Photo: kings.com
- Adam ParkerThis is part five of a twelve part-installment of a Beard and Stache special where we'll be breaking down the top things that each lottery team needs to accomplish this offseason in order to improve heading into the 2012-13 campaign.
We'll update the series daily with a new team in advance of our soon-to-be released Beard and Stache NBA Mock Draft.
We covered the Cleveland Cavaliers in yesterday's edition, which can be found here.
Today, we move from Cleveland to California, where we'll be talking about a team that may or may not be changing zip codes sometime in the future -- the Sacramento Kings.
1. Draft Andre Drummond
This is a very controversial pick in many eyes, I'm sure. No doubt with Drummond, the Kings will either sink or swim. I personally love Drummond to Sacramento because at 6'11" and 275 lbs., he gives them a legitimate center to pair with Demarcus Cousins in the frontcourt which would also allow Cousins to slide down to his more natural power forward position.
A Drummond/Cousins duo would no doubt give Sacramento one of the best frontcourts in the league, and everyone knows that you have to have quality bigs to win in the West. This pick would do that for the Kings as long as Drummond pans out.
2. Trim the Fat
The Kings have three undesirable contracts on their cap at the moment. Chuck Hayes is making $5.25 million per season with four years remaining, Francisco Garcia is making $5.8 million per season with three years remaining and John Salmons is raking in a ridiculous $8.5 million with four years left on his current deal.
Hayes is an extremely undersized power forward/center (he's only 6'6") who averaged just over three points and four boards per game last season coming off the bench. Garcia is an overrated and overpaid swing-man making crazy cash despite limited production of only 4.8 points and two rebounds per game. And then you have Salmons -- the kingpin of raking in top dollar on mid-level contracts. The 32-year-old shooting guard averaged 7.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and two assists in 2011-12.
Sounds to me like DeSegana Diop's agent has more clientele than we here at Beard and Stache originally thought.
Trade 'em, Amnesty 'em (limit one) or outright release 'em. We don't care. Just trim the fat and move forward with Tyreke and Demarcus as the franchise cornerstones.
3. Clean House in the Front Office
Okay, maybe that request is a tad extreme. But at the very least, fire your talent evaluators and whoever negotiates your player contracts. Anyone who thinks Salmons, Garcia and Hayes are worth the coin they're currently making is not in their right mind.
I hear Phil Jackson is skulking around looking for a front office gig...Maybe give the old Zen Master a call?
4. Keep a Shrink on Hands At All Times to Keep Demarcus Cousins In Check
The former Kentucky Wildcat is a great young player, no doubt. In fact, I'd go so far as to say he's an All-Star in the making -- as long as he keeps his head on straight.
Maybe a club psychiatrist isn't the answer. Maybe you pull a Jerry Jones and hire a few guys to be Demarcus' "friends" aka security detail that keep him from getting into trouble off the court.
Cousins has a bright future in this league if he keeps at it, Sacramento. Don't let him screw it up.
5. Decide Once and For All on Team Location
I personally think the team should stay in Sacramento, but since it appears that the Maloof family (team owners) are playing hardball with the city, it's probably safe to say the Kings will be packing up their thrones and taking them to a new town sooner or later.
My suggestion -- come to Seattle. They were basically robbed of the SuperSonics (now the Oklahoma City Thunder) just as the franchise was beginning to turn around. Even though they have the Seahawks and the Mariners, I still believe that Seattle is more of a basketball mecca than anything. Even if the Kings have to become the SuperSonics, I think it's worth it with the loyal fanbase and city they'll inherit in the long run.
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