Call me crazy, but this might help in the long run... Get an import PG, throw Humphries in the middle with Blanchfield/Leslie as 6th man and I think we might be able to turn things around.

Lets say the Kings bring in a good PG and stays, then lisch comes back and slots in perfectly back in as SG.

They have Cadee and Thoseby and to me Leslie becomes excess of requirements and that slot is needed up front.

I agree. I said last week that Lisch can't shoot anymore, and so far this season he is again under 40%. More shots for Newley and Leslie.

I will be interested to see what Cadee does starting at point this week. If Lisch does indeed come back later in the season, Id rather he be 6th man. Way too many mins for him at his age the past 12 months. Might be more effective against others' 2nd units.

He's only 31 years old

A lot of miles on his legs though, four years in Perth, a full season in Puerto Rico, a year in France, a year in Spain, a year at the Hawks, another offseason in Puerto Rico and now second year at Sydney.

Lisch can shoot fine, the problem is the shots he's getting... A lot of long 2s he's creating off the dribble and contested 3s low in the shotclock. This has been consistent since he came to Sydney - our offense just doesn't create anything for him, and I think he would benefit more from a natural PG next to him than anyone else on the roster.

He misses open 3s as well as contested. Newley, on the other hand, is a bit older but plays to his strengths, and reaps the rewards. Ive seen enough from Lisch in 30 something games of sub .400 FG to know he should be used more efficiently. He is a good passer, tremendous handles but we see not enough of that.

Him scoring 11 or 12 on better shots would be fine.

Unfortunate injury for Lisch but this is Sydney's opportunity to get it right.
Sign import and keep for remainder of season.
Lisch returns but in a bench capacity and they let Garlepp go.

An opportunity to get Powell (brainsnap) back !!!

Highly unlikely but Deron Williams.
Getting $1.4m from Cavs but available to play.
At 33 he fits the Kings mould of NBA veterans, he would be significantly better than Steve Blake.

Jerome!

Realistically- I think we need a big. I think we can cover Kevin, let's be real he hasn't set the world on fire, but height is what we are lacking... an import big, put perry at the 4 would be deadly- as no one can guard perry in this league

There are still two great needs and it's the Kings initial recruiting that have put them in this position...

It's incredibly frustrating to have Gaze hint at reasons at why they only went with two imports and then spin it into a positive when if he was truly concerned that if one of our guards, especially Kevin, (who was coming off an injury/surgery, so it's really very reasonable to take this into consideration) would go down, they should have recruited someone who was a proper PG in the first place... Like so many of us were screaming for...

Now we're still light on in the front court and they're going to burn an import spot that if Kevin DOES come back, we'll have one too many guards and STILL have the weakest front court in the league and getting overrun in the paint...

Part of the spin when Leslie was signed was that he could handle the ball as well... I had my doubts and nothing he's done so far has reassured me... I think it's possible to bring in an import PG AND strengthen our front line, as Maric is apparently back and considering retirement... Sure he's at the tail end of his career, but his experience and talent is worth so much more than Pineau and Singh, even in limited minutes... Will give Isaac a big body to bang against in practise as well and it's not like he doesn't have a wealth of knowledge to pass on to the youngster...

Just have to weigh up the options for Aussie vs import talent... If we can get Maric back (please please please please please) it will be easier to being in that import guard...

Otherwise, still bring in a workhorse import big (like Hammer described), which the team seems to have been SUPER reluctant to do for some mysterious reason that Gaze eluded to in the press conference, and manage for 8-10 weeks (in reality) which is at least 13 games (our most concentrated part of the season) with Jason and others stepping up...

Which is the lesser of two evils and which is the worst path for the Kings to most likely choose in the end?

@Shano76 LOL btw Randle tweeted:

I pray my boy @kevinlisch gets better and have a speedy recovery

Utah just cut Joel Bolomboy. 6'9, 235. You could do far worse, and he will be paid for another 2 years by the Jazz, so essentially is just looking for top-up money.

Sydney saw first hand what he can do when getting the ball in the right spots in the 4th qtr.

Cant help but hope it is someone associated with the Utah Jazz, keep the lines of communication alive and next year perhaps have more of a working relationship... but isn't the Kings owned by the same consortium that owns the Lakers?

A lot of this discussion about the Kings reminds of some Adelaide supporters, who when there are a couple of losses look to their team's offence for a fix.

Sydney are averaging 95ppg, shooting 48%, getting 25 FTA and have a 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. And that's despite taking the ball out of the net a lot.

Their ability to defend and rebound are the key areas to taking them from an OK team to a good one (as well as time to gel).

So any talk that they are struggling without an import PG is off the mark, unless of course that import PG is Gary Payton brought from the mid-90s in a time machine!

It will be interesting to see what they do now though, whether they go for an import for the rest of the season, or a replacement until Lisch is back, because you would imagine those would be two different players.

Do they go for an import PG? Do they look for an Aussie replacement and go for an import big? Or do they split the difference and go for an athletic SF who can rebound, handle the ball and defend multiple positions?

Trey Burke will be announced shortly by the Kings as an injury replacement....just finalizing the length of contract as initial discussions around 4 weeks not the 6-8 as now being reported

Kings have gone with Aussie PG Jeremy Kendle, which leaves a spot for an import centre.

Kendle is not confirmed yet. He's currently being assessed at training.

Based purely on NZNBL numbers, Kendle looks alright.

If I was Gaze and JVG, I'd be giving strong consideration to taking Kendle on to help with PG duties- along with Cadee and Leslie- for the next 8 weeks.

Sign a gun import big to fill out the roster later.

Kendle been training for a while...if the Burke deal doesn't get done it might happen but Burke deal is very close!

@paul has hit the nail on the head. Kings need defence, there offence is fine. I do think that means they need an import PG, though. Mostly because Cadee is an open gate, defensively.

I agree with @Wookie that Leslie has not shown he is up to the task of being primary ball handler, so it seems an import PG would be the go. The question then becomes what to do with the bigs department, and includes whether or not Leslie stays.

Has Leslie shown enough to warrant playing him as the starting 2 guard and maintaining the small-ball lineup of Newley at 3, Blanchfield at 4 and Ellis at 5? That would allow Cadee to come off the bench at either 1 or 2, and Thoseby's role to continue to be limited.

If they sack Leslie to make room for an import big, then Cadee has to start at 2 (until Lisch is able to return) and Blanchfield comes off the bench at 3 or 4, with Ellis starting at 4, and the new import at 5. This would also reduce Pineau's role somewhat, which may not be a bad thing.

Knowing the Kings, they'll sign an athletic 3.

Now this: Sydney have announced on their official Instagram account that Jeremy Kendle has been "brought in to Sydney Kings training as the team looks to find an injury replacement for Kevin Lisch.
Kendle is arguably the best player in SEABL and played a starring role for the Australian side that took on China in the offseason.
Plenty more to come... stay tuned."
https://www.instagram.com/p/BaU44YJlh9q/?taken-by=officialsydneykings

It would seem he qualifies as an Australian then, if he played for them?

As for the hoards saying cut Leslie...yeah, great idea, cut the guy who has been shooting well, and start the process again of getting players used to one another. The team is just starting to build chemistry. If Leslie isn't worthy, then 90% of the imports in the NBL aren't either. We're 3 games in.

He's not Australian.

The Aussie NBL team also had Randle, who is also not Australian.

Well they'd better get someone better than him. We saw how well the Garrett Jackson injury replacement went. Sydney has missed on Trice, Ware, Dillard, Randle, Cotton. I'd love for the Trey Burke rumour to be true. He would be at a minimum the equal of those above, although his attitude is not brilliant. He was not a cancer when he was banished by Snyder though - his negative comments came after being dealt to Washington.

Big chance for Caddee here.

Im sure he's not happy about being 6th man.

Im still not sold on him. Take's way to many 3's for someone with flawed technique.

Needs to try and penetrate more and accept he's not the Australian Steph Curry.

Will be a big audition for another team next year...

This is really starting off as a real frigging nutbag of a season and for the Kings, that's really saying something...

I just can't see what the hell the Kings are doing, bringing in the "best player in the country that is available" even though he doesn't actually fill a need properly... So no doubt, if he DOES get signed (and teh Kings restraint on at least trialing how he will go with teh team is admirable, surprising and not like them at all), he'll get cut when Lisch comes back, or before and they go back to playing Lisch out of position and STILL being too light up front, so if they go for an import big THEN, it will be too late for him to gel quick enough and/or make much of a difference IF he gets in the required games for an unlikely run at the playoffs (which is the reason that you'd spend that money in the first place).

Which all might be a moot point if they leave acting too long and the Kings are so off the playoff race and in the cellar that the only point would be to avoid another wooden spoon...

*helpless shrug*

Even NBL.com.au is chipping in with suggestions

5 NBA cuts the Sydney Kings should sign

Even NBL.com.au is chipping in with suggestions

Even trailing Kendle suggests winning is not the goal this season.

Its pretty obvious from the interview with Andrew Gaze that they won't be getting an import from abroad anytime soon.

Would anyone actually be surprised if Sydney went cheap/Seabl option.

In his 7 games with the Bullets last season Kendle averaged 11 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.4 apg shot 47% from the field and 28% on 3pt.

Kendle was pretty good in his stint with the Bullets last year, wasn't he? Not a bad pick-up at all.

I have to agree that Kendle is not the best fit here. Still not confirmed but I believe he's still training with them today for this week's games, so high likelihood he's in.

Kendle would be able to cover for Lisch's offense and ballhandling but not comparable on defense. He's an ok defender but Kev is on another level entirely and the Kings sorely need that.

Kendle will probably be released when Lisch returns but in the event that he becomes a key component, someone has to go. I doubt it'd be Leslie, most likely Garlepp or Thoseby.

With Cadee presumably slipping into the starting 5, Kendle gives us bench scoring which is definitely important. He doesn't address our biggest needs, no, but he's an NBL-calibre scorer who got better game-by-game last season who should be able to contribute immediately off the bench... Not ideal, no, but we could (and have...) done worse.

Well he has offically signed with the Kings.

Very underwhelming and rushed.

The Kings should just throw open the doors and let everyone watch games for free. Charging punters who think they're coming to watch professional sport is taking money under false pretences

Not the right type of player and it smacks of being a rushed, knee-jerk reaction to try to cover poor vision and initial recruiting...

Very underwhelmed with this decision, especially after Gaze said in the video posted last night that because it could take a couple of weeks to get someone in, Jeremy could bet that couple of week stop gap...

Crap decision after crap decision after crap decision... Much more of this crap and I'll be asking for a membership refund...

Gazey is a grown arse man who would be able to use his position as the best male Aussie basketballer ever to impose at least some of his opinions on the team if he wanted to or had any good ones...

He's not who people should be feeling sorry for...

If the Kings can go .500 for the time Lisch is out I think this wouldn't have been too bad but its a big risk as we know from last season 1 game meant potentially slipping 3-4 spots on the ladder.

With Cadee presumably slipping into the starting 5

Spot on, Steve... How can we oust JvW and get you in there?

I thought Daly proved enough during the pre-season that he was worth a chance, at least in the short term, and why he was given a DP spot in the first place... I didn't even click about the specific effect it would have on Ellis, but if Lisch was letting opposition players into the paint and having their run of the place, Cadee will be gift-wrapping it for them...

It's surely not rocket science to figure all this stuff out, it baffles me as to why the Kings have persisted with their head in the sand dickheadery this season...