The Small Forward Shuffle

[Volans19]

Honestly, I would test to see if NO would take Brewer, Bud and JJ for Gordon and Rivers. There is only a 2 million dollar difference in salaries that we would take on, but it would balance our roster. Gordon is overpaid, but he is another guy that can give you 15 a night either as a starter or off the bench and he can be effective in the PnR. NO is very weak at the 3 and Tyreke was only effective starting this year, so it could fit their needs as well.

I've been going back and forth in my mind as to whether or not we should pursue Gordon. His contract is bad, like really bad. He would eat up a large chunk of our cap space that we need to resign Rubio and Love. Though I firmly believe that Love is going to leave so it's kind of a wash.

But the idea of having a starting line-up of
Rubio/Gordon/Brewer/Love/Pek
with a bench like
FA PG (Augustin/Blake/Livingston)/ Martin/ Bazz/ Turiaf/ Dieng
is damn exciting, not to mention our draft pick as well.

The two reservations I have about Gordon are his injuries and his underwhelming defense but his offensive game is great. I think he is one of the few viable options we have at improving our wing positions.

[mjs34]

I think Chase should be the first guy on the bus. He makes too much money for what he gives when healthy, seems to be injury prone at this point, and likely will continue to get worse.

Luc has impressed me over the last week and a half. He doesn't take bad shots, and stays active on the offensive end making cuts. He is a very good defender in certain matchups, and I think can be used at the 3 or the 4 depending on opponents. He also makes too much, but is on an expiring deal that might be useful around the deadline next season. I wouldn't be opposed to keeping him.

Brewer is a real conundrum. He looks like an efficient scorer, but I think that is a mirage when you consider the negatives on his leakouts. High risk passes, shaky D, no defensive rebounding, etc. Then you see him take the ball with a quick dribble from the perimeter and pull up for a 14 footer. I really think he has to come off the bench, and limit his minutes to 25. Not a terrible contract, but not a bargain either. I think you keep either Cory or Luc, but not both.

Robbie Hummel doesn't impress me at all, but I do understand the arguments about being a good bench guy, and making the minimum. Doesn't matter either way.

Shabazz needs to drop ten pounds and work on his right hand in the off season. I think those two things could really propel him into a significant role next season. I like him as a sixth or seventh man, used for his scoring ability. Have to try and develop him and get him 20-25 minutes a night next season.

I would also look to unload Shved and/or JJ. I am not as down on JJ as most, because I think a good coach could get a lot more out of him, and he has been handcuffed by the players around him. It is tough watching guys like Shved when you see Meeks making 1.5 mil in LA. Those are the type of guys we need to be finding to fill backup spots.

I still like having Martin in the starting lineup if we have Dieng behind him. Playing Luc next to Martin sounds like an option we should have explored, But Rick didn't want to confuse Cory's role I guess.

[worldK]

Well, we have 5 sf's on the roster but none as a legit nba starter.

Brewer - the best of the bunch but he is best used as a energy bench guy. He is not starter material because he isnt really a lockdown 1 on 1 perimeter defender nor is he a ball handler or an outside threat. What he brings though is high energy and activity level on both ends. I love how fearless he is on the break. He will try to dunk it every chance he gets even when you can tell a hard foul is coming his way, He competes and is perfect as a spark plug bench guy that plays no more than 25min a game off the bench at both wing spots.

Bud - Has gotten better. He can be a contributor with his outside shooting and basketball iq. He knows spacing and gets to the right spots and he moves the ball well. Overpaid? yes, but he can certainly be a rotational bench guy.

Luc - An overpaid specialist. A guy you only play vs certain matchups. Liability offensively. Can play and guard both forward position and decent rebounder. I would look to unload him. We can sign a specialist to a much cheaper contract for 1 year rather than pay luc 4.5m for that.

Bazz - Intriguing. I certainly would love to keep him since he is sill on his rookie deal. The thing with bazz is that he is not someone who can easily gel and play with anyone. We have to play him with an outside threat who can guard the other teams best wing to maximize bazz's game. Still a question mark for me but i love his competitiveness.

robbie - I say we keep him. Can play both forward spots and spread the floor. Crashes the boards hard and generally knows what he is doing in there. Limited physically but could possibly be a steve novak type specialist if he hits the 3 ball consistently. i would keep him base on the fact that he will probably resign for the 700+k minimum. Thats the money we should be giving the 14th-15th man on the team and robbie can be a good end of bench/reserve player.

Of the 5 sf's Luc is the one i look to unload. I wont hesitate to trade the other 4 if a package deal is available( dont think we can get good value dealing those 4 in 1 on 1 trades). At the same time, i wont mind keeping the four as i think you can play a combination of 2 of those 4 together at the wings and robbie can play stretch 4 as well.

Overall, i hope we get a batter wing player this off season. Someone better than kevin martin, whether a sf or a sg, we need an upgrade at the wings.

[60WinTim]

I find myself on LST's wagon: it's not so much who do we want to keep, but who we can get in return. In my book, we absolutely need a legit combo guard that can backup Rubio and play some minutes at SG. And it ain't Barea (or Shved)!

I would also like us to get a more dynamic backup for Love. Dante has had a down year, now has legal problems, and is not under contract.

So whatever SF(s) helps us fill those two roles, go for it. (I'm also not tied to Martin or Pek - although a replacement would be needed if either one were moved)

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

First off thanks to Volans because this is a great topic for a thread.

Combined our 1-3 positions this year are costing us as follows:
1: Rubio, Barea and Price @ 9.7 million
2. Martin, Shved @ 9.5 million
3. Budinger, Brewer, Baz, LRMAM, Hummel and Jeffers @ 16.55 million

This is clearly untenable as SF has been the weakest position on the team in relative terms. As evidence of this we're being outscored there by 5 ppg at that position and our opponent's SF is typically 5 points better in PER. (I know this is not everyone's favorite set of metrics but it is merely some evidence of a problem in this case). Regardless of how you slice it, SF by committee isn't working.

I voted that we should move Luc and Hummel, though I would add to that the qualification that any of them should be movable for the right assets in return. My choices are premised on the notion that we are also moving Kevin Martin who I believe is a bad fit here given our defensive needs and still has some value around the league. If martin was moved and we did not get another top shelf wing in return I would like to see Brewer moved to the 2 as Q12543 and Volans advocated. Additionally I, like most people, would also like to see Barea gone.

Moving LMRAM is a priority in my opinion because he costs nearly 4.5 million next year, has little untapped potential, and gives us almost nothing besides defense. That's too much for a one way role player, especially since there are other options that satisfy his role. If we're interested in employing a defensive stopper to come in and disrupt things why not sign jeffers to the minimum next year for roughly 500k and use the 4m on something else? He's an expiring contract over next season so he might have some value and be easier to move for space than many of our other guys in that price range.

Moving hummel would not be a necessity due to his small salary but he is fundamentally a shooter who cannot shoot. Instead of wasting a roster spot hoping he might develop into a good shooter we may as well pluck one from the D-League or waivers after training camp if needed. Heck, I bet he'd be available to sign if we're thin during the season without a guaranteed contract anyway. My issue with Hummel is basically committing the roster spot to the development of a player with an admittedly low ceiling. There are higher potential gambles at the same cost and we should take those instead imo.

Since this is a player moving not player acquisition thread I won't go into who I think we should acquire for these assets but next year our salary situation would look roughly like this:

2014-15
1. Rubio and Shved @ 8.2 million
2. Brewer, Jeffers @ 5.2 million
3. Budinger and Baz @ 7 million

This clears roughly 15.7 million dollars and 4 roster spots for use on something else (worst case that something is player development for bazz and draft picks) and it would pave the way for a 2 way player at the wing if one becomes available. We still have a stopper and room to get some shooters if necessary and don't saddle ourselves with the roster imbalance of this season.

Good post and welcome to the board! You may want to set up a separate thread on proposals on how you would shed those salaries or how would those salaries be re-allocated in terms of the types of players coming back. NBA rules would make it quite difficult to wipe out $15.7M and free up 4 roster spots in a series of one-way trades that requires us to take nothing back.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I find myself on LST's wagon: it's not so much who do we want to keep, but who we can get in return. In my book, we absolutely need a legit combo guard that can backup Rubio and play some minutes at SG. And it ain't Barea (or Shved)!

I would also like us to get a more dynamic backup for Love. Dante has had a down year, now has legal problems, and is not under contract.

So whatever SF(s) helps us fill those two roles, go for it. (I'm also not tied to Martin or Pek - although a replacement would be needed if either one were moved)

Tim, I agree with this. And it doesn't even have to be a combo guard. It can simply be another PG, since Rubio can guard opposing SGs when paired with this player. I think this might be a bigger priority than getting rid of one or more of our SFs, especially since Brewer and Budinger can both spend some minutes at 2 and Luc and Hummel can spend some minutes at the 4.

If you were to look up and down our bench, Barea and Shved rank as our worst performers by far. We simply can't afford to rely on either of these guys next year, yet both are the only two ball handlers on the roster right now in addition to Rubio.

[Lipoli390]

Great thread, Volans. And I like your analysis. The question asks who we should TRY to move this offseason." My response in the poll was to try to move everyone but Brewer. Yet, other than Hummel, I'd only move one or more of them if we could get a 1st round pick or players in return who would appear to make us better. I tend to agree with Q that, other than Brewer, these guys are priced low right now and their value can only go up. That means we should probably hold onto them into next season because I suspect we would not get quality assets in return. On the other hand, the question was whether we should TRY to move them and I'm all for trying to move any of these guys in an effort to improve the team and better balance the roster. Maybe some team out there really values one or more of these guys.

The irony is that Flip said he made the moves he made last summer to "balance the roster." And here we are with a glut of mediocre SFs. Just makes me wonder about Flip, but that's for another thread.

I'd be inclined to move Hummel just to clear a roster space for someone from the D-League or a solid vet who would be equally cheap but more effective in some facet of the game. Hummel doesn't seem to be effective at anything.

The one guy who could probably net good value in return would be Brewer. But I'd be really reluctant to deal him unless the return is really, really good. I recognize Brewer's limitations and agree that, ideally, he should not be our starting SF. Nevertheless, I love the energy and toughness he brings to this team. He's a gamer and his positive impact on the team goes beyond his stats.

[Phenom]

This team needs to keep Brew. I love what he does and like his role on the team. He works so well with Ricky and Love and was a big part of many great starts this season. I think more important than moving him to the bench is reducing his minutes a bit, which will come with a better bench.

I want to see Shabazz get consistent minutes and see if he can be part of a better bench next year.

I do not necessarily mind keeping LRMAM or Bud around but I do not envision large roles for either. I would see if some team is willing to bite on them for someone more useful. I think when Rick steps down, Flip will have no attachment to these 2.

Its ridiculous that of all the Kings players that Flip probably could have had, he got Mbah and he could very well not make any significant impact for this team. I was honestly mystified when I learned that Thornton or Salmons or Fredette were not coming back in trade.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

This team needs to keep Brew. I love what he does and like his role on the team. He works so well with Ricky and Love and was a big part of many great starts this season. I think more important than moving him to the bench is reducing his minutes a bit, which will come with a better bench.

I want to see Shabazz get consistent minutes and see if he can be part of a better bench next year.

I do not necessarily mind keeping LRMAM or Bud around but I do not envision large roles for either. I would see if some team is willing to bite on them for someone more useful. I think when Rick steps down, Flip will have no attachment to these 2.

Its ridiculous that of all the Kings players that Flip probably could have had, he got Mbah and he could very well not make any significant impact for this team. I was honestly mystified when I learned that Thornton or Salmons or Fredette were not coming back in trade.

Same here. I put up my fight for Thornton on the forum only for Flip to not get him back in the deal lol. I still think the D-Will/MaM trade was a wash. Didn't matter what we did. Our bench guard play was turrible (Barkley voice).

[bleedspeed]

I think SG is more of a problem. IF we could flip Moute/Budinger for OJ Mayo I would do it.