The Kings Are Officially Rebuilding
Reacting to the Ron Artest trade in yesterday’s Smack, reader and Sacramento Kings fan David Brandon commented, “Damn. I guess it did finally happen. We’re OFFICIALLY rebuilding. Now if we ship out Brad Miller, I know things are lookin’ rough.”
Well, guess what? Brad Miller’s name is popping up in trade rumors today, primarily one in which he’d be sent to the Bulls. According to some Chicago-area newspapers, the Bulls would be looking to unload Andres Nocioni in the deal, who is due $8 million next season before becoming an unrestricted free agent. Miller is on the books for $11.3M next season, and $12.2M the following year. If Sacramento were to pull off the deal, they would open up even more cap space for 2009, or they could realistically go into the summer of 2010 — when LeBron, D-Wade and Chris Bosh headline a monster free agent class — with only Beno Udrih, John Salmons and Kevin Martin’s salaries on their cap (although it’s more realistic they will have at least picked up the team-options on Spencer Hawes and/or Jason Thompson by then and probably re-signed Francisco Garcia).
Can Sacramento build around Kevin Martin and eventually become a relevant franchise in the West? Or is K-Mart II better served as the #2 option behind another star?
July 31st, 2008 at 1:14 pm
JCarr says:
K-MART 2 is the #2 option! They need a legit SF. Nocioni has potential.
July 31st, 2008 at 1:15 pm
the mamba says:
Get rid of miller! Lose lots of games and get all the cap space u can. Martin is not a player to build around though if u ever plan on contending for a title. But a nucleus of something like ricky rubio, martin, noccioni, and bosh would looke real good. Hey…
Anything is poooosssssiiibbuuull
July 31st, 2008 at 1:16 pm
B says:
K-Mart II is a 2nd banana.
July 31st, 2008 at 1:33 pm
doc says:
Hell no you cant build around Kevin Martin.
July 31st, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Chaos says:
kevin martin is a more athletic rip hamilton..if they get a really good number 1 option and a big man that can score and rebound they have a good chance of being good again. from what i have seen jason thompson, k-mart II and picking up nocioni is a good start. we have to see how good udrih really is as the de facto starting pg. but they have at least 3 years to go until they are a contender again
July 31st, 2008 at 1:40 pm
GEE...hood watch! says:
I don’t know about building around dude, he def. got sidekick material. I am sure he might look like a number 1 dude with the green light he is likely to get this year. Expect dude to drop high 20’s every night.
All I know is that Sacto better follow Portland’s blueprint cause they did and are doing an excellent job.
July 31st, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Arrogant says:
if miller has 2 years left, then the bulls would be the one with cap space in 2010, right? with larry hughes having 2 years left then possibly brad miller…. trade hinirch too…
The bulls need to clear cap and go for a superstar… to put around derrick rose and deng.
as for kevin martin , he is not a go to guy maybe a number 2 or 3
July 31st, 2008 at 2:11 pm
d says:
As a Kings fan, Miller really isn’t the difference. Time to sell high. he had a pretty good season last year and we need to open it up for the younger big men to develop. No one is taking Kenny Thomas albatross contract or Shareef’s contract, so sell what you can when you can. Was there any doubt after we dumped Artest that we were going to be bottom feeders. But really, if you follow the Kings rebuilding wasn’t supposed to start for at least another year. Geoff Petrie has pulled off some good moves to start it early. Yeah, this seasons going to be painful, but the future is starting to look bright.
July 31st, 2008 at 2:58 pm
weezy f says:
wasnt thomas supposed to be involved in any deal with artest? so hes not going to houston?
July 31st, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Coop says:
Haha Dave, you got your name in lights, man!
If the Bulls want Miller, give him away ASAP imo
July 31st, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Ted DiBiase says:
Udrih is too damn good to be playing for a rebuilding team.
July 31st, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Joe Cozi says:
K-mart needs to learn how to beat his man off the dribble before he can be a #1..he relies on off the ball movement too much…plus I live here in sac and his game is annoying reminds me of reggie miller with a little more hops..and in crunchtime against good teams the ball turns into a hot potato and he can’t get it out of his hands fast enough,against bottom feeders he hits game winners all day
July 31st, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Michorizo says:
I have to agree with the million dollar man … although the playoffs will be tough and they might be in the lottery ….they will not be the doormat of the NBA or will they…that is what the games are played for.
July 31st, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
If the Maloofs can some how move the franchise to Las Vegas by 2010 then they might have a good chance at landing one of the big free agents. If not I don’t see it happening. They will have to rebuild through smart trades and draft, similar to Portland. Remember NY, NJ and Memphis will have major cap space in 2010 too and I would have to assume they are the front runners for the the 3 big free agents that year.
July 31st, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Coop says:
DiBiase, I really don’t think you’ve thought that statement though. By which I mean it’s moose shit.
July 31st, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Smooth says:
seriuosly would lebron or dwade really sign with the kings when they are free agents hell no sacramento sucks they either gonna stay put or go 2 NY
July 31st, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Sacto - J says:
I think that it’s probably true that K-Mart isn’t a guy you build a franchise around, but how can you deny the value of a guy who’ll go out and get you 20 -30 points on 15-20 shots? Before he got injured last year he was working on maintaining top 5 scorer in the league status. Now, you add a premier 4 (Boozer,Harrington?), maybe a premier point (AI?), and what you have is a strong, hungry team with a deep, young bench. And they all lived happily ever after, I know…..BTW, Miller is a much better player than he is given credit for. He instantly ups the offensive flow of any team he plays on, and can still play respectable D (most of the time.)
Peace,
July 31st, 2008 at 7:04 pm
David Brandon says:
Yo, thanks for the shout out, Dime! Yeah, I’ma put it on my myspace. LOL anyway, Coop, youre next fam.
And yeah, its officially the Jump Off in Sac-Town baby! Thats what’s this year is. The Jump Off.
Sigh…here’s where my high kicks down tho. first off, until we get rid of kenny thomas and shareef, we’re only half way there. kevin’s good. i like him. but 1) he’s not 11 mil good and 2) he’s a role player. that just says how sorry we are right now. i like brad. i do. he’s made some real strides lately. but if we’re gonna rebuild, we need to do it and commit to it. if brad has ONE MORE damn foot injury, i’ma go ape sh*t.
last, as much as i’ve put together some bad ass squads on Live, i know no big name star is gonna just up an sign with the Kings like that. we only got webb via trade and his ass STILL almost didnt come. now he has restaurants out here…
i told my boy james that if the kings aren’t lookin at least DECENT by next year, i’ma have to be a Hornets fan for half a season or somethin. aight fellas, catch y’all on the flip.
i’m out like austin’s sonics….thundering bison, or barons, or wildebeasts, etc.