The Sacramento Kings announced that Domantas Sabonis will represent the team at the NBA Draft Lottery. The lottery will be held on Tuesday, May 17th at 5 PM PT.
https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/1524956952966574081?s=20&t=erjn-N-oYonWTcYoUOiiGQ
It’s hard to believe the lottery is just a few days away! With all the focus on the coaching search, the lottery focus has taken a little bit of a back seat so far this year.
The Sacramento Kings enter the lottery in the 7th spot. They have a 32% chance to move into the Top 4, and 7.5% chance at the first overall pick. The Kings also have a 34.1% chance to fall to the 8th pick, which is their most likely outcome statistically.
We need full-head-of-hair-Fox back
He was not so over paid then.
That’s right. he can afford to pay for a haircut now. 😉
Is there anything to read into this being that Sabonis is new to the franchise and Fox not being included? I’m so jaded as a fan, I just can’t help but think there’s always more behind simple things like this with a franchise that has wallowed in poor decisions and general player happiness.
Naw, I doubt it. Fox has already gone once. It may just be a timing and schedule thing that worked out for Sabonis. I wouldn’t read anything into it.
I wouldn’t read anything into it. They’re just going to pick the person who is available and willing and who they think will give Kings fans the most excitement.
It’s just an unnecessay, unfounded, positive clickbait article.
Typical article by Greg, that marriage-busting dismissive littl- oh, hi Greg!.
Definitely see that considering the passive aggressive sub title of the article!
“Mark” in The Room is played by an actor named Greg. Coincidence? I think not.
Thank you for talking me off the ledge. I’ve come to find that it’s too easy to find disfunctionally plausible situations for this organization. No bad news surprises me anymore. ????
“On the ledge” is a terrible place to begin.
If there is a message being sent it’s that Sabonis is a part of the Kings core moving forward and not just a temporary addition for win now mode.
The draft lottery is being held in Chicago.
They are sending Sabonis.
It’s pretty obvious they are dangling Sabonis to the Bulls.
Glad it’s not Vivek or any of his offspring.
Doesn’t Hobby916 want to see me?
No thanks.
7.5%
HERE WE GO !
I’ll be drinking something heavier than that, believe me.
Drake wasn’t available?
http://images.thepostgame.com/assets/public/2-Drake-and-Vivek-Ranadive-compressor_0.jpg
?width=660&height=374&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
:format(png)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47628273/drake.0.0.PNG)
He’ll be there is spirit. /shaka
The link to the top photo is funny. On my phone screen it says https://images the postgame.com/ass
ets/public/2drakeblahblahblahblahbla
the top line ending in “ASS” made my day.
The shaka runs in the family ????
We need a thumbs down button.
We had one. But we probably boo’d too much and Greg took it away from us as punishment. Then he took it home and it’s been in hiding ever since.
I do miss the posters that would vomit down votes all over every thread based on weirdly obsessive imagined beefs.
I miss the downvote option. I rather enjoyed it, personally. I’m sure it was difficult to keep from an administrative standpoint, but that’s another issue.
My take remains that anything that keeps the downvote person from having time to comment is an asset to the entire site. I was rather good at collecting them without help, but it’s just funny seeing the most benign or obviously correct comments catch a stray.
Honestly, I think the site was better when people could register their distaste without needing to write an entire dissertation about it.
As some of you do.
Down votes were understood as well.
Speak for yourself, you Gemcity Moronabus.
Drake is a hard core Toronto fan so sending him would indeed be a message.
I get a Sabonis when I think of us landing the 1st overall pick.
Da Dum Tss…
Wow, that’s really cool. Kudos to for finding that image!
I’m totally geeking out over this image.
Yeah! Me too.
Sac Bound
Shouldn’t that be tropical storm Johnson?
Is that some sort of off-shore “swell?”
It’s a high pressure zone.
This cracked me up!
Personally, I’m hoping for 2…or 7?
I wouldn’t want to have to pick between Smith Jr. and Holmgren. If I choose wrong at #1, I’m probably fired. If I pick wrong at #2, I’ll probably be ok. As long as no one ends up being Marvin Bagley.
At 7? Murray, Griffin, Mathurin, Sharpe. In that order.
Or maybe Tari Eason?
This is always a weird take to me. I want the highest pick possible. I’d much rather control my own destiny than take what falls to me just so I can have a built in excuse.
Same. Give me the pick with the most options and value. If nothing else, the higher the pick, the higher the trade value.
And I especially agree with you cuz I hadn’t considered trade value.
But the option to trade the pick is only worth something if you actually trade it.
What would it take to get you to actually pull the trigger on a trade cuz I wouldn’t feel confident in the Kings ability to get equal value in such a trade. Especially long-term.
The more I think about it, I think I like your idea quite a lot. As long as, it is a trade down and includes a pick in the top 8-10, and comes with the right sweeteners.
Based on the current front office, why do you feel that way?
I agree
That said, put yourself in Monte’s shoes and the stakes are much higher.
So are the rewards. I’m sure that if you gave McNair the option of the #1 pick right now, he’d grab it without thinking about it twice. The better the assets, the better his opportunity to improve the roster. If he ultimately fails, it won’t matter whether he had the 1st or 7th pick.
If he picks Holmgren, at two and he pops he’s even better off. And he looks like McGenius whether he wanted Smith Jr., or not. Rather than push all his chips in on #1, he’d probably prefer to play more even odds down the line.
Wait, do you seriously believe this? If your GM cares more about the optics of their choice than the actual impact of their pick, you need to find a new GM.
When you frame it as a chance to have a “built in excuse” there’s no choice but to agree with you. If you had framed it as a chance to play a lower stakes game later in the lottery as opposed to pushing all my chips in on one boom or bust prospect, then I’d also agree.
The Kings cannot afford another Marvin Bagley sized mistake again.
No, it would be explained to us that McNair merely made the obvious choice, and he deserves no credit whatsoever.
Hello darkness my old friend
This makes me think: what if Vlade had traded down from #2?
Some notables from outside the top 5 in ’18:
Mo Bamba #6
Colin Sexton #8
Mikal Bridges #10
Miles Bridges #12
Wait this list is already getting long and I’ve already skipped some guys!
I have to assume the Mavs deal was on the table for them as well. You also forgot arguably two of the best options, WCJ and SGA.
I didn’t forget. When I started the list, I immediately realized the futility. It would be easier to list the un-notables.
Yeah, the Kings found one of the very few ways to get it totally wrong.
There was also DDV @ #17, whom the Kings acquired eventually after a couple tries recently for, ironically, none other than MBIII.
Even then, I think Joerger was onto something with Bagley. Bagley just never really worked out mainly due to health.
I’m not saying that Bagley was the right pick, but what I am saying is that under different circumstances it could have worked. The Kings, as they’ve shown so often, don’t work out pretty much at anything.
I realize you can say that about alot of failed prospects, but I don’t think Bagley’s story is really that unique. It just didn’t work.
I’m not sure what he would have been onto with Bagley. IMO, his ceiling was always as a fringe stater energy big. MAYBE a 2% outcome of something vaguely Amare-esque. Though Bagley never had the power or suddenness that made Amare successful.
I don’t think he was especially close to the top of that class in terms of present (at the time) skills or future potential.
Well, I think Joerger was trying to work the rough edges off him. Which I thought at the time, and certainly more so in retrospect, was a great way to handle him.
Vlade didn’t agree with it, obviously, and the franchise wanted Joerger gone anyway. A better franchise could have made Bagley work. The talent was and is there. But the organization needed to develop him was obviously not. And the approach by Bagley needed help, too.
I hate player comps and I never thought of him as Amare like.
I don’t disagree with much of that, I just think making Bagley work means he’s a fringe starter rebounder/rim runner that teams are always looking to upgrade from. When you say the “talent was and is there” I’m curious what talent specifically you’re referring to and the talent was and is there to what? I’ve always been of the opinion that Bagley can and will be a useful rotation piece as a mobile energy big. I just didn’t see where the upside that you’d want to see from a #2 pick in a strong draft was supposed to come from.
I didn’t think it was likely that Bagley would be a star, which is why is he was #9 on my draft board. However, it seemed like Joerger was developing him into a player who could be a worthwhile starter.
Sure. Like I said, a fringe starter. A guy that could start assuming the fit is right. But not someone you bother building around or making decisions based on.
Joerger thought Bagley was not worthy of playing time. One of the reasons he was fired. He spoke his mind and was correct.
Vlade drafted the guy who was 2 years away from being 2 years away.
He is still only two years away. Luckily on another team though.
Yeah, Joerger was developing Bagley in a way that made me feel optimistic about Bagley after his rookie year. I didn’t feel optimistic about Bagley after Joerger was fired.
Yeah Richie, that’s what I felt optimistic about, too. It felt like Bagley could be productive with the right support system around him (which obviously was not there).
I didn’t feel as optimistic about the organization after Joerger got fired, generally speaking. Hoping it would work, but wasn’t especially surprised it didn’t.
My recollection was that the most mocks had Bagley higher than most or all of those guys, but I could certainly have that wrong. I’m pretty sure that none or very few of them had Bagley higher than Doncic, though.
He was generally mocked around 3-5. Not on my personal list, but in consensus, yes, he was higher than all those guys.
The mocks had Bagley ahead of them, but I had WCJ ahead of Bagley based on what I saw when Duke played. There was a guy at CBS Sports who had Bagley #1 b/c he loved Bagley’s athleticism, but Bagley’s lack of skills made me worried about him. I had Bagley at #9 on my draft board.
Kings Front Office, circa 2018: “If we had the number one selection, we would have taken Luka.”
I think every website that did the 2018 “Redraft” did not have Bags in the top 20. Another Vi-wreck masterpiece
“If I pick wrong at #2, I’ll probably be ok”
Vlade says Hi!
I’ll also say, I think it’s weird that Banchero is being left out of the top tier. He doesn’t have the defensive upside (though I think he’ll be average, and Smith’s defensive upside is being oversold), but he has by far the most present on-ball creation ability of the 3.
Your totally right! B/R has Banchero at #1 now on their top 50 prospects for similar reasons. I have purposely left him out of the convo because of his seeming duplicity with Sabonis. And the more we talk the more I’m seeing reasons for exploring options to trade down if they land a top 4 pick.
I don’t imagine Sabonis would be excited about them drafting his replacement.
And Ivey wouldn’t make much sense to me either.
I’m just not as high on Ivey as most people. I’m generally not a huge fan of high usage players that don’t pass well. I also think he’s going to have to make decently significant changes to his shot. Without thinking too much about it, he would probably be closer to the 3rd tier for me. And not necessarily at the top of that tier.
Interesting
I think Banchero is different enough and good enough to not worry about the fit too much. Sabonis is more of a high post facilitator. Banchero is more of a perimeter creator. I also believe in Banchero’s ability to stretch the floor. They aren’t a perfect fit, but they aren’t a disastrous fit either.
I just don’t see them taking Banchero unless it’s to trade him. I wouldn’t mind seeing him with Sabonis, but I don’t love it. For a team wanting the playoffs in 23/24 drafting a rookie who takes the ball out of Fox/Sabonis’ hands seems unwise. He’ll need the ball in his hands to be effective, and time to develop. I predict a lot of turnovers in the interim.
I think the “taking the ball out of _______’s hands” theory is pretty much always flawed. More playmakers is always better.
Having more playmakers is almost always better, but there needs to be a balance of playmaking & shooting. Having too many playmakers who can’t shoot is a problem.
Of course, those two things aren’t mutually exclusive. Clearly there are a number of things you need on the floor beyond just playmaking. But that is the #1 most important thing, and there’s nothing that says playmakers can’t also be shooters. In the case of Banchero, I think there’s plenty of reason to believe in his shot.
Either way, what you would be talking about is avoiding a selection because you don’t believe in their shot. Not because they can create and therefore might “take the ball out of _______’s hands.”
Those are two different takes.
Agreed, I’m not 100% certain that he won’t go number one, depending on which team has the pick.
Most mock drafts I’ve seen have Banchero in the top tier & plenty of them have him at #1.
irrelevant prediction: Next year, Coach Mike Brown will be representing the Kings in the lottery.
Bring us luck Domas!!!
Good work.
I have a great feeling the Kings will jump to the top 3 this upcoming draft lottery.
Kings take the #1 pick. They are due for one.
Not really. Even if “due” actually existed, the Kings jumped into the top 3 two of the past 5 drafts.
The Kings are probably more due to fall than jump.
Can’t we get a mulligan on Bagley?
If only.
Or even the trade that forced us to pick 5th instead of 3rd the previous year. Though that pick wasn’t as big an issue.
Of course, Vlade did get J.J. Hickson for that!
Or wait! Did he even play for the Kings?
JJ Hickson? Yes. And that was a Geoff Petrie trade unless I’m missing a joke in here somewhere.
I remember that as being Vlade’s first transaction, a first round pick and a swap for JJ Hickson?
Maybe I got it wrong…and I can’t remember the details. just that it looked bad at the time and looks BAD! now.
Wasn’t that the deal he said he wouldn’t have made if he had known about the “Stretch Rule?”
I’ve still got love for Vlade, but that is truly mind-boggling that he didn’t bother to acquaint himself with the rules of road before executing a trade involving 2 first-round picks.
I think you’re thinking of the 76ers salary dump deal.
I can’t remember. Whose salary did we dump? Was it JJ Hickson?
Landry, mostly. But Stauskas and JT were also included.
Who was it that should’ve been stretched?
Well, I didn’t necessarily think they should have stretched anyone, but Landry was the bigger contract.
Jason Thompson was the more prudent choice, IMO. But yeah.
Reading about that trade just now, and it just makes no sense at all. They basically traded a 1st and a swap to dump some bad salary, and then add a bunch more, worse salary.
They had hoped to use the cap space to add a big FA. Apparently they forgot that big FAs don’t tend to flock to losing franchises. Once everyone, including Wes Mathews coming off a blown achilles, turned them down, they backfilled with the usual mix of FA mediocrity.
Completely! And, whoever was at fault, the Hickson thing wasn’t any better.
And, of course, big FAs don’t really flock to historically badly run franchises either.
Of course, my Tobias Harris trade is a can’t miss, and would change the course of the franchise! (Disclaimer! Will not actually change the course of any franchise!)
Barnes, Holmes, Len, Harkless, FOR, TOBIAS HARRIS!
Even money, no draft picks involved, realistic, consolidates/aligns talent on the roster, sheds dead salary, Answers the question, “what are they gonna do with Barnes expiring contract?”
AFTER TRADE DEPTH CHART:
FOX
DIVINCENZO
DRAFT PICK, AJ Griffin, Ben Mathurin, S. Sharpe
HARRIS
SABONIS
FIRST FIVE
MITCHELL
HOLIDAY
JONES
EIGHT DEEP
DAVIS
LYLES
TEN DEEP
Still needs work, but better. Same price.
Tobias, IMO, is one of those classic situations where he went from WAY underrated to WAY overrated in the course of a season or two. I think he’s one of the absolute worst contracts in the NBA. If I’m trading for that contract it better come with at least a couple more high value assets.
Makes sense. His #s have slipped, and more importantly, his %s, since arriving in Philly. I think fit has a lot to do with it. If he doesn’t “pop” his first season, he becomes valuable as a large expiring contract the following year. He’d be more productive than the guys traded, same price. His #s are still better than Barnes across the board.
Just need Philly to agree . Helps the Kings a little .
Petrie had gotten the pick protected all the way from 2012-17 and for the top 10 picks at that. That trade only kept the Kings from trading future picks easily.
It wasn’t that bad of a deal.
yeah
Vlade should have been fired immediately for the deal he made in 2015.
yeah
Hickson was a very solid big before he got here, as George Hill was at guard, Dedmon at center, Bellinelli as a shooter, and dear god, it just goes on and on. Belinelli was part of the salary dump deal, but those other three acquisitions were, at the time, pretty good gets.
I don’t know why players just become terrible in here, but my first recollection of it was when Ostertag was added. He was a guy who took it personally if you had the ball in the paint, and would break your damned wrist for the effrontery. He was basically worthless here.
It goes beyond ownership, front offices, and coaches. I continue to hope that whatever causes it has been exorcised.
On the court, Hill was pretty good in Sacramento. Off the court, well…
In general, I don’t think players magically get worse in Sacramento. I think Sacramento’s lack of talent just doesn’t enable role players to play their optimal role and they get forced to play outside their strengths.
Yeah, Hickson was an understandable get at the time. The circumstances have gotten muddled a tad over time, but that’s not the org’s fault. (I’d like to blame them, but that’s not how this works.)
Petrie did screw up things at the end, but the Hickson deal is not proof of that.
There’s some problem here with players being worse than they were before, but that’s mostly a talent issue.
I’ve looked at this issue before, but the reality is talent. We’ve discussed this, as have many others. You have top end talent, t.he George Hill, JJ Hickson, Dewayne Dedmon’s of the world fit better. It’s really that simple.
Exactly right in that these players were all brought in on over valued contracts to be more than they ever were and left to be on teams that used their talents better ( limited ).
Hickson long gone by that time .
Hickson was a Petrie trade .
Last time I went to Tankathon I spun the sim reset and got Kings picking 3rd. Played the “take it or spin” game, spun again and got 2nd. Got greedy, did it again and got the #1 pick. This all means nothing unless it means everything.
I have done that was well and regretted every high pick. Using them up.
I don’t mean to be negative on the eve of the lottery, but should we be worried that a team as good as the Warriors were behind by 55 points in a playoff game with Mike Brown as the coach? Also, the Lakers need a coach and it’s always pointed out that Brown had a great record with LeBron at Cleveland before LeBron developed into the star he is and without that much talent around him. So, why isn’t LeBron demanding the Lakers rehire Mike Brown if he’s so good? I don’t know. The Kings are like having a family of teenagers. you never stop worrying.
Short answer? No. I don’t think we should be worried about either of those things.
I suppose you’d be comfortable being judged based on one of your worst days, and for something which was 99% out of your control.
Teams get their asses handed to them sometimes, and I doubt that there’s a single hall of fame coach that doesn’t have at least a few on the old won/loss numbers.
You make way too much sense, Sims. Way. Too. Much. Sense.
Pay attention.
Fingers crossed.
Would love this scenario where Sac jumps up and IND drops back…
I’m fully prepared for the Kings to be picking between 7-9 this draft.
That’s definitely the smart money.
3 lottery picks?! HELL YEAH! 🙂
I think we all are. If not… who ever reads this, prepare yourself now. It’s easier that way.
Does this mean Vivek has run out of children who need just-add-water careers?
Oof.
If I do anything worthwhile in life besides cutting grass (obviously!), it will be that my kids don’t orient their lives around shit they saw on Instagram, even if they cut grass like pop.
Looks like coach Mike Brown just coached himself and his team into the western conference finals… sequenced.
Is that what you watched ? I saw Klay and team take Brown into Conference finals . If he can bring Klay, Draymond and Steph to Sacto then Kings a threat in the west . As of today Kings no better .
What does the Warriors advancing have anything to do with how successful Mike Brown may or may not be in Sac? Mike Brown is working under Steve Kerr’s orders, as he should be given he’s the assistant coach there.
I don’t get this whatsoever.
The roster has no influence on wins or losses?
Steve Kerr speaks and the scoreboard lights up?
Did I make a claim that the roster isn’t the most important factor in a team winning?
Rockbottom stated that the players carried Mike Brown to a win.
You said Brown won because he simply follows Kerr’s orders.
Which is it? Coaches orders or the players?
Shit roster with good coach = more KaNgZ
Better roster = more wins for coach
Pretty simple correlation.
This year’s draft reminds me of 1989, which means the Kings will get the #1 pick and somehow pick the least worthy of 4 potential #1 candidates. No hate on Pervis, he had a couple of good years (literally two), but he never could stay healthy. Leaving two very good, albeit not MVP type guys on the board (Elliot and Rice). Holmgren is this year’s Pervis, I’m guessing. Love his game, worried about his durability. I’m on the Smith bandwagon. Not loving “No D” Banchero.
I wouldn’t say that Banchero plays “no D”.
Banchero’s D is fine. He’ll be roughly average in the NBA. For what it’s worth, Holmgren has also been extremely durable despite playing aggressively with his frame.
Personally, I think they’re all good candidates and wouldn’t be surprised at any of them going first. They all have different strengths and none of them have significant holes.
Smith probably has the highest floor but also the lowest ceiling. The chances that he’s Rashard Lewis are extremely high, and that’s a VERY good player.
Holmgren has the highest ceiling and probably the second highest floor. At the very least he’s a quality 3-and-D rim protector.
Banchero is by far the best creator of the 3 and arguably one of the best creators in the class. He creates shots for himself and others at a much higher level than the other two.
Ultimately, I’d say it’s going to come down to the needs and philosophy of whichever team gets the top pick.
If the Kings were to get the top pick, I would pick Holmgren (I’ll take the higher ceiling in trade for a slightly lower floor.). But I could totally see Monte taking Smith and wouldn’t complain at all about it.
The best in that draft seems to be #14 Tim Hardaway .
I don’t think this fanbase could handle a #1 pick. #3 or 4 would be perfect.
Nobody ever knows how these players will turn out to be. The thing about that draft was the tactics employed by the Kings. They likely could have made the trade with Dallas and still got Bagley. Worst case scenario which actually would have been dramatically better is they end with JJJ and a high first round pick the following year. The draft was a colossal failure beyond the obvious of passing up on Doncic.
Badge Legend