The Sacramento Kings kicked off the Zach LaVine era in uninspiring fashion, losing badly to the Orlando Magic. The Magic got off to a hot start, but the Kings kept it competitive through the first half. Orlando blew the game open in the third quarter, outscoring Sacramento 42-23. The Kings never recovered, and cleared the bench with 8 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
It was clear from the start that LaVine hasn’t had much time to mesh with the roster. The flow was off, and LaVine in particular looked out of rhythm. He finished with 13 points on 13 shots, and was 0-for-4 from beyond the arc. Hopefully the team can gain some familiarity with each other and adjust quickly.
Recently acquired Jonas Valanciunas was not with the team yet.
Orlando is a team that has give the Kings trouble for several years, mostly due to their size and length. Franz Wagner led the Magic with 31 points, and Paolo Banchero had 23. My draft crush Tristan da Silva had 11 points in 18 solid minutes off the bench. This game was an unfortunate reminder that the Kings still need to address their lack of wings, hopefully before Thursday’s trade deadline. Seriously, Monte, it doesn’t need to be a star, just wings who are 6’8 or 6’9 and can give you 15-20 minutes of respectable basketball. That’s all I ask.
The trade deadline is Thursday at 12 PM PT. The Kings will be traveling to face the Portland Trail Blazers Thursday night at 7 PM PT.
Well… Yuck
Until you see the March schedule. Don’t think they are winning a lot of those games. So. They better go on a Feb winning streak.’
Pelicans 2.0
That went about as well as expected. Holy hell I knew the defense would be bad but WOW. That was a masterclass of pathetic basketball. Recreating the 2021 Bulls may have been an overly optimistic assessment.
Defense wasn’t great. The turnovers also allowed the Magic to get some easy buckets. Most of those were stupid turnovers. Traveling and throwing the ball out of bounds.
The defense wan’t great? The Kings are my team but as an old coach I really liked watching the Magic play defense. In reverse I hated watching the Kings play defense. 51% from three by the Magic who aren’t know for shooting threes shows you what kind of defense the King’s play in perimeter defense. Most importantly the straight line drives showed we were even worse in that area. Our interior defense also sucks. Look how many blocks we had inside. What about charges. None. Let’s face it friends Sabonis is not a defender on the inside. Great on offense and passing but that ain,t defense. I keep harping this all the time. Offense wins games well almost all games. Not if you are a King. DEFENSE wins championships and also games. Look at any professional sports team. No look at any team sport. The ones who play defense are always in the mix to be right there to win it all. Sacramento won’t be anywhere near the best when it comes to defense but they certainly can be better. Since defense is a constant you can coach players to be better defenders. GO KINGS!
Yeah, like I said, the Kings defense wasn’t great.
What about the Kings trade Lyles, C,Jones, and McDermot and a first and second for Herb Jones?
That would be nice. I don’t know what the Pelicans are doing right now. Ingram gone, D. Murray is out for this season and probably next season. Zion is a mystery. CJ is aging.
Hell, even if they did two first rounders I would be fine with that.
Coming back from a long road trip with all the drama, adding a new high usage player, and knowing they head right back on the road after the game…I didn’t expect a win.
Hopefully they can get it together.
I expected a tough game, but that was a hot pressed turd sandwich.
Did they all take a hit of Doug’s smelling salts at halftime or something?
If they did, they should have come out more energized!
It was hot garbage in the 2nd half. I thought the 1st half they played solid, but couldn’t adjust to what the Magic were doing in the 3rd.
They were energized at times and were running…but they still couldn’t stop Orlando from scoring, and left a lot of wide open shots.
If they can’t stop the 29th ranked offense in the league from scoring 130. There are going to be lots and lots of nights like this. Against teams that lock in defensively:
Can’t spell Lavine without an L…and that’s what he is, a losing player.
He will obviously improve but there were some alarming characteristics that scare me. He doesn’t move without the ball, he doesn’t fight for rebounds, he leaks out prematurely. His on-ball defense was atrocious, he doesn’t follow his shot, and he needs to be told to go set screens.
Everything the Kings culture under Doug Christie is negated. Him and Demar play zero defense. Lavine is lazy.
I love using him in 2K but in real life-this is going to get really ugly.
Almost none of that was true of that game and some that is can absolutely be attributed to just being dropped into a new system bro lol
I agree. Give him more respect for just one game.
Calling Lavine a loosing player is wrong. Period. You wait. Saying that after one game is terrible. Respectively.
Very small sample size, but I definitely like Ellis in the starting rotation rather than the lineup we started with. We need someone to play defense. We were better off, and have been, while Ellis is in the game.
100% agree. Was saying this on Twitter. We have plenty of scorers. At least in the starting lineup, LaVine is just taking the ball out of the hands of Monk, DDR, Sabonis, and Keegan. Ellis’ defense fits really well with that group.
Given LaVine’s name and the fact he was the centerpiece of the Fox trade, I don’t expect us to use him like Manu. However, we should move one of our offensive players to the bench for Ellis.
Ideally, I think LaVine is best suited to it. I have thought for awhile, his best career trajectory is a potential 6th man of the year like a modern Jason Terry or Jamal Crawford. He would be a potential fantastic scoring off the bench and could pound the ball a bit more with fewer scorers on the court.
I don’t think having Ellis in the starting lineup solves all of our defensive issues, especially against a team like Orlando with their size and length. But right now our lineup is probably unbalanced.
The Magic exploited Keon’s size last night. Set a screen to get him switched onto Wagner, who backed him down until the Kings sent a double team, kick it out for a wide open 3, profit. Its like the Magic were painting by numbers with their execution – moving the ball, finding the mismatch, and getting an open look. It was impressive. The fact the Kings couldn’t contest their shots is very worrying.
Confucius once said that if you add a shitty defensive player to a group of shitty defensive players, the team as a whole becomes even shittier on defense. Monte should have listened to this sage advice.
Yes, this. I think we just need to find what the best rotation is going to be, and I can’t imagine that this starting lineup will be the best one.
Agreed. I hope Doug has the guts to bring one of his three starting shooting guards (DDR, Monk, LaVine) off the bench. Having them all in the starting unit sets up a nightmarish defense scenario to start each game.
Yup. It’s the exact same issue we had with Fox, Monk, DDR lineup. Too many shooters, not enough defense, and if their shots are not falling, we are doomed.
The best rotation tonight was when Keon was in the game, and I would guess that would be the case moving forward as well.
But what all star player to have come off the bench?
Thats the BIG decision from people who get paid a lot of money to figure out.
And it shouldn’t of been a problem sans player ego
So that here leaves us. I don’t have a lot of faith in us just as those who don’t get paid.
IMO you need Monk as the facilitator and point guard. Now that Fox is gone Monk has the keys. So that leaves the other two.
Yeah, LaVine will have much better shooting nights. But last night also showed why I am not his biggest fan, especially for this team. He is a horrific defender.
He can provide value with his offense. But offense isn’t our issue and he was either taking the ball out of our other scorer’s hands, which made his contributions a bit more of a wash or to his credit he was moving the ball, but basically he was more of an off ball player or standing on the perimeter but then he becomes a net negative because he doesn’t play any defense or rebound.
Like a much better version of Buddy Hield, he’s a guy you need to be providing enough offense to overcome his defensive deficiencies and if he’s going to stand around and be more passive, then you are better off with an actual 3-D player in his spot. But given he’s not really a playmaker, the other option is him pounding the basketball while guys like Monk and DDR stand around.
Some of this will definitely get better with more practices and familiarity…. but this is also sort of who LaVine has been for his entire career across multiple franchises and with different rosters in Chicago.
LaVine just didn’t seem to be a disruptor last night. He was content to pound the rock, make one move to free up a little space, and take a jumper. He came out in the 3rd quarter with more of an “attack the rim” mentality, but I’m sorry, if you have to convince yourself to turn that on, and then let it flip off almost as fast, that’s not it. We need dudes who are pushing their bodies and their game to the limit, which Monk does and Fox did before he checked out.
I got this sense last night that the Kings may have just committed to 2 more years in the wrong direction. I hope I’m wrong.
Fox definitely spent much of his time in Neutral this season. He would turn it on at times, but not enough. It was rough. Hopefully Lavine was trying to feel out the sets/plays/style/flow, and knowing when to attack and when to setup teammates.
yeah it’s weird to kill a guy for not looking fluid in an offense he literally just joined with no practice. What would of been nice but is above NBA egos is if Lavine said just start me on the bench until after the break when we can get practices in.
Especially as a high usage player. It’s not like when Crowder came in and started.
I still think the team is at it’s best when Ellis starts. The roster construction just doesn’t allow for that right now. I don’t see Monk/Lavine/DDR coming off the bench. Murray needs to start because he is the only wing defender and no one can replicate his size. And Domas is Domas.
If they could bring Lavine off the bench and play him 33 minutes still, then things might have more synergy. Or sub one of Monk/DDR/Lavine out early in the 1st, and then back in near the end of the quarter.
I’ll definitely cut LaVine a bit of slack it was his first game with a new team and zero practices and he was very clearly trying to fit in. He definitely looked more passive than I’ve seen him with the Bulls and I expect that to change, but….
This is also who LaVine is and has always been. 58% of his shots with the Bulls were from 16 feet or further out versus 46% for Fox.
He also averaged 4.24 seconds per touch and 3.74 dribbles per touch. That can be a bit hard to contextualize versus players who bring the ball up the court more, but it’s nearly a full half second and half dribble higher than guys like Monk.
I’m not very bullish on the fit here given our plethora of scoring and lack of defense. But hoping for the best or that Monte has another move up his sleeve.
This was a low ceiling team that traded its (second?) best player to be a low ceiling team for even longer. I’m going to predict that if they miss the play-in (reasonably likely) Monte will be watching the offseason from the beach. I don’t think he’s much better off if they make the play-in and lose.
They’ll play better than this, but they’re still not good enough to win more than two games in the first round of the playoffs.
They can’t trade LaVine to themselves, so they’re going to be locked in to this for a while.
Honestly, missing the play-in would allow the Kings to keep their FRP and regroup for next season.
It’s not the worst outcome. However, it would not help the stated goal of being competitive and fighting for a playoff run.
For sure, and it would probably result in MM’s firing.
I think he and Wes are gone anyway. My guess is that Vivek told them to trade for Lavine. That was the mandate. Make it happen.
Can’t imagine it any other way
I dunno… I’m not sure McNair gets fired. He seems to be the perfect Vivek lackey. Why fire your lackey? Maybe Wilcox goes but he’s supposedly the “brain” behind all this so who knows?
I’ve been wanting this for awhile
Enjoyed watching the garbage time last half of the 4th quarter. Still waiting for Monte to pick up another wing. The post-peak guard and center positions are now filled.
Lavine will be exciting to watch at times. I’ll give him a pass tonite. No practice,
etc etc.
But I also think his numbers will drop dramatically regardless.’
Lavine was the only option in Chicago and number 2, the East is not the West. His on ball defense is a bad as advertised. Too many players that need the ball and zero
balance. Franz and Paolo absolutely decimated the Kings. The Magic’s defensive discipline was 48.
Demar and Lavine are great offensive players. Unfortunately they are not winning players.
The team doesn’t really have a true PG now. For all the trash talking on Fox, he was playing some above average D all year.
That minus shows up big tonite.
The lack of D and length. This team is boxed in now. This is what they are rolling with for the next 2-3
seasons. Unless they move DDR in the offseason. This is your Sac Kings.
The team has a ceiling of play in, maybe a first round exit. If they get lucky.
In 2 years the core whatever you call that Demar, Lavine, and Boner all over 30 and the future for this team looks pretty bleak
The best part. Kings can offer Lavine an extension this summer to stay even longer. Maybe, he will retire a King. When his offensive numbers drop. That 50 mil next year. Whew…
While the Lakers reload and they will. okc dominates, Houston one player from being a perennial contender, and the Spurs will pass the Kings next year if not this year.
When you allow a 28th ranked offense to go off for 130. And this has been all yr, Not just tonite. You’re nowhere near contending for anything. Lavine or a 32 yr old Valenciunas does not change that.
It’s sad and frustrating to witness this front office ineptitude year after year.
Oh and Fox didn’t miss a beat 24-13 assists in 37 min work. Spurs victory.
Yeah, but Fox had weeks, if not months, to study his new team and exchange messages with his new teammates.
Exactly. Always some excuse for why semi average players play that way. Vivek trash team.
With no length, no D, and no point guard, at least the ship will sink a little quicker. But the paradox of it all that will keep this team in hell is that the team won’t properly tank while it repeats its history of continuing to squander assets, add washed-up talent to the roster, sign premature overpaid contracts, and make bad draft decisions.
Fox was far from above average at defense lol
Team is so much better when Ellis starts, and this was the case with Fox here too.
The thing is, Ellis is the exact type of player Christie was back in the day. All-world on defense, all-out effort, glue guy.
But you might ask: why didn’t a guy like Gerald Wallace start in place of Christie on those early 2000s Kings? Sure, Wallace was just entering the league, but man, he had a smooth offensive game! So why the heck didn’t he start?
It’s the same principle now, some 20 years later. Keon Ellis is a huge net positive every time he steps on the court.
Problem is, Ellis won’t start on this team. DeMar and Lavine make $50+ million. DeMar and Lavine are the two primetime players Monte brought in.
Ellis ain’t starting. So every night, we’re going to set the tone with some of the worst defense in league. As opposed to enforcing our will on the other team, we’ll just let literally whoever go out there and feast.
Also, I don’t like Devin Carter. A bunch of you will probably say give it time. Nah. I’m good. Monte decided that the window for this iteration of the team is exactly two years. Carter doesn’t fit that timeline. And he isn’t a contributor today – won’t be tomorrow, either. You’ve got some time left before the trade deadline. I say go ahead and deal Carter right now.
Enough dooming. The team will play better. They looked clunky tonight for obvious reasons. All-star break and some rest + practice time can’t come soon enough.
32 games left. I hope this team can go out there and win like 20 of them.
yeah, start Ellis. same reason since … oh … about a year.
I liked carters game last night, am i alone?
He seems much smaller than 6’2 or 6’3. He was afraid to even try and finish around the rim, even late in the game.
He has some energy defensively, but I wish he was 6’5 or taller. Makes the draft pick look bad because taller players drafted after him are playing much better (Ware, Knecht, Da Silva, Missi, Dunn).
I like the theory of his game. Still giving him a pass on the actual play. Takes a lot of rookies a good 2-4 months to adapt to the league and he is basically just finishing his “training camp.” Hopefully we continue to see improvement, but realistically will take until next season to really see the impact.
After the announcement that he was going to miss so much time with the injury, I figured by March he would settle in and hopefully contribute. I sure hope he gets it figured out quickly.
Agree and even March is a best case scenario. Plenty of rookies look pretty bad until somewhere between December-February. I hope Carter can start to contribute sooner, but am going to sort of give him a pass this season so long as we see some progression.
He did a couple nice things. He’s a great rebounder for a guard. But on one play he literally dribbled the ball away and created a scramble to keep possession. The ball handling isn’t there. And he doesn’t have a good feel around the rim. He missed an easy layup last night. Its so weird because you watch a guy’s college highlights and he looks phenomenal, but this league has a way of exposing people.
That’s why they call them highlights.
The numbers were concerning, similar to Davion. 3pt shot was only good in one college season. Not good for an older prospect. His finishing around the rim was questionable, same with ball handling and playmaking.
He is smaller for the position, really fast and a good leaper, and was supposed to be “ready to contribute immediately”. Maybe he will come around as he gets more time, but things aren’t trending upward right now.
I think he needs time, which is a scarce commodity in Vivekville.
I’m totally down with Carter.
I agree on Carter. I don’t like anything I’ve seen except for his rebounding and decent defense. It sure would be nice to have a Daron Holmes or a Tristan Da Silva instead of Carter. His shot is unorthodox and his inconsistent with his Misses. Carter is a player that’s easily replicated, a big wing that can play the 34 or a guy that can play the 45 and shoot the three is hard harder to replicate. Holmes and Da’ Silva fill that void better. I was pissed about Carter after watching him play I did not feel any better.
I love the JV pick up, and I know most people on this site. I know a lot of people on this site dont like Isaac because he was against getting Covid vaccine (which doesn’t hurt others nor stop the spread) and being highly religious but he is the typo defensive player we could use. He can defend fours. He shoots the three good enough, and it appears some of his injury. History might be behind him.
just frustrating we cannot find the right forward to pair with this team.
Best part of the night. The Kings fucked the Lakers by getting JV for some 2nd round picks. It forced the Lakers into this trade. LOL!
Monte shoulda drafted Knecht in the first place
I like him, but DaSilva or Daron Holmes would’ve been much better for this team
Apparently Luka asked for a lob threat, so I doubt JV was a serious target.
Can’t even laugh because the Kings aren’t anywhere near the organization the Lakers are. It’s a joke.
The Lakers are always/or close to contenders.
Im just so irritated w this owner and his lack of desire to win. To contend. He’s just fucking with this team/sac area.
Can we fire Mike Brown again?
Unfortunately, a friend had an extra ticket and I agreed to attend this game with him. Lavine literally doesn’t even try to stay in front of his man on defense. Waaaay too much dribbling and minimal ball movement. Orlando is a really big team. Fuck Franz. That’s all.
With friends like that, who needs enemies, right?
Wagner shouldn’t have got so many good looks.
Keep Sabonis, Keon, Keegan, Monk, Devin.
A 6’8-6’9 with wingspan who will put a hand in a face would be useful.
I’m out of ways to express my disappointment with Keegan. What an empty effort. Whole team sucked, but damn, show some heart kid.
I’m trying to come to terms with the apparent fact that just is his mental makeup. If a coach won’t carve out a specific role for him and makes it a point to put the ball in his hands, he’ll just defer to everybody.
And if his 3p% does not go back towards his rookie year % is that what you want out of a #4 pick?
Keegan would be a better offensive player if first he would get more touches, the coaching staff would set up more plays for him, and he would demand the ball more.
woulda coulda shoulda.
He won’t demand the ball. It’s not in his nature and I doubt it will change.
Is Keegan even making spot up or open three pointers? I honestly don’t know, but it seems like passivity is only one of his issues. Have to make shots.
39.6% Wide open (defender 6+ feet)
20.4 open (defender 4-6 feet)
With a defender 0-4 feet away, he has attempted 0.1 3pt shots.
So no, he hasn’t been very good this season unless he has been wide open.
Good info. Thanks!
The right point guard or offensive ball movement could help Keegan improve his confidence and make him a lethal 3 point threat – his confidence needs to be stoked like a fire – otherwise he fades into insignificance. He should be traded to a team thats not full of so may isoball type players for him to have greater value as a scorer.
Sac doesn’t have to basketball hell, I’m not putting that out there. The lack of a true point guard may be an issue. Monte just can’t seem to balance and fill out roster right. This team has and had lots of issues. Free agency and the draft are usually the best ways to improve. The 6 seed is still reachable with another run, hopefully Zach fits in but the Kings were never going to do much this year.
LaVine 0-4 from three and 4-13 overall.
Hey Monte, you had another shooting guard in Huerter who could have done that.
Here’s hoping LaVine gets back to his season average from 3. Otherwise, I would think every player who done the purple uniform simply forgets how to shoot.
For peets sake give the guy more room than one game. He deserves it.
Maybe Lavine’s first game as a King will be like Doug’s first game as head coach!
Lots of discombobulation tonight. Monk couldn’t stay on the floor, our micro roster matches up poorly with Orlando, and Lavine looked very awkward out there in his first game. I’m not going to get too down about it; we have a good chance to beat Portland tonight, 3 of the following 4 are against the atrocious Pelicans, and the rest of February looks very soft. However….
MONTE BOLSTER THE DAMN ROSTER LIKE A NORMAL ROSTER WITH SOME 3/4s!
You should adjust your estimate of the chance for a win against Portland. They’ve won 9 of their last 10 games, and we’re on a back-to-back.
Portland is actually playing well as of late. Not a team to underestimate.
I feel bad for Christie. He’s a defense minded coach with a roster of players who either don’t defend or can’t defend in the way they have to be used.
I don’t. Why? Who is Doug Christie? Has he coached before ? Where? He’s a fifth asst on the bench with zero coaching experience. Since his honeymoon start. He’s shown to be pretty mediocre. at best. Defensive coach? He was a defensive player in the dark ages. Over 20 plays yrs ago. He’s not Spoles and hasn’t accomplished anything. I think too many fans get deluded with this idea of former players getting elevated into a position that they are not qualified to handle
Don’t, he’s pulling the same shit as mb, bring a defensive coach with no nuts to put your best defensive player the starting lineup
Every player can be a better defender IF THEY WANT TO.
Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2025-26-27 Sacramento Kings. That’s it. Deadline in a few hours, no first rounder, over the cap, never paying the tax, all 5 starters signed for 2 more years. If they want D, they better draft the best 2nd rounder since Draymond. Unzip that pullover and pour yourself a cold one, Monte. 9th place, here we come!
Wasn’t a great game to watch no doubt and I’ll continue to shout it from the rooftops, if we are going to keep monk in the starting group then we need to move demar to the bench for keon. We need keon and murray in the first groups vs starters.
now matchups matter, and like the bucks, orlando is a bad matchup for us and before their losing streak they were something like 24-18 so they aren’t a bad team.
no panic button yet
I guess we lost the trade. ????
In the world of instant reactions that we currently live in, I guess yes we did. Heaven forbid that the people let the dust settle before making conclusions.
Nothing against Zach as a person, but it was pretty safe to say we lost the trade before he even arrived in Sac. I didn’t need to watch (I wish I didn’t) that disaster last night to know what’s coming when you start Monk, Lavine, DDR. Nor did I need to watch Fox fit in seamlessly on day one last night (fun game) – been telling my Spurs fan friends how good of a fit it will be.
Nearly everyone could have predicted these outcomes except Vivek who doesn’t seem to understand what wins professional basketball games. It’s not that hard: replace Lavine’s name with (say) Sochan’s in that trade and it’s a different story and different outcome.
Even if we somehow stay alive and don’t get leapfogged by the Spurs or W’s in the standings, is there any way this current team doesn’t get swept in the first round? Under any other circumstance, I would be glad to bottom out in a year with a good draft crop but at this point I have zero faith in ownership to do anything right moving forward.
The only way out of this now I can squint and see is if JV comes in makes an outsized impact and they start Keon ASAP. Eventhen, our ceiling is pretty low for the forseeable future.
Can we not act like the Kings never looked this bad with Fox this season, or in seasons past? The team isn’t put together well, whether it’s Fox or Lavine. They don’t play great defense as a whole. Fox was a part of that for 40+ games this season, and the prior 7 seasons as well.
Lavine won’t make this team a great defensive team, and Fox didn’t either. Fox coasted his way through so many games this season that often left the Kings in deep holes after the 1st half.
Fox certainly has his flaws and was miscast as the # 1 player. But he brought way more to the table than Lavine. Fox had at least some defensive talent and could turn it on when he wanted. Fox is way better at breaking down defenses, something that this team now lacks. Fox was a fantastic 4th Q scorer. I could go on.
At least with Fox in the lineup, you could see the team making the playoffs and being scrappy. Now, this current Kings lineup now strikes zero fear in the hearts of any opponent. Lavine is smooth, but has no dog in him. I hope I’m wrong, but unfortunately most my fears have come true in the Vivek era.
Well, there are about 32 games left to prove us all wrong and see what this team can do.
Let’s see, but I have literally one measly drop of hope left which is they continue to play so bad that they move Lavine or Monk back to the bench in a panic (moving their starting scoring guards to the bench worked for Phoenix and now Portland).
Oh and JV coming, so maybe two measly drops of hope.
See them making the playoffs?? How did that look pre firing of mb?? stop bro
That iteration of the team already made the playoffs once so it wasn’t hard to see. Obviously MB was driving the team into a ditch, but he’s been gone since December.
What is it you’d like me to stop, bro?
Fox was -4 in a 1 point win vs a tanking Hawks team…let’s not praise it too much lol
Agree small sample size, but I watched both games and liked what saw with one team and hated what I saw with the other. SSS aside, I also trust the Spurs’ ability to build a team, Vivek’s not so much. I’d bet my house that they win a another championship before we do.
I am resigned to the fact that the Kings won’t win a title in my lifetime (I’m 42).
You liked what you saw in one game versus the no-defense-playing Hawks and you didn’t like what you say in another game against the defensively elite Magic. If healthy, I think the Magic are a top 3-4 team in the East. The Hawks are emphatically not.
I do agree that the Spurs know how to build and Vivek’s prints on the FO are a huge net negative.
Fair. But I don’t like what I’ve seen with Lavine thus far in his career regardless of the opponent. Admittedly, I haven’t watch much of this year so I’m open to things being different, but none of my concerns were assuaged last night.
I’m not oblivious to Fox’s flaws but again, I’ve seen plenty of him and enough of Wemby, final score aside, to like what I saw even if it was against the Hawks.
Last night is just one of many data points which point the trade being just shy of a disaster. I’m sure we’ll win some games and maybe get some good vibes back, but in the long-run I remain pessimistic mainly because of that ‘huge net negative’ you mentioned.
I have not seen a game this year where an opposing team punks us repeatedly in the paint this frequently. Was something wrong with Sabonis, he looked off.
I also would like to better understand our offensive schemes. This game, too many times it seemed that 3-4 guys stood on the perimeter to observe the ball carrier try to set up a pick game with Sabonis, or ISO by themselves.
I’m a diehard fan of Doug, but I question this free-flowing style of offensive coaching with this current team.
Not looking too much into this one, lots going on mentally I’m sure with these players and perhaps physically due to a long road trip. Let’s see how they regroup tonight, and for God’s sake Monte get someone who can play PG either from a trade or from our G-League…
I don’t think Doug is running too many offensive sets in the half court. The team seems more focused on pace and beating their opponent in transition. That’s not gonna work when you let your opponent score at will on the other end and then allow them to set their defense.
Exactly., he needs to install a set of plays for when the defense is bad or offense completely stagnates and take control. I felt like the game was all ISO last night
It was either ISO, DHO or PnR with the other guys just standing around. Not how this offense should be operating. They are their best when players are driving and kicking, finding cutters, making the defense rotate.
That was disappointing.
With the addition of LaVine, I wondered how many Dunk contest participants have played for Sacramento either before or after being a King.
Ralph Sampson
Spud Webb
Terry Tyler
Kenny Smith
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
Doug Christie
Vince Carter
Gerald Wallace
Rudy Gay
JaVale McGee
DeMar DeRozan
Harrison Barnes
Ben McLemore
Zach LaVine
Juan Toscano-Anderson
Gerald “Crash” Wallace was so legit
Spud Webb
Ben McLemore
come to mind
Kenny Smith
15 total
Look, the Raptors got picks for Davion Mitchell. Monte had to pay to get rid of him…
Davion might be a good fit with Miami. Good for him.
I know people were down on Davion toward the end of his tenure, but I still say he’s the best on ball defender in the NBA, and my biggest criticism of Mike Brown was sitting Davion in Game 7 of the Warriors series, while we got torched by Curry. Just flat out idiotic. (I do not think Brown should have been fired.)
That being said, Davion is never going to be able to shoot or run a team, and he can’t effectively defend wings due to his size. Still, he’s a useful player, especially in a playoff series against elite point guards.
The real issue is that while Davion is a good POA defender…. he’s just not long, springy, quick, etc. enough to even be a good team defender or really switchable at all. For a player who hangs his hat on his defense, he’s never had a positive DBPM, which also matches the film.
And he’s a massive negative offensively. Top OBPM is -2.1 and he’s at -3.7 despite plenty of opportunity with Quickly and Barnes getting hurt.
The Raptors got a second for taking PJ Tucker’s bad contract.
T-minus two hours until the trade deadline. We shall see what happens, but I’m keeping my expectations low for us acquiring anything more.
Well Cash Considerations can be aggregated in a trade, so I expect his yearly return to Sacramento.
Fox gets 13 assists in his first game as a Spur. Says he feels like he hasn’t played in two weeks. WTF
Edit: I know I should move on but damn I’m still salty
We all watched him the past 2 weeks. I agree with his assessment. Leaving sour grapes in his exit from Sacramento. A good way to get booed and ruin his time here as a team.
And piss off his buddy Malik
I wonder if there was jealousy about Monk getting praise as a playmaker, and DDR taking more shots from Fox and being the “clutch guy” late in games.
I don’t know. He wanted to go to SA, with the cleaar knowledge that he will live in the shadow of Wemby.
He’s evidently not someone craving to be Batman, content with being Robin. Which is perfectly fine, just not what we needed.
Maybe it was because the guy wanted to win something in his NBA career.
This front office doesn’t have the will or ability to actually improve the team. They made one trade (Sabonis) and one signing (Monk) that actually pushed the team forward. Everything else has been inactivity, lateral or inconsequential moves.
I’m feeling he was going through the motions here for the past few months, knowing that all-nba wasn’t going to happen. A fresh start in San Antonio, which his heart was set on, is giving him new life. That just wasn’t going to happen here.
I think the preseason finger injury was the writing on the wall for him regarding All-NBA. He had to play through it to have a chance, and I don’t think he saw a path after November.
I’ll raise you the DDR signing. Adding DeMar likely hurt his chances as well. Couple that with Monk joining the starting lineup and the spotlight was dimmed on Fox.
The thought even occurred to me, “could Monte have signed DDR in hopes of reducing Fox’s touches and usage in order to keep him from supermax qualifications?” That would be such a Kangz move.
If reports of Brown not wanting Collins or Ingram in the offseason are true, then that leads me to believe that Brown was okay with Demar…not the length and defense at the wing that Fox wanted.
Its just a mess. Their Org chart needs to be cleaned up. Does Monte or Wes take calls from other teams? Is Vivek the only one that gets to finalize a decision?
Hanlon’s razor says signing DDR was a “Well, you can’t do nothing (again)” move, so they did something dumb.
Yeah, I honestly do think the DDR signing was the backup to the backup plan this past summer.
This is more or less what James Ham said, that Sabonis had mentioned two other deals that had fallen through in the summer, before the DDR trade happened.
Since there is no trade deadline open thread yet….
Wonder if Phoenix really will move Durant. But there goes Nurkic.
They got something for a player that wasn’t in their rotation anymore. Good move for the Suns.
TKH staff to each other probably: “Why bother?”
It won’t make anyone feel better
Did the Kings do any better with the #2 pick that year? They just have Lyles from that, right?
You just sent me down a rabbit hole… and the answer is yes. Really traced back 2-3 other moves / players prepared to put on my nerd glasses and be like ‘well achtualllllllly….” but nope, just Lyles.
Yeah. Marvin Bagley basically became Trey Lyles. So the two teams that picked ahead of Luka….ouch.
Well, Luka only became Max Christie and some other dude.
Hey look, a rangy wing defender! They do exist
Cavs going all in for this season. Must be nice.
I’ll add, ATL knows when to throw in the towel. With Johnson going down for the season, they know there is not point in trying to keep winning. Also, them being bad enough is just another team that bumps the Kings out of the bottom 12. Wouldn’t it be ironic if the the Hawks are the team that finish 12th in the lottery just edging out the Kings to 13th and thus giving themselves two lottery picks?
Who can the Kings realistically add by the deadline that will be impactful? I don’t see them moving the top 7 guys, so it’s measly players and contracts and the draft capital from the Fox trade.
IMO, it would take moving DDR, Monk, and/or Keegan for an impactful change at this point. I don’t see it happening.
I can squint and see a Hail Mary play in DDR and those Hornets 2nd rounders for Collins, but I don’t think Monte has the balls to pull that off.
FIFY:
but I don’t think Monte has the
ballsauthority to pull that off.Even better.
I do not buy the idea that all the good moves must be Monte and the bad ones must be Vivek. Or the reason the front office is incompetent must be Vivek. It’s all of them.
The impatience, chasing of flashy but hollow stars, and refusal to do a proper re-build is Viviek. The risk-aversion is McNair. Ultimately though, they all report to Vivek.
For sure, but the fact the Kings made an offer for LaVine 7 years ago under Vlade really gives off the “Stauskas? Stauskas. Stauskas!” and “We’re gonna get you, Buddy!” vibes of Vivek meddling. Does it not?
Oh Lavine is definitely here because of Vivek, no question.
Yes, point taken on the team’s long time interest in LaVine (and Kyle Kuzma for some ungodly reason).
I don’t care either way. They’re all incompetent, and if Monte’s job is to be a sock puppet and blame magnet for the owner’s fantasy basketball failures, that doesn’t absolve him. The dude is millions of dollars in at this point. Say no and get fired with a shred of dignity intact.
Cmon. That’s not how it works. Having a GM job is coveted regardless.
I see McNair as doing best he can under constraints. Would be great if he told Vivek to fuck off but that ain’t happening.
Open eyes. The Owner is an anchor that will keep this team down unless somehow he backs off (like Dolan).
Fire this GM. You’ll get the same results with the next.
Yes, they should be judged collectively. Vivek + anyone that agrees to work for Vivek have the same level of accountability. Monte has made plenty of money in his career and doesn’t have to work for a clown if he doesn’t want to.
Yeah, I’ve always said that. But it seems evident now that he’s heavily involved. So kudo’s to Vivek for getting us Domas, I guess.
The owner is who weighs everything down. He puts constraints on this team. Won’t pay. Wants his guys. Won’t allow a rebuild. On and on and on.
it is impossible the every front office is bad. I see McNair as doing the best he can under constraints of the owner.
Look at any team that continually stinks and it’s the owners.
Vivek is there for every front office. And every front office is shit. He’s the problem.
Wont pay. Like his players. Won’t allow a rebuild. Fuck him.
And this team is counter to what makes a good nba roster. Defense and shooting. Still unbalanced. Still bad D.
It’s a fucking joke what this owner is doing
Obviously, Vivek doesn’t know when to throw in the towel. But at this point, the Kings could throw in the towel in the offseason just as readily as they could have done it by 1:00 today, right?
Atlanta doesn’t own their pick this year the Spurs do. They aren’t tanking, just getting below the tax.
Their record says they should. Kings are trying to stay competitive and afloat this season.
The thing is, both teams are 9th in their conferences. I’m thinking the Hawks are fine dropping out of the play-in while the Kings will do anything to remain in contention.
Oh, the Kings went all in to make the play-in!
Or did we go All Out to miss out?
This is such a crazy trade week. I missed the Butler news last night somehow. Warriors are either going to be good or an absolute shitshow.
Mann would have been nice to have
Kings still have to add on more rostered player. My gut says they are done and are just going to sign Isaac Jones to a minimum deal to remain below the tax.
My prediction as well.
What’s upsetting about that is Jones isn’t going to get any minutes with JV coming in. He’s now behind Lyles and and JV. It would just be a minimum signing out of rules necessity and not really a way of improving the rotation.
He would be Lyles’ backup at backup PF, right? But maybe they like him enough to move forward with him for years to come, much like Ellis.
My guess, they guarantee him for this year but his 2nd and 3rd year are non-guarantees. He’s just a means to an end for now and a camp invite for next year.
Looks like Kevin Durant isn’t getting moved.
I guess the Hawks are throwing the towel.
The flurry of the day makes the Fox trade looks so much worse. Few other players moved today Hunter, Ingram, even Butler(!) that would have been a better fit than Lavine.
But those teams would have had to agree to trading for Fox. It’s not a video game where you can toggle on “force trades”. The league knew the deal with Fox, so they didn’t want to offer anything of value.
Exactly, Fox wasn’t about to sign an extension with those clubs. It was San Antonio of a trade demand with even less returns by this summer or next season.
Yes but other teams figure things out with three-four team deals. Fox to Spurs, Hunter to us, picks/salary to Atlanta for example. Monte didn’t seem to have any problem getting their target Lavine in a three-way deal and still get Fox to SA.
Atlanta didn’t want salary past this season. Levert is expiring, and Niang is a smaller contract next season (Huerter, Z. Collins have longer contracts and are more expensive for a Hawks team that doesn’t need those players). These teams all have their own agenda, so we can’t assume that they want the same deal.
Okay… swap Hunter’s name for Ingram’s? Butler? Sochan? Collins? After today it’s very hard to argue that Lavine and some so-so picks is the best we could have gotten for Fox. We already knew that was not a good trade before today. The last 24-hours have cemented that.
A few days ago there were countless trade scenarios that we were all coming up with. I don’t think any of them had Lavine. And now suddenly we can’t think of a better deal even though a quarter of the league’s players were apparently available?
Schroder is going to play for every team in the league by the time his career is over. The guy should live out of an RV.
Lol, pretty much.
JAKE LARAVIA!?!
https://x.com/TheSteinLine/status/1887592364426076508
I mean, I guess he’s a wing.
All 6’7 of him!
I actually really liked him at the draft and he has improved every year in the league. Not sure why the Grizz are dumping him.
Opens up minutes for GG Jackson who is just returning from injury
Just my guess:
Santi Aldama was off limits and Jake LaRavia was not. I like the former Demon Deacon who as #19 pick in the 2022 draft. He is a quick witted but a bit slow footed defender, but he shoots the ball well and doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. I saw him this Summer League last (and previous). He’s decent/good.
He was acquired for depth – he is a bench big and he fills that role well. He can come in and give spot minutes to give Keegan some relief.
This is just what the Kings need, IMO. (though Santi Aldama, to me, is a potential starter, whereas LaRavia is not). And yes, GG Jackson (as Jman points out) has more potential which pushed LaRavia further down the bench.
LaRavia sounds like a solid defender who embraces the “dirty work” mentality. Good shooter, glue guy. Maybe he keeps improving too
Got him for free basically. 6’8″/235 and shooting 44% from three this year. It’d be nice if he was a little bigger, but I do recall that there have been meek and respectful mentions of a lack of wing depth, so I hope that this in some small way, is a balm to your chafing.
Everything about this team screams crap. As long as Vivek is the owner we are screwed.
They aren’t rebuilding, which they should and they aren’t bringing in the right parts. Defense and shooting around Fox/Sabs.
Picking up DDR was horrible. Perfect example of useless and making the team worse or staying the same.
It seems completely impossible that the Kings can become a contender woth non defenders, ball stoppers etc.
Why the owner thinks playoff first round loss is good enough is beyond me. Or that this fambase won’t tolerate a rebuild ?
I hate him. Until he leaves it’s all bullshit
Kings have multiple roster spots to fill now.
Wonder if there will be any decent players who are waived that will be available to sign.
Might be. I wonder how much time they have to fill those spots?
I believe it is 14 days after the deadline…
You’d think so, I mean, Memphis just gave away Marcus Smart for basically nothing.
“Boo! McNair sucks! Why didn’t he get Marcus Smart?”
(McNair gets Marcus Smart)
Boo! McNair sucks! Why do we need another small guard?”
I don’t know much about LaRavia but this might be a sneaky good move? He seems to have improved his efficiency considerably since last year, playing two fewer minutes but taking nearly four fewer shots per game–and in the process increasing his FG% from .389 to .490, his 3PT% from .340 to .444 (he’s taking only 1.9 per game compared to 4.5 last year!).
Meanwhile, he’s maybe really effective defensively now? 16th in the league in Defensive Box Plus/Minus, a stat which I trust simply because of who’s ahead of him on the list, including Keon at 13.
So yeah, not bad at all considering this is a kid who just turned 23 this season, a perfect time for a player to figure things out and mature their game just as he has this year.
The only thing is, he’s a UFA this summer. Not sure he’s part of the future plans in Sac.
I show him under contract until the end of ’25-’26.
Yeah, looks like team option for next season and then he becomes an UFA
Grizz declined the team option. His contract is troublesome for the Kings if they want to retain him.
Ah. Well, hopefully he likes Farm to Fork meals and DOCO while lighting Beams after wins…and being able to play basketball outdoors in the Winter.
That’s really interesting. One team declines their option months ahead of the requirement to make a decision, then trades the contract, and the new team is stuck with the other team’s decision.
I’m surprised there isn’t a carve-out for a reset when something like this happens.
Ah, that’s a bummer. Well, maybe he’ll like it so much in Sacramento, the immaculate vibes and all, he won’t be able to bear the thought of leaving!
He’s been getting about 20 mpg in Memphis, and with his skillset, I’d be surprised if he didn’t play at least that much in Sacramento. He may appreciate it, and like the vibe.
From Yahoo Sports an early February 2025 article on Jake. Interesting. Kings can only pay him, apparently, $5.1MM for Colby Jones, Len and a 2nd round pick.
https://sports.yahoo.com/jake-laravia-unexpectedly-became-grizzlies-222337426.html
I like him already:
Jake, Keon, and Keegan give you a very solid two-way core that defends well and hits threes.
And there goes Marvin Bagley.
Bagley just traded to the Griz. Fifth team?
Now he can join fellow 2018 draft pick JJJ…another player drafted after Bagley that would have made much more sense for the Kings.
New Thread: https://kingsherald.com/articles/trade-news-kings-acquire-jake-laravia/
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