Update: 9:30 p.m.
The Sacramento Kings are 3-10 as they lost to the Timberwolves on a bright green court. Dennis Schroder was benched and Russell Westbrook started in his spot. Schroder ended up scoring 14 points in 28 points. Westbrook tallied a triple double, yes another, with 13 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds. Domantas Sabonis got 24 shots and finished with 34 points and 11 rebounds.
The Kings continue to improve their lottery chances while trying to compete.
From Earlier Preview:
Yikes. That is one of many possible words I would use to describe the basketball being played by the Sacramento Kings these days. They’ve lost 4-straight games, none of which were particularly close, and they have to play the Timberwolves tonight. Good luck.
Who: Sacramento Kings vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
Where: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
When: 5:00 PM PT / 8:00 PM ET
Watch: NBCSCA / League Pass
I’ll be curious to see if the Kings show any semblance of life tonight. Doug Christie has called out his squad repeatedly (in addition to calling out the haters) and these press conferences will continue to get more and more uncomfortable the longer the Kings players fail to respond to any of it.
For the Kings, Keegan Murray is still out. Malik Monk is questionable. Domantas Sabonis is questionable. Sacramento’s defense is also questionable, and that is being kind. The Timberwolves are essentially at full strength.
Oh, and this is an NBA Cup game, for those who value that sort of thing. The Kings are 0-1 in NBA Cup group play, and a loss tonight will likely end their title chase. And keep an eye out for the Timberwolves’ court tonight, it’s pretty insane.
Prediction: Kings 120, Timberwolves 113.
You predict a Kings win. Ever the optimist.
I think that’s always how it’s been for previews. Even if they most likely won’t. Tradition!
They embarrassed the Kings back in Sac—
Exposed everything that we lack.
Not much has been changed;
Vivek’s still deranged.
And the losses continue to stack!
+1 How about that last game with the TWolves?
Lawl, it was only a matter of time.
About time. Dennis has been bad.
LOL, two dudes starting tonight for the Kings who weren’t on the team just a few weeks ago for camp. Great roster building, Perry!
Who are they going to cut next so they can sign Patty Mills? The guy is only 37.
Probably a big.
yeah stuff like that is straight CRAZY to me…such piss poor planning (no plan realistically)
Stop the bleeding?
I’ve had worse.
Sacramento Defense – DNP, CD (Christie’s Disgusted)
I resemble that remark…
Title chase? title chase ???????
Stop the Bleeding?
Save the livers!
If you so choose, you get to watch the Kangz on this court tonight? What the fuck is wrong with people making a court look like this?
It’s literally reflecting off the players’ jerseys in addition to my eyeballs. Lol…
Just think of the all the “green screen” video editing opportunities!!
JFC if the Kings aren’t bad enough, that floor makes the game unwatchable.
Russ pulls some shenanigans to get a foul on Conley, and Kayte calls it a “savvy veteran move”. If the opponent did that, she would call it foul grifting, or the offensive player created the contact. She is so bad.
The broadcast team is even harder to watch than the team . Only a Vivekian franchise could think this is a good idea .
JFC you need to run and run hard when you got Monk, Schroeder, and Keon on the floor.
DeRozan and Lavine out, benchbdudes come in and the game looks completely different. Think we can all see who needs to be traded.
Another win for the good guys.
19 wins Vivek, you got this.
The Haters do indeed know who they are coach, and I’m keeping that energy.
Heavy minutes by old starters again. Just bizarre. All the old dudes played the last 3-5 minutes even when the game was out of reach. Hard to take DC seriously.
This.
he goes on an emotional rant, scapegoats Schroder from the starting lineup but doesn’t really change much.
High school coach
Pre-school Owner
To be fair to Doug; this has been a trend through the last several seasons and multiple coaches. I recall other teams removing their lineups and the Kangz still playing starters through to the last 30 seconds.
As my Dad would say – “if all the other kids are jumping off a bridge, does that mean you have to do it as well”?
And the tank goes on!
Hoping that reset button gets pressed sooner rather than later.
With Vivek I’m afraid the reset button might actually be a self-destruct button!
I’m increasingly convinced that’s it’s actually a Recycle button at this point.
Better yet, the eject button for Vivek
Damn, I can’t find the fitting gif from Cannonball Run with Roger Moore.
Better than nothing…
Looking at the box score, it looks like the bleeding continueth!
4 guards and 1 center off the bench. Absolutely pathetic.
Those TWolves, man… such haters.
Wasn’t that so fun and entertaining watching Westbrook get a triple double?
Thanks Vivek! If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t get to watch old, has been, mismatched parts trying to play basketball together.
That was a bad loss because the young guys barely got time on the court.
Nique played 6 minutes early in the game, and I thought he looked. Never came back in the game.
Max? Nope
Carter? Nope
At least Ellis was able to play 22 minutes.
Seems old players at the end of their careers leading to losses is the plan if there is one .
I’m waiting for December 15th when certain players can become trade eligible. The quicker DDR can be traded, the better.
Monk and Schroder are redundant, so I expect one to be traded.
Give me a lineup featuring Keon, Nique, Keegan, Max, and Carter (with Domas). I want to see those guys develop together and get some synergy on the court.
A whole lot of shit can hit the fan over the next 30 days before Dec.15th.
Here’s hoping it does.
If anyone wants these players, they’re giving up minimal assets for them, and at their inflated salaries, what the Kings are taking back WILL NOT be good.
For me, just expirings, youth, and shorter term deals would work.
Hell, trade for Rozier’s expiring deal and never play him. That’s a full tank maneuver.
Sabonis, Monk, and Saric for Wiggins, Rozier, Jovic and Ware.
I like this trade.
Well, Doug won’t be the first to go if he is fired in the coming weeks.
Good for Greene. Dumars made awful moves and the coqch gets the blame.
Vivek is not going to pay three coaches at the same time. Too cheap, and he’s not getting another NBA head coach to work for what Doug is making. (I suppose he could ALSO try to launder Bobby Jackson’s Kings legend status for two of years of failure on a badly constructed team, but I’d hope Bobby has more sense than to accept that.)
You’re welcome
Domas for Ja Moron straight up seems destined.
MEM is one of the few teams that make sense for Domas in terms of fit. In theory Domas and JJJ are a fit next to one another.
As for us, I still don’t believe Vivek will accept a rebuild and pivoting to Ja will give Vivek all he wants which is to fill the stands. And he can sell it by saying Russ is a similar player who can mentor Ja.
Ja is also on a slightly cheaper contract as well which fits Vivek’s miserliness.
IMO I would not trade for Ja Morant. How about Monk, Schroder, Carter, 2 firsts and a second for LaMelo Ball. Fits way better than Morant. How about Sabonis to the Nets, who would really want him, for Claxton, Mann, Wells and a first or two?
I don’t want Ball or Morant.
I don’t see why the Nets would trade for Sabonis when they’re in the middle of a tank rebuild.
The reality is that there are only a few teams that would trade for Domas because he is such a difficult fit. Which is why a team like Mem makes sense because he’d fit next to JJJ.
How about Minny?
Gobert for Domas. Minny throws in a first.
Domas can start next to Naz and they would have something with ant and domas in the PnR.
The Kings would turn around and try and move Gobert to any takers.
Plus you could start Russ and Rudy which would help the tank lol.
My funniest Domas trades:
For Fox.
For Draymond Green.
For Hali.
It’s kind of funny but Domas is actually a nice fit in either Indy or SA. SA irregardless if Fox is still there and in Indy with Hali.
A Hali and Domas PnR game would be sick.
I keep thinking Domas to the Spurs as well. His playmaking, screen setting and rebounding paired with Wemby, Fox and either Harper or Castle would be great.
I say Harper or Castle because I’d want one of them in return for Sabonis. It would actually be very similar to what Indy got for Sabonis, which is a prospect (Hali) and filler
Butt-pulled idea: Harper, Vassell, Olynyk, K. Johnson for Sabonis, Monk, Carter, Saric. No picks exchanged.
How about Sabonis to the Nets for Claxton,Mann, Wells and a first.
IMO, Tanking, rebuilding, non-playoff teams aren’t going to come calling about the Kings vets. Those teams want youth and picks. The teams that may sniff around the dead carcass of this franchise are going to be playoff teams and contenders, who want win now support.
How about Sabonis, Monk and Saric for Wiggins, Rosier, Ware and Joviv?
Nobody with two brain cells to rub together wants us to trade for Ja Morant.
Which is why Vivek will almost certainly do it.
He’ll do it just to piss the non-casual fanbase off because he knows we despise him.
Doug was not ready to be an NBA head coach. He is probably ready to cut his teeth as the head coach at a lower-tier D1 college program. This team is full of players who are old, bad at defense, and too stuck in their ways to change– the exact opposite of what Christie is good at working with. Trade ’em all for pennies on the dollar and field a glorified college/G-league team he can actually have an impact on for a year until you fire him.
The season is still early and can be salvaged. IMO DeRozan should be traded. Clifford is going to be pretty good, there’s a player there. I would start him in DeRozan’s spot, play him 30-35 minutes a night to let him develop.
I’m all for giving Clifford more minutes but he looks like a player with a low ceiling and really he hasn’t been that good when he’s played.
Hes almost 24 which is part of the reason he looks semi competent IMO. I think he can be a role player on a good team with development, but he’s unlikely to be a difference maker.
But there is no reason to play the old dudes over him, might as well see if he can improve with more minutes.
My hope for him is healthy Cisco Garcia. That would be a positive outcome for a mid-20s pick.
That’s not a bad outcome for a 20’s pick. But I’m hoping for more like Alex Caruso / Doug Christie type player…but that’s probably an outcome that only happens in some alternate reality where the Kings aren’t the Kangz.
Why would we need to salvage this season? It was over even before the openning tip anyway, as most of TKH predicted? Best thing to do right now is clean house via trades and keep players healthy so we can trade them. And tank hard for next years draft.
*one can dream despite the apathy
This.
Nothing to be salvaged here.
Break it down, sell the parts and hope that it somehow causes you to luck into a generational talent that even Vivek can’t fuck up.
Although, after watching the Mavs drama unfold, I’m not even sure that’s a viable option.
The accidental tank.
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