He cant just play though. This is probably the most talented team he has, and theyre still hot garbage. Since he has been there, they have drafted Whiteside (and gave up on the project), Jimmer, Thomas Robinson, Ben McLemore, Ray McCallum, Stauskas, and now WCS. McLemore probably has had the longest history with the Kings of that group. They drafted shitty, and then traded out immediately...multiple times. I dont even want to look into the trades theyve made, and the money they have wasted on fre agents.You just have to wonder about Cousins. IF he'll ever grow out of this coach-killer phase and just play.
Not to mention the frustration of having incredibly talented players with the shit product. Cousins is an elite talent, Rondo and Gay are good, and Willie Caulie-Stein has the talent to be an all-nba defensive talent. Must be terrible to be a Kings fan. As you said, us Clevelanders can relateThe Kings are the Browns of the NBA. Awful/meddlesome ownership, terrible management, and a shit product.
Hell...find me an all star caliber starter they drafted since Peja.
Peja was Drafted in 1996, so let's see. And since you said All-Star Caliber I'll run under the premise that they could of made an all-star team under the right circumstances.
1999 - Jason Williams <-- Pretty sure he took the league by storm when he was a rookie and helped lead the teams with Webber to the Playoffs before Bibby.
2004 - Kevin Martin <-- In his prime was a top 10-15 scorer in the NBA despite being on the worst teams in Kings history, hey we didn't say they had to be a winner.
2009 - Tyreke Evans <-- Rookie Year showed he had the potential to be one. Regressed though, I'm only listing him because of his rookie year of 20,5,5
2010 - Demarcus Cousins <-- Love him or hate him, he's a supremely talented knucklehead.
2011 - Isaiah Thomas <-- Pretty sure your familiar with him since you played him last year in the playoffs. He plays his tail off for every inch he's worth.
"right back on track" is way, way too premature. lets say they trade cousins to boston for the nets pick + some other assorted minor pieces (i personally wouldn't do it for boston, but ignoring that for now..). that's relatively feasible. cousins might put up stats but the fact remains that he's been the biggest, most disruptive headcase in the league for half a decade. that is a big, big red flag and he's just not someone you can simply insert into any situation.Vivek is making this so much harder than it needs to be. The Kings should be a competitive team by now.
Fire Vlade for being an instigating dumbass. Trade Boogie for a haul. Tank for a top 3 pick. You'll be right back on track.
absolutely not.Not to mention the frustration of having incredibly talented players with the shit product. Cousins is an elite talent, Rondo and Gay are good, and Willie Caulie-Stein has the talent to be an all-nba defensive talent. Must be terrible to be a Kings fan. As you said, us Clevelanders can relate
That's a really good comparison.The Kings are the Browns of the NBA. Awful/meddlesome ownership, terrible management, and a shit product.
So no All Stars then.
At any rate, All Star Games are a marketing spectacle. That really shouldn't be the measurement of a good player or good roster.
The fact of the matter is, Vivek is the closest the NBA has to Haslam for the Browns.
He came in and threw around his wallet. Sacramento needed to save the franchise from going to Seattle and he deserves credit for that.
But they went from Geoff Petrie - a top GM - to Vlade Divac in an incrimental destruction of front office authority, just as the Browns get a worse and worse reputation among coaching and scouting circles.
Meddlesome owners who treat a franchise as their own personal playthings don't win, and they end up with yes men in powerful positions.