“Well, well, well, how the turntables,” says Monte McNair as he drops the mic. We are officially past the trade deadline and the Sacramento Kings have a new look thanks to Magic Monte. There were a lot of emotions spent because of it, but it’s undeniable that McNair has changed this team. And although I still catch myself mourning the loss of Tyrese Haliburton every other second, I am also excited (???) to watch Kings basketball again. Like I said – lots of different emotions going on over here. The Kings now officially embark on their next chapter, starting with today’s matchup against the Washington Wizards. Let’s see how they did:
Quick Stats
Outcome: Kings win, 123-110
Sacramento Kings: 123 pts, 56.6% fg, 42.9% 3 pt, 86.2% ft, 27 ast, 42 reb, 14 to
Washington Wizards: 110 pts, 46.6% fg, 34.2% 3 pt, 71.4% ft, 26 ast, 32 reb, 10 to
I… am… feeling… things. After declaring my soul dead less than halfway through the season, this team has managed to suck me back in and begin my resurrection just two days after the trade deadline. It has been said a time or two that I’m just dramatic, but trust me on this one – this team was fun tonight. Six Kings’ players, including all five starters, finished in double digits, and there was a refreshing energy and palpable buzz that lifted this team to a decisive win.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
The Good
- Off-Ball Movement: Domantas Sabonis opens up this Kings’ offense in a way that we haven’t seen in a long time. The Kings frequently utilized him in the high post, and because he has the ability to facilitate from this position, players like Harrison Barnes, De’Aaron Fox, and Justin Holiday were able to make hard cuts to the basket, knowing Domas would find them with a needle pass leading them straight to the basket. Later, Holiday went on a heater as he made counter cuts to the perimeter for open 3-point looks, and he ultimately finished 4-6 from deep. This new dynamic in the Kings’ offense allowed them to connect on 27 total assists, with Domas leading with seven of them. The off-ball movement and passing is not only refreshing, but just plain beautiful basketball.
- Star Fox Returns: De’Aaron Fox has always been good at basketball. But tonight, I felt like we really got to see him enjoy it again. Fox started his scoring with two nearly identical plays where he got the ball on the short corner post, received the most solid screen I have seen from a Kings’ jersey in 10 years from Domantas Sabonis, dribbled into a curl into the paint, and pulled up for a wide open middy. The addition of Sabonis and his ability to control the flow of the offense takes a lot of responsibility off of Fox, and allowed him to showcase other parts of his game. Without having to begin, control, and facilitate the entirety of offensive possessions, Fox was also able to exert more effort on the defensive end down the stretch. And, of course, the best part of Fox’s showing was seeing the classic fourth quarter Fox takeover. As Sabonis got his rest, Fox took the opportunity to put the Wizards away himself and scored 12 of his 26 points in the fourth. The energized, motivated, and joyful Star Fox returned tonight and I hope he is here to stay.
- Defensive Adjustments: The first half showcased a lot of classic Kangz defense. This resulted in a Kyle Kuzma moment as he finished the half with 17 points on 6-9 from the field. Out of the break, the Kings made some adjustments, mostly just adding some effort on the defensive end, and extinguished Kuzma’s heater by holding him to just five points for the rest of the game. Most impressive, though, was their focused efforts in the final seven minutes of the game. With a 13-point lead, the Kings looked fully locked in on defense and were able to decisively resist any pushes by the Wizards to make a comeback. It’s been awhile since the Kings have won a game in this way – you know, without inducing any cardiac episodes within the final minutes of play – and I must admit that it felt good.
The Bad
- Scramble Defense: The Kings often get themselves caught in scramble defense – where they are running out on shooters, catching up to the extra pass, and perpetually trying to help the helper. This happens to every team from time to time, but my beef tonight was how easily the Kings fell into this scenario and how long it took for them to get out of it. Bad habits die hard and the Kings showed that they are still too eager to switch on defense, which often is the first domino to fall that pushes them into a scramble. Then, once they are frantically in it, they compound the issue by failing to close out on shooters, and instead fly by and remove themselves from the play entirely. Tonight, this often resulted in open 3-point looks for the Wizards, with Corey Kispert cashing in on 4 of 11 of his.
The Ugly
- First Half Turnovers: The Kings committed nine turnovers in the first half that resulted in 17 points for the Wizards. Yeah, that was ugly.
The King of Kings
Harrison Barnes thrives in this offense. His high basketball IQ allows him to efficiently time his off-ball movement and tonight he was rewarded for it. Barnes finished with 21 points by going 7-9 from both the field and the free throw line. He took advantage of every mismatch opportunity, showed off his big boy moves, and was a consistent force within the Kings’ offense.
Up Next
Monday, February 14th @ Brooklyn Nets – 4:30 P.M. (PT)
Shout out to Mo!
Moe leads off the dance thread!
Oops!
Dance ..
Do the Sabonis!
And 1 –
Very nicely done write up Mirann.
Easter falls late this year and your resurrection is delayed. However, The Three Kings have arrived and perhaps an epiphany is upon us.
Nicely done.
This is fun to watch? It is. Is it different? It seems to be. Is Monte the GodGM? Yes! Am I totally sucked in to a two game streak that might end up being nothing. I am! I’m totally sucked!
Go Kings!
we are so easy.
I watched the first 5 minutes and the last five minutes (standing obligations interfering with my crapulence) and I gotta say… Wow.
I like it. Having a frontcourt playmaker to feed Fox is why we all loved Harry Giles and it’s a shame that his knees just weren’t built for the NBA but we got that guy now with Domantas.
NBA TV’s Greg Anthony had some nice things to say about the Kings, what they did and the “jolt” the team has received with its makeover and is playing well now.
“Well, well, well…”.
Miami beats the nets… – oh sorry this was not meant to be a response to your comment.
No worries, Anthony did shift pretty quickly to another game.
Nice win against a very bad team. I actually think it’s probably still best if the Kings play well and miss the play-in and at least give themselves a shot at another high pick. They still need a good two way wing that can shoot and there are some wings in this draft.
What the hell is wrong with HB as a two way wing. He’s the most consistent player on this team. Mo Harkless and now Holiday play a very good wing, much better than anybody in the draft at this point in their career. A high pick in this draft is not that good.
There’s nothing wrong with HB but he’s the only starting caliber wing on the team. If you’re starting Holiday and Harkless your team has a pretty low ceiling. There are a number of intriguing players at the top of the draft that would greatly improve this team. Unless the goal is to top out at a 10th seed?
Counterpoint:
Yeah I was a little confused by the response because when I looked at the standings this morning we were still 13th in the west.
Y’all are sleeping on Josh Jackson.
So is the NBA !
So is Josh Jackson.
Oof
Great 2 wins in a row after the deadline , wonder what Rich is saying now.
Who’s Rich?
Rich is hopefully the butt of all our jokes for the next 10 years… And I think he’d probably be okay with that too.
Vivek is rich.
not a billionaire but a lowly millionaire
You know the joke, “How do you become a millionaire?”
Answer: Start out as a billionaire and buy a pro basketball franchise.
Rich is clueless, giving these trades a F shows he has no idea about NBA basketball.
Realized, after getting a Kings headache, that I have to give this team time and see what we have. Also that the Kings being a contender, which is all I care about, hinges on Fox actually working on and improving his shot and defensive effort.
Oh, we have hit one of these waves of unbridled optimism where any negative take is met with withering scorn? Yay for the positivity police, I guess?
Because we know that these deadline trades have turned out fantastically after – checks notes – two games against – checks notes again – unimpressive opponents.
Where is the GoFundMe for a Monte statue? Because since we have decided they’re great deals we can drop the Vivek involvement trope, right?
Not negative takes, just really bad ones.
Prefer to focus on the joy of having the puppy, not that it will have some accidents and go to doggie heaven some day. Haha, oh yeah i forgot we are kings fans.
the casuals have shown up. Like when the pro-Bagley people were all here after that draft claiming we’d be eating out words soon. Haven’t heard from too many of them since.
I’ll give Rich credit for this – he has the balls to put his name on it.
And he’ll admit he’s wrong, too. Not everyone does.
Yep, and it’s not without reason. It just lacks flexibility.
I would have blown it up, too. I also didn’t see a path to add a top 30-35 player without giving up multiple assets, so I was wrong about that one.
I don’t know if this is the right path or not. None of us do. But I do know that the last time I had this much fun watching this team, Dave Joerger was the head coach. And that seems like a long, long time ago.
Luke Walton being fired by the forever chaos agent (or inspiring McNair to) seems forever and a day ago. Hell that Portland and Lakers win in 3OT seems forever ago. (Probably because they are a week apart in actuality. )
And he’s not alone. Still the worst take I’ve seen was David Jacoby saying the NBA should void the deal because it was criminally incompetent. LOL Rich didn’t say that, or anything close to it.
This will be an interesting argument to revisit in 3 years.
As I’ve said, I can see it working. I just think it’s a narrower path. But they navigated the toughest part: adding significant real-time talent without mortgaging the future. And the addition of Sabonis may enhance Barnes’ level of play, making him either a keeper or an enhanced trade piece (offsetting what I see as at least a slight devaluation of Holmes).
Work to be done, BUT ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED??? Watching full games with the sound up. Who’d have thunk it?
Very entertained in fact.
Man was that fun. Team looks so much different without Buddy Chuck it out there
And of course Sabonis looks awesome.
When Harkless doing something good Am I the only one who sings –
Harkless
Mo Harless
In the name of basketball
To the tune Heartless by Heart?
Lol. Thought I was the only one!
Good to know it’s not just me.
Like the Page/Zep pic
Thanks. I was looking at Zep picks for my avatar and I’d never seen Page wearing that orange jacket before, so it was unique to me. Plus, it had Bonham in there too, so win-win.
You must be a Communist. Only commies like Led Zeppelin.
有一个美好的一天朋友
I’m hoping that’s ‘go fuck yourself’ in Chinese. LOL
Bonham was incredible. The best rock drummer of all time I believe.
The roster is now filled with players that don’t have glaring weaknesses on either side of the ball and, at least as of now, are giving constant effort. This could be the seeds for real improvement.
edit
Mirann’s criticism of the scramble defense is good and important if the Kings are to get to the next level. Thanks for pointing that out.
They now have a lot more effective defenders. Their job is to learn how to play together.
I think a lot of that is the new players getting used to a new defensive system. They are instinctively rotating to the next man or space without fully realizing someone else is already there. There were quite a few two man closing out on one man with the ball. It’s a mental mistake that will hopefully be corrective with time and more familiarity.
There was much better switching in the 2nd half, too.
some of the scramble occurred after a good defensive play- like a tipped pass, good rotation or forced miss but the wiz recovered, and the response looked like a scramble
I agree. Too much time picking up other’s slack. Guys have to get used to teammates they can trust.
At least guys are rotating and making an effort to challenge shots. To me, the number of wide open threes tonight was a lot less than a typical game. I didn’t see the T-Wolves game, so I don’t know how the rotations/close outs looked in that game.
so if the team is competent the rest of the season – what do you do with Gentry? give him a chance with an actual real team or still move on?
Depends on how competent and the context…. Then sadly you ask Fox and Sabonis and then pick the guy or gal you want.
Pick the best coach available in the off season, include Gentry in the process. If he’s the best guy, hire him, if not, hire someone else. It’s an open position. I wouldn’t overthink it.
Vivek wants to know if he’s already under contract for next year, and if it can still be at the interim rate.
Hire a new coach.
I heard/read somewhere that there are milestones in Gentry’s contract that guarantee him another year as head coach if he makes them.
Good win by the Kings. 2 games in a row they have to battle back from a double digit deficit. But the style of play is soooo refreshing it was like watching the early 2000 Kings.. If this is their identify moving forward with beautiful ball movement, cutting to the basket, and playing decent defense then it wouldn’t surprise me if they turn this season around. Maybe its a little bit late but its definitely a start. Add another top 8-12 pick to either keep or make a trade this off-season then we might be seeing a playoff team next season.
Great game. If they figure out how to get Holmes running pick and roll with the second unit that would really improve the offensive efficiency of that unit. I didn’t see a single pick and roll called with him, which really limits his value offensively. He’s a rim runner.
It’s a testament to Domantas… The Kings now have a half court offense but can still run. They need to figure some stuff out for sure.
Agreed. But when he’s not on the floor, they should be running heavy PnR action with Holmes.
Yes.
BROOKLYN IS IN TROUUUUUBLEEEEE!
So, no KD, Kyrie, Harden, or Simmons, right? Sorry, but it sounds like we’re the ones in trouble, pal.
I see what you did there… Also when I type into the URL “nba standings” how come the default is the east and not the west… Arn’t we a swipe right society?
The final piece of the puzzle won’t be another pick, but the right coaching staff.
Once the Fox iso stuff is culled and the defense has an idea that they’re there for more than just inbounding the ball after a given up basket, this is a solid 5-6 seed team.
Have a rec!
Nice, LeBron misses a free throw to end the game, and the Lakers lose again!
He was relatively pedestrian down the stretch
I can handle it, Vivek. I can handle it.
Just stay on the sidelines.
Just the fact that there are now players on this team that refuse to quit is refreshing.
True. And I think, all of them now, with renewed vigor and grit. Thanks to a very high BBIQ post player in Sabonis.
Not seeing Buddy make dumb errors is in itself refreshing.
Not seeing Buddy or Bagely doing dumb things or hearing Katty and Co tell me how good Bags will be is like a year of therapy……I feel so much relief.
The MB3 lovefest was getting old- heard it for 4 years. Over.
Is this real life?
Nah, its just fantasy
doesn’t really matter….to me.
Fun game! Thought DD played well on defense and can run pretty well considering his most recent injuries
On a side note: if yall thought the kings announcers were terrible and unrealistic about the state of their team, yall would’ve loved the wizards announcers tonight. They made Ish Smith’s return to their team sound like the second coming of Jesus. Well i guess third, cause this is Ish’s 3rd time on the wiz. They also showed a clip of the GM being asked if after the trade deadline would the team be prioritizing youth or going for that ever elusive 10 seed and the gm said something along the lines of: “I think we can do both. Tingus Pingus is only 26! He’s only going to get better!!” Like, fuck dude. This was so close to being us lolll
I am so sorry I missed that- on League Pass?
Home team announcers are such homers and I guess ours are as well. Mark Jones went deep into his bag tonight with his “sayings”. Lots of food references and some playground stuff. Enjoyable but an acquired taste.
Love me my Tingus Pingus. Is Tingus the GM or was he referring to Cory Kispert who is about 36 and getting better.
The free streaming site i use picks a random broadcast and it happened to be the wiz. After hearing basically every teams broadcast team, I strongly belive the kings team isn’t THAT bad. Like comical, but at least Mark Jones describes what’s going on, even if he’s the living equivalent of the “whats up my fellow kids” meme. Listen to the warriors or the nets and I swear they’re not even watching the game. Or maybe they’ve never watched basketball before. Just twitter hot takes for 2 and a half hours.
And tingus is kristaps porzingus. There’s no way I spelled that right. But after they showed the clip of the gm saying the unicorn was only getting better, the announcers proceeded to talk about how tall he is. Nothing about his talent or the couple times he stood up to cheer his teammates and looked like he was really 60. He’s just tall! Yay!!
Was funny and I always like listening to the non Kings crew.
Not all team’s announcers are homers. I hear most/lots who are balanced. Sure all are rooting homers but many actually point out bad play by their team etc. Kings announcers don’t.
What other ones would you say are balanced but actually good? I know the pelicans announcers are honest about their team but the color commentator dude for them sounds like borderline hostile. Like he sounds like he’s just yelling at the players when they do something dumb. But he has to watch every pels game so I guess I can’t blame him haha
Funny you say that, but I think arguably Antonio Daniels is the best analyst going right now. Joel Meyers is the PBP guy who happens to be a favorite of mine.
They are my favourite tandem out there atm.
I’m blanking right now but The Knicks w Clyde and Breem are good. So are Lakers radio Thompson/Ireland. Fair. Honest. I think I liked Utah and/or Denver.
Kings lag. Dumb only rose colored lenses.
Oh man, I guess we have differing opinions. I feel like the Knicks color commentator is horrendous. Play by play is great but after he perfectly describes what’s going on for 15 seconds, it’ll be time for some basketball analysis and the only guy will be like: “Randle being a little too impetuous with the ball…” and then ten seconds of silence. Its terrible. Miami has a really good duo of describing what’s happening and offering very in depth commentary
Other* not only
I miss Doug Christie and that’s all I’m going to say.
I ended up turning the sound down because the wizard anno8ncers were absolutely terrible. Gooden had no personality, very monotone. The other dude was trying to set up Gooden for some analysis and it fell short.
“What you don’t understand is….(per Kayte) – These wins bring out positive posts and comments in the game recap thread, which means TKH fans are enjoying and celebrating with nice and heartfelt comments that even the great Andy Sims cannot rebut, refute or recycle!
sorry Andy…love you long time….
Kayte- “what Kings fans don’t understand is….”
Kings must win all winnable games and some unexpected- just like a real team.
I actually quite like Kayte and she has cut that comment way down. She talks quite a bit- no dead air- but does know her stuff. She’s just excited like most of us.
I may have to pull some of my for-sale tickets off the for-sale market.
The announce crew is way more tolerable now because their overwhelming/irrational praise for every Kings player and play is actually accurate now.
They can only only do a positive one sided broadcast but now, with this squad, it works.
FANSPLAINING!
The TDL turned the season around for the Kings and for me. I was in deep acceptance. Now I am back to Kings basketball…torture. Pacing and yelling and feeling it in my gut. The caring is back.
Kings had some sloppy play- couple of passes off the backboard, couple of missed assignments and the scramble. I watched the scramble and quite often, Kings deflected a pass or made a good stop, but Washington recovered and went to another option. The defensive intensity was there and the first execution, but the second execution was lacking. Sabonis opens up the court from the elbow. Fox looks happy again. Holiday contributed. DDV fights on D but his shot was seriously off. Moe had another good game and Barnes- well- when Kings need a bucket, he gets it.
Mitchell will lose minutes to the bigger guards. Kings far more versatile.
This is light years different.
Nets next- Kings have lost about 5 times to shorthanded teams. Lessons learned?
and SAS + Blazers who were supposed to lose now, have won 2 straight. Log jam at 10with 4 teams there. Can the imploding LAL be displaced?
At least 3 of the new guys are players. We lost one player and one shooter but not maker) and got at least 3 players.
I was actually watching this game thinking I’d bench guys that had to run out to defenders like that. Quality teams don’t play this school yard defense, it was amateur hour out there for a while. After Gentry called a timeout they adjusted to stricter man-to-man. They need to dial in and play defense, seemed like haphazard help defense run by a seventh grade PE teacher for the middle two quarters.
i will say one thing I heard on the broadcast tonight and even here is the fact that Fox is “happy” again. I could give a shit if fox is happy again he just better not pull any of the quitter mentality bullshit again when we get down. I lost a ton of respect for fox this year. As my grandmother always told me you learn who people are in down times.
Sabonis looks amazing and I won’t have any problems rooting for a guy who is that engaged always. He flew in rushed a shoot around and begged to get in and start and play even though he easily could have taken the day off.
Totally agree with you. I’ve been super disappointed in fox not from a game playing standpoint but from a leadership standpoint. As a max player he hasn’t exactly been the ideal franchise figurehead. He needs to grow. Hopefully he will. People deserve second chances and time to evolve
Those Long arms from Harkless and Holiday are insance…
and also DDV…all three are really active in passing lane.
I dont understand these feelings Im having. Im unable to be my normal pessimistic self during these last 2 wins
Good ole Kangz fans. Getting hyped over two wins over bad teams post trade.
This is still a below average team and one of the worst defensive teams in the league. I wouldn’t expect a ton of wins or a play in.
Just being a realist. I certainly hope I’m wrong.
i’m still cautiously optimistic but can you imagine if the Kings would have started the Sabonis era 0-2 instead? Oh boy, the majority of the comments would be about how nothing has changed and the disaster of trading a bonafide young stud in Hali.
I’m just living in the moment, really. These last two wins – even if they’re not against elite teams – have been so refreshing compared to the crap we’ve seen. No more ill-advised Buddy threes, no more Bags getting the ball stripped. The ball movement so far is beautiful to watch.
It’s nice to see players actually giving a F for once.
Actually, Minnesota isn’t a bad team. Thst are 7th in the West right now. Washington certainly is, but nobody is easy to beat at home, especially, as easily as the narrative might suggest.
Beyond that, what’s interesting is there seems to be positive trends that could see the Kings bank some wins. The passing, defensive rebounding to name two.
The roster before the trade would have probably lost tona bad Washington team.
Lack of energy and cohesive play = Loss
The passing is by far the biggest positive change to me. The lack of ball movement this year was alarming until the last two games. I still would be relatively surprised if the Kings make the play-in game but this team could really use another high lottery pick so that’s fine. At least this version of the team is fun to watch which is a huge improvement.
This year? It’s been a problem for a really long time. Certainly the entirety of the Fox era.
I’d be shocked if the Kings went 18-7 or something like that. But the play in tournament? Lakers and Pelicans aren’t exactly lighting it up so I wouldn’t assume much yet. And, frankly, the Kings would have the tiebreaker against the Pels if they win 1 of the next 2 games. I won’t look up what the tiebreaker is for the Lakers since they went 2-2 on the season.
Here’s the thing. They still play Brooklyn, OKC, New Orleans, San Antonio, Indiana, Orlando, Houston twice with a day off in between all on the road. They also play New Orleans at home in the last home game before they finish up the season. And yes, they play Denver 3 times (twice at home), Phoenix twice (one is game 82 in Phx), Milwaukee, Chicago twice including Wednesday in Chicago, Boston, Golden State, @Dallas, @Utah, @Miami. I forgot to add the Knicks in here as well at home.
It’s not impossible to see a 15-10 record provided reasonable health. They only have 2 b2b’s (NO/SA and the Clipps/Suns in games 81/82) remaining. And, the Kings have 2 of those wins already so really you’re talking about 13-10. 35 wins is doable.
You have 9 games against bad teams (@Brooklyn, @OKC, @New Orleans, @San Antonio, home vs Knicks, @Indiana, @Orlando, @Houston (twice), home vs New Orleans. Win, say, 7 of those. 8 preferably. It’s not impossible to squint and see a 2-2 homestand against Chicago, Milwaukee, Boston, Phoenix.
That still leaves 3 against Denver, @Utah, @Miami, home against Golden State.
And the last two games? Not saying I’m expecting it……but I can see a path to 35 wins.
I still think the best opportunity to add that 3rd player and properly balance the roster is more likely in trade than draft the right player. And that getting that player might be a tad easier if you play really well down the stretch.
I just feel like whether it’s the Spurs or the Pelicans, one of these teams us going go on a run and they’re already both (slightly) ahead of us. But we’ll see! The Minny game was a very nice win and if the ball continues to move the way it has they should be able to score. The defense and shooting still seem like big holes to me. I do wonder if the three point shooting improves just because Sabonis will generate many more open looks. At least theKings are now watchable which is something that wasn’t the case a week ago.
All fair and reasonable concerns. That’s why the play the games, right? If nothing else, at least you enjoy watching the games again right? That’s…something!
I totally agree with you. I wouldn’t downplay what the Kings accomplished over the last 2 games.
The Kings beat a good Timberwolves team, and then traveled cross country to take care of business with the Wizards.
This was no small feat in my book
Great recap Mirann! Fun game. My 2 cents after 2 games. first, I’m gonna love the new D first team guys (Davion, DD, Holiday). They are setting a tone and I love it. DD in particular was flying around passing lanes and being a pest. Those three on the floor at once will be nice. 2 games in a row where we slowed down the other team in the second half. Very good to see. Second, Domas is such a smart and effective player. He just makes it so much easier for everyone else. Doesn’t surprise me that he led the team in assists. He’s like Jokic lite.
im getting excited about the rest of the season and going forward.
Go Kings!
I was listening to the Wizards broadcast tonight ND they both thought we won the trade because of Sabonas, they were big fans of his.
This upcoming draft has quite a few 2 way 6’8 wings that will be in the 6-10 range, it’s so nice that we still have our pick… I like a guy named Tari Eason to compliment this team.
On draft night would you trade say the #9 pick, ’23 unprotected and Holmes for Ingram?
Fox, Mitchell
DD, TD
Ingram, Holiday
Barnes, Metu
Sabonis, Jones
That’s a lock for top 6 seed but b2b years with no first?
Does nop even listen to that deal (3rd team or whatever to make it work with nop getting both 1sts as primary parts of the trade)
I’d still protect the 2023 pick like top-3 but absolutely I’d make that trade. I just don’t why New Orleans would do that.
Need more money going out from Sac’s end to make that deal work. Right now, it would be Holmes plus 3 guys from Holiday to Len salary wise or adding Barnes.
Not sure I’d do that for Ingram, but I’d think about it very long and hard at the least.
Yeah a 3rd team would be needed and it might cost another protected 1st but I’d want to keep Davion and Barnes.
Roster pieces ideally kept would be fox, Davion, dd, td, Barnes and Sabonis.
Basically would you give up a ton of drafts in the near future to add Ingram to the main pieces we have here now.
First game I’ve watched from start to finish in a long time. Nice to see the some actual basketball being played instead of the joyless, barely going through the motions crap that we’ve seen to this point.
Night and day difference in the offense. Before, the offense consisted of some combination of pointless dribble hand off around the three point line, ball pounding/standing around, followed by some type of iso move and/or a contested jump shot as the clock winds down. Now we’re seeing way better ball and player movement and less iso ball. Heck, even the screens are better! Just so refreshing to see actual good basketball. Nice to see some sunshine and blue sky after seeing nothing but dark clouds to this point. Interestingly enough, it already seems like there’s chemistry between the guys, which is is pretty amazing considering 6 new guys are being integrated. It’ll be interesting to see how that continues to develops as the season goes on.
I don’t know how the rest of the season will go, but man it’s nice to see actual basketball being played by players who like playing basketball with each other. Keep it up guys!
That’s true, who knows where this season will go.
I’d expect the Kings to be at least in most games from this point forward, but we’ll have to see.
Even when we were down by 13 the Kings managed to cap that, and not let the game get out of hand.
Felt like the Wiz were getting the breaks with the whistles. [checks free throw attempts in box score] Never mind.
Man, the Kings making the Play-in and eliminating the L*kers in the process is becoming a great possibility lol.
These last two games have been such a breath of fresh air. Especially the ball movement has been fun to watch.
The stats back it up: before the last two games, the Kings averaged 282 passes made per game (17th in the league). Over the last two games, they average 317 (tied for 1st). The Kings played two mediocre (15th + 22nd in DRTG) defensive teams, so I won’t allow myself to get too excited, but I hope they keep this up!
Ideal situation in my opinion is to when 16 or 17 of remaining games, somehow miss playoffs and remain in lotto. Move up 3-4 spots and draft a guy like Keegan Murray or Nikola Jovic.. although I think they will end up in the 6-8 range. .I think this team still needs a good 4 That can shoot so when Sabonis isn’t playing we’re not too clogged up in the middle. Also hoping we can flip holmes for a person like PJ Washington.. I can live with a guy like Lamb or Josh Jackson as a back up 3.. I also wonder if Holmes and Sabonis could play together in some lineups? Probably not since Sabonis isn’t a three-point threat and more of a high post type guy
Sabonis has shot over 32% from 3 the last two seasons ! Better than several Kings wings !
Good objective analysis!
Overall, Kings look dramatically better post-trade.
So much for your pundits giving C- to F grades. “I’ll do my own research.”
Badge Legend