Update: 10 pm
Is there a better game than this for this season? The Kings lost 132-126 for the tank and the rookies played well, starting with Nique Clifford who had a breakout game. He finished with 30 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks in 40 minutes. He was aggressive, impactful and efficient (12-19 from the field). Dylan Cardwell had his second double double in a row with 12 points, 11 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block in 25 minutes. Maxime Raynauad had 14 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals in 23 minutes. Devin Carter had 18 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 block in 27 minutes. And Daeqwon Plowden also played a solid 39 minutes (!), finishing with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and was a +7 on the night.
That is solid production for these young guys. It will be fun to see how Keegan Murray fits in with this group once he returns.
Speaking of fun, watching these guys get more minutes is exponentially more entertaining than watching the veterans slog along in losses. Russell Westbrook had a solid game in 32 minutes (21 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds) and DeMar DeRozan had 13 points in 30 minutes.
Keon Ellis played 17 minutes in his return to Golden 1 Center, finishing with 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 1 block. Dennis Schroder also played 17 minutes, finishing with 7 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds.
Good loss.
From Earlier Preview:
The Sacramento Kings have lost a staggering 11-straight games, and find themselves in another challenging situation tonight against the Cavaliers. Let’s talk about it.
Who: Sacramento Kings (12-41) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (31-21)
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA
When: 7:00 PM PT / 10:00 PM ET
Watch: NBCSCA / LeaguePass
We’re still hours away from tipoff, and the Kings have already ruled out De’Andre Hunter, Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, Malik Monk, and Keegan Murray. The Cavs are significantly healthier, significantly more talented, and better-rested: Sacramento lost to the Clippers last night, and Cleveland hasn’t played since Wednesday.
We’re probably looked at the 12th straight loss here. Good, but also, woof.
Also happening tonight: Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis return to Sacramento for the first time since Scott Perry shipped them out… just a few days ago. It’ll be interesting to see both how Kings fans receive them, and how they play against their former team, the worst team in the league, after being traded away.
While the Kings did lose to the Clippers on Friday, it was nice to see the youth play so many minutes. Dylan Cardwell dropped a14-point, 14-rebound double-double. Maxime Raynaud scored 12 points, Nique Clifford contributed with 16 points, and even Devin Carter got some burn, posting 14 points and 4 assists in 22 minutes. He went 0-5 from beyond the arc, but hey, he’s barely played all year.
For as bad as the Kings are, it appears that the organization has fully accepted their fate this season, and the younger players are starting to see the floor more. That’s a welcome change. The team is still bad, but at least we’re watching some guys who may be here for a while, rather than 48 minutes of older players going through the motions and running out their contracts.
I’m expecting more of the same tonight vs. Cleveland.
Prediction: Kings 118, Cavaliers 113
They got Keon and Dennis from us;
Acquired Harden as one more plus.
The Cavs are all in;
They’re expecting to win
While Vivek has us oozing pus!
+1 Vivek can help fix what plagues us: SELL THE TEAM!
Kings are running the “stealth” tank. It’s “stealth” because no one can see it. Many have tied but it’s invisible, because it’s stealth.
With Bryant shooting like that and Dennis defending this hard I’m worried Kenny Atkinson won’t need to put Keon in.
You predicted a Kings win! What is this mojo..
Keonnis tank commanding from the other side. Loving it
Nique looking better. What’s up with Max? Looks like a lost pup
Nvm Max’s fine lol
As usual, not watching the game but go Keon!
Younglings are getting career highs, not a bad game.
Best game of the season!
Westbrook securing the tank
Wonderful stealth tank play by Westbrook and DeRozan!
A good loss. Young ones looks better, vets securing stealth tank
DeRozen is our key tank commander, and always has been since the Kings picked him up.
Glad the youngsters are starting to get significant playing time. It only took Doug about 50 games to start doing this but better late than never I guess.
Won rebounding, shooting, block(!), 2nd chance and fast break points.
But huge free throw disparity was the difference. I agree, good loss. They keep finding a new way to lose; and the first time that’s been said in a positive light.
Also, thanks Tony for posting and doing so many of the write-ups before/after the games here. I can’t imagine it is heaps of fun this season, and I really appreciate your dedication.
Hear hear.
I feel bad for the true Kings fans but especially for the TKH staff, who are both fans and do this labour of love for free. Much respect to y’all!
I’d keep if possible 8 players for next year. 2 of the 8 are IMO on the fence DeAndre and Precious. Would I keep Carter you bet I would. Plowden also included. What I like of the ones who can play defense? All of them. Good start of a rebuild. Now get either Peterson or Flemings in the draft. Future point guard. GO KINGS!
See my rebuild plan. If you get lucky and get Peterson while keeping Sabonis, Murray, Clifford, Max this rebuild can go fairly fast. Too me Carter has to go. I don’t see a future for him.
I watched the 10 minute recap this morning…
Playing these young guys to start the season is what I think a lot of us on here wanted. They needed the minutes earlier to show what they could do, and to develop.
Nique’s shot look much better. The 3 ball had more arc tonight than I have seen all season.
Max had some nice moments against Allen, Cardwell is the hustle guy, Plowden looks fairly athletic (be nice if he was 21!!!)
Carter needed these minutes earlier, too. He hasn’t had a chance to really get a shot in the rotation. He looked fine.
I hope LaVine gets held out more frequently.
Breaking news – Kings haven’t yet destroyed their young talent! Vivek’s sense for talent obviously picked out Doug as the value-priced rookie whisperer so will probably return for next season
Very fun & entertaining to watch the
young* inexperienced players. Should have been this way all season.(* Raynaud is the youngest player on the team. There are 92 contracted NBA players younger than him.)
All we need is 3 players > Keegan and 2 players < Keegan but > Nique / Raynaud / Cardwell and we might be onto something.
I have to wonder if the Kings are going to add another 2-way player since they have an open roster spot. 2-ways don’t count against the cap so they might as well bring on another “young” player to see what he can do.
DC’s SOL, DaQuan Jeffries, immediately came to mind, but he may have too much NBA experience to qualify for a two-way.
From the Stockton roster, maybe 6’8” Forward Jaylin Williams; he’s only 25 yo and shooting 38.5% from three on 3 attempts per game.
The youngsters are playing for their future and the future of the team. The vets are playing to pad their offensive stats, protecting their contract value and nothing more – they deserve to sit on the bench and happy to see it finally getting into management’s heads.
I imagine that many here are focused on the Super Bowl but just a gentle reminder that Scott Perry’s new inspirational saying will be likely be posted shortly thereafter!!!
So here’s the plan from this point on and it’s really this simple.
Now you’re cheaper, younger, better and more exciting. At this point you can possibly take on a bad contract for a young player and/or draft capital.
I don’t think they need to release DDR, at least not yet. With his partial guarantee of $10 of $25M next season he is basically a $14M expiring contract. There will be teams in the tax and aprons as summer hits and some may want to cut guaranteed money for a contract like DDR’s with plans to cut him themselves.
As a hypothetical example, the Bucks have Kuzma’s deal guaranteed next season for $20M and they are capped out. Giannis and his situation are also looming. I could see a situation where they trade Kuzma and draft capital for DDR for the sole purpose to cut DDR and save money.
Others I would keep an eye on is Naz Reid and Cam Johnson. Both are owed around what DDR is scheduled to make and both Denver and Minny may look to shake things up if the playoffs don’t go as planned…especially Denver with Watson about to hit RFA. I could totally see Denver flipping Cam to the Kings for DDR’s partial guarantee so they can free up money to retain Watson. King should rightfully ask for draft compensation for helping out Denver.
Kings will probably give Denver a second for the privilege of trading with Denver.
Are we going to get a Bryant West Kingscentric big board this year?
I hope so. Talk of the draft may be the only thing keeping the pulse alive here at TKH.
Kangzston Flemmings?
That’s Malikston in Mark-Jones-speak!
This is the way. Perry can say what he wants so Kings don’t get fined but this is what they need to be doing. Play the youngins and tank, it’s not even hard to do. They’ll probably do the opposite next game and Kangz us.
TGIM:
I’m sure the coffee is nice and hot in this situation.That’s good!
“Worrying about things over which we simply have no control…
I thought he told us he had full autonomy. Isn’t he the one who has full control over this situation?
He doesn’t control that other GM’s value our players accurately.
Rooting for the Kings is not a life experience. It is a life sentence.
Might need to play the old guys more minutes. The “youth” plays too much like an actual team, may hurt the tank.
The Zach Effect
Wow, and they knowing traded for the guy. This franchise is such a joke.
Zach Lavine was offered all this money. He said “okay”.
I can’t be upset that he is “overpaid per production”. What we can be upset about is someone else, besides the original idiot who overpaid, found a bigger moron to take him off their hands.
Let’s all Vivek Shaka!
I guess the NBA is going to fully embrace gambling on basketball while simultaneously saying they don’t approve of gambling on basketball. I think a team in Vegas is a major mistake.
At least we have a lot of players to offer in the expansion draft!
Too bad all of their contracts will have expired by the time expansion happens..
.
.
.
or Paul George will be a King by then.
I think the dam has already broken, the guardrails washed away, and focusing on LV as an expansion team is completely missing the bigger picture.
Giannis just became a shareholder of prediction-market service Kalshi, where they take bets on stuff like, just for instance, where Giannis will play next year…
what’s their prediction?
That Giannis thing is insane, even more so than the Kawhi Leonard saga. Silver has lost control.
Instant Sonics fan. ????️
Dear Las Vegas or Seattle,
I have a trade to propose…
Badge Legend