Well folks, get ready for some second round excitement in the NBA Draft come June, as the Sacramento Kings officially surrendered their 2025 first round selection to the Atlanta Hawks via the Kevin Huerter trade.
For those not familiar with the inner workings of multi-year old trades, the Kings sent a protected first round pick to the Hawks when they acquired Kevin Huerter back in 2022. Their selection this year was top-12 protected, but Sacramento managed to win one more game than the 11th and 12th-place teams, landing them in 13th. Despite that fact, the Kings still had slim hopes (a 3.8% chance, to be exact) of landing in the top-4, thus keeping their pick, but the lottery gods had no sympathy for an organization that traded De’Aaron Fox for Zach LaVine and a half-eaten bag of Twizzlers.
To add insult to injury, the San Antonio Spurs jumped from the 8th to the 2nd pick in the draft, and the Dallas Mavericks were the massive winners of the night, snagging the first overall selection and Cooper Flagg.
With those disappointing, but unsurprising results, the Kings currently own only one selection in the upcoming draft, the Chicago Bulls 42nd overall selection. Ironically, the Bulls actually own the Kings second rounder this year, which slid in at the 45th spot.
The NBA Draft will take place on Wednesday, June 25th.
The Charlotte coach sure didn’t look happy with the number 4 pick. Speaking of Charlotte, aren’t the Kings supposed to get two second round picks from them since their first round pick was lottery protected? What year does that start?
It’ll be Charlotte’s 2026 and 2027 second round picks.
Rigged.
so sad they don’t care about us
Luka’d.
This will only add fuel to the fire of the conspiracy theory that the league/Lakers/Mavs worked to get Luka to the Lakers. For those who forget:
Mirain Adelson wants gambling Dallas, including a new area and hotel/casino for the Mavs. This is well documented. If she doesn’t get it, there are whispers of her moving the Mavs to Vegas. The problem is, that’s Lakers TV rights territory. The conspiracy goes the Mavs made the Luka trade with LA as a “payment” for the eventual Vegas tv rights. Now we are gonna hear that Flagg was the reward from the league for the Mavs gifting Luka to the Lakers. Money…money…money.
Do I subscribe to any of this stuff? Meh, magic bullet theory shit (happened in Dallas!!!), but it’s wild and entertaining to think about.
There’s no end to the justification of those who naively think the NBA doesn’t guide the outcomes of these things.
Absolutely rigged…if anyone should know it’s us. It’s a business looking to protect itself, it’s not complicated.
100 percent.
So all those here complaining about the lottery being rigged:
A. Was that simply frustration in the moment? or
B. Do you relly believe that it was rigged?
If the answer is B., why would you still follow the NBA?
I’m kind of in a grey zone in regards to that. I don’t think any sport is ‘rigged’ fully but we’ve seen a good amount of instances in the past that have to make you go, that’s awfully convenient for X team.
I think a lot of the feelings from last night were we were that close to being the Mavs if not for some pointless wins to get embarrassed in the play in. Not that we would have jumped 10 spots in most realities but I think it stings when you think about the current team and the future of it while the mavs basically gave up 1 generational talent just to aquire one of the best prospects in a while
I believe it was rigged.
As far as following the NBA, I follow it very passively, guess I’m a casual NBA fan at this point. Have only watched the fourth qtr of a few playoff games.
Up until around the mid 2010’s I was an avid NBA fan with decreasing interest every yr ever since.
I had to drop in to give the biggest LOL of all time. The Mavs win when we could have easily been in that lottery spot if they had simply chosen to strategically lose a couple more games. Just peak Kangz through and through. I hope they go 0-82 next year while Vivek continues to make stupid moves so the entire basketball universe takes a collective dump on this franchise. Sadly, something like the 9th pick next year is probably where we’re headed with no hope of ever competing for anything in our lifetime.
At least if they go 0-82 they’ll get the number 4 pick.
Haha great point.
Well played.
I mentioned it in the other thread, but I don’t think it can be stressed enough how damaging that last win of the season was against the Suns. The win did nothing for the Kings in terms of play-in seeding, but it cost the Kings an opportunity to finish with the same record as the Mavs. The same Mavs team that just won the lottery. If I’m not mistaken the Kings would have had a coin toss with the Mavs and Bulls to determine the final lottery odds. Tonight the Kings could have easily have won #1 with just one more loss. Someone should lose their job over…. oh wait.
This is by far the funniest outcome though Adam! The Mavericks win it after trading Luka?!!?!?! The Kings, who should have been in that spot lose their lottery pick in a great draft? I want the absolute worst things possible to happen to Vivek at every turn so this is perfect.
It’s like stubbing your toe on the same corner bed frame 5 times in the same day and still insisting on walking carelessly by it barefoot.
Sadly, we all understand the accuracy of that scenario being Viveked !
Someone should have lost their job for making the Huerter trade. They did but way too late.
The funny thing is the Huerter trade, in and of itself, was actually pretty damn good.
That same person’s inability to follow up one move with a complimentary one was the downfall of this team.
If Monte had traded Monk for Siakam, he would have a job, the Kings would be a playoff team, and we wouldn’t have given a damn about surrendering a pick in the late teens or early twenties.
This. The Huerter trade at the time was a very solid move for a starting, deep shooting, off guard that worked with Sabonis. What happened in the last 12 months is what makes it appear bad. In reality, the trade was fine.
You must have been one of the many singing the praises of Monte for the Huerter trade. It didn’t work out bottom line no matter how hard you try to convince yourself. I do however like the idea of moving DDR for San Antonio’s number 14 pick. I’d take back Barnes instead because his contract is expiring next season. You free up some payroll to take on a bad contract in exchange for draft capital. Pile up the picks, tank for a couple of years and proceed that way.
Huerter was the starting SG and had a damn good year shooting and the team made the playoffs for the first time after a 16yr drought…the trade helped accomplish exactly what they wanted it to.
I would say that counts as working out, at least initially.
It did. Keep in mind that team lost in the first round of the playoffs to a team that subsequently was defeated in the next round decisively. Is a first round trip to the playoffs followed by two descending seasons what any franchise wants to accomplish. Come on. You’re trying to justify your support for a bad move.
I don’t think the Huerter trade was the cause of 2 downward years after the team made the playoffs. There were many other bad decisions made by this front office that lead to this path. They didn’t even have a rookie prospect after the 2023 draft. The 2024 season had some significant injures that derailed the team down the strech. There was no Huerter or Monk to finish off the season. Keon did the best he could but losing a starter and 6th man is pretty crippling to a team trying to make the playoffs. This past offseason was the catalyst for stagnation. The DDR for Barnes swap had far more detriment than the Huerter trade of 3 years ago.
To call the Huerter trade a “bad move” is unwarranted, IMO.
The point of spending future draft assets on a player in a trade is to get better at the time…not in the future, or you would’ve kept the draft assets in the first place or traded for other future draft assets.
They acquired a player at the time to push for playoff spot, it worked.
Everything that happened after achieving the immediate goal is irrelevant to the trade itself (but not irrelevant to the current state of the team).
Let me put it this way, if your goal is to win a championship…and in the off-season you trade for high-impact All-Star quality player to be your Batman and you actually manage to win it all…then the following year your prized acquisition blows out his knee, gets addicted to pain meds, goes into depression and a downward spiral, he comes to work and ices your best young player, your coach, you (as the GM), and your owner in a murder-spree. I’d argue the trade the was a success.
See: Kawhi Leonard to the Raps in 2019. A championship then he leaves in free agency. The Raps traded two starters and a first round pick for Kawhi, and it got them a championship, but today, they pretty much are still rebuilding after he left.
Of course the Hueter trade wasn’t an all in move like Leonard, but it was a culture shift and fit move the the franchise, city, and fanbase needed at the time. What moves happened afterwards is not a reflection on that trade.
Put it this way, I’d much rather have Huerter at SG next season at $18M on an expiring deal than LaVine at $47M, with another year after. Funny how Huerter returned to his career averages once he started playing for the Bulls. He’s a system guy.
I had zero issues with Monte trading for Huerter at the time, in fact I was all for it. Huerter was a solid young player on a fair deal. He fit the system with Fox and Sabonis. Sure hindsight is 20/20, but I bet if you go bo back and look at the threads at the time, very few had issues with it. Keep in mind, the Kings had just traded away Buddy and had no starting SG on the roster. I’d also wager no one had issues with it after the Kings made the playoffs for the first time in near a generation and Huerter was a key cog in the Sabonis DHO action while hitting 40% from 3. Keep things in perspective.
The “what have you done for me lately” crowd can pound sand. It was a very good acquisition at the time.
I had issues with it and said it loud at the time. After getting Halliburton in the draft they just needed to be a little more patient and keep plowing forward using the draft and maintaining cap space for the right move at the right time. Instead all they could think about was sneaking into the playoffs with no longer term strategy. It has now failed.
The reason one can conclude that DDR is not that valuable is that one of the best franchises with great coaching failed to have any success with him and wanted to get rid of him.
Respectfully disagree. The last 12 months doesn’t make the trade appear bad. It just makes it bad. The Warriors series broke Huerter and he never got back until he got out of Sacramento.
And is that Huerter’s problem or the Kings problem? If he “got back”: once he left Sacramento, then trade wasn’t bad on Huerter’s end. It was the system and usage that went bad.
I fully understand that Huerter didn’t end well here. He definitely underperformed and never should have started this season after the emergence of Keon, but to label the trade in 2022 as bad because he didn’t perform in 2024 is ignoring a lot of other factors, IMO.
No it wasn’t. Huerter was also overpaid at the time. If it was so good why couldn’t the Kings move him for similar compensation. As for Siakam, I recommended trading for him multiple times on this site. The salaries didn’t match up for a Monk for Siakam trade and that wasn’t a sure deal. The Monk signing however was the one positive move. We basically got a better version of Huerter for less money and cost us no draft capital.
This franchise won’t do what they need to and should have done 3 years ago and that was to obtain young talent through the draft, taking on a bad contract or two for draft capital, making strategic free agent acquisitions (like the Monk one) that you can subsequently move for more draft capital and young prospects.
If you not willing to bust the salary cap, the only way to build a championship contender is through the draft. Have you been paying attention to OKC, Houston etc.
Actually, trades a big part of both teams core . SGA, Caruso, Hartenstein for OKc and Brooks, VanVleet, Adam’s for Houston .
Since the rear view mirror is a popular place to look right now, IF last season (2023-2024) when Kevin Huerter was in a forty game shooting slump, the perfect time to trade him was at that February 2024 deadline.
Pick up a decent shooting guard that could defend and/or shoot, or shoot and/or defend (unlike Red Velvet) and maybe, just maybe, the 46 win Kings of 2024, win 50 games.
Butterfly effect that one!
Same as it ever was. I’m shocked! Shocked I tell you!
Vivek’s ego strikes again. Fucking a-hole
#selltheteam
The value of tanking for the No. 1 pick keeps the tanking teams tanking . Now watch Spurs trade for Giannis .
I have a feeling that the Mavs will be acquiring Giannis in any case. If I were the Bucks GM, I would search for someone capable of selling games and acquiring the most certain prospect, such as Flagg, or make a trade to acquire another star. Not only that, but the NBA ratings will again be boosted by another superstar team lol I don’t think you take a risk trading a superstar for the number two pick and inefficient rookie of the year when you don’t have future draft picks
Probably right in that Flagg makes the most sense for the Bucks . Of course the Spurs could offer #2,#14 and either Castle or Fox .
I wouldn’t trade Flagg for Giannis and I love Giannis both as a player and as a high-quality human being.
Are you kidding me.
Nope.
Giannis has 2yrs left on his contract and unless I could get him to sign an extension, I’d wouldn’t trade Flagg.
I’d rather have Flagg under control for a minimum of 4yrs on a rookie contract with him still being a RFA after that. I assuming that Giannis will not sign an extension so I’m comparing 2yrs of Giannis to 7+yrs of Flagg.
Flagg looks to be amazing, but it may be a bird in hand kind of situation. Flagg may never be more than a great #2 option, while Giannis is clearly a #1 option and can win you a title right now.
The Spurs are going to be a problem. Wemby, Fox, Castle, Vassel, Sochan and now the #2 and #14 pick.
Fox may end up being their 3rd fiddle!! Just imagine if the Kings had built a roster where Fox was 3rd chair!
Imagine – if the GM/Vivek, in the final games of the season, realized holding onto our pick would be more valuable than struggling for the playoffs – that any reasonable person would say this team has/had a zero chance of winning. If this team decided to tank a couple games, they would have been where the Mavs are and the Kings would have the #1 pick. Instead, we have no pick. Instead, we now have a GM saying he wants to build around Zach LaVine in his introductory press conferences. I am completely done as a Kings fan. This is going nowhere and everyone knows it. Been a fan since 1992 when Bobby Hurley was around. This team is the definition of insanity – banging its head against the wall over and over expecting it to break. Wake me up if this GM ever comes to his senses and blows this team up for good picks or if Vivek ever sells the team. There is going to be no light at the end of this tunnel for the next few years at the very least. Completely done.
This team will be passed down to his daughter. Vivek will never sell the team.
I mean, if a terribly mismanaged team had to win the lottery…
Well we should completely have a fire sale and rebuild now lol
I can squint and see a scenario where the Kings send DDR to the Spurs for #14 and filler (Keldon Johnson?) to give that team a veteran presence and a chance to send him back to the Spurs to finish his career. The Spurs really don’t need more rookie scale depth. Their window is opening now.
They had DDR and traded him first chance they could .
I see no scenario where the Spurs trade for DDR, especially for the 14th pick. They got bigger fish to fry.
For real, lol. We need to hope and pray to the basketball gods that the Clippers take DeRozan, because they’re really the only team that might do it. I fully expect DeRozan to be on the Kings next year unless he’s included in a major trade for a top player due to cap reasons.
I agree but he’s also the guy I’m trying the hardest the trade and willing to take back less because of it (if needed).A good thing about the upcoming off-season is that there should be a bunch of big or biggish names on the move (Giannis, Durant, Young, Zion, LaMelo, Markkanen, Domas?) and maybe we can squeeze a DDR into one of them.
Vivek and Perry have no interest in a rebuild and therefore will try and trade for one of them.
I know right.
I’ve already made myself emotionally ready to deal with a Murray for Young trade. Young/Monk/LaVine/DDR/Domas…the AllOffs
Yup. I totally expect a ugly swing for the fences that cripples this team even more than they have already hurt themselves.
They are going to be PHX Suns lite with middling and aging overpriced stars that aren’t hoping for a championship, but are instead just trying to be relevant.
Dennis Schroder on the MLE and Larry Nance Jr. on the vet minimum to round out the rotation for a 38 win season.
Yeah, significant contracts are going to be needed to move those super star deals. These kind of moves often require a 3rd or even 4th team to get contracts to work. I imagine the new apron rules make these things even harder.
I stand by what I said last summer, the DDR deal by Monte was a contract that was written to be traded. It’s not over priced and the 3rd year partial guarantee has it’s benefits.
I see a situation where it comes down to contracts.
Spurs are likely offering Fox a max deal this summer. They have already extended Vassell. Sochan is next and then Wemby. DDR gives them a scoring punch and his lack of defense is mitigated by Wemby. DDR has a movable contract, especially with a team friendly partial guarantee after next season. Keldon is their odd man out riding the bench at $17M per year. They also have Barnes for another year at 19M
It’s the long game for the Spurs, and again, it’s a squint.
If I’m the Mavericks, I’m calling the Bucks and offering Flagg-Lively-Christie-2030-2032 package and pushing for a ring.
Kyrie-Klay-PJ-Giannis-Davis is a nasty team to deal with.
Does that work numbers wise? Giannis makes $54M next season Mavs would also need Kyrie to opt in.
Makes a ton of sense for both teams.
That would make sense if Kyrie was going to play next year. He’s missing half the year at minimum and then I guess we’ll see.
We lost our pick on that damn last phoenix game that didnt have any meaning whatsoever for the play-in which is so stupid. Im done with the Kings man. Im following Fox and rooting for the Spurs moving forward.
I’m still here…and still speechless…
89? You been here for a while ????
Graduated ’89. Kings fan since ’96. I haven’t been this confounded since the Maloofs tried to sell the team. Vivek has been so clueless from the start…and no breaks! His tenure has been one clown show after another. How much longer can he do this? Is there not anyone else with the finances who would want this team?
This is such a nightmare. No stars, no young players, no draft picks. This squad is god awful and there’s no way to fix it. BASKETBALL HELL.
The only fix is a long rebuild which Vivek is unwilling to do. Therefore, low end medicority will rule.
You could kick start a nice rebuild by trading Sabonis, Monk, DdR and Lavine for youth and picks and tank next season for the top pick. If we chose that path last offseason we could be the one’s with the number one pick and Flagg and have a bright future. Blowing it up is the only solution.
None of those players have value, except Sabonis and probably not a 1st round pick. There is no way out. Meanwhile, Halliburton is taking his team to the Eastern Conference finals with legendary playoff heroics.
For real, the Pacers didn’t get any picks for him, and I don’t see another team doing what they did trading Haliburton for him. Basketball hell is getting a lot hotter around here.”
A lot of King’s fans still defend the Hali/Sabonis trade. It’s comical.
My trade senario. Sabonis and Carter to the Nets for Claxton, Johnson,, 2025 first, 2025 first, 2027 first and 2030 first.
Monk a first and second to the Pels for Jones and Alvarado.
Derozan to the Pistons for Tobias Harris and 2027 first.
Retain LaRavia
Get FA Amir Coffee from the Clippers.
Now you have your point guard a shooter in Johnson a defensive stalwart in Jones and a backup in Harris. Ellis with Jones and Murray would be devastating. Johnson alongside Murray and add LaVine 3 great shooters. Can’t ask for more.
PS You also have 5 first round draft picks. 2 this year along with 2 seconds.
You are overvaluing our “assets” just a tinge lolol. You’re giving The Kings 3 first round picks for Sabonis and Carter? Holy smokes! And you’re trading Derozan who has no value for Tobias Harris and another first round pick? Whoa! Also you used “Murray” and “devastating” in the same sentence. Oh my sweet jeebus.
Domas isn’t worth his contract which diminishes his value. A domas trade will be like getting a salary dump, young player and a first at most.
I think the market for Domas will be very specific teams that have the players to accentuate him. The Spurs come to mind. I’m not sure a team like the Nets would give that up without the right players around Domas.
Actually, the tanking teams all moved down . Dallas, Spurs didn’t tank each had major injuries .
The only way to fix it is through the draft and to be patient for about 4 years. Ironically after they drafted Halliburton, they were on a path for sustained success. Instead they went for a sugar high win now strategy that has failed miserably. Don’t be deceived that they were championship competitive as a result of the 2023 season. Remember they didn’t make it out of the first round of the playoffs and the team they lost to in the first round was decisively defeated in their next round.
Exactly, been saying this forever. Shoulda bottomed it out and tanked with Hali as cornerstone. We’d probably have something good now.
Now that the Hawks finally have the pick, the Kings have all of their future draft assets available for trade.
There are always ways to correct course, we all know that Vivek refuses to take the most consistent path (full on rebuild) but there are other pathways to sustained success. I don’t know if Perry will take the Kings there, but simply (simple in theory, not necessarily in execution) trading DDR, Monk, & Domas should net enough assets to put a decent team together (with Ellis and Keegan). We can watch Lavine and JV until their contracts expire and we might have something fun to watch in a year or two.
The funny thing is, that basketball hell is so much higher up in the flames than the depths we’ve currently reached
The salt in the wound will be when ATL picks a perennial all-star with our pick.
And sign me up for the Luka/L*ker/Vegas/DAL conspiracy thingy. I don’t know if I actually believe it but it’s an avenue to vent frustration at the moment.
Dallas demonstrating why keeping your pick is more valuable than garbage play-in, fools-gold.
They definitely tanked to keep their #10 pick two years ago, but injuries played apart of this year. That being said, they are a perfect example of keeping your lottery picks can pay in dividends.
Damn, you never want to see a playoff series decided by an injury to a major player. Hope all is well with Tatum. That just sucks, man.
It appeared to be an achilles which places doubt on Tatum playing next szn. The C’s have a bloated payroll, wouldn’t surprise me if they sell off assets (KP and/or Jrue) this offseason and treat next szn like a mini reboot year.
Gotta love that the pick the Kings should have gotten for Fox will likely end up adding ANOTHER star to that team after Wemby, the Kings best (or second best player) and the rookie of the year.
Amazing work Montevek.
That’s the most annoying part of it, IMO.
The ‘we could have been the Mavs’ complaint is very dependent on lottery luck, but not getting the Spurs pick this season is simply result of a bad trade.
The Mavs make a generational mistake and get rewarded with another superstar.
i know it’s all ping pong balls but man do some teams just have all the luck….
Luck or sinister back door deals? We’ll never know.
Karma out here owning Vivek.
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