I agree on the Casspi front. I think he is going to be a special player and really needs to be on the court. Is it possible that he is getting jerked around because he got into it with Westphal earlier this season?

I also agree on KMart topic. Why not give the backcourt more time to gel? Let them get used to playing alongside each other and figuring out how to improve each other’s game. You also as a franchise do yourself no favors trading away a guy like Martin while he is slumping. That could only hurt his value (although other teams are probably still salivating to have him). Lastly I don’t think its a bad idea to let this team take some lumps and grow a little this season while also securing another lottery pick in a draft that should have some solid front-court talent (something the Kings desperately need).

I’d say the only trades worth considering involve Thomas and Noc since neither are in the long-term plans of the team and could be assets (whether it cap-relief or toughness/depth) for other teams.

You make very valid points, especially the “But Kevin also came back at the worst time for him. The Kings were playing HORRIBLE basketball when he came back and his strengths weren’t the remedy. ” They were starting to head downhill before, but it seemed as though we became less competitive and seeing more blowouts than we were previously. Maybe I am rushing to judgement, maybe I do need to give them some time to gel and KMart to learn, I just hate the W/L record with him in our lineup(fully knowing blame cannot fall on one guy) I hear they wont trade him by the deadline so I guess we have 33 games left to see.

Do you think the minutes Casspi isnt seeing may have a factor in the overall poor play? between his energy, grit, and determination i think we lose alot without him in the lineup as often. I know he went through a slump but JT’s was worse and he still got his minutes in all but a few games.

Which of our current Kings will go before the deadline, I am thinking just K9 now that Kmart wont go, but I wish we could send JT and KMart for Big Al(thats just me though haha)

Lastly, sorry I am a diehard, but the last few games there have been some huge positives out of Spencer, you think he can consistently play the way he has been or is he teasing us again?

I completely agree that winning percentage means a whole hell of a lot more than scoring does and the fact that the Kings aren’t winning with Martin in the lineup is damning. But the NBA is so weird with new players and plugging guys in. Kevin Martin is essentially a new player with this team. It’s a new system with Westphal so even though he’s been here for years, he’s behind on learning within this new system because he hasn’t played even half the games the rest of the guys have.

This team isn’t winning this year and we’ve known that pretty much all season. So I think you give him and the backcourt combo more than 20 games (or whatever it’s been) to make it work. They deserve until the end of the season at least to see what they have here. If they’re not winning games by then, you have to start wondering if Kevin Martin is the right shooting guard to put next to Tyreke Evans.

But Kevin also came back at the worst time for him. The Kings were playing HORRIBLE basketball when he came back and his strengths weren’t the remedy. The interior presence has been almost non-existent. And the contributions from the bevvy of wing players has been all over the place. Those are not things that can be fixed when you’re trying to work Martin back into the flow of things.

Eventually, it needs to turn into wins but right now, I think it’s okay to just see if they can play together.