DraftExpress has just posted early height/weight/wingspan/reach results for the projected first rounders. There is more to come but here are some highlites.

• Blake Griffin- 6'-8.5" w/o shoes 6'-10" w/ shoes. 7'-4" with a proper fro...and shoes
  
• Hasheem Thabeet- 7'-1.25" w/o 7'-2.5" w/.   Duh.
  
• Tyler Hansbrough- 6'-8.25" w/o 6'-9.5" w/.    OMG!
• Lawson, Flynn, Mills all measure in at 5'-11.25 w/o- Johnny Flynn wears taller shoes than the other two.
• DeJuan Blair- 6'-5.25" w/o 6'-6.5" w/.    OUCH!

More stats are coming but this is a good start. FYI, Jordan Hill is a big man as is BJ Mullens.

Updated OMGs.

Johnny Flynn- 40 inch vert- wow.

Holy Beaubois Batman- 39" to go with that 6'-9.75" wingspan- sounds like the next Barbosa.

Chase Budinger = Joe Alexander

Blake Griffin = two foot jumper (32" standing, 35.5" max)

Vince Carter (43") > Demar Derozan (38.5")

After reading the rumors that persist regarding Eddie Jordan's Philadelphia preference and the decision he may or may not be faced with in the coming days, I have to ask the question- is the Philly job really better than the Kings job? Sure, Philly made the playoffs in a weak, three team Eastern Conference but let us look into the proposition a little closer because we are looking at two imperfect teams, both today and in the future.

Financially, we are looking at two very different teams. While the Kings sit a whopping 13-14 million under the cap this year and a possible 20+ million under for the summer of 2010, the 76ers future looks bleak.

Elton Brand, a one time All-Star is owed 64 million dollars over the next 4 years. The last two seasons, Brand has played a total of 37 games due to a torn achilles tendon and a torn labrum in his shoulder. A quality pro, Brand is now a thirty year old player who is unlikely to regain the physical tools he needs to make up for his size limitations. The 76ers will be regretting the FA acquisition of Brand, similar to the way they regretted the Chris Webber trade.

Samuel Dalembert, an inconsistent, offensively limited defensive specialist regressed mightily in his 7th season as a pro. Owed 25 million over the next two seasons, Dalembert requested a trade at the February deadline this season and again once the season commenced. The 76ers have shopped him and no one is buying- he is their version of Brad Miller financially- an albatross with diminishing value and a two year contract that last into the 2010 FA boon.

Reggie Evans (2yrs/10 mill) and Louis Williams (4 yrs/20+ million) are the 76ers MLE equivalent to Mikki Moore and Beno Udrih. Evans, a gritty ball grabber put up 3.4 points and 4.4 rebounds a game in 14.4 minutes of play- hardly worth the 10 mill owed. Williams is a shooting guard who can’t shoot (39.8% from the field- 28.6% from 3pt). At 22, he might develop into a quality scorer but looks very similar to Larry Hughes without the stellar steal/defensive numbers.

Andre Iguodala is the franchise. A super athlete, Iguodala is the 76ers equivalent of Kevin Martin with a bigger contract. While Petrie negotiated from a position of power, the 76ers waited out Iggy and gave up an additional 18-20 million over what Martin received- good for the player, bad for the team. If Eddie is going to run the Princeton offense, he would probably prefer Martin and his career 38.5% 3pt shooting (41.5 in 2008-09) to Iguodala’s career 32.5 (30.7 in 2008-09).

Andre Miller, a quality point guard with two problems- he is 33 and he is a free agent. With the team already at a 58 million dollar payroll with only 9 players and without its draft picks signed, Miller might be playing elsewhere next season and the 76ers have no one to replace him. Add to this the fact that Miller is a career 21% 3pt shooter and has slowed defensively.

Thadeus Young and Mareese Speights are nice, inexpensive young players with upside. Young made huge improvements in his second season although he played out of position for most of it. At 21, Young’s future is bright but at the same position Iguodala plays. Speights looks like a mid-round steal- big, skilled around the basket and a PER stud. Both of these guys could play important roles in Jordan’s system as complementary players but neither possess the passing skills to run the offense through. Willie Green sort of fits into this group but only because of his unfortunate injury that cost him millions and saved the 76ers millions.

Eddie Jordan might scrap the Princeton offense, making a lot of this analysis moot but the fact still remain- Philly is not in good financial shape now or in the near future. They will have to pay luxury tax dollars if they want to keep Andre Miller, if not, they will have either a rookie or a low budget replacement at the point. Brand may come back and be effective but the odds are against that happening due to age and the type of injuries he sustained. Dalembert want out but no one wants him, the Sixers are poor perimeter shooters and they have no big men with high post skills.

While the Kings had a miserable 17 win season, they have good pieces in place for Princeton style offensive coach (passing bigs and lots of shooters), a top 4 pick, a second first round pick and millions in cap space this year and next. Although the 76ers made the playoffs, they were a .500 team and like the Kings got a coach fired mid-season. Neither of these teams are a coach’s dream but as a hardly impartial Kings fan, I find myself wondering if I was given two offers would I choose the one with young players and cap space or a playoff team, strapped to diminishing players with large long-term contracts.

To lead off, the title of this post is meant to pay homage to the ending of the television series Scrubs- one of my long time favorite shows which effectively ended this last Wednesday. This post should be looked at as one guy’s vision (sort of a JD day dream) for what I wish/hope could be the 2009-10 Sacramento Kings.

I have long been a supporter of Geoff Petrie. We all know his well-documented attributes as a drafter and architect of the Kings pseudo dynasty-1998-2005ish. My vision for the Kings, written with Petrie in mind, requires the hiring of the right coach (this time around), some luck in the lottery and a move to secure another player from the 2009 draft class. While I believe this plan to be feasible, it is certainly not he only road to redemption that I see for Petrie and our Sacramento Kings.

Geoff Petrie created a standard for Kings fans during the Webber/Divac era that we are now lacking. Aided by two great big men, an amazing coach and substantial role players the Kings played a brand of basketball that captivated the masses and spoiled us as fans. I believe that with two pieces available in the 2009 draft and players currently on the roster, Petrie may be able to recreate the magic of years gone by.

Eddie Jordan is the beginning. A seasoned coach, Jordan has the chops to command a room and the ideology to match Geoff  Petrie’s vision. The Princeton offense is what we crave, certainly having the next Chris Webber would be nice but Rick Adelman showed us that even a limited athlete like Brad Miller can solidify a playoff team if used correctly. By bringing in Jordan, Petrie can return to drafting, trading and signing players that fit a system he is comfortable with, not these patchwork MLE castoffs that have brought the franchise to where it is now.

Now for the “no shit Sherlock” moment of this post. Blake Griffin will be a star and would really help speed the rebuild process of the Kings. Armed with interior post skills that Chris Webber never had, Griffin, matched with Thompson and Hawes, would create a frontcourt that Rick Adelman would kill for. A three-man rotation of physical, high basketball IQ players who can all play inside, pass and rebound is a dream for any coach, but imperative for a Princeton style offense. Rubio has skills, Jason Williams type flash, but the addition of Griffin instantly makes this team deadly in the post.

Geoff Petrie learned quickly that having flash sells tickets but having a steady, controlled influence wins games. I believe that for all of his faults, it was actually the addition of Mike Bibby and the subtraction of Jason Williams that made the Kings consistent contenders. This type of player is available again in this draft. It will cost something, I’m not sure how much, but landing Davidson’s Stephen Curry is like trading for Mike Bibby all over again. Is the 23rd and the 31st pick enough? I do not know, but I certainly offer it to the teams sitting in the 8-10 range and sweeten the pot with a future pick or taking on a one year bloated contract if need be. Davidson would instantly open the cutting lanes for Kevin Martin, open the interior for Hawes, Thompson and Griffin and ease the stress of both Garcia and Noccioni as primary perimeter shooters. Curry isn’t a pure point but the Princeton offense requires a shooters and no one shoots the ball like a Curry.

I believe that this 2009 Sacramento Kings team fights for the 8th seed but more importantly contends for the next decade. Sure Kevin Martin isn’t the defender that Doug Christie was but Christie couldn’t score, slash or draw fouls like Martin. Garcia and Noccioni will never be the pure shooter that Peja is but they both bring a competitive spirit and fire that Peja always lacked. Divac and Webber might both be Hall of Fame players but they never had a 3 big rotation like Hawes, Thompson and Griffin (Sorry Scot Pollard). The Kings need to find a Divac or Webber type leader out of this group but once acclimated to each other and Eddie Jordan/the Princeton offense I believe that they could exceed the offensive potency of the great Petrie/Kings teams of the past.

Make it happen GP-

From section214 - OK, I'm moving this post to the front page because it was the first fanpost on the topic and I like jjham the best. The deal is Artest to Houston for Donte Greene, Bobby Jackson, and a future 1st round draft pick, likely 2009. Quick break down - B-Jax is in the last year of his contract and will make almost $7 million to back up Udrih and provide a veteran presence. Greene, at 19 is a project, but he did drop 40 in a summer league game. In essence, Petrie eschewed Denver's offer of a 1st round draft pick and expiring for Artest at the last trade deadline, and the reward was an additional 1st round pick and a back up point guard for this year. Houston reunites Artest with the Adelman, who can ponder closing games with T-Mac at the point, Battier at the 2, Artest at the 3, Scola at the 4 and Yao at center. Yikes, a healthy Houston team could be pretty good. Oh, and the deal can't become official until 8/14, the first day that Greene can be traded. Commence with JJham's original post...

The deal looks a bit shaky but its currently being reported on local news station here in Sacramento and on the Chronicles website. The deal is allegedly Bobby Jackson, a first round pick and an unknown player. There is speculation that the other player is the Rockets first round pick Donte Green from this years draft who cannot be traded until August 14. I don't buy, this deal doesn't make sense on a variety of points but who knows, maybe Petrie just wanted it all to be over with.

link

For the second straight year Portland has bought their way back into the first round while the Kings sit on their hands.  I was angry last year when this happened and even more so this year.  The Kings could have packaged this pick, along with their second rounder and moved close to 20, allowing them to get both the point and power they desperately need.  Is this a financial issue or are the Kings just not thinking outside the box?

ESPN story