Sacramento Kings Media Release 2007-2008

[NOLa.]

Welcome to the 2007 Sacramento Kings Preseason Presser! I can't believe we are in our 18th season of this league. I feel like we've been at this forever, but at the same time I remember the creation draft like it was yesterday. I look forward to another season with this league and group of GMs.

For those interested, last season was bittersweet. Using the same championship core from the 2005-2006 team, I decided to face the tax man and try for the repeat. We had another great regular season and were strong up to the Western Conference Finals, where I was genuinely excited for the match up against the Nuggets. The sim league gods did not favor us, as we suffered crushing blows in the loss of McGrady and Marion. The losses hurt, emotionally. I wasn't content with winning once. As Darth stated on the forum earlier, if you aren't trying to win now, what are you doing?

Regardless, the Nuggets beat us and went on to honor the West proudly in their victory against the Hornets. Congratulations to another first-timer, Syndicate. You'll get em next time, Nick.

Offseason was quiet for us. We didn't draft a player, and we retained Kirk Hinrich in RFA. We were able to win big in round one of UFA with a one year min deal with Shareef, which shocked our front office. We were not able to offer big contracts to Shareef and Marion, and were content in letting them walk for a contract they deserve. Adding Shareef gives us a huge plus in scoring down low without needing a high useage to be effective.

Training camp was kind to the core of my team, but the older rentals we signed in the other rounds of UFA took a beating. We are hopeful we have the depth to stackup against the rest of the league, but the remains to be seen.

Tracy McGrady looks forward to chasing the title with emerging star center Tyson Chandler. Kirk Hinrich will again lead the team at PG where he is most efficient at distributing and moving the ball.

The young trio of Luol Deng, Shaun Livingston, and Marvin Williams look promising for the duture stable of forwards we need to keep our versatility as an advantage.

Ready to rock this division. Waiting for the rest to come up. Central sucks, Atlan-tank gonna tank, and Midwest got humbled by training camp.

Any questions?

Sent via Morse code

[78#]

Obviously suffering the injuries late in the playoffs was painful, but did you feel like you milked it a bit too much?

Serious question, right now, you've built an organization that has become a well-oiled machine. You have a young powerful core, and you're able to sign talented guys to veteran mins. Do you feel like this is a bit too easy or what kind of stress is there when running this team?

[RPF]

what do you think of the young guns nipping at your heals in the pacific?

[NOLa.]

Obviously suffering the injuries late in the playoffs was painful, but did you feel like you milked it a bit too much?

Serious question, right now, you've built an organization that has become a well-oiled machine. You have a young powerful core, and you're able to sign talented guys to veteran mins. Do you feel like this is a bit too easy or what kind of stress is there when running this team?

I put the best lineup I could each playoff sim, and if it wasn't enough then it wasn't enough.

There's some stress that comes from things I can't control like training camp and injuries, but I began building this team since the 1995-1996 season when the Malone era was over. I'm fairly happy with the way the team has come along since that rebuild and we have been able to build on it to this day.

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[Xist2Inspire]

Random Reporter: Kirk Hinrich was maxed and quickly matched, but he's never really been a key piece of the Kings' puzzle. After an encouraging training camp, how confident are you that Kirk can live up to the standard set by Shareef and the Matrix as T-Mac's right-hand man?

[Darth Vegito]

Do you feel like you'll easily walk away with the Pacific crown once again this year?

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[NOLa.]

what do you think of the young guns nipping at your heals in the pacific?

I'm encouraged by the progress the other Pacific teams have made this offseason. Ever since Balls and Inner left, and Bow's temporary absence, it's been fairly slow here in the Pacific in terms of competition. However, I believe 3 of the top 4 or 5 picks this last draft came from the Pacific division, with the likes of Durant and Marc Gasol entering the league.

Competition breeds excellence. I'm hopeful for this division.

Sent via Morse code

[JNR]

GWR: Explain your motivation to send Jarrett Jack away for Marvin Williams.

[IamQuailman]

GWR: Explain your motivation to send Jarrett Jack away for Marvin Williams.

To add onto this, how does it feel to get Shareef's successor in Marvin? A legit steal *coughtrapecough* if you ask me.

[kucoach7]

The most interesting thing to me this offseason has been your willingness to sell of Deng and Shareef. Are you getting set for a mini reboot? Do you think that the league overvalues Deng because of his b/b rating?

[WigNosy]

Tell me about the decision to bring Wang to your team.

[NOLa.]

Random Reporter: Kirk Hinrich was maxed and quickly matched, but he's never really been a key piece of the Kings' puzzle. After an encouraging training camp, how confident are you that Kirk can live up to the standard set by Shareef and the Matrix as T-Mac's right-hand man?

I have to say I disagree about Kirk never being a key piece of our puzzle, because my most successful seasons of being a GM in this league was when I finally had a starting capable PG that can distribute the ball and make a shot. While Hinrich doesn't have the flashiest per game totals, he is the most efficient scorer in the league from the 3 pointer, racks up assists and keeps the turnovers to the minimum. His defense continues to get better as well. He's basically everything we needed to compliment McGrady and Chandler, as he is not a redundancy to have. All that to say I have 100% confidence he will continue to play at the highest level.

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[NickMalone77]

Nick Melon; The Advocate: What is it about your hated for the Central division? It's a very beta thing to do when you're known for Alpha like tendencies.

[NOLa.]

Do you feel like you'll easily walk away with the Pacific crown once again this year?

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Yeeeesssss

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[TrayWithAnA]

Do you have any special giveaways on the docket this season? There are only so many times we as fans can receive a white tshirt with the local ambulance chaser's logo on the back. How do you plan on mixing it up for your fanbase?


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