I think he will easily get more. I would be ok with a 6x6 but am completely fine with DL digging his heals in at 4.
Sucks we lost another 1st for a rental (at least it was a full year rental), but I still think Lucic was worth it
Have to disagree with it being worth it as the Kings have now given up two 1st round picks for a total of one playoff victory the last two years on top of other assets for something like ~100 games combined from two players in Sekera and Lucic.
Both times Lombardi thought he could sign them long-term to some sort of discount but that is contingent upon the team actually doing well in the playoffs or--in Sekera's case--actually making the playoffs.
Very interesting to hear that Lucic and the Kings aren't really close after everything said during the season. Haven't listened to the Mayor's interview or whatever that I believe is the source of the Lucic discussion so I'm not sure if this is a Lucic or Lombardi decision: assuming it is the latter due to contract length being an issue since Lombardi has had no problem handing those out in the past.
If Lombardi learned some sort of lesson about long-term contracts with older, physical players then he is guilty of believing this team was better than it actually was in June of 2015 or else he doesn't make the trade for Lucic. If he is digging in at a four year contract at this point, it is an admission that his plan was wrong prior to the start of this season, IMO.
He's certainly admitted somewhat that things are not what he thought they were per that long interview at the close of the season; if they were, then you'd see DL hand Lucic the six years or whatever with no hesitation. For that reason, it is a mistake as Lombardi would certainly prefer to have kept the pick at this point along with the other assets.
I know there are many who have thrown Williams under the bus as some garbage player after Washington failed to advance, but this team still makes the playoffs this past season with Williams instead of Lucic while keeping all of the assets used for Lucic (or using them differently) and Williams leadership and intangibles. Only downside would be having his $3.5MM (could DL have brought him back for a little less?) for this upcoming season but, in lieu of not having Lucic next year, that's not actually a bad thing.
You let Williams (culture changer guy) walk for a two-year contract and basically replace him with Lucic. This was not a one-year plan but now it appears to have wound up that way. It's a huge waste. I love Lucic (although I'm not happy we got contract-year-don't-want-to-get-hurt Lucic instead of the wild animal) but the trade was questionable at the time. Exciting but questionable. I do the Sekera trade again and have no problem with that "all-in" move: even in hindsight. Lucic, however, was a questionable move and looks horrific in hindsight if he is not brought back. Hell, it could look horrific if he is brought back for too long.
Hubris was not only a detriment to this roster in 2015 but it poisoned management since June of '14. Took two bad seasons--in comparison to 2012-'14--for Lombardi to realize everything isn't okay. It is just unfortunate that so many assets have been squandered and/or questionable contract moves have been made during that time.
Still don't think this is a bad team because, c'mon now, it is sprinkled with elite-to-very good players. It's just that Lombardi has put himself in a position where he needs to make some moves but the cap is essentially tying an arm behind his back.
