The Kings Herald Show returns with Jerry Reynolds, Will Griffith, and Tony Xypteras to break down the latest bits of Kings news (Jae Crowder, T.J. Warren, or Nassir Little, anyone?) and attempt to answer a few Sacramento Kings questions from The Kings Herald’s annual 30 Questions series. Thanks for listening!
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On Robinson, I’m okay with Len being the backup center for now. He provides great rim protection for that second unit which should have two perimeter players who are not great one-on-one defenders in Monk and Huerter. Per Akis hearing from Miami fans, Robinson did not do well on defense. But of course, I want to see Robinson play some before I come to any sort of conclusion.
On the starting lineup, on The Return of the Roar podcast, Brenden and Frankie said it was between starting Keon or Huerter. They said it was pretty obvious Monk is not going to start come fall. They’re credentialed reporters, so I assume they know some of what the coaching staff thinks.
On Lyles, great point by Tony about Lyles being the backup 5. If Lyles is your 5, who is your 4? I also thinks Lyles’ defensive FG% at the rim is just too bad to serve in that role – 66%.
On mid-season trades, Jerry said this would be the year to make a trade for fit like Bibby for JWill or Doug for Corliss. That would be a good thing, but I’m not sure who/what we’d trade for. Perhaps backup wing Huerter for a backup forward. One of the combo guards for such a forward.
On Sabonis’s shooting, I’m not sure I like him shooting his threes from the corners. Sabonis is such a great facilitator; I want him out at the slots and the top of the three-point line making plays for others most of the time. You put the non-facilitating stretch big in the strongside corner, so his cover doesn’t attack the driver and the stretch big can lift for the pass and shot. Sabonis needs to be free-roaming. And he hasn’t shot well from the corners in a very limited sample size: 1 for 5 in 23-24 as Will said, 2 for 10 in 22-23, and 4 for 17 in 21-22.
The underlying theme of the last few podcasts is that this current Kings roster as it sits now is a small team. That is a real concern. I think this team can do more than they did last year. The roster is likely not going to change much until any possible moves at the trade deadline. The opportunity exists to get bigger if needed via trade because this roster has redundancy at multiple positions and decent players to deal.
FWIW, I just wanted to point out that a small team with Tatum at the 4 just won the NBA title. Of their core 8 man rotation, Zinger was the only player over 6’9″
A good defense doesn’t necessarily require size.
I agree about a good defense not requiring size. If the Kings had a truly good defense within last two decades I would not worry about it. This team needs size for defense because the small guys they do have don’t even defend other small guys.
In reality I am more interested in another big playing next to Sabonis from an offensives standpoint. Only has to be good enough to pull the double off of Sabonis sometimes. Sabonis is small as well. If he is one on one he usually wins with his athleticism. Derozan will help pull a double off of him.
Imagine what another capable big could do?
Regarding the mid season trade that the podcast trio all agreed should take place, I don’t disagree in theory. Yes, any trade could happen and there are definitely players that fans think might be un tradable or tradable from the Kings roster. It seems to me that theres really only 4 realistic players on this roster that #1, actually interest other teams and #2, that the Kings think of as expendable to ship out for improvement/better fit. There is maybe 1 more guy depending on how his season goes that could be traded but I will dive into that guy specifically in a minute.
The 4 realistic players that could be traded are as follows (in no particular order):
1.) Kevin Huerter
2.) Trey Lyles
3.) Alex Len
4.) Jordan Mclaughlin
Why do I say this? These 4 dudes are good NBA players that other teams could be interested in and they are currently “replaceable” with someone on the roster the Kings currently have in place. Meaning the depth at guard, forward or center could sustain itself if one or more is traded for a return that isn’t a direct positional replacement for the outgoing player. I don’t think Monte will even sniff at the possibility of trading Fox, Ox, Debo, Spock, Monk or Devin Carter. The rest of the roster could most definitely be included in a trade as filler but no team will be seeking to acquire any of those names (Jaylen McDaniels, Colby Jones, Orlando Robinson, Isaac Jones, Mason Jones, Boogie Ellis, Jalen Swanson and Isiah Crawford) which would motivate a trade to take place or kill a trade from not taking place.
So which player did I leave off who could be tradable depending on his season? Thats correct, Keon Ellis. I believe Ellis will lock himself into the starting lineup and be the exact type of starting SG the Kings need and most likely will place himself into the “highly unlikely to be used in a trade” category. I think Monte prefers to keep the starting 5 intact for the entire season and will only look to upgrade for a player that will come to the Kings as a bench role player that immediately becomes part of the 8 man rotation. Whoever that is needs to be unquestionably the 7th best (or better) player on the squad The list of players that could be is gigantic. If a potential trade is not offering that then a trade is not happening (in my opinion). I find it extremely unlikely that Monte looks to upgrade the starting lineup. The main reason is because I think that task would be extremely hard to do considering how solid the starting 5 is (+Monk). I simply can’t imagine a player coming to Sacramento in a Hurter + Trey Lyles trade deal (which feels like the most attractive package for another team) that moves Ox, Deebo, Spock, Fox or Ellis/Monk out of the starting lineup. Additionally, as I already stated, I think Monte would prefer to keep the starting 5 consistent for the entire season with the huge addition of Deebo and see how that plays out. This would seem to be Monte Mcnair’s mode of operation. He just acquired the best player as a free agent to ever sign in Sacramento to specifically add to Ox,Fox and Spock. He is going to want to see that team play out with either Ellis or Monk as the 5th starter. With the incredibly team friendly deal Ellis is on it makes trading him much harder to justify (especially if he secures himself as the starting SG by the time the trade deadline arrives).
You forgot the rest of the roster.
Tony (and Jerry a bit) sounded off a bit on the Kings not doing a tradeline deal the last two seasons. I have a bit of an issue with the described complacency that is attached to GM McNair at the last two trade deadlines.
Last season – sure, I get that a bit. The Kings were middling, in that big cluster of 5-11 seeds, but the Kings were in the 5-7 grouping and seemed too distanced from the 1-4s to approach that bunch. Dallas was floundering and caught some strong lightening in a bottle with some savvy maneuvering that worked out well – what if the Kings did that? Guess they should’ve (PJ Washington for Harrison Barnes? what was available? who knows?), but it didn’t happen.
Two seasons ago – the Kings were flirting with .500, at around 4-6 games ahead of that pace when the trade deadline came (and went). The last 25 games of the 2022-23 season had the Kings bolster their wins and come close to grabbing 50 games and the second seed over a surprisingly resilient Memphis Grizzlies squad who were into the Morant morass.
The Kings not changing the line up, not making a trade, elevated their play into the end of the regular season. Unfortunately, Sacramento matched up with the still alive Golden State Warriors squad that won the O’Brien trophy the season prior. They played them well, but as we know, had a poor second half of Game 7 basketball, so – not well enough.
I don’t believe you can hindsight the trade deadline from that 20223 season and claim that McNair should have done something. Just my opinion.
Thanks for the podcast episode and thanks for answering my question.
Hope Kings improved offense ( Derozen) can be enough to offset the expected limitations on Defense . Ellis. Keegan keys !
Badge Legend