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Sit-Downs With Sal
Happy off-season gentlemen. Today we sit down with the Sacramento Kings GM, bosoxlover12. How are you doing tonight sir?
I'm doing just well, how about you?
I’m doing pretty good. Let’s dive right into it shall we? Last season you had a promising trio of Dwight Howard, Josh Smith, and David West, along with a couple talent guards. What went wrong?
It's a simple answer, and further shown if you looked at the daily box scores -- turning the ball over. We led the league in turnovers per game at 16.7 (next highest was at 15.3) and we were 2nd to last in scoring at just 90.2ppg. We were also 2nd to last in APG as well. Countless games would show Smith or Howard as our leading assist man, and the trio of Teague, Dragic, and Will Bynum were essentially useless. Doesn't matter how good your defense is if your offense is worse.
Not shocking anyone by saying those 3 big men are eccentric players. Did that play a factor to the on the court woes at all?
The diva-esque nature of all 3 definitely created divide among the locker room, and is why we felt it was paramount to get rid of as much bad-blood as possible. Shipping out West and Smith was key to improving the locker room, and we're extremely excited to bring in someone like Kawhi Leonard, who's general composure completely contradicts the foolish nature of the previous team, and he'll set an example about being a professional.
Is Josh Smith the NBA's biggest "cancer"?
That leads me perfectly into my next question. Kawhi Leonard, what made you think drafting a rather non-household name from San Deigo State was a good idea? There has been a bit of a backlash coming out of Sacramento over the pick. How do you sell it to your fans?
Kawhi has been our guy since Day 1 of scouting. We are a defensive first organization, and Kawhi's defense during the tournament was outstanding. He's shows signs of being a potential top scorer for this team, but what I envision out of him is becoming a Black Hole on defense, and force the opposition to play 4-v-4 with Dwight Howard taking away the middle of the court. In a league where the ECF/WCF consisted of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Carmelo Anthony, getting someone to check them was key. And while most were clamoring for either Mychal's son Klay, who looks to be a lights out shooter, or the Tourney's favorite star Kemba Walker to have someone more established with the ball in their hands, we feel extremely confident in the development of our young two point guards Teague and Dragic in becoming key pieces to this team.
Do you think he, as well as the rest of your current roster, is enough juice to propel you into a playoff spot? Or will you take a rebuilding approach with your team?
As you know, my roots are from the East coast out in Massachusetts, and my good friend Bill Belichick always instilled me the knowledge to not be focusing on anything past what's coming up. We've got a lot of hard work to be putting in to maximize this upcoming training camp, and that's where our current focus is. Every person's goal in this league is to win a championship, and ours is no different.
What measures have been taken to add a new level of maturity to Dwight Howard? He was top 5 in the league in technical fouls, and off the court, for a lack of better words, is called a “clown.” Just something that you guys will have to put up with as long as he produces the way he has?
We had a chat with Dwight mid-season, as it was getting more and more noticeable his disappointment regarding the team and their relationships. He claimed he was being too overworked and that Josh and David were criticizing every second of him while carried the team on his back. We assured to Dwight that this is still very much his team, and we got rid of those two to appease him. We also lowered his workload last year, and plan on doing so this upcoming year as well. He also 100% was in favor of getting Kawhi for some defensive dominance, although he was intrigued by Kyrie Irving's ball skills prior to his injury. We're all on Team Dwight and look forward to success with Howard leading the way
Will Dwight Howard EVER grow up?
Wow, believe that is breaking news for the entire NBA world. Are you saying Dwight essentially asked for the trades of West and Smith?
The three of them all wanted to coexist, but Smith was the biggest problem of them all. Both Dwight and West wanted him gone, as his shot selection was atrocious yet he kept on shooting the team out of victories. Dwight did not like Smith at all, but he was moderately tolerant of DWest -- yet he was surely not disappointed when West asked to be traded or bought out of his deal to play for a contender. But Smith was the real problem.
Well sounds like Josh might now have a bit of an edge next time the Kings are on the schedule! Last team question before a few general league questions. With the season rapidly approaching, how are you feeling about your teams off-season thus far?
Obviously well spoken already that we're thrilled to have Kawhi on roster, but we're also happy to add a veteran talent like Elton Brand to the mix to be our 6th man, and young Joey Dorsey to eat all the rebounds that Dwight doesn’t get himself. This will be a tough team to play against, and will make you work for every single basket possible.
Off the top of your head, what team(s) have won the off-season thus far?
I mean the first team that comes to my mind is Indiana. They essentially stole Kyrie Irving, a future phenom, for pennies on the dollar, and it will 100% be something the Memphis organization regrets shortly a lot of teams did work to get better for this year, but I love the fact that the Pacers got a franchise player to build around (luckily we're in the West).
Did Memphis sell way too low on their #1 pick Kyrie Irving?
You mentioned the Memphis organization, what do you think of their off-season? They went out and got star talent with Kobe Bryant and Danny Granger, do you think it was enough of a return based on all of the assets they got rid of?
It reminds me of a dream I had a few weeks ago, where the Nets gave away their future for aging talent that were on the downsides of their career in efforts to win a title and never did, while losing countless star after countless star. Sure, they didn’t have their upcoming picks so they couldn’t tank, but I'd rather have Kyrie and Boogie for 7+ years than Kobe+Granger+young IT for like 2 years. It was a massive mistake by their ownership, and kudos to New York and Indiana for capitalizing.
Speaking of the Knicks, they won the title and seemed insistent on blowing up their roster. Care to comment on that situation?
I trust the GM of the Knicks and his foresight to "sell high"... he avoided the hard cap, and extended his window of competing by 3-4 years more. Losing Kobe hurts, but Carmelo is capable of being the top guy, and Cousins wont have a hard time being a secondary scorer at all. Great job in New York
Final question before I let you go, give me your top 3 most shocking (good or bad) free agency signings thus far.
• Stiemsma is anemic offensively and is $7-9M per year... much cheaper alternatives available
• Shannon Brown isn't worth $10M/yr.... next?
...the third one goes out to Marc Gasol and the Mavs situation. Several GMs did not play out Restricted Free Agency well at all. Their players offered to re-sign their 5 year max, and were quickly accepted. Dallas waited for Gasol to receive a contract, and saved about $3M per year as well as got him on a 4 year deal, not a 5 year deal. And now one would think its better to be on a 5 year deal, but with the current cap projections, it is extremely likely of a massive cap spike in 5 years, which means Gasol's next contract will cost Dallas a lot less money than someone like Durant will cost their franchise, despite the concept of a "max" contract being instituted. Dallas played it right with Gasol, for sure.
Alright buddy, appreciate you taking the time to sit-down with me today and I wish you good luck on the upcoming season.
Thank you sir, and to you as well.
That concludes this Sit-Down with Sal. Next time we will have the Godfather himself from the Cavaliers. Take care!
Happy off-season gentlemen. Today we sit down with the Sacramento Kings GM, bosoxlover12. How are you doing tonight sir?
I'm doing just well, how about you?
I’m doing pretty good. Let’s dive right into it shall we? Last season you had a promising trio of Dwight Howard, Josh Smith, and David West, along with a couple talent guards. What went wrong?
It's a simple answer, and further shown if you looked at the daily box scores -- turning the ball over. We led the league in turnovers per game at 16.7 (next highest was at 15.3) and we were 2nd to last in scoring at just 90.2ppg. We were also 2nd to last in APG as well. Countless games would show Smith or Howard as our leading assist man, and the trio of Teague, Dragic, and Will Bynum were essentially useless. Doesn't matter how good your defense is if your offense is worse.
Not shocking anyone by saying those 3 big men are eccentric players. Did that play a factor to the on the court woes at all?
The diva-esque nature of all 3 definitely created divide among the locker room, and is why we felt it was paramount to get rid of as much bad-blood as possible. Shipping out West and Smith was key to improving the locker room, and we're extremely excited to bring in someone like Kawhi Leonard, who's general composure completely contradicts the foolish nature of the previous team, and he'll set an example about being a professional.
That leads me perfectly into my next question. Kawhi Leonard, what made you think drafting a rather non-household name from San Deigo State was a good idea? There has been a bit of a backlash coming out of Sacramento over the pick. How do you sell it to your fans?
Kawhi has been our guy since Day 1 of scouting. We are a defensive first organization, and Kawhi's defense during the tournament was outstanding. He's shows signs of being a potential top scorer for this team, but what I envision out of him is becoming a Black Hole on defense, and force the opposition to play 4-v-4 with Dwight Howard taking away the middle of the court. In a league where the ECF/WCF consisted of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Carmelo Anthony, getting someone to check them was key. And while most were clamoring for either Mychal's son Klay, who looks to be a lights out shooter, or the Tourney's favorite star Kemba Walker to have someone more established with the ball in their hands, we feel extremely confident in the development of our young two point guards Teague and Dragic in becoming key pieces to this team.
Do you think he, as well as the rest of your current roster, is enough juice to propel you into a playoff spot? Or will you take a rebuilding approach with your team?
As you know, my roots are from the East coast out in Massachusetts, and my good friend Bill Belichick always instilled me the knowledge to not be focusing on anything past what's coming up. We've got a lot of hard work to be putting in to maximize this upcoming training camp, and that's where our current focus is. Every person's goal in this league is to win a championship, and ours is no different.
What measures have been taken to add a new level of maturity to Dwight Howard? He was top 5 in the league in technical fouls, and off the court, for a lack of better words, is called a “clown.” Just something that you guys will have to put up with as long as he produces the way he has?
We had a chat with Dwight mid-season, as it was getting more and more noticeable his disappointment regarding the team and their relationships. He claimed he was being too overworked and that Josh and David were criticizing every second of him while carried the team on his back. We assured to Dwight that this is still very much his team, and we got rid of those two to appease him. We also lowered his workload last year, and plan on doing so this upcoming year as well. He also 100% was in favor of getting Kawhi for some defensive dominance, although he was intrigued by Kyrie Irving's ball skills prior to his injury. We're all on Team Dwight and look forward to success with Howard leading the way
Wow, believe that is breaking news for the entire NBA world. Are you saying Dwight essentially asked for the trades of West and Smith?
The three of them all wanted to coexist, but Smith was the biggest problem of them all. Both Dwight and West wanted him gone, as his shot selection was atrocious yet he kept on shooting the team out of victories. Dwight did not like Smith at all, but he was moderately tolerant of DWest -- yet he was surely not disappointed when West asked to be traded or bought out of his deal to play for a contender. But Smith was the real problem.
Well sounds like Josh might now have a bit of an edge next time the Kings are on the schedule! Last team question before a few general league questions. With the season rapidly approaching, how are you feeling about your teams off-season thus far?
Obviously well spoken already that we're thrilled to have Kawhi on roster, but we're also happy to add a veteran talent like Elton Brand to the mix to be our 6th man, and young Joey Dorsey to eat all the rebounds that Dwight doesn’t get himself. This will be a tough team to play against, and will make you work for every single basket possible.
Off the top of your head, what team(s) have won the off-season thus far?
I mean the first team that comes to my mind is Indiana. They essentially stole Kyrie Irving, a future phenom, for pennies on the dollar, and it will 100% be something the Memphis organization regrets shortly a lot of teams did work to get better for this year, but I love the fact that the Pacers got a franchise player to build around (luckily we're in the West).
You mentioned the Memphis organization, what do you think of their off-season? They went out and got star talent with Kobe Bryant and Danny Granger, do you think it was enough of a return based on all of the assets they got rid of?
It reminds me of a dream I had a few weeks ago, where the Nets gave away their future for aging talent that were on the downsides of their career in efforts to win a title and never did, while losing countless star after countless star. Sure, they didn’t have their upcoming picks so they couldn’t tank, but I'd rather have Kyrie and Boogie for 7+ years than Kobe+Granger+young IT for like 2 years. It was a massive mistake by their ownership, and kudos to New York and Indiana for capitalizing.
Speaking of the Knicks, they won the title and seemed insistent on blowing up their roster. Care to comment on that situation?
I trust the GM of the Knicks and his foresight to "sell high"... he avoided the hard cap, and extended his window of competing by 3-4 years more. Losing Kobe hurts, but Carmelo is capable of being the top guy, and Cousins wont have a hard time being a secondary scorer at all. Great job in New York
Final question before I let you go, give me your top 3 most shocking (good or bad) free agency signings thus far.
• Stiemsma is anemic offensively and is $7-9M per year... much cheaper alternatives available
• Shannon Brown isn't worth $10M/yr.... next?
...the third one goes out to Marc Gasol and the Mavs situation. Several GMs did not play out Restricted Free Agency well at all. Their players offered to re-sign their 5 year max, and were quickly accepted. Dallas waited for Gasol to receive a contract, and saved about $3M per year as well as got him on a 4 year deal, not a 5 year deal. And now one would think its better to be on a 5 year deal, but with the current cap projections, it is extremely likely of a massive cap spike in 5 years, which means Gasol's next contract will cost Dallas a lot less money than someone like Durant will cost their franchise, despite the concept of a "max" contract being instituted. Dallas played it right with Gasol, for sure.
Alright buddy, appreciate you taking the time to sit-down with me today and I wish you good luck on the upcoming season.
Thank you sir, and to you as well.
That concludes this Sit-Down with Sal. Next time we will have the Godfather himself from the Cavaliers. Take care!
