“Sactown” Mike Tavares is a loyal fan and regular poster at KingsFans.com. He is a founding member of Sacramento FANS and Crown Downtown.
Mike,
I want to tell you sincerely how much I have enjoyed our recent conversations and how much respect and appreciation I have for what you and a lot of other fans are doing in Sacramento.
Few people really understand how hard it is. You are just a fan. You don’t have a lot of power but I can tell from our conversations that you really take this responsibility seriously, just like I did when the Sonics were leaving Seattle. The weight is immense. The challenges are practically impossible but you are still throwing everything you have at it and deserve so much respect for those efforts.
I wonder whether it is appropriate for me to be talking to you. It will probably get strange if, as reported, Seattle comes into play to take the Kings from Sacramento. It seems counterproductive for me to offer you advice and most people would probably be suspicious of my motives, accusing me of hitting you up for information or misleading you to help our own cause here in Seattle. I can tell you honestly because I’ve been there that nobody really thinks the information down at our level is relevant.
The truth is that watching your efforts has brought back memories for me that makes our cities pursuit of a franchise even more complicated. I am reminded so clearly of what we went through, the maddening efforts and the frustrating inability to make a difference. Having dealt with the crushing blow of losing my own battle I want to tell you to keep your chin up. I want to remind you that having hope against adversity is what fans do.
It took years for me to really reconcile what had happened when the Sonics left. Blame, anger, sadness and regret all had their moments. I wish I could spare you all that hardship and explain to how, whatever the outcome these moments will probably be some of the greatest memories of your life. You’ll take pride in having represented your city so hard and the friendships you forge in battle will be some of your strongest ever.
Even if you lose your team I want to tell you to hang in there. Some people may think less of you for your role in the loss but the VAST majority (and all of the ones that matter) will respect you for how hard you fought the fight regardless of a disappointing outcome. If you stay in the game long enough you may even find your own Chris Hansen. A new owner who respects what you have done, values all the fans and takes the time to say the words “thank you” in a way that makes it all of your sacrifices worthwhile.
Given what is being reported all of those sentiments seem kind of inappropriate. I know that in the end there is a good chance that I will have played a role in doing to you and other great fans of Sacramento what others did to me. There is really nothing that can be said or done that will make things better. Any comments after the fact will seem condescending or cruel. The easiest and most appropriate approach is silence. Unfortunately this will give the impression that Seattle just doesn’t care.
Most of the fans I know care a lot. We are fellow members of the consumer class and we feel way more kinship with other fans than we do with the owners or the players. We have seen through the years that the fans of Sacramento are passionate and loyal. We know that reports of diminished attendance or a lack of interest are the result of a really crappy product and a terrible situation. They do not reflect in any way upon fans of the Kings.
Unfortunately the same situation that created all this empathy has also hardened us to the rules of the game. We wish we could take care of you but know that it is just a competitive environment between cities. In the NBA there is only one team that gets to win the title and 29 others are losers. In the hunt for a franchise there will always be somebody who pays the price for another markets gain.
I hope that in 2013 we can continue to be honest and respectful to each other. I’ll cheer for your efforts even if I ultimately wind up participating in your defeat. Sacramento fans will be welcome to join our Sonics family even if I expect most of them will be insulted and outraged by the offer.
Its going to be an interesting year.
Brian
Sometimes this is a basketball blog, others it serves as my diary and personal therapy session.
Lots of rumors right now.
I don’t have any confirmation on anything and this post should not be perceived as an indication that I have knowledge of some change of circumstance. I’ve been wanting to publicly say something to Kings fans for a long time. As has been reported here recently there are some deadlines in virginia beach and with the relocation deadline that are going to lead to an escalation of the gossip if nothing else.
I’ve had this written for 2 months and questioned whether it was appropriate. Recent news makes it seem that if I am not going to write it now then why bother.
Seriously, go eff yourself. You are trying to take our only team when we did nothing wrong, we stepped up to the challenge as a city and worked with the NBA to come up with an arena plan that the owners agreed to and then decided to tank, and you want us to be buddies?
You our are enemy. You have two other pro teams, but you want more. I get that you guys were screwed, but to pretend to be understanding of our situation while holding a knife in the other hand is disingenuous at best. Don’t try and reconcile the fact that you will be hated IF you take this team. And that’s a big if…You guys have no idea who you are dealing with in these current Kings owners. Every time you thing some thing is close to being done, it’s really miles away. I’ll guarantee that everything that you think might happen could spin on its head within minutes.
So I wish you nothing but horrible luck, and we will not go quietly.
Just to be clear…you do realize that you stole a team first, right?
Awkward…
well said man. i think the classiest thing for us sonic fans to do is IF we get their team, support any and all efforts for return a team named the kings to northern california. that’s certainly more than okc has done for us.
just like the rest of you, i’m trying not to get butterflies about these supposed rumors just yet, but man how it seems to be coming together is interesting… first we hear that there will be “BIG” sonic news this week, then we hear that the va beach arena is all but done, next chris daniels acknowledges on twitter that he has heard of these rumors of a sale. i didn’t think anything substantive would come until the all star break but it sure has grabbed my interest and curiosity.
… and the news of more land being ackquired in sodo. (though i realize that happened a while ago & is just public now)
can we just have the Clippers? LA doesn’t need two teams in the same stadium.
Had the CP trade never happened, that would look a lot more realistic.
Not really…the Clippers have always made money…they were never in jeopardy…
In general, fans deserve better sports ownership.
It makes a difference.
This.
+1
And I totally get SacTown Forevers comments, which is why I may have felt the need to do this once but am not going to be doing it again.
Tough, crappy situation. I expect they will fight hard and have lots of respect for them doing so.
Nothing we can say will make it better. Nothing we do will mitigate it. It just is what it is.
SacTown Forevers comments are identical to the feelings and types of comments we were all making a few years ago. As a fan you are helpless.
If the kings move here, our joy will be met by their angst. Much the same way as we were all furious at OKC fans for “stealing our team”
Best to let them express their anger and not confront them or defend the move. There’s nothing that can be said that will mend the wounds. They have every right to be angry. We have every right to be excited. Neither “side” will convince the other to feel any different.
I feel bad for the Kings fans I really do. However, it’s what happens in today’s NBA when you have bad owners. We know first hand how it plays out. I’m going to be excited if we acquire the Kings, but I will not ever lower myself to taunt Sacramento or their fans. If they hate on Seattle and their fans, so be it, I understand what it’s like to be in their shoes.
With the whirlwind of rumors going around, I’m not going to get too excited as I’m sure even if it’s all true, I’m sure we won’t hear much until after the All Star game.
Great post, Brian. As fans, IF things turn out as rumored, we need to suck it up and be big people by not getting caught up in arguments with angry Sac fans who show up on Seattle sports related sites or in the comments of related articles. They have every right to be angry, no need for us to feel the need to correct anything they say or try to vindicate ourselves.
Even more importantly, and I’m sure this temptation is there for many of you since we’ve gone through the loss of a team and feel like we understand where the Sac fans are coming from, please do NOT make any presence felt on Sac-Kings or Sacramento specific sites or forums. Let’s not try to explain ourselves there or try to be consoling or explain where we’re coming from. That won’t do any good for Kings fans, it’s really actually just a self-serving move to relieve our own guilt, and that’s just not right.
We’ll need to walk on eggshells before feet hit the hardwood. Let’s be better than OKC was to us by simply letting the fans of any team we get to grieve and vent on their own and without being antagonized.
I guess I always knew this day would come, but it still makes me sad. We are now the bad guys.
Although to be honest, I don’t think a team will be gotten until after the EIS is complete and until Stern is about to leave, based on this quote from Wojnarowski’s article from a few months back:
As one source involved in the process said, “Stern has enough time to get a team back to Seattle, but he’ll let Silver deal with the crowd [booing] on opening night.”
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba-david-stern-s-final-act-promote-the-myth-of-david-stern-25321709.html
So I don’t think it’ll happen this year. Hopefully things can still work out for Sacramento.
Steve Kelley leaving the Times:
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2013/01/steve_kelley_seattle_times_spo.php
Steve Kelley leaving the Times:
http://tinyurl.com/avej37v
i never did like Kelley as a times writer.
Some would argue we only have one pro sports team right now.
I don’t share SacTowns sentiments as I was never one to bash the fans in OKC. It was The Bennett, Howard, politicians and Stern that deserved blame. Telling ordinary fans to go #@&! yourself is childish. Whether it is us doing it OR others.
Ok so I was definitely spazzing out last night. It was late. Lots of rumors flying around.
Now that I’ve gotten some sleep and had a chance to process these rumors a little bit….
What the heck. I’m still spazzing out.
im predicting we dont hear anything til the seahawks are out of the playoffs and/or win the superbowl. this town is hawk crazy right now and its only going to get crazier when we win this weekend. if im hansen i dont want anything taking away from the sonics 2.0 announcement.
“Telling ordinary fans to go ###k themselves is childish.”
I did it. I did it all the time. Any time I encountered an OKC fan that came at me with “hey no hard feelings, eh.”
The closest I ever came to being in a bar fight was with a couple guys from OKC that I ran into in Vegas. They found out we were from Seattle and wanted to raise a glass. Nope. Wasn’t having it.
Not to say I was right, but…I don’t begrudge sactown_forever a thing. Not a thing. It sucks.
I totally understand where he’s coming from and I’m not mad at him at all.
Sacramento is a great city and people are proud to be from there. The Kings are their only pro sports team. People have gone through the the pre-Webber / Bibby years and then had that wonderful stretch where they were contenders.
The team is woven into the fabric of the city and they have every right to voice their displeasure and fight for their team. I was exactly the same way.
Bulls are giving the Heat Hell right now, good for them, I like good defense, it is entertaining basketball.
Great win for the Bulls - too bad Rose is out, I think CHI would have a chance to come out of the East of healthy.
Lakers getting off to another slow start against the Clipps. I’m really enjoying LAL struggling, though I doubt they won’t end up making the playoffs in the end.
What’s going on now?
attle SuperSonics@BringBackSonics
Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson will make a special announcement next Saturday when the Heat play the Kings. New deal or a thankful goodbye?
Reading on twitter comments on this one says it can’t be good for seattle.
Interesting comment from KJ. You would think it would have to be Kings related.
That said, I doubt it would be something negative (from their perspective).
This thread just all the more reminds me that New Orleans doesn’t need an NBA team. Sacramento AND Seattle could and should both be part of a 30 team NBA.
It’s never too late to do the right thing Mr. Benson……
I’m kinda puzzled why would KJ wait to announce something?
Whaddup guys!!! It’s been awhile I hope all is well as everyone had an awesome New Year and here’s to an AMAZING 2013!
I’ve been gone a little while, a bit busy. Please fill me in on the Kings rumors, Virginia Beach and the latest!
Thank you!!
Its gotta be them figuring out an arena deal. Damn…..
And i doubt the Kings would be Hansen’s only option though.
just seems like it would be REALLY uncool of him to put something like that out there unless it was good for the sac fans. i agree that mayors don’t announce team sales. i think we can rule that out. the only “special announcement” i can think of that would be worth holding kings fans (and unfortunately sonics fans) hostage for would be a major step in reopening negotiations with the maloofs on an arena solution down there…
What if the Maloofs were “negotiating” with KJ in order to drive up the price on Chris since their VB deal seems to be sinking? It’d be a scummy thing to do, but that’s the type of thing I could see the Maloofs doing in order to drive up the price since all their bargaining chips are gone now.
What are the odds they are using KJ?
Weird. Don’t know what to make of it. Fluid situation apparently. I should point out that KJ’s tweet doesn’t specifically say his announcement will be next Saturday. He says to stay tuned.
Chris Daniels@ChrisDaniels5
RT @kj_mayorjohnson: looking forward to @KingJames @MiamiHEAT coming to sac to play @NBAKings next sat! stay tuned for special announcement
A
Good point Paul Rogers. Mayor Johnson’s actual Tweet doesn’t nescessarilly say the announcement will be at the game. If it was at the game I think it would be a more significant announcement.
From the wording, it could be at the game or it could be any time between now and then. That doesn’t mean it won’t be significant. He was a tenacious player and is a tenacious mayor. Sacramento fans are fortunate to have a mayor like him on their side. If he goes down, he will go down swinging.
At this point, I honestly don’t know what to think.
the special announcement could be a jersey retirement at the game or something… but that’s not something the mayor would announce. the kings would.
If this is supposedly a new arena negotiations with maloofs i don’t see how it would be better than what there was before.
Unless this is another play by the maloofs in trying to get leverage on hansen to increase the cost of the team?
So is VB alive still or dead?
See the thread below this one.
Still riding the roller coaster baby!!!
“Special announcement” can be anything, no rumors point to a deal between Maloofs and Sacramento
Are the A’s moving to Sactown?
Hawks staying in same hotel as the 79 Sonics…
http://sportspressnw.com/2013/01/thiel-good-health-maybe-some-luck-for-seahawks/
From a SacTown guy…
Carmichael Dave@CarmichaelDave
Hey tweeps: as much as I’d love to hear anything arena out of the mayor, pretty sure he wouldn’t bury it as a “special announcement” tweet.
Well then what the heck could a “special announcement” be?
Man. Who knows? I don’t think Carmichael Dave does. I KNOW I don’t.
One thing I do know is that, through the day we heard of Chris Hansen to the day we finally get a team in whatever fashion it happens, suspense has and will abound.
Man, I’d feel really bad for Sac fans if the special announcement is nothing substantive. Talk about leading an audience. I have to believe whatever it is, it’s bad news for hopes for the Kings in Seattle. He’s definitely not going to have anything to spin like “the Kings are leaving but we’re getting a replacement franchise” obviously as expansion will be tough and Sac would be a tough sell to existing owners.
It has to be bad news for us or either the least politically savvy move by a pretty politically savvy mayor I’ve seen in a long time. Imagine Nickels having a special announcement at a later Sonics game to let us know that Clay Bennett was going to fund a nice new water fountain.
I do not believe for a second that KJ would leak news about team ownership via twitter that way. Way more likely it is a marketing thing.
Thats not how franchise changes get announced people.
the way he referenced that specific game and a “special announcement” leads me to believe theyre gonna give away tickets or something. everyone just take it easy.
Remember Mayor Nickels “special announcement” was that he took Clay’s money and let the team walk! He called it a “win-win” and said now we have a chance to get a team back cuz the NBA likes us now! Just sayin…..
Maybe everyone at the game gets free power bracelets?
Kieran I have to ask. Did someone give you that avatar as a practical joke?
Or did you lose a bet?
Or did you trip over something while trying to select something else?
I’m going to say that he lost a bet.
He’s a Chiefs fan. I’m glad Andy Reid went there, and not Arizona.
LOL!!! Nah, been a KC fan since I was little buddy. My uncle played LB there for 4 seasons.
Ok. You’re excused. Lol.
What was uncle’s name?
After seeing the tweet, it reminded me of when we were in this part of the process. I feel bad for SacFans as you look for any bit of good news, even if its a coy tweet. The worst thing KJ can do, is be to coy with tweets. Fans are looking for anything…something.
I agree with Brian - it would be extremely strange for KJ to leak such major news via a cryptic tweet. Given the reference to LeBron and the Heat, my best guess would be that LeBron is going to do some kind of public appearance in Sacramento while he’s in town (visiting a hospital, school, etc). Then again, nothing about the Sacramento situation makes sense, so who knows.
It definitely feels like something is brewing. The VA Beach deal falls apart, KJ tweets about a special announcement, and Softy strongly hints that Sonics news is coming soon…perhaps there will be a dual announcement that Sac found a local buyer (Burkle) and Seattle is getting an expansion team. Best case scenario.
I’ve read on SacTownRoyalty and Kingsfans.com KJ could be making an announcement about their new soccer team..but some think it has nothing to do with that since KJ specifically brings up the Kings and Heat game. They sound about as confused as we are.
jen, i’m looking through those comments too jen and while they seem confused they also think, given the context, it has to be something about a kings solution in sacramento. many of them are assuming this is regarding burkle stepping in and helping find a solution down there.
this is really irresponsible and weird that he’d float something like this out there. IF it is related to the kings staying in sacramento, unless papers have been signed, i wouldn’t spill ANY info yet. we all know how things can change with the maloofs…
But the rapper’s latest move may be his biggest. He wants to run for Seattle mayor, telling MyNorthwest, “It’s time to fight for the city and stand up for the people.”
When is this going to happen? The year 2025, says Macklemore, when he figures he’ll be finishing up his music career.
Would you vote for him? Of course, a lot will change in 12 years; maybe instead of voting, we’ll just be “liking” our favorite candidate on Facebook. For fun, let’s see how Macklemore, whose mayoral announcement got more than 20,000 FB likes this week, would do if he ran today:
Vote in the PI poll, do it now.
http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/2013/01/04/macklemore-im-running-for-seattle-mayor/
http://www.facebook.com/Haggerty2025
“Politics is the new hip-hop.”
Ben Haggerty’s campaign for Seattle Mayor of 2025.
MY CITY’S FILTHY!
https://twitter.com/Macklemore2025
#Haggerty2025 #Mack4Mayor #SharkFaceGang
I think I may need to take a break from this site. All this Twitter gossip and parsing is driving me nuts.
@Paul & Kevin, I’ve been a Chiefs fan since I was a kid. My uncle played for them from 82-85. I still follow the Hawks, but the Chiefs were my first love.
This just in Sonics fans. Kevin Johnson’s mysterious tweet last night reported by Tom Ziller of the Sac Bee to be a guest appearance by Lebron James at a local hospital…
beat me too it Brian.
well apparently according to sactownroyalty the suppose KJ special announcement is nothing more than Leborn James speaking at a fundraiser. I take that as poor form by KJ himself.
Here is KJ’s “special announcement”. King James will take part in fundraiser. Way to unintentionally jerk your fans around KJ.
http://www.sactownroyalty.com/2013/1/5/3840346/the-special-announcement-lebron-james-to-speak-at-kj-fundraiser
if it was not related to the arena or the team at least he should at lease made a note of that it wasn’t gonna be about the team.
wow KJ kinda playing with emotions there. im sure it was unintentional but hes gotta be a little more careful with comments like that. people are going to speculate hard on anything remotely kings related as long as the situation is what it currently is.
oh.. i’d be a little pissed if i were a sac fan right about now…
Anyone know the status of the Virginia Beach situation? I’ve been quite busy the last couple months and have been absent from my usual daily contributions from SonicsCentral. I haven’t been able to keep up with it. I’ve read somethings about a Monday deadline and rumors of Ballmer already buying the Kings and an announcement to be made in a couple weeks.
Anyone?
that’s pretty much what i’ve heard too. mayor of va beach saying that if there’s no lease signed by monday the deal is dead. how they are supposed to sign a lease without the nba b.o.g. approving a move is beyond me. not sure how solid these ballmer rumors are.
I definitely think the VB thing is all but dead. I lean toward believing the rumors that the Hansen group (including Ballmer) has bought the Kings already or is VERY close to a deal.
The reason I think that is that Softy seems to have some kind of inside knowledge and has not only not disputed the rumor, but has coyly winked at it. Read Softy’s tweets the last few days.
My gut tells me that the Kings come here next year and that VB caught wind of this and issued the ultimatum. Any time you air your case in public like the VB mayor did, it is likely because things aren’t going well behind closed doors.
Furthermore, Chris Daniels was asked on Twitter if he had heard about the rumors. He answered yes. He was then asked if he could confirm or deny or some such. He let the crickets answer that one.
At the least, this make me think Daniels thinks there could very well be some truth to it. Daniels would’ve poo pooed it if he could.
yea that drew my suspensions that something in the works if it can’t be confirmed or denied.
I’m not guaranteeing this. I could be wrong. But I strongly suspect that a deal is in the works or done.
as suspected, the KJ announcement was nothing.
Something tells me that this is already a done deal, at least in principal. They’ve probably agreed on terms and need to get final league buy off and all the legal stuff taken care of.
We probably won’t hear anything but rumors until the Seahawks have won the super bowl.
So apparently the Kings are on the verge of pulling off a three-way trade with LAL and Boston.
Celts In:
Cousins (From SAC)
Garcia (From SAC)
Lakers In:
Thorton (From SAC)
Hayes (From SAC)
Robinson (From SAC)
Brooks (From SAC)
Kings In:
Gasol (From LAL)
Bradley (From BOS)
Terry (From BOS)
Sullinger (From BOS)
2 Firsts from Boston
Not sure why the Kings would want to do this. Maloofs or new owners.
FWIW, the above trade checks out.
It definitely doesn’t improve Sac IMO, but maybe that’s the plan. Tank for a couple years while all the big contracts come off the books.
who knows.
Good lord. I hope when we do get the kings Hansen will fire the GM.
i should say IF.
Maybe the plan is to screw seattle with a even more pathetic team?
It kinda smells like the same cycle that we went through with the sonics. trade away what little tallent there is. Make the team as bad as possible. collect draft picks.
I haven’t seen this. I don’t love it. but its not terrible.
It depends on whether you think Robinson is a bust and how bad Cousins attitude is. I can tell you that Chris Hansen isn’t going to put up with the crap that DeMarcus Cousins has been doing.
If you get Gasol 2 picks that is some value. The big pickup is that instead of having a guy (Cousins) who you have to suck with for the next year and then pick up for big money later you get new picks and a guy (gasol) who comes off later, hopefully allowing the big free agent hit.
The very worst situation possible for the kings would be to have to lock up Cousins and Reke to big deals and then suck for 5 years with them.
If you truly believe Cousins is a knucklehead then those two Boston picks could wind up being decent. They give a lot of their pieces in this.
oh i agree definitely agree we don’t need players with attitude issues.
on paper, the kings are losing a lot of offensive production. I suspect that Cousins is in fact that big of a knuckle head so it would probably be some addition by subtraction.
Terry isn’t going to give you a whole lot and who knows what Gasol has left in the tank. Having those two as centerpieces of your team for a couple years would be pretty rough to watch IMO, but if it meant 2-3 years of multiple first round picks, it might be worth it.
Of course this all depends on the Kings having a GM that’s worth a damn making the picks.
“The very worst situation possible for the kings would be to have to lock up Cousins and Reke to big deals and then suck for 5 years with them.”
That’s just it, and the deal makes sense for them.
IMO, Cousins + KG = complete meltdown
Sorry, but, nothing about what’s left of KG is going to rub off on Cousins the right way.
If this trade is true I’m will be more convinced that Hansen is calling the shots behind the scenes. This is a blow up and rebuild trade! The team would arrive in Seattle in rough shape but it would be prime for a fresh start under Hansen with some high picks!
Let me just say that I’m convinced that the Kings are coming here, unless something goes very wrong.
Let me further say that, because of this, I think that trade would be terrific. Blow it up. Secure a higher lottery pick this year. Bring in two extra first round picks. Flush the bad contracts. Hire a quality GM to engineer a new team.
Lets assume the team moved this summer.
Cousins and Tyreke, with Cousins reward for success being a max contract would be a hard group to root for. Lets face it. We’ve had enough attitude and crap. Big men who have tons of talent but not great heads.
My concern would be that there is no way to have success before you pay them. No way I would feel really great about paying them before success.
I think that Jason Terry would be a totally fine mentor for Tyreke Evans. A team anchored by this years draft pick with Gasol, Evans, and Terry as the core behind him would be a lot easier to root for knowing that as that guy grew the salary would fall off and the team would be positioned for a big acquisition. I could get behind that. I could root for it, knowing they were classy, competitive players that were an incubator situation for the young kids. In all likelihood Gasol could be moved if you wanted to move him.
I actually like the move more after thinking about it.
I found this supposed trade being discussed on the Dallas Mavericks board I follow. (there’s been talk that Cousins might go to the Mavs)
Digging deeper the source of the rumor comes from the “official” dwight howard facebook page. I’m skeptical now. It’s being discussed on numerous forums around the nba, but I classify this as a rumor in the loosest definition of the word.
I don’t see this trade reported or talked about anywhere. Fun to talk about though.
Boston would be taking a huge risk. Losing a lot of its bench and picks on the hope that Cousins is a real talent.
The part that does not make sense is the Lakers only give up Gasoline but get a lot back! Gasoline is good but not that good!
*Gasol damn spell check
apparently this is the “source”
https://www.facebook.com/D12LakersWWLG4L
likely nothing to it, but you’re right, it’s fun to talk about.
When the kings trade Cousins this is probably the type of deal they will get. Would be kinda fun to have Terry return to Seattle. There were always rumors every year that the sonics were going to sign or trade for him.
I’m not sure what is harder to watch, the never ending Packers game or OJ Mayo playing defense.
In my dreams, Cousins comes to Seattle with the Kings and reinvents himself as a Sonic. His talent is real. He simply must loose the knucklehead act. I hope they trade Tyreke. I used to like him but his game is stagnant and his jumper remains weak. I say trade him for picks or someone who can actually be a quality SF. So far, Thomas Robinson looks like a bum pick, especially just ahead of Damian Lillard. Can you imagine Cousins and Lillard?
At this point I think the trade rumor is bogus! Time will tell
wouldn’t it be good to not announce any team acquisition until after the court case from the port union is settled? I know it’s highly doubtful the lawsuit could stop the arena, but you don’t want to give them any ammo right before the case.
Peter,
What does having to buy a team have to do with the lawsuit? It doesn’t.
It would be a stupid argument for the union to be making that cause Hansen acquired a team that he is violating environmental laws. The court has no authority over rather or not Hansen and his group can buy a team or not.
As i said before what legal ruling can the judge actually make to stop this project from happening. He can’t regardless if he rules for or against. The EIS will get done the city/county will have another vote to move forward.
I don’t think the NBA/hansen/maloofs are able to keep this possible announcement quiet. If we want the team by next season they have to announce it approve it and file for relocation by march.
When Gary Payton was traded in 2003, Dave Grosby predicted a “dark decade” for Sonics fans. Boy was he correct, though not directly related to that trade.
Well it is now a decade later and I fully believe that the darkness is about to end for us. I am convinced there will be Sonics basketball at Key Arena NEXT SEASON.
it just seems like resolving the ILWU suit is the very last hurdle, if in fact they have a deal for the kings.
Hmmm…..I think it’s a bit premature talking about possible trades for a team when we don’t know if they’ll come to Seattle or not.
Anyways, I think that trade wouldn’t great but not bad as well.
You could certainly trade Gasol to some other team(Rockets) for younger pieces/picks and having Terry + Bradley playing in Seattle would be nice as they’re locals.
Still, I think the best thing the Kings could do with Cousins is to wait till the draft, if they want to trade him.
You could then flip him for a top 3 pick(I think some team would bite) and get a guy like Noel, Zeller or Shabazz with that pick.
Though the guy that needs to be traded on that team ins Tyreke Evans, who’ll become a RFA this summer and has regressed during his time in the league as he can’t seem to add a solid jumper.
Other then that, I think no one on that team should be untouchable, as it’s a mess and poorly constructed with a group of misfits, that just don’t resemble a team at all.
Having said that, Geoff Petrie should’ve been fired years ago as he’s just doing a horrible job, if he’s the guy that was allowed to build that team.
BTW: Happy new year from Germany. Let’s hope that this is the year we finally find out when the Sonics are coming back.
Agreed, also, if $500 mil is the going rate, the Kings would not be the only franchise that could end up here.
Anybody want to do the Bobcats math and tell me it’s more, and that they couldn’t end up her in 2015?
Pacers, 2015?
Bucks?
That a problem with the Magoofs throwing out a giant number, suddenly the pool gets a little bigger and they look less attractive because they are knucklehead owners likely to flake out on any deal.
But to be fare, any trade should be subject to discussion, just not as if it were our team.
As an unbiased party cause the kings arent my team i love this trade for sacto. Get rid of cousins, a total knucklehead, pick up some picks to help re re re build. Get a few guys who have value and could be swapped for more picks or younger players to contenders who would want them for veteran depth. I like it alot.