Post by TooSmoove on Jan 28, 2011 11:46:13 GMT -5
Kings Off-Season Review
A Look Back
After a very dispointing season where the Kings who had made the playoffs every year in SSBL history finished with a league worst record of 22-60. The 2005 season was definitely a tough time for the Kings franchise and it is one the team doesn't want to repeat. There was a few bright sparks for the team, Josh Smith in his second season averaged 18PPG/7RPG aswell as making the 2005 - All-Defensive Second Team at just 21 years of age, the youngest player to achieve that in SSBL history. Also the play of rookie point guard Nate Robinson was impressive, the Kings picked Robinson with the 15th pick in the draft and many said he was a steal after he ended the season averaging 17PPG/6APG. It was a learning curve for the whole team with the likes of Amir Johnson (18) Sebastian Telfair (20) Josh Powell (22) all getting major minutes however in the long run it will be of benefit to the team.
The Draft
As mentioned before the Kings finished the season with the worst record therefore headed into the draft lottery with the biggest chance of landing the #1 overall pick in the draft. However things didn't work out that way as the Kings dropped and landed the 4th overall pick in the draft. Many were left dispointed around Sacramento and it lead to the Kings scounting network to re look at their notes and scouting reports for other possible targets. It was said that if the Kings landing the #1 pick they would of taken guard Brandon Roy out of Washington and they thought he wouldn't drop to #4. The Kings were also said to high on Rajon Rondo and had earmarked the point guard out of Kentucky as their #2 choice behind Roy.
Kings Rookie Brandon Roy
The draft night came and the Hornets who won the lottery were first to pick. Rumblings were heard that the Hornets were very high on Monta Ellis every since he declared he would be heading to SSBL and indeed the Hornets took the 19 year old guard with the #1 overall pick. Experts say that Monta will become an all star in the league and one of the best scorers down the line. The Bucks who were the big winners in the lottery having jumped from the #6 pick to #2 were after a big man after being happy with the backcourt play of Kevin Martin and T.J Ford. The Bucks would indeed go big and selected 7'0 Andrea Bargnani who many said is the best player in the class, experts liken him to Dirk Nowitzki of the Lakers in the way he can shoot the ball for a 7'0 guy. The Heat were also big winners in the lottery after the Knicks pick which was owned by the Heat took a big jump to #3. The Heat were split 50/50 on who to draft, Brandon Roy or Al Jefferson in the end the Heat went with the big man from Arkansas. So having dropped to #4 the Kings #1 target was still on the board and despite strong interest in Rajon Rondo the Kings quicked picked their man Brandon Roy with the pick.
We had a quick word with a Kings executive shortly after the Kings selected Roy. "We are over the moon to draft Brandon Roy to this franchise, he has been our #1 target all season long and having dropped to the #4 pick in the lottery everyone was a bit down but everyone's happy now. Don't get me wrong I think Monta Ellis and Andrea Bargnani are going to be top players but I feel that Brandon is the most SSBL ready now to make a massive impact. Our plan was always to start winning again as soon as possible and after drafting Brandon Roy we might be able to take that step alot quicker than we intended. He is a Franchise changer in our minds and to add him to our young core of Josh Smith, Sebastian Telfair, Nate Robinson the future is looking bright." The Kings also had a second round pick in the draft and drafted a project big man in Mouhammed Saer Sene. Saer Sene is a 20 year 7'0'' big man and has a very raw skill set, he will most likely see a year down in the development league but the Kings were happy to of picked him up.
Alonzo Mourning brings leadership
Free Agency/Training Camps
The Kings had alot of money to spend in the off-season and made serious offers the big names of Shaquille O'Neal and Jerry Stackhouse however both decided to stay at their old teams with the Celtics signing Shaq to a 7 year $138,292,652 contract and the Sonics signing Stackhouse to a 7 year $148,119,73 contract. The Kings main target was a big man, and had emarked Alonzo Mourning and Marcus Camby as potential targets. The Kings really liked Marcus Camby's game and offered him a contract but the Bulls ended up signing him to a bigger deal, let alone for just one year worth $12,487,570. Despite Alonzo Mourning being 36 years old the Kings felt he could still do a great job for the team not only on the court but off it helping with the development of youth and give them a leader to look up to. Zo liked the idea of coming to Sacramento and the Kings signed him to a one year deal worth around $14,000,000. Mourning has impressive numbers in his SSBL career averaging 18.6PPG/11.5RPG/3.2BPG over 8 years. Forwards Tayshaun Prince and Josh Powell were also re-signed both for one year deals.
Will Bynum - Pushing for a starting spot
With any young team the team wants to see the players working hard in the off-season and into training camps to improve their game. With all the team coming back for training camps last week in the lead up for pre-season we take a look to see who's improved their game and who hasn't. The team is said to be very impressed by former second round pick Will Bynum who was taking 16th in the second round in the 2005 draft. He spent last year in the SSBL development league and has come back a player looking to impress, having worked on his inside scoring, his outside shooting, handling and defense, he will be pushing Nate Robinson and Sebastian Telfair for a starting role, it will be interesting to see who will be starting come the 1st day of the season. 19 year old Amir Johnson has come back a better player also, improving mainly on his inside scoring and defense, the Kings believe Amir is loaded with potential and he is starting to live up to it. Brandon Roy is looking like rookie of the year material and will look to lead the Kings back into a playoff berth this season. 19 year old Yaroslav Korolev showed signs of improvement but may see another stint in the dleague while Mouhammed Saer Sene who is very raw will also be sent there for a season.
Trading
Potential trade rumours have been going around, mainly around center Alonzo Mourning. We believe four teams have asked about the 36 veteran but we believe that Mourning will stay in Sacramento to help lead the young Kings back into the playoffs. Also we hear that the Kings are looking for an upgrade at the Power Forward spot and possible at Point Guard. Lastly second year point guard Nate Robinson has been put on the block after the emergence of Will Bynum and Sebastian Telfair, it remains to be seen if the Kings find a taker or a deal to their liking.
A Look Back
After a very dispointing season where the Kings who had made the playoffs every year in SSBL history finished with a league worst record of 22-60. The 2005 season was definitely a tough time for the Kings franchise and it is one the team doesn't want to repeat. There was a few bright sparks for the team, Josh Smith in his second season averaged 18PPG/7RPG aswell as making the 2005 - All-Defensive Second Team at just 21 years of age, the youngest player to achieve that in SSBL history. Also the play of rookie point guard Nate Robinson was impressive, the Kings picked Robinson with the 15th pick in the draft and many said he was a steal after he ended the season averaging 17PPG/6APG. It was a learning curve for the whole team with the likes of Amir Johnson (18) Sebastian Telfair (20) Josh Powell (22) all getting major minutes however in the long run it will be of benefit to the team.
The Draft
As mentioned before the Kings finished the season with the worst record therefore headed into the draft lottery with the biggest chance of landing the #1 overall pick in the draft. However things didn't work out that way as the Kings dropped and landed the 4th overall pick in the draft. Many were left dispointed around Sacramento and it lead to the Kings scounting network to re look at their notes and scouting reports for other possible targets. It was said that if the Kings landing the #1 pick they would of taken guard Brandon Roy out of Washington and they thought he wouldn't drop to #4. The Kings were also said to high on Rajon Rondo and had earmarked the point guard out of Kentucky as their #2 choice behind Roy.
Kings Rookie Brandon Roy
The draft night came and the Hornets who won the lottery were first to pick. Rumblings were heard that the Hornets were very high on Monta Ellis every since he declared he would be heading to SSBL and indeed the Hornets took the 19 year old guard with the #1 overall pick. Experts say that Monta will become an all star in the league and one of the best scorers down the line. The Bucks who were the big winners in the lottery having jumped from the #6 pick to #2 were after a big man after being happy with the backcourt play of Kevin Martin and T.J Ford. The Bucks would indeed go big and selected 7'0 Andrea Bargnani who many said is the best player in the class, experts liken him to Dirk Nowitzki of the Lakers in the way he can shoot the ball for a 7'0 guy. The Heat were also big winners in the lottery after the Knicks pick which was owned by the Heat took a big jump to #3. The Heat were split 50/50 on who to draft, Brandon Roy or Al Jefferson in the end the Heat went with the big man from Arkansas. So having dropped to #4 the Kings #1 target was still on the board and despite strong interest in Rajon Rondo the Kings quicked picked their man Brandon Roy with the pick.
We had a quick word with a Kings executive shortly after the Kings selected Roy. "We are over the moon to draft Brandon Roy to this franchise, he has been our #1 target all season long and having dropped to the #4 pick in the lottery everyone was a bit down but everyone's happy now. Don't get me wrong I think Monta Ellis and Andrea Bargnani are going to be top players but I feel that Brandon is the most SSBL ready now to make a massive impact. Our plan was always to start winning again as soon as possible and after drafting Brandon Roy we might be able to take that step alot quicker than we intended. He is a Franchise changer in our minds and to add him to our young core of Josh Smith, Sebastian Telfair, Nate Robinson the future is looking bright." The Kings also had a second round pick in the draft and drafted a project big man in Mouhammed Saer Sene. Saer Sene is a 20 year 7'0'' big man and has a very raw skill set, he will most likely see a year down in the development league but the Kings were happy to of picked him up.
Alonzo Mourning brings leadership
Free Agency/Training Camps
The Kings had alot of money to spend in the off-season and made serious offers the big names of Shaquille O'Neal and Jerry Stackhouse however both decided to stay at their old teams with the Celtics signing Shaq to a 7 year $138,292,652 contract and the Sonics signing Stackhouse to a 7 year $148,119,73 contract. The Kings main target was a big man, and had emarked Alonzo Mourning and Marcus Camby as potential targets. The Kings really liked Marcus Camby's game and offered him a contract but the Bulls ended up signing him to a bigger deal, let alone for just one year worth $12,487,570. Despite Alonzo Mourning being 36 years old the Kings felt he could still do a great job for the team not only on the court but off it helping with the development of youth and give them a leader to look up to. Zo liked the idea of coming to Sacramento and the Kings signed him to a one year deal worth around $14,000,000. Mourning has impressive numbers in his SSBL career averaging 18.6PPG/11.5RPG/3.2BPG over 8 years. Forwards Tayshaun Prince and Josh Powell were also re-signed both for one year deals.
Will Bynum - Pushing for a starting spot
With any young team the team wants to see the players working hard in the off-season and into training camps to improve their game. With all the team coming back for training camps last week in the lead up for pre-season we take a look to see who's improved their game and who hasn't. The team is said to be very impressed by former second round pick Will Bynum who was taking 16th in the second round in the 2005 draft. He spent last year in the SSBL development league and has come back a player looking to impress, having worked on his inside scoring, his outside shooting, handling and defense, he will be pushing Nate Robinson and Sebastian Telfair for a starting role, it will be interesting to see who will be starting come the 1st day of the season. 19 year old Amir Johnson has come back a better player also, improving mainly on his inside scoring and defense, the Kings believe Amir is loaded with potential and he is starting to live up to it. Brandon Roy is looking like rookie of the year material and will look to lead the Kings back into a playoff berth this season. 19 year old Yaroslav Korolev showed signs of improvement but may see another stint in the dleague while Mouhammed Saer Sene who is very raw will also be sent there for a season.
Trading
Potential trade rumours have been going around, mainly around center Alonzo Mourning. We believe four teams have asked about the 36 veteran but we believe that Mourning will stay in Sacramento to help lead the young Kings back into the playoffs. Also we hear that the Kings are looking for an upgrade at the Power Forward spot and possible at Point Guard. Lastly second year point guard Nate Robinson has been put on the block after the emergence of Will Bynum and Sebastian Telfair, it remains to be seen if the Kings find a taker or a deal to their liking.
2000
