High Hopes for Omri Casspi in Sacramento

  Sergio is probably your starter now with the young Evans probably getting his NBA feet under him by mid season. Beno is probably untradable considering his contract and disproportionate talent level. It would take a miracle to Jettison Beno now. It is pretty obvious to all that Signing Beno to the huge contract is now seen as a big mistake. Probably another instance of MaGoof interference. We will never know, but that contract might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back and put the MaGoofs back to being owners and not GM’s. I’d like to think that Petrie didn’t want to sign Beno for that long and much. Beno’s contract was just a terrible decision in hindsight, and may have greatly contributed to the 17-65 season we just endured/witnessed.

  And on that note, it now seems that Basketball decisions are being made by basketball people now in the Kings organization. This draft and free agent pickup of Rodriguez have all the signs of quality Petrie Decisions. If Rubio had been picked, it would have been a MaGoof pick. Better initial marketing opportunities and the possibility of selling more season tickets. But if Rubio didn’t produce right away (kind of like Sergio in Portland) the fan base would have been even more angry. Evans was the best player available, the best choice available, and hopefully has a long and successful career with the Kings. Evans AND Sergio are better than Beno today. Since B-Jax will most likely retire, Sergio will more than likely start unless Evans is even better than advertised and can start day one! That would be great, but not necessarily the best move. Petrie might even go after another FA PG to shore up the position.

  And another thing. How does Mr. Beno react to this situation today? The writing on the wall is pretty stark and bold. The Organization moved boldly to replace Beno, which is evident in the moves that they made. They are pretty much pointing the finger of blame at Beno. Bottom line is that Beno got the big contract, then proceeded to have one of the worst seasons a PG can have in the NBA and not get benched. The reason he wasn’t benched is the only option was B-Jax to replace him, and even at the end of his career Bobby was better than Beno. He just don’t got no gas left in his tank. I love B-JAX, and I hope he enjoys his retirement! He has earned it.

  So how does Beno react? He pretty much has to go out and perform to the best of his ability to save face at this point. Try to earn the money he is being paid (on that note, I wonder if he backed his way up to the pay window last year and they slipped him the check that way.). Beno should be healthy now and he needs play like he did before he got the big money. The best thing for the Kings Organization would be to trade Beno at this point, but that is highly unlikely for reasons stated above.

I love all 3 of the Kings draft picks. Omri was very underrated and could be the steal of the draft. Jon Brockman is the kind of garbage player every team needs. Kinda like a Scott Pollard type that mixes it up under the basket and earns a living doing the dirty work. Setting screens, rebounding, and knocking down guards driving in for layups. The Brockman pick probably doesn’t bode well for Ike Diogu, because teams don’t normally need 2 garbage players. One could argue after a 17-65 record, there were a lot of “Garbage” type players on the Kings last year.

 Evans looks like a fantastic player. Obviously given the choice between Evans and Rubio, Petrie has spoken. That is good enough for me. I hope that Evans gets his NBA feet under him fast, because he is needed desperately. A Back Court of Evans/Martin is going to be one hell of a high scoring combo. A nightmare to guard too. Martin can score from the peremeter and Slash into the lane, and Evans excels a slashing into the lane. Hawes unclogs the lane with his outside shot, and Thompson goes in and gets rebounds and does the inside scoring. The pick and roll with Evans/Thompson or Evans/Hawes or Martin/Hawes, Martin/ Thompson is going to be a staple for this team for years to come. Put Greene or Garcia on the 3 point line for the drive and kick and you have an offense that has a lot of possibilities. Now if they can just play enough defense to not get outscored….