The Kings Herald Show returns with Jerry Reynolds, Will Griffith, and Tony Xypteras to break down the last two weeks of Sacramento Kings news, including the Ben Simmons signing, Jalen Duren rumors, and more.
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So the Sacramento Bee fires its entire sports reporter team.
Thanks, folks.
I really don’t understand the buzz (won’t call it hype) around Simmons. Everybody keeps celebrating that it is a great low-risk move by Perry but the reason for that (just a one year deal) makes it also a low reward move.
If Simmons is bad and a distraction, sure, you get rid of him and no harm done. But what’s the upside? That you trade him at the deadline for a half-season rental? What will you get for that? A late second-rounder? Meh.
And if he’s good, he’ll likely sign a new and better deal to move top a better siutuation. If he stays here, it either means that you grossly overpaid for him, or that he wants to play at a team with low pressure and low expectations. Wonderful.
It is time to revamp the slogan.
City of Trees is out.
Sacramento: Your destination without expectation.
We’re close to Tahoe, the Bay Area, wine country, Yosemite. The only thing we’re not close to is the playoffs.
Supercity, just young.
I’m guessing the 1 year deal was a mutual want. Kings don’t want to tie up anymore money than they have to in case things go sour, and Ben only wants on year to prove it and make more money on a new deal.
Maybe the hope is he succeeds, he likes it here, and the Kings ink him to a longer more lucrative deal next summer.
That feel like a very negative take with the presumption that things will go bad no matter what, because…Kangz. It could be, but I’m not ready to be negative on every decision the Kings make.
In the end, I simply see it as low risk with potential high reward. He does well and leaves for a contender next summer, oh well, it didn’t hurt the Kings any. If you flip him for a 2nd rounder or package him in trade, that’s still a potential net positive for what amounts to be a vet minimum deal.
Would you have been content if Perry had flipped Westbrook for a 2nd rounder last year at the deadline instead of simply letting him expire? I would have been.
When has this front office ever been able to flip a current player for a future draft pick or future trade. This is all we here from them and their toadies in the media. DeRozan bought out, Lavine still here, I suspect will be bought out, Ellis traded to get rid of Schroeder’s bad contract, Hunter I suspect will have a blah yeah and will leave at years end
I was listening to the 1140 breakfast crew try to spin that the Kings are rated as the worst franchise in a number of metrics, that Perry is such a great GM and all its the fault of all of our other GMs I’d suggest that McNair did a decent job, not great
Its like the discourse with Westbrook last year, false hustle doesn’t make your team better
But if your big moves are Simmons and Payton, maybe its proof that maybe that this franchise is properly ranked
In the last few years they had Plowden, Ellis and Cardwell as unsigned free agents, to me that’s a good use of resources and shows competence why did they stop doing this?
Plowden, Ellis, and Cardwell all started as 2-way deals and eventually got regular contracts. This happened with Plowden just this past July. So I’d say they haven’t stopped doing this. if the Kings sign Mogbo or Flagler to a regular deal at some point, then the trend continues.
In the end, we are talking about a couple of apparently washed NBA players who are fighting for the last roster spot on non-guaranteed deals. I’m not sure what there is to complain about there.
I’d rather give Simmons and/or Payton a shot at the 14th spot then hand another guaranteed deal to the like of McDermott or Eubanks. The reality is, these aren’t “big moves.”
Perry has run this front office for a little over a year, but the last time a player was flipped for future draft capital was Fox, which may have been Monte’s final move.
In the end, we are talking about a couple of apparently washed NBA players who are fighting for the last roster spot on non-guaranteed deals. I’m not sure what there is to complain about there.
I’d rather give Simmons and/or Payton a shot at the 14th spot then hand another guaranteed deal to the like of McDermott or Eubanks. The reality is, these aren’t “big moves.”
I’d rather they didn’t do either of these kind of moves
But that had to give the 14th spot to somebody. Is there someone else you’d prefer they’d have given a contract to?
Wait till the end of training camps and see who has been cut. I’d rather take a shot on say someone who could not make say the Spurs or Thunder rosters. If our front office was smart they’d have some cap room, so that way they would take on salary for talent for draft picks. Say last year you wanted Dennis Schroeder how about a 1 year deal with a team option for a 2nd. But hey what to I know
But that could still happen. If someone became available tomorrow in free agency or via trade, the Kings could simply cut Payton and/or Simmons since they are on non-guaranteed deals. It costs then nothing right now, Only Simmons has a $1M guarantee if he makes it through camp.
Even if they decide to keep Simmons, they still have the 15th roster spot open for any surprise cuts.
I guess I’m just not seeing the harm/risk out of giving two make good contracts right now. If these two dudes show up to camp and absolutely kill it, then keep them. If not, just cut them and move on.
I get your point, but based on the choices and decisions me makes that’s not going to happen. Perry has shown who he is as GM sadly
The media was of late said this team roster wise is the worst and has the lowest prospects going forward. This includes the Clippers, and Perrys choice is to pick two 30+ hasbeens
And that’s your prerogative. Just know that the odds are against you.
But context matters here. If it would have been a young Westbrook whose career got derailed, or even Ja, I would have been willing to believe that they’d relish the challenge to drag this franchise out of the mud. With Simmons, not. Past behaviour predicts future behaviour.
So please tell me where I am wrong and explain to me how that “potential high reward” would manifest itself.
Kudos to you both for continuing to have discussions with themes of “moves a competent organization should do.”
Impressive endurance.
I guess for me the potential high reward would be Simmons vastly out performing his vet minimum deal while helping the Kings NOT finish in the bottom 3 of the league.
If he can give the Kings 60+ games an average 5, 5, and 5 while being a plus defender in about 15-20MPG, I’d call that a win.
To be clear, I’m not expecting the 76ers Ben Simmons who was an all-star and all league defender, I’m just hoping for a dude who is value to contract and helps the Kings not be dog shit.
“Help the Kings not be dog shit!”
That’s our 26-27 Sacramento rallying cry!
Common usage:
Welcome to Sactown Ben, please “Help the Kings not be dog shit!”
Come on Doug can you please make rotations that “Help the Kings not be dog shit!”
Kayte says, “What fans don’t understand is that Perry is trying to “Help the Kings not be dog shit!”
Did you say “dog shit” or “Doug shit?”
I don’t know, but The King’s Herald thinks we should all do our part and buy some Sacramento Kings apparel:
Dog Shills.
Just remember the only difference between Dog shit and Doug shit is U
this should be on merch in the TKH store!
Yup. We just keep lowering expectations. It’s a fascinating coping mechanism.
My favorite TKH comment
Adding, because it’s been gnawing at me, my hope is Simmons can be a poor man’s Draymond Green. I’m not expecting him to be the pivot point of the offense, but if can be a plus defender and facilitate for others, Simmons on a $2.4M cap hit vs. Green at a $27M cap hit is a win in my book.
I was thinking the same thing. Green shoots as bad as Simmons, maybe better but not by much. Really Green is just a willing shooter, even if he knows he’s terrible at it, at least he lets it fly when open. I believe this can work out for both Simmons and the Kings. He’ll have a fresh start and possibly help turn things around for the Kings. (I do believe Domas would need to be traded for a better stetch 5 next to Simmons though.) Crazier things have happened. I’m excited for it
To your point about Sabonis, he along with LaVine and Monk are noticeably absent from Kings social media these days. There are lots of posts, videos, and images of the rookies, Nique, Maxi, Cardwell, Keegan, etc. all doing offseason workouts and stuff, but the Kings “stars”…..nope. Even Kings.com has seemed to wipe them from existence.
If a team was trying to sell tickets as they gear up for the season, wouldn’t you put the faces of your franchise everywhere? We sure got a ton of them, DDR, and Westbrook last season, but this year it is all about the youth,
The writing seems to be on the wall.
Personally, I hope they keep Monk around.
I think he’s just a good dude, solid locker room vet, and he has the potential to turn some games around all by himself. Once Domas and LaVine have moved on, his salary won’t feel as constrictive.
I’ll go a step further (backward?) and say that though we’ve been on opposite sides of this discussion, if Simmons adds three wins, and makes this a 25 win team instead of a 22 win team, that maybe, MAYBE keeps them out of the bottom three. That might be what keeps Vivek from making a panic move and dumping multiple first round picks for an even more troubled Ja Morant, disgruntled Kawhi Leonard, or broken Zion Williamson.
That being said, I think he’s going to be injured, physically or mentally, and he’ll sit or be gone most of the season. The Kings certainly seem to have a high tolerance for locker room trouble, so having someone quit on the team (or whatever the situation is with Simmons) is problematic, because I don’t believe they’ll do anything about it.
I think there’s little upside and a lot of potential downside, but if it’s a best case scenario, and it keeps the Kings from panicking and mortgaging the next half decade to put Vivek in his 30 win comfort zone, that’s maybe as big a win as we could hope for.
If we end up with a version of Simmons who quits or gives up on the team in the 1st year of a comeback attempt, he’d be a simple cut from the roster.
There isn’t even much of an opportunity for such downside to happen in the first place as he’s not a team leader or heavily paid, but it’s easily rectified if it starts trending that way.
“Nothing bad can happen, it can only good happen.”
You’re really that confident that the Kings brass will do the right and logical things straight away, instead of having the hubris to think they can fix it and letting it fester?
Well, no…they’ll probably screw it up but in order to discuss anything Kings related, I generally have to assume they will act at base level of competence.
It’s actually hard to be as bad as the Kings Front Offices have been over the past few decades, so I assume there will be a return to the median sometime within the next century.
That’s fair. Optimistic, but fair.
So now no Kings on 1140. Dumb move.
Just saw. Man, what can you say except Kangz?
What does it mean for Gary? I grew up listening to him and Kings on 1140 the last 30+ years.
Give him Mark Jones’ job, please
Seriously.
G-man will still be calling the games:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/sacramento-kings-unveil-new-kings-radio-options-for-fans-here-is-whats-new/ar-AA2csLq2
That’s good news at least.
It’s almost like watching a Youtube reaction to the game in real time. Not play by play commentary at all.
LOL….legitimately the best Kings news I’ve heard in a good 3 years.
“Sync with the Kings!”
Yo party people. It’s been a minute but I met Will today so it’s a good time to pop back in!
Great to meet you, Will!
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