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snoscytheMars wrote:I agree, the trade doesn't make sense. Maybe the guy was a cancer in the locker room?
Let me try to explain this deal as I understand it...
Sacramento's coaches definitely liked Jimmer, but they preferred to take Kemba at #7. The GM and owners liked Jimmer much more than Kemba, so they over-ruled the coaches, and accomplished it in a devastating "shock and awe" manner:
1. They traded away the #7 pick (Brandon Knight went #8 and Kemba Walker went #9).
2. They picked their man, Jimmer, at #10. And that means they get the same guy for less money (and lower the "bust" expectations by 3 spots, though that shouldn't be a problem).
3. They traded away last year's starting point guard, forcing the coaches to start Jimmer from day one! That means even higher fan excitement, thus even more jerseys and season tickets sold, since we now know Jimmer won't be riding the bench. (Sidenote: The Kings sold more season tickets TODAY than they did all of last year)
4. The Kings were weak at Small Forward and Point Guard and had trouble with perimeter shooting and inside defense. Salmon can play the 3, and he's a good defender. So they now have Jimmer/Thomas/Thornton/Tyreke at 1, Tyreke Evans/Jimmer/Thornton/Salmon at 2, and Salmon/Honeycutt at 3 (not to mention DeMarcus Cousins, a #5 pick, playing the 5). That's an upgrade at both the 1 and the 3 for Sacramento, with the 2010 NBA Rookie of the Year starting at the 2! It's a great deal in my mind all around. What's not to like?
So if the Kings had taken Jimmer at #7, the PG role would be more muddled, the SG role would be more muddled, the SF position would be weaker, excitement wouldn't have been as high, and national/local disappointment with Jimmer going before both Knight and Walker would have been intense. It was a smart, smart move. IMO
RE #1 and #3 : --So, the trade is smart because the relationship between ownership/management and the coaches is dysfunctional? If the coaches don't believe in Jimmer, how is this a good situation for Jimmer? They didn't want him, but management is ramming him down their throat, and this is a good situation for him? :skeptic: They aren't saving any money either, because the difference in pay between #7 and#10 (about $500K) is less than the difference in pay between Salmon and Udrih (Salmon is going over $1Mill than Udrih)--they still are picking up more salary and a older, worse player in exchange for moving down in the draft.
I don't buy it. I get that you are a Sacto guy and a Kings fan, but as much as I want to put on some purple-colored goggles for Jimmer's sake, the Kings are simply dysfunctional, and things don't look good. Yeah, he'll get to start, but next to a #2 with one of the highest usage rates in the league and with coaches calling plays who never wanted him in the first place, and in the armpit of the west coast with next to nil media coverage. It was a bad trade, and--just like we were all saying before the draft, this is one of the worst things that could have happened to Jimmer in the draft. It's like trying to find the positives when Coats and then Fui went to the Bengals---there might be a faint silver lining, but that is still one massive black thunderhead of a cloud.