The Kings Herald Show returns with Jerry Reynolds, Will Griffith, and Tony Xypteras to break down how Darius Acuff, Emanuel Sharp, and the Sacramento Kings performed in summer league.
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I mean, his basketball idol is Allen Iverson…not exactly a shining example of deferring his own shot to others.
I just hope it isn’t a sign of things to come.
Well if he ends up close to Iverson that would mean a HOF , MVP, and many time All Star that led a team to much playoff success and an NBA Finals . I and fine with that but understand if you wouldn’t be . Also, Iverson was a no.1 pick .
Also a very different era of basketball and skillsets. Iverson could score, but he also averaged just 6 APG while shooting 31% from 3.
I wonder how his game would translate in today’s NBA.
Great question . Obviously impossible to know and doubt Acuff will ever be of that level of difference maker . I am certain you remember Iverson’s amazing quickness and wonder if with today’s game played in transition so much and with better spacing that in fact his impact might be even greater . Do you have any thoughts on that ? Very interested in your analysis .
The spacing of today’s game would definitely open up his ability to attack the paint, as would a very favorable whistle for offensive players in today’s NBA.
if I had to compare him, I think he’d be a smaller SGA, but not as good an on ball defender.
That being said Iverson’s inability to stretch the floor or be an elite playmaker could create limitations. His teammates, however, in today’s league would likely be better shooters, so I expect an uptick in his assists numbers… if he were willing to pass up some of his shot selection.
Iverson would average 40ppg. He was that good.
Not disagreeing, but I’m not sure that necessarily contributes to winning.
I think he may fall into the James Harden, Westbrook, Tracey McGrady type of player who puts up gaudy numbers but fizzles out deep into the playoffs.
Well, he took a bad Sixers team to the Finals back in the day. I think he would be fine in today’s game.
Sadly the Kings could could only dream of such problems, of having players that struggle deep in the playoffs. If only they could have a team to get that far
Playoffs? We talkin’ ’bout playoffs?
No, seriously…
…what are playoffs?
PPG? We’re talking about ppg?
Go on….
?w=1400
A fascinating question to which I have no answer. The game has changed so much since then, would AI be kind of an empty stats player?
I can’t even think of a current comp for AI,
or really any player from the past decade.
Acuff reminds me more of Dame anyways.
You make great points. In all honesty, I was thinking more along the lines of Iverson’s downsides. He could be a chucker. He constantly battled with coaches. He needed the spotlight all to himself. Drama seemed to follow him everywhere he went.
And for an MVP and HOF’er to only make one finals appearance and never win a title? Well, there were reasons for that. As much as Iverson brought to the table, he was his own worst enemy in many ways, too.
I’d much rather get the outcome you discussed. But, you know….Kangz. We can’t ever have nice things.
LOL, that’s a big if. Hope springs eternal.
Just now got to listen to the show.
I’m not sure I’m happy with a roster where only Acuff and Monk are your de facto point guards. Even setting aside injuries, I fear that teams will pressure Acuff constantly, and you do need a secondary ballhandler as a safety valve, otherwise you’re really setting him up to fail.
I don’t mind throwing in Acuff at the deep end of the pool, but this is tying a weight to his legs and telling him to swim.
I’m OK with it. At this point, you’re not going to find a “true” point guard that makes the team any better than Acuff or Monk. And giving Monk time at PG frees up the 2 behind LaVine for Sharp and Clifford.
This is a bottom six roster no matter how you carve it up. I’d rather see Acuff / Monk than Acuff / insert bottom end vet, especially since the latter option moves Monk firmly behind LaVine.
We’ve seen spells of Monk running the point and…it’s not pretty. At all.
I totally get the point that this is one of the worst rosters in the Association and because of that, it really doesn’t matter that much.
But how do you install and run a consistent offensive system for 48 minutes if you don’t have anyone other than Acuff to run it?
If he plays 30-34 minutes a night, that’s over a full quarter of basketball chaos where you aren’t running plays, and guys (other than Sabonis) will very quickly learn that they should be looking for the ball to come their way.
I’m normally hugely against veterans eating up time and taking away from younger players. But in this instance, it’s going to feel like two completely different offenses depending on whether it’s Acuff or Monk running point.
And that inconsistency is not going to be great for the development of guys like Sharp, Karaban, Clifford, or Reynoud,
Counterpoint: The top UFA “PG” right now is James Harden. #2? That would be none other than Russell Westbrook, with such luminaries as Brandon Williams, Gabe Vincent and Cole Anthony following.
So your choice at backup point is Monk or the guys listed above? Give me Monk. Add to that, plugging one of these guys in behind Acuff moves Monk firmly to the backup 2, so now Sharp and Clifford are destined to only get injury and mop up minutes.
Also, with a starting rookie PG, you are not going to see a consistent offensive system for 48 minutes. In that regard, whether you have Monk or one of these minimum wage FAs filling the 14-16 minutes behind Acuff, you are going to get very spotty offensive play, unless you return to running a lot of the offense through Domas. Given the circumstances, spare me the veteran backup PG adding to his pension and let me watch the youngsters play a little more.
In addition, Monk as a backup PG brings some offense off the bench with him, which will be needed. And as a guard that looks for his own shot, passes, and knows how to PnR, he is not worlds apart from the type of offense that Acuff promotes.
Bottom line, this team is only competing to stay out of the bottom three this year. A Westbrook / Vicnent / Anthony won’t bring one win to the table. I’d rather see Monk than any of those guys, and I’d rather see Sharp / Clifford than any of those guys. Monk as the backup PG has the potential to do that.
With this guard rotation, they likely have trouble staying out of the bottom 3. And may possibly screw up a year of developing youngsters because we have too few ballhandlers and will have problems running plays. That is, if Doug will actually have a playbook.
But we’ll see.
The question is, what is the available guard rotation that improves their chances? Westbrook? Killian Hayes? Jordan McLaughlin? The point guard free agent cupboard is absolutely bare. I just don’t see anyone out there that is going to come in and improve this team. I just don’t see anyone that improves the rotation of Acuff / LaVine / Monk / Sharp / Clifford. Isaiah Stevens is as good of a “break glass in case of emergency” option under the circumstances.
Why limit it to the current FA market?
as things stand now, the roster is very unbalanced, which is a result of the last few months, not a situation that suddenly came to life now.
We have just one real PG, and he’s a rookie. That’s awful roster construction, in my book.
The FA market is what we have to go off of right now. If there is a viable deal to balance the roster, great, but I don’t possess the internal bandwidth to concoct one. Based on what we know is available, I don’t see an option out there that improves the situation.
We know right now that the roster is unbalanced. And that for about a month, trades could have been made and FA’s could have been signed. If there are right now few options left, it means that Perry has painted himself in a corner.
I really don’t see why we have to judge this situation on this exact moment in time, but I may be missing something.
You’re not missing anything. Agreed 100% that the situation does not need to be judged on this exact moment in time. That said, what we are currently discussing is taking place at this exact moment in time. And at this exact moment in time, the Kings do not seem to have a lot of options that will improve their overall situation.
Portland and Boston appear to be the two teams that have the kind of depth at PG that could make them potential trade partners. Unfortunately, it does not appear that there is much (or anything) that would appeal to either of these clubs.
Portland is a tough team to match contracts with when it comes to their inventory of Ja, Dame, Scoot and Jrue. And my guess is that Conley went to Boston in search of a ring, and the Celts are not going to part with White or Pritchard for anything off of our poo poo platter.
I agree with you and Nodaclu 100% that this team needs another point guard. The divergence presents itself when we plug in the reality of what the options are, which currently come in somewhere between null and void.
Yes, LaVine could come out of the gate on fire, and with his contract expiring by the day, he could make himself attractive to a contending team by the trade deadline. And yes, a trade under those circumstances could return a bench point guard that would be a better option than Monk. Heck, Monk, as a ball handling 6th man and really the primary bench scoring option, could re-ignite his value to the point where he is dealt for better roster balance. But on 7/23/26, I’m not seeing an option on the horizon that is better than Malik Monk backing Acuff, thus freeing up an additional 14-16 minutes a night for Sharp / Clifford behind LaVine. Sum of its parts, and all that.
Acuff and Monk are both guards that can handle, pass, and have a score first mentality. Monk has been a capable PnR partner over the years. Both are probably more cones than pillars on the defensive end. I believe that the two of them could pretty much run the same offense (with the hope being that Acuff develops and leaves Monk in the dust).
On the list of what ails this organization at this point in time, the backup point guard position is incredibly low on my list. Your mileage may vary, and you and Nodaclu may be absolutely correct in your level of concern. I just don’t share it, and in fact I see benefits for Sharp and
Clifford in having Monk fill time behind Acuff.
I also see this team as a 29 win club, give or take. And I don’t see a FA PG (or trade for a backup PG) right now that would get the team to 30. It is a good thing that the Kings front office is much smarter than I am, so I’m sure that it will get resolved to our satisfaction.
You look at what Oklahoma does with their roster, I can’t imagine that Dort at his deal would have many takers, but look at what they did, shed all kinds of salary and got what 5 2nd round picks back.
Cue the Kings front office crickets
Kings just give away 2nd round picks. It’s a valuable asset, and the team doesn’t use them well.
Yeah you’re listening to a 5’ 5” blowhard who’s never played a lick of basketball. How many times is the professional regurgitater gonna say “Your mileage may vary”. Certainly someone like Harden would add wins not to say I’m advocating that.
Play and develop the current young guys, move Zach LaVine at the trade deadline for some draft capital and reevaluate at year end.
My starting lineup is Acuff, LaVine, Murray, Sabonis, and Raynaud with Clifford and Monk first off the bench. Hopefully at some point perhaps after the trade deadline there will be enough minutes for Sharp and Karaban to make a good assessment of their skills.
Thank you for seconding my overall point Rik – in FAR fewer words than I managed…lol. I appreciate it.
I’m hoping Doug installs a system that far less iso driven and gets the ball more in Sanonis’ hands. Have him run the de facto point. Acuff just needs to get the ball across midpoint and get into a set with Sabonis running things from the elbows.
Have Acuff run the point like Bibby ran the point. Run him off ball screens, curls and cuts to get open jumpers. Maybe a better comp to today’s game is Curry. Acuff is obviously a scoring PG and you already have one of the best passing big men in the game. Play to strengths.
the same goes for LaVine. For Christs sake, don’t park him on the perimeter just waiting for a kick out.
the Kings have 3 good deep shooters in Acuff, LaVine, and Keegan. If Hunter is the fourth wing, you have the ability to stretch the floor and let Sabonis work.
Please just stop the iso shit and move without the ball.
Ha, Doug installing a system that is modern and works is a massive undertaking. That being said, this type of system has been discussed many times on TKH. It would work, but the Kings coaches seem to have a different idea (that isn’t working).
I’m also not sure if Keegan is a good 3pt shooter. Aside from the rookie season, he has been a below league average shooter. Not sure why, but the results are the results. He really needs to have that bounce back 40% season if this teams even sniffs 25 wins.
Lavine needs to be moving without the ball. Use his athleticism and open up the floor. But the offense seems to be ISO Lavine. He doesn’t use the screens Domas sets very well.
I have a feeling we will see another bottom 5 offense, and probably the worst defense in the league, en route to a 24 win season and picking 11th in the 2027 NBA draft.
I think what happened with Keegan is the league adjusted to him after his rookie season and the Kings utterly failed in playing to his strengths and his development. Adding DDR relegated Keegan to an after thought and last year he was crushed by injuries.
His value is low now, but I still think he can be a great 3rd banana on a good team in an Aaron Gordon/Mikal Bridges type of way.
I’m really hoping he proves his worth this season and his play and contract look to be very good going forward.
If, however, it’s gonna be Acuff, Monk, and LaVine iso ball with Sabonis planted at the dunkers spot kind of offense, it will be the franchise failing Keegan and not Keegan living up to his promise.
I appreciate your optimism, but I completely disagree on this one. In his first season, Keegan was a spot shooter only, and then because he was young, he was encouraged to shoot more, play off the dribble, etc. You have to encourage young players to grow their game.
What I see is that Keegan isn’t any good at any of that. He can’t create advantages off the dribble, get his own shot, shoot off the dribble, or make plays. I see Keegan as Keon Ellis, but 4″ taller and 50 pounds heavier.
Keegan can catch and shoot and play defense, and shouldn’t be doing anything else. His regression over the last few years has been because he’s either trying to do other stuff, or because the Kings offense and personnel have been a mess and he’s been on some level forced into that role.
There’s nothing wrong with a guy who can only spot shoot and play defense, but that guy is a fifth starter and no more.
Yes good offense involves spreading the court, moving the ball, cutting, and screening both off ball and on ball. I strongly dislike iso basketball especially in crunch time where it unfortunately is used most.
Step 1: Vivek sells team
Step 2: Fire Scott & Doug & hire a GM & Coach with a consistent offensive system
Step 3: Profit
Rule 1 any overlap of ACuff and LaVine should be kept to a minimum. Acuff will get 30-32 so Zach can have the other 16-18. No more than 8 minutes overlap tops.
That said, with a sudden disregard for defense I would like to see Monk and Zach come off the bench and shoot the hell out of the ball when they do. I strongly suggest Cardwell is on the court. Probably Achiuwa too. Along with Sharp.
Jerry Reynolds seems like a nice guy but when you look at his coaching record in the NBA, I really wouldn’t pay much attention to him. I look at Acuff’s numbers playing tough competition in college and he showed me enough in the summer league that he could put up good numbers against NBA competition. Sure he will have some growing pains as will all of the other college freshman but give me the guy who could shot, see the court, attack the basket and find the open player and Acuff showed all that at times in the small summer league sample set. Consistency will come with experience and maturity. I like who we drafted.
Jerry was pushing and hoping for the Kings to draft Acuff all along and has been a big fan . Think you missed his point in the actual discussion . Stated he was disappointed in shot selection and productivity . Which was poor . Also, pointed out negative stats on Wagler, Peterson, and Flemings . Seems you didn’t listen to the podcast .
LeBron to the 76ers.
This team was actually one of the 3 worst teams in the league last year, they just didn’t know how to tank like everyone else. This year with other teams trying to avoid the bottom 3 we will fall there. The primary reason for this will be Doug Christie, terrible coach and Vivek puppet. Second you can blame Perry, also terrible and a puppet. Of course it’s all Vivek and his minions in the end but with a good coach hire we would have a shot at staying out of bottom 3 with this roster.
There was really no reason to penalize the bottom 3 teams, could’ve just lumped them in with the group above them. Complete insanity by the NBA to penalize the worst teams in the league.
Badge Legend