After a hard-fought victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday evening, expectations were low heading into Golden State on the second night of a back-to-back, and those expectations were accurate.
The first quarter saw some fight from the same Kings who showed some backbone last night, namely Davion Mitchell, Chimezie Metu, and Damian Jones. After a quick 13-2 lead by the Warriors, Sacramento played some defense, while Davion Mitchell scored a bunch, but then the Kings ran into the unstoppable force that is Klay Thompson. In a shortened performance of his 37-point quarter a few seasons ago, Klay scored 12 points in the first three minutes of the second quarter, outscoring the Kings by nine himself, and the Warriors managed to build a 20-point lead behind his shooting and a couple of offensive boards as Sacramento’s players stood and watched Thompson shoot, rather than securing boards.
After falling behind by 26 points in the second quarter, the Kings managed to cut into Golden State’s lead in the third quarter, and again early in the fourth, pulling within nine points several times throughout the first several minutes of the final period, but Sacramento’s undisciplined defense allowed the Warriors to maintain control of the contest. Multiple easy layups and dunks buoyed the Warriors during the Kings mini-run, and a final bit of lane penetration that led to a Damion Lee three-pointer granted Golden State a renewed double-digit lead. The Warriors punished the Kings with a 16-3 run, and Sacramento never recovered or found themselves within striking distance again.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
The Good
Davion Mitchell: If it hadn’t been for Davion, the Kings would have been down by 30 or 40 points very early on. After setting a previous career-high against the Warriors early in the year, Mitchell broke his own record, putting up 26 points and 8 assists on the evening. He was incredibly efficient as well, something he’s struggled with in the past, knocking down 11 of his 17 field goals and 3 of his 5 long-balls.
Damian Jones: The Warriors are not exactly a stellar matchup for Richaun Holmes, and that mismatch, in addition to his recent struggles, saw Jones get the minutes call over Holmes tonight. Sacramento’s backup big man filled up the stat sheet with 17 points, 4 boards, 5 assists, and 2 blocks, including a three-pointer! And while the Kings didn’t exactly play stellar defense on the evening, Jones offered the most resistance at the rim of any player in white.
The Bad
Three-point defense: Anyone facing the Warriors knows they’re in for a three-point barrage, but Sacramento’s defense seemed unprepared or disinterested in stopping Golden State from beyond the arc. While there were certainly occasions of a Warriors player knocking down a tough jumper, the Kings were far too lax in their transition defense, often running by a three-point shooter and throwing up a hand, rather than getting set on the defensive end of the floor. That lack of discipline led to 20 made three-pointers on 42 attempts for Golden State, while the Kings sunk just 11 of their own.
The Ugly
Tyrese Haliburton: It feels as though it’s been quite some time since we’ve seen a bad Tyrese Haliburton performance, but oh boy, was tonight a stinker. Haliburton was invisible throughout the entire evening, scoring his first points halfway through the fourth quarter, and whether it was simple exhaustion on the second night of a back-to-back, Golden State’s defensive game plan, or natural passivity when Davion Mitchell was enjoying a positive offensive performance, the Kings cannot afford to watch Haliburton occasionally act as nothing more than a glorified role player.
The King of Kings
Davion Mitchell enjoyed himself a night. He was terrific on the defensive end as always, and although his offensive performance cooled off in the second half, a rookie, backup guard putting up 26 points against one of the league’s best defenses should always be celebrated.
Tonight’s Operation M.C.N.A.I.R. Donation
[It’s Will sneaking on here… Tim won’t know. Here’s tonight’s donation spot, everyone! Thanks again!]
http://unitediumien.org/Donate.html
Up Next
Saturday, February 5th vs Oklahoma City Thunder – 7:00 P.M. (PT)
I’ve been talking that we should trade fox and the latest performances by Mitchell and Haliburton (although not this game) solidify that. They are cheap and hard workers and fox can net you a young piece and picks while clearing your cap sheet. Do it MCNAIR!
This is unrealistic. You’re not getting all 3.
I’m no cap guru just meant to say that fox is being paid a lot and we have really good potential in the guard spot with Mitchell and Haliburton
That’s fine. You don’t have to be a master commander rosterbater like Tim Maxwell.
My point is trading Fox likely gets you cap relief (maybe), some draft capital, and it takes a team with a rookie max extension slot open. That’s alot to ask of a team taking on a guy who is not top 10 in assists, 25% on 3pt%, and a guy who has a weird ankle injury atm.
I don’t think any trade of Fox will be anything but moving on at this point. Which is unfortunate. But the way this league goes sometimes.
Yes, let’s trade Fox for another middling lottery pick, use some advanced analytics, mix in some Sauce Castillo, and build another young super team around awkward, “high ceiling” left handed athletes. You know. Tank 2.0 or 3.0 of whatever the hell the new jazz is.
What’s your plan? Play-ins???
Why not!
You’re underrating the difficulty of trading Fox because he’s a max slot player, not just a max salary player. That makes it much tougher on teams than just the money (which is less of a deal but not insignificant).
Playing with heart. Staying in the game. Increased minutes for young guys. All on the road in a b2b against a great team. Would’ve been nice if Hali, Holmes, and Hield showed up, but I really got no problem with this loss.
And back to our regularly scheduled
losingprogramming.Back to our regularly scheduled donations!
Winning streaks don’t last forever.
Davion > Steph.
Box score don’t lie …
Davion is Viveks new buddy who was viveks old steph. We’ve come full circle ladies and gents.
It’s so unfair that the Ws have better now players AND better tomorrow players than the Kings!
And better before players
Absolutely…
I can live with a win once every 8 games. Just don’t do it too often this year. The upcoming OKC game has me nervous.
Kings ORtg (on Nov 20th): 108.9
Kings DRtg (on Nov 20th): 110.5
Luke Walton gets fired the next day. (6-11 record.)
Kings ORtg next 17 games: 108.8
Kings DRtg next 17 games: 115.7
Oh wait, that COVID thing?
Kings ORtg from Nov 21st to Dec 15th (12 games): 110.9
Kings DRtg from Nov 21st to Dec 15th (12 games): 115.0
Under Gentry overall Kings ORtg: 109.2
Under Gentry overall Kinfs DRtg: 116.2
Alvin Gentry was never the solution, and neither was, probably, Luke Walton. So, I ask again, why was there a change made if it wasn’t in the offseason?
And why is the McNair FO expected to be falling on their sword for this dumb decision? Who thought Gentry would be able to do what Nate McMillan did in Atlanta last season?
I’m not even mad, but I find it annoying we are talking about the coaches and even the FO being culpable in this complete and utter shitshow. I echo what James Ham and Sean Cunningham said on their podcast today: Please do not trade for Jerami Grant. There’s nothing salvageable on this team this season. Do not doom this franchise long term because you have a small shot at the 10th spot. I hope the Kings find trades for Barnes and Holmes. I hope Buddy Hield is on another team post deadline. (That’ll be ugly if not.)
Fox, Haliburton, and Mitchell individually represent something interesting. But what exactly?
Bagley is what he is, but I’m hoping he gets a fresh start somewhere else. Thompson is done with the Kings. (Likely buyout candidate at this point IMO.) Davis might be depending on what trades materialize in the offseason but not a buyout candidate. Alex Len? Great question.
Jones, Metu, Harkless all being something interesting and replaceable. But, at what cost? Jones is a FA, both Metu and Harkless have deals for next season.
I’m not sure what to say about Ramsey, Woodard, Queta or King. Queta, of these 4, seems most likely to stick long term as the mechanism to keep him long term exists depending on when his days on a NBA roster as a TWC officially ends.
The point, more or less, is that the key to this offseason is both the draft pick and dumping Buddy Hield’s salary. I’m hoping Monte McNair can, but, at this point, I’m not that optimistic. How can you be?
TL DR
DC DC DC
Doug Christie is NOT the solution to this mess
I heard the coaching candidates are Chris Webber, Brad Miller, Mike Bibby and Jason Williams.
I vote for John Salmons
Woof!
I heard VR is bringing Jimmer Fredette back from China to be player/coach.
My goodness. Why?!?!?!?
Don’t forget this guy! He’s a survivor!!
Loved watching Pollard, or any of the early ‘Bench Mob’ guys.
That’s Didn’t Care Didn’t Care Didn’t Care on that lengthy post
That’s all I have to do is write a long comment and you’ll ignore me? ALRIGHT!!!!!!!
I knew I was doing somethimg right.
Yeah, I’ve resigned myself into believing there is no “big” move to be made that brings in top tier talent. The Kings assets, sans Hali and picks, aren’t going to bring in the Ingrams, Browns, or Sabonis’ of the league. At best they are worth Jerami Grant or a pre-injury Ingles, which are not needle movers. To make is simple, the Kings shouldn’t trade for anyone over the age of 25 unless they are an all-star or close to being one.
At this point they need to be sellers. Teams, especially contenders, should be calling about Barnes, Fox, Holmes, and (fingers crossed) Buddy. If the Kings can get draft capital or a young assets, that is what they should be doing. Making a trade to try for the play-in is a f@#cking joke.
Yep. Listening to James Ham and Sean Cunningham’s last few podcasts, thst seem imminently worried that the org will make that stupid doo doo dumb trade like Barnes and a 1st for Jerami Grant. And that would be stupid doo doo dumb.
Anyhoo, yeah, sell Barnes, Hield needs to be dumped (just not sure anyone really thinks he’s worth it at this point), Holmes if the right price comes along, and the Bagley for Covington deal seems pretty likely because the Blazers want to get under the tax.
Yeah, hoping, not optimistic, is definitely the way I’m looking at this deadline. Which, to be fair, is generally how I look at it.
I’m still holding out hope for a Barnes to the Bulls deal, a Holmes to the Hornets or Raptors deal and a Buddy to Cavs dea (although is sounds like they want more of a combo guard).
Me too Adam. All the players out there mentioned in those deals (that I’ve heard) are at the least interesting. As far as the Cavs go, it does sound like they are more interested in a combo G. But is Eric Gordon or Caris LeVert worth anything near the asking price?
Buddy needs to go, but he needs to leave the Kings more than anything. Buddy can still play and help you. I just wonder if there’s any FO willing to take the risk on Buddy. What concerns me is the Kings might end up waiving and stretching Buddy’s deal in the offseason. Especially if the only deal they can get is a crappy contract like Davis Bertans (although I’d do that to move Buddy along).
I fear the Cavs go with Schroder, the Bulls go with Jerami Grant, and Hornets and Raptors find slightly cheaper versions of Holmes. All deals would have been palatable in many of our eyes for the Kings pieces of Buddy, Barnes, and Holmes, but Monte will still be left holding the bag. I’m really worried he over values the assets he has.
What evidence is there of this? I don’t see that personally, but I’m not necessarily listening to every rumor out there either. I don’t take much stock in rumors for a reason.
It’s just a worry that I have. The inaction that’s he’s shown since hired leads me to think this way. Most new GMs put their imprint on a team rather quickly, but he hasn’t. Two offseasons, two drafts, two deadlines (soon to be three) and it’s still the same damn team.
Well, I see it another way. He hasn’t made bad decisions, hasn’t overpaid for marginal assets, hasn’t done anything terrible yet (like trading for Grant).
He tried to get a Bogi S&T, but that was out of his control. The Kuzma deal, which I’ve said a million times I wasn’t a big fan of, was out of his control.
I give the guy credit for not giving up, it’s a tough job anywhere in the NBA under normal conditions. In Sac where the ownership literally is both NBA and people dumb how easy is it to improve? I don’t think many people account for the fact that this ownership makes it impossible for ANY professional FO type to come in and improve. Even a FO that doesn’t want to do a ‘tear it down to the studs’ rebuild like so many prefer atm.
Ownership has mandates. You’ve collected paychecks right? Monte McNair is still an employee, no matter how high up the food chain and visible an employee he is. He just can’t go on the air and say ‘fuck Vivek, the guy is a people dumb Silicon Valley dipshit.’ It’d be nice if he could, but he can’t. And he can’t stop ownership from their stupidity no matter how much he might try.
If you can’t fire Luke Walton until you’re allowed to, if you can’t trade De’Aaron Fox (and I don’t think McNair wanted to do that to be fair), and if you can’t trade players for a reasonable return when you have the opportunity, you’re stuck.
This ownership has to stop mandating shit. It’s killing this franchise. McNair is really quite irrelevant until this elephant in the room gets put out on the pasture, or at least the zoo where it can chill and relax until the end of days in captivity, and at some point expecting that the new GM can come in automatically and waive his hand and all will be fine and well is just unrealistic. McNair needs time. He’s not had that. Fixing this shitshow, getting this stupid ass ownership off their dumb ass mandate takes time. Maybe this time the lightbulb will turn on.
I’m hoping. But not optimistic.
Last off-season he did little, but it did include the Hield trade that did not go through. Trying is not achieving, but McNair is trying. Again, he’s had not enough time. He’s not had three trade deadlines either, this is only the 2nd one. The first off-season came with a Bogdanovich S&T option that was ill fated due to both timing of announcement and compensation for Bogi himself.
It’s not the same team, not quite, but it is the same core. But it’s also a core where Fox is now a max player, Holmes is on a very reasonable useful contract that other teams are interested in (are we saying that about Vlade Divac and his ability to properly assign value to players?), and the rest of the roster is cheap or an expiring deal.
McNair has improved the value of assets on this roster on the bottom half by not overpaying for any of them. He has not traded away a pick in a vein attempt at something stupid (like the 10th seed this year). He has not traded away Buddy Hield for crap value. Same with Harrison Barnes and Richaun Holmes. Tyrese Haliburton and those same picks are premium value (or close to premium in Rese’s case) to a lot of teams.
There’s things to be hopeful for. But it all comes back to that stupid ass mandate of ownership. And lord knows whether or not they get their fucking head out of their ass and stop trying to push this team into the playoffs when it’s clearly not capable of it.
There are pieces and opportunities. But only if the right people are making the right decisions on the appropriate timeline. And lord knows whether McNair or not has that opportunity. For every door that closes another opens. This is an opportunity for the franchise to progress forward, not kick itself in their fucking balls yet again with the Iron Maiden of all Iron Maidens. They are deluding themselves if they think the fans will come back for a 10th seed.
And so it goes detective lieutenant.
Feb. 11 you will have your answer !
I’ll have it by 1500 hours on the 10th of February in the year 2022 AD my man.
Legit question: Is Jerami Grant better than Harrison Barnes at all? I don’t see it.
Not in my opinion.
No. No he is not. He’s just a 2 year younger version of Barnes that is marginally better at defending but worse at shooting. It would be a completely lateral move while costing the Kings a pick. Grant also costs more than Barnes next year.
Would you pull the trigger on buddy and a protected 1st for grant?
What are the protections on the pick? But, TBH, no. I’d rather keep that bullet in my gun for another player.
I’d do Buddy and a small contract for Grant (like Jahm’ius Ramsey) but that’s as far as I’d go.
Buddy and a couple of seconds, I’d do, but agree on including a first, and I’m guessing the front office also agrees.
Yeah, or that Spackler. Buddy, Ramsey and a couple seconds for Grant works too.
I’m guessing the FO agrees as well.
Yeah, I couldn’t care less about any of the players at the end of the roster as basketball assets. Good to bring those guys in and see what they have, but they could throw them all into trades and that would be just fine, as far as I’m concerned.
Do you think Julius Randle fits into the allstar or close to being one category?
I think that’s the trade we are about to get.
Fox for Randle
hats off to you my man for still holding out hope that FO competence will bring brighter days. That ship has sailed for me, sad as it is. Too many times shouting from the rooftops only to see them build around something average or letting an asset expire.
Big difference between the FO types and ownership my man. Big, big difference.
Seems many forget that Vivek hires rookie GM’s so he can play GM !
Vivek Ranadive doesn’t play GM. He, and the other owners, through desperation, frustration, and other things hamstring their GM’s and either hire people that are qualified but don’t tell them what they want to hear. Which in turn puts that guy on the fast track to splitsville and yet another spot in the NBA unemployment line. Just ask Michael Malone and Dave Joerger. We’re seeing a repeat of this with McNair and the FO because they aren’t telling the ownership what they want to hear. (This is my suspicion. I might be wrong.)
Or, they put somebody unqualified who tells them what they want to hear and it takes them years before they realize why it’s such a bad idea. See: Divac, Vlade.
It’s important to understand the dynamic. This ownership is bad because they can’t hear the appropriate things they need to hear from people qualified to tell them. And until that changes, all this is is a bunch of typed words being typed by a chucklehead like yours truly.
What we have never seen in the past almost decade is a FO and coaching staff on the same page. Why? Because ownership wants that competing dynamic and thinks good things will come from it.
My hope is that this time we will see a change. But I’m not optimistic.
This I agree with. My guess is Vivek read Team of Rivals and thought that was just a great idea, and has been doing it ever since. What Vivek doesn’t understand™ is that it just encourages people to undermine each other to get ahead, and that’s likely been ruining his organization since he took over.
Yup. He was fired early, which says to me that he really wasn’t the FO’s guy anymore. So, if he wasn’t the guy, then why waste an off-season (so basically a season) rolling back with him?
I feel Walton was just the fall guy to kick the can down the road. It bought Monte time. It wasn’t much time with the way the team has been, but it was time nonetheless. Now, the Kings talking heads are likely to switch to “the Kings are really missing Fox” narrative. There is always something or someone else to blame for the team’s inability to build an winning product.
Could you imagine if they come out this summer and say, “well, with Fox being injured in Jan/Feb, we felt this core needs another season together to reach their potential”?
Yes. I can very much imagine that narrative. Couldn’t you?
Sure, but he could have been the fall guy in the summer.
Monte would still have he cover of “my guy needs time to implement his system and whip the team into shape.” New coach alone probably buys you a couple of years.
I feel keeping Walton was an ownership directive. If Monte couldn’t produce a good enough reason to why Walton be fired, than keep him. Then the 6-11 start happened and ownership panics as they are wont to do and McNair fires Walton to save his own ass.
That’s the way I’ve read that deal all along.
To me, I care little to parse out what may be ownership directive and GM directive.
It’s all part of the FO and Monte signed up to be the face of that FO.
Realty is Vivek can’t be fired, so the GM takes all the credit and blame.
It’s on him. If he is just a puppet for half the BBOps decisions then he is a bad GM. If he is the one making bad BBOps decisions then he is a bad GM. If he can’t persuade the Chairman of the right path then he is a bad GM.
Time will tell. We shall see.
I am not out on him yet, he drafts really well, but the results and data are pilling up and it’s not improving.
This. If this is Vivek’s doing, I feel zero pity for what Monte got himself into. He knew what its like working for Vivek.
I’ve been thinking about the whole “Monte signed up for this,” but I think we also need to remember, Monte may have been out of a job in Houston. Morey was on his way out and and Monte was told the job wasn’t his for the taking. The GM job went to Stone. Could Monte coming to Sacramento simply been a career saving move?
If he saw coming to Sacramento as a career-saving move, that is ridiculously short-sighted. It would have been better for his career to take a demotion with another team and work his way back up in a healthier environment.
Why do you think he had other options ? Morey did not hire him in Philly !
If his best option was “forever be remembered for horrible basketball decisions that get made by the owner, and not me”, he should probably find another line of work.
I think you guys underrate how difficult it is to work around the mandate of ownership.
I am tired of excuses.
Not aimed at you, necessarily, Nate, but we’ve heard it all.
Cap-strapped owners. New owner, overeager and too involved. Too many cooks in the kitchen, no stove in the kitchen, kitchen in the dumpster. Dumpster fire. A dog ate my dumpster. Not enougfh dog in the team. Too much DV dudes on the team. New GM, needs to learn on the job. We had a better GM two days ago. Too much breakfast by the coaching staff. No accountability. Too much accountability. The coach is too mean. Superteam, just young. Superteam, just old. Superteam, just dumb. It’s gap year. It’s the India trip. It’s covid, stupid. Give it time. He has only had two years on the job. It’s been 15 years, what’s another decade? We just need a bit of luck. No, not Luka-luck, he’d take the ball out of Fox’s hands. We built on burial ground. Matina is a succubus. Bap bap bap.
I could use some Zing vodka.
Who isn’t?
I had to laugh. This is funny Ari.
Joking and laughs aside, Monte McNair isn’t new. What he needs are the appropriate resources to do his job correctly. Are those resources there? In my personal humble not so humble but humble but only up to a point opinion, no. And I’m not talking financial resources, I tend to think there is plenty of reason to believe there is financial resources available.
It’s more the will of doing the right thing for the long term of the franchise vs the short term of the franchise overall.
Feel better? Laughing tends to make me feel better, I’m hoping it does so for you too!
Look, I won’t keep blockquoting you, but I’ll say this. Fire McNair and it starts the process over. You’re asking a new GM to thread the needle again under the same dumb mandate with a short amount of time with little way to improve outside of time. Do I want this to take 2 years? Of course not. But patience is important especially when you consider the dearth of assets this team has.
Are you going to expect that you can turn over a new GM every 2 years until you get the right one that actually gets through to this ownership group?
Because in the end, despite your legitimate and understandable frustration, that’s all firing McNair at this point amounts to.
i am super frustrated with Monte. I absolutely do NOT want him to be fired. For all the reasons you said.
he has to make a significant trade before the deadline. With all the chatter out there about the kings interested in everyone, he best make some moves. If not it’s going to be a very long, very dark spring and summer waiting to see who he drafts and if any trades are made before the start of the next season. If nothing is done in the next few days the fan base will revolt and like I said, shit will get dark. It will be hard for Monte to exist in sacramento until he ACTUALLY DOES SOMETHING!!
Why when you can make a million a year in this line of work?
There are only 30 of these jobs, you take one if you can get one especially if the other option is unemployment. This is the same reason why someone will end up as the head coach in Jacksonville this coming season. Plus there is very low risk. Either you turn things around and are hailed as a savior or you don’t and you blame it all on the dysfunctional owners when you interview next.
Exactly.
There’s not a lot of careers where taking a promotion and likely doubling (guess) your salary would be view as shortsighted. Other front office types have found work after leaving here. May affect him getting a Gm job again but he will easily find work in a front office again based on his previous reputation.
If Monte came to Sac as a career saver, he’s not too smart. Has any Kings GM ever gone on to GM another team, or even work in other front offices? I mean, I know D’Allessandro sweeps the floors in Denver or Orlando or whatever, Petrie retired and almost certainly would have been hired elsewhere, Jerry found his calling as a broadcaster, etc. but I’m not sure the rest of them have done much.
It’s not like Monte has built a resume here he can point to. What’s he going to say in his next job interview? “I’m real smart, but Vivek was too much of an idiot to let me do anything.” or “I’m real good at lying to the media to cover up for inept owners.”?
This is avoiding the reality of the situation. If you’re operating under a mandate, you don’t have the appropriate amount of control. Period.
Argue this all you want, but this organization’s continued lack of success is reflective of one group: This ownership. Period.
Everything else is grist for the mill.
I disagree with the first paragraph.
Your job is to convince the Chairman to do the good basketball things.
If the Chairmen sides with whatever wild thing Joe Dumars is selling him, then you failed at your job.
You are the GM. It goes on your record. That’s the reality of the situation.
I agree with the second paragraph.
When the Chairman is an idiot and blind to reality, there’s nothing you can do.
I’m so ready to walk away from this team. I’m really hoping they give me a reason to honestly.
The crazy thing is that Vivek has had good basketball minds in the building. He has just repeatedly backed the wrong voice every time!
PDA over Malone.
PDA over Shareef.
Vlade over Karl.
Vlade over Joerger.
Now, Joe Dumars? Maybe over Monte? Who knows!
And BTW – I’ll ask this in the next mailbag. Can we get a TKH article on what the heck Joe Dumars does? He is literally off limits to the media and operates outside of the preview of the GM. It’s so bonkers and it’s just the latest version of the Chris Mullin failed experiment.
I think you got your answer on Joe Dumars Tony.
Yeah, I want the article not for the answer, but just because this dude gets no mentions on here and he may have a crap ton of influence!
Add that he literally got fined a half a mill for having a buddy-buddy relationship with Woj and sac local media is like, “who could possibly be leaking Sac stuff to the media?”
Come on TKH! This dude needs some light shown his way!
You know why I don’t mention Dumars? Because he’s not really that important.
It comes back to the same problem with the same group who do the same things the same ways. The same one’s that take too long to stop making a bad decision but don’t take enough time and patience to let the good decisions that are valuable and of lasting importance work for you.
I’m really hoping they do something so I can quit this team for good. Or at least until these idiots sell.
I applaud this comment!
I’m glad it was short enough for you so that you could take all of the 10 seconds required to read it.
Same here. Walton wasn’t McNair’s choice. I mean seriously, how many new GM’s keep the same coach around 2 seasons in from the previous management?
Yep. All valid points. Not making the coaching change in the offseason is indefensible, as was the public vote of confidence from the front office. I don’t think anyone with any sense thought Gentry was the answer. It was mostly just to remove failure from the team. I appreciate that Gentry is at least honest with the public, unlike everyone else who works there. Walton should have never been hired, should have been fired earlier and so on. As is generally the case with this team, pretty much everything they do is wrong.
I’m not sure Grant is any better than Harrison Barnes, and is only two years younger, so I don’t see the point, unless you can swap Hield with him directly.
Agree that you maybe have something with Fox, Haliburton and Mitchell, though what that something is may not be much.
Yes, but the pace of change needs to be faster for this team to ever get anywhere.
I listened to Matt George’s interview a few days back with Howard Beck, and he gave some really smart insights. I am starting to move away from the “things must change by the trade deadline” to “things must change by the next Opening Night”. This season is a wash, no reason to even put anymore thought into it. If Buddy Hield is here still on Feb 11, who cares? Its only like 20-25 games after that. If he is still here by October, that’s a problem.
Opening Night 2022 gives Monte sufficient time to make the right deals and put the team in a better position moving forward.
If the Kings do nothing at this deadline, they will have done basically nothing to improve this team during the two off-seasons and two trade deadlines that this front office has overseen. I give them good overall marks for drafting, but Hield has seen his value shrink, and Barnes is wasted here as opposed to watching young prospects that he could have fetched at last year’s deadline. Not ripping the bandaid off re: Walton as soon as last season was over was a disastrous mistake.
Another lost season. If no moves are made at the deadline, I give this organization another F, especially when you look at the trajectory of this team since Joerger’s 39-43 season.
You can’t blame Monte for firing Joerger and 15 lost seasons, he has had less that 2 seasons in the job. If a path forward is not seen through trades/signings by the start of next season, I think firing Monte is completely acceptable.
He’s done nothing in almost two full seasons at the helm.
It’s not blame – it’s results. And this front office has been on the job for nearly two years, and the team is losing more, has no cap space, and no new assets. They have drafted well, and that is it.
Fine, not blaming anyone. But the team sucked two years ago, and it sucks harder now, and to this point we have not seen the organization pick a lane for a way out.
And it had better not be the 10th seed either…..because that will only make things worse.
I could see this being an argument against the FO if they were holding out for something better than the Kuzma/Harrell deal, but they weren’t. That trade was taken out from under them.
There’s no question they are trying to trade Hield, I’m just hoping it’s for a deal that makes sense. Was noodling around with an idea here a few minutes ago and am curious your thoughts Rob.
WAS: Buddy Hield (throw in a 2nd round pick or two to the Wiz)
CLE: Talen Horton-Tucker, Aaron Holiday
SAC: Ricky Rubio, Dylan Windler
LAL: Davis Bertans, Jahm’ius Ramsey
The Kings waive Robert Woodard II.
Again, it is a results-based league. Hield was not traded, and I think that he is inarguably worth less today than he was a year ago at this time. If the Kuzma/Harrell deal was the only option that was available to this front office for Hield of the almost two years that they have been in charge, fine (I’m betting it wasn’t). It does not change the end result.
Excuses are like losses – the Kings have a lot of them.
If the best deal for Buddy Hield is a salary dump, I think I sign off on it. You’re at least creating some long-term salary flexibility, and maybe helping this year’s pick. I would hope for a somewhat batter deal, but holding Buddy longer is not going to increase his value.
That’s what scares me Carl. I’m not sure Buddy is anything more than a minimum salary flier at this point.
I think Monte has had more than enough time before this deadline to make at least some progress. I don’t think he should be fired today or (necessarily) after the deadline, but as I’ve said elsewhere, if he doesn’t make major changes in the offseason, he should be gone before the season starts. Two years until he makes his first move is crazy.
The fakery is real. So is the sense of betrayal. Welcome to the Shit Show, running for the upteenth consecutive week to unpacked houses.
I am a fan of Fox. I am a defender of Fox. However I am more commited to the pursuit of the Truth than blind allegiance and support of any one player.
“But, but….guyz, guyz, hear me out…if a player says he’s hurt, you have to take his word for it…you must believe him, you have to trust he knows his body better than you..…” Uh, where’s this rule written? I don’t have to believe anything or anyone if logic deductive reasoning and my instincts tell me otherwise.
I rewatched the DET game. Even on second viewing, it was shocking and comically sad how we gave that game away, up 10 with 3:00 left. TD was awesome in this game, by the way, a two way force, DNP-CD for a while behind the non-force of Buddy, trashiest of trash players, tanker of seasons, canner of coaches, pseudo shooter, consorter with the enemy, lover of losing, inexplicably in the rotation courtesy of the hungover decision-maker, but I digress.
Nowhere in this game does Fox roll or tweek his ankle. At no time does he limp or cringe in discomfort. The alleged event to have precipitated the vacation from the road trip does not exist. I challenge anyone to show otherwise, I will be happy to review something I may have missed.
Fox claims he can run and jump without problem. Straight line movemnent is a non-issue. It is cutting and lateral movement that causes the issue. Fox also says he has had limited mobility since his severe sprain two years ago. This is where his story starts to crumble.
If you suffered a sprain that subsequently led to the two weeks off, and counting, would you not have at least have some difficulty running and jumping in the immediacy following the injury? Would not the ankle be tender and player tentative?
Yet he claims NO such symptoms. Instead he cites the legitimate injury from two years ago. He admits to the lingering effect, limited mobility, and need to wear the double braces.
Fox has a preexisting condition. He has the calcification and stiffness that occurs after the tearing of ligaments. How convenient when at odds with your Front Office.
I suspect Fox went to the GM and said “Am I safe? Am I untouchable? Is there substance to the rumors?” The response he received was not well-received, a gentle non-committal, a half-hearted endorsement, a willingness to entertain talks, including the poential trade of a guy, who while wildly talented, nevertheless:
(1) came to camp fat
(2) has not improved as a leader
(3) made 25% of his 3s.
If you watch this video, or if like me, obssesively study it 2-3X for cues and subtext, you may gain alternative perspective apart from the conventional narrative. At the 1:20 mark Ham asks “Have you had an MRI and X-rays….is everything alright? Fox smiles awkwardly, “I am NOT a doctor….I don’t know all the terms, I don’t know the terms…”. Then he uncomfortably looks away from the questioner.
LOL what? Slow you giddy up there, Tex, ease back on the reigns!
No one is asking you to build an MRI machine from scraps from a junk yard.
Did Ham refer to him as Dr. Fox, M.D.? No one presumed him to have a medical degree aside his playing trophies, no one asked him to define terminology beyond his study or knowledge. Certainly however, he is smart and detail-oriented enough to consult with a qualified doctor and openly convey the diagnosis and prognosis, that is, if he had nothing to hide.
Instead the walls go up!
Earlier he says he wants to “come to a stop without pain”. But isn’t it the cutting and lateral moves that causes pain? Non-lateral stopping hurts too? This is what I would refer to as an inconsistency in the testimony, a noteable pecularity. No, I am not a lawyer, I just play one on fan forums.
Then he says, “It is the cutting that got me”. Weird word choice. Getting flustered?!
Jason Anderson, who I credit for asking good questions at the 2:30 mark, asks “Do you feel you got mixed signals?”. He is referencing whether he thinks the Front Office has been transparent with him whether they intend to keep him or move him. Fox responds: “They’ve told me what they need to tell me”. BOOM! There it is.
The look on his face is not confidence inspiring. It is look of apathy resignation and discouragement rather than hopefulness, peace and contentment. I do not think Fox was adviced against playing. I think he chose this course of action of his volition, along with his agent, the proverbial power play, independent of recommendation from medical people.
The Front Office would NOT assure him of a non-trade, rightfully so, so Fox responded, if you are not going to committed to me, why should I commit to you? You know what, my ankle is acting up again. Ouchie wow-wow the pain is excruciating! Who knows it may never heal!
Until then, I do not want to jeopardize any possible trade by hurting myself for real before the deadline. This appears to be the real status of the relationship as closely as I can discern. Sabonis, Beal and other trade candidates are DNP too so it is not like this is an isolated event. But lets not pretend this is injury is legitimate. Lets not pretend this does not lead the team either to look more seriously at moving on.
I put the odds of a trade around 50/50, something I would never have said two weeks ago. We just need to find another team to tango, a willing partner to take a max player and half truth teller with a few gimpy parts.
Ironically, if Fox were unhappy with the F.O. and is playing up his injury because he wants a trade, then doing this interview made such a trade less likely. Saying “I have long-term pain and performance issues stemming from a 2-year-old injury” is likely to scare off a lot of potentially interested trade partners, no? So maybe going public with this info, true or not, is actually his way of saying “screw you, Monte”?
Great thoughts and makes perfect sense ! Sadly, Fox with a ankle boo boo explains a lot ! He max contract was a huge mistake ! Monte comparing him to D Mitchell and J Tatum both stars on 50 win teams and All Stars ! Plus who were they bidding against ?
This should be its own blog post
Fox to the Knicks for Randle – Anybody want that?
At this point, why not? Might as well rearrange a couple deck chairs as the ship goes down. Fox should really be traded for a couple expirings and a pick or two, but that won’t happen because pathetic play-in ambitions/delusions.
Bleh. That’s a crappy trade and change for change’s sake. I like Randle, but I’d prefer to keep Fox if I have my choice.
I agree that it is activity for the sake of activity, not accomplishment. A couple of things though:
If a Randle trade ends up happening, this is why I expect it will happen. Because Fox is legitimately unsalvageable in Sac. Which is unfortunate, but it happens.
I’d do it, if a youth rebuild isn’t in the cards. Similar level player, similar age, way better deal, and fills a position of desperate need. Also lets Hali and Mitchell take over,
Exactly. It’s not rearranging deck chairs it’s bringing in an all star player at a position of need and allowing two other guards that are arguably better than Fox to take the reigns. It would be a great move. Randle is a force on offense and a good defender. It becomes a better more balanced roster now and allows for more balance to be added later. Do it Monte
I like the idea. As others have stated, i’d hope Randle can meet the medium of this year and last year.
If you believe in Mitchell/Hali, I think this would work but with Randle, that means we’re going for the play-in, right?
I think my trade proposal would be something like Fox for Randle and Grimes and/or Quickley. I am a fan of Grimes.
Holy shit, that Clippers-Blazers deal that just went down is something else!!!! Let’s get this trade deadline party started PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!
All right, it’s official; Portland’s punting.
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1489681792881860620?s=20&t=x_7xAa7rV0lhUFb8NtVFSw
https://twitter.com/HPbasketball/status/1489686611658870788?s=20&t=x_7xAa7rV0lhUFb8NtVFSw
Now I’m just hoping Sac follows suit. Let SA be the 10th seed. It’ll give the world at least one night to slobber over Dejounte Murray. Which, in fairness, is an okay thing to do.
Yup, I hope this doesn’t incentivize Monte into thinking of going for that 10th spot.
Do you think he’s actually pulled away from that? (serious question, no snark)
If Monte hasn’t given up on the pathetic “push for the 10th seed” mission, he’s the least qualified individual to ever sit in the Kings’ GM chair, and after Divac and PDA, that’s saying something.
Just to be contrarian (and maybe wishy washy), what if Buddy is dumped and all the G minutes go to Hali and Mitchell? What if those young guys catch fire and earn the 10-seed? Wouldn’t it be valuable to get that fake playoff experience, maybe even upset someone, going into next year?
I’d be fine with that. What I’m over is the public delusion that the current roster can “push for the play-in,” or should be kept together because it could become truly competitive someday. If they make the play-in because the young guys are getting run and doing really well, that’s a different story.
The fact that Fox isn’t playing through it for a “playoff push” leads me to think there is no pressure from the front office. Now, if PDX and/or San Antonio and new Orleans throw in the towel the Kings may stumble into the 10th spot damn near a full 20 games below .500
I have the Kings going 10-18 the rest of the way. That’s a .357 clip, which is pretty similar to their ytd .352 percentage. That would put them at 29-53. I can’t imagine the 10 seed being worse than 33-49, but who knows?
So, the worst possible outcome. Not the 10-seed, but one spot (and one pick) behind it.
That’s a typical Kings position. They should just rename it the Kangz seed.
The tent seed, to acknowledge the circus under it.
To avoid this: Trade Fox, Hield, Barnes, Bagley, and maybe Holmes for draft picks and filler/expirings, if you can. Send the expirings home for the season. Play Hali and Mitchell 30+ minutes per night. Boom, you’ve gone into tank mode while also unleashing your two young, promising guards and getting a chance to see what they can do together. They could win 7 games the rest of the way and people would be excited, because those two are fun to watch, have a ton of potential, and play their asses off. Winning by losing.
If the Blazers just set the market with Powell and Covington, they really fucked the Kings in valuation with someone like Buddy.
The market is what it is. If Buddy’s not worth as much as Monte would like, that’s just too bad and he has to roll with it. Get what you can and move on.
That’s what scares me. There might not be a market for Buddy at this point.
Your proposed trade for Buddy says there isn’t. The guy isn’t increasing his value. Agree with AmateurNerd – get what you can and move on.
OKC is over $20M below the salary floor. Kings may need to send them Buddy and a 2nd rounder or two to get him off the books. Even then OKC will likely pass.
I would accept our longest-tenured former king, Cash Considerations, as compensation for Buddy at this point. And a top-59 protected pick in the 2031 draft.
Yup. Powell is a younger, cheaper, better defending, and currently better shooting version of Buddy. Powell just proved to be worth some shitty non expiring contracts and a 2nd round pick.
Bledsoe has a small guarantee for next year and Winslow is making 4 million. Keon Johnson is a flier project of the Clippers the Blazers are now taking on.
That’s not exactly a bad return for 4 more years after this one for Powell. Especially since it’s about 4 years and 75 million at that.
Ahhh, I didn’t realize that Bledsoe had a small guarantee. Still I think Powell is on very reasonable contract for what he produces on both ends of the court.
It’s an okay deal, but I doubt Powell stays with the Clippers much beyond 2023. But he’ll still likely have value even with the 3 years left on his deal.
I think Bledsoe has about 3.9 million guaranteed left on his deal next season, but maybe Portland guarantees it for some other reason we don’t know about yet.
If for some reason a sub 30 win team made the play-in and unexpectedly upset the first two teams they met thanks injuries, protocols, or just dumb luck, it would be horrible for the league. Who is gonna want to watch the #1 team sitting at over 60 wins play a team in a series that couldn’t even hit 30?
Also any GM of a sub 30 win team who pushes for the 10th seed to make the 8th spot (real playoffs) should be fired for making the playoffs. You just lost a real shitty team a chance at the lottery.
A team could potentially the 5th worst record in the league could end up picking 15th because of two meaningless wins in the play-in tournament, only to get embarrassed by the #1 seed.
Go on…
The Suns were pretty exciting as a 30 win 10 seed two years ago. And look at them now. Freakish anomaly, I know, but it’s out there.
They were a 34 win team in a shorted 72 game season then went bubble where they played well…that’s about it. This season isn’t the same for the Kings.
Not saying it’s the same, at all. But they won 8 in a row to end the year, nobody wanted to play them, and they built on that momentum to become the 2 seed the following year. They were exciting and good for the league.
i get what you are saying, but they won 8 in a row in the bubble, without full rosters and teams missing. They then went out and got Chris Paul for the next season to become the #2 seed.
My point is sort of that you just don’t know when a team is going to leap. If Hali and Mitchell figured it out and won the last 8 games of the year, maybe that’s who they are now. Maybe that team is a 5-6 seed the next year. And maybe that’s better than getting a high lottery pick. Not that I expect any of that.
Understood. Yeah, that is the most optimistic of timelines for the current roster without a major overhaul.
OT: Harden for Simmons seems more and more likely.
https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1489718713259638787
I have no idea why Brooklyn does this because from everything I’ve read, Simmons is unvaxxed, so they’d end up with TWO key players who can’t play in home games (or a playoff series in Toronto).
He’s vaxxed. There was a report this week.
Thank you!
Hey, if it saves us from trading for him, you do you, Brooklyn.
I’m actually hoping Harden is a shell of himself in Philly, and Morey gets his from the fans.
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