Playoffs

We really HAVE to make the play offs this year. Now that is NOT the same as saying we WILL make them, but if we are not in the play offs kiss Rudy good bye, watch DMC start eying the exits and when PDA calls top free agents the lines will be strangely silent. Worse yet if we are loto bound AGAIN with the guys we have on the floor we will likely be looking at a 7-10 pick... what fun, No, I am sorry there is just no way that PDA keeps his job if we don't/can't make the moves necessary to get in the play offs this season. It will just be a train wreak.

Showing an honest and forthright attempt towards the goal of the playoffs will be enough for me. If we miss that 8th slot by a game or two while playing our best, I'm gonna satisfied and I suspect Rudy, DMC et al will be too. Achieving a positive goal in a short period of time isn't always possible. Showing determined effort, however, will be a nice change and another step towards the end result.

So are you saying that if we end up with a record, that is somewhere between 40-48 wins...and we don't make the playoffs, that PDA probably won't keep his job?

No, I think I clearly said that if PDA does not make the moves necessary for us to make the playoffs he is likely toast. Lots of other factors come into play. If say a key player has to sit a long stretch, or if good solid moves are made but we just miss who knows. But if we start the season with more or less the roster we have on hand and finish out of the playoffs with them, I just don't see how anyone can justify keeping him. But my real point is that the franchise can ill afford to be a lottery team this year. We have MUCH to loose and very little to gain.

Yes. That is what he is saying. I understand why you needed confirmation because his post is TOTALLY FREAKING INSANE. Go to bed HndsmCelt.

To quote the great Jim Mora of NFL Football and Indianapolis Colts fame.... "Playoffs? Don't talk about playoffs. Are you kidding me? Playoffs?................."

I would have rather he just come out and said this year for the first time in a near decade we will actually compete night in night out and the results will take care of themselves depending on the talent level of our team. Seriously forget playoffs these guys need to learn how to compete night in night out the efforts in over half the games was beyond poor last season. Put out a product that's actually watch able for the non die hard Kings fans like us where we actually defend and pass the ball

Guarantee us that the team will actually play hard before even mentioning playoffs

Last season the hierarchy has talked about how its not about the wins and losses but about chancing the culture of the team and improving defensively.

This time out, its we need to make the play offs. Thats a good goal to have but we need to be realistic here. The team that we currently have is not good enough to make the play offs in the West so the hierarchy either has unrealistic expectations or they are confident of significantly improving the roster before the training camp.

The changes we have made so far is not a significant improvement in terms of talent compared to last season. One could agrue that in terms of pure talent, we migt even be worse off!

Part of changing the culture is saying no more lottery, it's unacceptable. I think it's clear the team is still being built and there are guys that won't be with the club either on opening night or by the end of the season. Setting goals even if slightly unrealistic is what winners do. I don't think if this team misses the playoffs by a few games the season will be viewed as a total failure because playoffs were the milestone. It's a measure to build on. And I think if there is a drastic failure than there will be accountability, which is one thing we never saw with the Maloofs.

Yeah but who will be accountable?!

Think about it, the roster as currently constructed will not sniff the play offs. Its just not good enough to do it. So if we yet again struggle our way to the 30-35 wins who is accountable for it. It would be unfair if its the coach as you are not giving him a chance and I doubt its the GM either as he was barely given time to rebuild the roster.

Its all well and good to talk play offs. Hell we have talked play offs in the last 8 seasons as well but were never good enough to get there. The last thing this fan base needs is false promises.

You gotta talk playoffs at this point, you really do. you have to throw it out as a goal to signal what direction you are intending, and to establish a success/fail threshold. You might not make it, but there is value to throwing it out there same as there is in announcing to all your friends that you are going to lose 30lbs by the end of the summer. You might fall short, but chances are you are really going to take a good run at it. And that's the biggest thing here. Given we're in the West we may fall short, but we have to be competitive until the end, and we have to be able to make whiney little noises about "if we were in the East..." and get talked about as an up and coming team. We need Cousins to make the All Star team., We need to start getting a few national TV spots. Just in general, we need to, well, challenge for the playoffs if not make it. And so you throw the gauntlet down, say this is our goal, and go chase it. Nothing wrong with that. No more excuses or confused signals or interminable rebuild talk.

I think that's a good look. In the competitive West and with regards to the youth of our club 8th seed is realistic. It's also good because at least we'll still get a high pick out of it. One of these days we'll get back to bringing in veterans though.

By all accounts and indications, PDA works extremely hard and with passion to do everything possible to improve our team. He's got us mentioned in numerous trade scenarios, which we have never had happen before in Sacramento.

If he is doing everything that he possibly can, but the reality of the situation dictates that more time is needed for the full "overhaul",...I'm not sure what else we could ask of him?

If it's HIM that's getting us mentioned then that could be a bad thing. I suspect more than a little of the frustrations being expressed IS about us being mentioned again and again and having none of it come to fruition. I have little doubt about him working hard and with passion. If it makes me a hypocrite so be it, I like the fact that the Kings are being mentioned but I hate being teased.

In today's "age of information", if a GM is talking with a lot of teams about potential trades,...it's almost impossible not to hear about it in the media. So it is HIM that is getting us mentioned, because he's the one who is doing the work. If he was being passive we wouldn't hear a darn thing.

I'm not sure what else you can expect. He works hard every day trying to do everything he can

Other than one playoff season, Golden State's formula involved removing Mullin and PDA from the front office, waiting for their moves to clear, and then starting over.

I'm fine with a goal of the playoffs. I'm generally ok with aggression. It makes no sense to mortgage future seasons on bad bets because you chose to set a deadline of being a playoff team by 2016. Again, that's a fine goal and the fans deserve it. But, teams looking for shortcuts typically fail and have to start over again. Fans don't deserve that.

Quite a lot of factors RE: The Kings making the playoffs.

Biggest one is the "chemistry gamble". We ditched IT for practically nothing in a talent bleed. Say what you want about the little guy...He gave us 20/6, basically put up Kyrie Irving stats (although, to be fair, I think Kyrie is immensely overrated) and we let him go for some awkward big that will probably never make our roster and a trade exemption that will hopefully be put to good use. Collison has never made it as a starter, but played well starting for CP3 last season in limited games....Will that transfer to a full time role on a less talented roster?

Our guard rotation last season was pitiful. We had IT. That was it (pun intended). Thornton and Vasquez both sucked and got traded. Ben was historically bad. Ray didnt get PT til the end of the season. This upcoming season we have one guy who has proven to be a steady back up, iffy starter, in Collison. Then we have Ben, Nik, and Ray. If our youth doesnt show up, our back court is going to be crap again. Worse than last season with the absence of IT. PDA needs to get us a vet.

As far as defense/coaching....Our defense improved from horrible to bad as the season went on last year. In certain areas we actually excelled. In other areas...Not so much. With more roster stability, hopefully that upward trend in defensive competence can continue. I still think Malone is a good coach. He has just been given a really bad roster (not counting Cuz and Rudy of course). Corbin could be a hugely underrated pick up as well. I love what he did with our SL team. PDA needs to get us a shot blocker (just sign Moreland already! Sheesh).

I'm not worried about Cousins. If I were to make an ultra conservative, pessimistic, glass half empty prediction for his stats next season I'd say 23/12/3/1.5/1.5 ....But we all know he's going to do better than that.

Which Rudy shows up? He had the best percentages of his career last year...But that's skewed by his ridiculous 57% January. Rudy came back to earth as the season went on. If we get Memphis Rudy, he's a legit number 2. If we get Toronto Rudy, we are screwed. I'm hoping he doesnt try to do too much with this being a contract year for him....That could turn out real bad.

Balancing out our roster....We have 100 PFs. We need vets in the back court and depth on the wing. PDA knows this, but I think he's having trouble finding takers for our junk. Its a shame he seems to be trying the hardest to ship out JT (granted, we dont know that - but JT has been coming up in trade rumors since PDA took over for GP). Thompson is our best role playing big, and the only one who can back up Cuz. I'm hoping for reconciliation.

The roster as it stands has a lot of room for organic growth. But even in a best case scenario (Ben, Nik, and Ray all contribute...Cousins and Rudy give us 20ppg each) that's still a 35 win team as is, at least in the West. I think we are one big move and a couple little moves from competing though. I wont count out playoffs.

Next off-season will tell us A LOT about this FO and PDA as a GM. I've said from the beginning that Year 3 of the new regime is when we really need to make the move for the playoffs, as that's when we have the freedom to do so. $40 mil comes off the books. By then, we should have a decent idea whether or not Ben McLemore is someone who can tap into his potential or not. Nik will have a year under his belt. We'll know better who Ray is as a player.

Kind of amazing, but after all the moves and trades we've made in the last season and a half, we've still only committed long-term money to 3 guys; Collison, Landry and Cousins+ rookies.

I wonder what the record is for teams making wholesale changes with expiring contracts in mid-season. I doubt it's all that great. Are we now saying that stability is not our friend?

Doubt we make the playoffs this year, but it would be nice to have 40 wins. At least we would get out of the rut of less than 30 wins a season.

that was not the intent of my message. the post that was in response to was that we should have rebuilt around cousins. that statement is saying that we in fact are doing just that. take away from it what you will. In this case your response in not on topic at all.