Update: 8:30 p.m.
That is 14 losses in the books for the Sacramento Kings as they fell 121-93 Wednesday to the Utah Jazz.
Sacramento shot 21% from three, 34% from the field, got out-rebounded by 10 and gave up 20 points off turnovers. Devin Carter got the start in this one and finished with 19 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 30 minutes. Nique Clifford played 38 minutes and had 6 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. Dylan Cardwell had 6 points and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes. DeMar DeRozan led the Kings in scoring with 20 points. Doug McDermott got some work in, finishing with 14 points on 4-8 from three.
The Jazz led for the majority of the game.
AJ Dybantsa, the BYU star projected to be drafted in the top 3 of this year’s NBA Draft was courtside.
Speaking of which – tank on. The Kings 12 wins is three less wins than the 14th place New Orleans Pelicans and two less wins than the 15th Eastern Conference Washington Wizards.
From Earlier Preview
The Sacramento Kings are in Utah tonight to face a Jazz team that is also fighting for precious ping pong balls. The Kings have lost 13-straight games, and the Jazz are 2-8 in their last 10.
Who: Sacramento Kings (12-43) vs. Utah Jazz (17-37)
Where: Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT
When: 6:00 PM PT / 9:00 PM ET
Watch: NBCSCA / League Pass
The Kings got spanked by the Pelicans on Monday night, but at least we got to see more of the kids? Maxime Raynaud posted 21 points and 19 (!) rebounds. Clifford started and shot a brutal 4-16 from the field. Devin Carter had his 4th-straight game of double-digit scoring. Daequon Plowden was also there. I guess you could call it a mixed bag.
Russell Westbrook, Domantas Sabonis, Keegan Murray, De’Andre Hunter, Zach LaVine, and Malik Monk have already been ruled out for tonight, so expect more playing time for the youth. We may even see Devin Carter start at point guard. If it happens, it would be the first start of his career.
Good luck to all who plan on watching this game. It could get ugly.
Prediction: Kings 117, Jazz 102.
Can’t wait to hear front office rebuild expert Kayte tell her long stories about how successful franchises rebuild.
“Listen…”
“Let’s not get it twisted”
Let me tell you something. One thing that fans don’t understand is that rebuilding takes time!
For this game we will be in Salt Lake.
When it’s done, we can all take a break.
Since Ainge pulled the trigger,
They seem even bigger.
But with Vivek, our talk turned out fake!
+1 Breaking records with every loss!
The Jazz will play Lauri and JJJr for at least 20 minutes, per loophole policy. They’ve thumbed their nose at the League as far as 4th Quarter minutes for those two – and for Josef Nurkic as well. They’ve gone as far as having Head Coach Will Hardy* respond to the direct question Will you play those guys in the 4th Quarter? with a resounding, and simple – No!.
I say these Kings are up to the challenge and could be down as much 20 heading into the final stanza. Keyonte George, Isaiah Collier, Kyle Filipowski, Ace Bailey – bring it!
I have to admit, I am wanting the franchise worst losing streak firmly on the shoulders of the DLC (dismissive little chap) King Vivek and Queen Matina. Looking for an even 20. Sigh, I can be so very petty. This season is bringing out a not good side of me.
Remember, that after tonight’s Tank v. Tank Challenge (which the Kings have won now against the Wizards and Pelicants), Sac only has 7 head to head tank battles for the rest of the season (Jazz again, Memphis, Pacers, and both Pels and Nets twice) in 26 remaining opportunities after the ASG. I dunno, Sac wins five more games to tie the 2009 debacle 17 win season? I again, would like to see them hang a 15 game losing season on Ranadive.
History:
17-65 2008-09 (.207) Kings
16-64 1959-60(.190) Royals
Slight the Beam
*Will Hardy signed his extension last May 2025 which carries him into 2030-31. He is very much a company man (Danny and Austin Ainge, Justin Zanik approve of this message)
I went back after ChatGPT told me the Royals record, it didn’t seem right. It is incorrect (surprise!).
1958-59 went 19-53 (.264)
1959-60 went 19-56 (.253)
These two seasons were part in parcel due to the awful tragedy of the 1957-58 injury to the amazing Maurice Stokes, who suffered his traumatic brain injury (TBI) at the age of 24, leaving him paralyzed. Stokes would likely be right up there with Oscar Robertson for the best players to ever be a Royal or King.
“part and parcel” is the idiom.
‘Like the Ream’ Vivek, take it like a champ
Spurs just released Sochan. You guys think he might fit in here? Although a more realistic question is will he want to come here?
I’d love to take a flyer on him, but I don’t think the Kings have the financial ability to add him.
Vivek sucks.
Sochan’s offensive game is so bad that his good defense just can’t make up for it. I’d rather keep the roster spot open for now and use the open two-way to pluck a player (preferably U21) from another team’s G-League roster. AND then…
Also, Saric was recently waived…it still pisses me off that we traded a 2nd pick for essentially $2M in cash, the Kings could’ve waived Saric themselves and kept the pick. The Kings are $4M under the cap ($196M cap, $192M allocated) so they could’ve absorbed the rest of Saric’s salary (which was only like $2.3M). I know it was a shit pick, but that is not the point. The point is that Vivek is so broke that the Kings consistently have to trade 2nd round picks away for cash. A small market-team cannot treat draft assets, regardless of quality, as if they’re unimportant.
it’s definitely not so bad you don’t give a 22 year old 6’8 defensive stud that can also pass well a shot on an atrocious team…bad Sochan take, excellent Saric take
You may be right about Sochan, I really thought he would be able to find a consistent way to score 10-12 pts a game, but his offensive development seems to have stalled. I just think he would take all the remaining available cap space and prevent the Kings from making other moves.
I 100% agree. Worth a shot for the remainder of the season and even all of next. That’s a solid gamble.
For the record, if the kings would have received Sochan as part of the fox deal last year, the majority of Kings fans would have felt sooooooooooooo much better about that trade deal.
just say’n
A Knicks team that is a little over $1M below the 2nd apron was able to land Sochan.
https://bsky.app/profile/shamsbot.bsky.social/post/3meooz3xfdc2v
Brown got his newer version of KZ Okpala!!!!!
Chris Duarte
Why in the ever loving you know what do even have to watch Doug McDermott take even three freaking shots. WTF? Drop McDermott and pick up the best young unsigned G League sharp shooter you can find. What a waste.
Pretty hard for the Jazz to tank against what is essentially a G-League team right now…
Listen, the Kings lost to a 4th string Wizards lineup.
Keep pushing up that lead Utah!
need to see more water bottles on the floor, less fans in the stands, and minimal ticks in the W column.
Listen, Carter went at 13 in the 2024 draft. Collier went at 29. Lol.
how does this kings team actually have 12 wins under their belt? when opponents featuring mighty .315 win percentages are blowing you out by nearly 30 points, 12 seems like way more than i would have expected.
Last seasons 40-42 record brought the end to Brown, COR and McNait EOY . Now are leagues dregs at 12-44 with Perry/Christi in total command . How many seasons till we see 40 wins again ?
5 seasons?
You’re so negative!
I think 2 seasons.
26/27 – 19 wins
27/28 – 21 wins
That’s 40!!! ;p
Awful game watching experience . Kings and broadcast equally embarrassing!
My music library carried the day. Always watch the game on mute. And perhaps with a blindfold.
The best thing about all of this is that is 100% on Vivek. He’s reaping the rewards of the bed he made. I wonder if he even has it in him to show up court side for the rest of the season. Worst owner in the game.
Vivek probably thinks that if the injuries don’t happen this season, then the team would be contending for the 10th seed. Dude is delusional, and this season is exactly what the franchise needed. Complete embarrassment.
If I were a top prospect in the draft and the Kings drafted me, I would do whatever possible (within the CBA/NBA rules) to not go to Sacramento. It is a complete dumpster fire.
Maybe continuous statements like that from rookies, free agents, and trade targets would get the league to have conversations behind the scenes with the club to start doing things differently. Bring the embarrassing state of affairs out in the open so it gets reported on more and can’t be overlooked. Grasping at anything here bc egomaniac ain’t gonna sell soon, I’m afraid. Problem is, they have no idea how to do things right, so doing things ‘differently’ would still likely be a clusterf^@&.
I have been thinking this same thing. Either the league will rig it so the kings drop in the lottery and pick 4th or 5th or agents will tell the kings their guy they won’t sign a contract which would force a huge decision on the kings part. Pick the guy anyways and try to make it work or trade the pick.
I watched the entire game last night as I had some stuff to do and had the game on during.
Understandably, the kings looked like a pick-up game, where everybody just met before the game and shook hands.
If you ever need an example of how bad our television broadcast is, last night was the one. The commitment to talk over game action is really incredible. I don’t think I’ll ever see anything like this again at the professional level.
For what its worth, they probably didn’t want to watch that shit either.
Only watched the 1st half. Very ugly.
Missing from the recap:
Carter shot 4/13 and 1/6 from deep with 4 assists and 3 TOs.
Clifford shot 1/15 and 0/5 from 3. He did have 8 Rebs and 6 Ast to 2 TOs.
Max shot 3/7 and 0/1 from 3 with only 4 Rebs in 27 mins.
Let’s not go the way of the broadcast team and gloss over the negatives.
Cracked me up when Kayte said DC was showing us somethings as he got his 1st assist. Just disregard him getting trapped multiple times trying to bring the ball up. He’s not a PG. It doesn’t look to me like he’s an NBA player.
The combine numbers showed Carter to fast, and as having a 42 inch vertical. When I watch him play, he doesn’t seem to ever beat his man off the dribble when driving. He looks slow running up the court (maybe it’s the hair?). Possibly the slowest “fast” guy I have seen.
Dude has that 42″ vertical at 6’2 and seems to barely be able to dunk the ball. Something just doesn’t seem right with him athletically.
A couple games ago he did a nice standing alley-oop reverse dunk. But I agree that his functional speed and hops may be less than his combine results suggest they should be. He may be fast, but he does not look fast when he is dribbling the ball neither fast-breaking full court nor changing direction, putting moves on guys in the half court.
There don’t look like a lot of keepers among the inexperienced players on the roster right now. Keegan is a ~4th starter and maybe a couple the other guys (Raynaud, Clifford) can grow into being rotation players. The Kings have a LONG way to go, and Vivek doesn’t have the patience for a real rebuild. This franchise’s only chance at success is to draft a generational superstar, and they’ve already blown that chance once.
The only ones on the roster worth keeping moving forward are Keegan, Nique, Max, Dylan.
Even Keegan is a question at this point. Offense is “meh”, I think his rookie year will be the outlier for his career. Defensively he is good, but $28m/year for a defensive wing that hasn’t really improved offensively? And I like Keegan, probably my favorite King right now.
I still have hope for Keegan being a no 3 or even 2b option on a good team.The Kings roster construction is so bad and DC’s offensive scheme non-existent that I believe a better roster &system could get Keegan back close to the 3pt volume and efficiency he had as a rookie (plus the little more creativity/finishing at the rim he has added). Of course Kings may not be a “good team” before Keegan is on the wrong side of 30 …
Agreed. there is really no one here to build around. Keegan is locked up on a fair deal, but you are right, he’s best as a 4th fiddle. Good glue guy who is a plus defender, but not someone you build around.
I was trying to rack my brain on who I can compare this current Kings situation to and I think I nailed it down. The Detroit Pistons of 2019-20 through 2023-24 seems like the closest comp.
In 2019-20 Detriot finished with 20 wins after winning 41 the year prior. They were led by a washed Blake Griffin who they had stupidly traded for and he played just 18 games in an injury plagued season. Their second leading scorer was an equally washed Derrick Rose. They fell in the draft to #7 and whiffed on Killian Hayes.
In 2020-21 they once again finished with 20 wins and were lead in scoring by Jerami Grant. The rest of the team stunk and they finished with the second worst record in the. The made an in season trade by dumping Christian Wood and a protected first in a package that brought them Beef Stew (Isaiah Stweart) The Lottery Gods smiled upon them and they landed Cade Cunningham, who today is an MVP candidate.
In 2021-22 they won a pathetic 23 games, which was good for 3rd worst in the league. They once again got jumped in the draft and the Kings selected Keegan right before they pickded Jaden Ivey (who they have now dumped to the Bulls). In a smart move however, the Pistons ate the contract of Kemba Walker (who they later bought out) in exchange for the draft rights to Jalen Duren (now a all-star).
In the 2022-23 season they took a major step back as Cade played in just 12 games. They finished with a league worst 17 wins. The Lottery Gods pulled the rug from them and they slipped from 1st to 5th, missing out on Wemby, but they did land Ausar Thompson.
The 2023-24 season was a disaster. Newly hired Monty Williams would last just the season and they Pistons with a league worse 14 wins. In a bad draft class, the Pisons once again fell from 1st to 5th in the lottery and they picked Ron Holland.
Last season the turn around began as they hired the right coach in J.B. Bickerstaff and improved to 44 wins. Cade became an all-star and the player eveyone had hoped for bak in 2021.
This year they are the #1 seed in the East with a clean cap sheet, their young core is intact and the look to be very good for years.
In the end it took Detroit 5 YEARS to get to where they are now. Sound familiar? They landed their star, missed on some pics and go screwed over twice in the lottery. They are now on their 3rd coach in 4 years, but seem to have it together.
If this is Perry’s model, then we have a long wait ahead of us.
doesn’t look like an NBA player is such a joke of a comment..
Curious what you think of Carter.
I see a guy that shoots 38% from the field, and 25% from 3, for his limited time in the league. I just don’t know what he does well enough to stick in the league, at the moment.
I want to see him get extended minutes to finish the season and see what he can provide.
It’s unfortunate that he’s in a PG body but identifies as a PF.
He plays defense at an above average clip and rebounds at an elite level for the position, I see him make some solid playmaking decisions at times, while yes making some bad ones, but he clearly hasn’t been given any leash until these last 3 games.
Saying a guy doesn’t look like an NBA player because he doesn’t shoot the 3 ball well is…something, especially being he is above average at a couple of important things in the league
I’ll be surprised if he is in the league past his rookie contract. And I’m not convinced the Kings pick up his 7.4 mil option for 27-28. I guess we’ll see.
I like his aggressiveness and his rebounding. I think he lacks a lot of other things that are needed to stay in the league. Not a great shooter. He can drive despite being short for the league, but all that driving eventually takes a toll on the body.
He is small, and while there are small players who succeed (Lillard, Brunson, etc.), he doesn’t seem as talented as those players.
He falls down A LOT.
In the end, who would you prefer, Isaiah Collier or Carter?
After watching him play extended minutes, I cannot understand what the draw was for him to be such a high draft pick.
I’d wager a good amount of money with you or anyone on kashi or whatever that is that he is absolutely in the league beyond rookie contract.
42% the last 5 games he got 20+ minutes (not good but better than career and he is also having to create a lot of that since he is also playing with a bunch of other young non creators), so, 4.4 reb, 4.2 ast, .8 stl, .6 blk, 14.6 ppg @42% on 26 min a night. Is that lighting the league on fire, no, is it not an NBA player, fuuuuuuuuuuuuck no
I guess we’ll have to see how the rest of the season goes. I think he can be a player, I just think the avenue for that happening long term is narrow. I hope he does well and finds his niche on some team.
yeah I don’t think he is going to be a stud or anything, just the “not an NBA player” comment is just crazy to me. He’ll easily be a 3rd or 4th guard on an NBA team for most of his career.
Hope you’re right, I just haven’t seen it. I think Kessler Edwards showed more and he’s out of the league.
at least be fair in your stats and do only the first 2 seasons.
normalized for per 36:
Edwards – 10.1 ppg, 6.1 reb, 1.4 ast, 1.1 stl, .8 blk, .406 fg%
Carter – 14.1 ppg, 6.5 reb, 4.3 ast, 1.8 stl, .5 blk, .378 fg%
And that’s with Kessler being given more of a chance.
I just felt like Edwards showed me more while he was with the team and put the stats as a backup of my eye test. Not sure why using his whole short career is unfair, but okay let’s use per 36..
Edwards played with better teams(Brk 44 wins, Brk & Sac 45 & 48 wins, Sac 46 wins & Dal 39 wins) vs. Carter (Sac 40 & 12 so far) so I’d argue that Edwards being given more of a chance(more games, starts and more minutes) says something. Though Sac has had a logjam of guards.
Stats are fairly even other than 3P% and TOV which you omitted for some reason. So, I’d say the 1st 2 years and per 36 actually reinforces my opinion that Like Edwards, Carter may not be long for the league.
Hopefully he can make a jump.
I just did overall FG%.
So you think the first two years and per 36 the guy that is worse on 4/6 categories reinforces your opinion? Okay.
Again, I don’t think carter gonna be a stud, I just take exception with calling him not an NBA player when he is in the midst of a 5 or 6 game stretch of averaging like 12/4/4 or something in 20ish minutes
Yes. They are not that different and it’s 4/8 categories if you include 3P% and TOs. And Edwards did his work on better teams.
We’re comparing Carter to a player that’s 25 and now out of the league. Not an NBA player. Carter has the advantage of the rookie deal. Guaranteed for at least one more season. He will be 24 next month. If he wants to be an NBA player long term he needs to step it up. Cause if his ceiling is a bit better than Kessler Edwards, he’s not going to be around long.
I don’t see how that’s a joke of a take.
FWIW, I didn’t think Davion could be a decent NBA starter and I was wrong about that. Hope I’m wrong about this too.
Fun conversation
sure but you are breaking each shooting percentage into it’s own category to give Edwards some extra credit.
Basically carter is a better scorer (not efficiency but also not by much, better rebounder, better passer/creator, better defender, Edwards just had a better shooting percentage.
So sure 4/8, but when those are all effectively the same thing (shooting) it’s kind of misleading. TOV% is actually in Carters favor at 12.3 to 12.8, I think that advanced stat probably takes usage into account.
Carter also wins VORP whatever the hell that is lol
Definitely fun convo.
I know the Kings have essentially a starting lineup of players out with currently out injured. However, look who Indiana started last night and they still won and scored 115 points. The Pacer’ starting 5 had only one player averaging 10 pts per game and the rest were under 6. Even the Warriors gave the Spurs a run last night with their JV (scoring 113 points – 20 more than the Kings). It’s not the losing, it’s getting embarrassed so often. Yes, it’s comes down to inexperience with who the Kings are trotting out there, but this team will eventually need an experienced coach who has the gravitas and numerous structured plays in their head. I, like most of us, love Doug, but he lobbied behind Mike Brown’s back (reportedly) and he’s just not up to the job. The key will be after he’s gone, will anyone hire him, including college teams?
The lack of structure offensively has been a huge issue all season. The team just isn’t good enough to say “go hoop” and expect positive outcomes. Their needs to be a system, or an identity, for the young guys especially.
I would be in favor of an entire new staff of young, innovative guys, to lead this next generation of Kings players. Just get rid of the current guys, start fresh (no legacy hires), and let the new coaches instill a fresh culture.
Yes, someone dynamic and not just a retread. Although I can’t picture good young coaches lining up for the job.
Every year there are head coaching vacancies, and they all seem to be a better job than Sac. I expect the young up-and-comers would wait for a better job than Sac.
Jordi Fernandez may have been a keeper.
Maybe not after the way the Kings treated Brown that season. I think Jordi left and was greatly relieved to get out of Sacramento.
Jordi is likely to be available soon enough . Second season and going backwards . Nets fans not impressed .
Watching last night I did have one of those moments when future reality just hit me…
He’ll guide the tank and then be cast aside with his reputation damaged. Brett Brown had an extensive coaching resume to fall back on after guiding Philly’s tank, but I just wonder if Doug will be able to land an assistant job.
Thanks Vivek.
There’s a good chance Dybantsa will be playing for one of these teams next year.
After watching that game, he may take NIL money and hide out in college.
Ha! Ainge ain’t messin around. Realized last night he’s got work to do if he’s going to get down with the bottom feeders…
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/47909248/source-jazz-jaren-jackson-jr-season-ending-surgery
This is kind of weird in a number of ways:
Why let him play at all after acquiring him when you know he will need surgery?
Why wait until now to make the announcement? – if only because you realize that even with benching him in the 4th, you are still going to win games against the likes of Sacramento.
Why would JJJ play knowing he had a growth needing to be removed? Even if no pain, what if this contributes to some other issue.
I expect if Utah commits to this tank, and leapfrogs the Kings for a better pick, they will come back next year with their gargantuan lineup and a stud in the draft – to push into the middle of playoff contention.
My only guess is it was something he could play through without added damage but then they shut him down to help their cause.
And how did he pass the physical with before the trade?
I think the receiving team (Jazz in this case) can choose to accept the trade regardless of the results of the physical….I think.
Just curious if any of the top 4 ncaa players may stay in college for NIL money instead of coming to the Kings.
The NBA money is $17m over two years for the 4 pick, $24m over two years for the top pick. And that’s guaranteed, and does not include the team options in years three and four. That said, I do believe that there will be a point in the talent pool where players get an idea of where they are projected and return to school. Andrej Stojakovic was paid $4m this year, and he may go undrafted. To your point, the NIL money impact will be felt somewhere in the draft pecking order. I will be a little surprised if it happens in the top four, but it sure gives them a little added leverage.
Andrej Stojakovic was paid $4m this year, and he may go undrafted.
The Sacramento Kings will have a top 5 pick most likely, and most likely, none of the top 5 prospects will want to work out for the Kings, Andrej will.
They for sure will take him with a second round pick, but would it really surprise you that greatly if they used their Top 5 pick in the worst way possible?
Trade our top 5 pick & DeMar to Toronto for Poeltl and their 1st(#20) then select Stojakovic?
A Sacramento Kings perverse version of a Bronny pick.
Andrej has made more money in college than his dad did in his first two years in the NBA. Crazy how times have changed.
As we head into several days of relief from all things Kings, here’s a very interesting article from Joe Posnanski, beat writer for the Cleveland Browns, talking about the difference between “getting the right players/coach” and changing the internal culture of a franchise.
It’s maybe not too surprising how much of what he discusses could easily and instantly apply to the Kings as well:
https://www.joeposnanski.com/p/the-browns-keep-asking-the-wrong
Good stuff
A couple of my favorite quotes from the article:
and…
and…
and finally…
Any of this sounding vaguely familiar?
Imagine the Browns owner rolling out Boomer Esiason as partial owner.
If only Jim Brown was still around to be the next GM or Coach. Have to settle for Ozzie Newsome.
Who wins more games this year, AJ at BYU in 32 games or the Kings in 82?
Grats to Fox on his 2nd All-Star nod
Second injury replacement nod in an expanded format
https://www.threads.com/@chrisbhaynesnba/post/DUt_OzOD1G-
LaVine to miss the rest of the season with hand surgery.
OPT OUT. OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.OPT OUT.
(It’s not gonna happen.)
Nope not a chance. He’s damaged goods and no one else wanted him but Vivek.
Badge Legend