignore.

In my opinion, his record in Phoenix speaks for itself. Say what you will about the amount of talent that he inherited from the architects of that team; I think we can all name plenty of immensely talented teams that never took the Bulls to six games in the Finals. Westphal's Suns won at least one playoff series in all three of his full seasons, and lost to the eventual NBA Champion each time. Maybe he was just staying out of the way, but he was staying out of the way of Charles Barkley (and winning 59 games per season in the process). That's impressive for a rookie coach. As for his poor record with Pepperdine, I simply don't care. Neither his lack of success at Pepperdine, nor his fantastic achievements at Grand Canyon College mean anything to me. It's not the same job - ask John Calipari.

So that brings us to Seattle, Westphal's most recent stop as an NBA head coach. What happened? In short: he took over a very good team, had some okay seasons, and got fired. But what else happened? Knowing little about those teams, I went to the online archives of the Seattle Times and learned some interesting things that changed my perception of this period of his career. (Spoiler: I give him the benefit of the doubt.) So if you've got the time - and, let's be honest, you do if you've gotten this far - follow me as trace the erratic course of Paul Westphal's tenure in Seattle, as reported by the Seattle Times.

Continue reading this post »

Since we're all Kings fans, we're all probably used to hoping for the best and expecting the worst. (Pervis Ellison, Bobby Hurley, Game 6 - I'm sure I don't have to remind you). So what happens if we end up with the #3 or #4 pick? Well some of us are impressed by Thabeeeeeeet! and some are excited about the potential of Tyreke Evans, and some even want to trade down if we can't get 1 or 1a. But what about trading up?

There are a few teams with a good chance of sneaking ahead of us that seem to need Rubio just as bad as we do (Clippers, T-Wolves). But there are some other teams with good lottery odds that have much bigger holes than PG. For instance, if the Wiz were to win the #1 pick, they'd probably pick Griffin. If the Thunder then were to get the #2 pick and the Kings the #3, I think we'd be in a pretty good position to switch spots. The Thunder already have a talented, 20 year-old PG to develop; they'd have much more use for a dominant pivot who can run the floor and anchor their defense (Thabeet).

So the questions are these: If the Kings don't get a top-2 pick and Rubio's still available at #2, should they try to trade up? What would you be willing to give up in order to get this done? Do you think teams would demand too much? Would the options be financially feasible?

 

In honor of what Peaches unilaterally (though probably fairly) decreed the worst loss of the season tonight, I'd like to invite the StR community to take a moment to ring off its best Kings one-liners. Remember - while inappropriateness isn't required, it will get you bonus points in the lightning round. Personally I'm going to follow the classic [blank] the Kings is like [blank], [blank] format, but feel free to develop your own style.

For example, I'll start:

Playing for the Kings is like being a horny teenager; you're constantly beating yourself but you rarely break a sweat doing so.

Or, for the PG-13 set:

Being a Kings fan is like fighting with the Order of the Phoenix in the Battle for Hogwarts; your only hope is a scrawny teenager with a dopey haircut.

Go ahead, let's see what you've saved up over the course of 63 losses.

There are a variety of reasons that this may be a stupid question. Maybe it's been discussed here, maybe its premise is ridiculous. I don't know. So as I have in so many times of desperate confusion, I turn to the internet for answers:

 

I have no idea if JVG is interested in coaching in the NBA in 2009 (let alone in Sacramento). Logically, it makes sense to me - he's still relatively young, and coaches usually can't stay away. But I'm completely unaware of his personal circumstances.

So why do I bring him up? Well, like others around here I believe that Sacramento's next head coach needs to have an established track record as a success at this level. We have too many "project" players to also have a "project" coach.

Eddie Jordan (who has been advocated for on StR and elsewhere) has the credentials, the Kings connection, and the x-and-o ability to improve any team's offense. I think he's a great candidate.

Still, I wonder if Van Gundy wouldn't be an equally-good or better candidate, and why he hasn't been discussed more on StR. His reputation suggests that he could help give the Kings something that fans have pined for in Sacramento for years: defensive toughness. And his record (career 57.5 and 50 win percentages in the regular season and postseason, respectively) suggests that whatever he does works.

I understand the argument that a coach should play to his personnel's strengths, and teams put together by Petrie tend to be offensive minded. But I also think this group has parallels to teams that Van Gundy has suceeded with in the past (i.e. skilled bigs, scrappy wings, and a pure-scoring guard. The idea of a bunch of offensively-skilled young players versed in Coachie's system, who have Van Gundy's style of hardnosed defense drilled into them excites me.

But when all is said and done, I admit to knowing little about Van Gundy or Jordan specifically and NBA coaching generally, which is why I came to you in the first place. So chew it over while you watch the #1 seeds trounce the #16's and get back to me.

Poll

What available coach would you most like to see on the Kings bench come Opening Day 2009?

46%

Eddie Jordan

52 votes

29%

Jeff Van Gundy

33 votes

4%

Kenny Natt [*snicker]

5 votes

19%

The Field

22 votes

112 votes | Poll has closed

Come up with a trade that allows you to dump your lemons on someone else for expiring contracts and picks.

With the news that Orlando's Jameer Nelson will be out for several weeks having hit the web hours ago, I'm a bit surprised that this is the first reactionary Magic trade proposed. Nevertheless:

Let's go to the Trade Machine

Add to this Orlando's first-round pick (heck, even their 2010 first rounder if it's a sticking point).

Orlando perspective: They secure a young, quality backup PG to Nelson. He may be overpaid, but Nelson is (and will continue to be) underpaid, so it evens out. They get a guy (Mikki) who can approximate what Battie does, but who can be bought out relatively cheaply in the offseason. They clear about $5.75M from next year's payroll, which they can use to keep Hedo without cracking the luxury tax.

Sacramento perspective: We net -$23.5M worth of Beno's contract and pick up another first rounder without significantly limiting our salary cap options in the short term (Only difference is paying Redick $3M in 09-10, assuming we would've bought out Mikki). Sadly, Brian Cook and Redick would probably command minutes on this team. The PG situation gets less stable and we get more ping-pong balls.

Anybody?

Hi, I'm visiting from Sactown Royalty, the Sacramento Kings SB Nation blog. As a fan of the second-losingest squad in the NBA, I've been thinking a lot about the future of my team. I've decided that Caron Butler would be perfect for the Kings. Obviously there are about 29 teams in the league that could use Butler, but I think that he would be a perfect fit in Sacramento for reasons with which I won't bore you.

I imagine that the Wiz's braintrust counts Butler as a phenomenal value at appx $10M, but I wonder if anyone here can (as unpleasant as it might be for you) envision any scenarios resulting in Butler being moved. For instance, isn't it pretty likely that you guys will be over the cap next season? And would your owner stand for being over the cap if his team remained in the cellar (a big if, I know)? What about dumping big contracts for the 2010 free-agent bonanza, ie. the Summer of LeBron? Is Caron tired of Gilbert or vice versa?

I'm not trying to wish bad juju on your team, just looking for any bleak ray of hope for the Kings getting a great player via trade. Since the Kings will have many of the chips that can net big-time players like Butler (expiring contracts, young talent, potentially high draft picks) in 2009, I'm hoping you all don't think he's untouchable. Look forward to knowing your thoughts.

Shelden and Douby for Paul Milsap (1yr @ 800K), Jarron Collins (1yr @ $2M), and Morris Almond (1yr @ 1.08M) works on the Trade Machine. So does Shelden by himself for the same 3. What combo of Shelden, Douby, the Rockets' 2009 first rounder, and our 2009 first rounder would you be willing to give up? Assuming the deal happened, what do you think fair value for Milsap's next contract will be?

Here's a bunch of background that I wrote before realizing that no one would want to read it. In it, I attempt to explain the Jazz's hypothetical interest in dealing Milsap.

We've spent a fair amount of time discussing the possibility of going after Carlos Boozer when he becomes a free agent after this season. In the course of exploring that idea, I found that there is apparently no way that the Jazz will be able to pay Boozer and Paul Milsap their projected market value next offseason. Kirilenko will make (appx numbers) $16.45M, Deron Williams $13.75M, Okur will make at least $9M and possibly ask for more (he has an ETO after the season and many think that he will ask for and receive something in the range of $10-12M from the Jazz). Add to those large contracts the guaranteed contracts of C.J. Miles ($3.7M) and Kosta Koufos ($1.2M) as well as the virtual guarantees of Kyle Korver ($5.34M, ETO) and Ronnie Brewer ($2.72M, team option but a seemingly obvious bargain). The Jazz project to owe $49.5-52.5M (depending on Okur) to those 7 players, who don't include Boozer or Milsap.

This is where my knowledge of the details gets fairly murky, so please let me know if I seem to have something wrong. I believe that Boozer should get something in the range of $15-17M in 2009, assuming that he plays to his potential, avoids injury, opts out, and signs a new multi-year deal. Based on recent trends, the salary cap and luxury tax limit should be about $62M and $75.5M, respectively. So it seems that the Jazz could resign Boozer and be over the cap, but able to avoid the luxury tax in 2009 so long as the rest of their roster (after the top 8 guys) remains cheap.

I don't know if the Jazz will want to pay Boozer as much as he will be able to get elsewhere. However, it seems that they will not have their hands tied by the salary cap. If they make the decision that he is too valuable to let go during the 2008-2009 season, they will also be making the decision that Paul Milsap will not be with the team after 2009. They will want to trade him before the 2009 offseason when they will not be able to afford him without crossing the luxury tax barrier. He will want more money and more minutes.

From the Jazz's perspective, What's the best-case scenario for Milsap, that he turns into Boozer? He is a great value now at 800K, but he will need to be paid in the offseason. What is their motivation for keeping him when they already have Okur, Kirilenko, Koufos, and (if they want him) Boozer in the frontcourt? Why pay for an unknown commodity when you can afford the real deal?

With B Jax off the books or on the cheap, SAR off the books, Mikki bought out, Shelden and Douby traded, and the filler coming from Utah (Almond and Collins) off the books, the Kings would be around $48M and 10 men, leaving them plenty of space to pay Milsap.

The Jazz get a couple of young, talented players with flexible contracts and, potentially, a first round draft pick all for a guy they got in the second round and (hypothetically) can't afford to pay anyway.

Seems like a good deal to me. I think there is room for Milsap, Thompson (Is it just me, or is anyone else imagining this guy playing 3-5?), and Shawes in the future frontcourt.

I'm sure that other people have made this point here, but it has become pretty common around StR to drop Kevin Durant as a comparison to Donte' Greene. Many of you probably already see where I'm going with this, but please hear (read?) me out.

Durant and Greene are easy to compare because they have similar bodies and styles of play, and took similar trajectories to the NBA. Those are good reasons to compare the two; however, they don't necessarily indicate that the two will have similar success in the NBA. I'm not saying that Donte' Greene can't be as good or better than KD. In fact, I really hope that he can improve his game to the point that a comparison is valid. But right now, I don't think Durant and Greene's talent should be compared. I guess my argument could be boiled down to this: If Donte' Greene had the ability to be as good of a basketballer player as Kevin Durant, he would be as good of a basketball player as Durant. And he's not.

Here comes the evidence:

-Greene (2/21/88) is actually older than Durant (9/29/88), and Durant has a Bambi-like body so those arguments are out the window.

 -Both players spent one year at a DI school with a big-time basketball program in a major conference; these are their college stats (KD/D'G):

GP: 35/35; MIN: 35.9/35.8; PPG: 25.8/17.7; FG%: .473/.418; 3PT%: .404/.345; FT%: .816/.707; REB: 11.1/7.2; AST: 1.3/2.0; TO: 2.8/2.6; STL 1.9/1.3; BLK: 1.9/1.6 (sorry, I know that's difficult to read)

-Durant was IMO (and apparently the opinion of NBA GMs) the best college basketball player in the country his freshman season. Greene was not.

Conclusion: Hopefully, with the help of the great Sacramento Kings organization, Greene will improve to the point that his talent and production are comparable to Durant's. Right now, they are not, despite the fact that their careers have been similar in so many ways.

And before you release the hounds on me, I'd just like to state that I wanted the Kings to take Greene with the twelfth pick. I agree that he has wonderful potential and was a steal for Houston and a great piece to get back for Artest. I love the trade, I love the player, and I love the apostrophe. I just think comparing him to Kevin Durant is silly. Sorry, Donte', please prove me wrong. Okay I'm done.

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I know my position on this issue, but I think we should get a community dialogue going about the ESPN Trade Machine. Here are only some of great things it will enable you to do:

-Make a three-way trade in which the Kings get Chris Paul and Al Horford for SAR and Quincy Douby

-Learn that you made about as much money as D.J. Mbenga last year; demand a raise

-Find out what team Lorenzen Wright is on

-Actually think the phrase "Steve Francis for $2.5 million...interesting"

-Wonder if Geoff Petrie knows about the Trade Machine

-Lose your job/family

I don't mean to sound like a cheerleader for the WWL or anything, but I can confidently say that I believe the Trade Machine to be the single greatest technological invention since electricity. And that includes the internet, because I don't think the internet would be sh*t without the Machine (no offense StR).

Where do you stand?

Poll

Do you have the ESPN Trade Machine bookmarked?

14%

Yes (and I also have it conveniently burned into my retinas)

4 votes

44%

No (I value my time)

12 votes

40%

I used to, but I deleted it because it won't let me trade K9 anymore

11 votes

27 votes | Poll has closed