it will only be felt 70% of the time, based on the 25 games that Ron missed last year.

you gotta believe that this team without Ron will get the chance to have training camp together and finally gel with each other in the locker room. I like our chances with a young core and a positive veteran leader in Bobby Jackson.

but then again our 23 isnt quite up to the level of their 23.

what is wrong with being worse next season?
That’s why I love this trade so much (wouldn’t mind to see Brad go, too) – it finally puts us in a full rebuilding mode instead of trying to quick-fix stuff and get to the playoffs which, given the current state of western conference, is doubtful anyway. It also gives us two of the three things that rebuilding teams look for in trades – draft pick and a prospect (third being cap space of course).
Thing is, we need another star player, and in my opinion we have the best chance of getting one via the draft (hi brandon, hi ricky!).

Seriously guys… the vast majority of the rookies play 5-20 minutes. On our roster we already have Brad Miller, Mikki Moore, Cisco and Salmons in front of Thompson, Donte (and Hawes). Is there any realistic chance any of them could get 30 minutes and take a lot of shots? I seriously doubt it. It’s very rare and it only happens in the last couple of months in the season or earlier for really hyped up top drafted rookies.

If Theus attempts something that revolutionary and play for instance Hawes in front of Miller and decrease Moore’s minutes to 20, it would be totally unexpected. Do you really see that happening? I hope so but I can’t believe it.

The most realistic scenario would be….

- Hawes… 15-20 minutes if Brad won’t get injured.
- Thompson… 5-10 minutes depending on his battle with Shelden and Donte maybe.
- Donte… 5-10 minutes.. I guess we’ll see if he can also play the 3.
- Shelden… DNP-10 mins.

What do you think?

Pretty much the whole point, I think. We are in rebuilding mode, which is where we’ve needed to admit to being for a couple of years. The Kings aren’t one big signing away from being contenders, and no amount of trading can make them one, either.

I wouldn’t crap on Ron Artest, because when he was on the court, he gave 100% every second, unlike Bibby, who seems to hate playing a game for a living. I’d say the same thing about Miller up until last season when he seemed to really find his joy for the game (and apparently, “special” brownies) again. I’ll always have respect for Artest that way. The man worked.

That being said, the Kings are better off with him gone, not in terms of wins in ‘08-’09, but for subsequent seasons. If the youngsters can get enough minutes to find their games, we may be in position to become contenders when cap space is freed up in two years. Sacramento could be a desirable place for a top-tier free agent, especially if we can show that we have a fantastic core of young players surrounding Kevin Martin.

Let them play, Reggie. Why you sat Douby to give minutes to Anthony Johnson last season will always be a mystery to me…

I feel like the Kings don’t need him. They already have K-Mart at the 2 who won’t be giving up his starting position anytime soon, they have Cisco to be a reliable 2-3 backup, and Douby hasn’t shown any ability to play point. I don’t see a spot for him of 10-20 minutes a game on this team, and he really hasn’t shown he deserves that type of minutes anyways.

The Kings will miss Ron’s contributions on the court. I think the Bee guy was pretty spot on.

Some of Z’s comments were pretty humorous. I’d hope the point guards and Brad Miller, one of the best passing big men in the game, would have a higher assist rate than Artest.

I’ll pass on dissecting the rest of the crapfest, but I will say I also like the contributions of a lot of new posters on this thread. I hope you folks stick around; we could use some more diverse opinions around here.

had more assists per 48 than Artest last season?

I don’t know the answer, and I may not like it, but I think it’s worth raising here as part of the discussion.

are guard-forwards to be charitable. A few of those guys also can’t shoot very well or have more shooters to pass the ball to, so I hope they are giving the rock up.

So Artest was 19th of out of how many?

• 30 teams in the NBA.
• 12 active players on each team.
• 360 active players in the league (stop me if I am going too fast).
• 360 / 5 positions = 72 smnall forwards, more or less.
• 19/72 = .26.

Ooops, you’re right. He wasn’t top 30-35%, he was probably top 25-30%.

Plus you acknowledge your list includes guards, so he probably moves up to top 15.

Just run the whole list, not the chopped off version.