Sacramento Kings: Darren Collison, Starting Point Guard?

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Apr 27, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Darren Collison (2) wears his warm up shirt inside out before game four of the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Clippers 118-97. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

When news broke yesterday of Darren Collison‘s signing with the Sacramento Kings, the team’s fans weren’t quite sure how to react.

Free agent guard Darren Collison agrees to 3 year, $16 milion deal with Sacramento, sources, leaving the Clippers.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) July 3, 2014

Some quickly jumped forward, and expressed joy at the Kings grabbing such a high quality player to fill a sixth-man role as a backup off the bench. For others though, it seemed to beg a more pressing question. Sure, Collison’s deal wasn’t excessive, particularly compared to some of the others made in the past few days, but could it have ramifications for Isaiah Thomas? Could it lead to the Kings allowing the undisputed discovery of the 2011 draft to walk away so easily?

Darren Collison agreed to his three-year $16 million deal with the Kings with the impression that he would be the starter, I'm told.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) July 3, 2014

Then as the day progressed, and rumors continued to swirl, it appeared that at the very least, the Kings had prepared themselves for the departure of Thomas. With that in mind, the real question is, would the Kings be right to move forward with Collison for the sake of saving a couple of million dollars?

Let’s take a look at Collison in comparison to Thomas across a few key areas of their games.

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