To help get ready for the 2014-2015 NBA season Pelican Debrief is going through each of the 30 NBA team’s with help from other Fansided NBA writers. Today we are joined by Bryan Rose, editor of a Royal Pain, the Fansided Sacramento Kings blog to talk point guard decisions, DeMarcus Cousins and more.
1. What are your thoughts on the Kings letting Isaiah Thomas walk to bring in Darren Collison and Ramon Sessions?
Bryan: I am a pretty big Isaiah Thomas fan so letting him go was a bit of a gut punch, especially for what would be deemed as a relatively affordable contract. That said, as much as I loved his tireless effort and ice cold veins, there were plenty of times he would pound the ball far too often and take shots out of the offensive rhythm. You see a lot of people defending Thomas via his statistics but he would at times hurt the offense because of the desire to be the scorer in comparison to the distributor. Of course, bringing in Darren Collison is a little odd because he tends to play a similar game though is a little better floor general at the expense of being as efficient of a scorer. As for the Ramon Sessions addition, I think that was a wonderful move, especially at the $2 million dollar price tag for two seasons. I’ll certainly miss Isaiah Thomas and feel as if the Phoenix Suns nabbed themselves a hell of a player, but understand where the Kings were coming from as he wasn’t exactly the perfect fit for DeMarcus Cousins or Rudy Gay who they’re more invested in.
2. How important was the Team USA experience for DeMarcus Cousins going forward?
Bryan: DeMarcus Cousins playing for Team USA was huge for his growth. He gets a bad reputation out of Sacramento for his on-court antics, but this is a guy who hasn’t ever been in trouble with the law, spends his own time (not team issued) doing charity around the area and being one of the most approachable guys in the league in terms of fans. That’s not to say he didn’t have plenty of room to grow as a leader (he most certainly did) but I think the Team USA experience really helped him morph into more of a professional in terms of his on-court impact. I believe the Kings also investing in him along with Vivek Ranadive and company involving him in franchise decisions has also made him feel as if he truly is the Sacramento Kings’ franchise player.
3. Is Rudy Gay a King at this point next year?
Bryan: The Sacramento Kings certainly want Rudy Gay to return next season though I do feel as if they’ll be cautious with it. Much of it will depend on his play this season. If he’s typical Rudy Gay, I think they’ll hammer out a deal. If he reverts to the Toronto Raptors version of Rudy Gay, they may attempt to move him in a sign-and-trade at season end. I expect Gay to play well however so I’d be mildly shocked if he wasn’t back after the season. I however question if he’s worth the type of money he’s going to command.
4. What is the long term plan in Sacramento?
Bryan: Ah, the question everybody wants an answer to. Realistically I’m not sure the Kings know at this point. Unlike the Maloof reign, Vivek Ranadive and general manager Pete D’Alessandro are going with a heavy analytics approach in everything they do. They recently hired stat guru Dean Oliver and appear to be building their roster off data. I believe that will be a little tougher than they appear to suggest though such is their current plan.
5. What is the best case scenario for the Kings this year? Worst case? What do you expect to happen?
Bryan: If only the Kings were playing in the Eastern Conference this season as I think they’d compete for a playoff spot, but that’s not realistic in the deep Western Conference. If they were in the East I think they could achieve a 40-win season, possibly even hover around .500. I can’t see that happening in the West though and I think a 35-win campaign would be considered a positive. I do expect an improvement from last year but anything over a 35-win season would be a shock. In terms of a worst case scenario, that would involve DeMarcus Cousins going down for an extended period and Sacramento would again find themselves back in the lotto as one of the worst teams in the NBA. Now I need to bleach my brain to rid myself of that thought. /shivers