Update: 9 p.m.
The Sacramento Kings defeated the Toronto Raptors Wednesday 123-115. The Kings out-rebounded Toronto 48-32 and shot 93% from the free throw line, compared to 69% for the Raptors.
Precious Achiuwa scored 28 points and pulled down a whopping 19 rebounds in 38 minutes. DeMar DeRozan scored 28 points in 35 minutes. Malik Monk added 18 points off the bench. Devin Carter finished with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in 23 minutes.
Sacramento is now 20-57, only one more loss than the Utah Jazz, two more wins than the Brooklyn Nets and Indiana Pacers, and three more wins than the Washington Wizards.
The Draft Lottery is May 10….
From Earlier Preview:
The Kings have stumbled into Canada tonight for a game against the Raptors. Shall we?
Who: Sacramento Kings (19-57) vs. Toronto Raptors (42-33)
When: 5:00 PM PT / 8:00 PM ET
Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON
Watch: NBCSCA / League Pass
The Kings, currently the 4th worst team in the league, are just 1 game behind the Brooklyn Nets (3rd) and 2 games in front of the Utah Jazz (5th) in the standings. A win tonight for Sacramento could be bad news for the tank, and a loss could put them in a great position to overtake the Nets.
The Raptors are at home, and the Raptors are better, but it won’t be that easy to secure the L tonight. They are nearly as injured as the Kings right now. Immanuel Quickley is out, Brandon Ingram is out, and Scottie Barnes is questionable. For the Kings, it appears DeMar DeRozan is back, and could be both the best player on the court for either team, and the most motivated to walk away with the win. That is a dangerous recipe.
Prediction: Kings 114, Raptors 108.
Our tank’s again rolling along;
It must finish the season strong
With a postseason bid,
The Raptors are “mid”.
But with Vivek, things could go wrong!
+1 Hoping for a nice comfortable ride for the Raptors!
C’mon, Raptors! Do your thing!
Raptors have a reason to win.
Kings have a reason to lose.
Damn.
Doug is so dumb and stupid he’ll probably give DDR 35+ minutes to try to ruin our draft odds. Get the meaningless win, lose the chance for a high draft pick.
I can totally see a DDR welcome back game where he goes off for 40+ points and leads the Kings to a close win. I could see him taking 20+ FGA attempts tonight.
Aaaaaaaaaand that is pretty much what happened. Just complete stupidity.
It’s comical how predictable the incompetence is.
This is what happens when ownership is incompetent and lets a coach without job security be in charge of a tanking team.
I am already thinking of new teams to become fans of. I should weigh process over results but if the Kings don’t get a top 3 pick, I’m out. There is no hope with Vivek.
I grew up in New York, a Knicks fan.
But dayum, dem Spurs are a fun group to cheer for.
Please do your Barney happy dance and laugh on your way to victory over the hapless Kings
39 Days until May 10th.
Who did I hurt in my prior life that I have to listen to this awful broadcast team?
The Pacers just hung an 83 pt first half on the Bulls, and lead 83 – 66!
If they win tonight, the winner of the Pacers/Nets game next week will have at least 19 wins.
“I can feel it starting to smell the fish grease for DeMar DeRozan.” -Mark Jones. Dude, he’s 2-10 from the field.
This shit is so beyond stupid. Hey remember that game where DeRozan beat Wilkins’ scoring record said nobody ever. This has to be the absolute dumbest last place broadcast team in the history of professional sports.
Jones just used the word “mercurial” twice in the last two minutes.
DeMar Darnell Tank Leader DeRozan
Dumbest team and organization I’ve ever seen. DDR shouldn’t even play. Monk either.
There is zero to be gained from winning. Fucking idiots. Hate them
Precious, Monk and DDR all in in end. I mean…. Play Cardwell etc. not only will you lose but you’ll give young guys chance to play end on 4th tight game.
Lose you a holes. I mean it should be a directive to sit the vets
Somebody needs to tell Precious that we are tanking
Yes Kayte Raps fans must be sooooo excited that they saw DDR pass Wilkins on the all time scoring list. A night to remember! LOL.
There’s still time for Monk and DDR to get like three more shots off!
27 for 29 at the stripe tonight, missing free throws is an easy way to tank.. we need a new tank Commander
Hey, Pacers won. C’mon, this is an opportunity to gain some tank ground!
You know what Vivek, why don’t you have DDR go represent the Kings at the freaking NBA draft lottery.
Listen, you have to be super proud about the way they closed out this road trip said Kayte.
Duece and Mo gonna tow the company line in the post-game show…”the history being made by DDR…” so exciting!
Wizards and Nets are laughing all the way to the bank tonight. And we just tied the Jazz in the win column to be fifth. Kings must be so proud of themselves. This ‘organization’ defies logic.
Oops, got ahead of myself re the Jazz. But seemingly only a matter of time!
Just fucking ego morons. The owner. The coach. All of them. There is absolutely zero benefit in winning and massive benefits in losing.
Here We Stay!!
Bullshit win. Here we stay the dregs of the NBA.
If the draft pick we get after this year turns out to not be that great next year and the Kings fight to be mediocre, hovering around the play-in, I might actually be done. I might just completely stop paying attention to the Kings until Vivek sells the team or they get good again. I’m not sure I can take much more of this incompetence, it’s insulting.
I’m gonna preface this by saying DDR is a legend, an amazing basketball player, a first ballot hall-of-famer, and by all accounts a genuine human being, but has any player in the span of 2 years changed the trajectory more for the Kings the way he has? It’s not all doom and gloom just yet. The Kings may still win the lottery, but if they don’t, or even fall…yikes.
This team had Monte, Coach Brown, Fox, Huerter, Keegan, Barnes and Sabonis prior to acquiring DDR. It’s clearly been all down hill from there, and today’s win is just another straw in the DDR weight that’s breaking the camel’s back. His heroics are impressive as hell, but man do they severely hurt this team in the long run.
To be clear, DDR is not the problem with this team. We all know who is, but are we going to look back years from now and point to DDRs time here has harmful to the franchise? I sure hope not, but again….yikes.
It’s insane to me that the GM etc isn’t sitting him-rest of season. Or at least barely play him. But the same is true with Westbrook and precious and monk to a degree.
it’s the actions of an owner who doesn’t give 1 shot about winning. Only pacifying his ego
Agree on the accolades. But Perry should have traded DDR for a $24.5 million bag of chips if the alternative is to have him get minutes to climb the all-time points list and win games the team very much needs to lose.
DDR is what he is, absolutely 100%. He is what Adam says he is. The only way he can change anything about his legacy is to win a championship, and of course, he ain’t doing that here. The only person who cares about DDR going from 18th to 17th on the all-time points list is DeMar DeRozan.
Obviously, this is just speculation, but to me it makes sense. Perry tried to trade him but couldn’t find an attractive deal. Perry and DeMar talked about a buyout, but DeMar wanted too much money. So DeMar stays, but he and his agent are told he’ll get minutes to climb the points list. I’d definitely be in favor of trading DeMar in a “bad deal” as long as the players that came back were worse than DeMar. It is more important to get a high pick this June than to maximize value from the DeMar trade. There ain’t gonna be much value. I’m sorry.
I have no issues with players wanting to play and wanting to win.
This is an organizational failure, owner, FO, coach.
Once, I would have excluded coaches from this discussion, but as havs been clear the last few years, some coaches (cough Will Hardy cough) are clearly in sync with their FO’s tanking strategies, and will not hesitate to let their best players rest down the stretch of close games.
We have Doug Christie…
To be clear, I have no issue with DDR wanting and tryin to win either. It’s in his nature. I just wonder if years from now his image will forever be tarnished in the eyes of Kings fans.
Hindsight is 20/20 and all but his acquisition and play could be viewed as the catalyst to the tailspin this franchise is currently on. He is literally the kick off that ended the brief run of positivity this team had in 20 years. Couple that with his heavy contributions to needless wins and he may be painted a villain in a decade.
I don’t blame him, but will his image in a Kings uni bring about resentment in the coming years?
As to Hardy, yeah I think the difference there is Utah is committed to him. He’s been given an extension and is on board with the Jazz focus on youth and development. Doug, on the other hand, is coaching for his NBA career. Every attempt to win is a lifeline to stick in the league because no team will have interest in him, even as an assistant, should the Kings fire him tomorrow.
Same can be applied to Mike Woodson and Bobby Jackson. BJax may have the most to lose as he had established himself as a useful assistant in Phila. before returning to Sacramento.
Other than Leandro Barbossa I don’t know who the other Kings assistants are and whether or not they have up and comer talent or not.
I have this awful inkling in the back of my mind that Vivek and Matina, should they decide to expel Doug Christie, and not next season, but the season following, no matter the won/loss record, as this season clearly demonstrates, will move to hire someone, anyone – let’s say Adrian Griffin, the guy who Doc Rivers replaced, as an example – that they would add Christie, Woodson and Jackson to that person’s staff as an ultimatum for their hire.
Clown Franchise.
Yes. DDR is going to be remembered for being part of screwing the Kings out of the star they needed. Not his fault. Can’t blame him for playing hard. The organization (like every actually competent organization in the bottom five) should have known better.
That was a disappointing game for sure. The Raptors will be a one and done team if they make the playoffs. I just don’t get the infatuation with playing DeRozan, Monk and Precious so many minutes. Doug Christie needs to go. He’s the worst head coach in the NBA right now and I wouldn’t want him anywhere near the Kings next franchise player (hopefully it will be Dybantsa).
Calling it today on April 2nd….
We’re going to end up picking 7th in the draft.
And then we’re going to screw THAT up.
There is no future for this franchise.
The only words I have for this team and this ownership would almost certainly get me banned here.
Sigh…
This franchise will trade the #7 for two later picks in the draft to get two players for the price of one. We are going to hear how they really liked that guy at #15 so trading back was a no-brainer.
I hear Andrej’s stock is rising!
oh crud – that hit hard Jman.
Andrej and Anjali sitting in tree
Neither one can shoot from three
First comes Doug
Then comes fate
Then comes Bibby straight from coaching Sac State
LOL
Nodaclu to Vivek:
I’m ready for who ever the Kings want do draft will be taken with the one pick ahead of them because of a result like this
So you’re saying someone will save the Kings from themselves?
Only if the pick turns out to be a player. When the player is a dud ala Thomas Robinson the Kings aren’t that lucky 🙂
I was coming out of an event last night in old Sac and the beam was lit. Three years ago I would’ve been pumped to see it, but I was actually a bit disappointed to see it last night.
Crazy that we’re at the point where losses are more helpful than wins!
It’s been pretty disappointing to see the beam over these past three seasons. This rebuild should have started at the trade deadline in 23-24, when it was apparent they were going nowhere.
I just don’t understand how any organization can be this dumb. It defies all logic. THERE IS ONLY ONE THING THAT MATTERS RIGHT NOW! DDR beating his old team is not one of them. There’s a reason they broke the record for most seasons without a playoff appearance and there’s a reason they’ll probably break it again. There’s just no question this is the most incompetent ownership group in the league. It’s not even a debate. If you listen to any league insiders talk about the Kings situation, they just laugh because they know Vivek is just completely inept. It’s stunning. There’s usually an apology to Kings fans and then a chuckle followed by “With the Kings ownership situation, nothing really matters.” I’ve heard this probably 8 times from countless different podcasts/people over the last year. You’d just think at some point Vivek wouldn’t want to be a laughingstock anymore. But this is why you can never assume rationality from people in positions of power.
After the elation of the loss to Brooklyn, this is quite the kick in the nuts.
Why? Why? Why?
I’m almost hoping at this point that they end up with the eighth or ninth pick, just for spite. Then, if Doug is still around, he can struggle trying to steer a team with a meh rookie while watching Dybantsa and a few others taken before the Kings just wreck the league.
I’m so disinvested.
OK This is my last comment and reading comments by other so called Kings fans. Not one comment in this Kings Herald was a positive take. All were negative. Until somehow I learn that there have been positive comments made in the Kings Herald I am gone for now.
How can players coaches and I hope the majority of the fans listen to the worst negative comments on this site. Young players, coaches and even older players read these comments. Do you think they want to play for you? Hech NO. Maybe your comments on Doug Christie have not given him a chance. I would like to see you coach this team. You couldn’t do it. I agree this team as constructed isn’t going to win many games even with any NBA coach. IMO Doug has done really well with what he has been given. Some of you even say he isn’t even a coach. I have watched him this year and he has done well with he has to work with. I support Doug Christie as a player and coach.
Most of you already have written off the Kings for the next ten years. I personally think this coming year is where the Kings start improving as a team. They have at least 3 draft picks this year in a draft that hasn’t been this good in years. IMO I could also see a fourth pick coming due to a trade. Getting the top 3 or 4 might be great but there are other players just as good that would really help the Kings. 2 or 3 top point guards would really start the rebuild. You still have 2 and maybe 3 to draft and get some really good players to
add to the mix.
We also have a good start right now with a couple of really good young players to help that rebuild. All will be better going thru this summer.
I have faith in Perry. He seems to know what he is trying to do. He also has Christie,s back.He has done a good job brining in Clifford, Raynaud, Achuiwa and now that he is playing more even Carter. I also think Perry is strongly working on trades some players that also would help. Next year is a year where part of the team is secure and IMO we will do better than this year, Possibly could even double this year and more. The second year will tell the tale of the tape. Big contracts gone. Young players developing. Old player contracts gone
I might be positive but at least I see a light at the end of the tunnel. I have to be positive because the Kings are my team and I believe in them coming of age. Until I learn of some positive comments I now will not continue to read such damaging comments as you have the right to write what you want.
GO KINGS!
Not one word about ownership. Good luck.
Ha. Must be nice living with blinders on.
Plus, why are you attacking Kings fans. This organization has done nothing but the wrong thing for the last 12 years. And you’re getting on Fan’s case for being upset about it and pointing out the problems?
backasswards.
It’s like people who think criticizing this country/this leadership are anti American.
Nope, it’s that I like the Kings/this country and want to see the shitheads running in gone.
And1- even Jerry Reynolds is down on the kings and the owner and the coach….and he was a coach/GM etc
People only play in Sacramento for two reasons:
Nobody is playing for Kings fans out of the goodness of their hearts, or because we’re the self-proclaimed “best fans in sports”
How do you mean “self-proclaimed”?
It just seems like a weird label a segment of this fanbase has decided to claim. I don’t see Kings fans as being any better or worse than any other fans of sports teams.
We’ve been having the “fans are too negative” conversation about this awful franchise for 10 years.
The participants have changed while the source remains.
Exactly. Fan sentiment pretty much exactly matches team performance. Everyone was high as a kite in the one good season the Kings had, and everyone is pissed now and has been mostly pissed as Vivek has stepped in the same pile of dog crap over and over during the last 13 years.
Hey, what about if we trade Jack for Jack Shit?
That’s funny, but kind of mean. But funny.
See you after the draft.
We’ve been fed the same line of hope and promise for 20 seasons, 14 of them with this awful Vivek + Matina as managing partner(s). The hope has turned to disgust and the promise to distrust. The only thing that disgust and distrust can lead to is Apathy. I am almost there, and if not for this wonderful site and community, I’d not have returned when I left around 4 seasons ago. As I’ve explained, my season ticket group has unanimously rejected any form of buying in.
So…
Since this was a response to my comment (though targeted at others), I’ll respond.
Could I coach the team? No.
Could I build a better roster. Hell, yes.
What’s my track record?
I wanted Lillard. I got to see him play in college, and while mine was a bit of a homer’s take, I WAS RIGHT.
I wanted Steph Curry. I WAS RIGHT.
I wanted Doncic. I WAS RIGHT.
I was cool with trading Barnes and Huerter (and Monk) for Siakam. I PRETTY SURE I WOULD HAVE BEEN RIGHT.
So, despite the fact that I am a humble shoe shine boy, I can confidently boast that I would have been a better GM than most.
Hell, I would have even traded for John Collins back when we had Fox just to get someone half capable next to Sabonis and allow Keegan to play the three, though Collins was not my first choice.
If I had balanced the roster, which the FO could NEVER ACCOMPLISH, then, yes, I do believe the players would have “played for me.”
I only believe in free speech; it’s the only thing that keeps our nation free. So I don’t believe in “damaging comments” or “hate speech.” Those are ploys to silence dissent.
I have the right to criticize, bitch, moan, blaspheme. So do you.
As for Doug? I think it is difficult to judge his coaching based on the shit show of the roster and the greater organization. However, if he’s thinking about what is best for the team and best for his future, then he should sit down with Perry and say, “We need to lose the rest of our games to improve our chances of getting a high draft pick. Do not hold these last few games against me. We will try our hardest for three quarters, then we will throw in the towel.”
Like I said, what if Doug is still here next year but the Kings get the eighth pick in the draft? Perry seems to have an eye for talent, but why not improve your chances at a top pick?
Here’s a question for you, Jack.
Would you rather have the first pick or the eighth pick?
I’m sure you would prefer the first pick. Therefore, wouldn’t you rather improve your chances of getting the first pick versus celebrating a useless victory on the backs of veterans who likely won’t be here next year?
I am bitter. Can you guess why? This whole fucking year is the result of Vivek’s clown show. He put this whole thing into motion when he fired Mike Brown and forced a trade of Fox for useless Lavine. This shitshow of a year is his fault. This is Vivek’s fucked-up masterplan, and it’s likely to net the team a shitty pick. But, hey, we beat the Raptors.
Oh, and it is likely to get your favorite coach fired. Doug has been set up from the beginning, in my opinion. Will Vivek take any heat?
I hope the Kings get a good pick, but my fandom is on life-support. If the Kings get a lousy pick or pick a lousy player, I will laugh my way off this site and out of the fandom forever. Free. I will be laughing because it likely will mean many more years of losing and many more years of poor, sad Vivek.
It is hard enough being a fan now. I want the Kings to flourish but the idea of seeing Vivek and his slut daughter holding the trophy would ruin the NBA championship for me. Yes, just me; I told you I was bitter.
I’m sick of his smug face, I’m sick of his unethical behavior, I’m sick of his reckless ego. I do not want that loser to win.
So, obviously, Jack, it is a lot harder being me than it is being you.
The ownership and most of the front office is unethical and sleezy, but, you know, I’m the one who should go fuck himself.
Yup, I 100% believe you and everyone here can build THE best roster. A lot of fantasy game players can say that too. But it takes two or three to tango and if the other GMs remain unconvinced of your trade offers, or your target free agent is playing hard to get, you will still most likely end up with a DDR, Schroeder, and Westbrook.
I feel pretty confident that the Kings will be selecting in the middle of the lottery, and this god awful front office will pick a player who doesn’t perform anywhere near as well as the next 4 picks after him.
Badge Legend