Sacramento Kings Preseason Media Presser
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2017 8:18 pm
Welcome, GMs, to another edition of the Sacramento Kings Preseason Media Presser!
We would like to congratulate Kevin Durant and GM aburns on winning his first championship and representing the Pacific division well.
Last season, we battled through some minor injuries to our key players Darren Collison and Randy Foye, but we were able to overcome. Sitting outside the playoff race in the West around the All Star Break, we were able to put together solid winning sims and were able to really hold down home-court. We finished with the best home record, but our youth really showed on the road. To speak bluntly, we were terrible away from Sacramento. You cannot make it far in the playoffs if you can't win on the road. Unfortunately, we were easily beaten by fellow Pacific GM bow and his Warriors in the first round. Unable to win on the road or at home suddenly, something needed to change.
I may have been impatient with DeMarcus Cousins, but having Greg Monroe becoming a solid starting frontcourt piece and rookie John Henson showing promise made Cousins slightly expendable. When Cousins was on the court, I believe we were one of the better teams in the league. Sadly we could not keep him there. We reached out to our good friend ballsohard, GM of the 76ers and discussed the possibility of bringing back Tyson Chandler. The price was DeMarcus Cousins, which honestly I said no to first. After some modest drinking, I engaged talks again and we were able to come up with a simple deal to send Cousins and a Heat future pick for Chandler and the #5 pick of the draft.
We all know Tyson Chandler is a name to fear, so not much discussion is needed there.
With the 5th pick in the draft, we were faced with a dilemma of Nerlens Noel or Victor Oladipo. We loved the idea of a solid SG to come in behind Foye and grow, but our heart was set on Noel. Nerlens brings a great versatile defensive threat if he can develop. 6'11, quick and strong with great defensive potential, we think he can be a utility-type player at the 4/5 spot and perhaps even at SF if he can grow in perimeter defense. The idea is Chandler won't be here forever, or perhaps even very long. Having a core frontcourt of Monroe, Henson and Noel is as solid as you can get without having a star. The frontcourt will not be a weakness of ours.
Our second biggest move was us able to retain Darren Collison in RFA for a starting salary of $16 million. Having our future locked up for less than a max contract helps give us flexibility in cap and possibly in luxury tax. We were very excited to welcome Collison back and we believe that while he won't be the sexiest PG in the league, we have a top-tier PG who is well balanced everywhere.
UFA was pretty quiet. We were able to grab Steve Novak and C.J. Watson for minimum deals to help add depth at the wings. They won't be expected to play heavy minutes, but we need guys that won't be a liability for 10+ minutes a game. Both fit in well with being able to score from 3, so again, not sexy but solid.
Training camp was kind to us. Tyson Chandler even had a positive camp, but his age is starting to become a factor. Noel received a nice bump in scoring and rebounding, and the rest of the guys progressed as expected. Nothing spectacular, but I would think all GMs would take that TC if given the certain option every time.
Our starting lineup is projected as follows:
C - Tyson Chandler
PF - Greg Monroe
SF - Chandler Parsons
SG - Randy Foye
PG - Darren Collison
Bench consists of John Henson, DJ Augustin, Reggie Jackson, Steve Novak, CJ Watson and Nerlens Noel.
We really like this core and if we can stay healthy, hopefully we are fighting for the Pacific division title instead of trying to make the playoffs like the past two seasons.
We are open to questions.
We would like to congratulate Kevin Durant and GM aburns on winning his first championship and representing the Pacific division well.
Last season, we battled through some minor injuries to our key players Darren Collison and Randy Foye, but we were able to overcome. Sitting outside the playoff race in the West around the All Star Break, we were able to put together solid winning sims and were able to really hold down home-court. We finished with the best home record, but our youth really showed on the road. To speak bluntly, we were terrible away from Sacramento. You cannot make it far in the playoffs if you can't win on the road. Unfortunately, we were easily beaten by fellow Pacific GM bow and his Warriors in the first round. Unable to win on the road or at home suddenly, something needed to change.
I may have been impatient with DeMarcus Cousins, but having Greg Monroe becoming a solid starting frontcourt piece and rookie John Henson showing promise made Cousins slightly expendable. When Cousins was on the court, I believe we were one of the better teams in the league. Sadly we could not keep him there. We reached out to our good friend ballsohard, GM of the 76ers and discussed the possibility of bringing back Tyson Chandler. The price was DeMarcus Cousins, which honestly I said no to first. After some modest drinking, I engaged talks again and we were able to come up with a simple deal to send Cousins and a Heat future pick for Chandler and the #5 pick of the draft.
We all know Tyson Chandler is a name to fear, so not much discussion is needed there.
With the 5th pick in the draft, we were faced with a dilemma of Nerlens Noel or Victor Oladipo. We loved the idea of a solid SG to come in behind Foye and grow, but our heart was set on Noel. Nerlens brings a great versatile defensive threat if he can develop. 6'11, quick and strong with great defensive potential, we think he can be a utility-type player at the 4/5 spot and perhaps even at SF if he can grow in perimeter defense. The idea is Chandler won't be here forever, or perhaps even very long. Having a core frontcourt of Monroe, Henson and Noel is as solid as you can get without having a star. The frontcourt will not be a weakness of ours.
Our second biggest move was us able to retain Darren Collison in RFA for a starting salary of $16 million. Having our future locked up for less than a max contract helps give us flexibility in cap and possibly in luxury tax. We were very excited to welcome Collison back and we believe that while he won't be the sexiest PG in the league, we have a top-tier PG who is well balanced everywhere.
UFA was pretty quiet. We were able to grab Steve Novak and C.J. Watson for minimum deals to help add depth at the wings. They won't be expected to play heavy minutes, but we need guys that won't be a liability for 10+ minutes a game. Both fit in well with being able to score from 3, so again, not sexy but solid.
Training camp was kind to us. Tyson Chandler even had a positive camp, but his age is starting to become a factor. Noel received a nice bump in scoring and rebounding, and the rest of the guys progressed as expected. Nothing spectacular, but I would think all GMs would take that TC if given the certain option every time.
Our starting lineup is projected as follows:
C - Tyson Chandler
PF - Greg Monroe
SF - Chandler Parsons
SG - Randy Foye
PG - Darren Collison
Bench consists of John Henson, DJ Augustin, Reggie Jackson, Steve Novak, CJ Watson and Nerlens Noel.
We really like this core and if we can stay healthy, hopefully we are fighting for the Pacific division title instead of trying to make the playoffs like the past two seasons.
We are open to questions.