In comes Andre Miller. Signed as a consolation prize by the Trail Blazers during the offseason, Miller has begrudgingly come off the bench behind Steve Blake. After losing Travis Outlaw for four months with a broken foot, Greg Oden to yet another knee surgery, and Rudy Fernandez to a lower back nerve root (it's painful just writing that), Portland is not surprisingly shopping Miller in pursuit of an athletic forward.
It just so happens that Sacramento's biggest logjam continues to be at small forward, where Casspi, Andres Nocioni, Ime Udoka, and a rapidly improving Donte Greene will soon be forced to split time with Martin and Francisco Garcia. While Nocioni has been one of the Kings' most consistent players on both ends of the floor, his renowned defense is doing little for a team that's giving up the 105 points per game and allowing opponent to shoot an eighth-worst 47% from the field. Clearly not part of the Kings' long-term plans at 30 and with three guaranteed years and $21 million remaining on his contract, Nocioni's contributions can be replaced in Sacramento while filling a big void in Portland.
In Andre Miller, the Kings would get a pure point guard who looks to set up the offense before creating his own shot for the first time since... well, ever. Last May, I wrote that he's, "improve[d] every team he's played for over the course of his career (with the exception of the Clippers, but come on)," and that he "knows how to bring the best out of his teammates." On the hook for $14 million over the next two years with a third-year team option, Miller, who holds career averages of 15 points (46% FG) and seven assists per game, also presents a significantly more manageable alternative for Sacramento than Okafor's cap-crippling, five-year, $62.5 million contract and the two years and $25 million owed to Dalembert.
And at the very least, it wouldn't turn out any worse than the last time the Kings acquired a Miller.
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