According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Sacramento Kings are trading guard Delon Wright for big man Tristan Thompson.
The Kings will send guard Delon Wright to Atlanta in the three-team trade, source tells ESPN . https://t.co/cNYL77jJ63
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 30, 2021
The Kings added themselves to an already reported trade between the Atlanta Hawks and the Boston Celtics, a deal which saw Kris Dunn and a second round pick head to the Celtics.
The Celtics are trading Tristan Thompson to Atlanta for Kris Dunn, and a 2023 second-round pick, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 30, 2021
After drafting a point guard in the lottery on Wednesday evening, clearing out a veteran guard makes a lot of sense for the Kings, although the return for this specific trade may leave a bit to be desired from a value standpoint. The deal will provide the Kings some depth at the center spot, as the only true bigs on the roster are Marvin Bagley, who is expected to be traded sometime this offseason, journeyman Damien Jones and the 39th pick in Thursday night’s NBA Draft, Thompson can also act as an insurance against the possibility of Richaun Holmes walking in free agency, although he would be a major downgrade from a talent perspective. Last season, the veteran center averaged 7.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks in 54 games for the Celtics.
For those wondering about the financial impact of the deal, there wasn’t much of one. Both players hold expiring contracts, with Thompson making about $1.1 million more than Wright. At first glance, that may seem like a concern for a team that is potentially trying to get under the cap to re-sign Richaun Holmes this summer, but $1 million probably won’t make a major difference one way or the other. Either the Kings are going to find a way to shed major salary, likely through a Marvin Bagley or Buddy Hield dump, or they’re not going to get under the cap at all. With the roster still as imbalanced as it is, expect Monte McNair to continue making pivots between now and the start of the 2021 season.
Tristan, how do you feel about going to Sacramento?
I called a Wright trade once the Mitchell pick happened. I believe Wright has decent value in the league so seemed a obvious avenue.
Mitchell immediately the backup PG now (fit issue gone), and we have our Holmes back up center OR emergency plan if he leaves.
Great trade
Great trade? It’s the defintion of ‘meh’.
roster fit and positional upgrades…i’ll say good trade instead???
Apparently, the Kings front office doesn’t agree, given the deal.
touche, i think he was worth more but should of been traded before the draft when we had more leverage
Agree.
They thought they were trading the other guard before the draft……
Oh please.
This is close to a panic move, because Monte knows he will have difficulty to vlear the excess guards from the roster.
I guess we can call the cap flexibility and bargain hunting buzzwords out as just that, buzzwords with no content.
I hope Gregory Wissinger and that baby giraffe guy rip into Monte.
Yup. TT a better rebounder
and let the knee-jerk reaction crying commence.
I’ll start. I think that the Kings got the worse player in this trade. And that is not how a 12 seed in the West improves.
meh…yes I think Delon is a better player at this point but roster construction matters more when talking players 6-10 like both are.
I
This team ain’t makin’ the playoffs. I think that Wright has more value than Thompson, especially in today’s NBA.
We may have traded Wright and Holmes for Mitchell and Thompson. I’m not convinced on the whole roster construction thing at this point. Maybe there are more deals coming.
I think buddy for a wing is still in the works
Louis King is our wing. I think the deals are drying up.
I hope I’m wrong. It feels like they wanted rid of Wright and TT was one of the last players available w/o giving up a pick like Utah did with Favors.
And it also seems like they are still hoping for a miracle with Bagley.
Also still hoping for miracles from Jimmer, Thomas Robinson, McLemore, Stauskas, Willie, Papa G, Malachi and Skal as well, but it may not happen.
Since the moment he was drafted….
That would definitely help the tank next year.
How much was Wright going to get onto the floor though? The less he plays the more his value drops I think. I don’t think the value he has holds up as the season progresses.
Well, that sounds like a roster construction issue – if a GM is forced to trade better players for weaker players at different positions.
Hard to fathom using this logic to absolve McNair here.
Totally agree, this team is so far out of the playoffs, it doesn’t even register, unless like you said, other deals are coming.
Kris Dunn is going to Boston tho …
I don’t know, seems the consensus is that the TT acquisition is going to be awesome!
Isn’t that what it means to be a Kings fan. Kings fans are jaded snowflakes these days and need to get over themselves. We complain about the likes of DMC then cry, sulk and moan about every little thing. Everyone seems to think they are Pat Riley, but they only seem to remember the 3 good ideas they had, forgetting all of the horrible takes in between.
IT, DMC,and Luka just killed it for me, not because of the FO, because of the babies who could not get over it. I’ll probably get in trouble for this post, but I am not attacking anyone in particular, I am just telling the truth. I am not saying I have all the answers, I do not have the hubris to think I know better than any of our GMs. That does not mean I like some of the moves that happen, but I feel like I can at least understand the thought process for most moves.
I am fine with this swap, Thompson is a walking double double. His services are not as in demand in the league these days, but he severs a purpose. I am sure chicken little will have a cow, err I mean the sky will fall, whatever.
Mitchell seems like a baller, I feel like in the past I heard people crying about not taking the best player available. It was a head scratcher for me, but I like his game and we are not good enough to get mad at taking any player if they are good. At nine there was no one where I felt omg we must have them. I thought we would go in a different direction, and in the past we probably would have made the Justin Jackson type pick, so maybe if we George Castansa it, the pick will work out. Again what heck do I know.
Time will tell but I have been mostly happy with Monte so far even if am not always sure what he is up too. As with every off season I can’t wait to see the final roster and for the season to start.
Wait, are you suggesting that chicken little has been wrong about the Kings for the last 15 years?
😜
“Blessed are the forgetful, for they get better even of their blunders.” For most of us 15 years of ineptitude has killed it. But if it is the commenters on a website that really get you down there is a remedy.
Five double doubles in 54 games last season.
A walking double double from in n out.
Basically 8 and 8 in just under 24 minutes and, 12 and 10 in 30 the year before, so yes. With grit, toughness and experience on winning teams, I am not going to freak on this move as depth or insurance. If Holmes leaves I could see us keeping Bagel
I think the first plan is to keep Holmes. If Holmes leaves, Bagel’s camp maybe be happy with some more touches and being the highest profile player among the C and P position. The center we picked and Thompson do things that Bagle has not figured out.
I feel like Monte likes having flexibility which allows for back up plans. I mean he has said that he wanted flexibility so it is not that much of a reach to think the dynamic of Holmes and Bagel could go a few ways. If we lose Holmes, who took the shine of Bagel that gives Bagel the room his camp probably wants. Then we have one more year to if these fluky injuries and bad luck or if he is a stick man held together with duct tape.
We like to grab our picth forks out and mob up, but for asset management and getting value losing Holmes and Bagel at the same time is probably not the right move. Sure this line of thinking relys on some unknown but it has more potential to get back more talent. Moving Bagel now when he is precivied has wanting out is not the best time to move him. If Holmes is gone and Bagel has little competition at those positions he could be the player be closer to the player we hoped for. At the very least a healthy season should increase his value. Many here would toss him away for some pocket change but the Kings control the situation, I just don’t see Monte throwing away a former second round pick t the bottom of his value. You do not sell a stock when it is down, if you know it can come up in value, unless you are desperate.
There is a world were Holmes gets an obscene contract and is gone, and Bagel who is still very young and immature develops. Is that world this one, I do not know, but I like that world better than the one where both are gone for basiclly nothing. Some if you would trade him now for a second round, well that will always be on the table. I can almost hear Jerry now saying bigs need time develop. If we keep Holmes getting whatever Bagel’s value is now, hurts less.
Now, that world depends on the Bagel camp not being g obstinate in the face of new information and situation. I am willing to take a bet that half of Holmes camp issues where Holmes stole Bagel’s thunder. It seems Lonzo was able to separate himself from his father’s meddling. We grow get each year and I’d expect Bagley to do no different.
Is this an ideal situation, no, but if Bagel performs this year our options open up if we do not want to deal with the headache.
Again, what do I know, I am not in Monte’s head, I took his public statements and tried to look for the possible positive moves that help the franchise. Not moves that come from a place that is jaded , where negative reactions, and lack of patience reins. Monte has been here for a minute, and while performance and the past must weight on him, he is not as influenced by desperation and discust that fandom brings after years of failure.
Time will tell what world we live in, but I like the possible worlds where we sell high, not low, because truck it we deserve this.
I certainly appreciate your optimism and hope it pans out as you described.
When I read those two posts, I don’t see optimism, I see delusion and denial.
Walking Double-Double from 2017 ! Dead center walking !
Kings drama better than an Oscar bait period piece.
Last time I commented, the site crashed. Hopefully this comment is better.
What are incoming and outgoing salaries? I see the value of adding big man depth but this seems like a meh trade unless there’s some added value to lowering salary on our team or some other ancillary reason.
Thompson makes $1.2m more than Wright this coming season.
Nice. Worse player on a larger contact.
Keep it up Monte!
They are both expiring deals FWIW.
Keep it up Monte, is right, wow!
Par for the course for the Kings, I guess.
8 million to 9 something.
Rather would’ve kept Wright than draft a backup pg. Could’ve drafted a big man or wing instead but Monte D’Alessandro decided you can’t have enough players at one position, especially when one of them is a undersized 22 year pg.
And we acquired Wright at the trade deadline to help get us to the 10th seed, which failed. Now they’ll sell us on how Thompson is a good replacement for Holmes and you want to keep financial flexibility for the future instead of paying Holmes too much money.
This team is really pushing my limits in terms of rooting for them.
I f’n hate T. Thompson as both a player and person.
Why as a person?
I bet your ass cheers him on when he clears the boards and starts a fight. We’re soft. Monte knows that. I’m telling you and anybody else, our bench will be full of dawgs.
Yeah, fighting isn’t a substitute for winning.
I guess I’m not as easily impressed as you are.
I won’t root against TT because he is a King now, but I can still dislike the player and the trade.
Monte may not be able to get rid of the garbage he has but, what he brings in won’t be soft as the garbage he was given.
Welcome to the darkside. You are finally coming around.
Does Kloe Kardashian come with the deal?
Wikipedia says they split in June
Not gonna lie that’s the 1st thing I checked about when I saw the trade 😂
Kardashiangz?
Kangdashians flows a little better
Let’s hope not 🤢
front and center at G1C
That was actually my first thought, if the Kangz will be on the reality show.
Come to think of it, the Kangz should have their own reality show.
So the question for those looking at this coming season is at this point, will Mitchell be better than Wright and will Thompson be better than Holmes?
There is zero chance Thompson is better than Holmes.
Even when he’s not hurt, which is never
For what it’s worth, he’s a better rebounder and passer. Two things we can definitely use up front.
Still expecting them to go after Holmes as Jones and Metu are not guaranteed.
Holmes is better overall but Thompson brings more muscle and rebounding.
A nice Center rotation in my mind.
TT wouldn’t let Jonas walk off the court after breaking Metu’s wrist. Between him and Davion, I’m good with the edge that the team is bringing in.
They won’t be a good basketball team, but at least they’ll get in lots of fights!
This team’s softness is a major problem. Teams come in knowing they can walk all over them with zero repercussions. Having a little toughness is OK.
That is true about softness which is why i like Davis. Thompson however is not the answer.
There’s a different between in-game toughness and performative belligerence.
Pointless fights are dumb enough in the NHL. I don’t need to see them in the NBA too.
I didn’t say anything about fights?
Meta World Peace also got in a lot of fights and he was on the last Sacramento team that made the playoffs.
How much did TT help Boston’s toughness last season?
Honestly, I feel stupid just having this conversation. This is the NBA, not the NHL.
I was at the game against the Sixers when Corliss fought Derrick Coleman, it was awesome. I also got Iverson and Stackhouse’s autograph on a program before the game, it was awesome.
Do not have to fight. Simply need to abuse the other team the way the Kangz are abused on a nightly basis.
If you’re hoping Thompson will help on that front, I have bad news.
Compared to Bagley as a force in the paint??
Thompson is exponentially better.
Thompson was the 69th rated center by RPM last season.
And this was on a decent basketball team. Thompson isn’t “exponentially” better than anyone in the NBA.
Compared to Bagley he is exponentially better. Thompson actually plays.
Exactly.
Thompson isn’t really a better rebounder. He just spends a lot more time under the basket instead of extending. He’s also a worse interior defender and rim-protector.
Rather have Jones and Metu than TT, they are both better all-around players.
They all stink
Well, it’s relative…we are now paying more for it and the younger players (Metu/Jones) won’t get the mins they need to improve.
FREE METU!!!!
They still will if Bagley and Holmes are gone. More minutes, actually.
Tristan Thompson and “nice center rotation” are two things that have not been said in relation to each other for quite a few years now. Dude has missed 1/3 of his games over the past 4 years due to injury or coach’s decision.
Thompson is better than Whiteside. My hope is Buddy and other assets can free up space for Holmes or bring in a center that, combined with Thompson, can provide a positive impact.
Whiteside’s the bar? I might take Whiteside at $1.6m over Thompson at $9.7m.
Sadly he was the bar set by last year’s trash center depth.
Flatly stated, Whiteside to Thompson is not a $8.1m upgrade at center. Especially not for a team trying to figure out how to create enough space to re-sign Holmes, if they do in fact have any interest in re-signing Holmes.
You care more than Vivek does
Trying to acquire Harrell and then acquiring Thompson makes me question whether Holmes is coming back.
He gone
By drafting Mitchell before moving any guards, Monte lost a ton of trade leverage.
I guess McNair should have made the date of the draft two days from now so that wouldn’t have been a problem.
I honestly can’t follow most of this shit anymore.
I think the long stretch of management incompetence has made it impossible for anything to be viewed positively. It’s kind of sad.
Andy’s reflexively defensive of McNair, to be blunt.
There’s no real positive here, McNair got the worst player in the deal. He would have gotten the worst player in the Hield deal with the Lakers too, but at least there would have been draft assets coming back.
Ultimately, it might be a trivial deal, but TT is not a good NBA basketball player, and Delon Wright is.
No, he is probably just willing to see how things shake out, and not freak over every roster move. The hubris here is thicker than the humidity in Alabama.
No, I think I stated it correctly, but thanks.
This is a team with somewhat limited assets. They weakened that asset base with this trade.
I didn’t see anyone crying that this is the end of the world, but it’s additional evidence that our GM might be out of his depth.
Yeah, the Joseph for Wright deal was a positive. Not a needle mover, which is needed, but a positive. Wright to Thompson is a negative.
I look at it like, would anyone have dealt Joseph and two seconds for Tristan Thompson? Why would you need to give up two seconds to swap two equivalently below average veterans, where you’re the one taking on salary?
I think KANGZ fans have the right to shudder when we hear “see how things shake out”.
We’ve noticed.
Show me a receipt that he didn’t ask for the draft to be 2 days later?
I find this move confusing too. But I definitely would not want to watch Whiteside playing minutes on this team again!
Thompson WILL at least put in effort. I mean, it’s ineffective effort. But he tries hard.
Are you talking about Tristan or Jason?
Yes
Cold World
He calls himself the hardest working big man in the game. Unfortunately he never boasts about his productivity.
He’s no liar. 😉
Agreed. But I think that TT may be washed, and I am almost certain that he is not going to be any fun to watch at that contract. I would have taken Damian Jones at the minimum and kept Wright for now or dealt him for a 2nd round pick. The Kings took on a bad (though expiring) value contract.
That’s true but Whiteside at $1.6 mil might not be available. Nevertheless there are other journeyman bigs who probably could be obtained for much less. Thompson is as bad as it gets.
Yeah, I don’t want Whiteside back, either. To your point, there will be options at the league minimum that could replicate either of these guys.
Should have kept Alex Len last season !
Frank Kaminsky’d
Len is not a good player. But he’s better and cheaper than Thompson.
In fact, the two were pretty close to each other in wins and RPM last year. They were both bad, but Whiteside was bad for a lot less money.
I almost made this point a couple times before scrolling. The idea that Thompson was better than Whiteside last season is highly debatable. Sadly.
Might actually be a downgrade in both regards. At least next year. Certainly is in Holmes case.
I don’t see how the Holmes v. Thompson comp makes sense here. They didn’t sacrifice Holmes making this deal.
I hate Tristan Thompson, and not a big fan of the trade, but I also feel it doesn’t move the needle much in terms of win-loss total.
Their tight cap space to re-sign Holmes just got $1.2m tighter. And if the final answer is that they are paying Thompson $9.6m to back Holmes.
They traded down. They traded a less expensive, better player for a more expensive, worse player.
I don’t believe that’s true. Or not fully. We are using the Early Bird exemption to sign Holmes – that did not get smaller. If we clear additional cap space with say a Buddy or Bagley trade, then you are of course right this will limit the max we can offer. But if we do clear more space, hopefully the extra money here won’t matter.
This would be my point to you as well Rob.
We’ll see. But I’m not seeing the upside of trading for the worse, more expensive player.
I don’t think paying Holmes alot more than his EBRs (4/50) is a smart idea. And that will have an important impact.
More than this Wright/Thompson swap will.
To be clear, I agree. We lost another good asset for a negative asset. Thompson has been very bad for 5 years now.
I was only making a very specific point about Holmes and how the move wouldn’t impact the value of the Early Bird offer value.
I think it was more about opening up minutes for Davion than bringing in TT.
i think thompson backs up holmes so is thompson better than jones/metu, big time
And about the same as Whiteside,
Um…no. TT sucks at playing basketball. Both Metu and Jones are better.
Possibly even being the starting PF. While I’m not a TT fan, it would be an upgrade over suffering through another season of Bagley.
If you believe 538, Bagley and Thompson’s on court contributions were almost identical (bad) on both offense and defense last season.
This particular comp aside, I’ve never put much value in 538 outside of the 2008 election. Personally, even if they comped the Kings & their players in a favorable light, I’d still be apt to take it with a grain of salt. Silver just rubs me the wrong way.
Not when you factor the contract. Wright was worth his contract, Thompson is not. Asset management 101 for a team destined to set the all-time record for NBA playoff futility.
This can change if there is some big, unknown deal on the table. But if you gave me the choice of Wright or Thompson at their respective contracts right now, I’m taking Wright and it’s not even close.
If Mitchell is what the front office sees him as, and Wright therefore becomes a $8m 4th or 5th guard (depending on Buddy), he quickly becomes not worth his contract, though.
If Davion Mitchell is as good as Wright next year, Mitchell will be a 1st team all-rookie and a ROY candidate.
If Mitchell is that good, his surplus value eats up the negative value between Wright and Thompson?
I’m trying to look at things from all the angles here. It’s alot to ask of a rookie, and I’m not expecting it, but maybe it’s possible?
For Mitchell to be Delon Wright good in his rookie year? Sure, anything’s possible, right? But if that’s the case, I would have dealt Wright for a 2nd rounder that never conveys over TT. Who was it, OKC that got yet another 1st rounder today for taking on Favors? That is what cap space does for you.
If TT was a UFA, he’d be a minimum contract guy. And we just traded Delon Wright for him. The same Delon Wright that we gave up a pair of 2nd rounders and CoJo for. As KHFC points out further down in this thread, the Kings managed to trade CoJo’s $2.5m buyout and a pair of 2nd rounders for TT. Good asset management, or bad asset management?
Me too. It’s possible that deal wasn’t going to happen, though. Would it have been a bad idea to wait? Don’t know, only way to know is be inside that room.
Or a TPE. But yeah, I’m not anti cap space.
Yep.
It would depend on how much surplus value Davion Mitchell creates would be my thought. Is he worth more than Delon Wright, Tristan Thompson and the 2 2nd rounders? Quite possibly. But we’re talking over the next 4 years or so, it would be unrealistic to create that much surplus even as a 22 year old rookie that, theoretically, will be ready to go and be able to contribute from the jump. We’re not expecting Davion Mitchell to be Chris Paul Jr are we?
If you’re asking whether or not I’m willing to make that bet, why not? The FO already did, it’s not out of the realm of possibility, and there is plenty of reason to like Davion Mitchell as a prospect anyway.
I would say it’s a risk that requires a long term vision. What that vision really is, I’m not sure. But if additional moves aren’t made, my tone will change. This should only be the beginning, not the end.
What does Cory Joseph have to do with this, isn’t he the guy you said was a quality backup PG one year past his expiration date?
A good GM cannot GM the way you are thinking. A good GM engages in forward thinking, not backwards rear view mirror thinking.
When Wright was acquired it was to make a playoff push. He targeted the weak links (Joseph and Bjelica) and dumped them for value plays.
I think this GM knows all about how good Wright is, he traded for him.
And after the deadline the coach could not assimilate the new players in time, an injury to Holmes and Ty coincided with a 9 game losing streak; Buddy played terrible when Fox cooled off from his torrid pace and that was “all she wrote”.
The point is the team directive has changed since a failed playoff push and the draft. Coincidentally so does your action plan.
I do NOT like adding TT for the reason above, but I see the logic to it on the heels of the draft. We need a rebounder. we need some dirty work players, and there is NO room for Wright, especially if you value TD over Wright, in terms of talent and a complement to the other guards, which I do.
Wright was acquired to help get us to the 8th seed when clearly Jospeh was not up to the task. That experiement failed though the assessment was sound in terms of who the better PG was.
The addition of Whiteside was greeted with similar fret and skepticism by many fans. And before you cite the difference in salary obligation, the net cap change as a result of each acquisiton is the same (1M).
It is speculative that the GM could have dumped Wright into another teams space for a future pick or got something about. It is also falsely presumptuous he would not try to do so, to “turn over every stone” so to speak.
We are talking about GM who brought in 35 players pre-draft. What about that makes you think he does not do his due diligence?
But they created that negative value intentionally. One didn’t require the other.
There is a difference between your opinion, which this blockquote contains, and facts or what specifically was available, which, we do not know. Would I like to know? Yes, yes I would. But experience has taught me that if you’re not in the room you just won’t know everything and you have to live with it.
What I know, for a fact, is that this trade is not making anyone happy atm. LOL
Maybe we’re misunderstanding each other, but there’s no universe where drafting Mitchell forced them to trade Wright for Thompson. They chose to do the trade after taking Mitchell.
If Mitchell offsets any negative from Wright to Thompson, great! But that negative never had to happen, because no one put a gun to their head to take Thompson.
No, we disagree. On the basis of what I said already.
So, it’s my opinion that no one put a gun to their head to take Thompson?
Okie dokie.
You stated that as your opinion. But I never said trading Wright for Thompson wasn’t a choice. It clearly is.
But I wasn’t talking about that. That’s obvious it was a choice. I never brought it up because, well, frankly, I didn’t think it was worth discussing. It seemed patently obvious.
This is YOUR opinion. Not a fact. That’s what I responded to. That’s what I disagreed with initially and that’s what I disagree with now. Why would a FO create negative value intentionally? Isn’t that a definition of incompetence?
What about running the show your way implies that there is incompetence?
The FO chose to take Davion Mitchell in the draft. They chose to trade Delon Wright for Tristan Thompson. You not liking it doesn’t make it incompetent. You not liking it….wait for it Carl…..means you don’t like it. Shocking stuff, I know.
We’re picking the pepper out of the fly shit here, but the point is that:
Your words, not mine. Which sounds like it presumes there might be a negative value between Wright and Thompson. Why make that move at all if there is negative value? They already have Mitchell and whatever positive value he brings.
Not that complicated.
I think it will take a lot more than 10pt / 4ast / 4rb to get into ROY contention. But, the front office seems pretty high on him. As they were when they caught Tyrese’s plummeting knife. So who knows…
Y’all are trying to be food critics for a dinner that isn’t anywhere close to being in the oven yet.
I don’t know how Thompson is going to fit into things. He isn’t going to make a difference as far as whether the season is successful or not, but that’s also true of Wright. I’m a fan of Wright’s, but he can’t play center or power forward, so he has less value in Sacramento than Thompson.
“WHY DO WE HAVE SO MANY GUARDS?!?”
We’ve got one fewer now, and he wasn’t a prime component going forward. I hope the Kings don’t need Thompson to play a single minute, but there are 96 minutes each night that require extremely large men to fill. Wright can’t cover a single second of any of them.
Free agency hasn’t even begun, and it seems like a lot of people already have their nuts in a twist. This goes beyond pessimism, a subject on which I am a certified expert. This is preemptive complaining, that is fully reliant on a hoped-for failure coming to pass.
People can fan however they want, but I had always assumed that being one necessarily precluded hating every aspect of the team that you root for.
I understand what it is that you want: A winner in Sacramento. Me too. If it your sincere belief that the the odds of getting one are literally zero, why build large cortisol reserves and long-form rage tweet? Vivek and Monte McNair aren’t going to get the aneurysm, that’s you, chief.
We here are not typical fans. Most people aren’t nearly as obsessive about the Kings, or any other franchise. Most will tune back in at some point in October, and wonder who the hell Davion Mitchell is. The main difference between them and us is that if they come to dislike the product, they’ll just stop watching. Here? There seems to be, for lack of a better word, gratitude. Gratitude for the opportunity to do what we’re comfortable with: Dragging around this absolute turd fiesta of a franchise as a cross. As if this entirely voluntary act was somehow a badge of virtue.
I mean, just set it down already.
I’m not really a passionate person, and I still watch because I like the Kings, and losses don’t eat me up. I don’t take them personally. Watching them fail under Luke Walton has added a degree of angst, because we all knew from the start that Luke’s relationship with success was strictly familial. Nothing good was ever going to happen while he was head coach. His hiring and continued employment constitute pretty much everything that you need to know about what to expect for at least another year, and when he’s fired, then, and only then, will there be reason for hope.
It will not be a supernova of hope. It will be the minor, but very important moment where they’ve put down the shovel and stopped digging.
If a restaurant is stupid and terrible, I stop going. I don’t spend four hours a day writing angry reviews on Yelp about how much it sucks, how angry it makes me, and demanding better service.
This restaurant is terrible, but there are a couple of things on the menu that make me happy, Fox and Halliburton. So, I’ll continue to patronize it, even if they’re on a plate with a lot of things that I wouldn’t eat on a bet. Maybe it’ll get better, and maybe it won’t.
But I won’t lose any sleep over it. And they don’t owe me shit.
I wouldn’t stay married to someone if I had no respect for them, and they were having a negative effect on my mental health, and my life in general. If you feel that you deserve better, I encourage you to make that happen. You aren’t so objectionable that you don’t deserve to be happy.
You aren’t happy here. For a lot of people, you’ll never be happy here. When the Kings eventually make the playoffs, you’ll rage about them getting bounced in the first round. When they win a series or two, you’ll bellow about how incompetent the organization is, because it really should have made the conference finals. When they make an NBA Finals, you’ll be outraged that they got trounced by a better team. And when they win the finals, on that very night, you’ll be here, postulating on how those idiots won’t be able to improve the team or keep it intact.
Because that’s how the Sacramento Kings make you happy.
I’m sorry, but this is bullshit, Sims. You are now trolling Rob and many others. Stop.
Yeah, I don’t know where the flag button has gone, but that one is trolling.
Ah, the elitist condescending I know how your psyche works-piece?
No receipts needed.
Andy, you’ve become that guy telling fans how to fan. You’re also the guy who was as consistently critical and negative as anyone here pre-Monte.
So you’re an…imperfect messenger at best.
I’ve commented a lot in this thread, and it has all been related to my opinion of this trade. At no time have I attempted to undress a fellow member or call them out for their opinion, which for some sad reason has become your schtick around here. And while the conversation has been surprisingly longer and more robust than I thought it would be on this minor deal, I have enjoyed the conversation and back and forth, on-boarding and respecting the alternative opinion, and picking up some new information and outlooks along the way.
You’re better than this, Andy. But it seems that you are destined to spend your time around here railing at fellow members that have the audacity of having a different opinion than yours, demanding “receipts!” any time an opinion does not align with yours. Because that’s how TKS makes you happy.
Rail on, sad keyboard warrior.
He’s really not (better than this). He used to be.
Consider some self reflection. What exactly you are getting out of psychoanalyzing strangers on the Internet? Is what you say about them maybe not about them at all?
Nice points Andy. Judging by the comments from the peanut gallery, you may have hit a little too close to home.
LOL. I think what hits a bit too close to home is that Andy has always been what he’s currently decrying.
Well put Sims. I know you’re not an A’s fan, but the last two nights A’s fans, clearly unhappy about the combined shutouts between Frankie Montas, Chris Bassitt, Sergio Romo and Lou Trivino put up, with Montas and Bassitt pitching 14 of the 18 innings, because the A’s offense isn’t humming like the Astros is. Matt Chapman made a defensive web gem getting Ohtani out on a slow roller to the left side that had single written all over it to help Romo get through his inning last night. But no, the A’s offense is just so horrible and that’s all that matters.
Some people just only see the negative, and that’s all they know or understand. It’s very frustrating to see, and even less enticing to interact with.
I see the positive in everything that the Giants do, even if I shouldn’t. It’s almost as if the ineptitude of the organization you’re discussing matters.
I have to say there were times I wasn’t super happy about Zaidi or Kapler, and holy crap those guys have been successful. Zaidi is like the Professor on Gilligan’s island building a cold fusion reactor out of the old radio and some coconuts.
Part of forming an opinion is adjusting to the reality of the situation. I’m not a politician, so I’m allowed to adjust and grow and change my mind based on the circumstances. I’ve had little patience for what there is of McNair’s non-draft activity, but if the guy starts kicking ass, and this team starts winning, good for him! I hope he does, and I’ll adjust my opinion when he’s earned it. And if he doesn’t, I’m going to keep critizing his performance. I don’t need approval or affirmation from the positivity police.
I think you’re thinking of the old Tristan Thompson, while we got old Tristan Thompson.
I do not think that is the question but ok.
Tristan Thompson?
Barf.
Another crap move that makes us worse, at best it doesn’t help and guarantees that Holmes is gone.
Seems like it
People always think the Kings are setting up a big deal with their moves. They aren’t. They have no clue. Never have. It’s all scattershot nonsense deals.
Lol this is very true. Countless times over the years I’ve justified dumb trades in my mind thinking a bigger move is coming.
I’m still waiting on the Maloofs to spend all that cap space from the late 2000s. Help me, Grant Napears.
So true.
Not in love with this move at all. But I guess we’ll have to see where this roster is at when the smoke clears. There may be more. Alot more I’m hoping.
More? Like what?
Lol, more as in the rest of the offseason…
Like other trades? Or Free Agency? Or as GG said, the rest of the offseason?
This is my approach as well.
No surprise there.
I view Delon as a high level backup PG, so let’s hope Mitchell is what FO thinks of him.
About Tristan, last season I thought we lost too many rebound battles, specially in high leverege moments. I believe it’s part of a plann to correct this flaw.
Also, one more champion to hear Walton’s BS about “this team is learning how to win”
Stupidity overload. Thompson is just the kind of washed veteran who has been stealing minutes from young players who need development. This is just re-arranging deck chairs because the front office stupidly took another guard in an overloaded backcourt.
It does ZERO to advance the team, or even position them for another deal.
Overloaded losing backcourt to be accurate !
They were supposed to find a deal to save money for Holmes. This cost them cap space and they gave up the better player?
Why were they “supposed” to do that? Unless we were hoping to bring in a starter and let Holmes occupy his rightful place as a quality backup.
Do you think TT is that starter?
Depends…if we move Buddy and/or don’t try to make deals with the intent of overpaying for Holmes, then yes. Like it or not, he plays down low and we were trucked down low all year long. To put it another way, I’m not a TT fan, but I have more confidence in him as a starter than say Metu, Jones, or a Whiteside-esque type of signing.
TT is done ! Just not officially retired yet !
Makes you wonder why Ainge signed him, knowing this.
If you wonder this, you might also wonder why Thompson’s coach last season just traded him a season after that deal was signed.
I don’t have an issue with the draft pick, but Thompson was a net negative on both offense and defense last season, while Wright was positive on both ends. Absolute best case Thompson is useless on offense and doesn’t hurt you on defense. He also seems like kind of a dickhead, and not in a way that helps the team.
I know they need to balance the roster, but this is a bad trade for an inferior player. It also seems like a hedge against Holmes leaving, as was Harrell. Seems like they could have gotten a no offense maybe defense big at the minimum.
Can someone who knows how to use a computer do a thing where you light up Thompson’s Twitter or whatever telling him how much it sucks here? Maybe he’ll refuse to report.
I think a lot of people are in for a rude awakening about how bad Thompson is.
I would suggest they go check out a Celtics blog to find out. He was AWFUL last year.
He should fit right in here, then.
How many guys did he beat up? Apparently, that’s important.
Boston was super tough last season (where the hell is our sarcasm font?)
Thompson is not going to make the Kings better, but neither was Wright by sitting on the bench more. This isn’t a move that means much of anything really. Thompson is just going to eat up some minutes, and play a very specific role, for a team that will be in the lottery next year either way (unless they get real value for Buddy and Bags). Wright was on expiring contract, so I think his value among FOs is way below what we as fans think it is.
“It isn’t a move that means much of anything really”
I mean, I’m super excited now!
Just wait until they hear he is the replacement for Holmes.
This is my most unfavorite move of McNair’s thus far.
Monte is running out of time to prove he’s clever. So far, he’s making Vlade look like a mastermind.
Delon was actually a valuable asset. They dumped him for pure crap.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Thompson getting a buyout or traded again. Kings went from Cory Joseph to Delon Wright, to Tristan Thompson. Yikes
At least we can complain less and less about having too many guards now.
My issue with this deal, from a value perspective, is that the Kings essentially traded $13 million of cap space and two second round picks for 27 games of Delon Wright and Tristan Thompson. That’s going backward in my book.
Draft picks? Is there more to this deal than I know? Please explain
cost of wright last year
They dealt the picks for Wright and then Wright for Thompson. It’s like trading your house down to eventually get to a paperclip instead of the other way around.
Apologies if I was unclear – the Kings traded Cory Joseph ($12.6 million) and two second round picks for Delon Wright and then flipped Wright for Thompson.
Also, Joseph had a small guarantee, so it’s more like $10 million of cap space.
Does McNair begin to look like a Yesman/Fallguy for Viveks stupidity both past and present with this move? I know the GM always has to take responsibility for the decisions, but why do I feel like they are always budget driven under Vivek, unless it’s one of his silly crushes, like Buddy. Now his contract is an albatross around our neck for the Fake-ass team in LA to lead us around like the ol’ gimp on a leash.
I can’t LA for taking on Westbrook for the same price they were originally offering for Hield.
“Who’s laughing now?” – Cory Joseph after seeing that trade.
Cory was always the one laughing after signing that contract.
Maybe this is ownership’s way of trying to network with the Kardashians to get them involved in real estate deals.
Seriously. If Vivek gets to sit next to a reality TV idiot at half court, the trade is a huge win.
I could imagine this being absolutely true in an actually literal sense.
Sadly, you know that could have been a big part of the thinking !
Vivek’s daughter Anjali is trying to break into Hollywood. Makes sense
Simple: apply for a waiter/waitressing job.
Or, work for free as an intern.
(sarcasm font)
The Kings front office doesn’t know Tristan Thompson is bad.
So nice that Barnes will be playing 48 minutes a night because of our stellar SF depth
Oh!!! You didn’t hear? Buddy Hield is going to be our backup 3 (off the bench).
Well that will be a great defensive SF.. can’t wait to watch these long swings out score him 3:2
Fox, Hali, Buddy, Barnes, Holmes on over 400 minutes was 120 off rating, 112.4 def…+7.6
It can work just fine for segments of the game
What could’ve been with one, simple, obvious, clear cut draft choice and here we are a few years later arguing and lamenting trades with scrub players going each way on a Friday evening.
Life as a King’s fan is brutal. 🤙
Now we have two starters from arguably the biggest NBA Finals ever.
JR Smith is coming next.
Yuck
This is the second chapter to an initial trade that was poor. Leading to two trades that depreciated both assets and cap room in totality counting Wrights acquisition, that by all objective measures does little to nothing to alter the teams record. When that shouldn’t be the focus anyway. To clear roster depth for a draft pick that likely shouldn’t have been the pick.
I strongly criticized taking on approximately $6mil in cap space and giving up 2 second round picks for Wright. This now makes that trade look even worse. This is really disappointing and frankly embarrassing. After doing a pretty decent job in the draft IMO, the failure to complete the trade with the Lakers is a major loss for the Kings and this is probably the product of that failure. Thompson is really bad and a veteran journeyman on a minimum contract would have been a better option.
Yep, this is basically trading CoJo’s $2.5m buyout and a couple of 2nd rounders for Thompson. Yikes.
Yep. Thompson is basically Joseph all over again. You know he’s going to hurt you on offense and his rep is that helps on the other end, but the reality is that he probably won’t.
Horrible trade. I’d of rather traded Delon Wright for a second rounder and just freed up cash. TT sucks. I’d rather have Metu and Damian Jones. Also, I’d rather have Delon Wright than Davion Mitchell if I’m being honest. Monte making Vlade look like David Kahn or Isaiah Thomas.
Delon over Davion? I really hope Mitchell’s play makes this look silly in a few years
I’d rather have Bagley
Lol
you guys are funny
We’re Kings fans. For us it’s/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/61028981/FOD_Placeholder.52.1535325417.jpg)
Mavs moving on from Richardson. Making room for Buddy + TT for Zinger??
If only
Not that I am one that cares about character or attitudes as a tell all or always accurate, but I remember hearing multiple reports over the season just how much the Celtics disliked Thompson, and how Brown and Tatum were frustrated by his lack of work ethic.
All that can be fine or conjecture, and one can live with that for a trade off. But when you don’t enjoy watching the player, likely could have found a comparable backup for half the price, and could have just traded Wright for space or assets, or not drafted a guard, these details make it harder to comprehend.
We need wings
Has this deal finalized? If not there is a chance it’s part of a larger move. Not that I’d bet on that being the case but stacking moves was a hallmark of McNair’s last employer.
This is all so perplexing.
I believe that “they” thought that the Buddy trade was in the books but got side swiped by Washington. We always think that there is an agenda hidden to us but I am afraid that there is not. Even the proposed Buddy trade was not perfect although when the LAL decided to throw in #22 it became and an ok deal.
Mitchell BPA ? Not sure at all about that. Sengun was better and perhaps Moody a better fit. I think “they” wanted Wagner.
Mitchell is a very good defender and he will be fine but the overlap lead to the dump Wright trade. Hence Cojp + 2 seconds for TT. and for one year. If TD was signed and Davion not drafted, Wright may have left anyway. Now for sure he would leave.
I don’t believe Kings can or will sign Holmes. His landing places are more restricted now but I bet he goes to raptors. Quetta good pick in second round- every body needs a real tall guy.
Last years Ramsey and Woodard seem to be on cusp-have to prove themselves quickly.
Kings and Griz had a trade- MB3 + #9 for Valentunas and maybe not even #17. . That fell through as well.
I liked Wright- but his trade ruined cap space for Holmes and now he is gone like stuff through a goose.
This is all perplexing, there does not seem to be a consistent plan or theme. Defense- ok. But Wright was a pretty good defender and TT is not.
I think LAL, duds, Memphis and NOP all got better.
OKC and Houston too far away right now and SAS are terrible. Minnesota might even be better.
another Kings off season and this one has even less hope.
There is a report that every player in the Buddy deal was blindsided by the Westbrook trade. Like going in to that night Buddy thought he was a Laker and vice versa for Kuzma/Trez.
Lebron wanted Westbrook ! End of story !
You sure about that? They’ve been VERY consistent over the years.
Yeah, Vlade that idiot, always acquiring washed up or mediocre vets, desperately trying to reach the 8th seed. Glad THAT’S over!
One sentence? Goodness gracious.
Word my man, how dare someone take time out of their busy day and make a simple punctuation error in the middle of putting up a thread including a brief article within 30 minutes of the news breaking, so that members have a place to discuss a flippin’ basketball trade of bench players and also congratulations to all the up voters for this comment, because I’m pretty sure the error totally impaired your understanding of the article and if you aren’t a fan the editorial quality of the website, definitely don’t become a Patreon supporter and help the website thrive.
Was that enough of a run on sentence for you?
Self-righteous much? Goodness gracious.
Personally, I’m a fan of long sentences. And sentence fragments. Call it the Jose Saramago school of writing. Language is there to serve me. Not for me to serve it. That said, taking the red pen to blog comments is silly. Unless, of course, the content of the comment is focused on someone else’s intelligence or grammar. Then, the irony is fair game.
Well. Said.
Breaking: My bedroom window after reading this headline
Maybe he’ll be Mo Harkless
Wrong Guard
The math$ works for:
Buddy and TT for Porzingis.
To me it’s interesting — and I think DAL says yes — but ultimately KP health / contract are a little too scary for me. What y’all think?
Buddy Hield, Tristan Thompson, Louis King, and a future 1st for Ben Simmons
Done, were do I sign?
Here:
https://mobile.twitter.com/sixers?lang=en
You can’t package a player you just traded for.
I do think Monte deserves credit for due diligence toward improving the defense. I don’t know if TT will move the needle, but after watching Mitchell in the tourney and Neemias Queta on Youtube, maybe we’ll see some progress. I like the value of the picks, for what it’s worth, at least defensively. Queta really is impressive, and not just for his truly imposing size.
I feel like this front office is actively working to drive fans away.
They seem to be trying to get worse, and absolutely succeeding.
I also don’t particularly like this trade.
I like Wright, decent, reliable and perfect backup PG.
I would said our 2nd half season last year was greatly improved with the addition of those new guys…(i.e. Harkless, Jones, Davis and Wright), they got great chemistry with the whole team and I think patience and time is needed for that group, and we should stick and stay with that group again for at least one whole more year to see how things pan out.
They just built the chemistry and now most of the group likely to gone soon.
That may not be the best way.
Imagine the below group plays a whole year
PG: Fox, Wright
SG: Hield, Tyrese, Davis
SF: Draftee, Harkless, King
PF: Barnes, Metu
C: Holmes, Jones
the result/roster maybe better than the current situation (with TT and Mitchell)
p.s. But we should keep an eyes on what would be going up in free agency market soon.
To me, that line up looks like a 7 through 9 pick…again. If TT is truly one of the worst players in the NBA and he’s playing high 20s or above in minutes, that should theoretically move us up a couple of places.
Below average, and that roster (and the current roster) isn’t going to win anything.
Kings traded a good player for a bad player. Not the first time, won’t be the last.
Meh, roster balancing, I guess it’s fine.
I’m excited to see this team play – I don’t expect huge improvement but I think they will play harder and more defensively minded. Wishful thinking maybe…
“Bad trades are part of basketball” – Annie Savoy
Was Milt Pappas a PG or a PF?
Milt was traded for Clay Carrol who did become an All Star.
Wright is no Frank. However, to your point, neither is Tristan.
So we got Thompson for Corey Joseph and 2 second rounders (one of which was via the Lakers). I’m okay with this given that Wright is an expiring contract that is most definitely going to leave and won’t get much playing time with Mitchell now on the roster. So sure, seems like a push that meets a short-term need with regards to positional depth.
Cory Joseph has a cheap buyout this off-season. Could have just done nothing and been better off.
Hindsight is 20-20. These are just moves around the periphery hoping for one to click. Now, if the FO can’t get a good return for Buddy and Bags, then there’s cause for concern.
“Hindsight is 20/20” makes no sense. This is McNair’s job, to anticipate markets and understand asset value.
Right now, it looks like McNair is out of his depth. Hopefully that changes, and soon.
So the GM’s job is to predict the future? Never going to happen. At best, a good GM wins significantly more deals than they lose and right now we’re talking about player transactions for players that aren’t moving the needle much for any team they play on.
How do you assess prospects leading up to a draft? Or how players fit into your team? Or how a coach will do next season?
Of course a GM has to predict the future!
I mean your right, but I think more of Extra’s point is that you can’t really predict availability at the draft necessarily. Monte got Wright for relatively few assets and probably planned on him being the back up point this year. Good plan.
But then when they have Mitchell as the best player on their board and he’s available at 9 in a presumed deep draft, you should take him if you think he is a reasonably superior talent. That’s pretty impossible to predict last trade deadline not knowing if you are going to be drafting 1st-15th.
So what you’re saying is that, right now, two and a half months before training camp starts, Monte had to fire sale a solid guard at a position of depth to obtain an older, inferior player at a position of need?
Yeah, that’s bad GM’ing. That’s not how this is supposed to work.
I don’t believe in “Fantasy GM-ing” where the good GM “wins” the deal over the bad GM.
Monte would be fine making fair deals, but if he’s taking the inferior player (at the higher salary), maybe get an additional asset back?
Exactly. There are situations where a better player is traded for an inferior player, but both teams end up better for the trade, the win-win scenario.
So far in his time as GM, Monte has not done a good job of utilizing the Kings assets or getting value out of them. In fact, he’s done the opposite.
IMO, Monte has been a poor GM up to this point. He still has time to right the ship and put a decent roster together. When Vivek hired Monte, it was not certain that he was ready to be “the guy” and so far he’s stumbled out of the block, I hope he gets his feet under him before we waste another year “being patient”.
I mean I do buy this to a degree. I don’t love the trade and in the aggregate the trade combined with last deadline doesn’t look good. Feeling meh about it, but this was necessitated because of the Mitchell selection. If they take Moody or Wagner, then Delon probably stays and they work towards a different back up center plan. I still think they have a decent shot at Holmes based on the narrow market. We shall see.
We can all debate the Mitchell selection but if Monte and crew really thought he was the best player, you take him and don’t worry about the Tristan Thompsons, Delon Wrights and second rounders of the world that eventually balance out a roster. If Mitchell is the type of player they hope and becomes a major part of a good 3 guard rotation, no one will care two shits about Delon Wright and Tristan Thompson a year from now.
That said, yeah trade doesn’t feel great in the moment.
The Kings drafted a better player at the same position, so the fifth guard in the rotation was traded for a player a needed position that has a solid track record. I’m fine with it.
The Kings drafted a player at the same position. We’ll see if he’s better.
Wright is good but, they have a lot of good guards.
The Kings have one good big that can leave at any moment. If we are lucky Bagely will leave.
Thompson is a player who will not allow himself to be abused and he happens to be a big.
More players that are not going to roll over are a positive regardless of position or years in the league. They need a big and they need a new culture. Not a bad move.
Is there such thing as a Kings fan that isn’t jaded?
All the McNair bashing…for each little move. I get it, he hasn’t made his ‘Big Move(s)’ as of yet, and we are all waiting, however he is analytical type of guy, so I have more faith in his decisions than previous GM (plus we still don’t know – nor may we ever – how much Vivek is micro-managing behind the scenes).
I will keep my judgement until final roster is announced (Even so, I give him until next season to really rid the team of cob webs). I also think this upcoming season will be Waltons last unless Kings really over perform (Last season was his get out of jail card IMO).
Just my 2 cents.
One word that keeps popping in my head while thinking about this trade is the word stupid.
Does he make the Kings better? No, I don’t think so. He was a below-average center last year and I think you can argue he was just as bad as Whiteside was. At least Hassan looked to be gelling with the rest of the team. Oh yeah, and he cost us 8 million less.
Does this trade give us cap flexibility? No, again, he is way more expensive than the center I think he replaces and to add to that: his salary is even higher than Delon’s was.
Is Thompson more valuable than Wright in potential other trades? Definitely not, I feel like the value of centers is at an all-time low right now. The Jazz had to attach a pick to get rid of Derrick Favors and the same goes for Mason Plumlee, who the Hornets got together with the 37th pick in exchange for the 57th pick. Both players are better than Thompson. So if TT is a safety blanket in case Holmes leaves, I would’ve tried to get either Plumlee or Favors instead PLUS an asset.
Did Delon have to leave in order to get Mitchell some playing time? Eh, the answer is no, but I think this it was it comes down to. I feel like the Kings didn’t expect to take Mitchell at 9, so they rushed into a deal to create some minutes for him, which has hurt the roster even more.
Not only that: it’s just blatant mismanagement to trade for Wright and send away two second-round picks AND a player with a partial guarantee for this year (CoJo has 2+ million guaranteed for this year) and then trade Delon four months later for a below-average back-up center of less value.
I’m not the type of person who overreacts to trades or signings and I have been semi-optimistic about McNair’s regime, but man, this trade reeks of utter incompetence.
Not a fan of TT, I would rather keep Wright………
and give all those minutes to Queta, instead of playing TT….
(as it can develope Queta and save the salary cap)
Very good post. The main issue here is about wasting asset value/not getting value in return.
This team lacks talent and the ability to bring in new assets, it will never get over the hump without squeezing everything it can from the assets it does have and this trade is just highlighting how poorly Monte has managed asset value so far.
Average backup PG for average backup big. Improves roster construction, but doesn’t move the needle a ton. The biggest issues the team has are the Bagley and Hield situations along with the lack of wing depth and the center situation. Hopefully more trades and/or signings to come and Holmes re-signs for either early bird or MLE. Can’t wait to see how it turns out and hoping that the team finally makes a significant progress.
I’m not sure this has been brought up in this long thread but one last salt in the wound is the CBA’s rules regarding re-trading Thompson. According to the CBA a recently traded for player CANNOT be repackaged in another trade for 60 days. This mean Thompson can not be part of a new package with other Kings players. Wright on the other hand could have been packaged with anyone else as part of a larger deal.
So for anyone thinking they may be part of some large plan up Monte’s sleeve, it is highly doubtful.
I wouldn’t sweat this too much. It’s all about whether or not the trade can or can’t be completed due to this wrinkle. Plenty of trades have been completed without having to wait for 60 days.
If the Kings were under the cap, I’d point out this rule wouldn’t even apply. But they aren’t so it’s moot.
So the GM panicked, first he couldn’t get the lakers trade, so he drafted a player that we already have plenty of. Now he trades a player for someone that is not good, not good at all. Monte isn’t putting much separation between himself and Vlade. I hope he can get something to work out right for the Kings this summer.
Nice trade! We now have a true big who has won championships and can help change the culture. We need some toughness on this team and TT will bring that. Also, he is in the news frequently and will give the team more national exposure. Wright was ok but we just don’t need him. Looking forward to this season!
Kings added a stiff washed up big man and a backup rookie point guard. Meanwhile, Rockets improved dramatically and OKC is set to draft every stud for next five years. Kings will never understand that you need to tear it down before you build a winner
Overpaid mid levels and believing this is the year the playoffs happen, when you have not cracked 40 wins once since the drought. And as mentioned the conference is only improving. And on the other end teams that hit the reset button less than two years ago have more collective talent or plausible playoff assurance over the next five years than us. Maddening
Unfortunately, they seem extraordinarily unlikely to jettison Barnes & Fox for picks, Buddy & Bagley for whatever value they can recover, and go into a proper full rebuild.
Such has been the case for 15 years. I do feel that the general competence or core of assets that the teams have both above and below us might force our hand at some point. Especially if Fox starts to vocalize wanting out. The Kings have always found a away not to be league worst (stupidly) . In two years time though I wouldn’t be shocked if we were there regardless as the teams below us in Houston and or OKC begin to cash in on their investments.
I’ve made his comparison before but we are the Cubs and Browns of Basketball. The only way to possibly rectify our suffering is to partake in a tank, possibly in the likes the league has never seen. One day.
Ah yes, the Angry Mob are out and about doing their pitch fork waving, which is going to look ridiculous when Davion is a top contender for ROY to go with the best guard line in the NBA.
McGenius likely did it again and he was not going to do something bold and fantastic by adhering to the conventional mock draft opinion. Or drafting one of two boring pedestrian players and clear non-stars in Moody or Wagner. If that is the source of your upset to go along with this trade being blown out of proportion, you are falling into old reactive patterns.
If we do end up retaining TD, which I suspect happens, it is going to be uncanny similarity between him and Davion in terms of their (1) playing style, (2) change of direction, (3) hot streak nature, (4) ability to speed up opponent defensively, (5) bulldog determination and fight. (6) fundamental soundness.
And this is why at the outset of this process, it seemed like we could not afford to go in this direction, the duplicative quality given the dearth on the wing. Though the more I study Davion, he is going to significantly exceed what TD can do on defense, which is special because TD is a good defender.
Part of me wants SAC to keep Bagley just so Davion can bark in his face and dress him down for his weak effort! Davion effort at his relative stature is going to force his teammates to give comparable effort and attention to detail; this is just what many of our players need led by Bagley.
If there is another difference, TD is more SG than PG; Davion is more PG than a SG. This is more complementary in theory that Delon, also more PG than SG. The same is true of Fox, more of PG than SG, and Ty, more PG than SG. When you factor in age and upside, TD has more value than Wright, factoring into the trade decision.
There are 96 total minutes at the guard spots. With a 3 guard rotation, that amounts to 32 MPG for Ty, Fox and Davion. That workload may be high for Davion early on but you want him to play at least 25 MPG. That leaves only 8 minutes for TD. If you decide to play three guard lineup, highly probable, say for 20-25 minutes per game, then you have 96 minutes at guard spots + (20 to 25 minutes at the SF spot) = 116 to 121 minutes. For rounding sake, let’s say 120 minutes to spread over 4 players.
The minute breakdown could look something like this:
Fox 35 MPG (same MPG as last year)
Ty 33 MPG (+3 MPG from last year)
Davion 30 MPG (equal to MPG for Ty rookie year)
TD 22 MPG (+1 MPG compared to last year)
Total 120 minutes.
Projected minutes are what you want for a guy you hope and expect to follow in footsteps of Ty, and his expected impact, and TD as microwave scorer off the bench. This allocation is only possible if for 22 minutes per games, 11 minutes per half, you are playing a 3 guard lineup.
The point is there is NO role for Delon Wright. And the Kings did a good karmic deed to send Wright somewhere he has a better chance to get into the rotation.
And even with this speculation I am not so sure TD is going to stick! But I do more TD is the more valauble player and he complements Davion, Ty and Fox better than Wright because he is more of a SG than PG, unlike Wright. I suspect this is part of McGenius thought process.
What I do NOT like about this trade has nothing to do with the GM decision, it has to do with the propensity of the coach to have undue loyalty to mediocre to bad veterans. Jones and / or Metu could outplay TT and yet this coach will give the minutes to TT, and he will ride and die with TT for longer than warranted.
The only thing TT does okay to pretty good is he is better interior passer or decision maker from the high post. So say an opponent traps Fox or Davion, you pass the ball to the big in the middle of the floor and player 4 vs 3. In theory I think that TT is better in this role than Jones or Metu, so maybe that is part of thinking. We were also dead last in the defensive rebounds per game so TT can potentially shore that up.
On an unrelate note I am glad we did not draft Ziaiare, though I like him re: fundamentals, athleticism and mindset. But look how skinny this kid is! His legs and arms are like sticks.
He is skinnier than Ty, skinnier than Willie when he came into the league.
This is the value of these individual workouts, that we did not see, where you can size up the guy, see more perceptively how close or far away he is from being a factor.
At his skinny build, he is a 6’10” SG not a combo forward. He needs at least 20 pounds of muscle and I see no strength foundation in place where that is going to be easy for him.
When the Grizzlies traded up, I think it was the intention to draft Josh Giddy. When he went to OKC, the Grizzlies had to go with an alternate choice.
I like the cut of this guy’s jib
Stick around.
Is there a way to wager on next season’s win total for the Kings? I would go large on under 35 wins, the way things stand now.
lol
this is funny
free agency hasn’t started and the season is months away
but this guy knows it’s going to be under 35 wins
y’all are a trip
How many times in the last 15 years has it been more than that?
There isn’t any money to sign free agents if Holmes comes back, and if goes, (I think?) you get one mid level player. Seems like it’s going to be trades that bring any roster improvement this offseason, and the first one sure doesn’t seem like it’s going to get the team there.
Kings fans: Thompson will bring toughness and experience!
The guy that coached Thompson this year and just traded him away for a 2023 2nd and salary filler:
Another fun quote that accurately reflects my feeling on Thompson from Kevin Pelton:
Honestly, Thompson owes most of his career to LeBron. If he never played with James, Thompson is probably either out of the league or scrapping for league minimum deals right now.
It makes me wonder what the FO knows (or doesn’t know for that matter). Because, they had to do this a reason, and it certainly wasn’t to take a step backwards.
The other moves are going to matter here, a lot. But that’s pretty true regardless. This move doesn’t make much of a difference long term either way.
Yep, I’m definitely intrigued to see the big picture come into focus. That said, I do feel like I’m fighting against Occam’s Razor a bit there.
That’s fair. It’s why I’ve said this summer will largely be determined if there are resources to improve the team. If there aren’t, it’ll be more of the same.
Trying to understand your take here. Are you talking about potentially taking on long-term salary in a trade? There isn’t much money to sign free agents beyond Holmes, correct? It’s Holmes or a mid level guy (or is it both?)
If they can’t spend money in free agency anyway, where might they be short on resources?
Also, McNair specifically said when he retained Walton for “basketball reasons” that he had the resources he needed.
As of now, the Kings are over the cap and can resign Holmes using his EBRs and have the MLE to use. They are separate things.
As far as the resources comment, that’s what I meant. What does resources mean? The ability to do what’s necessary to actually improve the team, not just a few moves around the edges (which is all that’s happened to this point). That means trade multiple picks, spend the right amount of money, get the players you need to talk to sit down for talks during FA. etc etc.
I don’t get the sense that in the past all those things are true.
This trade above all (regardless of its relevance), proves to me that McNair is in over his head (or at the minimum, is still learning how not to be taken advantage of).
I agree with you on your take on McNair, it seems like he’s being taken to the cleaners by other GM’s around the league. We’ll have to see. Maybe these minor moves leads to something more significant. Part of a bigger plan?
I think part of the problem also is the players we’re trying to move, ie., Hield, Barnes, Bagley might not have much perceived value around the league, average players at best. Not really sought after, easily replaceable.
The Kings FO or the Celtics FO, or both?
I don’t give one fuck of one iota about the Celtics FO.
If TT never plays with LeBron, he’s Jason Thompson with a higher profile ex.
I have no idea what Tristan Thompson is doing here. I can try to justify it by saying he brings “toughness” or “an edge” the team needs (and they certainly do need it), but couldn’t you say the same thing about 20 vet-minimum free agents out there? I want to believe there is some other movement on the horizon that will make this transaction make more sense, but I can’t do that anymore. We’ve spend the last 8 years observing dumb moves and rationalizing them by saying “there must be something else coming, this definitely isn’t it”…. and then nothing else comes, and this definitely IS it. Le sigh. Kangz.
Anyone else more ok with a Fox for Simmons deal at this point? I am warming to the idea of a Mitchell, Haliburton, Barnes, Simmons, (insert Center) starting lineup.
Stingy defense, lots of quality ballhandlers, shooting.
No.
Simmons can’t or won’t shoot a J.
if he had learned even to sink free throws he could average close to 23ppg.
Just my two cents.
I’ll go against the grain here and give the trade a mild thumbs up. I think by mid season Wright would’ve been the fifth guard anyway. Thompson’s a veteran who has won a championship and can still rebound. Gotta be some value in that.
Monte ‘Mini Move’ McNair strikes again! The master of the micro deal…I need some big deal energy bruh…still waiting Kangz…
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