roster as is at 35-45. 45 is if we have few injuries, Miller is in shape, Hawes is stronger, everything goes well. I guess that 45 wins will put us 8-9 in the west. Best case a 5 game 1st round loss. 35 wins is if Martin or Beno get injured, or Artest does something bad, Miller is out of shape. Basically one of the wheels comes off. But I’m optimistic. ;p

I think this year is more about evaluating and developing the younger talent, with an eye to next offseason.

One thing I do like about this group is there are some real competitive personalities that will be on the floor most of the time. Artest, Beno, BMiller, Hawes, Cisco, Mikki – all these guys seem to have an edge to their games. Reggie’s cockiness might really translate with these guys, in a “it’s us against the world” way.

The lack of training camp for both Hawes and Udrih hurt this team last year big time in terms of maybe success initially.

I think the lack of continuity all year long will remain the most important factor in this team’s success.

The biggest factor with Beno is where his trade value ends up. If it continues to stay high 2 years from now he can be an important trade chip in improving the team in some way.

I think Petrie really wants to see what this team can do sans injuries. If the same thing happens, then they’ll start over. Miller, SAR, and Kenny all run out at the same time, which totals 27M in 2010. Simply they would be traded next year, and the Kings would make runs at some free agents the following year. If the Kings play badly this year, Artest will be traded at the deadline. If they are playing well, I think Petrie will try to make a package with Brad Miller that will get the Kings something back to make them even more competitive.

I agree with Otis that this season will probably be based more around developing the youngsters.

I think the Heat showed us all that roster stability can still throw a huge curveball at your overall success. But I also think that we are obviously in a much different situation than Miami. We have a mix of young and old players, whereas they were pretty much just old. I’m struggling to think of en example of a young team that didn’t make any drastic moves, but ended up having a much better season than the previous one. Please help me out here, because the only thing I can think of is Atlanta, but they are in the East and made a (somewhat) significant move in bringing in Bibby.

While the Blazers are primed to get better, it’s also reasonable that Golden State and Denver could suffer serious drop-off’s.

Turn the 15 million that K-9 and Shareef are getting for sitting on the bench into some actual production. Its just a sunk cost at the moment.

The way I see it, we have the following expendable pieces:

Douby
Artest or Salmons (though I think Artest is the more tradeable of the two)
K9
Shelden

Trade any combination of those guys for someone like Shaun Marion (NOT saying he’s the guy, just the first guy that popped into my head, and I don’t have time to do a lot of research right now).

We need a proven scorer and defender who can play in a Princeton offense (pass, move without the ball, etc.)
Petrie ought to be able to find a good player with a decent (and reasonably short) contract. Or you guys. Who do you want to trade for?

We have to find a way to play better and develop our chemistry and youngsters but at the same time achieving a worse record so we get a better pick. :P

Alternatively, trade the whole team for Arenas. No mediocre trade with role player will help.

Potential doesn’t win Championships.

obviously a balance is necessary. the salary cap prohibits any team from being able to play only quality veterans, yet experience is key for a deep playoff run. that is why the Rondos, Maxiels, and Vujacic…s (guys on rookie contracts that can be trusted to contribute) of the world are as important as the allstars they play with. having picks guarantees nothing, but nor does surrounding an allstar with dead weight and bad contracts.

we have a long way to go.

Kevin is the only thing close to a sure bet on the roster. Miller, Artest, K9 and Sharif are the past. If we’re serious about rebuilding none of them will be with the team by the end of next season. I like Francisco. In fact I like him a lot. But he’s a guy you want coming off the bench. We need to cut bait on Douby.

Hawes is not my idea of the kind of center we want or need on the team in terms of defensive ability and athleticism, but that’s what we’ve got for the time being.

When I squint my eyes I can see light at the end of the tunnel, but it might be the proverbial freight train bearing down on us, in the form of a 25 win season.

OK, I just decided: I’m gonna work up a (somewhat) quasi-realistic plan to get the Kings back into contention by 2010. Should be able to post it by the end of the week. If Petrie uses any of it he can vote me a playoff share. ;>)

45-47 with this current line-up – if we stay healthy and play as hard as last year.

I don’t think however that this will be the line-up. More changes coming by Feb. What changes exactly? Hell I don’t know.

A trade will happen though.

Both these guys will score 20 points a night consistently, but if they can’t stay healthy like this year the Kings will not be able to compete. We all know Artest will shut down his opponent, play hard every game and will knock some bodies around while trying to accomplish those tasks. Kevin Martin is one of the best shooter/scorers in the league and he will be the scoring leader. The question is who is going to be the Kings post presence? Artest will post up but he is not a true post player. I don’t see Brad Miller or Spencer Hawes being dominating that all the good West teams have. I think Petrie will need to make a trade or somehow acquire a solid post player, but I don’t know who that will be. I really like Mikki Moore’s energy and his athletic ability but he just does not have the offensive weapons to be a solid post player. He is a pick and roll and an alley-oop type player. He likes to play around the bucket. I think he can score 10 points a game off of offensive rebounds/dunks from a pick a roll.

I am interested to see how this season plays itself out because there is a lot of new talent in the West.