With how the Western Conference battle for the 8th seed is turning out and the major disappointment that is the Portland Trailblazers, the Kings will be right in the thick of the playoff hunt all season long. And the Kings have a pretty decent shot at getting that 8th seed and having the privilege of getting swept by Golden State. I think it will end up being a pretty tight battle with Portland, Sacramento, Denver, and New Orleans all seriously challenging for that last spot.
Now the Kings aren't guaranteed to get to the playoffs, but unless something drastic happens, they should stay right in the hunt all season long. Joerger has done a good job with them at making them a competitive team on most nights, though it also surely helps that Cousins is just an unstoppable force at times that can will them to victory, too.
All that being said, I just can't see them trading Boogie under such circumstances, no matter what he's done off the court. They haven't had the playoffs in so long, and they're so set on making them (even if it's the 8th seed and they're 10-15 games under .500) that they won't give up on Boogie if there's even an inkling of a chance of the playoffs at the trade deadline. Further, with the ability for them to give him the super-deal this summer with the new CBA, it's even less likely that they'll trade him at the deadline at all before attempting that, regardless of their team's situation.
Thus, it's sad to say, but I think it might be time to move on from Boogie, which isn't all that bad of a thing either. He was always going to be a risk coming in, and he very well could've emptied our cupboards and future assets to get him. At least now we can be competitive now, while still building for the future, and we still have three good shots at an All-NBA caliber player in Jaylen and the two Brooklyn picks.
So I propose this idea - Noel and Hayward (while keeping our options open for a draft night trade for a George/Butler type). Realistically, Hayward is the number one free agent target for us this summer that is actually attainable. Nobody expects Griffin to leave LA, and with how his health has been recently anyways, he'd be a gamble with a long max contract, especially with how dependent upon his athleticism as he is. There's also Ibaka or Milsap, but neither of them really move the needle by themselves either. Outside of free agency, there's just seemingly nobody going to be coming available in the next several months that could move the needle in any significant way, especially at one of the big positions.
But I think Noel and Hayward can move the needle, at least somewhat. Noel is certainly available, and if we could get him for something like Rozier and the Memphis pick, Smart straight up and/or the Clippers pick, or whatever other similar deal, then he'd be a welcomed addition for us. Further, though we'd probably have to lose KO, Amir, and Crowder to do so, we could also afford a near-max to max deal for Hayward this summer, while also resigning Noel after signing Hayward with cap space. That'd leave us with a roster looking somewhat like this:
PG: IT, Smart/Rozier
SG: Bradley, Fultz/Ball/Smith
SF: Hayward, Brown
PF: Horford, JJ?
C: Noel, ?
While that's not a title favorite club, I think it's a legit title contender with several good scoring options and a very well-rounded D.
And further, this doesn't preclude us from also changing directions and making a trade on draft night, either. After tonight's game against GS, Brooklyn will be tied with Philly for the worst record in the league. A top-two pick in a stacked draft, along with something like Crowder and Zeller (salary) and some other lesser firsts or possibly even the other Brooklyn pick, could ultimately nab us a Paul George or Jimmy Butler, too, which would bring us even closer to contention than Hayward. This is a title contending roster for sure:
PG: IT, Smart
SG: Bradley, ?
SF: Butler/George, Brown
PF: Horford, JJ
C: Noel, KO
So, I ultimately think the key for right now is trading for Noel and shoring up our big rotation. Not only would it greatly help us this year in getting us to a deep playoff run, but I think it would help us in the long-term, too. There doesn't seem to be a better option right now, and given how well our Brooklyn pick is looking and the flexibility we can have this summer around the draft and free agency, I think this is probably the best route to go if we're to give up on our Boogie aspirations for now. Finally, this will be the last summer for us to spend money in free agency and/or big trades for awhile with extensions and our free agents in 2018, so we need to make our moves now and into this summer.
What do you think?
Topic: It might be time to give up on the Boogie dream - what about Noel/Hayward? (Read 1445 times)