Evaluating the Cousins Trade.

#31
I will not come on here and bash this trade. They didn't get much back because Cousins made himself into an undesirable player. He has bankrupted his credibility with NBA refs. This was probably the best deal they could get. With PapaG and Skal, they have big man prospects.

Reality is they weren't winning WITH Cousins. The NBA as a whole has moved away from dominant big men rule wise and style wise. Whether you like it or not, the NBA is a jump shooting league. Hopefully this will help with that transition. I will reserve judgement
We just beat the Dubs and Cavs in last few weeks. Team plays better with Cuz in the low post. Cuz is a great spot-up shooter and dominant center!!! He is the future of this league and we got a late first round pick for him.
 
#32
This trade was about money, but not Vivek's money. DMC was going to get that super-max extension... the Kings had really no choice but to give it to him for him to stay in Sac, right? But DMC, as great as he is, and DMC is one of my all-time Kings favs, has a lot of issues he is making no progress on overcoming... I am not going to hang specific digs on DMC, but there are too many issues. When a player gets super-max type money, what kind of player do you think of? The teams best player, a winner, and a leader on an off the court. DMC is simply not all of these things. I think of players who, over time, deserved that fat of a check: MJ, Magic, Bird, KG, and so on. DMC simply is not the complete package and the team is not winning with him as the cornerstone. You can't pay him that much... it is the wrong salary for DMC and the only choice here is to trade him.

I agree on some levels. I'll say this, the so call CBA changes that was supposed to "help" small market teams retain their star players actually hurt them. Most small market teams won't be able to pay this $209 million level money and will make decisions based on money more than being the most competitive. Unless the small market team owner happens to have Balmer money, they can't pay $42 million a year to 1 player regardless.

My thing regarding the Kings and Vivek money is this. If you are going to trade Cousins, get something in greater or equal value in return. When you basically dump him 4 days ahead of the trade deadline for scraps, it smells of desperation, as if he must get rid of him asap or else.

I've said in my other posts already, if the team develops another star somehow and he is eligible for the same or higher level of money at that time, Vivek won't pay it. Unless of course he somehow strikes gold with some outside business other than the Kings. This new CBA rule works for teams like the Knicks, Lakers, Warriors etc who have a huge revenue stream. For small market teams with a "poor" owner (by NBA owner standards), it will always be difficult.
 
#33
I think it is a reflection of how few teams were interested. Not much in return to say the least.

Please spare me the loyalty thing. With interest in him down around the league, cuz knew he'd make 40-60 million more by staying with the kings....what a guy! Talented or not, he was running with Matt Barnes, and exhibiting assinine behavior consistently.

I think keeping Rudy Gay as a King until it was too late was equally stupid. Gonna be tough to watch, but we'll see. I wish they got more for him, but that would have meant trading him last year instead.
And losing all those games this ear was really stupid. Maybe things will change.
 
#34
We just beat the Dubs and Cavs in last few weeks. Team plays better with Cuz in the low post. Cuz is a great spot-up shooter and dominant center!!! He is the future of this league and we got a late first round pick for him.
Every time I think of that, I've been shaking my head and giving a long sigh at work. Seriously, how bad of a deal can Vlade/Vivek come up with. Could we have got Whiteside + a 1st rounder? DeAndre Jordan + a 2nd rounders? To me, those teams would've done a swap for players in a heartbeat. Talk them into including the pick.

I wonder how much did Vlade try to get a better deal. Why pull the trigger so early? This bad offer of a deal wasn't going to disappear, but Vivek and Vlade probably believed the Pels' GM telling them "I have a lot of people offering me big talent for Buddy Hield". :mad:
 
#36
I think his ceiling is a slightly more athletic JJ Reddick, he will be a fantastic shooter in this league, but is only competent at off the dribble stuff and attacking the basket. The move was A) Remove Cousins from franchise
B) Essentially get three picks in the top 35 of this years draft plus a guy you project to be at least a solid starter in Hield

The big question is how toxic was Cousins not just on the court(becauee that is well accounted for) but in the things we as fans dont see? If this is the best return you were offered.

I have no clue, but I guess we will start to find out over the coming years.
And then it won't mak mch difference.
 
#37
It's not even the return that is abhorrent. It's the timing. It's not like Papa, Skal or Malachai are blossoming stars ready to take the reins of this franchise. Why not field offers in the summer? So the Kings tank this year to help the 76ers? Was that the goal of this trade Vlade!?!?!!? If the Kings were intent on keeping their pick this year rather than conveying the Bulls, they certainly could have traded other players while keeping Cousins to keep the team in the top 10.
 
#38
I know everyone is in the heat of the moment right now but I just want to add that I really like B. Hield as a prospect. I think he's going to do well here.

We need some good follow up trades now.
 
#39
I know everyone is in the heat of the moment right now but I just want to add that I really like B. Hield as a prospect. I think he's going to do well here.

We need some good follow up trades now.
I didn't watch that much of Buddy Hield so far. But what I saw leads me to the question: When Buddy Hield is a good prospect, how do you think of Stauskas?
Because frankly speaking Buddy has been on and off with his shot so far and Stauskas is the superior ball handler and playmaker from my point of view.
 
#40
Will "Trash" have to be paid next year if he's waived? I liked him as a young player, but man, a source of high blood pressure will be relieved for me
 
#41
Will "Trash" have to be paid next year if he's waived? I liked him as a young player, but man, a source of high blood pressure will be relieved for me
We will have to pay Barnes.

We're tanking/developing next year and have our pick that year.

That means no need to stretch as we would be better off just eating the loot when it won't matter.
 
#43
This was a baseball-style pre-rebuild salary dump. Knowing that, I'm not as upset (still a little) with the lack of value we got in return. While I would have like to get more for Cousins, more being young talent on good contracts and/or another 1st round pick, the market for Cousins is mainly tainted by his lack of a contract extension. Teams don't seem to be willing to sell the farm for a 1 year rental of Cousins. The rumors about better trades out there...I have to assume included higher-profile talent and veterans on contracts longer than a year or bad contracts...hard to go full rebuild when saddled with a Kenny Thomas contract.
you should be. Lets say the Kings get Ball with the second pick. If they can't afford to pay Cuz they won't be able to afford Ball in 4 years.
 
#44
I will not come on here and bash this trade. They didn't get much back because Cousins made himself into an undesirable player. He has bankrupted his credibility with NBA refs. This was probably the best deal they could get. With PapaG and Skal, they have big man prospects.

Reality is they weren't winning WITH Cousins. The NBA as a whole has moved away from dominant big men rule wise and style wise. Whether you like it or not, the NBA is a jump shooting league. Hopefully this will help with that transition. I will reserve judgement
Vivek wanted Buddy because he thinks he's the next Curry, no not Seth. That's why we took the Pels deal and not others.
 
#45
Every time I think of that, I've been shaking my head and giving a long sigh at work. Seriously, how bad of a deal can Vlade/Vivek come up with. Could we have got Whiteside + a 1st rounder? DeAndre Jordan + a 2nd rounders? To me, those teams would've done a swap for players in a heartbeat. Talk them into including the pick.

I wonder how much did Vlade try to get a better deal. Why pull the trigger so early? This bad offer of a deal wasn't going to disappear, but Vivek and Vlade probably believed the Pels' GM telling them "I have a lot of people offering me big talent for Buddy Hield". :mad:
think about that time when vivek looked drunk saying i think on our team we need shooting and how he nearly shot his load when he said he think stauskas made 90 something shots out of 100 3 pointers. vivek is all over this trade. been saying it for the longest -- vivek wants to clone GSW.

mind boggling but we have malachi richardson who looks better than buddy. we also have bogdanovic coming over next year also.
 
#46
I didn't watch that much of Buddy Hield so far. But what I saw leads me to the question: When Buddy Hield is a good prospect, how do you think of Stauskas?
Because frankly speaking Buddy has been on and off with his shot so far and Stauskas is the superior ball handler and playmaker from my point of view.
It'll be interesting to see what happens when he gets the ball back in his hands like he did with Oklahoma. A lot of his problems were similar to what happened to Stauskas and Ben here where he just gets frozen out by Jrue, Davis and Jones. He's going to be a good player, but for him to be the centerpiece of Cousins deal is an absolute joke.

For some reason too, we didn't grab Cheik Diallo or Terrence Jones, both young guys on great contracts. Just absolute crapstorm
 
#49
you should be. Lets say the Kings get Ball with the second pick. If they can't afford to pay Cuz they won't be able to afford Ball in 4 years.
I don't think its an issue of being able to "afford" Cousins, not a single media outlet has ever accused the kings of not having the money. I just don't think they had the balls to give DMC a Lebron contract, knowing that if it didn't work out, he'd be untradeable at that price.
 
#50
think about that time when vivek looked drunk saying i think on our team we need shooting and how he nearly shot his load when he said he think stauskas made 90 something shots out of 100 3 pointers. vivek is all over this trade. been saying it for the longest -- vivek wants to clone GSW.

mind boggling but we have malachi richardson who looks better than buddy. we also have bogdanovic coming over next year also.

I also remember "1, 2, 3 Nik rocks!". :eek:
 
#52
I know everyone is in the heat of the moment right now but I just want to add that I really like B. Hield as a prospect. I think he's going to do well here.

We need some good follow up trades now.
I also like Buddy as a prospect and hope Tyreke can play as a King again and is not just released.
 
#53
you should be. Lets say the Kings get Ball with the second pick. If they can't afford to pay Cuz they won't be able to afford Ball in 4 years.

That's what I was saying. Vivek thought he was going to buy the team at approx $295 million value at first. When the Maloofs got that huge offer, he was toasted and scrambled to not lose his dream of becoming majority owner. Financially, he was never really strong enough and that's why he owns only between 15-35% (depending who you believe) of the team. But he was just willing to put it on the line and commit to building a new arena and the NBA did all they could to help him.

Now, the bills for the arena are kicking in and Vivek needs profit from this team for his own life. Unlike other owners, the team isn't just a toy to him. The salary cap will keep going up. I don't see how Vivek will be able to afford $50 mil a year for another superstar should the team develops one.
 
#54
Here's how this trade works out and the odds of it happening:
  • Buddy turns into a 25 PPG scorer and all-star
  • Boogie or Davis get hurt over last 25 games, NOP finish with 7-10 range
  • POR, DAL and DEN finish ahead of NOP
  • Kings finish in the 5-8 worst record range
  • Kings are lucky on lotto day and 76er swap rights are not exercised
  • Kings are lucky on lotto day and NOP does not get Top 3 pick
  • Kings have two lottery picks around #5 to #10 range
  • They draft a future all-star (PG) with one pick and a star with the other (SF)
The odds of all these events transpiring are about 1,000,000 to 1!!!!!!

The more likely scenario is Buddy turns into capable starter based on his impressive skill set but not star level simply because achieving NBA stardom is a rarified air. (Note: I really like Buddy so think he has a chance to be a star better than most). And the two picks the Kings retain in this years draft will amount to decent role player or wash outs. So you give away the most dominant big in the NBA for 2-3 role players.

The package Vlade accepted was same the Pelicans offered for Okafor and the 76ers rejected it. What does that tell you about Vlade's ability to maximize player value? It tells me he is an impulsive idiot being out-smarted and outclassed by GMs with 30-40 IQ points on him. It is gross negligence and fireable offense what he did and Vivek should have put the breaks on this stupidity like he did previously.

Vlade couldn't get a 2019 draft pick out of Pelicans?!? That he couldn't get the 2017 pick unprotected?!?! That he couldn't exert patience and shrewdness and wait until Thursday and play hardball for competing suitors to sweeten the pot to outbid one another (Pelicans, Detroit, Suns)? This guy is out of his element and clueless buffoon. He's an epic fail even if Buddy and the draft picks go on to have success. Just when you thought it could get NO worse than Pete D'Allesandro, Vlade outdid that clown and cemented his legacy as a total laughingstock.

The depressing notion in all of this is the Kings have NO proven starters and NO proven stars especially since I expect Collison and Koufos to be gone Thursday. We traded a superstar without getting an established building block in return. That's a crime and a nightmare scenario and a slap in the face to all Kings fans.
 
#56
"Source familiar w/ Kings’ thinking: "Vivek thinks Buddy [Hield] has Steph Curry potential.” Am told that fixation was a key driver in deal." - Baxter Holmes
Almost makes me want to root against Buddy. If he pans out, Vivek will feel empowered to interject more (assuming the story is true).
 
#58
you should be. Lets say the Kings get Ball with the second pick. If they can't afford to pay Cuz they won't be able to afford Ball in 4 years.
The difference is that if they view Ball as a character guy, they will have no problem signing him to a huge problem whereas they finally came to the realization about Cousins that a lot of have for some time. He's tough to deal with.
 
#59
Here's how this trade works out and the odds of it happening:
  • Buddy turns into a 25 PPG scorer and all-star
  • Boogie or Davis get hurt over last 25 games, NOP finish with 7-10 range
  • POR, DAL and DEN finish ahead of NOP
  • Kings finish in the 5-8 worst record range
  • Kings are lucky on lotto day and 76er swap rights are not exercised
  • Kings are lucky on lotto day and NOP does not get Top 3 pick
  • Kings have two lottery picks around #5 to #10 range
  • They draft a future all-star (PG) with one pick and a star with the other (SF)
The odds of all these events transpiring are about 1,000,000 to 1!!!!!!

The more likely scenario is Buddy turns into capable starter based on his impressive skill set but not star level simply because achieving NBA stardom is a rarified air. (Note: I really like Buddy so think he has a chance to be a star better than most). And the two picks the Kings retain in this years draft will amount to decent role player or wash outs. So you give away the most dominant big in the NBA for 2-3 role players.

The package Vlade accepted was same the Pelicans offered for Okafor and the 76ers rejected it. What does that tell you about Vlade's ability to maximize player value? It tells me he is an impulsive idiot being out-smarted and outclassed by GMs with 30-40 IQ points on him. It is gross negligence and fireable offense what he did and Vivek should have put the breaks on this stupidity like he did previously.

Vlade couldn't get a 2019 draft pick out of Pelicans?!? That he couldn't get the 2017 pick unprotected?!?! That he couldn't exert patience and shrewdness and wait until Thursday and play hardball for competing suitors to sweeten the pot to outbid one another (Pelicans, Detroit, Suns)? This guy is out of his element and clueless buffoon. He's an epic fail even if Buddy and the draft picks go on to have success. Just when you thought it could get NO worse than Pete D'Allesandro, Vlade outdid that clown and cemented his legacy as a total laughingstock.

The depressing notion in all of this is the Kings have NO proven starters and NO proven stars especially since I expect Collison and Koufos to be gone Thursday. We traded a superstar without getting an established building block in return. That's a crime and a nightmare scenario and a slap in the face to all Kings fans.
Please point some of the finger at Vivek too.

He hired Vlade...

Or he told Vlade what to do...
 
#60
That's what I was saying. Vivek thought he was going to buy the team at approx $295 million value at first. When the Maloofs got that huge offer, he was toasted and scrambled to not lose his dream of becoming majority owner. Financially, he was never really strong enough and that's why he owns only between 15-35% (depending who you believe) of the team. But he was just willing to put it on the line and commit to building a new arena and the NBA did all they could to help him.

Now, the bills for the arena are kicking in and Vivek needs profit from this team for his own life. Unlike other owners, the team isn't just a toy to him. The salary cap will keep going up. I don't see how Vivek will be able to afford $50 mil a year for another superstar should the team develops one.
NBA owners sometimes buy NBA franchises often through leveraged buys - only putting down a percentage of the total.