What the hell is Paul Westphal is doing starting that tub of lard Sean May over Hawes in the preseason?

Hawes is set for a big year, unless his coach competely screws things up like he has done the last 2 games.

As an owner of Hawes, I am not liking this at all.

i'm hoping Westphal is just seeing what he has in May... that tub of guts will be injured eventually, though, so as a Hawes owner i'm not worried in the long run.

Definitely, he's just seeing what May has. May is very talented but doesn't care about his career so he'll keep chocking up them burgers and sodas. Don't worry about it.

its pre season, why is everyone so worried???

because Hawes is officially coming off the bench now according to the NBA front page.

I drafted Hawes because he fell pretty far, but after this I am testing the trade market and it is not looking good.

As a Jason Thompson owner, I couldn't be happier

Rotoworld has news saying that Kings coach gonna bring Hawes off the bench cause the bench is too small.

Ditto! But Thompson can clearly co-exist with Hawes. I honestly don't think this will last with Hawes. But you just don't know until week 1.

this is great news for Jason Thompson owners. he's gonna be huge this year.
And i knew he would be. that's why i was very surprised he slipped so low in our rotoworld draft.
it was the 10th round before someone picked him. I would've picked him myself(and i had been picking him in every mock draft prior to), but i didn't need him on my team.

Nocioni gonna benefit at all from this? It is sad to seem him as a reserve and getting so few minutes.

I don't really think Jason Thompson is going to be huge this year. He'll improve for sure, but huge? I think the guy is a good player but not star or superstar material. I think he's limited in his upside. Tenth round is very good value though, I do agree. In regards to Hawes coming off the bench. The coach is a hot head and he may be sending a message for Hawes especially for skipping summer league. At the same time, May when he has played in the NBA has actually looked very solid. The problem is staying healthy for May but he's not really a center but a power forward. For Hawes, playing on the second unit gives him more touches than starting with KMart and Thompson. Being on the second unit doesn't necessarily mean the minutes are going to be way down or down at all.

Hawes is bigger, younger, and flat out better than Sean May. It is very unlikely Sean May plays more mins that Spencer Hawes outside of an injury regardless of if May starts or not. Hawes is just far too talented. Hawes played huge last April and March, if he can continue to build off of that as well as get 36+ a game 15/10 is not out of the question this year for him.

I agree with most of that except the 15/10 part. 10 boards a game on avg is very very difficult to do. I don't think Hawes has that type of talent because of how much time he spends outside the lane. I think he could very easily average 7 boards a game like he did last season or maybe even 8, but 10 would be a ridiculous jump in boards. He's talented absolutely, but I am not giving him that line yet.

Well he averaged 8.5 rebounds a game Post All-Star in 33:42 mins per game at the age of 21. I am just assuming growth in his all around game. I mean the guy is 7'1". Also he's a 3rd year in the league guy that is usually a big growth year for young players as well.

If he doesn't reach 10 boards he will be right around there. I couldn't imagine him averaging less than 9 a game if he gets at least 33 mins a game.

MotherF'er clocked in a 20 pt / 20 reb game recently.
granted it's preseason, but even by preseason standards that is huge.
and with news that Hawes is coming off the bench, it means even more possibility for JT to put up similar ridiculous stats such as this.
Sac-town is billing him as the new Chris Webber.

May has always shown he has the talent to put up very solid numbers given the minutes. Luckily as a Hawes owner, the more minutes they give May, the faster he will break down.

Another good thing is that May is almost universally available. At least he is in all my deep leagues. A cheap handcuff just in case the Hawes situation gets truly screwy.

Still, we should know early on where this situation is headed. My only fear is that May's stays healthy and has strong games the keeps him on the floor and Hawes off it.

See, it's items like this one that get to me. You can have a preseason 20-20 game (against the GSW, just sayin'), and suddenly you are mentioned in the same sentence as Chris Webber. With much respect to you, and to JT, Chris Webber had more and better moves in high school than JT has now.

I'd just like to add that after reading my comments, it almost sounds like I'm wishing an injury on May. That's not that case. He's had career threatening injuries already, and at just 25, hopefully he can get back on track and continue his path to what was once a promising career. However, with his questionable conditioning, lackluster defense, I doubt May is ever going to be much more than above average, even when healthy, but he was once billed as a future double-double machine and can certainly grab rebounds and score around the rim. While I'm certainly hoping Hawes fullfills all his potential this season, at the very least I hope he can coexist along with Thompson and May, while having a fine season himself.

It's preseason. There are always people putting up big numbers in preseason getting extra minutes and going against guys who aren't going to make the cut. If Sacramento is billing him as the next Chris Webber somebody better check the Kool Aid. I'm giving Thompson his due, but he ain't all that. He's a nice solid player but with limited upside. Chris Webber had some of the best hands ever in basketball and was way more athletic, and caused problems on both sides of the court for the opposing teams. One of the better passing big men in the game of his days. I don't remember Thompson blocking or stealing much or dishing. Again it's preseason. When teams play their starters for heavy minutes against teams playing people not going to make the NBA then stats are going to get inflated.

Back to Hawes coming off the bench, we'll have to see. I think the coach is trying to show he's the boss and send the message most likely. It's a long season. He'll most likely get run out if he doesn't play Hawes.

I love J. Thompson and Hawes this year.

When has May ever been a factor?

Personally, I don't care if May starts. I seriously doubt if his conditioning will allow him to play more than 20mins a game. Majority of minutes will still go to Hawes.

When has Sean May ever played over 20 minutes a game. Honestly it doesn't matter who starts. Its all about the minutes and Hawes will play 25-30 minutes guaranteed. Don't worry about this guy. He's going to play and put up a nice season and fit in well with the new up tempo system.

Does anyone know why they would start May? I don't think May is good at all. Hawes was really playing well by the end of the season.

Hawes had 2 points in 14 minutes tonight. Yuck.

he makes me want to vomit

And tonight he had 22 and 10 off the bench


Much better.

Surely only a matter if time before that idiot Paul Westphal puts him in the starting lineup.

SO MUCH BETTER.

p.s. thanks for calling Westphal an idiot....because he is.

Traded him straight up for Tyreke a couple days ago. Two 20/10 games later and it looks like I made the right choice.

Sean May's days as a starter are limited I think, if not over...

his line tonight has been filthy. 20/10/5+ with 50% shooting and blocks is greatness.

Yeah, loving the assists he can give me from the C position.

Speaking of this game there are some incredible lines:
Gasol: 16/16/3/1/2/
Randolph: 30/16/1/1
Gay: 21/12/1/2/1
Mayo: 20/4/5/2

Kmart: 45/5/4/4/1/ 7 threes
Hawes: 21/11/7/2
Casspi: 15/4/1/2/2/3 threes

21, 11, 7 and 2 tonight!!

I knew this guy was a steal.

Giddy up.

that is impressive. who'd've thunk it?

The kid is the best young and up and coming talent on the team most likely. Westphal won't have a choice but to play him whether he's starting or not. He's got to get his minutes.

The team was +15 with Hawes in and -11 with Mays in. Mays was only in for 9 mins! In the 9 mins Mays was in the team outscored Sacramento by 11 points.

Hawes should be in the next game's starting lineup. 18/10 1 block 1 steal a game here we come!

Not to mention the much appreciated contribution in assists and treys from the PF/C position. I can definitely see Hawes returning third-round value this year.

I would be extremely happy if he continued to put up double doubles.

Even Westphal can not deny the greatness of Spencer any longer.

Hawes is going to be in the starting lineup tonight according to Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee.

About time he is in starting lineup. Sean May is terrible and it made no sense whatsoever why he was starting.

I am assuming it was to motivate Hawes?? To let him know that there is someone capable of playing right behind him (even though there isn't).

Not buying it. Ff this was true, why would Kings have also started Desmond Mason over someone like Casspi who doesn't need any motivation? Casspi hustles after every ball on every play and has actually been pretty productive. Unlike Mason.

Maybe the coach realized that Hawes was lackadaisical and unmotivated in training camp/preseason and needed to motivate him somehow.

For Casspi, maybe they like him coming in to bring energy and scoring off the bench?
Someone earlier said Nocioni is starting tonight, maybe they like Casspi in that role. Many teams have that player.

Even if it was the case, I think its pretty ridiculous. Hawes is one of Kings better players and to start a guy who doesn't do anything well instead of Hawes, is pretty stupid.

Re Casspi: That makes sense, but then why were they starting Mason over Nocioni?

Hahaha who knows, maybe they felt like they wanted more athleticism on the wing to guard the premier wing players of the league. Then they realized he sucks...

Haha only a select few people in the world know what's happening in the locker room of the Kings, no one on here knows whats going on with them.

Hawes was on the bench because the second unit had some serious size issues if he starts.

Hawes was still playing 30+, so he still needed to use his time whether it was off the bench or starting.

Westphal's original idea of having Nocioni and Hawes come off the bench was to not be undersized. Now their bigs off the bench will be May, Kenny Thomas, Jon Brockman, and Omri Casspi to cover the 3-4-5 positions. ALL 4 of those guys can be considered undersized for those positions and it could be a potential nightmare trying to cover against bigger second units.

May and Mason weren't getting the job done, so I credit Westphal for pulling the plug early on that, but I can totally understand not wanting his second unit to be so undersized. There is no true center in that bunch.

I think it also creates some issues for the starting unit. While Hawes, Thompson, and Nocioni are more talented and bigger, I wouldn't classify them as the most athletic. They are going to get torn up by athletic bigs that run and are mobile like tonight against the Hawks when Al Horford, Josh Smith, and Marvin Williams are ALL more athletic than their counterparts. Can you imagine Jason Thompson or Spencer Hawes trying to say with Josh Smith? It's not going to happen, but that is the matchup tonight. Then, when you go to the bench, Zaza and Joe Smith are way bigger than the 6-7 Brockman or 6-9 May.

I expect Sac to go small now when they go to the bench. Casspi and Udrih will be brought in to push the tempo more and they will likely try to outrun teams with the second unit because they won't be able to play with them in the half-court with such a small second unit.

Great post, basically answered all my questions.

Great post Czar, thanks for that.

Do you not see Hawes posing a match-up problem for Horford though? Does Horford really want to come out to cover deep 2-pointers? I see it working both ways.

Oh definately. The matchup issues work both ways. I cover some of my concern here: http://kingskingdom.com/2009/11/04/what2wa...inst-the-hawks/

The Kings starting unit is going to be just as big as the second unit is small now. All 5 starters will now be larger than average.

My main concern is going to be watching Jason Thompson trying to guard Josh Smith. Thompson already lead the NBA in fouls last season and doesn't move his feet well at all. I don't think he will be in this game for very long, which will mean Nocioni or May taking over at the four with Casspi coming in at the three.

I wouldn't worry about it so much if they could stay out of foul trouble, but they can't. Thompson seems to have taken a step back instead of forward so far this year. May has been an easy target, but Thompson must play better as well and part of moving Hawes back in to the starting unit could also be to see if it sparks Thompson a little and helps him in the middle.

Hawes is a matchup nightmare if he is on his game. He is big and athletic and does have a nice outside shot (his passing has looked better this year as well), but he needs to not fall in love with his jumper, especially if it is off, and continue to go in the post as well and not be afraid of physical contact. Hopefully starting in the coach's doghouse was a bit of a wakeup call for him.

So happy I decided to start him over Hibbert tonight.