2016-2017 Season Discussion Thread

[The Neighborhood Bully 266]

You may be forgiven if you have met the latest round of rumors around Kings center DeMarcus Cousins with a shrug and a yawn. After all, we've heard five years of Cousins trade rumors, and "Boogie" is still in Sacramento, leaving behind a trail of suitors who never really got that close to a deal.

 

But take heart, because there’s reason to think that by the time February’s trade deadline comes around, Cousins will no longer be with the Kings — and a move could come in the first half of December. That’s the speculation among front office executives around the league, at least.

 

“I’d say they have three months, tops,” one Western Conference general manager told Sporting News, requesting anonymity because he is not allowed to speak about other teams' players. “Probably more like a month, or month-and-a-half, because the closer they get to the (February trade) deadline, the less they’re going to get back. If you’re trying to trade him the week of the deadline, it’s going to be tougher.”

 

Pause here for a recap. In early 2012, Cousins was suspended by the Kings, and word was he had demanded a trade from the Kings, which he later denied. Almost a year later, after a confrontation with new coach Keith Smart, Cousins was again suspended, and it was widely reported the Kings were close to dealing Cousins. In 2014, new owner Vivek Ranadive said publicly that “previous management” had advised him to trade Cousins. In the 2015 offseason, coach George Karl was reportedly talking with other teams about Cousins trade packages.

 

Among the teams mentioned in Cousins trade rumors in that span: Bulls, Nets, Celtics, Wizards, Mavericks, Pistons, Rockets, Nuggets, Magic, Hornets, Cavaliers, Bucks, Knicks, Raptors and Lakers. That’s more than half the league. If you’re a fan of an NBA team, then, it’s more likely than not that you’ve heard a connection between Cousins and your franchise in the last five years.

http://www.sportingn...w011zh73el0gjpc

 

Gotta wonder just how much trade value our guys have after the way this season started.

[CTMagicUK 1,491]

#LoselikehellforMarkelle

[Orlando Magic Toaster 26]

Marcin Gortat just said his team probably has the worst bench in the league..

 

awkward

 

Didn't Howard say something similar? He must have learned that off Dwight in Orlando..

[Soul Bro 1,422]

This roster has no identity, limited competency, and no leadership. That is 100% on Henny. I cannot imagine having the kind of results he's had in a regular job and not being fired. Do I trust him to make a trade to make things better? Absolutely not.

[JJZFL 625]

On point 3, Still feel that way after this last pathetic excuse for a game? Our so called vets got the majority of the minutes and were either incognito or actively awful. Rudez got 13 minutes where he did nothing (One made three, woop-de-doo), Watson got 17 minutes, where he got a nice 3 points, 2 rebounds, one assist, Fournier, Ibaka, and Vuch threw up a disgusting amount of shots that missed. The only three players that played any good were younger guys in Payton, Gordon, and Biyombo, though I guess you can call Biyombo a vet now. And yet, even though Biyombo and Gordon were playing well, they were forced into weird line ups for much of the game and had less minutes than the brick squad. If everyone is playing like crap, why not give Mario some meaningful minutes? Surely if everyone else is missing shots, it won't hurt if he misses a couple too.

 

The vets might help us pull out some wins, like against OKC, but they have almost all proven throughout their careers that they are not game changers, they are not stars that are going to make a huge difference. They are not going to lead us to the promised land, just because they have more experience. And if we do, miraculously, end up in the playoffs, it will do our youngins no good if they are nailed to the bench.

 

I would rather Vogel be fair in his treatment. If Mario is benched and Gordon moved out of the starting line up because they are not meeting expectations, fine. But then do the same for Fournier, Vuch, and Ibaka who have had just as many, if not more, poor performances. None of them are stars who deserve star treatment. None of them are a Lebron or Curry, or etc. that deserve the benefit of the doubt.

 

Yeah, still feel that way. 71 games left, way too early to write off this season. Most players on the team were flat last night; I wouldn't make any sweeping conclusions from that. Gordon and Payton both got a decent amount of minutes. Vogel was spreading the minutes around in the second night of a back to back, and only one player even got 30 minutes. Vogel needs to put out whatever lineups he feels have the best chance of winning. The veterans have established credibility by what they've done during their careers. Doesn't mean you can't bench them (wish he benched Vuch last night) but they have a known skill set. Mario doesn't. Obviously Vogel feels he's not ready for this level of competition. Van Gundy did exactly the same thing with Redick; it took years for him to get meaningful playing time.

[JJZFL 625]

This roster has no identity, limited competency, and no leadership. That is 100% on Henny. I cannot imagine having the kind of results he's had in a regular job and not being fired. Do I trust him to make a trade to make things better? Absolutely not.

 

Those of us who expressed any doubts about Henny in this forum a few years ago were absolutely blasted on this board. At some point I'll try to find some posts with some choice adjectives that DOM threw my way just for reserving judgement on Henny. My point then and now was that anyone can create a really bad team. If you use that as a way to then create a good or great team, you deserve credit as a good or great GM. Until then you don't.

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

Those of us who expressed any doubts about Henny in this forum a few years ago were absolutely blasted on this board. At some point I'll try to find some posts with some choice adjectives that DOM threw my way just for reserving judgement on Henny. My point then and now was that anyone can create a really bad team. If you use that as a way to then create a good or great team, you deserve credit as a good or great GM. Until then you don't.

 

Trying to have a bad team then having a bad team doesn't mean a guy should be fired.

 

Trying to have a growing team then having a growing team doesn't mean a guy should be fired.

 

trying to have a playoff team then having a horrible team is probably grounds for being fired.

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

vucevic is averaging 3.3 ppg on 16/0/__ shooting over the past 3 games. he's on a 5/32 shooting streak. over the last 6 games he's 2/6 on freethrows after going 9/17 in the first 5 games.

[hootie249 293]

vucevic is averaging 3.3 ppg on 16/0/__ shooting over the past 3 games. he's on a 5/32 shooting streak. over the last 6 games he's 2/6 on freethrows after going 9/17 in the first 5 games.

 

He is the main reason why this happened. He should have been traded the offseason before 2015, while his value had peaked. I feel like Tobias was traded in large part because he wasn't a good fit with Vuc. That and Skiles needed to win last year and was hellbent on getting veterans.

[hootie249 293]

So do we make more panic trades which is what got us here in the first place?

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

we're the worst team in the league in first quarter net rating.

 

https://twitter.com/JimPeteHoops/status/798546212454629376

[magicblue 315]

Trying to have a bad team then having a bad team doesn't mean a guy should be fired.

 

Trying to have a growing team then having a growing team doesn't mean a guy should be fired.

 

trying to have a playoff team then having a horrible team is probably grounds for being fired.

 

I agree with this. I've always been supportive of Hennigan and the process but the hiring of Skiles, the Tobias trade, and subsequent trade of Vic this summer have not yielded us anything that has parlayed into a competitive team, at least not to this point in the season. Is what we're seeing in this team so far this year attributed to growing pains and adjustments to a new coach, a new system, and unfamiliarity with each other on the court? I would guess at least partly. But too often it seems like game to game there are wild swings in effort, hustle, and obviously production from key players who at this point should be fairly established in this league (Fournier, Vuc, Ibaka, Green, etc.) and that is concerning because at this moment it is hard to even establish which players we should be building around going forward, and that's obviously not a great place to be in year five of a rebuild. I'm not sure what good comes from firing Hennigan now, but he is clearly on the hot seat and if this team doesn't miraculously start gelling and becoming more consistent I can't think of any good reason to continue on the path we're on just based on blind faith in the guy. Something's got to change because we are on a hamster wheel at the moment and are not heading in any discernible positive direction. We're a terrible offensive and defensive team at the moment and we still lack an identity, which was supposedly the reasons for the trades/signings this summer.