Marcos Breton: What’s wrong with the Kings? Start at the top

#1
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/marcos-breton/article59426078.html

Wow, at least someone gets it.

This is what terrible ownership looks like. You'd think King's fans would be familiar by now.

We went from cheap to incredibly stupid and impulsive. It's impossible to win like this.

Trade Cuz, keep Cuz. IT DOES NOT MATTER until Vivek Ranadive relinquishes control of the team.

I'm on board with trading Cuz to a legit franchise. He'll go into the Hall with whoever it is, but he stays here, he'll always be blamed for the dysfunction. I can't take anymore. I just can't. Watched them ruin Richmond's career, and here we are, again.

FREE BOOGIE!

The constant, the thing ruining everything the last 3 years, is the jackass sitting on the court with his latest BFF celeb. The 3 years before that? The Maloofs.

It's not cause Boogie yelled at coach that one time or punched Donte Greene.

The mercurial managing general partner of the Kings ownership group is the one person who has had a hand in every questionable decision fueling the losing, a carousel of coaches, team discord and muddled messages emanating from Sleep Train Arena.

Just consider the events of this week: While Kings players were being routed in Cleveland on Monday after getting dominated in Boston on Sunday, rumors were rampant that coach George Karl would be fired.


Personalities on KHTK (1140 AM), the Kings’ flagship station, were preparing listeners for Karl’s firing. So was the national press.

Who is in charge? Ranadive is. But the more relevant question is: Who is leaking this information? Who’s managing this message? Because the Kings aren’t. It is being controlled by social media burning up with news that your coach is being fired while the coach is still employed. How long does that have to persist before someone puts an end to it?

General manager Vlade Divac finally did Tuesday, saying Karl is still the coach.

But the free flow of rumors conveyed that nobody knows what is going on and nobody controls the message. If this were the first time, it would be slightly more understandable. But it’s not.

This same scenario played out a year ago, when Karl was brought in months after Ranadive fired Michael Malone – the popular Kings coach who was the first person Ranadive hired when he took control of the Kings in 2013.


Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/marcos-breton/article59426078.html#storylink=cpy
 
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kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#2
I don't think a lot of people will argue with you here about this dysfunction starting from the top. There is no question, I think we accepted that Vivek is going to be the owner and therefore we as fans look elsewhere because it's something to help keep you sane as a fan and trying to say maybe it's problem A, wait no! it's problem B...oh I know, it has to be problem C!!! The Kings have been unfortunate as it pertains to ownership and the second thing I can think of is drafting...those two things stick out as the most vital things holding this team back for another god knows how many years.
 
#3
Wow, at least someone gets it.

This is what terrible ownership looks like. You'd think King's fans would be familiar by now.

We went from cheap to incredibly stupid and impulsive. It's impossible to win like this.

Trade Cuz, keep Cuz. IT DOES NOT MATTER until Vivek Ranadive relinquishes control of the team.

I'm on board with trading Cuz to a legit franchise. He'll go into the Hall with whoever it is, but he stays here, he'll always be blamed for the dysfunction. I can't take anymore. I just can't. Watched them ruin Richmond's career, and here we are, again.

FREE BOOGIE!

The constant, the thing ruining everything the last 3 years, is the jackass sitting on the court with his latest BFF celeb. The 3 years before that? The Maloofs.

It's not cause Boogie yelled at coach that one time or punched Donte Greene.
Love the passion you are showing. But I do not agree with trading Boogie.

I want to see a defensive Juggernaut built out of the current ashes of the Sacramento Kings. I am talking the anti-thesis of the run and gun fast paced out score the other team nonsense Karl has been running.
 
#4
Love the passion you are showing. But I do not agree with trading Boogie.

I want to see a defensive Juggernaut built out of the current ashes of the Sacramento Kings. I am talking the anti-thesis of the run and gun fast paced out score the other team nonsense Karl has been running.
You don't agree because you are still a King's fan.

I'm in the midst of a divorce. As a fan of basketball, Cuz needs to be freed from this godawful franchise. I could stomach some of the lovable loser teams when I was a kid and didn't know better. But once you get legit talent, it becomes a matter of respecting the game.

Vivek has disrespected the game from day 1. Karl is senile. He's running defenses that are just abysmal. Embarrassing. Not even archaic. Just, stupid. Will never work.

Enough! He's still 25. There's time. NBA careers had barely begun at 25 back in the day.

Imagine him dominating in the playoffs THIS year. It can happen.

Cmon Vlade you surrendered to Karl. Now let him do the thing he's wanted to do since day 1. Trade cousins. Vivek is going to fire you anyway Vlade, might as well do Cuz a solid.

If not for Cuz, then do it for fans of the NBA game.

Whichever, just do it.

And for you King's "fans" who want Cuz gone, you deserve everything you're about to get. Everything.
 
#5
I don't agree with marco much but on this one, he hit it right on the head.
Doesn't matter who we trade, fire, or hire. Ranadive will still be the biggest and most important impediment.
 
#6
You don't agree because you are still a King's fan.

I'm in the midst of a divorce. As a fan of basketball, Cuz needs to be freed from this godawful franchise. I could stomach some of the lovable loser teams when I was a kid and didn't know better. But once you get legit talent, it becomes a matter of respecting the game.

Vivek has disrespected the game from day 1. Karl is senile. He's running defenses that are just abysmal. Embarrassing. Not even archaic. Just, stupid. Will never work.

Enough! He's still 25. There's time. NBA careers had barely begun at 25 back in the day.

Imagine him dominating in the playoffs THIS year. It can happen.

Cmon Vlade you surrendered to Karl. Now let him do the thing he's wanted to do since day 1. Trade cousins. Vivek is going to fire you anyway Vlade, might as well do Cuz a solid.

If not for Cuz, then do it for fans of the NBA game.

Whichever, just do it.

And for you King's "fans" who want Cuz gone, you deserve everything you're about to get. Everything.
Well. We haven't scratched 30 wins in 6 seasons with Cousins, it probably can't get worse than that (cue VF saying you never invite worse :p). You don't need Cousins to be a good team. Also I find the "for fans of the NBA game" kinda ironic on a board where Kobe is hated and people want to see him just retire and stay home from the start of the season, or fans who were overjoyed when he had that achilles injury when the Lakers were gunning for the playoffs (which pretty much spelled the end of his dominant career). Anyway, trade Cousins or don't trade Cousins, I don't really care. I don't like DeMarcus Cousins anyway, so there's no way I stop being a Kings fan if he's traded. Just find a way to win games for a start eh? We can talk about playoffs and regrets that we ended up capping ourselves as first round exits when we actually get there or when Cousins is actually winning championships elsewhere or whatever other doomsday scenario you can dream up.

Here's the real question. If nothing's going to change until Vivek is gone, what are we as Kings fans supposed to do? First the Maloofs, now Vivek. Are we always just going to resign to the fact that our ownership is bad?
 
#7
Well. We haven't scratched 30 wins in 6 seasons with Cousins, it probably can't get worse than that (cue VF saying you never invite worse :p). You don't need Cousins to be a good team. Also I find the "for fans of the NBA game" kinda ironic on a board where Kobe is hated and people want to see him just retire and stay home from the start of the season, or fans who were overjoyed when he had that achilles injury when the Lakers were gunning for the playoffs (which pretty much spelled the end of his dominant career). Anyway, trade Cousins or don't trade Cousins, I don't really care. I don't like DeMarcus Cousins anyway, so there's no way I stop being a Kings fan if he's traded. Just find a way to win games for a start eh? We can talk about playoffs and regrets that we ended up capping ourselves as first round exits when we actually get there or when Cousins is actually winning championships elsewhere or whatever other doomsday scenario you can dream up.

Here's the real question. If nothing's going to change until Vivek is gone, what are we as Kings fans supposed to do? First the Maloofs, now Vivek. Are we always just going to resign to the fact that our ownership is bad?
Look how long the clippers were bad.
Or the Cleveland Browns.
 
#8
Well. We haven't scratched 30 wins in 6 seasons with Cousins, it probably can't get worse than that (cue VF saying you never invite worse :p). You don't need Cousins to be a good team. Also I find the "for fans of the NBA game" kinda ironic on a board where Kobe is hated and people want to see him just retire and stay home from the start of the season, or fans who were overjoyed when he had that achilles injury when the Lakers were gunning for the playoffs (which pretty much spelled the end of his dominant career). Anyway, trade Cousins or don't trade Cousins, I don't really care. I don't like DeMarcus Cousins anyway, so there's no way I stop being a Kings fan if he's traded. Just find a way to win games for a start eh? We can talk about playoffs and regrets that we ended up capping ourselves as first round exits when we actually get there or when Cousins is actually winning championships elsewhere or whatever other doomsday scenario you can dream up.

Here's the real question. If nothing's going to change until Vivek is gone, what are we as Kings fans supposed to do? First the Maloofs, now Vivek. Are we always just going to resign to the fact that our ownership is bad?
Ye of bad memory, it WAS worse right before he got here.

There's hope. The Warriors were bad from 1977-2012. Only 35 years. I figure the King's only have 25 to go.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#9
Well. We haven't scratched 30 wins in 6 seasons with Cousins, it probably can't get worse than that (cue VF saying you never invite worse :p). You don't need Cousins to be a good team. Also I find the "for fans of the NBA game" kinda ironic on a board where Kobe is hated and people want to see him just retire and stay home from the start of the season, or fans who were overjoyed when he had that achilles injury when the Lakers were gunning for the playoffs (which pretty much spelled the end of his dominant career). Anyway, trade Cousins or don't trade Cousins, I don't really care. I don't like DeMarcus Cousins anyway, so there's no way I stop being a Kings fan if he's traded. Just find a way to win games for a start eh? We can talk about playoffs and regrets that we ended up capping ourselves as first round exits when we actually get there or when Cousins is actually winning championships elsewhere or whatever other doomsday scenario you can dream up.

Here's the real question. If nothing's going to change until Vivek is gone, what are we as Kings fans supposed to do? First the Maloofs, now Vivek. Are we always just going to resign to the fact that our ownership is bad?
It seems the Kings are destined to ride the train of failure for another decade...how long were the Warriors and Clippers bad for before getting Blake Griffin and Steph Curry?
 

hrdboild

Hall of Famer
#10
It seems the Kings are destined to ride the train of failure for another decade...how long were the Warriors and Clippers bad for before getting Blake Griffin and Steph Curry?
If you believe what this article has to say about Steph Curry, the Warriors would probably still be struggling with an injury hobbled star rather than winning championships and MVPs if they hadn't had the foresight to seek out the right kinds of specialists and employ them. In fact, it occurred to me as I read through this article earlier that it's no accident some teams succeed while others don't. Good teams are doing everything they can to succeed all the time. Bad teams try to cut corners, make bad decisions that backfire, or simply refuse to plan and thus have to react to "bad luck" instead of proactively working to prevent it. In fact, I doubt Blake Griffin is still on the Clippers right now if Donald Sterling isn't ousted in 2014. He would have found a way to screw things up.

Ailene Voison and Grant Napear think Cousins is the problem, which is no surprise. Both have a long history of pointing fingers at players and overlooking the obvious. Breton is at least looking in the right direction. Vivek has been a problem. But he doesn't need to continue to be a problem. He said when he took over that his plan was to hire as many smart people as he could and empower them to do their jobs. That was a good plan, he just picked the wrong people and then he wouldn't step back like he promised. He clearly likes the spotlight, which is fine. Marc Cuban does too and it hasn't destroyed his team. If we can learn one lesson from Golden State though, it should be their approach to management. No detail is too small to warrant extra attention. No expense is too big if it's going to help the team. Seek out experts and empower them to do their jobs. And I know this sounds trite, but if you actually want to win stop talking about it and start being about it.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#11
thing is...Breton is being a Johnny come lately here. He always had issues with the Maloofs, would logically have issues with Vivek (fight the power/rich guy) for the same reason.

I am in no way defending Vivek's disastrous run last year, but this sort of article here is no different than Woj trotting out the same old tripe. As far as can be told, and there is always an information gap, but as far as we can tell, Vivek hasn't meddled in anything this season. In fact if the stories are right he may even have deferred to Vlade on Karl here.

Blaming any owner, even Vivek, for the social media cycle is a little dubious. I don't know where Bruski and CD get their info, but they were tow of the first loud voices. And we've got 20-some owners.
 
#16
thing is...Breton is being a Johnny come lately here. He always had issues with the Maloofs, would logically have issues with Vivek (fight the power/rich guy) for the same reason.

I am in no way defending Vivek's disastrous run last year, but this sort of article here is no different than Woj trotting out the same old tripe. As far as can be told, and there is always an information gap, but as far as we can tell, Vivek hasn't meddled in anything this season. In fact if the stories are right he may even have deferred to Vlade on Karl here.

Blaming any owner, even Vivek, for the social media cycle is a little dubious. I don't know where Bruski and CD get their info, but they were tow of the first loud voices. And we've got 20-some owners.
Breton lost me when he said that only three players showed up to a practice, when pretty much every reporter has said that it was an optional shoot around.
 
#17
thing is...Breton is being a Johnny come lately here. He always had issues with the Maloofs, would logically have issues with Vivek (fight the power/rich guy) for the same reason.

I am in no way defending Vivek's disastrous run last year, but this sort of article here is no different than Woj trotting out the same old tripe. As far as can be told, and there is always an information gap, but as far as we can tell, Vivek hasn't meddled in anything this season. In fact if the stories are right he may even have deferred to Vlade on Karl here.

Blaming any owner, even Vivek, for the social media cycle is a little dubious. I don't know where Bruski and CD get their info, but they were tow of the first loud voices. And we've got 20-some owners.
Not sure why you and others are so insistent we have no evidence of Vivek meddling.

We have respected NBA reporters saying Ranadive leaned toward firing Karl and Vlade talked him out of it. If Vlade has to talk him out of it then Vivek is, by definition, meddling.

Meddling- to interfere in or busy oneself unduly with something that is not one's concern.

If Vlade is in control, then Karl is not Vivek's concern.

He is meddling. Absolutely. It's never stopped. Whether Vlade makes the final call or not is irrelevant. To me, it sounds like he's had to talk his meddling owner off the ledge. Again.
 
#18
Not sure why you and others are so insistent we have no evidence of Vivek meddling.

We have respected NBA reporters saying Ranadive leaned toward firing Karl and Vlade talked him out of it. If Vlade has to talk him out of it then Vivek is, by definition, meddling.

Meddling- to interfere in or busy oneself unduly with something that is not one's concern.

If Vlade is in control, then Karl is not Vivek's concern.

He is meddling. Absolutely. It's never stopped. Whether Vlade makes the final call or not is irrelevant. To me, it sounds like he's had to talk his meddling owner off the ledge. Again.
The franchise is struggling right now. How is that not of concern to Vivek? He owns the team, and if it is not performing to expectations, he certainly has a right to voice his opinion.
 
#19
The franchise is struggling right now. How is that not of concern to Vivek? He owns the team, and if it is not performing to expectations, he certainly has a right to voice his opinion.
Yeah. I would say that meddling would be if Vivek overruled Vlade or Karl. Wanting to trade Cousins for example, is not meddling. Insisting on trading Cousins despite the majority of his staff advising him not to is meddling. Telling the coach to play fast against his best wishes, or telling the coach to play player X over player Y is meddling.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#20
Not sure why you and others are so insistent we have no evidence of Vivek meddling.

We have respected NBA reporters saying Ranadive leaned toward firing Karl and Vlade talked him out of it. If Vlade has to talk him out of it then Vivek is, by definition, meddling.

Meddling- to interfere in or busy oneself unduly with something that is not one's concern.

If Vlade is in control, then Karl is not Vivek's concern.

He is meddling. Absolutely. It's never stopped. Whether Vlade makes the final call or not is irrelevant. To me, it sounds like he's had to talk his meddling owner off the ledge. Again.
Choosing to fire a coach is something that management is ALWAYS involved in. At the very least they are consulted. And in this case the owner deferred to the GM. That would make him, by itself, no more meddling than the other 29 owners.
 
#21
Well. We haven't scratched 30 wins in 6 seasons with Cousins,
And we didn't scratch that number with Tyreke or Isaiah on the team either. But those two miraculously have been key components on winning teams elsewhere.

When will people wake up and realize that it's the franchise, not the marquee player?

This franchise has only been successful under one ownership group. ONE. And that ownership group went bust and chose to go frugal rather than sell the team (initially) and it's been a mess since. And it all started well before DeMarcus Cousins set foot in Sacramento.

The current ownership made numerous mistakes from the outset of their stewardship and have done little to show they've learned anything. The same mistakes are being made. The current coach was hired before the current GM was in place. And regardless of which ownership group or GM was in place, they have botched every single draft from 2011 through 2014. The only impact player they drafted was allowed to leave for nothing in return.

None of that has anything to do with DeMarcus Cousins. None. Of. It.
 
#22
And we didn't scratch that number with Tyreke or Isaiah on the team either. But those two miraculously have been key components on winning teams elsewhere.

When will people wake up and realize that it's the franchise, not the marquee player?

This franchise has only been successful under one ownership group. ONE. And that ownership group went bust and chose to go frugal rather than sell the team (initially) and it's been a mess since. And it all started well before DeMarcus Cousins set foot in Sacramento.

The current ownership made numerous mistakes from the outset of their stewardship and have done little to show they've learned anything. The same mistakes are being made. The current coach was hired before the current GM was in place. And regardless of which ownership group or GM was in place, they have botched every since draft from 2011 through 2014. The only player they found they allowed to leave for nothing in return.

None of that has anything to do with DeMarcus Cousins. None. Of. It.
I have no doubts that DeMarcus Cousins can be a key component on a winning team. But in case you missed it, Isaiah Thomas and Tyreke Evans aren't centerpieces that you build around. In fact, that almost sounds like they perform better playing around other players not named DeMarcus Cousins.

Cousins is obviously not THE problem. But if we're just going to keep complaining that the franchise or the ownership is the problem then what does it matter whether we trade Cousins or not? What does it matter if we fire Karl or not? At the end of the day the Sacramento Kings are going to be losers right?

The exact argument you used to absolve Cousins from any blame can be used to defend every single player and coach we've had. Basketball is a team sport. DeMarcus Cousins, as the franchise player, is largely responsible for the success of the team, in more ways than individual on-court production. George Karl, as the head coach, is largely responsible for the success of the team. Vlade, as the GM, is largely responsible for the success of the team. To absolve any one of them of any blame is ridiculous. Cousins could win on another team and with a better roster. Well, Karl can win coaching another team with a different roster. Vlade probably does better if he wasn't handed a mismatched team and coach to begin with.
 
#23
But in case you missed it, Isaiah Thomas and Tyreke Evans aren't centerpieces that you build around.
Well, Isaiah Thomas is the leading scorer, assist man, and lone all-star on a team that's currently 3rd in the Eastern Conference. Perhaps you missed something.


In fact, that almost sounds like they perform better playing around other players not named DeMarcus Cousins.
Or perhaps they perform better playing for a franchise surrounds them with a capable coach and more than just one other talented player? Last I checked, Cuz is merely 1 player. You need 5 capable starters, a decent bench and a competent coach.

Care to tell us at what point the table was set up like that when any of those players played here?

When IT last played for the Kings, the team would go into full reverse when he and DeMarcus went to the bench. You obviously don't remember the trio of Cuz, IT and Rudy statistically being among the best in the league for the short time they were all together. The problem wasn't them playing together, it was what happened when they didn't.

Short memories around here.
 
#24
Well, Isaiah Thomas is the leading scorer, assist man, and lone all-star on a team that's currently 3rd in the Eastern Conference. Perhaps you missed something.




Or perhaps they perform better playing for a franchise surrounds them with a capable coach and more than just one other talented player? Last I checked, Cuz is merely 1 player. You need 5 capable starters, a decent bench and a competent coach.

Care to tell us at what point the table was set up like that when any of those players played here?

When IT last played for the Kings, the team would go into full reverse when he and DeMarcus went to the bench. You obviously don't remember the trio of Cuz, IT and Rudy statistically being among the best in the league for the short time they were all together. The problem wasn't them playing together, it was what happened when they didn't.

Short memories around here.
The playing better around other players comment was somewhat in jest (hence the "almost"). Fair point about IT, though I still wouldn't consider him a centrepiece/ franchise player. IMO that only goes to show that it isn't necessarily the end of the world for us if we trade Cousins, but let's not get into that in this thread.
 
#27
He's probably deleted the tweets by now but Marcos Breton went on this crazy drunken Twitter rant about the Kings a few months back. It was funny weird and sad all at once. It is hard for me to take him seriously since then.

It is personal with this guy and seems rooted in jealousy. He has this two-bit job and the guys he writes about don't.

One thing I know about success is you have to go through failure to get there. You don't avoid failure. Failure occurs on the path to success. So in the case of Vivek this is what he is experiencing as an owner. It is hard for me to fault a guy for being passionate and earnest about wanting his team to win even when he goes about the wrong way by meddling and impatience.

He's a smart guy and he will learn. He won't have build a 4B company if he didn't learn from adversity.

It is easy to lampoon the team is inept and incompetent and etcetera but the bottom line to me is that the Kings placed their bet on Karl have more left in the tank at age 64 following two cancers.....and there was nothing left in the tank. He's not a leader and this collection of talent needs one. It goes to show there are no certainties with players or coaches.

Karl has a clean bill of health (as far as I know) but the energy and the vigor is not there as anyone can see and this lack of zest and fire spreads through the team.

His stubbornness is detriment too related specifically to favoring veterans (Marco, Koufos) over hustle guys (Acy, Seth, Willie). This was forecastable based on his previous stops. But just like every player coaches have weakness and this was (one of) his.

The ACL injury with Rondo took away his lateral mobility. Rondo regained his burst of acceleration North and South but NOT East and West so all the defensive schemes Karl can institute are being executed with this inherent flaw.

(I know this from experience. I busted my ACL and am back to the athlete I was but I don't move side-to-side as well. It is not an issue of strength. It is an innervation issue where reaction time is slower.)

Then you have Marco who is actively helping the team lose games. Then you have Boogie who is prone to moping and getting discouraged and expending energy inefficiently and taking too many shots and resting on defense.

Add it up and you have 21-31 team. You fix this mess by (1) trading Marco for value pre-deadline (2) trading Rudy for value pre-deadline (3) firing Karl the day after the season ends (4) listening to Godfather offers for Boogie this summer (not actively look to trade him but don't hang up the phone) and building around Willie.

If a team wants to talk about trading the #1 pick in the draft and a young player for Boogie I am listening to that. Ben Simmons and a young star? That would pique my interest.
 
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bajaden

Hall of Famer
#29
He's probably deleted the tweets by now but Marcos Breton went on this crazy drunken Twitter rant about the Kings a few months back. It was funny weird and sad all at once. It is hard for me to take him seriously since then.

It is personal with this guy and seems rooted in jealousy. He has this two-bit job and the guys he writes about don't.

One thing I know about success is you have to go through failure to get there. You don't avoid failure. Failure occurs on the path to success. So in the case of Vivek this is what he is experiencing as an owner. It is hard for me to fault a guy for being passionate and earnest about wanting his team to win even when he goes about the wrong way by meddling and impatience.

He's a smart guy and he will learn. He won't have build a 4B company if he didn't learn from adversity.

It is easy to lampoon the team is inept and incompetent and etcetera but the bottom line to me is that the Kings placed their bet on Karl have more left in the tank at age 64 following two cancers.....and there was nothing left in the tank. He's not a leader and this collection of talent needs one. It goes to show there are no certainties with players or coaches.

Karl has a clean bill of health (as far as I know) but the energy and the vigor is not there as anyone can see and this lack of zest and fire spreads through the team.

His stubbornness is detriment too related specifically to favoring veterans (Marco, Koufos) over hustle guys (Acy, Seth, Willie). This was forecastable based on his previous stops. But just like every player coaches have weakness and this was (one of) his.

The ACL injury with Rondo took away his lateral mobility. Rondo regained his burst of acceleration North and South but NOT East and West so all the defensive schemes Karl can institute are being executed with this inherent flaw.

(I know this from experience. I busted my ACL and am back to the athlete I was but I don't move side-to-side as well. It is not an issue of strength. It is an innervation issue where reaction time is slower.)

Then you have Marco who is actively helping the team lose games. Then you have Boogie who is prone to moping and getting discouraged and expending energy inefficiently and taking too many shots and resting on defense.

Add it up and you have 21-31 team. You fix this mess by (1) trading Marco for value pre-deadline (2) trading Rudy for value pre-deadline (3) firing Karl the day after the season ends (4) listening to grandfather offers for Boogie this summer (not actively look to trade him but don't hang up the phone) and building around Willie.

If a team wants to talk about trading the #1 pick in the draft and a young player for Boogie I am listening to that. Ben Simmons and a young star? That would pique my interest.
Here's your first problem. You make too much sense! Stop it! Your second problem, related to the first, is that your being objective, and looking at the big picture, instead of the now. To most fans, it's the now that matters. Always try and remember that we live in an instant gratification society. Tomorrow is for old people and I'm never getting old. OK, I exaggerate a bit, but I agree with a lot of what you have to say. Especially your analysis, if not your conclusions.

I think I've rewatched more Kings games this season than any other. Despite that, I've found it very difficult to nail down what's wrong to a just a couple of things. Oh I can come up with generalizations. Such as, our three point defense is terrible. That's a given, but when you watch a game and try to figure out why, you come away frustrated, because there's a multitude of reasons. My general conclusion is that this team is totally screwed up. There are players that play well, maybe better than well on both ends of the floor, and then they come back a game later, and play as though they're in highschool. Is that totally on the coach? Well, they do say the buck stops here.

If it were just that simple. Yeah, I know, Mike Malone would have won a championship if given the chance to continue. Hey, maybe, who the hell knows. But I doubt it. If we were to throw away the first eight games of this season, or only rely on our record in January, Karl wouldn't look so bad either. Actually, when you think about it, Karl has had an uphill battle from the get go. Cousins loved playing for Malone. At least up until Malone was fired. But he had to be brought screaming and yelling to play for Karl. Not a good way to start a season. I actually thought it might work, but I think it's clear that it won't. So it would appear that at some point, Karl will be gone. But, does that mean championship here we come?

Here is the question that everyone should be asking themselves. When you look at the current roster, and take into consideration of each players ability, do you see a championship team? Not today, but in the future, and if not, what would have to be done to make it so? The premise has been that if we just put the right players around Cousins, we'll be a contender for a championship. OK, who are those players, and how do we acquire them? Malone aside, who is the coach that will lead us to the promised land? Instead of being negative to everything Kings related, tell me how to fix it. I can howl at the moon all night, and the next night, it's still there.

Now this is just my opinion, so its worth what you paid for it. But I think this team is so far away from a championship with it's current roster that god wouldn't attempt to coach it. And if I'm right, then how do you fix it, and please don't tell me to trade McLemore for and all star SG. Unless you find a drunk GM sitting on the steps outside a casino in Las Vegas, your not going to get something for nothing. At the moment, we have no draft picks, and we have very few assets. And the assets we do have, no one wants to trade. According to the rumor mills, the players the Kings have that have been brought up in trade inquiry's, are Collison, Gay, McLemore, and Cousins. Makes sense, no?

As much as I hate to say this, it might be time to move in another direction. I think Vivek's biggest mistake, and he's made many, but his latest mistake was that he wanted Vlade to make the team into a playoff team going into the new arena. Unless your real lucky, shortcuts never work in life, and in the NBA trying to shortcut your way to the top can be fatal, and set your team back years. So our only two options at this point are, stay with the status quo, and try to add a piece or two as money and luck allow, or blow up the team and start in a new direction. I will admit, that despite my age, I'm leaning hard toward the latter. And I think either option could be sold to the public going into the new arena.

I'm not going to go into why I feel the way I do because then this post would be five or six pages long, and I'm sure many of you wouldn't agree with me anyway. I'll sum it up this way, and let you fill in the blank areas. Everything that's thought about or written about relating to this team, both positive and negative revolves around one person. DeMarcus Cousins! Whether the coach is the right coach or not, depends on whether Cousins likes the coach. Whether we resign Rondo or not, maybe depends on how it will affect Cousins. Whether we trade Gay or not, depends on how it might affect Cousins. We won't sell the "Year of the Monkey" t-shirts in the Kings store, because Cousins found that a tradition that goes back 5000 years is now suddenly racist. The inmates are running the asylum folks, and that always leads to chaos. Strangely enough, I don't blame Cousins. Don't get me wrong, he has some immature issues that need changing. But I blame Vivek for letting it get this far. Unfortunately, I think it's too late to turn it around.
 
#30
The franchise has increased in value by how much since he bought the team? Good luck with that argument.
On a recently published list of values of NBA franchises the Kings were listed to be worth $800 million. That's a pretty good return for the initial investment in a relatively short period of time. Ownership earns the big bucks on equity.