Update: 10:30 pm
The Sacramento Kings defeated the New Orleans Pelicans Friday 117-113. Sacramento out-rebounded New Orleans 46-36 and won points in the paint 62-48. The game was tied with 4 minutes left in the fourth quarter before the youngsters of the Kings solidified the win,
Maxime Raynaud finished with 28 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Nique Clifford had 23 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds. Dylan Cardwell had 8 rebounds and 5 blocks.
The Kings are now 21-57.
From Earlier Preview:
The Kings face a Pelicans team they can beat tonight, and despite the fact that it doesn’t benefit them at all to do so, the tank remains in a dangerous position. Let’s get into it.
Who: Sacramento Kings (20-57) vs. the New Orleans Pelicans (25-52)
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA
When: 7:00 PM PT / 10:00 PM ET
Watch: NBCSCA / League Pass
The Kings, behind a 35-minute, 28-point performance from DeMar DeRozan, defeated the Toronto Raptors 123-115 on Wednesday night. The win pushed the Kings to 20-57, just one game below the Utah Jazz at 21-56. Utah has lost 7-straight.
Enter the New Orleans Pelicans, a team that doesn’t own their own draft pick this year. Tanking isn’t on the table for them, however they are bad enough without the tanking carrot to lose to the Kings tonight, and that’s a problem.
A little over a month ago, the Kings had the worst record in the NBA. With that label, the furthest they could fall in the draft lottery was 5th, and they had a greater chance of drafting in the top-5 than any other team in the league. Today, they are dangerously close to letting the Jazz overtake them. If that happens, the Kings would be positioned as the 5th worst team in the NBA, and while they could still walk away with a top-5 pick, it’s more likely that they’ll land somewhere between 6-8 on draft night.
The difference between these scenarios might seem trivial, but for me, it’s more about why they got here than the simple fact that they got here. If the Kings were maxing out youth minutes and still winning games, oh well. There’s only so much you can do about that. But this isn’t what’s happening in Sacramento. Yes, the youth is playing, but the Raptors win is the most egregious example of how horribly the Kings have handled the tank down the stretch. Why, god, why, is DeMar DeRozan still playing 35 minutes in any of these games? Who does that benefit? We’re talking about a 36-year old veteran who likely won’t be on the team next season impacting a scenario that could hurt the organization for several years into the future. And I don’t care if that negative impact is just a handful of ping pong balls, I still don’t see the logic behind taking that risk.
I’ve said enough. Go Pelicans, save the Kings from themselves.
Prediction: Kings 119, Pelicans 109.
Welcome to Maxi’s Pad!
That’s bloody brilliant!
Let it flow.
Though the Pels are still on a loss streak,
They don’t have a draft slot to seek.
With no reason to lose,
We’ll see if they just cruise.
With Vivek things always look bleak!
+1 How much more can we swallow?
Going to the game tonight with a good friend. Hoping the only beam I see tonight is Jim.
I want all G leaguers for 48 min straight.
DDR just reached the 175th spot on the NBA all time steals list!
Bottom of the league teams tonight:
1) Washington – stagnant
2) Brooklyn – L
3) Indiana – L
4) Jazz – L
5) Sacramento – W
6) Dallas – L
7) New Orleans – L
8) Memphis – L
9) Chicago – L
10) Milwaukee – L
Keep zigging when others zag…
Don’t worry about it. After the first pick the draft board varies. 2-6 who knows. The second round might also be fruitful and we’ve got two picks.
The kids won that game
Well…if you’re gonna win a game during a tank, that’s the way to do it.
Yep. Can’t be mad when Max, Nique, Carter & Cardwell big time you to a win.
Woke up to see a Kings win and was thoroughly pissed at this team’s ineptitude. Then I saw reasonable minutes for Deebo and Precious, the team was led by Max and Nique. Now I’m fine with the W. The Kings are going to need some lottery luck to make them watchable next season
No? Don’t tell me how to fan!!!
Joe Maloof has put on some weight.
AI slop. Joe Maloof would never correctly use a contraction.
At least the right players won the game.
Hmm, just imagine if Doug had played the youngsters extended minutes for most of the season instead of just at the end of the season. I wouldn’t even be as upset about losing a top pick if they’d won like that throughout the season.
Zion Williamson is a basketball player in the NBA
So is Dylan Cardwell!
It’s so easy to be a fan favorite for Kings fans:
Love this guy.
I am OLD, but the vertical video for a basketball game is dumb.
The Kings are now tied with the Jazz for the fourth-worst record. I don’t care who won the game for the Kings; the imperative was to lose it. I think developing any of the young Kings is less important than acquiring a great prospect in June.
Point taken. That said, someone has to play, and the players are never going to try to lose.
No Russ. No Keegan. No Zach. No Domas. No Monk. And they played down the stretch with no DDR and no Achiuwa. The Kings won because their collective of rooks & bench fodder beat the Pels’ collective of rooks, Zion & Trey Murphy over the final 8 minutes. Queen’s flagrant on Plowden’s 3 was fatal.
For sure, players won’t play to lose. As I heard a while ago, players on these teams are often striving to secure a long-term career. They will not try to lose and look worse just so the team has a better chance at a great prospect to come and take their spot. They will play to win and look good for their next contract.
But what about some coaches? I think Carlisle with the Pacers may feel the job security to see the bigger picture, and that Dybantsa with Tyrese is more important than beating a team like the Pels. I think Hardy may be in a similar spot. I hope Jordi is, but I don’t know. I have no clue about Keefe in Washington. As for Doug, it seems like he’s just one of those coaches who’s not wired that way, or he doesn’t feel the job security to stick to what should be the #1 priority. Or both, I guess.
The Pacers recently beat both the Magic and the Heat, and played very close games against the two LA teams. Carlisle has played Siakam 33 mpg this season, giving him lots of 4th qtr minutes in many, if not most, games.
The most interesting way you can really stop tanking is have the non-playoff teams do a separate playoff of their own for draft position. The place you finish in that tournament is your lottery odds. It would prevent tanking and make every game count, plus give every team a postseason. The main problem I guess is bad teams might not get good picks.
I do see the problem with tanking actually because I literally just want the Kings to intentionally lose games right now and that’s not good. Some teams seem to be trying harder to intentionally lose than the Kings and I don’t like it.
And do you really feel players would play hard for a draft pick position that may move them out of a spot. It’s an easy solution. Just the final 8 teams are out of the lottery and the other teams have an equal chance. That will end tanking immediately. The fans deserve much better than what’s going on right now.
If I understand you right, and looking at the current standings, that means the Cavs or Rockets could win the lottery and get Dybantsa.
I think the idea of the draft being in the order of the highest loss percentage first is so that the bad teams can get good prospects and become competitive. I think the point is to shoot for achieving parity, but maybe I’m missing something fundamental.
Yes that’s the intention of the current system but the process is broke so something has to be changed. You can’t have professional franchises going out and trying to lose on purpose.
So the final 4 in the east and final 4 in the west are excluded from the lottery. Is it perfect, no but it’s a hell of a lot better than what’s occurring now. Also, are you concerned that a team who basically was two baskets away from a championship last season may end up with the top pick in the draft? Maybe the second round can go by worst record first.
Don’t care about the tank anymore. Rather hope Kings get a head coach that is more strategic and build a culture of toughness and connected with the front office.
And how many different head coaches have we tried. Doug is good enough, just get him a capable roster.
I suppose the “coolness” factor of the beam was a thing last night at the A’s home opener. Special night over there, but some divided Kings fans around us. Wild times.
I think too much is being made over whether we finish 3,4,or 5th from the bottom. The draft board is all over the place with some projecting Peterson has low as 5 now. Dybantsa will most likely go one but after that who knows. There plenty of potential impact players available, it’s up to the Kings scouting department to find one and they must find one. Also important are the two second round picks the Kings have. This is supposedly a deep draft so the Kings must find a solid player in the second round.
For me, I like Dame Saar and Flory Bidunga in the second round. The first round picks is a tough one but any of these guys are good for me.
This would be a nice haul. Flemings, Saar, Bidunga. And let’s find a serviceable undrafted free agent. How about Jordan Pope from Texas. Maybe Josh Dix, Silas Demery UConn, LeJean Watts Texas Tech.
Draft them and play them next year.
The Beam squad (is that what they are calling themselves?) balled out against a very disjointed Pels squad.
I actually like that I found a team that I feel is legitimately same maybe worse than Sac in the present and near future. Fears is a nice player for sure, and so are Trey Murphy and Herb Jones – Zion? sheesh. Who’s worse to have Ja or Zion? I even like Zach over those two.
Nawlins got an icky looking next season, just like Kangz.
Can Sac run the table in the loss column from here on out?
[…] Kings can’t get out of their own way. Having possessed the worst or second-worst record in the NBA for nearly the entire season, a late […]
Oh come on Kayte and Kyle, DDR maybe hasn’t slowed down on offense but he’s a traffic cone on defense and that’s one of the big reasons why the Kings can’t win. And he’s not hunting number either! Give me an f-ing break.
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