Grantland (Bill and Jalen) Kings Preview

.....

Having seen some of the other ones they have done as well as having no respect whatsoever for the basketball acumen of either, I hesitate to click that.

well...that was entertaining at least. Not much more to say when entertainers present something they are call a preview.

bill and jalen's nba previews can be pretty entertaining. this one was... okay. that said, i find myself agreeing with much of their "analysis" (admittedly, because i've already shared similar opinions heading into this season). i liked elfrid payton over nik stauskas, and i still do. i certainly didn't like the decision to select SG's in back-to-back drafts, and i also think vivek liked stauskas perhaps a bit more than some of the other decision-makers in the kings' war room. i think bill and jalen were fair regarding the team's limited potential as constructed, and i appreciate that they've always been among boogie's biggest supporters as nationally-recognized talking heads. bill's prediction of about 34 wins strikes me as on-the-money, unless, as he notes, the kings make another splashy trade, which i certainly believe that PDA will attempt to do...

Just so nobody feels they HAVE to watch this, I'll sum up:

Boy do we love Boogie.
Some gimmicks.
Why did they get rid of IT?
Pizza Guy gimmicks.
Why did they draft Stauskas instead of Payton?
More gimmicks.
Sight gags.
Gimmicky gimmicks.
Wow, the Kings should trade for Deron Williams and his hideous contract, but the Nets would never do it.
Gimmicks.
Cousins will be an All-Star (note: this section takes about 1.4 seconds)
Gee, I wonder if Boogie and Isaiah didn't like each other?
Oh, and they won't make the playoffs.
Cool we found our gimmicky song!

We're talking two and a half solid minutes of material stretched out into almost 18 minutes. I began wondering if I had somehow found myself somewhere in Dante's Inferno as an object lesson for Virgil to show Dante why he doesn't want to be a bad boy on Earth.

The part with the Kings war room was kind of funny. And i think they have a point about Vivek making team decisions he probably shouldn't make

I really hope Vivek doesn't have big as a voice as I think he does. I like Vivek, but the owners really shouldn't get into the GM type of stuff..

I remember when the Bobcats first started, a lot of people were criticizing the management of the Bobcats. A lot of people said the management would side with MJ no matter what he said because they wanted to have the same approach as the GOAT.

I think Mark Cuban is one of the most active owners in the NBA, but he lets his GMs and coaches do the job.

I like Vivek, but a lot of the team and player stuff should really be controlled by Pete and everyone else.

Plus Bhullar only got a shot on our team because of Vivek and marketing ploys..

ha, please. these guys don't know anything about the kings.

They sure got a lot of mileage out of that draft day video. Actually, I thought this year's preview wasn't bad at all. Yeah there's a lot of gimmicks in there, but the analysis isn't bad. That Payton/Stauskas decision does defy common sense (we need a standout perimeter defender and a more passing oriented PG, we already had Ben McLemore starting at SG). It's fair to question that particular move I think until on-the-court performance proves otherwise. I predict that decision is going to sting for a long time, but that's because I really like Elfrid Payton. Letting IT go was a controversial decision both among the Sacramento fans and NBA observers. And they're probably right about Cousins and Thomas not getting along, though that's not the only reason he wasn't re-signed. We do seem to be one star player away from actually competing and we've been linked to Josh Smith or Rondo over the entire off-season. Taking Pete at his word, Deron Williams is a star level player who's been devalued because of his ridiculous contract and declining performance. If you can project the performance returning to 'top 5 PG in the league' level in the right circumstances, you make that trade regardless of contract concerns because Cousins is already signed and we haven't made the playoffs since 2006. A surface level analysis as usual, but I don't really disagree with any of it.

i certainly wouldn't discount the idea of Deron Williams. Last year in the preview Simmons said he thought the Kings would trade for Gay or Rondo. So he was dead on

Sigh, at least these videos used to be funny last year.

I didn't click on this video and I don't think I want to because I don't really care much about what Jalen Rose has to say and how terrible we are going to be, again.

I took it with a grain of salt but that said I do enjoy their podcasts and am a regular on their channel. Regarding Rondo the obvious situation comparison is the Kevin Love trade but I think the Wolves got extremely lucky due to LBJ's decision. If Miami had won it he likely stays a Heat and Love is playing in either LA or Boston right now. Solely based off rumors it does not appear anyone is in a position to break the bank for Rondo given his recent injuries.

I don't blame them. Each team considering Rondo wants to see if he can even perform to his previous standards. Deron Williams though, not quite sure what to say to that. The Deron Williams from the Jazz days, I would be all for it. The Nets version, no thanks. If I am going to risk a trade for anyone from the Nets, its Brook Lopez. Him and Cuz = very happy Kings fans. Nets would never do that though, fun to dream.

Deron Williams $19.8mil (3yrs)

for

Jason Thompson $6.0mil (3yrs) + trade kicker
Derrick Williams $6.7mil (ender)
Ben McLemore $3.0mil (2yrs+option)
Ray McCallum $0.8mil (2yrs)

works according to RealGM.

Just saying as long as they want to start a rumor, might as well quit farting around and make it something practical.

Makes the Kings:

C- Cousins/Hollins
PF- Evans/Landry/Moreland
SF- Gay/Casspi
SG- Stauskas/Sessions/Johnson
PG- Williams/Collison

suddenly a veteran crew with the 4 main guards all relatively interchangeable ballhandlers (see posiitonless etc.). This is no way an endorsement. Just a note of practicality. It could be done under the rules. I don't know if its philosophically possible for the Nets under Prokhorov to rebuild though. But saving $10ish mil this year if you include the luxury tax, having another $7mil come off next year etc. can't be totally untempting. Just a little hard to explain to KG.

lol vivek is drafting players for us apparently.

1, 2, 3 nick rocks!

Hahaha trading for Williams what a joke.

Does it still work if you replace Landry with Thompson? Than I would consider it...than again 3 years left...................maybe not.

First, I don't think you can draw any conclusions about whether there was consensus or not from a two minute video. Second, I watch a ton of college basketball, and the choice between Stauskas and Payton comes down to whether you want someone with great future potential, or you want someone that maybe doesn't have as high a ceiling, but is ready to contribute earlier. If your in the camp of wanting to win sooner than later, then you pick Stauskas over Payton. The Kings lacked outside shooting last season, and Payton wouldn't help that. At present, he's not a good shooter. In college he was a good defender, a terrific athlete, and more of a pass first PG. I had him ranked ahead of Smart on my personal list. But in my humble opinion, he's not, at present, ready to run an NBA team. Considering we already have a PG in waiting in McCullum, and the team is looking for veteran leadership, I think Stauskas was the right choice, if the choice is only between those two players. And Stauskas is more than just a shooter. He led Michigan in assists last season from the SG position.

I pretty much agreed with most of it. I previously stated the same things avout Vivek, drafting Nik over Payton, etc.

The frustrating thing is Ben is still your starter, so you didn't improve that position. Point guard is being done by committee, which means you didn't solve the point guard issue. PF still remains a concern. So this draft addressed nothing. It's why I flipped out after we passed on Payton.

I really like Payton and he would be my pick, but the truth is that he is not a good shooter and that he isn't even starting for an awful Orlando Magic team.

I know I said I prefer Payton, but I can't disagree with anything you said here. Stauskas was the "get better now" pick and with Cousins ready to dominate, I can see why they went that direction. It's also a little over-simplified to say we don't need a SG because we already picked McLemore. We watched Ben play all of last season, Bill and Jalen didn't. It's clear he's still got a lot of work to do before you write his name into the starting lineup in permanent marker. The appeal with Nik Stauskas is that he's an all-around offensive player who can shoot the lights out but also help to keep your offense working by making smart decisions with the ball. Guys with his shooting talent who can also chew gum and dribble a basketball at the same time are a valuable commodity in the NBA. Stauskas will continue to be an asset wither he's starting or coming off the bench because you always need roleplayers who can shoot. With Elfrid Payton, he really has to stick as your starting PG or you've basically wasted the pick. And it's also fair to question whether a team that's trying to put rebuilding behind them can afford to go into the season with an unproven rookie and a shaky sophomore as their starting backcourt (though Collison/McCallum/Payton sounds solid to me on paper).

So there's a lot of good reasons to take Stauskas over Payton, objectively speaking. Every time NBA analysts rate the draft they look only at obvious surface level criteria (what positions do they need) without considering all of these other factors. When you're picking 7th in the draft, it's wise to consider bolstering your depth at a given position rather than just looking to fill an immediate need because the talent level gets thinner as you move down the draft board. But at the end of the day, it's really just talent that wins. I see all the reasons for picking Stauskas and I don't hate the pick, but I believe Payton has got a good shot at being the best defender in the league at his position in 3 or 4 years and he's not a liability offensively either. All of the same criticisms people make about Elfrid Payton were made of Rajon Rondo before the draft as well and he turned out alright. If Payton is the better player long-term, it was the wrong pick. I think he will be, but we're a long way away from making that determination.

The draft day video thing though, I did cringe when I saw that video the first time. It sure looks like Vivek made the pick and it also looks like Pete wasn't completely comfortable with it. It was an awkward moment to expose to the world, but it's not a huge deal. We know Vivek is enthusiastic and involved, and I'm sure there were a lot of discussions that went on before this that weren't captured in the video. I suppose there's worse things that could happen with your team than a new owner coming in, getting a new arena built, and wanting to be a little too hands-on with player decisions. As long as he's willing to hold himself accountable for wins and losses along with everyone else, I don't really have a problem with it. By all accounts, Vivek is a pretty smart guy. I think he's smart enough to try a different approach if the moves he champions backfire.

Right. What we wanted at the PG spot was a pass first guy. Add the fact that we needed perimeter D and it made sense as a pick. I can't predict how good Payton will be, but he fit the profile. Stauskus was redundant.

Who knows maybe vivek got it right and Nik was the best player available at 7. Time will tell maybe Nik does rock.

I've found entertainment in every one of their previews. You've got to take them for what they are.

I had similar concerns the second I saw that Grantland video of the Kings war room. At one point, the decision was between Payton and Stauskas. We don't know how it was edited, but everyone eventually came out as being in favor of Stauskas, but at SOME point SOMEONE wanted Payton, or they wouldn't have even mentioned him. I don't know if it was PDA, Malone, Mullins, or someone else ... but some part of that front office wanted Payton, Vivek wanted Stauskas, and he got his guy. That is all we really know. And yea, it is kind of a red flag. We'll see if it ever becomes an issue, but I didn't like seeing that.

The Kings employed Sim Freaking Bhullar. Vivek is running part of the show, at the very least.

If you are looking for in depth Kings coverage, that video isn't for you.

By the way, a solid argument against Payton is the Kings desire to compete this season. You can argue if trying to win right now is the right play, but you don't win with a rookie point guard. Vivek, PDA, and Malone have made it clear - they want to win. That is why they brought in two veteran point guards. They wanted experience there.

PDA said in an interview after the draft that they tried to get a 2nd pick so they could take both Payton & Stauskas.

Well then it's obvious PDA was trying to both appease the boss and make the team better. In the end, he was only able to appease the boss, right?

Is that fair to say? I liked Elfrid too, but to say the team did not get better by drafting Nik because Vivek wanted him is not correct IMO.

If you don't like Vivek's involvement take a step back and consider this. What did the Maloofs do on draft day?