After a pretty bad loss in New York, the Sacramento Kings return to action with a chance to get back on track against the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets have lost 9 of their last 10, including 6 in a row. After their early strong start, the Nets began unloading players and steering into the tank, and they’ve succeeded thus far. The Kings should win this one, but we all know how rarely the Kings do what anyone expects.
Let’s talk Kings basketball!
When: Monday, January 27th, 4:30 PM PST
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
TV: ESPN, NBC Sports California
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140 AM
For Your Consideration
I cannot emphasize enough how bad the Nets have been lately. That Nets team that beat the Kings back in November? This isn’t that same Nets team. Dennis Schroder was traded. Dorian Finney-Smith was traded. Cam Johnson is out with an injury. Cam Thomas is out with an injury. Ben Simmons is out with an injury. Bojan Bogdanovic is out with an injury. The Nets are going to rely on D’Angelo Russell, Ziaire Williams, Nic Claxton, and the power of hope.
Trap game? You betcha.
Hey speaking of injuries, De’Aaron Fox isn’t even listed on the injury report for the Kings, so apparently he’s going to just keep playing through his mangled metacarpals. Screw anyone, like me, who suggested maybe taking a game off to rest and heal.
Prediction
Kings roll, and take Cam Johnson on their way out of town.
Kings 131, Nets 105
It’s a sad revelation when I find myself hoping that Fox will sit in order to improve our odds of winning this game (or any impending other).
I don’t think this is the case, though. To the chalkboard:
Monk and DDR’s minutes don’t change whether Fox plays or not. So that leaves others to pick up Fox’s 37mpg.
Ellis is logging an avg. 21mpg, so let’s give him 13 of those 37 Fox minutes, bringing him up to 34.
That still leaves 24 Fox minutes. And whether you fill those minutes with Carter, Huerter or J-Mac, you are taking a big step backwards. Further, other than Monk, you really have no one other that J-Mac that can handle up top. No matter how you carve up these 24 minutes, you are a worse team for having Fox off the floor these 24 minutes.
Dial Fox’s minutes back and get Keon out there more to run alongside Monk, but I think that it is a false narrative that the odds of winning goes up if Fox sits.
Right.
Keon needs more minutes, and at the moment it makes sense to have Fox play a bit less until he gets out of his funk, feels better and/or adapts to his injuries.
If you insist on getting Carter minutes, take them from Huerter.
Agreed. Three man guar rotation of Fox, Monk and Ellis, with scraps for Huerter, Carter or J-Mac. Bring Fox down to 30 mpg, elevate Ellis to 30 mpg.
If the conversation is about getting Fox well, that is another matter. But as it pertains to getting a team on the floor that is better without Fox, the current alternative (at best) is Sabonis, Murray, DDR, Monk and Ellis. After that, it’s Fox.
Is there a minute(s) minimum per game in order to make the All NBA teams?
65 games, but I don’t think that there is a minutes mandate. Hali was sort of doing that last year. It’s how he wound up playing 13 fewer games than Domas but 700 fewer minutes.
In general the player must play at least 20 minutes in a game for that game to count toward his required 65.
Thanks Jman!
Gotta win this one.
After playing so well for Doug Christie to start his head coaching tenure the Kings were due for a bit of a let up. It should and needs to end here. They sky is not falling right now. They just played 2 very good teams and they will not beat them all. Still need to get back to what they were doing a few games ago. I believe they will.
It’s not that they lost, it’s how they lost that bothered me. The ugly start to games, needing heroic efforts to mount a come back, bad 3pt defense, lack of movement offensively, lackadaisical play throughout the game, no sense of urgency, etc.
The sky could be falling if they lose this one. It would be a confidence crusher.
Sounds like the Bulls would be willing to take Beal’s contract from the Suns, but would likely require 3 1st round picks to do it. Would require other Teams for salary matching, so can the Kings find a way to get involved in this to either get off Huerter’s contract or find a backup center/wing?
I obviously enjoy speculating, with no knowledge of actual insiders or how the salary stuff will work, so smart people, please fill in the many blanks here. Thank you!
I certainly agree that Huerter could be helpful in obtaining a player at a position of need, but there’s no need to “get off of Huerter’s contract.” He’s at about seventeen million this season and eighteen the next. It’d be nice if he’d get back to being reliable, but giving up picks in order to move him would be terrible business.
Going to be a hard sell for the Kings to get off Huerter’s money as an add-on to a deal that’s already focused on a team taking another team’s bad money. Not impossible, but hard to do. Normally the third team in a deal like this is somebody with cap space to facilitate, not another team trying to improve and unload bad players/money.
That said, it’s fairly easy to make the money work in a three-team trade between the Bulls, Suns and Kings.
Example:
Kings get: Patrick Williams
Suns get: Vucevic, Huerter, Torrey Craig, Colby Jones
Bulls get: Bradley Beal, two 1sts Phoenix, 1 first from Kings
Kings get off Huerter and Colby, add forward size/depth, while still keeping Lyles.
Suns break up Beal into multiple small pieces and cut $13 million in salary. They also get a center upgrade that they’ve been wanting.
Bulls take on Beal’s money, get off Patrick Williams’ deal, and get three firsts for their trouble.
Now, the problem is that I’m not sure that’s enough of a return for the Bulls to say yes, and I’m not sure the Kings are going to be eager to throw a first into this deal for a backup forward on a bad contract. So the issue isn’t making the money work, or even constructing deals that might make sense for all teams involved, it’s a matter of how the teams value their own assets and what they’re willing to include.
I’d don’t think I’m comfortable giving up an unprotected fisrt for Pat Williams, even if it means giving up Huerter and Jone’s guaranteed money next season. That’s still an additional $36M owed to Williams two seasons beyond Huerter’s deal.
The Suns have those 3 firsts from OKC. Let them use them. Kings can throw in their last 2nd round pick for Williams. If the Kings could somehow take on Nurkic in the deal since the Suns would take Vuc, that would make it even better.
Hard no on this. The Kings should not continue to mortgage their future on marginal players.
I’m with you Carl. I have been keeping on eye on Williams for a while, and while he might do better with a fresh start, he is exactly the same player today as when he came into the league. That contract is for a player who you know you are going to get good production out of, and I don’t like the odds with that for Williams.
I’d be fine to kick the tires on Williams, but I don’t like the idea of giving up draft capital. Huerter and the Kings only 2nd rounder is about as far as I’d go. I might be talked into 1st, if the Bulls offer more.
An example:
Kings get Williams and Jalen Smith
Bulls get: Huerter, Lyles an a far future 1st.
You know me from way back I like Jalen Smith and if what you propose from above I would do it. Lose Lyles but get Smith. Lose Huerter but get Williams.
If suns still want Jimmy, I have an even crazier one.
Suns get exactly what they want out of the trade with Jimmy for Beal and they can still find a deal for Nurk.
Heat do this deal because Lavine is at least 80 cents on the dollar for Butler (if not better) and they don’t give up any other rotation pieces to do it.
Bulls take the contract and start bulking up on picks. Plus Huerter fits into their TPE, so they (and every other team in this trade) are actually in BETTER cap space than before the trade thanks to using TPEs well.
Kings do this trade with rejoicing. Lyles is Gone, but Vuc makes us have an elite rotation on the front line.
Guards: Fox/Monk/Ellis/Carter/McL
Wings: Murray/DDR/McBuckets/Crowder
Bigs: Sabonis/Vuc/Len
We are instantly a better, deeper team, and our deep depth isn’t awful either for spot minutes
There’s also a deal like this involving the Blazers which I wouldn’t love, and Miami might not either, but it might be the best any of these teams can hope for.
And just for fun, one involving Brandon Ingram.
We all know that any Kings trade will come out of nowhere. We haven’t heard any leaks since Monte came on board. Just chatter from the media, then Bam!, moves made (for better or worse)
Did you say Bam!?
Convenient day for a Cam Johnson trade?
Every day is covenient for a Cam Johnson trade!
Except Cam Johnson Bobblehead Day, perhaps.
They really need to make the trade at halftime so that he can play for both teams. Baseball teams have done it between doubleheader games.
I know he’s injured, but Sabonis can just Weekend at Bernie’s Cam for ninety seconds.
Per John Schuhmann:
Bench minutes were rough over the two losses, but the Kings have still been at their best (plus-7.4 points per 100 possessions) with Keon Ellis on the floor. The reserve guard doesn’t shoot a lot (he ranks last among their rotation guys in usage rate) but he’s now 145-for-335 (43.3%) from 3-point range over his three-year career, with that being the second-best mark among 287 players with at least 250 3-point attempts over the last three seasons. His effective field goal percentage of 69.5% in January also ranks sixth among 194 players with at least 75 field goal attempts this month.
21.3 minutes per game for Ellis. They don’t play him at the end of games, except for the occasional offensive/defensive switch, I guess because why would you want someone shooting 44.5% from three this season on the floor for an offensive possession?
Oh, he’s also your best defender.
21.3 mpg.
It really does baffle the mind at times.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a very low usage guy getting a bunch of minutes in your core rotation that includes three other dudes averaging over 20PPG. See: Dyson Daniels who is 6th in usage and 2nd in MPG, on the Hawks. He’s also the front runner for DPOY.
So the list of players who will be participating in the dunk contest got revealed today. It includes: McClung, Stephon Castle, Matas Buzelis, and Andre Jackson Jr. The nba needs to just completely get rid of all star weekend. You have nobodies doing the dunk contest, players not trying at all during the actual game(for fear of injury during a meaningless game), the skills challenge has always been awful, and the three point contest is whatever.
If they get rid of the All Star weekend what is there left to complain about? We need to know who got snubbed!
I know you’re joking but in this scenario the players would still get chosen for the all star awards, there just wouldn’t be a whole weekend full of crap nobody cares about. Just give the players a week off.
Week off, let the players rest and get ready for the run to the end the season.
exactly
As long as All-Star weekend activity means bringing in money, the NBA will likely not get rid of it.
Cam
Johnson
Thomas
Payne
Reddish
Whitmore
Christie
(and watch out for Cam Boozer!)
All these Cams and yet none of them are Pistons? That ain’t right.
This may be a Jordi Fernandez revenge game (for Mike Brown).
It’s a 3 Point League
Currently, whatever is the Brooklyn Nets team with less than two weeks before the trade deadline is ranked 17th 3FG%, while 8th in 3PA and 10th in 3PM. All marks higher than your Sacramento Kings. Expect mo’ and mo’ of that. If the Nets beat the Kings, it will likely be at the 23’9″ line.
The frontline of the Nets is Claxton, Clowney (who had a nice outing the last time these two played), Da’Ron Sharpe, Trendon Watford, and the oft injured Ben Simmons and Cam Johnson. Most all are injured again/still. Domas should have a big game. And the Kings need him to. Of course, Domas Ox Machina seems to always have a big game. I am getting to the point that I am disappointed if he doesn’t have a double double by halftime.
D’Lo might go off – he does that sometimes. Expect the Ke-s of the Game (Keegan and Keon) to stick to him. Cam Thomas is a scoring machine – but he’s out.
This will be the 15th game of the Coach Christie era. He’s 10-4 (.714) thus far. There are 37 games remaining in the regular season.
For .500 for DC13: 16-21 (26-25)
For .500 Kings: 19-18 (42-40)
For 46, 48, 50: 23-14, 25-12, 27-10 (.714 is 26-11 or 49-23 regular record)
As a Kings fan, I thought all players got the week off…
Yeah, I’m always confused when I see NBA basketball on TV in May and June.
The Kings have had talks with the Nets,
But I still wouldn’t place any bets.
The media’s linking,
But Monte’s still thinking.
Chances are, there’s no one he gets!
+1 Cast out the Nets!
&ct=g
Getting back on track with winning means not starting Fox, Monk, and DeRozan when the evidence is painfully clear this does not work and often gets the team behind by 15 points before the first quarter is even over. Catering to people’s egos is the bullshit default Kangz mentality that keeps this team from excelling.
Heh, I keep forgetting Ben Simmons is on the Nets, let alone playing at all in the league.
Today’s opponent asinine trade proposal:
I’ve been on record that I don’t want to give up the current asking price of a 1st round pick for Cam Johnson. I say this because I believe you should NOT give up a 1st round pick for a guy that is likely to come of the bench. Cam would most likely be backing up Keegan and DDR. That being said….
Nets get: Kevin Huerter, Trey Lyles, Colby Jones, and an unprotected 1st
Kings get: Cam Johnson, Day’Ron Sharpe, and Dariq Whitehead
Rational: Nets get their 1st round pick and clear even more space with Trey’s expiring deal. The Kings get Cam, a solid 4/5 backup in Sharpe (who is a controlled RFA this summer) and a 20 year old prospect in Whitehead. Full admission, I think Whitehead has a lot more of a future in this league than does Colby Jones.
I think Cam is being way overrated right now because of his flashy 3pt shooting. He is a decent defender, but not nearly as good as Keegan, and his rebounding is the equivalent of Red Velvet, so that is either a lack of instinct or effort at his size and athleticism. He does have good length and is a great shooter, so that does have appeal, especially after losing to a wing heavy team like NY with OG, Bridges, and Hart.
I love your trade proposal. While I think Trey is a gamer and great contract value and I enjoy rooting for him, getting Cam to soak up minutes, it would be easy to find 25-28 with allowing DeMar & Keegan to rest more, and create more versatile lineups, as well as Sharpe, who gives me Tank Thompson vibes (a top ten King of all time for me). Sharpe has a great motor and is a very physical player, and I think mobile enough that he and Domas could share minutes for small stretches with certain matchups. With Keegan’s defensive versatility, there could be lineups with Fox, Domas, Keegan, Cam, and Sharpe.
If the Nets even needed a little more, a pick swap or 2nd rounder, I would do that trade in a heartbeat.
I would insist on Sharpe coming back in any Cam deal because it would very likely require Lyles being part of the deal to make contracts work.
I like this. We get Cam but also Sharpe who would be a really good backup for Sabonis. Don’t know too much about Whitehead but will start right now looking him up.
Jimmy Butler suspended indefinitely.
Thanks Klam.
This is going to be his legacy. Hissy fits to leave Minnesota, Philly, and now Miami. Interesting choice for him.
And wherever he lands next.
He is the NBA’s unwrapped loaf of Sourdough.
Dough Nutz’d
I feel like the whole league is waiting for the Butler shoe to drop. I read somewhere that are are trades agreed to in principle but Butler is holding everything up as it take 4 to 5 teams to pull it off.
What a mess. Dude is holding a sixth of the league hostage.
I read that too. It’s likes a few years back when some big name free agent was taking forever to already a choice where to sign. Every one sat and waited for weeks.
It’s annoying.
Hey, Fox needs only 7 more games played to become 10th on the all-time games played in Kings history.
No matter how the contract plays out, I appreciate Fox and his attitude toward the city and the fans. I would be pretty disappointed to see him go.
players with 60 pint scoring ability Dont come around that often.
31 games to pass JT for Sac era. 176 points to pass Mitch. Already the Sac leader in Steals and Assists. 220 TOs to pass DMC.
Here’s a fun trivia question: Who is the all time Sacramento Kings leader in minutes per game? This is not one of those weird Drew Gooden questions/answers – it is a core rotation player.
Had no clue. Very surprising!
Right? You could have given me a dozen bites at that apple and I would not have gotten it.
Players who play for 7+ years on the same team without a single playoff series win don’t come around that often either. Which do you think is more rare?
Do we think less of Mitch Richmond because of this?
No, in part because he played 7 years, was an all-star 6 times, and all-nba 5 times. IMO, Fox doesn’t really hold a candle to Mitch. Fox is about to complete 8 seasons with far less accolades.
Also, I’d argue Petrie moved on from Richmond at a good time when given the opportunity to change gears and improve the team.
There are definite parallels.
So we agree that the playoff narrative is a piss poor measuring stick.
No, I think it’s a valid measuring stick. Greater players have taken worse teams farther. Mitch had far worse teams than Fox has had, and got some blood from those stones. He carried those teams solo.
Just my take, but Mitch’s 95-96 sole playoff team has nothing on Fox’s 2022-23 team. Fox has far better talent than Mitch ever had, but he has less to show for it.
OK, so who is the better Kings PG, Fox or Bibby? Because Bibby never made an all star or all league team, but Fox did, so Fox is better. But wait, Bibby had all of that playoff success, so he’s better.
It’s just a shitty measuring stick. And the 7 year thing is about as arbitrary as it gets. It lacks so much context as to where the organization was when Fox was drafted, as well as all of the front office shitnanigans that took place over the at least the first half of his career here. Sorry, but for me it is the equivalent of a clickbait measuring device. Your mileage may vary.
Of course not Rob! But Bibby wasn’t the cornerstone of the franchise about to sign a 5 year max offer.
For me, the buck stops with Fox since he is the face of the franchise, and he’s done little to bring the team (or himself for that matter) accolades and success.
As you know, I have no problem with Fox as a player or a person. He’s been fantastic on and off the court, but the proof is in the pudding with wins and losses. I’m just not sure I’m ready to hitch the franchise wagon to another 5 years after watching the little success of the previous 7.5.
Personally, it’s a whole bunch of “meh” if Fox sets a bunch of Sac era records of games played, points scored, steals, etc. I care about playoff success. It is my measuring devise.
So it’s the money. The money is the reason for the snarky answer to Baker’s innocuous comment regarding Fox’s accomplishments.
And please note, I have no issue with trading Fox. But I can also appreciate the living hell out of him for the player and person that he has been since his arrival in Sacramento, and I can enjoy watching him play without worrying about his next contract. The Supermax is getting farther and farther out of reach for him, and he is an NBA standard max player by any reasonable measurement.
I don’t think you’re one of those fans that can’t enjoy Fox, Adam, but I feel sorry for those that have become so jaded that they can’t watch one of the all time Sacramento greats play without hoping that he fails so that they can pounce on the moment. It’s a sad existence, in my opinion, but as I’ve always said, fans can fan how they choose to fan.
Snarky? I think it’s a valid point. For the record, the only player in the NBA today that’s been on a continuous team as long as Fox has without a playoff series win is Johnathan Isaac. That’s it, that’s the list.
I like watching Fox, Rob. His jersey is one of two current Kings hanging in my closet. I think he can be electric at times and I want him to succeed, but I also really want to watch some playoff success by the team that I love. I’m just not convinced we can have both as this team is currently constructed.
If Monte wants to build around Fox, fine, but I think it may take moving on from Monk, Sabonis, and maybe more. That could possibly work, but that seems, IMO, a lot harder than moving on from Fox.
I just want to win, man.
I’ll never understand the playoffs being such an important metric in determining a player’s worth. Basketball is a team game, and at any given moment, there may be one or two guys in the league who can drag a substandard roster into the playoffs.
“But Fox has Sabonis and DeRozan now!”
That’s true. Also true is the fact that the Western Conference is better at this moment than (perhaps) any time in history. Fox has improved tremendously in the past three seasons, but that hasn’t limited the number of injuries to his teammates, or caused players like Kevin Huerter to completely disappear.
This isn’t meant to let anyone off the hook, Fox is a team leader, and these are his teams. Regardless, weighing them in the vacuum of defining a player’s worth by playoff success is a gross oversimplification.
Do you really think that Sacramento doesn’t win the series against Golden State if Fox doesn’t get his hand broken? Or did he simply fail to be great because you feel he’s incapable of doing so?
It may be the same with other fanbases, but the bugaboo of familiarity breeding contempt has never been in short supply here. If Fox can be moved in a way that helps the Kings, have at it. Otherwise, it may be prudent to keep the rare top-level talent that we very occasionally find in Sacramento.
It’s just one way to measure a player among many. It’s not a bad one when you keep context in mind. Bibby is clearly not better than Fox but the team around him was much better. I don’t know why it should always and forever be shot down as any form of measuring stick. I judge LeBron based on the fact that every team he plays on seems to make deep playoff runs.
And I understand that Fox isn’t the same caliber, but one of the ways that I determine that Fox isn’t LeBron’s caliber is precisely because he doesn’t carry the team fully on his back. For that matter, Domas gets judged around All-NBA consideration based on the team’s inability to get to the playoffs. I think that’s fair. I’d be considering dealing Domas if it weren’t for the fact that the Kings have no other frontcourt presence aside from him.
This is fair.
I’ve often thought that if Domas were the one here for the past 7+ seasons and Fox were the one to come in and take this team from shit to respectable, the roles very well could be reversed. If Fox was the one locked up on Saboins’ deal and Domas was the one up for a 5 year max, I’d probably have have the reservations.
So we need to trade Fox for a ROY PF and previous all-star in his 6th or 7th season. Yikes!
Zion has played in 195 games through 4.5 seasons. Fox has played in 511 games over 7.5 seasons. There is very little similarity between the two.
Wasn’t claiming there was. Just following the Fox, Mitch comparison to it’s logical conclusion. Mitch was traded for a ROY PF and previous all-star in his 6th or 7th season. Zion is today’s closest Webber comparison.
FWIW, Yikes was my reaction to the Webber trade as well.
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