May 2, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors power forward
Carl Landry(7) celebrates after a basket against the Denver Nuggets during the third quarter of game six of the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Nuggets 92-88. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Oh my god! The Sacramento Kings brought back Carl Landry – what are they thinking!?!?!? LOOK AT HOW MANY POWER FORWARDS THE KINGS HAVE.
Needless to say, there’s a good chance that the uniformed national media will be pretty harsh on the Kings for signing Carl Landry to a four year, $26 million dollar deal this afternoon but they shouldn’t be. The Kings are building themselves a solid team – key word, building.
During the past few seasons, the Kings have been notoriously inefficient. Literally, horrible. Their roster was primarily built upon clones of ball pounding, sub-par passing, unintelligent players. That’s not really a diss to any particular player or players, but the Kings simply weren’t a smart or efficient group. They still have some of those players and they might be forced to go into the season with them on the roster, which while not the preferred situation might become the reality. That’s fine, because as I said, the Kings are building. It’s going to take a while.
Head coach Michael Malone worked quite often with Carl Landry last season during their time in Golden State. He knows how to properly utilize the former Purdue talent. When put into the proper scenario, Landry is an extremely talented forward. Like many players, when a scenario or role doesn’t fit, he can struggle but when put in a scenario where he can thrive, he’s a high quality talent. The guy put up a 6.2 win share last year and outside of a poor season in New Orleans on a woeful team, has always had a relatively high win share. That shouldn’t be taken lightly. Landry adds high quality value to any team he’s been a member of and seemingly is at his best when the team is at their best.
To put that into perspective, DeMarcus Cousins and Tyreke Evans were tied atop the Kings win share list at 4.4.
Landry is a guy that puts the ball in the basket and does so at an efficient clip. Only once has Landry ever shot below 50%, his last season in Sacramento and even then he was at 49%.
Is he undersized? Sure. So is Paul Millsap of the Atlanta Hawks, who media folks are praising for signing to a two year, $19 million dollar deal. The Kings nabbed Landry for $6.5 a year. That’s just over the mid-level exception for a guy with a career average of 17.4 points a game and nearly 8 rebounds from a per 36 minutes standpoint.
It’s become clear that the Sacramento Kings are building a team around efficiency. They pending acquisition of Greivis Vasquez was the first domino to fall in that building block. Now it’s Landry.
The Kings want smart players. The Kings want players who value the ball. The Kings want players who shoot efficiently. They’re getting them.
It’s not a splashy addition, but it is a smart addition.
As for what it means to Patrick Patterson, Chuck Hayes and/or Jason Thompson? Yeah, somebody at some point is going to be moved – it’s inevitable. But that’s part of rebuilding. It’s a process. But the end result will be well worth the wait.