ESPN 5-on-5: Previewing the Sacramento Kings

The ESPN 5-on-5 roundtable has been rolling out individual team previews lately and today it was Kings turn to hit the circuit.  Here is a snippet.

4. Fact or Fiction: Sacramento’s pre-lockout trades were smart moves.

Joe Gerrity, Hornets 24/7: Fiction. Acquiring Hickson for Casspi was a positive move, but the rest of it seems like a loss. Salmons has an expensive long-term deal and doesn’t fit in or improve the team, they gave up the seventh overall pick, and I already gave my prediction about Jimmer.

James Ham, Cowbell Kingdom: Fact. I am in the minority here, but I like the moves. Salmons is a huge improvement at the wing and Jimmer is a very good fit with Evans and Cousins. Adding Hickson minutes before the lockout began cleared up the logjam at the wing and gave the Kings some needed athleticism. All of this and still $28 million under the cap.

Zach Harper, Daily Dime Live: Half fact, half fiction. Overall, I’m happy with the direction the team took. I think Jimmer can be a weapon in this league, and they got some needed frontcourt depth by dealing away Casspi, whom they couldn’t really figure out how to use anyway. I just don’t understand why it was necessary to bring on Salmons’ bad contract in order to draft Jimmer three spots later.

Jonathan Santiago, Cowbell Kingdom: Fact. The reacquisition of John Salmons probably makes the most impact because the Kings lacked consistency at small forward last year. Picking up Salmons improves them defensively and also adds a veteran with playoff experience to a relatively young team. Not a popular move among fans because of Salmons’ penchant for overdribbling during his last tenure, but a fair trade nonetheless.

Noam Schiller, Hardwood Paroxysm: Fiction. Trading the superfluous Omri Casspi for the potential-laden J.J. Hickson was a low-risk, high-reward move. But Beno Udrih is cheaper than John Salmons, and better by every metric available. Switching the two for the right to move down in the draft was a downright idiotic move.

You can read the rest, which includes takes on the futures of DeMarcus Cousins, Tyreke Evans and Jimmer Fredette, here. And check out the Kings video preview under the ESPN video playlist located on the right column, too.