Welcome back to Chainmail! Despite the NBA being in the middle of a hiatus, we’ve had quite a few Kings-related stories pop up over the last few days. Grant Napear, the longtime voice of the Sacramento Kings, was fired from his position at KHTK and re-signed from his play-by-play role with the team, De’Aaron Fox posted and deleted a picture criticizing Marvin Bagley’s father on Instagram, the NBA and Kings are likely returning to a 22 team play-in tournament, and a potential schedule for that min-season was announced. We also have plenty to discuss regarding Marvin Bagley’s theoretical return to the court come July and August, lineup decisions for the eight regular season games, and Luke Walton’s approach to a fully healthy team. So much to chat about and so little time!
In order to submit a question, you can comment below, message Will (@WillofThaPeople) or Tim (@TimMaxwell22) on Twitter, or snailmail a letter to 1472 S. Ladybird Way Sacramento, CA 95842.
Ask away!
ADMINS FYI: I wasn’t able to log in yesterday afternoon, but came on today already logged in!
We had to make a few server changes in the last few days to deal with traffic and that might have caused some issues. Also you guys might notice some intermittent outages and slow downs for a bit as we’re diagnosing some issues. Thanks for your patience.
Thanks! no worries on my end, just figured you guys are working on things and would want to know!
Just an FYI: When I finished my workout this morning I wiped my cache.
7pm show is different from the 9pm….get tickets to both
Please submit your response in the form of a question
Any news on the new comment highlighting yet?
Unfortunately we had to turn that off for now while we diagnose some server issues. We’re going to work on getting it back because we understand that functionality is important.
So it will be back up and running as soon as Bagley is?
Yes, as long as you type only with your left hand.
The obvious question is: who should replace Grant?
Personally, I’m not really a fan of GG or Jason Ross replacing Grant. Ross seems like the natural choice to replace Gerould if he ever were to retire. Deuce, Mo and Doug would probably be my pick. I’ve watched Stockton Kings highlights and Deuce can handle the play by play stuff adequately. Mo is pretty good at the deadpan, straight (wo)man comedy duo role, and she knows her stuff basketball-wise obviously.
I think it would be cool to get someone internally and local to the area, as opposed to an outside hire that has little ties to Sacramento.
Would Sim Bhullar count? Asking for a friend.
The problem with this is that the four obvious internal/local choices are all white guys. They need to extend their canvassing to include people from diverse backgrounds. I dont think it goes to J Ross, Deuce, Koz, or GG. Sorry. Look for a woman or a nonwhite man to land the job. I dont see a candidate like that coming internally unless Im missing someone. My bet is it will be a name we are unfamiliar/barely familiar with and we will have to google and youtube their name to hear their style once they are announced. America’s on fire right now and that’s why Grant is gone. He’s not getting replaced with someone who looks like him.
–“America’s on fire right now and that’s why Grant is gone.”
–“He’s not getting replaced with someone who looks like him.”
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Grant is gone because Grant tweeted something that didn’t sit well with his employer, not because the Kings are trying to replace him with someone that doesn’t look like him.
J Ross, Deuce, Koz, and GG are not like Grant (in that they don’t spout insensitive stuff), so maybe the Kings can be fine with hiring one of them.
That being said, more diversity in our media and on the team payroll would be great.
I think if Grant and Boogie had that exchange 4 weeks ago then Grant would still have a job. So I stand by that statement, “America’s on fire and that’s why Grant is gone.” I don’t disagree with those other guys being different than Grant, they are, but I fully believe this will be a statement hire. At this point I would be shocked if a white male is hired for the role. I can see one of the aforementioned four finishing the season but next year will be a fresh face.
Hmmm you might be right. Yes, I read that Grant had been showing poor behavior towards employees for a long time and got away with it up until now. I think Damien Barling said that a boss told him, “Well, that’s just Grant being Grant” whenver Grant was called out for something.
Agreed. I think some teams do have a play-by- play plus two color commentators, so that might be fun.
And I don’t know about his PBP experience, but I’d give Damien Barling some consideration as well. At least in the 3 o clock slot on the radio, I’d love listening to a guy who is not afraid to call out the org.
Seems to me that JRoss has been aligned to take over for radio Gary, when that happens. I listen to the games on the radio and as much as it pains me to say, you can hear some of the difficulties Gary is having. He’s still FANTASTIC though, and I love listening to him.
TV
PBP Dueuce
Color Doug
Sideline Mo
All three have thrown themselves into their craft and seem absolutely determined to improve. I’d give them a shot and let them grow, they obviously have the passion and desire, those are the type of people you want as part of your future, but as always, KANGZ.
In reading Rob’s wonderful “Sactown Chronicles” series last week, I came away with one question that is think is quite debatable. In terms of on the court play and roster management, which years are the worst: The last 6 years of the Maloofs, or the first 6 years of Vivek?
My take is that the Mafools actively tried to taunt Sacramentans toward the end of their 6 year period, so it has to be them, right?
Those were dark days for sure, but I was trying to analyze from strictly on the court play and roster management. If we remove owner meddling and shenanigans out of the debate I think it is hard to determine which 6 years were worse.
Maloof years were worse. Team never even got close to competitive. At least last year and this season the Kings have an on-court product that seems to be able to win games at a relatively decent basis (comparatively)
The best record of the Vivek 6 years was 39 wins. The best record of the Maloof 6 years was 38 wins. The Maloof era definitely had some bad years, but I think there was a full rebuild in there. Not so much for the Vivek 6 years.
seems, relatively, decent, comparatively…
You could use some more qualifiers, and remind us that the Maloof treshhold had dug itself a 6 foot hole and still Vivek and Co. can barely clear it.
It is basically the discussion between a giant douche and the shit sandwich. For me, the main difference is that with the Maloofs, my expectations were very low. With Vivek, I had hope and it got crushed in an ugly manner.
For reference the first 6 years of the Vivek era the team has a .382 winning percentage while the last 6 years of the Maloofs had .332 winning percentage. That being said, the last 6 years of the Maloofs saw the drafting of a ROY and 2 All-Stars, while the first 6 years of Vivek really only have Fox to hang their hat on. When you examine all the other mischief like trades, draft picks, and free agent signings, I think the scale really levels out.
Follow up questions to Adam’s question about which Kings incarnation was worse:
Would you rather lose a million dollars, or lose all your friends?
Would you rather eat a centipede, or drink sewer water?
Would you rather lose an eye, or lose a testicle?
I always chuckle when people are like “fans are delusional if they think they could do better than professional GMs”. Like Vlade/Pete couldn’t do substantially better than an organization that treated their roster as a steady source of revenue.
Can ya’ll task the goofy giraffe guy to break down the win-loss scenarios vis a vis the Kings and its various challengers for this dumb 8 game rest of the season thingy?
Projecting based on schedules, the Kings have a pretty easy go of it. They don’t play any of the top 8 teams and 5 of their 8 games are against bottom 8 teams. The Pelicans have the most control in a way since they play the Kings twice and the Grizz twice. If I were a betting man, I’d expect the Pelicans and Grizzlies to end up in a play-in situation. Though there’s a chance the Kings can use their easy schedule to slip by as those two beat each other up.
What are your views on the apparent spat between De’Aaron Fox and Father Bagley, and how it will influence the Fox-Bagley relationship?
This is what happens when you draft two left handers.
Given the current BLM movement, do you think that some NBA players are not that keen to provide entertainment to the masses, with the thought that it would take part of the attention away from that movement?
Or, as an alternative, what kind of actions can we expect from players and coaches on live television to keep the focus on the BLM movement, and how much of a platform will the NBA (as the most player-centered big sports league) and the TV networks be willing to provide?
Does the injury excuse still hold any water at this point if the Kings fail to make the playoffs?
The Kings’ injury excuse might be that Bagley is no longer injured.
And not to rip on Bagley too much, but he’s been a net negative on the floor during his career so far. If the goal is to make the playoffs, Walton might have to limit Bagley’s minutes considerably.
Which, of course, begs the question of if the injury excuse ever held any water.
Yep, that was going to be my follow-up. But I wanted to keep it simple 🙂
The question I want to ask is how bad would play-ins have to go to get Walton fired. I don’t think that is a possible scenario so assuming Walton stays, how can Buddy get more minutes? It is an atrocity to have one of the best shooters in the league playing so sparingly. Over the last month of games he did not eclipse 27 minutes once. Will Walton ever find a way to put his players in the position to succeed? That is the defining attribute of a good coach in my eyes. The offense has been so bad. Get buddy open. Make Fox the playmaker. Move the ball, don’t stand. Force Bagley to aim for 2+ assists per game. Play Richaun as much as humanly possible. Tell Bogi he doesn’t have to be a hero and he might get it back if he passes. Now I am sad. Rant over.
FUN FACTS INCOMING:
Bogdan ranks 4th amongst Kings guards in total time of possession per game (Fox, Joseph, Hield), 5th in average time per touch (Fox, Ferrell, Joseph, Hield), and 6th in average dribbles per touch (Ferrell, Fox, Joseph, Guy, Hield).
Thanks for those but as a team they are still not moving the ball enough as they should, to my eye. To be fair, I stopped watching much by the all-star break; I just couldn’t handle it, or Grant.
Some of Bogi’s (and Buddy’s) ball hogginess early in the season was out of necessity – they had to get a shot up because the ball was never getting below the free throw line extended. I put this squarely on the coach, not the players.
Oh, I agree that the team doesn’t move the ball well. I just feel like an odd narrative has arisen about Bogdan specifically dribbling too much and playing too much hero ball. Personally, I think the team not moving the ball enough overall is a factor of a few things:
1. A “system,” such as it is, that isn’t especially built on movement.
2. A roster that, overall, doesn’t really feature many players with above average BBIQ and team awareness.
Agreed on both points.
I don’t think the Bogi dribbling/hero narrative is entirely wrong, but you may be right it is overblown. Partly that narrative is driven, I think, by the early season when they simply had no other options (Fox out, Buddy ball hoggin, horrible HC) and he shouldn’t be penalized for that so I retract it slightly.
But just because he ranks low of the guards in those categories doesn’t mean they aren’t all doing it more than they should. I like Bogi BTW, he is one of the few players WITH above average BBIQ which we sorely need, as you mentioned. Sadly MB3 is bottom of the league in BBIQ and awareness but let’s hope he improves.
It’s almost impressive how anti-passing the open lineup of the season was. Barnes, Bagley (in obviously small rookie sample), and Dedmon were all literally among the absolute least effective passers in the NBA. And Hield was only decent relative to the other 3. I mean, that was a historically poor passing starting 5. On the entire roster, there are only, what, 4 guys we could comfortably call average or better passers for their position (Fox, Bogdan, Bjelica, Giles).
You are on the Board of Directors of the Sacramento Kings Wall of Fame. You have room for just one more statue (it’s a very small wall, a nook really), and the choices have been narrowed down to these two finalists. You have the final vote and can pick only one for this honor, who do you choose?
.
Demarcus Cousins, or Grant Napear?
Napear. As much as i don’t like his personality, he has been great PBP guy and has done those duties diligently. But it has to be the statue made from the peaches shirt logo. If it was DMC we would always have to start a game with a technical foul
I think the last period has shown that Napear’s success leaned heavily on Jerry. Without him, he is no more great, merely adequate.
Does B.J. Armstrong deserve a place in the HOF, because he was an okay player who played with Jordan?
I’d pick DMC, and put his statue in the nook facing the wrong way.
Follow up question:
If B.J. Armstrong were a King, would he have a place in the Sacramento Kings HOF, based on our shallow pool?
IMO he was still a great PBP announcer. Justification: When Radio broadcast had issues, Mother and Aunt who are both blind listen to PBP via Grant and they were able to keep up. While conversations were better when Jerry was next to him, Grant was still a great PBP guy
As Jerry Reynolds has said on his show, Lukenbill should have a statue, and Adelman should have his name up in the rafters.
Let’s assume they are already on the wall and stick to the question. 🙂
🙂 Hmmm, Grant has been here for so long I had previously assumed he would get a standing ovation when he retired. Now, I think there will be mixed reactions next time he is in the public eye.
So if it weren’t for this incident, I would have answered Grant. Cousins, while one of the most talented players to ever wear a Sacramento Kings jersey, just doesn’t really have that many accolades on any normal franchise to be in a hall of fame.
But this is the Sacramento Kings, so I guess DeMarcus gets the nod at this point.
I would agree. Demarcus made a handful of AS teams and that’s no small feat in Sacramento.
Both. A statue with Cousins fishing off a dock and Napear leaping up out of a pool of whitefish to grab the bait.
does Bagley come back this year into the rotation, and if so, does he start?
Do you think the current roster, if they resign Len and Parker picks up his option, will be as competitive over the course of an 82 game season as they were over the last 19-22 games of the season?
In addition do you think Len and Bazemore would produce at the same levels they did post trade to Kings?
I’d put their ceiling at roughly where they were for the last 26 games of the season.
If you were an NBA player, how comfortable would you be resuming the season in a bubble at Disney World, given that cases with coronavirus are still increasing (especially in Florida) and not everyone is keen to follow the rules of being careful?
Is Nations burger any good?
Not especially. Nor is it especially bad. It’s forgettable in it’s average-ness. It’s the Mo Harkless of burger places.
So (((ducks))) In-N-Out bascially?
Ill provide cover for you on this one as you make your get away.
What’s wrong with In-N-Out?
Chic-Fil-A, Papa John’s, In-N-Out……. 🙁
Where is cat supposed to get his dinner now?
We can go to Zillers!!
Suggestion Box:
Would anyone besides myself be interested in seeing a short bio for each of the TKH staff? I know there is the list of the staffers in the ABOUT page with links to their social media presence, but for new people that join TKH that aren’t familiar with you guys, maybe it’d be nice to see your smiling mugs and read a paragraph about your career.
Also, will we ever be able to purchase those awesome TKH t-shirts, or are those reserved only for certain Patreons?
Will there ever be a “FANPOST” section here at TKH like there was at STR? I really enjoyed seeing the things non-staffers contributed.
I like that bio idea
“Will there ever be a FANPOST section here at TKH”
YES!!!! Where will I pimp my yearly gofundme billboard calling for the GM to step down?
Does The Kings’ search for Grant’s replacement extend beyond the three obvious choices of Deuce, J Ross, and Koz? All three are white men. Do they take a look at any women or black men? Who are the names you expect we might hear? Are we expecting an announcement before they return to play or not until next season?
Well, if they choose a woman somebody better get eyes on Jackie Christie.
We might see some non-local candidates wanting the job, though I’m not sure who yet
They should hire El-Creepo.
That would be one sentence per quarter, no? 🙂
This isn’t a question. It is a comment about food. Gallo didn’t write it, but wishes he did.
Some singer sing of ladies’ eyes,
And some of ladies lips,
Refined ones praise their ladylike ways,
And course ones hymn their hips.
The Oxford Book of English Verse
Is lush with lyrics tender;
A poet, I guess, is more or less
Preoccupied with gender.
Yet I, though custom call me crude,
Prefer to sing in praise of food.
Food,
Yes, food,
Just any old kind of food.
Badge Legend