Before the Festivities get started I thought I'd gauge the general sentiment of the STR population.  We are basically getting served leftovers today but leftovers aren't always a bad thing.  I'm 100% Wall won't be available at 5 and 99% sure that Turner won't be available at 5.  I'm also 100% sure that if Cousins( or Favors) is available at 5 that big will be our pick.

In the a scenario where Johnson, Monroe and Whiteside (the to only other person that Petire might be crazy enough to take at 5) are left who do you want?

Multiple sources are confirming, including the Pac-10 website, that Utah has been formally invited to the Pac 10.  Utah will hold a press conference tomorrow and then it will be a done deal.  My question is what do you think are some of the considerations the conference is looking at as they decide how to divide the league.  Here are some of things that are likely to be taken most into consideration.

1) All traditional rivals must play each other every year (UCLA/USC, CAL/Stan, UW/WSU etc...

2) NW schools will fight tooth and nail to get as many trips as possible into CA every year....what is the least they will settle for?

3) Try to geographically align the divisions to minimize and balance travel.

4) Try to include secondary rivals every year (UCLA/CAL, UW/Ore...?)

I'm biased and care more about playing all CA schools every year so I'm favoring....

Snow

UW, WSU, Ore, OSU, Utah, CO

Sun

UCLA, USC, CAL, Stan, Zona, ASU

w/ 5 div games, 3 out of div games, 4 OCC games (less auto conf losses than before but a CCG will hurt whoever loses the game).  Seems simple enough if we keeps the same 3 teams rotating ever year from the other division.  For UCLA that would mean something like UW, Ore, CO one year and then WSU, Ore St., Utah the next year and so on.  I imagine than the NW schools will fight for something different.  

What are some other considerations? 

I know this is jumping the gun somewhat...but w/ USC getting theirs and the Pac 10 actually trying to be a leader for once I thought I'd ask.

Pacific 16 - it's our league and you are just a number...

Pacific Southwest Conference - wordy but makes the most geographic sense and we are almost merging with the old SWC...

Pacific South Conference - West is implied in Pacific (may need to explain this to SEC fans) so just drop the west.. PAC-SOUTH is short and to the point.  South Pacific makes me think of war...

Conference of Champions - We already call ourselves this...I guess it's a little arrogant and Pacific Life probably wouldn't like this.

Southern Pacific Conference - Washington and Oregon schools might object

Pacific Conference - Doesn't make much sense for Texas and OK

Big Pacific Conference - redundant...the Pacific is the biggest ocean.

Other ideas?

Added a few more sound ideas from the comments and one in honor of World Cup Play

Here’s my case for Brand if he is truly available.  Salary wise it’s risky but he’s not the worst contract in the league.  25 players made more than Brand last year.  If you compare his contract to Okafor (another big that was talked about last year) you’re only playing a few million more for a contract that ends 1 year sooner.

He might be 31 but IMO he's still a starter/6th man on the Kings roster.  He was in Eddie Jordan’s doghouse and has lost a lot of confidence.  This is the type of player that needs a change of scenery.  If we can somehow keep our 5th pick and pick up Brand and the 2nd pick this is a no brainer.  If they want the #5 pick we’ll need to ask for more.  Even if Brand doesn’t pan as a player for us at worst we’ve still we’ve netted a #2 pick and solidified our young nucleus going forward.

I’ll go through 2 scenarios

If we KEEP THE #5 PICK

Brand and the #2 for Noc, Landry, Spence and our 2nd round pick

We get the #2 and Philly get’s some immediate and long term cap relief and some solid players and a high 2n round pick.  With those picks hopefully we’ll pick up Turner and Cousins.  I think #2 is too high a pick for Turner but there’s no way around picking him here the way the draft is shaping up.  Turner’s all round skills look like a good complement to Evans.

PG:  Evans 20y/o, Beno 27 y/o

SG: Turner 21y/o, Garcia 28 y/o

SF: Casspi 21y/0, Greene 22y/o

PF: JT 23 y/o,  Brand 31 y/o

C: Cousins 19 y/o, Brockman 23 y/o, FA backup

In this trade the King’s make out big winners…

Lots of youth, enough Veteran leadership and just one bad contract in Brand

If we LOSE THE #5 PICK

Brand, Holiday and the #2 for Noc, Landry, Garcia and the 5th pick

In this trade I think the King’s still win since w/ lose Noc and Garcia’s and keep Hawes for depth.  In this Scenario we get a PG/SG in the form of Jrue Holiday so with the #2 pick we are looking at Favors or even Cousins if he wows at workouts.   Holiday picked up his play nicely at the end of the season and would be a great backcourt mate for Evans and the argument can go on as to who is the real PG.  He’s a better defender and 3pt shooter than Beno and he’s only going to cost 1.5-3mil a year for the life of his contract.  He’s almost a year younger than Tyreke too.

Holiday’s averages for March (last full month of the season)

Pts 13.2 Fg 50% 3pt 45% Ft 76%  Rbs 4.1 Ast 5.5 Stls 1.8 TO 3.4

PG:  Evans 20y/o, Beno 27 y/o

SG: Holiday 19y/o, Beno

SF: Casspi 21y/o, Greene 22y/o

PF: JT 23 y/o,  Brand 31 y/o

C: Cousins 19y/o/ or Favors 18 y/o, Hawes 21 y/o, Brockman 23 y/o

Here’s some reasons for getting brand and dumping our guys in no particular order…

• We finally get rid of Noc’s contract and maybe Garcia’s and free up more PT for developing players
  
• Hawes is a young 7 footer but he’s not our answer at C.  Most other teams (like Philly) look at him and still see upside.  I don’t mind moving him.
• Landry likely will not end up resigning with the Kings and even if he does he’ll be an older big towards the end of his contract (like brand is now) who and we will need to overpay to resign.  Why not ship him before we lose him for nothing.
• Brand has always played big for his size.  At this stage in his career he’s still as good a rebounder and a better shot blocker than Landry.  He can also more effectively play spot duty at the C position compared to Landry because of his 7’ 5.5" wingspan.
• Brand will come back to the west coast with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove to the rest of the league.
• Brand will bring veteran leadership to a very young team and should be a great mentor to Cousins and JT on what it takes to be star in the league.
• If Brand stays healthy he should be able to contribute up until the end of his contract (age 34) or at least until be becomes a valuable expiring.

Brand’s #’s Vs Landry’s last year per 36 min

Brand

Pts 13.1 Fg 48% Ft 74%  Rbs 6.1 Ast 1.4 Blks 1.1  Stls 1.1 TO 1.7 

Landry

Pts 17.1 Fg 52% Ft 74%  Rbs 6.2 Ast 1.0 Blks 0.6  Stls 0.9 TO 1.7 

With more consistent minutes I think Brand will score comparably to Landry and rebound and at a better rate.

What about our cap space?

No superstar is going to sign in Sacramento.  Not LBJ, Wade, or Bosh.  2nd tier players like Joe Johnson or Boozer  are going to want a MAX deal from us.  No thank you.  We’ve even had to overpay our MLE guys to get them to sign. As a small market team we need to build through the draft and through trades.  We loose or cap flexibility for a few years but it should be worth it.  And I'm not in love w/ Brand...I just don't think he's worthless or much worse than Landry.

It'd be great to have Wall, Turner, Cousins, or Favors but we only have an outside chance of getting in to the top five.  These player's will be available from 5-10 most likely.   For those of you who are with me in drafting the BPA who is a big, here's some stat comparisons to chew on.  These are the names that seem to be popping up the most.  40min stats to try and make the comparisons as equal as possible.

Aldrich (21 y/o): banger, wide body, rebounds well, likely a low ceiling but can contribute now

17.0 pts, 55%fg, 68%ft, 14.1 rbs, 1.3 ast, 5.2blks, 2.0 to

Monroe (19 y/o): avg rebounder, worst shot blocker here, best passing big here but also the most turnovers,

18.6 pts, 51%fg, 65%ft, 11.0rbs, 4.2 asts, 1.8blks, 4.0 to

Udoh (22 y/o): lowest FG%, avg rebounder, good shot blocker, oldest player

15.5 pts, 48.7%fg, 68.7% ft, 11.3 rbs, 2.8 asts, 4.8blks, 2.8 to

Whiteside (20 y/o): hard to project from a small conference, elite shot blocker

19.5 pts, 52%fg, 60.4 ft%, 13.3 rbs, 0.4 asts, 8.0 blks, 2.8 to

My Pre-workout rank...

1. Aldrich: good idea of what you're getting here, solid value, I see a White Okafor w/ a better FT stroke

2. Whiteside: High Risk High Reward, could be a bust, but if he's good, Kings have their franchise center and the whole complexion of the defense changes.

3(tie). Monroe: Looks like Weber-lite w/ less hops, only 19 y/o, doesn't block many shoots...is he soft?

3.(tie) Udoh: Less offense than JT, already 22y/o, better shot blocking...may not be an upgrade over JT...

Don't laugh...this is a semi-serious post. 

Size? check

Rebounds as well as landry?  check

Blocks shots? check

Will he play for cheap?  check

Is he old?  Not yet....

He's currently tearing it up for the Shandong Flaming Bulls and averaging...

21pts 12 rbs 3.0blks in 32 min

If we're paying Noc 6-7 mil a year can't we pay this guy 1-2mil?  It'll be like the 2nd coming of Keon.

I know what all of you are thinking...Sacramento is a small market...free agents don't come here...well at least we speak his language.  I say call him up!

Stromile probably doing a lot of this in China

Stromile Swift posterizes Yao Ming (via Stromile4Swift)

I know we're all longing to get another PF/C into the rotation with a more defensive mindset.  Before the trade deadline there was a lot of talk about finding a guy like Okafor or Dalembert to fit into our roster.  Instead we grabbed Landry and got some much needed clutch and post scoring but we still have that hole to fill.  So for the off season when we aren't able to lure Chris Bosh to the Kings who else can we go after?  

My pick is Serge Ibaka.  I've followed him somewhat over the year and saw him play some extended minutes last night as OKC blew out the raptors.  To me he's basically a young Dalembert w/ better lateral quickness and decent midrange jumper. 6'10" with a looong wingspan.  Keep an eye out for him when we play OKC.

Positives: great shot blocker, above avg rebounder, 20 y/o rookie w/ upside, high motor, good offensive mechanics to build on

Negatives: maybe he doesn't blow up w/ starters minutes

Season Avgs 16.6 min/gm

5.4pts   4.9rbs   1.1blks   52%fg

His Per 36 min

11.7pts 10.6rbs 2.4 blks 52%fg

Serge Ibaka vs Lakers (11.22.2009) (via DejanBody)

If he's as good as I'm making him out to be why might OKC let him go?  They probably won't since much like us they need another solid big man but OKC is already leading the league in opp FG%.  They might be interested in a solid less raw big w/ a better offensive game.  OKC...meet Jason Thompson.  Straight up.

Who's your realistic target Big?

Let me preface this by saying I'm a fan of Landry and I hope he succeeds as a King.  Obviously Landry needs more games to prove that he fits with our core of young players.  At the moment I'm not convinced Landry is the answer at the PF mostly because of what I'm expecting we give up in rebounding and it's hard to be successful in the NBA if you don't rebound well.   We were an average above avg rebounding team(poor D-rbs) w/ Martin and now that some of our better rebounding big men's minutes (JT, Brock and to a lesser extent Hawes) are being taken by Landry we are likely an below avg rebounding team.  It's too early to conclude anything about our rebounding but not too early to keep track. 

We improved our overall rebounding from 39rbs/game(2008-2009) to close to 43 rbs/game(pre-Landry 2009-2010) and our diff from a -4.9 to a +0.7.  This rebounding improvement and a certain draft pick have helped pull us out of last year's NBA gutter.  In the small Landry sample size, so far we've been rebounded 45-32, 49-36 and tied 34-34.   That's an average of 34rbs and a -9.33 diff in the Landry era.  We're obviously not a 34rbs/game team (worst team in the NBA averages 38.8) but it'll be interesting to see where this number eventually averages to (probably somewhere around 39 or 40). 

Some questions that eventually will need to be asked are "How many less rebounds will we average with Landry in lineup?", "How good does he need to play on offensive to offset this?" and "how will this translate in the W-L columns?"  The King's are a poor defensive team and one of the easiest ways to off-set poor defense is to grab more defensive rebounds and thereby prevent 2nd chance points.

Landry is a good player and I'm sure we pick up his 3mil option for next year, but until he proves me wrong I think we have another Kevin Martin type player (one dimensional but better since we get more post scoring).   If he turns out not to be the answer at the PF spot I'm hoping he plays well the rest of the season to keep his value up.  He's more likely a missing piece for a team on the cusp of the playoffs or contending (next year's Jamison).  

At the end of the season or at the next trading deadline I wouldn't be surprised if he's moved for some solid draft picks and another developing (better rebounding/shot blocking) big man or used to help dump Noc (I'm all for keeping Beno at this point), or in my wildest dreams, be a key piece for a sign and trade for Bosh.  Kings can only build on draft picks and trades...cap space is just not as useful for us.

Who would you guys rather have if they cost the same?  Pulling 36 min numbers from basketball reference these guys seem pretty comparable.  I've seen more of David West and I'm not sure if Landy has as good a midrange game.

36 Min Numbers
Landry: 21.3 pts, FG 54%, FT 84%, 1.2 blks, 0.7 stls, 7.3rbs, 1.0 ast, TO 2.2
West:   18.0 pts, FG 48%, FT 85%, 0.7 blks, 0.9 stls, 7.5 rbs, 2.4 ast, TO 2.2

Both are undersized non-shot blocking power forwards.  They are both good shooters from the field and the line.  They are both underwhelming rebounders (Landry with the offensive rebounding edge and West with the Defensive rebounding edge).  West is the better passer and can hit the occasional 3 pt shot but Landry shoots at a higher clip and is a mildly better shot blocker.  Landry is about 3 years younger.  Thoughts?

Like a lot of Kings fans I was hoping Blair would last to the 38th pick in the 2nd round and was shocked that we ended up with Brockman considering who was left on the board.  I had a feeling Brockman would get drafted but I was thinking more toward the last 15 picks of the drafts. 

It seems like some of us are excited to have him while others think he's a waste of a pick..  I've watched him hold his own against Love, Hill and the Lopez Twins the last few seasons so I think he has a decent chance of making the roster.

I was trying to find somewhere where his actual height was listed and saw on his Draftexpress page an article that says that he is 6'7" without shoes with a dismal 6'7.75" wingspan...anyway if those numbers are are correct here are other barefoot 6'7" or shorter PF type players have stuck in the league.  I know some of these guys have a more favorable wingspans than Brockman so take what you will from it.  Out of the players listed only Blair averaged more rbs than Brockman in college...i think.  I highlighted the ones that are probably more similar to Brockman in style of play.

 

Jason Maxiel 6'5"

DeJuan Blair 6'5.25"

Chuck Hayes 6'5.5"

Corliss Williamson 6'5.5"

Craig Smith 6' 5.5"

Jared Dudley 6' 5.75"

DeMarre Carroll 6' 6.25"

Brandon Bass 6' 6.25"

Joey Dorsey 6' 6.25"

Paul Milsap 6' 6.25"

Eduardo Najera 6' 6.5"

Ike Diogu 6' 6.5"

Kenny Thomas 6' 6.5"

Ryan Gomes 6' 6.5"

Sean May 6' 7"

Jon Brockman 6' 7"

I know Blair and Carroll haven't made it in the league yet but most think that they will.