Sacramento Kings General Manager Monte McNair spoke to the media Monday about the recent free agency period and the thought process that went into the decisions of his front office.
Ultimately, McNair made it clear that a big goal, aside from maxing out De’Aaron Fox, was maintaining financial flexibility so he is able to make a big deal down the road should it become available. That began with his decision to not match the Atlanta Hawks offer to Bogdan Bogdanovic.
“We really spent a lot of time analyzing it from all angles. Bogdan is obviously a very good player in this league and was a big part of the success the Kings had, especially toward the end of last season. Ultimately, we came back to the fact that we’re trying to maintain as much flexibility as we can and we thought that going forward the ability to maintain that would allow us to add talent and capitalize as big opportunities came up down the road so ultimately we decided not to match, he said. And that also I think cleared potential extra playing time for our loaded guard spot with De’Aaron [Fox], Buddy [Hield] and adding Tyrese [Haliburton] in the draft, as well as others. So ultimately, we decided to continue our plan of keeping flexibility and being able to capitalize down the road.”
The flexibility continued with the free agent signings McNair made. That includes the one-year, league minimum deal with Hassan Whiteside, a one-year, non-guaranteed deal for Frank Kaminsky, re-signing DaQuan Jeffries for two years and $3 million, signing Glenn Robinson III to a one-year deal, and Chimezie Metu to a three-year, veteran minimum deal.
One thing we want to continue to do is add talent, but also maintain as much flexibility as we can, and I think we were able to do that with how our free agency ended up. So we were patient, and I think we ended up with guys like Hassan on good deals for us. So he can both impact us as well as give us that flexibility down the road, McNair said.
He said Whiteside, who averaged 15.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.9 blocks last season with the Portland Trailblazers, provides rim protection and the ability to rebound on both ends, which are really key for how we want to play.
And what about playing with pace with Whiteside and Kaminsky?
“Playing with more pace is one thing we want to do, but we also want to be aggressive, especially on defense, we want to space the floor. I think in Frank’s case, the ability in some situations to play four-out or even a five-out gives us a different look and allows us to be aggressive attacking the basket and trailing for threes in transition. You don’t always have to be out in front of the pack to play with pace, McNair said. And then with Hassan, I think the ability for him to protect the rim allows us to be more aggressive on the perimeter defensively especially. And then offensively, I think Hassan has the ability to rim run, but also if he’s trailing in any situation to come down and clean up on the offensive glass and be around the rim and be a force there. So I think while speed is one of our goals I think there is a lot of tenets to how we want to play stylistically that those guys help to fulfill.”
Along with Whiteside and Kaminsky, the Kings also have Nemanja Bjelica, Marvin Bagley and Richaun Holmes to fill out the front court.
McNair likes the flexibility that gives the roster because as he sees it the team has a lot of bigs who can play together in different scenarios that can be utilized based on the matchup. Sometimes there may need to be a little more shooting and sometimes more size will be required, or rim protection. It will be head coach Luke Walton’s job to determine how to best utilize them.
I think with Marvin and the rest of the bigs on our roster we kind of have a lot of those boxes checked and can kind of play in many different environments so I think it’s more about giving Luke the tools and letting him choose which tools make the most sense in any given game, McNair said.
Speaking of things up to Walton, it sounds like McNair expects the Kings system to be more complementary to Hield this season. The Kings general manager said he spoke to Hield and his agent and all of them are on the same page.
“Buddy is such an incredible talent, especially his shooting at an elite level is something that we saw this offseason was at a premium. So I think we’re really excited to see him in this system and obviously with coach Walton, as well as Alvin [Gentry], and Rex [Kalamian] and the system they are going to implement, I think Buddy is going to look really good in it, McNair said. I think we’re really excited to see Buddy kind of let free in this system. I think he’s going to be fantastic.”
Watch the full press conference below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTcf1JyLq78&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=SacramentoKings
I’m liking the approach so far. I’m sure it’s not going to add up to many wins, but I much prefer flexibility and giving the young guys a shot over paying long term money to retreads who aren’t in the long game.
Gonna be interesting to see how this all unfolds
If Bagley stays healthy and plays within himself and Haliburton can be a 15/5/5 guy with upside, we might not be horrible this year.
I am hoping for Horrendous. The next 2 drafts are HUGE for the Kings. Winning more than 30 games does nothing to help this team in the long term. Kings need stars. The only way that’s happening is via the draft. If the Kings can get 2 Top picks in the next 2 years, it would integral in setting up long term success. OKC, Minny, Spurs, Clev, Det, NY, Chi, Charlotte, and Sac are probably the worst teams in the NBA next season. Kings will land anywhere between 12-15 in the Western Conference. OKC, Cleve, NY, Chi, Det, and Charlotte could be terrible. The only hope is one or 2 of those Eastern Conference teams win more than Sac.
I don’t think Bagely will turn into much. Too many holes.
And good to hear McNair on Buddy. I don’t know why so many think/want Buddy gone. He’s a great shooter and at a price of other shooters. Walton is the only reason Buddy was off last year. You don’t trade elite shooting.
I think most people want him gone for two reasons:
He cannot dribble the basketball with anyone around him and
He has kind of been a d!ck during this past year–you may not like the coach but his attitude has been overwhelmingly disrespectful to the team
I’m curious to see if Walton can execute the system McNair wants to establish.
I want McNair to execute Walton.
I’d love to see McNair fire Walton during/after year. Of course now would be better but fucking Vivek wouldn’t allow that.
The only issue here, and overall, is meddling Vivek. The anchor that may be too heavy to overcome.
Walton is just fine while we’re tanking. After that he’s gone and Monte is bringing in “his” coach
This. No point in shelling out more money to another coach in a year that is going nowhere. Next season, new ball game.
It wouldn’t surprise me that in a year Walton is the next head coach. It just wouldn’t. Something tells me Monte is willing to roll with Walton for 2 years. Especially if he sees 21-22 as a development year.
Yeah getting a better coach would probably have us winning 5-7 more games, and possibly knocking us out of a top 5 pick. No point, let Luke do what he does and then fire him after the season.
Same with the New York jets, why fire Gase now? He’s helping them get Trevor Lawrence.
Anybody think McNair sits around and says, I got my coach.?
Careful and well-reasoned decisions?! Not throwing the bank at trying to make the playoffs now?! Trying to rebuild strained relationships with talented players instead of trading them away for nothing?!
Pffft. These aren’t MY Kings.
It’s weird how Bagley is basically just an afterthought at this point. If it wasn’t for Matt George obsessively asking a question about him at every press conference, his name probably wouldn’t even be brought up.
Maybe Bagley’s like a post-hype sleeper now?
I wonder when we get the first report of.. we are holding Bagley out of camp as he tweaked his eyelash..we want to take every precaution
I feel like I’m in the minority but I still see tremendous upside with bagley. He’s a really good scorer and has the jets to run uptempo which isn’t common for a big. I know he has holes, but his athleticism and feel is real.
I think that (if healthy) Bagley could be around the 6th or 7th best player taken in that draft. Which is a good player. It’s possible we might have such low expectations for him now that we’ll all be pleasantly surprised.
But I just wonder if his athleticism contributes to him being injury-prone. And I don’t know that he can ever be a “team player”… and I have my doubts about Walton being the type of coach that can get him there during this critical part of his development.
So a lot of questions, but I am definitely pulling for the kid.
Rebuild buddy’s value, trade him and everyone else not named fox, haliburton, and bagley to a contender at the trade deadline, then bottom out for the draft. I can get behind that kind of flexibility.
I don’t buy the explanation of why we let Bogi walk. Keeping Bogi would have added flexibility and a nice asset to move at the trade deadline to acquire additional assets that fit the rebuild. The Kings don’t have the luxury or roster to allow a player of Bogi’s caliber to walk without getting something in return.
This is his only roster decision that I’m unsure about. But I’m willing to have patience- if it turns out that not matching Bogi leads to (1) Buddy increasing his production and market value and (2) a big trade at the deadline, then maybe the plan worked out after all.
That’s what I’m hoping.
If the Kings were able to trade Bogi at the deadline for ~$20 million in expiring contracts, a DJ Wilson caliber young prospect, and a late first round pick, then would that be better than letting Bogi walk?
Agreed and expect similar or better deals would have been available later. Seems McNair took a less dynamic approach to managing the roster. All the talk of how Bogi on the roster would complicate rotations and rookie development sounds like the same thought process that led to not drafting Donic.
Not seeing how letting Bogi walk in RFA is akin to not drafting Doncic.
If you recall, word from the front office was Donic was not a good fit because he would stunt D.Fox’s development and we already had Harrison Barnes as our small forward. Dallas of course drafted Donic and later moved Dennis Smith to the Knicks for Porzingis.
Maybe there was more to it and McNair went to the default response for letting Bogi walk, but Kings fans are expecting a more dynamic approach to managing the roster, much like many other teams are able to accomplish.
I recall that. I don’t see the connection. And your two paragraphs supporting the argument do not connect the dots for me either. Also, Dallas didn’t draft Doncic. They actually drafted Trae Young and swapped the draft rights with Atlanta. But that’s a bit technical and not especially important.
However, Harrison Barnes was not on the roster at the time of the 2018 Draft. The reasoning behind not taking Doncic was not limited to only taking the ball out of Fox’s hands, it also was because Divac and the FO claimed that they thought Bagley would end up being the best player in the 2018 draft. They also claimed at the time that they thought Harry Giles would end up being a star, too.
Again, I’m not seeing the correlation. You had one FO make an asset valuation, another FO made a valuation based on opportunity cost. A RFA is a very limited value asset, a #2 pick is an extraordinarily valuable asset in value. The value of a #2 pick is topped only by a #1 pick and superstar players IMO. These are not apple to apple comparisons.
Try as you might, the situations will never be identical.
My miss on the Barnes. He was picked up from Dallas after the draft.
We will have to disagree on the correlation. They may have originally said Bagley was the better player, but I think they always knew Doncic would take the ball from Fox if they drafted him. The team was invested in Fox so Doncic was not a good fit.
The main point here is that bad teams should not draft or let free agents walk based on fit. I do think a big part of the reason they let Bogi walk was fit because of how a long-jam at the guard position would impact the team and player development. Many have suggested that would have been a short short-term issue if at all.
I don’t think Bogi walked due to fit. I think Bogi was let go due to flexibility and opportunity cost. Monte said as much (w/r/t flexibility) in his media day presser.
But I don’t think this has anything to do with taking the ball out of Fox’s hands anyway. You seem fixated on that point, I always believed it illustrated the Vlade FO’s lack of imagination on how to build a winning team in the modern NBA.
I just don’t see where the correlation between the 2018 draft and letting Bogi go are in any ways similar. Bogi isn’t a star, Doncic is. The Kings wouldn’t let Doncic walk like that, you don’t let stars walk for nothing. You let rotation guys go but not stars. Bogi was a rotation guy in my estimation, and he got paid for being in the right place at the right time. To me it’s really that simple.
I guess you don’t agree. And so it goes.
This is why I love Kings Herald! I think it is time to join.
1) Fit was absolutely a leading factor in letting an important asset like Bogi walk. It has been inferred by McNair, sourced same to the Kings by numerous local and national sports reporters and was asked repeatedly at today’s King’s press conferences. Even Haliburton today was asked if having Bogi gone would open up greater opportunities for his development. Just wait until Buddy is back starting and is asked how having Bogi gone has improved his situation and fit.
2) Go back and read again. The reference to taking the ball out of Fox’s hands had to do with the reason the Kings passed on Doncic. They knew he was ball dominant and they were committed to the fit with Fox as their point guard. See how the Mavs moved on from highly touted and drafted point guard Dennis Smith once they had Doncic. Kings have said Bagley was a better player, but truthfully, the pick was more about Doncic being a terrible fit with Fox.
3) I get it that McNair is spinning that letting Bogi walk was about his version of maintaining flexibility and capitalizing on opportunities. Even the Sacramento Bee reported today about how letting Bogi go will contribute to the team having $53 million in cap space next year. Get this, the Kings will not sign a top tier free agent next year with all that cap space. Understanding this leads to an alternative version of flexibility and opportunity that suggests the Kings hang on to Bogi and move him at the trade deadline to any number of contenders for a draft picks. If not, move him in a trade next off season for players and/or draft picks. See OKC. You may not think Bogi has much value, but the marketplace likes him a lot based on how bad the Bucks, Hawks and likely others wanted to get him and pay him.
Barnes was still on the Mavs when they drafted Doncic.
Yes it would.
see I just don’t know if I’d agree. On the one hand, you have more asset(s). On the other hand you’re paying 20 million for an asset that probably won’t generate anything close to enough value to substantiate the acquisition cost. Obviously, salary caps reset annually, but I still think it’s an important principle to not overspend for assets. It’s not that different than overpaying for a player like Barnes. Yes you’ve increased the talent base, but the relationship between value vs. cost should still matter right?
I was just responding to your question on whether it would be better to have gotten a late 1st, DJ Wilson-level prospect and expiring salary versus getting nothing in return for Bogi.
And I was responding to your response. Are you truly better off if the cost of the late first round pick is higher than the projected value of the player chosen with that pick? As I said, the Kings would have more assets due to retaining, then trading Bogi, but they would also be overpaying for what would most likely be a minor asset when it’s all said and done.
I think they would have overpaid Bogi by about $3M/yr… so to me that would be worth the late 1st.
But they are still paying a total of $20 million (give or take a few million) to ultimately end up with one extra late first round pick at the end of the season.
I was only saying that it would be preferable to getting nothing in return.
I think most people were fine with DiVincenzo, Wilson, and $10M in filler. So I think it would be comparable if we received a late pick in a great draft (potentially equal to DD plus more cost-controlled) with the extra expiring salary.
The thing with RFA offer sheets is that they’re purposely structured to be extremely difficult to trade. Otherwise every team would just do a match and trade later. Offer sheets are almost always an overpay to begin with. Plus, the 15% kicker additional salary counts differently whether you are the outgoing or incoming team, making salary matching even more difficult. Doesn’t matter how good of a player he is if his contract makes him super hard to trade.
You might argue that the return the Kings might have gotten back for Bogi if they could at some point find a trading partner outweighs the risk of having a potentially untradeable contract that ties you up for four years. But to say matching would have added flexibility for Monte just doesn’t seem accurate. we just spent 5 years with a GM that couldn’t get out of his own way when it came to these sorts of decisions. It’s refreshing to see otherwise.
That contract wasn’t untradeable, trade kicker or not (opinion null and void where a player suffers major injury).
Look, the salary cap ramifications of keeping Bogi mattered for one period of time…this upcoming season. Even with Bogi in tow, their long term cap was pretty manageable.
McNair has now effectively filled that cap space. So the only real question is, does he have more flexibility to make a deal before the next trade deadline with these smaller pieces, or with a more talented player? Hard to know.
Additionally, Bogi’s a better basketball player than Buddy Hield. So keeping Bogi and moving other pieces could still have been an option.
How is this true on a 4 year contract?
I don’t understand that either.
FYI, those downvotes are not from me. I like to vocalize my disagreement!
I’m assuming Aneel is still voting against me. I have not come under the assumption that you are scared to voice disagreement. 🙂
“Even with Bogi in tow, their longterm cap was pretty manageable.”
I’m not speaking to general asset value here. From a technical standpoint, the only cap ramifications that make a deal possible (or unpossible) is that first year salary.
Bottom line, you can theoretically make a deal at the deadline for the same player with Bogi alone (on his new deal), or with Joseph + Parker + whatever scrub we just signed.
Honest question: are there previous examples of any team matching an RFA proposal that is structured with poison pills, then being able to flip that player at the deadline or following year.\?
Otto Porter for sure had the trade kicker (or poison pill) and I think Allen Crabbe did also.
Those are the last two I can think of that fit that criteria. Not sure about Otis. One real difference is they signed for more money, though.
I get that reasoning, but what if keeping bogi creates an even bigger malcontent in buddy? Now you can’t get rid of him for any value, you potentially lose the locker room, and there’s still no guarantee you get fair value for bogi in a year.
Exactly….of course I would prefer to have gotten Bogi for something, which Monte almost did. I don’t think it’s his fault that fell through, that’s on Milwaukee and their Holiday trade.
Again, I’m willing to have patience on letting Bogi walk, and if it turns out that was for nothing then yeah, I’ll judge Monte more harshly.
If they really only let Bogi walk to keep Buddy happy, then it was a piss poor decision. Buddy isnt good enough to make decisions around his happiness.
I look at it like having two stocks that are losing value and betting on the one who had more value two years ago to rebound.
I suspect he likes Bogi’s talent but on a good team if he is the least talented starter you are a good team but if he is part of your best 3 you have a limited ceiling so why pay him. There is the obvious argument of sign and trading him but that’s been well covered else where I suspect
I think it’s a bad idea to trade Buddy. And Bags has shown nothing to make one think he’s a part of any core. Get his value up and trade him. He’s not good for the modern game. Can’t shoot/can’t defend. Thanks Vlade.
Listening to Monte vs Vlade is like night and day. What he says makes sense to me, it’s no guarantee everything will work out great, but he’s giving us a chance.
Making the Kings a winner is a tough task for any GM, given our market, reputation, and the mess Vlade left. Liking Monte so far though.
It’s easy to come away impressed when the bar has been so low for years. I heard nothing wrong from Monte, but neither am I blown away.
Ultimately, how he interviews is only an indication. Now he has to show that he is actually up to the task. Next stop; the midseason trade deadline.
It usually takes 2 years before I feel comfortable evaluating a GM.
Usually true indeed, although it took me about two minutes with Vlade.
And then people tried to convince me or themselves that his position as President of the Serbian Olympic Committee was a good preparation for his role as GM.
Vlade was a rare exception in that, I agree. There are suckers everywhere Rik. Not much any of us can do about it.
Unless that GM trades an unprotected 1st round pick and two unprotected pick swaps for cap space because he didn’t know about the stretch provision. In that case I can evaluate the GM in less than 2 years. But generally I agree.
One little interesting tidbit: Buddy shares an agent with James Harden and Eric Gordon (Brandon Rosenthal). One would assume McNair and Rosenthal have a working relationship from McNair’s time in Houston. It was interesting that McNair specifically said he’s spoken to Buddy and his agent today. That’s not something you typically hear in these types of conference calls. One would hope McNair and Rosenthal can act as intermediaries between Walton and Buddy.
Another interesting bit was him doubling down on his new assistants implementing a better offense to fit Buddys game acknowledging what we all know of Waltons handling of Buddy its like in football stripping the offensive play call duties from the headcoach lets hope that’s the case and the beginning of Walton losing power on his way out.
Am I alone in thinking we keep Buddy all year, unless we get a sweet offer from a playoff team who needs a shooting guard? With all the references to a system on offense this year from the FO, the hiring of Gentry, I think the plan is to utilize Buddy’s elite long range shooting to spread the floor, we know that Fox and Bagley need shooters on the floor, and if Tyrese is capable of playing some minutes at PG when Fox sits, then the sets up a nice three man rotation with CoJo or whomever we trade him for to pick up the leftover. I can see Buddy being on the team until Tyrese can start next to Fox and soak up 30-35 minutes a game, and with Buddy’s declining contract, he becomes more and more of an asset.
I’d be quite comfortable keeping Buddy for at least two years, maybe more. Harrison Barnes also.
Im just happy kings have an actual front office instead of retired drunk serbian basketball players smoking cigars at the strip club making multi million dollar basketball decisions that will set the team back decades
My takeaway was that Whiteside was mentioned A TON! His rim protection, rebounding, finishing on offense was mentioned so many times. Maybe Monte sees something we all don’t, or he is trying to fluff him up for other teams when he ultimately gets good looking stats nearing the trade deadline.
All in all, professional, concise, did not make dumb ass comments about things 2 days ago. Now let us see how this all materializes moving forward.
My takeaway is Monte would trade for Clint Capela today if he could.
I agree with that. How do we convince the Hawks to do that???
Invest in Harry Potter and get him to cast a spell over them convincing them that Capela is a horrible human who will go all King Kong on them if he has to spend another day in Atl?
I dunno. Probably can’t be done.
A good Confundus Charm might do the trick.
The Washington basketball team already has HP locked in.
Does anyone think Ramsey could be a better than Haliburton? I like both of these guys, but I think Ramsey is extremely talented and fundamentally sound. FWIW, Ramsey is a better prospect than Justin Jackson, a mid first rounder.
Ramsey looks more physically capable to compete from Day One. I don’t know if I can say that about Haliburton. I think he will be a spark off the bench, but is he going to beat out Cory Joseph for those minutes?
At 175 pounds and “chicken legs”, Haliburton may be too light to defend SGs for a while (I love his help defense, but his straight up defense is suspect) which may limit his time playing with Fox. I don’t know until I see him against real NBA players, but I would not be surprised if Ramsey is more of an early contributor than Haliburton.
I have seen enough of Cory Joseph. I do not want him in the rotation. Simultaneously, with a rookie you want them to earn those minutes, not just gift them to them. We could see a back-up guard combo of Hali and Ramsey. But the coach may be reticient to turnover his second unit to two rookies.
If he decides he needs some veteran guidance back there so he puts CoJo out there with the better complement with him defensively at least in Ramsey. It is very rare your 1st and 2nd round pick become a viable backcourt unit early in their rookie season. Ideally though we break convention.
I don’t have the link on hand, but Haliburton said in an interview that he’s over 180 lbs now. He’s been using the extended off time to work on his body, and in this interview he mentions other deficiencies he has been working on:
My injury was a little bit of a blessing in disguise, in the sense of being able to really step away from the game of basketball for an extended period of time and look at what I need to work on, Haliburton said. Obviously, tightening up my handle, shots off the dribble, finishing at the rim, just a lot of different stuff and being able to step away and look at from the outside in and see where there are holes in my game that I could fix has been really good.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2020/11/11/iowa-states-tyrese-haliburton-fits-pistons-number-7-pick/6250800002/
I like hearing these interviews but I have to be honest Monte doesn’t offer much. He seems poker faced through them, delivering media safe answers, that aren’t really substantive to his actual perspectives or goals. Houston for years had been considered one of the best franchises in spinning narratives or leaving other teams perplexed. This is just to say I don’t think we will ever get much from McNair in relation to these kind of scrums. He’s cordial and simple and will state the obvious, but not much else.
In relation to the offseason I think we have to give a lot more credit to the 5th year for Fox. At the time I didn’t think much of it assuming the best of his class would similarly sign the full 5. Tatum and Mitchell leveraged the option 5th year. A lot of people saying in Utah’s case an appeasement in recognizing its not the most ideal market.
Sacramento has those same criteria. Fox has always seemed willing to associate being a King, but still. I think that 5th year is going to become a rarity in rookie max extensions. The Kings comparatively got an extra year of control, as its not like Tatum or Mitchell will likely pick up those 5th years if they are worth the extensions. This is all to say it could be a huge caveat in aiding to longer term decisions that will appear attractive to Fox, and or extracting a substantial return if a trade becomes inevitable.
Well said Zebra about Fox’s 5th year. It also gives the Kings another year the potential to decide about a supermax after Fox’s 8th season instead of his 7th. This might prove crucial. It might not.
But I agree the subtle indications so far suggest Monte is trying to maximize value in every area he can. It’s a good start for what was always going to likely be a rocky introduction to the fanbase as a whole.
This is where my hope goes away.
OT: Three of the Kings preseason games will be broadcast nationally.
https://twitter.com/JandersonSacBee/status/1333485643784019969
Probably b/c we’re favorites to win the championship this season.
There is no Summer League this year.
They’re preparing to hang a banner for making it to the play-in tournament at the end.
Participation banner!
We could have been super flexible by trading Fox. I just wonder how wise it is to be paying $30M to a player based largely on potential. And I’m not sure if he’s the type of player that will lead a contending team in today’s game. If he were drafted by the Suns, he’d be second fiddle to Booker, and Ayton would be 2B to Fox’s 2A.
The only way we’re even relevant any time during the life of Fox’s contract in my opinion is if we can get at least one player better than him. The only way that’s happening is the draft. So if we middle our way to another 35 win season, it’s likely worst case scenario.
I hope Monte is thinking along these lines. This franchise was beholden to Cousins for YEARS, before they finally realized he’s not the best (or even 2nd best) player on a contending team.
Likely what will happen though, we will win around 30 games (prorated due to shortened schedule), and will not have a high lottery pick. We’ll get some decent talent in the draft, but never enough to be a legit contender. Luke will be gone in a couple years, and then we’ll hit the reset button again with Monte. “Now he can finally get HIS coach…” And round and round we go.
Sorry I’m disillusioned Kings fan. I just really wish he would blow this shit up. I don’t see this team going anywhere, even though I do like Haliburton.
I honestly think, Airmax, that the hope here is the Kings win 25 games and get lucky because the odds are better in the middle part of the lottery than they’ve ever been. 25-47 isn’t a great record, but it still keeps you in the lottery with a fighting chance at a higher pick.
Right now (and I cheated by looking at Tankathon) but if the Kings were to get the 6th worst record in the NBA, they’d still have a 37% shot at a top 3 pick. If you’re a higher slot those odds only go up to 52%. Right now the 10th slot is at 13% instead of like 4% (or whatever it was) like it was a few years ago.
As usual with the lottery, it’s about luck and very little else. Maybe Monte will get lucky AND be able to take advantage of it. Nothing says he can’t given what we know based on the moves made up to this point.
On paper, this team should be one of the bottom 5 teams in the league, and that is a good thing. I can only think of a few teams that should be worse than them. OKC, Knicks, Cavs, and Detroit. Chicago, Charlotte, and Minny are debatable but the Kings should be right in line for a top 5 pick.
From that, I wouldn’t be surprised to see quite a few teams tanking the second half of the season. It could be a race to the bottom with this year’s draft.
I truly hate the tank more and more each year. I like Bill Simmons’ hair-brained idea where the draft order is based on whoever gets the most wins after being mathematically eliminated.
That being said, the Kings’ cause should be aided by having a division heavy schedule in the toughest division in the league.
That’s why we use terms like “soft reboot”and “cap flexibility”; it helps us dealing with the tank without admitting that we are actually tanking.
It’s definitely about optics. I doubt anyone is going to do a full “process” like Philly ever again. The Kings “good” signings look fine on paper but what they really are are “movable” signings. The unguaranteed and one year deals will be nice trade fodder attached to the contracts like Joesph, Barnes and Buddy. Add in Holmes and Nemanja and the Kings look to be very active in trades this season. It wouldn’t surprise me on bit if Fox, Hali, and Bagley are the only current rotation players left on the team come the deadline.
Is Joseph’s deal basically expiring? If I remember he was on the “Catanella special”. Next year only partially guaranteed… And I’m too lazy to look it up, is it around $1-2M that we guaranteed him?
The Pacific is going to be just brutal. It is one of the things that the Kings have going for them in the W/L column. They may end up with a worse record then their talent actually indicates. Teams like the Bulls, Pistons and Cavs have to play each other multiple times. There will be a few extra unworthy wins for each of them.
And the Pacific might not be nearly as tough a year from now. There’s no way the Kings win more than they did last season win percentage wise. There’s just too much talent in the West where they play most of their games. And it would likely be worse were this a normal 82 game affair.
It’s ok, we have Hassan Whiteside.
I just don’t see it. We were the 11th worst team in the league last season (and within sight of a few others). I can see New Orleans clearly moving ahead of them, and probably the Dubs. But I could also see San Antonio sinking.
Winning 25 games would be a pretty major step backward from our 31-win team from last season. And I think (at least from a tanking perspective) that is optimistic. I don’t think this team has either improved or gotten worse. The loss of Bogi hurts winning theoretically, but other than that we should be improved or remain the same in other areas.
Just looking at the same tankathon page… I could see us finishing anywhere from 6th to 12th. And as Adamsite mentioned, there very well could be several teams actively tanking at the end of the season. Which the Kings won’t do most likely.
Talent in this draft seems to drop a tier after around 6 or 7 (although it is still very early). I’d put it about 60/40 that we’ll be on the outside of that looking in.
You should bet the over for total Kings wins this season. It’s a nice hedge IMO. If the Kings lose more than you expect, then they get a good draft pick. If they exceed expectations, then you got a little extra cash in your pocket.
I heard Monte on the radio this morning and so far I like his approach. I have mixed expectations for next season. I want to see the team implement some identity on offense and our young backcourt to show glimpses of being good if not great. At the same time, I want a high draft pick… I am hoping that the West is so stacked this year, that we can play pretty good ball and still lose a lot of games.
We need to give Monte a year to see what he can do. If the flexibility is being created to add players/draft picks via trades, that’s good. If we’re creating flexibility to sign FAs next season…that’s no bueno.
As unexciting as the off-season was, the Kings pretty much checked most of my boxes –
I don’t know if this was a good off season or not. I mean, I thought that the Dedmon / Joseph / Ariza signings were a little pricy, but I thought that the front office did exactly what it needed to do move the team to the next level (up, Vlade! I meant the next level up!!!). But I think that the thought process of the current front office – especially after maxing Fox – makes a lot of sense, and I’m not sure that there was/is a better way to go…firing Luke Walton notwithstanding.
I agree with your points, because I generally do, but I do find it interesting about Bogi that David Aldridge tried to hang the botched S&T on the Kings….as opposed to the Bucks or Bogi’s camp. Reputation probably did the Kings in on that one, and I’d be surprised if the Kings screwed that one up. I think it was simple: Bogi agreed to the S&T before the Jrue Holiday deal was announced and then scuttled it when he found out about the Holiday deal. That’s less salacious-y than the Kings are incompetent, though.
Such is life. I wasn’t in love with DD but he was certainly better than losing Bogi for nothing. But flexibility is better than trying to trade yourself out of a conundrum with everyone having you over the barrel knowing about said conundrum.
If nothing else after listening to McNair on the conference call last night and McNair’s interview with Carmichael Dave, it’s certainly important for McNair to raise the quality of asset’s the Kings have to increase the value of trades the Kings can get back. That alone will make Monte McNair a much, much more valuable GM than anything Vlade Divac brought to the table running basketball ops IMO.
Am I alone for wondering with the flexibility in this roster adds pressure on Walton by saying you can play anyway you want as there is roster flexibility. I’m sure the front office has desired outcomes I suspect making Buddy happier and playing to the players strengths and there are fewer excuses with this roster construction
Give me all the trades!!!!
In theory, the Kings were able to replace all of their departures (obviously Bogi’s production will be missed on some nights) and get a lot of trade insurance with their signings. Now hopefully the Kings can find a good trade for Corey Joseph, Harrison Barnes, or Nemaja Bjelica. Let the tank and rebuild sink in. However; I do not have any problem with this offseason.
Bogi – Haliburton
Len – Whiteside
Giles – Kaminsky
Bazemore – Robinson
If Cojo is traded, Ramsey gets more minutes. If Barnes is traded, Woodard and Jefferies get more minutes. If Bjelica gets traded, Kaminsky or Parker get more minutes. I am OK with all 3 scenarios.
Question – Are Justin James and Yogi Ferrell still on the roster?
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