Over the last few weeks, just about everything that could go wrong for the Sacramento Kings has, outside of major injuries. After a strong 5-4 start to the season, the Kings have dropped eight of their last nine games, with those losses coming at an average of 10.5 points per game. That horrific stretch cost Luke Walton his job, but Alvin Gentry’s promotion didn’t do much to spur the team to greatness, as they lost to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night, despite the fact that the Sixers were quite literally missing their entire starting lineup.
With the team falling apart before the season has hardly begun, the timeline for Monte McNair’s theoretical big trade may be fast approaching in order to save the season before it’s totally lost, but according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, the Kings aren’t engaged in talks to acquire the only star player currently available, Ben Simmons:
“And despite strong preseason chatter that a slow start in Sacramento could lead to a potential Ben Simmons trade with Philadelphia, there remains no significant current discussion between the Sixers and Kings. Fox and Tyrese Halliburton are still deemed unavailable, and second-year standout Tyrese Maxey has emerged as a legitimate starting point guard in Philadelphia.”
Such a revelation isn’t exactly shocking, as the same mantra of starters De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton being off of the table in those discussions has been broadcast since Simmons was put on the block, but it’s important to note that the Sixers may not be enticed by those names even if they were added to the negotiations. Tyrese Maxey has been an absolute stud for Philadelphia this season, averaging 18.7 points and 4.6 assists on 51/39/89 shooting splits, and many would say that Maxey has been better than Fox this season, as he’s putting up similar numbers on much better efficiency. And that’s not even accounting for the difference in the two young guards’ salaries and ages. Maxey is almost three years younger than Fox, and his salary is $26 million cheaper.
From Sacramento’s perspective, a potential Simmons deal would solve a myriad of defensive issues that this team is facing, as well as address the festering wound that is the starting forward slot next to Harrison Barnes, but the Kings would undoubtedly need to surrender one of Fox or Haliburton in such a deal. Simmons’ addition would also create further spacing issues for a team already struggling to knock down shots from beyond the arc, and his fit with either one of Fox or Haliburton would be questionable at best. And even if all of those issues were resolved, it’s possible that the Sixers very much prefer the potential and low cost of Tyrese Maxey over either one of Sacramento’s guards. Daryl Morey may simply wait for a bigger and better deal.
Sacramento’s season is quickly falling apart, and if they don’t turn things around, and turn them around soon, they’re going to find themselves competing for lottery position, rather than a playoff spot, but a big-name trade for a player of Ben Simmons’ caliber probably isn’t on the horizon. It’ll be up to the current roster to figure things out before the Kings find themselves trudging through another lost season.
How to spot a King’s fan in distress:
As much as I like Tyrese, everyone needs to be on the table for the right deal. Realistically, they probably are.
From what I’ve seen, Haliburton’s only plus for this team is he can unlock Holmes’s offense. Other than that, I haven’t seen any leap from him and his 2 draft class peers (LaMelo and Ant Edwards) have leaped buildings over him in terms of development. We anti-developed Tyrese somehow.
Tyrese can run the pick and roll. Other than that, he has not shown much improvement. Decent three-point shot. Not much else on offense. And way too many times he leaps with no clue where he’s gonna pass the ball.
He gets some steals, but not a great on-ball defender.
He’s a nice solid piece, but he has a long way to go to become a truly valuable player
Agreed. And I’ve gone back and forth on whether Mitchell’s offense would translate quickly, and the answer so far is a hard no. His shot looks OK, so I’m really hoping it comes around later this season or next season. I can’t say I’m not concerned, however.
You might have a point if he didn’t have better than a 3:1 A/TO ratio. The guy is a very efficient offensive player that makes everyone around him better. He’s become a plus defender as well (one of only two players on the Kings with a positive Defensive BPM).
AE is still a bit inefficient and has a similar PER to Tyrese at this point. AE’s stats look great because of high usage. Lamelo Ball is balling out though, I’ll give you that.
I’ve seen him make some really dumb passes over the past few weeks. And even if they don’t result in turnovers, he’s putting the ball in bad places.
I want him to be great. I’m scared he’s just gonna be a cog player.
I think you just made the argument for being unsure about Fox.
1) who runs the pick and roll better? Hali, right?
2)who is the better shooter? Hali, right?
3) Who has the better A/TO ratio? Hali, right?
4) Who is the better on ball defender? Debatable at this point.
5) Who has the better usage? Hali, by a mile.
6) Who has the better VORP? Hali. right?
7)Who has the better WS. Even?
8) What has he better TRB%? Hali, right?
Yes, Fox scores more points, but he does so a greater usage and worse efficiency. I’d say both are solid pieces, but who is the “truly valuable player,” and this doesn’t even take into consideration their contracts.
I don’t think we’ll get a clear picture of Hali until he’s out of Fox’s shadow, being forced to be aggressive and fully run the offense. This passive off-ball role isn’t suited for him imo.
Good point! I thought Buddy was the odd fit, but it’s Fox. And I don’t think we can blame Fox either. For whatever reason, the kings made no effort to build around him or balance the roster at all.
Kings made 2 good picks since drafting Fox and they were both point guards. No significant roster additions through free agency. His shot has not developed, but his game didn’t change, his role, the ball and the refs all did.
He is adjusting (and so are the refs), but it takes time, and you can call him an “0ff-guard,” but it doesn’t look like he’ll ever be a “Shooting guard.”
Be glad Vivek’s ill-advised plan to re-write the rules for rebuilding an NBA team has bottomed-out again. He promised not to “tank” but here we are, because “That which never falls never rises.” Let’s focus the blame where it belongs.
NASG.
That’s evolution.
We need to also remember that he plummeted to 12th in the draft. So I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves to expect him to be accelerating at a level of a top 3 pick.
Like Bagley?
He should have been picked closer to 12th his year. Unfortunately, we happened to have arguably the worst GM in NBA history making the calls.
Nah, he was considered part of that class’s elite top 5. We all would’ve been fine with him at 5, with the others off the board. But lots of top 3 picks bust. More than half. And Hali was a top 3 finalist for ROY. He’s underperforming for sure, but I would argue it’s more because of Fox and role.
He’s basically picked up where he left off, statistically. We’ll see by January if he kicks it up a notch. My only complaint with his game thus far is that I’d like to see him taking 14 or 15 shots a game.
I’m going to keep beating the dead horse here. Fox is the Kings’ Monta Ellis, but he’s not as good or as efficient as Monta. They need to get rid of him for a defensive stalwart (Bogut/Simmons) in order to unlock everyone else (Curry/Klay and Mitchell/Hali).
I mean, as it stands this season and right now, Maxey is better than both Fox and Haliburton. Why would the Sixers or any team want them for any decent assets? Fox is a worse version of John Wall. Haliburton didn’t score last night and has been a defensive liability to where he is being hunted on PnR nightly. I ask again: who is giving Sac any real assets for these 2? The Kings are really in the sh*t. Barnes, Holmes, and Buddy are their best assets right now and no one wants to give anything real for them either. A mess.
Another tidbit from that BR article:
I’m not sure how sourced the author or Bleacher Report in general are with the Kings front office, but this very disappointing if true. The roster is obviously incomplete. If they are thinking playoffs or just playin and not positioning in the lottery, a big move is needed. Duh.
This is too absurd to believe. Even **saying** this is hard to believe. If it’s true they said this, I guess the front office thinks maybe if they put this nonsense out that they’re somehow playing a game that convinces other front offices that they’re not desperate? They’re not fooling anyone. Everyone inside and outside the NBA knows this team needs major roster changes.
I’m fairly confident that the front office is passive and not stupid. I hope they don’t prove me wrong. Just get on with remaking the roster already.
At this rate I think we are destined to finished at 11th seed once again, drafting at 12th pick, and yet another total front office and coaching staff overhaul at the end of the season being minimal 3 years from being remotely relevant. I can’t see through whatever path we are on.
Missing the playoffs is the key to success, ironically lol. We can only pray that this front office hires a good coach and drafts well/makes smart trades that don’t merely reshuffle the same deck of cards for immediate minor improvement. Also hope that vivek’s narcissistic obsession with playoffs does not cloud better judgment as it has for his entire tenure
The only reason Vivek is so focused on the playoffs is the extra revenue the playoffs generate. Extra revenue that goes directly to the team.
Agreed. The irony of that is how much more he is losing by obsessing over the end goal rather than the process of becoming a good team. Bad business acumen :/
Ironically, Vivek’s obsession of getting to the playoffs is also the reason why we are not in the playoffs since he took over as chairman. If he just have the patience to commit to a true rebuild, we would probably have already made the playoffs in his first 5 years in the league.
The downfall started when he prematurely fired Malone and it has been a downward spiral ever since.
Yes, this is the point. Vivek is obsessed with the bottom line, not so much the means to which will get you to there, and likely establish a consistent contending team culture
I think the front office is just doing what GM Vivek thinks is best. Take last year for example. We all knew it needed work and pieces and trades and it wasn’t working. Yet all of a sudden we went from rebuild and possible tanking to all in and getting the play in. How many times did we hear this exact same thing last year coming from the front office and their proxies?
Vivek and co have thought that they were getting to the promised land with this crew for years. Everything changes and yet it stays the same.
But now you have Karl and Barnes coming out and dropping dimes on ownership and we are still shocked? I haven’t been shocked since that shit show of an interview Vivek gave and basically said how he was helping PDA realize his vision. We think that guy has changed? He just got quiet.
Vivek wants to be the hero of this story no matter how many years he plays the villain. He thinks he’s got some Lacob luck rubbed on him.
100% true and the entire league is fully aware of his incompetence ! It’s why he only hires people to be GM’s that have no experience in that job ! He is the quasi GM ! Monte is just a quieter PDA and not Vlade ! ????
Either that or it’s insurmountable evidence that Monte is nothing more than a figurehead. Vivek is still calling all the shots. What GM would think this team is a playoff contender as currently constructed? Monte’s playing fast comment really concerned me. Does this guy realize that type of basketball is not condicive to consistent winning. Gentry is a proponent of it. But, Take a look at his coaching resume. 3 seasons above .500 in 17 years. That kinda sucks. The worst part of this. is every team below Sac has a brighter future: OKC, Orlando, Hou, Detroit, etc. They have 1-2 foundational pieces in place. Multiple draft picks, Excellent cap space.
Instead the Kings really have Zero core( lets be honest. That ship has sailed), No draft equity, No salary cap room, and little hope of real improvement. Unless this team either takes a big swing or blows it up there is no success in between that.
The irrelevancy of Monte’s comment about playing fast is amazing.
Shooting 3s at a good percentage is critical to success in today’s NBA, how does playing fast make it more likely that Kings other than Hield will do so? How is the team going to play fast if it can’t rebound and defend? Or, to put it differently how does playing fast address these interminable problems? Doesn’t it just make them more pronounced over the course of more possessions for the opponent during games?
It really just sounds like front office propaganda. The last time the Kings had success was “playing fast”under Joerger, so I guess the front office believes that it will give us hope. Sort of a basketball version of “Make America Great Again” or “Build Back Better”.
This team needs an ownership change.
Jake Fischer is solid. He’s emerged as a very connected and reliable reporter.
Thank you for the info Greg, but that is bad news.
Personally, I’d have to get blown away to deal Fox right now. His value is at an all-time low and I hate selling low. He was balling last season and I’m pretty convinced that the effects of Covid have drained his physical skills.
I’d shuffle off Hield and Haliburton before I deal Fox.
I’ve never understood the idea that player values can supposedly skyrocket and crash over a 10-15 game stint. Especially for a player who’s had a pretty decent career on a chronically doomed franchise. I’d expect GMs around the league look at Fox’s slump, see his career numbers, then say “well, he’s surrounded by a lot of garbage”. I’d venture a guess that he could command a return that’s pretty close to what he could have at the deadline last year. Which is almost assuredly miles beyond what he could have commanded at any time prior to last season.
Sorry, his contract changes that !
His contract was signed a year ago, though. If he continues to play like this for the better part of the season, then sure his value takes a hit because of the contract, but not over 15 games. I just don’t see GMs being instantly dissuaded by it based on a miniscule sample size. At least no more so than they’d look at Lillard and say “he’s past his prime and sliding downhill fast”.
Now, we can definitely debate on whether Fox was worthy of getting a max deal, when he’s never sniffed an all-star appearance, nor cracked the top 5 or 10 PGs in the league. However, if we’re coming from the somewhat popular opinion at the time, that it was a good signing, then I don’t think this SSS does much to move the needle that he’s now a roster albatross.
I agree, but even after last season, Fox remained a flawed work in progress, now one with a 30M a year contract. I believe that the 10-15 games this season have some impact, because it shows Fox being unable to improve those areas of his game that generated the most concerns among GMs. Some GMs may look past it, others may not.
He failed to improve some areas of concern in his game at any point during his career, yet still seemed (seems) to be highly regarded around the league.
Need Jaylen Brown
I think the Celts are waiting to see if Brown and Tatum can get it together. I could see them move Brown if the Celts stay mediocre though.
Would the Kings and Celts do Fox and Bagley for Jaylen Brown and Josh Richardson? It works in the trade machine at least.
Celtics would have to be as brain dead as Ol Joe to swap Brown for Fox at this point.
Report: the kings aren’t engaged in anything nor planning to do anything
So, Monte refreshing Tankathon 20x a day doesn’t count?
Not true. They are very much engaged in asininery . . .
Did Fischer also write up the state of talks about Simmons for the other twenty-eight teams?
Everyone had low expectations for this team this season, except for Ruindumbe. Dumbass has playoff aspirations this year, and of course putting pressure on GM despite not having ideal assets for trade. Setting up everyone to fail. Same shit, different year.
Well said!
On his most recent podcast, Ham said Monte is basically a middle-manager at this point. The decision tree starts at Vivek/Dumars/Matina, with Monte/Wilcox a ways down the line. That being said, Amick said that Monte/Wilcox/Dumars wanted Gentry for interim HC and Vivek wanted DC, in other words, if Dumars didn’t want Gentry, than DC would be our head coach right now.
Monte better pull off that big trade or Vivek will have Wes Wilcox do it. You know it’s true!
Joe Dumars’d
This franchise leads the league in holding on to assets too long. The incompetence is just amazing
Rudy Gay’d.
I’m jealous that Rudy Gay got out and we’re stuck in Hell.
Was thinking the other day how different the team might have been if Vivek had chosen a smart GM when he first took over. What if they had dumped Demarcus and Gay from the get-go for picks over the next few years? And what if they had the smarts to make good on the picks?
My fandom was pretty much killed when they whiffed on Doncic. Said back then they’d be shit for a decade (longer if Vivek is still around).
Patience! Once they become big expiring contracts, they’ll be really desirable.
Spot on. I think it is a Ranadive thing. It’s happened to every GM under his watch. I don’t recall that happening to Petrie. Hell, he moved Thomas Robinson just a few months into his rookie year.
I’d explore Barnes for a first and a young asset. I’d deal Hield for a lottery pick (most likely top-8 protected. But I’m gonna need expirings back.
Best assets to get actual talent: Haliburton and Davion
Richaun is gonna be extremely valuable when he’s able to get dealt on Dec. 15. Great contract. You better get me something great in return.
I’d probably swap Bagley for a bag of cheetos.
Duh…
Kings have nothing that the Sixers want.
I don’t know, I’m sure the Sixers would love to have Buddy or Barnes for a title run, but don’t have much in return for the Kings to make it worthwhile.
True about Barnes and Hield to make a run. Not giving Simmons for him though.
Going to be interesting to see what happens with Simmons at the deadline. I think if they are in the hunt without Simmons they keep him and let him rot. I don’t think Morey is giving in. Harden hurt. He isn’t doing that again.
The Warriors were a prime candidate for Simmons, but now have no need for him, with players like Kuminga and Payton II playing great defense, Wiggins solid defense, not to mention Klay coming back.
Simmons’ game of chicken is not as simple as he thought it was going to be.
Any team on the fringe is not going to blow up the roster at the half way point to get him.
I dont know what’s worse. A) watching the Kings play the last few years with no improvement. B) Listening to the Kings management trying to convince everyone that this roster is playoff capable.
For some reason, the late 1960s comedy classic, “The Producers” comes to mind.
Translation: “Sixers not interested in any of the Kings’ underachievers.”
I anticipate the yearly pre deadline rants. Kings mentioned with a few big names before the deadline. Teams like to use the Kings as leverage. Kings will be more than 10 games under .500. But, still deluded in thinking the play is in reach. The same as every other year. The Kings will make 1 or 2 very minor moves. Thinking once again, We’re close. Trade Bagley for a second round pick. Maybe move one of Len/Harkless/TT gets moved. That’s about it.
NO reason to trade anyone else. This team is full of robust talent 1-8.
Kings will pick between 9-12 again. The hamster wheel continues.
This sounds right except that if it’s true, Kings will pick between 1-7.
We all got what we wanted with Walton’s firing. Gentry’s first game was a stinker. Expect the Walton firing was fresh on everyone’s mind. Let’s give Gentry a shot before we completely burn the place down. He’s now had a couple days in the gym with the team.
As for McNair, he gets a solid B for his 2 draft picks at 9 & 12. Both those guys are going to further develop and could be really good. I’m glad he’s not the type to panic and make a deal to make a deal involving Buddy, Fox, Haliburton, Holmes or Barnes for crap. You can bet opposing GMs are circling I’m reminded of how close he was to moving Hield for Kuz and MH. The pressure is on and there will be other workable deals available.
i expect some improvement at tonight’s game.
I’ll say this for Monte: He hasn’t made any dumb-dumb moves. By itself, that’s a major improvement over Vlade, who made at least two dumb-dumb moves every offseason. On the downside, he may take the “don’t beat yourself” mantra a little too seriously, because he hasn’t made any moves that would significantly move the team’s needle in either direction.
Staring at spreadsheets for 2 years and doing nothing doesn’t exactly breed inspiration either.
No dumb-dumb moves? What about Bogi and riding Walton into this season when everyone knew it was going to fail.
Patience was wearing thin before the season began. It is now gone. Canning Walton was the first truly big, direction-altering move McNair has made… now, what’s next? If the FO just stands pat and crosses its fingers, hoping that its current band of underachievers and misfit toys can crawl its way back into play-in contention, attendance in February will make November’s figures look like a dream.
These idiots should have dumped Fox, Barnes, Buddy and/or Bagley last season, embraced the tank and gobbled up draft picks and cap space. Yet, here we are…
Philly would not trade Simmonds for Fox or for Hali. Maybe both + draft picks for years.
Maxey is better than any of them.
Kings will finish with 5-6th worst record and probably pick another guard. Kings can’t beat anyone. Demoralized, un-balanced and no clear direction.
and 5-6th is a good season. Houston, maybe OKC and Detroit + Orlando- that’s it.
Honestly, all the Kings values are at all time lows. Fox would not yield Maxey
Listen to the Mismatched podcast by the Ringer. Mostly because it’s once every 5 years somebody east of Auburn cares about the Kings. But also, good debate on Fox there, and if you feel we’re alone in our disrespect for Vivek, listen to those two East Coasters…I’m with O’Connor on Fox.
I think Monte has done a decent job, from where he started, this roster and the bench especially is actual NBA talent, he hasn’t over paid for middling talent, and he has drafted well. He had two deals fall apart for Bogi to the Bucks and Buddy to the Lakers that would have helped the team. Yeh no ones perfect, even Jerry West got a few wrong over the years
Did like the Mismatch podcast on the ringer, as its nice to have folks who should follow the league actually have knowledge and opinions about this team
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