The Sacramento Kings kicked off their six-game road trip in truly embarassing fashion, as the Orlando Magic outplayed the Kings for 48 straight minutes and won 121-91. The Kings never held a lead in this game, while the Magic maintained comfortable 20-30 point leads throughout the contest. This is going to be a fairly quick recap, as I don’t see the point in putting in the effort when the Kings themselves didn’t.
The Magic are one of the league’s worst teams from beyond the arc, but the Kings allowed the Magic to make 18-of-39 (46.2%) threes, while the Kings only made 7-of-28 (25%) of their own threes. The Magic had more assists, more rebounds, and more steals. They outclassed the Kings in basically every way. The Kings looked lethargic and uninterested, never showing any sense of fight in this. They were content to play like crap and move on to the next one. They should be embarrassed, but embarrassment first requires a sense of pride and self-respect, and I don’t think this team possesses either.
Shout out to Caleb Houstan, a Magic player I have never heard of before who dropped 18 points off the bench for Orlando. He was 6/7 from three. Reminder that the Kings as whole made just 7 threes in this game.
DeMar DeRozan led the Kings with 21 points, Domantas Sabonis got his double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Zach LaVine finished with 10 points on 3/8 shooting. Malik Monk had 9 points on 9 shots off the bench. Keon Ellis went scoreless in 18 minutes as a starter.
There are no silver linings here, no bright spots to focus on. Just a bad team running out the clock on a season the front office needlessly destroyed before leaving for other jobs or (presumably) being fired.
Up Next
The Kings visit the Indiana Pacers on Monday.
I’m glad I didn’t get too excited over that win over the Trail Blazers and just went ahead and skipped this game! I’m learning! And it only took me….shit how old am I?
Good loss. Vivek is an idiot that we may not be able to overcome
So keep losing
This has been mentioned ad nauseum here but the on-court product is a direct reflection of the owner.
Fox for Lavine was a massive downgrade
The Maloofs for Vivek was an even bigger downgrade
Can you imagine back in 2012, when the Maloofs were doing everything in their power to move the team, knowing that in 2025 the Kings would still be here but our owner would be WORSE? Kings have been dealt an all time bad hand. It’s just rough. I don’t think there’s any question the Maloofs are the best owners in the franchises history and that is not a compliment!
It’s astonishing and why I really dislike/hate Vivek. We fought to keep this team and he shit on Sac- on us.
The team stayed because of us, not the ego asshole owner.
Too bad we can’t get rid of him.
Yeah it somehow makes it worse because he was immediately horrible and has learned nothing in 12 years.
Right. The fans (and KJ) are why the team stayed at all. Vivek wasn’t the reason. He happened to be the $ guy stern chose.
He saw the fight to keep the team. What Sacramento and the fans did. It was quite impressive.
And he chose to run the team for himself. For his ego. For his pockets. That’s disgusting
“Thanks for saving the team now fuck off…Vivek. Oh, and I’m a genius”
It should have been Mark Mastrov.
Maybe that would have been better…
Almost anyone would be better. The ego on Vivek is bigger than almost anyone’s. And the lack of care for his employees, the city of Sac and the fan base.
Just keep getting that 9-10 seed to collect and not share on 1 home game parking/concessions/tickets revenue
I’ve said this before – Vivek isn’t so much the owner of this team as its kidnapper.
Exactly
Nba a game of matchups and the Magic are truly a terrible matchup for use with their three 6’10 frontline players.
please for the love of everything don’t insert monk back into the starting group.
I didn’t watch the game but I’m guessing that picture is kind of emblematic of how the team defended the three. Lyles literally looks like he’s holding a cape and saying ¡olé!.
“Just don’t overreact” -Kayte
Now that was a statement game.
Fugly
Greg with more effort in this recap and the Kings had in the game.
Kayte excitedly told everyone during the Blazers game that the Kings had shown up big and recognized the seriousness of the game. Well, I guess they didn’t do that today. Today, the story was traveling and no practice and early East Coast game and blah blah blah.
You must admit that she is good at blah blah blah and blah
You can’t yada yada basketball!
The entire broadcast team needs to go. All 3 are below average.
Kayte yaps about nonsense all game. Draper gets overly excited about basic plays. Mark has the most tired lines he forces in to every game.
I have always wanted Mitch Richmond to be the color guy. I would listen to him every game
Agree on all points.
Mark doesn’t seem to know anyone on any team, he is constantly calling out the wrong player (who is often not even on the court) or saying something happened that didn’t (only for Kayte to have to explain what actually happened), and for using the same cringey lines he uses every game.
Kyle should be limited to a segment guy, he’s way too much of a homer and easily excited. He’s also doesn’t have much of a basketball mind, sometimes he misrepresents what just happened on the court (of which Kayte again will usually correct).
I like Kayte as a sideline reporter and radio host, but I cannot stand her as the color commentator. Apart from the few organic instances where she can share her deeper understanding of the game with Mark and Kyle, Kayte just talks WAY TOO much. She won’t let the game breath at all (the games during covid without announcers were a fantastic reprieve).
I DO like Morgan and Deuce doing the halftime show, its nothing but commercials anyway so their short bursts of banter and excitement works in that format.
I personally hope the announcing teams are reassigned or let go entirely, we sorely need a new color and PBP announcing team.
It’s crazy how every aspect of this franchise is absolute trash. From the owner, to the FO, to the coaches, to most the players, to the broadcast team.
Fans need to stop going to games to show they’re no longer putting up with this.
Subpar NBA entertainment from top to bottom, yet one of the highest priced tickets and concessions in the league. It’s a grift.
It’s befuddling to me why people go to the games.
NBA basketball is the best basketball.
Even the Kings (Hornets, Wizards, etc.)
Yes even the college game is basically minor league professional bball with every player in effect free agents yearly. .
They don’t know any better. Propaganda. Etc. Like what’s happened to this county. Very similar.
It’s all trash because of the owner. That’s how it goes in any organization.
And we don’t even know the half of it. The way Vivek deals w community businesses is gross too.
Kayte is an all time great ahill
There are lots of reasons to be upset about this franchise. I will state my two biggest disappointments over the last 20ish years:
1.Player development.
This franchise has very few examples of un-drafted/late round draft picks that materialize into rotation players. For a free agent Oasis such as Sacramento; you have to have a pipeline of talent and not whiff so badly on draft picks.
2.. Late game substitutions.
The inability for nearly every coach over the past two decades to concede the game when it is obviously out of hand. They don’t play the freaking bench players at the end of lost games! This has been especially true of these last two coaches: Mike Brown and DC play staters 40+min a night and don’t remove players the last 5-7 minutes of game time when down 20. I don’t need to see Domas score 4 more points in garbage time. DeRozan doesn’t need to jack up two three-pointers with 40 second left in the game. How are the young bench players supposed to get experience if you NEVER play them until the last 36 seconds of game time?
Someone needs to fix this franchise.
My two biggest
1-Vivek
2-Matina
That is the root of the problem, for around 12 years running now.
My new dream scenario is the Suns @ Kings season finale determining 10th – 11th, with the Kings losing yet again at home.
Even better would be the Suns winning, finishing with the same record as the Kings but winning the tie breaker. Then the Suns get beat in the play-in and go on to win the coin flip for 12-13.
I don’t want to leave it to chance like that. I want them eliminated before the end of the season for the reality to set in for the entire fanbase. I don’t want to hear their PR hype machine running through game 82.
Fans are like voters.
A big part of them will gobble up whatever the PR hype machine will spit out, not matter the facts.
What fans don’t understand…
“we should be thanking Vivek for saving the team….not admonishing him”
Oh, yeah. I despise that one.
Missed it. Was with my wife and daughter. Don’t know what to say. Organization from top to bottom is just a complete disaster.
The Sac media will spin this as a big offseason of change. Don’t count on it.
For example,
Lavine. He’s not going anywhere. Kings are stuck with him for the next 2 years. Guaranteed. Like he won’t take that 55 million player option player option. In 26-27. At age 34.
i love the thought of Jenkins. Then realize he probably will take the Blazers job. Laugh at Vivek’s caller id.
Jenkins would solve a lot of the issues, but Vivek has never gone after that type of HC.
Should have promoted Jordi and let go of MB. But this is not a forward looking FO.
I fully expect the team to give Doug the coaching job (at an obvious discount as one of the cheapest coaches in the league) and then Vivek will abruptly fire Monte.
Why break with tradition: Hire the coach before the GM.
And then Vlade will replace Monte…
Unfortunately, I do think there’s a very real chance Viveks kid will be GM along with Vlade overseeing. And Vivek.
It’s the cowboys model. Only Vivek has zero clue. Jerry has barely any clue.
If this happens I’m done with the Kings
Jenkins an excellent coach but changing coaches and FO is only rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic . Nothing changes until Vivek/Matina are gone .
https://x.com/estala_isaac/status/1906102571242225757
They are not very good at dealing with adversity. Not as a team on the floor, not as an organization. I’m not sure what group of players would have been able to succeed under the circumstances, but this one is definitely not showing an ability to rise above. I don’t see a whole lot of silver lining at the moment. There’s some decent players under contract, that’s about it.
Last season played out very much the same way, IMO.
In the crunch time of the season, the post All-Star Break 30 games, last season’s Kings, with a better record, couldn’t “step up”. When it came to winning the games they needed to – against Dallas, Phoenix, and ultimately, New Orleans – it was one disappointing loss after another.
This was in contrast to the now long ago Beam Team squad which was up and down the first half of the season, entering January of 2023 above .500 but really came into their own in the post ASB second half of that campaign.
That seems so very long ago. This week was a look back at that time when the playoff drought was finally broken in the 17th! year. We now look at the start of yet another new streak of woe as Sac appears to be sinking, today unable to tread even the more shallow Play-In waters.
Heat culture is built on energy and effort. Kings culture is old and moldy.
Last year was the main reason for not prematurely extending Brown and letting him have a “prove it”-season. It was aslo a clear sign for the FO to do something, and not just sit on their hands.
The Beam Team year was great, but even at the time, it was clear that it was already an outlier due to so many other teams struggling with injuries and suspensions. The 3rd seed was a fluke, not a signal of things to come. The home record was a red flag and was ignored
A good FO who would have been brutally honest in its analysis of that success year and seen where the vulnerabilities were and kept looking to improve. Monte & Co. deluded themselves and us with the concept of continuity, and I partially fell for it. And here we are…
Blow It Up.
I think many of us agree it needs to be blown up, but I’ve resigned myself to the fact that it’s going to be hard to do. The Kings have painted themselves into a corner, much like the current Suns team, or even the Wizards from a few years ago with Wall and Beal. The Kings now have contracts they they will need to pay to get rid of, in the same way that no team is going to trade for Bradley Beal.
The Suns may be forced to give up Durant and/or Booker before they can remove Beal. Same scenario for the Kings. They may have to move Sabonis before they can get rid of LaVine or DDR.
The Wizards were forced to give up a pick to move Wall, and still brought in Westbrooks enormous deal. It’s taken years for the Wiz to recover from those huge contracts and they are still scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Ideally the Kings could find suitors to take on LaVine and DDR’s deals by breaking them up for smaller contracts, but sadly the Kings can’t trade with themselves.
I think DDR would be relatively easy to move. He has value on the court, and the contract is not bad. Especially since it’s a partial guarantee the 3rd year. I don’t know what the return would be, though.
LaVine will be in Sac until that contract ends. Maybe they could get some salary capped team to take it in the final year at the All-Star break.
Someone in the organization needs to put on their big boy pants and make the decision to rebuild and suffer a few years of really bad records, while also developing young talent with a clear direction and style of play.
I like Domas, but I don’t think he would be on board with that. The return for him could really help jump start the process.
Fore sure, DDR will be easier to move, but I don’t think he’s going to bring much back in value. I don’t think he’s enough of a star at this point to bring back draft capital or even a prospect. He may bring back a few smaller contracts
Well, if it was easy, everyone could be an NBA GM, not just the fine people here at TKH.
I’m think that a proper tank and rebuild is minimum 3 years.
Despite the current cap issues, I think that this offseason, we should be able to trade Domas adn Malik. Trade deadline or maybe end of the season DDR.
Lavine is indeed an issue, but just two years. And he has the makings of a decent tank commander.
I am conflicted by my past impressions.
I recall you advocating holding off on the Mike Brown extension, and my arguing against.
One of the hallmarks of Vivek’s torturing ownership is the disjointed management style of an ever shifting landscape: players, coaches and GMs come and go in a carousel counter to what we see in the most successful franchises.
Given that (the cursed) award of CoY and ExoY were bestowed on the Beam Team (and that catchy label) – and the lack of stability- I was pushing for retention of HC and GM. I still wonder if MB should still be coaching. (why not? Is Christie better or just different? Would Fox still be here? Would the trade deadline look the same?)
Players- a bit of the same argument for consistency. If I could change one thing, just one using the rear view window-wise: Kevin Huerter should have been off loaded last season. Not blaming the player – but not having a consistent, starting level shooting guard really hurt bad last year. Having given a 1st rounder to get him glued him to the roster however. But he also had his highest value at that time.
Well, we can’t go back in time, and we can’t seem to change the present. We can only wonder what the future holds. And it ain’t looking good. In fact, every day seems darker than the last (cue: hello darkness, my old friend)
Talking about a joke, if as parents you have the sense of humor to name your child “Trevelin”, then have the guts to go all the way and change your family name to “Circus”, and make him demand a trade to the Kangz.
I am RikSmits and I endorse this message:
https://x.com/kings_muse/status/1906127495780597999
Great t-shirt idea.
Agreed. Would wear to the MLB game I’m attending with my office in June at Vivek’s Broligarch Three-Year Roomie Park, then switch to my FJF shirt in the bottom of the fifth.
Not sure what quality CustomInk shirts are, but I just banged this out.
If we as fans are going to go with this to start putting pressure on the team/owner, then this time we need to as much pressure as we can in addition to shirts (love the design, btw). Bring back the billboard, start wearing bags over your head at games, demand home game boycotts, fan mail in newspapers/magazines demanding ownership change, merch bans, banners in the air before and during games, etc. I’m sure others have more ideas. But it needs to be seen by media outside of Sac as well.
I don’t want to wait another who knows how long for this team and owner to get their act in gear and provide even a solid team for entertainment. I’ve spent enough time, energy and money on this team that outside of one SINGLE year hasn’t paid off. I love the players and to a point I don’t blame them, but they are the one’s playing the game and need to be held responsible too. All around it’s just a crappy situation.
But if I’ve lost money to this team by attending games, food and merch, Vivek damn well deserves to, too.
Hopefully the G1C robo cops don’t find you and ban you for this!
Oh my god-that’s the dream. If he did, Sac hoops would be good in no time.
Amd I do think we fans should make it as uncomfortable for Vivek as possible if he doesn’t back off.
Based on the play throughout most of this season, and the post-game answers from the players, I am at the point where u think the best course of action to start selling off players and moving towards a rebuild.
Something is rotten on the court/in the locker room. (Ownership is a different story altogether). There is a rift amongst the players.
Keep Keon, Keegan and Carter, everyone else can go. Build the identity of being a hard nosed defensive team with length and size, and go from there.
I held out hope, but now I see the path. It’s clear.
I am a Hooper Hoper as well, Hobby.
To me- that’s the glory of being a fan: having those hopes eventually fulfilled.
But there’s got to be handholds to make the climb. On the sheer face of the Kingdom, the cliffs of Vivek and Matina – it’s obvious that it is both, not just one- seem untenable, and we fans are Sisyphus, seemingly destined to never reach the peak. No situation is hopeless- but the outlook is back to bleak.
Sigh.
Monk is pretty vocal guy and wears his emotions on his sleeve when he’s playing. I have to imagine he was hurt when Fox was traded, especially after he signed what many perceived as a discount contract. It sort of reminds how Rudy Gay signed an extension with the Kings and the team abruptly fired Michael Malone. The front office (Vivek) always finds a way to destroy good chemistry.
I would keep Keon, Keegan and LaRavia. Because of his contract you have to keep LaVine. I don’t know about Carter. Am starting to really like Fultz as our backup point guard. IMO the rest can go.
Suns play the Rockets today at 6pm. A PHX win could be huge for the Kings potentially keeping their pick.
I am actively rooting for Dallas and Phoenix to pass us.
Yup, It’s about all we got going for the franchise right now. PDX seems out of the picture now.
The Suns are down by 29 to the Rockets at the half, and it’s probably not that close.
The Kings really lost by 30 to a team under 500 and starting a 33 year old Cory Joseph lmaooo classic Kangz
Curious to hear Christie’s post game. Man, he is awful. Just awful. Obvious he hasn’t done his scouting in the Magic.
Another reason the team came out ill prepared. Start looking in the mirror cue ball.
He makes this comment. “ There is no reason why Lavine should put up that few shots and 3s during the course of the game.
• I give some credit to the Magic, but we we face good and better defensive teams than the Magic.” What?????
The Magic are rated number 2 in defense.
Wow!!!! Just Wow!! Dumb as box of rocks.
I’d start Carter and Keon the rest of the way for player development.
Kings are in the 9-10-11 range. Can’t tell the coaches and players to not try to win. LaVine and DeMar is a losing combination because both need to be hid on defense. DeMar at least is consistently aggressive on offense whereas LaVine is not.
I’m not complaining about losses at this point because a 1st round pick is not a bad consolation prize.
what do you all think about starting Carter and Keon the rest of the way and bringing LaVine off the bench? Would it make the team more competitive or less competitive? What do the tankers think? What do the “optimists” think?
They may actually be a bit better but I’d do it anyway. They should be in development mode right now even if they accidentally win a couple more games.
I think there is a 0% chance the Kings don’t start LaVine or DDR. Maybe they pull a “rest” in a back to back, but that’s about it.
There might be a 0% chance that I watch a team starting those two.
Well Carter got hurt against the Magic. Played about 25 seconds. Sucks.
The on-court chemistry is trash. Monk doesn’t pass to Lavine, unless it to get the ball across the halfcourt line. DDR and Domas rarely run actions together. The 3 or 4 “best” players don’t look like they like each other.
They won’t make a drastic change this late in the season because it’s play-in or bust, baby!!!
I don’t think Keon and Domas have much of a connection either. Domas will look for everyone else before Keon, at least partially because Keon rarely moves or cuts to get himself open.
I’ll probably have a contract put out on me for saying this but I am starting to like Markelle Fultz over Carter. Left no address.
that would be interesting. Fultz plays PG and guards his man. Plus the injury to Carter – I don’t have any info on that.
Pretty bad but it’s not that serious, life is good.
Suns getting blown out. Durant just left the game with a bad rolled ankle.
That’s it. Kings have stumbled into the 10th spot. Worst case scenario has been reached.
I hate them (Vivek)
Durant’s injury didn’t look good at all.
There goes our pick this year….
Worst case scenario is running it back again next year by drafting poorly, assembling a team of pieces that don’t fit, and adding washed-up talent. Wait, deja vu?
Ugh… The only hope now is that the Kings are so bad to finish the year that an East team or two actually has a better record than the Kings. It’s not totally out of the question at this point.
Both the Bulls and the Heat would have to surpass the Kings for that to happen. They are 3 games behind Sac with 8 games to go. Not impossible, but not likely either.
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