Let’s talk Kings basketball!
When: Monday, February 10th, 5:30 PM PT
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
TV: NBC Sports California
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140 AM
For Your Consideration
The Dallas Mavericks are in a weird spot. Not even a full season after making it to the NBA Finals, the Mavericks have traded away what was thought to be the cornerstone of their franchise for the next decade-plus to the Lakers for an underwhelming haul in return. Not only did the Mavericks do this, but they’ve taken every chance they could to belittle Doncic on the way out, questioning his work ethic and commitment to the game, despite Doncic doing nothing but bring wins and accolades to the Mavericks his entire time there.
The Mavericks currently sit in the 8th spot in the Western Conference, 1.5 games ahead of the Kings, Suns and Warriors (all tied with the same record of 26-26). Anthony Davis, the piece that was supposed to make the Luka trade worth it in the short term because of his two-way play, managed to play just three (admittedly excellent) quarters before sustaining an adductor injury that is now expected to sideline him for weeks. Davis isn’t the only Maverick missing time, as Dereck Lively, P.J. Washington and newcomer Caleb Martin are all set to miss extended periods of time. The All-Star break probably can’t come soon enough for the Mavericks.
Dallas still has plenty of weapons however. Kyrie Irving is as dangerous a scorer as exists in the NBA. Daniel Gafford is the type of big man that has given the Kings trouble. Klay Thompson is still capable of lighting it up from outside. And Max Christie has shined in his first three games as a Maverick, averaging 17.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists off the bench. These same Mavericks without Davis managed to beat the Boston Celtics in Boston two games ago. Sacramento’s defense since their own franchise-altering trade has been pretty atrocious, but hopefully now that the team has a few games under their belt we start to see a little more cohesion on both ends of the floor.
One area in particular that is showing signs of promise for the Kings is in improved bench play. Sacramento’s bench outscored New Orleans’ bench 31 to 20 in Saturday’s 123-118 victory, and the new additions of Jonas Valanciunas (6 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block) and Jake LaRavia (7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal) played a big part in that. LaRavia in particular got all 7 of his points in a 60 second stretch immediately upon entering the game, but even in the minutes he played where he didn’t score, he was incredibly active on both ends of the floor doing the little things that help teams win. Throw in Keon Ellis and Trey Lyles, and the Kings seemingly have a reliable bench for the first time all season.
What really needs to improve however is the play of the starters. The Kings found themselves needing to dig out of a 29-9 deficit early against New Orleans. Domantas Sabonis had 7 of those 9 points, and Keegan Murray was the only starter to score during that stretch. The Kings can’t afford to have both Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan go scoreless for an entire quarter, and that’s not including Malik Monk who also went scoreless. Thankfully the starters figured it out in the 3rd quarter stretch where they outscored New Orleans 45-22, one of their best quarters of the season. Whatever changed in that quarter is something the Kings can hopefully replicate going forward, because this team can’t afford to keep digging itself out of holes.
Prediction
Zach LaVine finally has a breakout game for the Kings, outdueling Kyrie Irving down the stretch and leading the Kings to a narrow victory on the road.
Kings 124, Mavericks 118
Traded Luka, but won’t have AD;
The Mavs must rely on Kyrie.
Hit them with Sabonis,
Then sub in big Jonas.
How it works should be something to see!
+1 No AD, no Lively, no PJ…oh and no Luka
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Never noticed that Jonas and Sabonis rhyme.
Kangz. Mavz.
Next.
100% must-win game. The next 5-6 games are all arguably must wins.
Trading Luka was such a colossal mistake, I guess we’re not the only ones that will be haunted by Luka for the rest of his career. Not only is the guy a true superstar but he also was one of if not the most marketable players in the NBA. I’m convinced the NBA pulled strings to make this happen, this is why the Kings can’t have nice things.
The key is finding a way to enjoy your time despite the knowledge that the NBA influences decisions like that from the top.
FWIW, I don’t think the NBA forced the Mavs to do this. I think this is a case of Hanlon’s Razon and “never attributing to malice what you can attribute to stupidity.”
If the NBA forced the Mavs into this, they probably would have wanted the Lakers to keep Davis and would have pushed them into a package centered around picks and young players. Honestly, in some ways that would be an easier sell to the fans too. Still dumb, but “we had issues with Luka’s health and weren’t sure he was every going to play a full season and did not want to commit the supermax to him, therefore we decided to blow things up while his value was still high” makes a lot more sense than trading for AD.
I think it’s far more likely Nico Harrison is simply Vlade-level bad at his job or even that the new ownership is trying to pull a Major League to move to Vegas since they supposedly want a casino that was stopped in Dallas.
There’s a great video on YouTube that talks a bit about the Major League move (with a mention of our illustrious Oakland A’s) that sounds somewhat plausible, as a potential move to get into LeBron’s post-playing period good graces. After 2002, I think anything’s possible with this league and where big money is involved.
Sounds interesting. Have a link to it?
As we saw against a “depleted” Pelicans squad that still had Zion, CJ “Kings Killer” McCollum and Trey Murphy III, and lower tiered Blazers group (that had won 9 of 10) – any team can win any night in the League.
Kyrie & Co. will have their work cut out for them however. For me, I would like to see a Kings team that can sustain some consistency – the rollercoaster of not scoring the first 8 minutes and then making up for it the next 4 is soggy and old (or the reverse, whereby they have a double digit lead and then piss it away). Doesn’t need to be a blow out, any win will do, but geez Louise, can they stay in the medium between all hot and all cold for 48 minutes?
It’s a 3 Point League:
Dallas is all over the place with 9th in 3FG%, 24th in 3PA and 16th in 3PM. Free throw shooting is similar: 21st in FT%, though they are 3rd in FTA and 4th in FTM (same as Sac at around 18 ppg at the Charity stripe). By the by, Kings have dropped back down in the 3FG% standings to 26th, when they were as high as 21 at some point (and as low at 29th). With the additional of better 3 point shooters – it would be nice to see some traction in that department.
Should be a win – but how many times have we said over the last two seasons?
Light That Beam! Go Kings!
The Mavs were doing OK when Luka was injured and the team the Kings are playing tonight is largely the team winning the game. So, even without Street Clothes playing, this team is pretty strong at every position. Kings need to bring their A game for 48 minutes.
Kyrie replacing AD. Domas will stay home drinking his wine brand.
Absolutely no respect. I’m glad Domas is who he is – because he takes a lot from other teams and the league.
Watch Kyrie find an excuse to not even show up.
I want to make clear, I believe McNair handled the trade deadline about as well as could be expected under the circumstances. As for what led to those circumstances, there’s enough blame to go around but overall I like the job MM has done. I think he’s a solid pro who evaluates well, but he’s shrewd and at least a bit cold-hearted. It doesn’t always sit well with the players, and I think Fox was right to not expect any loyalty from this FO. McNair has easily been the best GM of the Ranadive era, and I don’t trust Vivek to replace him. I still would like to see a President of Basketball Ops. over Monte to insulate Basketball Ops. from Vivek and insulate Monte from everyone. Also Monte is suddenly bristly with the press now that his seat is warming and they are asking difficult questions. Maybe he wouldn’t mind being relieved of some duties. To me, firing MM is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Maybe Vivek is ready to forgive Vlade?
McNair does deserve some of the criticism that he’s getting. The level of professionalism that he’s displayed hasn’t always been the best. His response, for example, regarding the lack of press conference with the Brown firing was shallow and did not so any sort of respect for his former head coach at all. While I do think that he’s done some good being here (e.g., Keon Ellis, and this year’s trades (keeping in mind that the Fox trade had to happen)), I really would like to see there be a more professional demeanor from the Front Office for our team. It reflects badly on the organization as a whole, and hurts our reputation, which makes it harder to garner high quality talent in the future.
I agree completely but it still comes down to who do you replace him with. Maybe I’m making excuses for him. The biggest one being, I think it’s really Vivek’s fault. I just don’t want to go back to drafting the way they did before he got here.
Sabonis triple double and a Kings win as an FU to the AS selection process.
Do it.
Badge Legend