Welcome back to Chainmail!
This week, we have an exciting guest contributor joining us: James Ham! James is a familiar face and name among the fan base, as he’s currently the Kings Insider for NBC Sports Bay Area, and he’s also lived the lonely, spreadsheet-endearing life of a #blogboy in the past. James will be joining us to answer all of the mailbag questions, but feel free to direct any specific questions about his journey in sports journalism as well.
We’ve had quite the week in the kingdom, so we’ve got plenty to chat about:
- The Kings have won seven of their last nine games, and they’re currently a half-game back of the 8th seed in the Western Conference.
- De’Aaron Fox is playing like an All-Star candidate. He was recently named the NBA’s Player of the Week, and over his last dozen games, he’s averaging 27.7 points, 7.9 assists, and 3.8 rebounds, while shooting 50% from the floor and 37% from deep on over seven attempts per game.
- Aside from De’Aaron Fox, Harrison Barnes, Richaun Holmes, and Tyrese Haliburton have all performing well above expectations as we pass the quarter-mark of the season.
- Marvin Bagley, on the other hand, has continued to fall lower on the rotational totem pole, although he did finally play in the fourth quarter on Tuesday evening in the loss to the Philadephia 76ers.
Before getting to your questions, we want to thank our sponsor for the mailbag, Carter Imports! Carter Imports is a Sacramento-based company that imports some of the very best Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Cretan Thyme Honey available in the world today. There has never been a better time to support one of our own than right now!
Now get to asking, so we can get to answering!
Is it better to get very limited minutes and practice with the nba team or a lot of minutes on the g league team? I’m just wondering if the young guys, Ramsey woodard, and guy, might be better off in the g league bubble or playing with the kings riding the bench.
this is such a weird year. Typically, these guys would’ve played in Summer League and a full preseason, then shuttle back and forth from Stockton throughout the season, so they can get minutes and spend time on the road with the main squad. The Kings also have the the two 2-way guys on the roster that further complicate how the developmental minutes are divvied up.
I think getting more minutes on the g league team is better than riding the bench. There is only so much you can learn by watching.
Yeah, there’s something to be said for in game situations that can’t be replicated. I mean, Quincy douby was a practice and workout warrior, right? He just couldnt put it together in the real games?
It’s too bad the Kings don’t have a G-League team this year so we could have more control over their play/usage.
yeah such a terrible decision to can that
Woodard and Ramsey are in the bubble. And by the numbers and highlights Woodard had a very nice first game. At this point in their careers, I think playing more in the G-league is better. G-league offers a nice level of talent.
playing is better than not playing.
Unless you’re CoJo!
I kind of addressed that in the original question. You may not play much or at all, but you get to practice with the nba squad, and theoretically, you’d be getting hands of player development from the coaches. But definitely, you do need to play the game at some point.
2 questions:
And can a deal be worked out to get the Rese’s passes hoodie back on the market? ðð½
The Kings’ recent run: Fad or fashion?
Fadshion!
Your Sacramento Kings: They’re Fadtastic!
“Haute’rs gonna haute.”
“Changing the couture!”
Kings are plaing small ball.
Every fiber of my being says that having been a Kings fan my entire life, that it’s a fad. But there’s something about the play of Fox and Haliburton in particular that seems very real. If that’s our back court going forward I think this team will probably be at least respectable.
I’ve been seeing less standing around/iso ball, as well as less giving opponents open threes 5+ times a game lately. The way this team plays right now doesn’t look like Kings teams I’m used to seeing.
Yeah I agree. I think last night’s game was a perfect example because even though the Kings lost, I thought there level of play was pretty high. Last night felt like a playoff game where we got beat by a better team but we were very competitive. As always with the Kings it’s about bringing that same level of play every game because if they do, they’ll kill teams like the Magic who the play on Friday. I almost think Haliburton is one of the players whose team will always be a little better than the sum of its parts because he makes everyone better. If you just watch only him for a whole game it is amazing to watch the little things he does play in and play out. So many rotations, ball denials, extra passes and deflections. All stuff that helps you win games.
Just how ironic would it be if the Kings finally ended the playoff drought the one year there can’t be fans in the stands?
It’s like rain on your wedding day.
Like a free ride, when you’re already late?
The good advice Vlade just didn’t take.
And who would’ve thought I.T. figures
I think at some point in the future Haliburton may become the primary ballhandler. I love Fox but Haliburton keeps his teammates involved better. Would be interesting with Haliburton as the 1 and Fox as the 2. What do you think?
Also, do you think Haliburton has rubbed off on Buddy?
What I mean is Buddy is showing a PNR game I have not seen from him before, maybe he has seen Hali run the PNR at an elite level and tried to add that to his game. So the rookie is doing what truly elite players do¦he is making the players around him better.
Yes I think Haliburton has done two things for Buddy – he’s taken the ball out of his hands and he’s shown him how to play more unselfishly
If the Kings trade Holmes, can they sign him this off-season?
Trade him for a first, handshake a medium sized contract to come back? I like this. 😉
“Go chase that ring, then back here and win another one.”
I believe Bjelica would be a good fit on the 76er’s. Given Monte’s familiarity with Morey, do you think a deal could happen? What might be the return?
Korkmaz, I don’t think they could afford to re-sign him
If the trade deadline was this week, what should Monte do? Go all-in for the playoffs or trade for assets?
I don’t know.
I guess the answer would be, which do you think is the real team or close to the real team. The one playing well now or the one who was getting blown out every night?
Or maybe a better question is do you think what they are doing now is sustainable long term?
We are a team who will build best thru trades and the draft. I say trade for assets this year, get some draft picks and tons of cap space to make trades, and come back stronger next year.
This is a tougher question than I thought it would be at this point. My thinking is that with Sacramento’s most-likely seeding would be at eight, or the play-in to get to eight, you’d probably be looking at Utah, or one of the LA teams. I don’t think that the Kings could win more than one, or possibly two games in a best-of-seven against any of them.
With that consideration, my thinking is that McNair should acquire whatever assets that he can, without feeling obligated to part ways with Barnes, Hield, or Holmes. Holmes’ situation is different than the other two, but the argument that HB & Buddy are on bad contracts doesn’t hold a lot of water right now, and that’s without factoring in that both deals decline going forward.
I’ve got confidence that we won’t come out of any trades holding a bag of magic beans, which is a wonderful change. If nothing at all happens, it won’t be the end of the world. It’s the contenders that are under pressure to make improvements. That should put the Kings in an advantageous position in a seller’s market.
The Kings aren’t under any pressure to make improvements?
The pressure is always there to get better, and I have not suggested otherwise.
To clarify, the Kings aren’t in the kind of situation where making the playoffs this season is important, nor do they have to accept any shite offers that might come along for Barnes, Hield, or Holmes.
The team seems to be improving, and that gives McNair the ability to be deliberate and not go for a quick-fix. He doesn’t have to make any drastic moves before the season is over. I’d not be surprised if trades do happen, but the hair-on-fire shrieking to do something should be easy to ignore under the circumstances.
I don’t think there really is any pressure to make improvements…Kings fans are not going anywhere if we don’t make the playoffs. McNair won’t be fired. If the Kings don’t improve, the most likely change is a coaching change which is one of the best outcomes we can hope for. We can fire Walton and start with a coach of our current GM’s choosing.
The worst thing to happen would be if the Kings stayed in 8-10 range, miss the playoffs, and retain Walton. Even if the talent level improves, Walton still sucks. I refuse to credit Walton for Fox’s hard work and continued improvement and for Haliburton being a stud right away.
My questions for the bag:
1) Why is Metu not playing more? (he can even play the 4 next to Whiteside if necessary)
2) Why is Guy not getting more of CoJo’s minutes? (I’m not even a Guy fan really, but CoJo has not been good on defense and he is awful on offense…awfense?)
Did Whiteside get hurt? He had a large ice pack on his leg in the second half. I have been singing his praises on here but he didn’t look ready to play last night. Maybe his hip is bugging him again?
Embiid ended up getting his when all was said and done, but is it me or did Marvin do a pretty respectable job making Embiid work for what he got after the no-defense-by-anyone first quarter?
Factoring in that Marvin is giving up seventy pounds and a couple of inches, it seems like he was able to frustrate Embiid at times, and even picked up a couple of charges. Bagley’s footwork on that end was solid, and I’m hoping that he’s beginning to put theory into practice on defense.
I thought so too. It helped that they went to an immediate double on Embid after Holmes and Whiteside both got in foul trouble. Playing him straight up didn’t work with anyone. I would also say Barnes actually played him pretty well too.
Bagley made a few nice defensive plays. Also, his mobility and ability to play away from the basket were also giving Embid some problems.
I have been very critical of Bagley but I am definitely seeing some progress.
Last night was the best defensive game I think he’s ever played. He’s got such a long way to go to be a useful player but last night was at least a positive. I thought he’d get eaten alive but he held his own and that’s a huge credit to him.
Agreed. At least he seems to be heading in the right direction.
When we get everyone back from the g-league and health, what do you think the rotation should look like?
Starting with the game this Friday against the Magic, the Kings have 10 games scheduled through the end of the month (10 games in a span of 17 days). That includes 3 sets of back-to-backs. Do the Kings have the depth to remain competitive through all 10 of those games? Will the Kings choose DNP-rest breaks for any of their high-minute players for any of those games?
If the Kings continue to post a .500 record going into the trade deadline, would you want Monte to make a trade to push for the Playoffs?
My thinking is that our pick wouldn’t get us a real game changer at that point so we might as well swing for the fences on a trade! I would go hard for a Jerami Grant trade.
Would you trade Bagley, two firsts, and filler for him? Would Detroit do it?
Imagine a lineup of Fox, Haliburton, Grant, Barnes, Holmes, and Buddy as our 6th man!
Jerami Grant would be nice on this team
I’ve felt that way for years. It’s been great seeing what he can do on a team where his number actually gets called once in awhile.
Grant is a good player, but is he really worth two draft picks? I’d like to think that sacramento first round picks are premium currency.
I should have mentioned that the first round picks would have to be protected to make it worth it for me too. I would hope to also get someone like Delon Wright back in the trade too to justify the payment of bagley and the firsts.
I’d like to think Sacramento 1st round picks WON’T be premium currency sometime in my lifetime.
I would have gone hard for a Grant trade two years ago or this offseason. His price tag is almost certainly far too high for my taste now. We really need to focus on pre-break out players instead of buying high.
who are the Grants of this trade deadline in your opinion?
Oh man, I haven’t been as dialed in this season as usual and that’s a big scouting question. But I think in general, you’re looking at young-ish, non-top prospect. Guys that are stepping into their first shot at decent minutes and showing some ability in limited time/role. Guys like THT, Vanderbilt, Hart & NAW, Huerter, DiVicenzo (DOH!), Melton (in a slightly different way), Caleb Martin, Monte Morris, Cam Payne. I’m sure a number of other guys.
I should say that while I was a fan of acquiring Grant pre-breakout, I never though he would breakout THIS much. I really thought he was going to struggle with the jump in USG in Detroit. I thought he’d probably be worth the deal he got from Detroit, but not that he would produce this much additional value.
Vanderbilt is a guy I have always kind of low key loved and he’s played pretty well for the Wolves with all their injuries. Huerter is a guy I thought would have been available until the Hunter and Bogi injuries. Now he’s a pretty critical rotation piece for them so I don’t know how available he’d be. One more guy who’s way off the radar that I wouldn’t mind a flier on is Chandler Hutchison. I liked him before the draft in 2018 and he basically doesn’t play for the Bulls. I think he could be a sneaky valuable rotation piece that you could get for nothing. I thought he had the potential to be an awesome defender and do a lot of little things for a team.
You’re right, I forgot Huerter was getting much more run now. He shouldn’t be on that list.
Good list. It’s just missing the holy grail David Nwaba.
Also, what’s up with that Terance Mann guy from the Clippers? I honestly the game against the Clippers this weekend was the first time I’ve seen him play/ He’s not really in the “on the verge of a breakout” level by any means, but I thought he looked good.
Nwaba is on my list of guys that I can’t understand aren’t getting more minutes and more than minimum deals.
Mann is an interesting 2nd round wing type. I haven’t seen a ton of him since college, but in the draft he was you basic “no carrying” skill type of guy. A wing who’s defensive projection wasn’t good enough to carry his shooting projection and vice versa. Basically, exactly the type of guy the G-league works really well for as a path to an NBA career.
Nwaba and GR3 are virtually the same, IMO.
Nwaba is an excellent defender though. He always seems to rate out as one of the top wing defenders with the various catch all stats. Team NetRtgs are always way better when he’s on the floor versus off.
I don’t know. They’re pretty different. GRIII is a better shooter/scorer. Nwaba is a better rebounder (maybe because he regularly defends up the spectrum more) and a much, much better defender.
Could Aaron Gordon be that kind of guy?
There’s a chance. I mean, we wouldn’t be the first people to think there’s more to Gordon that could be somehow unlocked. He’s a bit of a different profile since he was an elite prospect who’s already mid-way through his second contract and is being paid high market rates. But there’s certainly a chance the next stop is the place he realizes his ceiling. The question is if the price is going to be low enough to be worth taking the chance that he is what he is.
I guess I feel in Orlando he was supposed to be THE guy, but maybe a new location like Sac where he is 3rd or 4th fiddle (much like Barnes) could really unlock him. He is just 25.
It could! His biggest issue to me is his decision-making with the ball. It seems like the moment he touches the ball he has already decided if he’s going to take a shot or pass. Sometimes that leads to nice drop-offs and huge dunks. It also leads to WAY too many contested fall-away 15-20 footers. Watching him play, he always looks to me like a reactive player, instead of an anticipatory/proactive player. He certainly has a lot of enticing tools. But they haven’t developed as much as you would like since college. That isn’t to say he isn’t someone to look at. Just an explanation as to why such a high level prospect is in this conversation at all.
I completely agree. I’ve always thought of him as the Zach LaVine of PF’s. This season LaVine seems to have finally figured it out, and he is the same age as Gordon.
At this point, Orlando is pretty bad and may want to tank and commit and commit to Isaac and Fultz next season. From that, I wonder if you could get Gordon for pennies on the dollar.
I wonder if Bagley, some expirings (Parker?) and maybe a 2nd rounder gets it done.
You must be joking right? Trading Bagley and 2 first for Jerami Grant? Hard Pass all day long.
Grant is playing at an All Star level posting career highs across the board. He is efficient and a two way player. Not to mention he plays SF – the most in demand position in the NBA. Those kinds of players come at a high cost. Bagley’s value is still pretty low because of his defense so we would have to give up picks to make it worth it for Detroit. I would only give up protected picks in this scenario.
I get that. I just think that giving up MB3 plus a pick is already too rich for my taste let alone 2 FRP.
Not digging that trade, but why would Detriot be looking to trade Grant…they signed him this summer, knowing they wouldn’t be any good and he is outperforming what many expected. Agree witht he strategy or not, they must be pleased with the results.
Unless some team drastically overpays (like this trade does) then they don’t have a ton of incentive. If the Kings liked him that much in the offseason, they could have cleared cap space and signed him outright possibly for cheaper than what is being offered in this trade.
My thought with the trade is that Detroit is BAD and Grant is already almost 27. They should sell high on him now to get assets back since he doesn’t fit their timeline.
Your points may hold water…but it would seem clear they aren’t concerned with your points…Detroit KNEW they were going to be bad. They chose to sign him anyway and now he is exceeding probably what they even thought he would provide. Why would they have soured on him after he plays above their expectations and they just signed him a couple months ago. Nothing has changed except for the positive.
To me it’s not about them souring on Grant, its all about money ball for Detroit. They suck and will for a long time. Grant is already almost 27 and will most likely be 30 by the time Detroit is truly ready to compete. I doubt they thought he’d be playing this well this year and should capitalize on his success. In other words – Kings aside- if I’m Detroit, I’m looking to get as much value for Grant rn to stock up for this next draft to build for the future.
Fox, Buddy, Barnes, Rese and Bagley cost about $85m next year. Holmes is unsigned.
Advocate for those who want to keep Barnes – show me a realistic roster next year and show your work. Just saying “trade Buddy” is not enough, show me a realistic trade and convince me another team wants him at his current cost. Fill out the roster depth too with FAs (as you are losing CoJo, Whiteside, etc., and likely Holmes too if your starting salary obligation is $85m for 5 players.)
I think this is right. I understand the push for the play in. Can believe the playoffs are possible more than any year in recent memory. But ultimately the thing driving the excitement is Fox and Rese who have a 4 year runway contractually.
Lets be honest, Barnes’s form is an opportunity more so than a sustainable foundation for years to come. Its more than reasonable to question its longevity for when this team will be its best. Leveraging that fact when the core is astoundingly optimistic is the most viable option. Especially when the alternatives (trading Buddy) dont seem feasible.
Barnes has been great. An exceptional guy. And he is a big reason this team is playing well and are fun night out. But he isnt the main reason and our priority is not the present. Our books and roster needs to prepare for that if possible IMO.
Good question. Also, don’t forget that CoJo is not free and clear, he has $2.5M guaranteed on his deal if the team chooses to let him go. I have the team at over $88M with the with the 5 core players
Par 1: Will Walton still be the head coach at the end of the season? I strongly dislike him and hated his coaching last year but he’s got the Kings playing well and the team seems to be meshing. Even Buddy is sending compliment his way lately. Vivek has historically given coaches little leeway so maybe this doesn’t matter much though?
Part 2: Can Walton draw up good plays from timeouts? Prove it.
Why should the Kings trade Barnes? Yes his contract isn’t cheap and he’s not all that young (still only 28), but he can still ball as he’s been proving and is a great locker-room presence. Do we get enough in return to justify the trade or is this really more of contract dump? I can’t imagine trading him and getting an asset in return that will take us to playoffs this year. But hey, maybe that’s not the goal for Monte, maybe he just wants more salary cap flexibility as he’s said in the past? I can understand how his trade value is at an all-time high but without him on the floor, I think the kings will seriously struggle. And finding a replacement might prove difficult as well. I’m kinda in favor of keeping him and seeing what this year turns out to be. Thoughts?
If boston offered two first rounders and a nothing burger, or one first and aaron nesmith, would you trade barnes?
Attributing the improvement to Walton is a bit generous. I’d give more credit to the fact that he’s being ably assisted by proven winners, and not by a bunch of Kings dead-enders who were tight with VD at the turn of the century.
Walton is absolutely not the guy who can lead a team to success at the next level.
I agree that Walton may not be the guy.
But proven winners like Whiteside and a rookie? or are you referring to McNair? Idk that’s difficult argument for me to buy. The roster is quite similar to last years….
We still have Vivek and Matina at the helm as well
I was talking about the assistant coaches that Walton has had foisted on him out of necessity, because you mentioned the head coach.
How’d you get to Whiteside & Ty Ballgame?
You mentioned “proven winners” so I was curious who you were referring to? They are the only players getting minutes this year that weren’t on the team last year so I assumed you were talking about them and not the assistant coaches. I hadn’t really considered the assistants being the difference maker but it’s possible for sure. Gentry is great but I don’t know much about the other two other then where they’ve been.
How did Greg predict that Bagley would play in the 4th?
Greg is the real, shadow NBA Commissioner. Adam Silver is a puppet.
Adam Silver strongly looks like Slugworth from Charlie and the Choco Factory trying to steal the recipe for the everlasting gobstopper
Shoot, someone on twitter asked a question, and I was going to bring that question here and ask it. But my memory is so bad nowadays.
Hmmmm……here’s one:
Where does Fox currently rank in the list of all-time Sacramento Kings players? Where do you project he will end up by the time his Kings career is over?
Um .. What are Fox’s chances of making an All Star game this year? This guy is a PG and Clay Thompson is getting more votes ..?
Fox and Haliburton appear to be the backcourt for the kings for the next 5 plus years. What do you do as a front office to add talent around them? What kind of talent are you looking for?
With such a promising duo, perhaps we get some replies from good free agents this off-season that want to be a part of it.
What is the likelihood of the Kings signing Isaiah Thomas? He wants back in to the NBA, he would be way better for the 2nd unit than CoJo, & he’d probably be pretty cheap. Why not re-unite?
IT was always a liability on D, and with injuries and age it will be worse now … and for those same reasons, I doubt IT offers anything on O now that Kyle Guy does not. “IT back to Sac” is a nice story, but for basketball reasons – long story, SHORT 🙂 “No”!
CoJo has been awful at D, even though that’s why we brought him in. And, it’s not like CoJo provides any offense. From the sounds of his rehab, IT might be moving well & bring some offensive firepower.
3 guard lineups work for us. I wouldn’t be mad at a Haliburton, IT, Kyle Guy stretch on 2nd unit. The Steal would facilitate open shots for those 2 all day.
Agree that Cojo has looked bad this year. I hope IT’s rehab goes fabulously, but he is 32, and many are talking about healthy 28 and 29 year-olds (Hield, Barnes) “not fitting the time-line”. We have Cojo=Kyle Guy as a 4th/5th guard; we have Jahmi’us Ramsey now getting some G-League playing time, who has the tools to become a 4th guard and defend 1s and (some) 2s. There are any number of young-players-with-upside to be had cheaply for that role. I just don’t see the point in getting IT (unless he wants to coach, do community outreach, color commentary on TV/radio, …).
If the team needed a microwave scorer I can maybe see the case for IT (even though he is 32 years old…) but the problem is that the bench defense is a horror show and adding quite possibly the worst defender in NBA history isn’t going to help that.
To be fair to IT, the only reason we could say “quite possible the worst defender in NBA history” is because the rest of his game was good enough to still make him a productive player that deserved minutes. There have been PLENTY of worse defenders in the NBA. The vast majority of them just didn’t get any real minutes because their offense wasn’t good enough to compensate.
Oh, of course – to have a sample big enough to demonstrate that you are truly terrible at something as a pro athlete you also have to be good enough at other things that coaches are willing to let you play. When IT was playing at a near-MVP level with Boston he was still a huge defensive liability, he was just able to cook up enough offense that nobody cared.
32 year old IT coming off 2 hip surgeries might(!) still be good enough to be worthwhile for a team that has a defensively solid bench that can cover for him on that end, but the Kings are not inside that circle of the Venn diagram.
I would have been hard-pressed to make this bench worse than it already is but you have shown me the way
blob:https://kingsherald.com/6586577b-3742-4dd1-abc7-239c217b0233
I preface this question with the disclaimer that no King is currently untradable, but just for curiosity sake, rank the Kings players that are most “untouchable” on the current roster. If those semantics are unagreeable, what about most “long term keepers?”
Personally I think it’s Haliburton first, then Fox and everyone else can be moved. I think we’ve got two guys who are legit difference makers and everyone else is an ancillary piece.
If we don’t move Buddy so Rese stays in his current role, do you see him getting many 6th man votes?
Typically, Rookies don’t get 6th man awards. He might get some votes. Chris Boucher is winning that badboy hands down. The man is a beast
I know he won’t win it. But I think he should get some votes.
There are rumors that John Collins wants to be traded. If these rumors are true and you are the GM of the kings, do you make a run at completing a John Collins trade with Atlanta? What would you offer and does it make sense?
He is an RFA after this season, maybe a good time to pay the Hawks back for the Bogi thing. I believe he turned down 90 mil earlier so you would need to pay him. If you could send Buddy that would be a coup. IDK what the Hawks would take though. I assume he is a big part of their plan for this year anyway.
I’d definitely go after him! The problem is making contracts work. The guy is only making $4M. Even sending Bagley would require the Hawks add more salary.
Who finishes with the higher career 3pt%, Fox or Bagley?
Remember back in the old days when Ellis said….. never mind.
I’ve never heard the national media say Walton is a lousy coach. I’ve only read that narrative on THK. Are his X’s and O’s, game plans, and game management not solid, etc?. We all know mistakes were made last season, but this is a new season and so far the kings are playing better than most people thought they would be. What is the THK criteria that marks Walton a lousy coach or one of the 3 worst coaches in NBA?
THK huh… I’ll probably be kicked out of the forum for this but… What is THK?
The Kings Herald
I meant TKH. My question probably won’t get answered anyway.
THC, but with more of a kick!
Eh, the reports on his coaching while he was in LA were pretty bad as well. I mean, you don’t get to be the only coach since LeBron was old enough to drink to NOT to make the playoffs with James on your roster and avoid getting tossed in the ringer a bit.
Ok so can someone please explain to me why the Kings let go of Kaminsky in favor of Whiteside? Was it only about money? At this point Whiteside isn’t even worth his minimum salary.
I questioned that move as well. Once they made that cut, I figured they would be short on legit big men. It’s even more head scratching when you consider that Jabari Parker hasn’t seen the floor and Nemanja is now out of the rotation. Unless Parker’s expiring is included in a trade, cutting Frank makes no sense.
Whitside is a shot blocker and big body that can alter a game, Kamisky can’t do any of that. That’s my take on why they kept Whiteside.
Accurate and succinct.
I can see Whiteside having more of a chance of having some trade value at the deadline since he fills such a clear role.
There has been a lot of buzz around DeAron Fox being an All-Star and rightfully so. Should we, and stay with me here, be talking about Holmes as well? I know that he gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar a bit too often, but his numbers are amazing. Is it so crazy to consider? Ok it is. But is it?
Holmes’ WOWY numbers are crazy – the team just falls apart when he’s not on the floor (though that may be improving since the winning started, I haven’t checked recently). The way they do the front-court/back-court designations, though, there is just no chance he makes the ASG.
Holmes in All Star. Whoa. I like him as much as the next Kings fan. But, realistically he will not get a vote. I think were going back to overvaluing Kings players. Holmes is a nice piece. But, I can name about 10-12 other big men that can do the same if not better. Gobert, Davis, KAT, Jokic, Ayton, Capela, Wood, are all clearly better. That’s just the West.
Fox is another story. The reason he won’t get in: Simple, This new Alpha Dog Fox has not played this way since the start of the season. It’s only been a few weeks. Consistency counts for something. If Fox continues to play this way the rest of the season, gets the team into the playoffs, and continues next season, he will get in an All Star game next. year.
Mitchell will get in, because he is the total package now and Utah is a monster. Lillard and Curry are Automatics. (Consistently Great since Day 1 of the season) Doncic will get in because he’s putting up ridiculous numbers nightly. Paul will get in because of his leadership and The Suns record is superior to the Kings.
what is the story with Jabari Parker?
Badge Legend