My Attempt at an Offseason

Well, with the trade deadline over, I'm going to jump ahead a little and look at the offseason.

We could trade Spencer Hawes, Larry Hughes, Donte Green, and our 2011 1st rounder (unprotected)  to the Pacers for Brandon Rush, Troy Murphy, Travis Diener, and their 2010 1st rounder. (Link)

The Pacers get:

• A young PF/C with an outside game to team with Hibbert and Hansbrough
  
• Larry Hughes' large expiring contract to get them out of Murphy's large contract (ends after 2010-2011)
  
• A young wing player with potential to ease the loss of Rush
• Our unprotected first rounder in 2011 to compensate for losing their 1st this year

The Kings get:

• A much needed SG to split time with Francisco Garcia that can hit the 3 and play D
• A top 10 first round pick this year
• Troy Murphy who will be an expiring next year and can help a little with our young post players (not needed to play much)
• Travis Deiner (simply to make the contract numbers match)

Draft

We go into the draft with 2 picks in the middle of the top ten and take:

1. Hassan Whiteside: a 7 foot freshman center from Marshall with a 7'6" wingspan. Very athletic finsher. He has a good feel for the midrange game and can even shoot a 3 from time to time. He blocks a ridiculous amount of shots averaging 5.2 per game at the moment. His other key stats are respectable too: .539 FG%, 13.1 ppg, 8.8 rpg. He weighs about 235 according to the Marshall website, but he has room for muscle and is already a strong player. He needs more refinement move-wise in the post. A TON of potential. Here's a couple youtube clips to familiarize yourself with him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl6q49ruwS4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwmJkidSVx0

2. Paul George: a 6'8"  sophomore small forward from Fresno State. The goal of this pick is to ultimately have our #3 scoring option behind Tyreke and Whiteside. He is a very good shooter with a quick release. He shot .447 from 3 as a freshman last year and is at .372 right now (but it is a matter of a few shots). His defense has the potential to be just smothering with his length and athleticism. Right now, he's getting 2.3 steals and .8 blocks per game. Athletically, this is the guy you want on the fast break with Tyreke because he is a great finisher and can fly down the court. He's a good rebounder with 7.3 per game this year. The last piece that makes me comfortable saying he would fit in well is that he is averaging 3.1 assists per game. Some Paul George highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERcmFdlrrXY

Free Agency

We sign Dorell Wright SF/SG from Miami to replenish our depth of wing players. Dominic McGuire, Ime Udoka, Sean May, and Travis Deiner can be resigned or not depending on our needs.

2010-2011 Kings

PG-Evans

SG-Garcia

SF-George

PF-Landry

C-Thompson

Backups:

• Hassan Whiteside C
  
• Beno Udrih PG
  
• Omri Casspi SF/PF
  
• Brandon Rush SG/SF
  
• Joey Dorsey PF/C
• Dorell Wright SF/SG
• Troy Murphy PF/C
• Andres Nocioni SF
  
• Jon Brockman PF

Summary

We finish off our young nucleus in the draft. Our defense gets a perimeter defensive stopper and dominating shot blocker/rebounder. Our offense gets a possible 20 ppg center along with a very good complementary SF scorer. We space out our best players at PG-SF-C with room for good defenders and efficient players at the other positions. Thompson would eventually take over for Landry at PF when Whiteside starts and we can either let Landry play 6th man for the team, trade him, or let him go when his contract is up. Our 2010-2011 season takes us to the playoffs and we never look back!

Thoughts?