At first, when I saw Mike Bibby was headed to the Hawks for Anthony Johnson, Tyronn Lue, Shelden Williams and Lorenzen Wright I was like, "What the f---?" But I let it settle for a little and learned some more details, and as I suspected the four bums have expiring contracts.
From an economic standpoint, the deal is justified for the Kings -- they're obviously trying to free up cap space to make a run at a power forward from this year's free agent class. That said, I still think it's an awful trade for Sacramento.
The Kings have been playing extremely well since Bibby's return from injury, due in large part to their excellent depth in the backcourt. They had Bibby starting at the point with upstart Beno Udrih backing him up; Kevin Martin back at the shooting guard position after his stint on the DL, with two of the NBA's most improved players backing him up: John Salmons and Francisco Garcia, and Ron Artest providing some perimeter help at the 2/3 as well.
Given a full season with this roster -- with Mikki Moore and Brad Miller rounding out the starting lineup -- I think the Kings would be a legitimate contender for the 7 or 8 spot out west. However, I know Sacramento's management recognizes their weak frontcourt, relative to the rest of the conference. So while they may agree with me -- they might have been able to squeak into the playoffs next year relying on their little guys -- they are also assuming that they have a low long-term ceiling.
So when they let the four players from this deal go off on their merry way at season's end, who will they spend that extra money on? Well first of all, Artest is a free agent. If I were them, I'd bring him back -- he's one of the top 5-10 defensive players in the league and the Kings are a below-average defensive team. But Salmons is waiting in the wings, and he's proven he's worthy of a starting spot, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. I think they end up letting go of Artest.
So a lineup of: PG-Udrih, SG-Martin, SF-Salmons, PF-???, C-Miller...
The Kings will probably be pursuing someone in the group of Shawn Marion, Antawn Jamison, Jermaine O'Neal and Elton Brand. I wouldn't touch O'Neal because he's injured for an extended period of time way too often. I'm not a big Brand fan; I think he's a bit of a hog (not as bad as Zach Randolph), he travels a lot for a big man and of course he's a serious injury concern as well.
That leaves Marion and Jamison. Signing Marion would force him out of position at power forward (he's a natural small forward in the West) and Jamison would uphold the Kings' no defense tradition. The point? None of these guys are going to turn the Kings into a championship contender. They should have held on to Bibby and tried to play like the Suns or Warriors; with their personnel they would have been more than capable.
In the end it's just a pointless deal. Kings won't be anywhere near the NBA Finals for years to come.
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