The Domantas Sabonis vs. Tyrese Haliburton head-to-head was tied at 2-2 going into this matchup. Now? Tyrese, takes the lead at 3-2 — blouses!
This was the Kings’ game to lose, and boy, did they find a way. The Pacers started off carelessly with the ball, gifting the Kings an early lead. But, in classic Kangz fashion, the fourth quarter arrived, and so did the offensive meltdown. The Pacers rallied late in the third, gaining momentum, and by the fourth quarter, it was all hero ball from DeMar DeRozan with little help from anywhere else. Keegan Murray? Barely touched the ball. Domas Sabonis? Same story. Keon Ellis? It’s like he disappeared from the rotation.
Speaking of Keegan Murray, he was exceptional tonight. His box score may read a modest 12 points, 7 boards, and 3 stocks, but the impact went way beyond the numbers. Up until the offense completely froze, Keegan’s confidence was at an all-time high, and it showed on the defensive end too. It’s no surprise he was the only starter to finish with a positive plus-minus (+6).
Doug stuck with Keon as a starter, which does bring better balance to the first unit, but the bench was a black hole. Malik Monk struggled mightily, shooting just 2-14. Jonas Valančiūnas only saw 8 minutes, as it’s clear Doug remains hesitant about any two-big lineups. And then there’s Trey Lyles, who logged 15 minutes and managed just 3 points. It was bleak.
The one clear edge for the Kings came on the boards, thanks largely to the Pacers missing Myles Turner (out with an “illness”—though maybe he wasn’t eager for a rematch with old pal, Domas).
Next up? The Wizards on Wednesday. On paper, it feels like a sure win—but nothing’s guaranteed with this dumpster fire of a squad. Honestly, sign me up for the tank train. With a top-12 protected pick in play and this team going nowhere fast, keeping that pick might just be the highlight of the season.
Game Journal
Q1
11:01 – The game tips off the way it often does. Indiana strikes first with a wide-open Thomas Bryant corner three. It’s noteworthy that Aaron Nesmith took the first three for the Pacers right before, but it’s a miss—even though he had plenty of space.
8:52 – Time to drink. Domas takes an elbow to the nose, halting the game momentarily as they tend to the bleeding.
7:05 – The Pacers knock down their fourth three-pointer of the quarter. Meanwhile, we’re stuck trading twos for threes… tough contested drives to the basket and midrange jumpers aren’t going to cut it.
6:15 – Out of the timeout, back-to-back slams from Domas and Keegan energize the Kings, cutting Indiana’s lead to 16-10.
4:20 – After a strong finish at the rim by Domas, the Kings take a commanding lead in paint points, 12-2.
0:02 – TJ McConnell chucks the ball away to wrap up the quarter, adding to Indiana’s pile of careless mistakes (it’s already their sixth turnover, though it feels more like the 19th). The Kings close out the first quarter with a narrow 28-27 lead.
Q2
11:09 – Jarace Walker strips LaVine and finishes with a smooth step-through dunk in transition. The rookie’s game is shaping up nicely—he’s got a lot of potential.
5:32 – Out of a Pacers timeout, they rip off two straight uncontested drives to the rim. Suddenly, they’re back in control, leading 48-44.
3:15 – The Kings respond with a quick spark. Keon drills a corner three, then Keegan stuffs Haliburton’s drive with a fantastic weak-side block (Keegan’s quietly becoming a nice rim protector). On the break, LaVine gets a clean look for a layup and nails it. The Kings pull ahead 51-50.
0:38 – Malik Monk gets denied at the rim twice in a row by Aaron Nesmith, but DeMar comes through, scooping up the ball and sinking a smooth midrange jumper. That shot gives the Kings their biggest lead of the half—up 60-54 heading into the break.
Q3
9:10 – Keegan Murray sinks a three, pushing the Kings’ lead to 12. What on earth is going on?
7:00 – The Pacers have hit just one of their last 11 shots, and Keegan is the main culprit. He’s seemingly closing out on every single attempt, no matter who’s shooting. The Kings are now up 16, 76-60.
4:38 – Jarace Walker knocks down a much-needed three to trim the lead to 11. Of course, he was wide open.
3:00 – Obi Toppin connects on another three. The bench scoring disparity might be what helps the Pacers claw their way back into this game.
1:30 – DeMar DeRozan steps up and nails an uncontested three, giving the Kings a bit of breathing room as they stretch the lead back to nine, now 85-76.
Q4
11:05 – Jarace Walker connects on yet another wide-open three, cutting the Kings’ lead to just two at 86-84.
9:30 – Malik Monk finally gets a successful drive to the rim, adding two and pushing the lead back to six.
8:45 – TJ McConnell sinks a mid-range jumper, cutting the lead to four. It feels like he hasn’t missed from that range all night.
7:25 – The Pacers go on a 7-0 run, culminating in a Nesmith slam, bringing the score to 93-91. Feels like this would’ve been the perfect time for Doug Christie to call a timeout.
7:09 – DeMar does what he does best, baiting Nesmith into a foul with a pump fake that sends him to the free-throw line for two shots.
7:00 – Obi Toppin fires another transition three, but thankfully, he misses. Still, he’s already knocked down five of those tonight.
6:07 – The Kings dodge a bullet with a missed call. Keegan clearly hits Nesmith in the face, which probably should have been called a flagrant. Instead, play continues, and DeMar gets fouled in transition, pushing the Kings’ lead back to 96-91.
5:30 – DeMar misses a mid-range jumper. We’re starting to see the return of predictable hero-ball offense, with little to no real ball movement. It’s not looking good for the Kings.
3:11 – Another contested, mid-range shot from DeMar. Before that, it was an offensive foul from LaVine during an isolation play. Ball movement has completely evaporated, and quite frankly, the Kings do not look like a team that deserves to win this game. They cling to a slim 96-95 lead.
1:16 – Haliburton nails a clutch three-pointer, putting the Pacers ahead 100-98.
0:47 – Finally, Keon checks back in for Monk, who has been having one of his worst shooting nights ever. Despite this, Doug rode with him for most of the fourth quarter.
0:11 – The Kings lose due to repeated failures to execute. Time and time again, they fold in crucial moments.
0 – Misery or relief? Honestly, you tell me.
Ladies and Gentlemen, your SACRAMENTO BULLShit
It’s glorious…
What a great time to be a fan of Sacramento sports. Maybe the 2 worst owners are now in town, and they are actively working together on one of those franchises.
I was just talking to my cousin about this last night. He’s a diehard A’s and Kings fan and he is in the pit of despair. I’m a Giants fan but I feel terrible for all my A’s fan friends and family. Vivek somehow enabling Fisher is just the cherry on top of the turd Sunday.
I’m not really that mad at Fisher. Honestly, I doubt he would have moved them if more than 3000 fans would have been showing up for games. And he stayed through YEARS of that. A’s are selling more tickets than they have in 20+ years at a minor league stadium in Sac. That’s pretty sad too
Still can’t forgive them for trading Cespedes that year they were the best team in baseball, though.
Your .gif game has definitely been playoff worthy! That Kings on the other hand…
Lol. BTW I think Phoenix is destined for the 11th spot. Is there a possibility Portland comes and snatch the coveted 10th Play-in spot?
If we lose the rest of our games. PHX would move into a tie with us and ahead of us by tie-breaker.
Portland would need to win 4 of last 7(@ATL, @TOR, @CHI, SAS, @UTA, GSW, LAL) to tie us.
3-Way tie-breaker – Head to Head record: All 3 teams at 4-4. Not all same division so next tie-breaker is Conference record. Kings get the 10th seed.
So Portland needs to win 5 of last 7 to pass us if we lose the rest of our games.
Shit. We are screwed at 10th aren’t we
X marks the spot
Lets trade demar back for colby white
Kings lose?
Enjoyable loss. Stafilo’s airball from three feet in the clutch was classic Kangz.
Q3
Kayte tells us how players make a big leap in their game when they start using ice baths for recovery which doesn’t sound like she just made that up at all.
Too good lol
Every game of this version of the team feels like an ice bath.
And the 4th quarters like a blood bath.
Minnesota should have a team of all-stars. Most of their season is non-stop snow/ice.
Neither misery or relief. Just another Monday in Kangzland.
Explain to me why demar has to chuck up shots and play iso game every damn time we’re in a close game. Yeah he’s a bucket getter but I’ve never been more frustrated with the way he was chucking up shots late game.
I was literally screaming at the the tv for him to give up the damn ball.
He and monk are black holes down the stretch.
They ice people with their ISO/Hero ball.
And monk man. He was so wild the entire night. I have never seen a more piss poor 4- on-1 fast break opportunity executed like that.
Damn this team is frustrating.
At one point in the 3rd JV was posting up and waiving frantically at DDR like ‘come on, you MUST see me’. DDR ignored him until JV stepped away and then took his shot.
DeBall DeFrozen
DeToe on DeLine
Seriously!
Why does he insist on being as close as possible to that 3pt line? I swear that 90% of his 3’s are within +/- 1 inch of the line. Can he please either step back another 6 inches or start wearing size 10’s?
I saw Sabonis do that a few times as well. He had his man pined down low called for the ball, only to give up dejectedly and leave the paint. I could see the frustration in his body language.
Oh yeah, it is very easy to see the frustration that Domas has when the ISO crap starts. I don’t think that anyone should run over and help bail DeMar out when he does the ISO crap and gets shutdown. Like dude, if you are going to pull that crap in the game, it’s on you. Just have the other 4 guys stay away.
why doesn’t DC just bench him?
After one of their 2nd half collapses, Keegan mentioned the switch to more ISO hurting their flow. If Keegan is going after you, it’s time to take a look in the mirror.
ESPECIALLY since it let the bulls get away playing small ball!!! Like, wtf are the coaches doing….that’s the advantage, hunt it!
yep
Misery or relief?
Ugh… why does all the html stuff show up? I just wanted the image, not both the image and the html.
I don’t see any html.
Weird, I don’t see it now either. It was showing up right after I posted but now it’s not there. I need to be more patient I guess.
For the second time since 1985, I hope they lose every game, so they’ll burn it down. I dislike this team as much as the Jason Thompson Kings, which is saying something.
The misuse of Domas this season is troubling. I think alot of it is Brown leaving but he’s been our hub since he’s gotten here and we surround him with ball dominant players and don’t run a lot of offense through him anymore. Our offense was at least respectable before. Now we definitely look like the team they’ve assembled.
100% expecting a Domas trade request in the off season and sadly it may be our only option to actually build a team
At this point the smartest thing the Kings can do is move him for good value. He does a lot for the team but is rarely making a significant impact on the court the last 5 minutes of the game when it matters most.
Zero assists from Domas says it all. They are ignoring his skills. Even worse when he does make a good pass, his three iso teammates hesitate and go into dribble mode negating any assist opportunity.
I have heard the phrase “they/we are hoopers. That’s what they/we do”, much more this season from various former players on podcasts or interviews, or in post-game pressers. I don’t think “being a hooper” is necessarily a good thing. Domas, Keon, Keegan don’t seem to fit that mold, but they are stuck with 3 teammates that are “hoopers”.
It doesn’t lead to good team basketball.
It’s wild to me how Monte built a team of guys that fit and got more out of the sum of it parts with guys like Huerter and Barnes, with Monk off the bench. They worked well with Sabonis and his game. The team then went out and blew it all up for two flawed stars that didn’t even work well in Chicago!
I honestly don’t think Monte lost his mojo because I feel someone else is meddling.
I agree. I don’t know how much Monte has played a part in all of this. Maybe he is making all the calls, or maybe he is told by Vivek what he needs to do.
Honestly, this team would have been better off by keeping Barnes and trading for LaRavia and JV. It’s just wild to me that this has gone sideways so quickly.
To be fair, things going sideways is much more our norm than the going sideways making the playoffs thing we did a couple seasons ago. We’re just back to good old fashioned KANGZ basketball
Hello shot at KC lol
I think monte needs to force the coaches hand by getting rid of demar and maybe even monk. Roll out some form of Carter/LaRavia-Keon-Lavine-Murray-Sabonis with Sabonis being the clear hub of offense and watch things start to cook with good hustle defense and a bunch of 3 point shooters and willing cutters
I think Doug’s hands may be tied, or he’s just not a good coach. Maybe Jordi could have saved this ship. I think DDR is a starter on this team as long as Oz is behind the curtain. Love him or hate him, Domas is our best player and it’s wild we had our best season in 20 years with him as our guy, only to just kind of push him to the side lately for ISO ball and now we’re here
Can we trade DDR for Jordi? Even with a hole on the roster, it could actually have more of a positive impact overall.
Poor free throw shooting and turnovers (points off of) once again do in the Kings. Fourth quarter comes and the offense and defense break down.
Run an effective offense for 3 quarters that garners a lead, then stop doing that offense and let 2 or 3 players just ISO and take all the shots. I just don’t get it.
And when will the coach grow a pair and sub those dudes out? Does Doug encourage them to play that way? If not, then take them out and put in someone that will run the damn offense.
Starting to look at those clutch stats with DDR and it just makes me think…is he actually that clutch like Fox was or was he just ball hogging on O down the stretch like he does here late in games. Our offense is offensive
Our defense is offensive too.
From this weeks NBA.com power rankings:
Haven’t watched a game in a month, and honestly it’s delightful. Doesn’t seem like I’ve missed much. I just check in to see that they lost.
you did not miss anything.
Well, at least we’re no the A’s. Oh.
The Suns are just as bad as the Kings and can’t make up the difference between the two teams. Kings will miss the playoffs after losing in the play in and lose their 1st round pick because it will be either pick 13 or 14. Beautifully executed.
I think even if they miss the play-in and finish 11th, they still end up at 13 in the draft – and lose the pick.
Suns have Bucks, Celtics, Knicks, Warriors, Thunder, Spurs, and Kings left on their schedule. With Durant out, tough to see them passing the Kings even if we lost a majority of our games remaining.
If PHX beats us the last game of the season and we end up tied, they get the tie breaker based on 2-2 head to head and then a better Division record.
So if we lose the rest of our games. PHX gets the 10th seed. We can win 1 if PHX can beat the Spurs and us.
Sadly we play the Wizards and Hornets next…
Time to move Monk back into the starting lineup!!!
perfection
One of the reasons the Kings collapse late is because they put themselves in these situations due to zero bench scoring. Look around the boxscores of teams that won and more times than not they have 1 or 2 guys that put up 15 or 20.
Who do the Kings have? Lyles, JV, Fultz, etc? Not having Carter and LaRavia isn’t helping right now, but they aren’t going to light it up either. And Monk, just too erratic and inconsistant.
Yeah, if you compare the starter and bench minutes of the Kings versus the Pacers, you can see the difference. No starter on the Pacers played more than 35 minutes, and that was only one player. The other starters played low 30s or less. In contrast, you have Kings starters constantly playing high 30s or 40s because their bench is so inconsistent. Pacers’ bench scored 46 while the Kings’ scored 12.
It’s a chicken and egg thing.
On the one hand not great bench pieces, but on the other hand Christie rarely gives his bench players a decent run, and even if the play well (like IMO Fultz last night), they may not come back for a second stint.
I don’t even think it’s a chicken/egg, i think it’s almost wholly what you said about not giving bench a run
I thought Keegan looked incredible on the defensive end last night. Multiple possessions of him, locking people up.
This team is obviously lacking a real superstar and desperately needs a rebuild, but they have some good role players in Keegan and Keon.
Keegan is having an excellent March. He’s basically at 13.5 pts, 6 boards, 47% from the field, 39% from 3 and over a block a game. He is the modern NBA prototype. He and Sabonis could be an awesome pairing, if only they were used correctly.
Keegan’s usage is the lowest in his 3 year career.
Domas’ usage is about the same, but his AST% is 8 points lower than last season, and about 5points lower than the 22-23 season. The offense has gone down as Domas has had the ball less as an initiator.
The first 3 months of the season were flat-out bad for Keegan on offense. Last 3 months are completely different. Percentages are back up. Still strong on defense. Increased confidence/aggression. The one thing holding him back from 20 per night is the disappearance for an entire half of most games when no one gives him the friggin ball. How do you score 11 of the first 13 points and not get the ball again until the 4th quarter? I know LaVine was hot. It’s ok to have 2 hot players at the same time.
No long list of observations today….just this:
Bench Derozan. He makes everybody on the team worse. Yeah, he got 26 or 28 last night, but they were worse than empty, they literally detracted from the team. Terrible to watch. Can we just buy out his contract? A late first rounder for him? I really don’t like watching him play basketball. And…I don’t care how many foul shots he gets!!! He takes way to long to get them!
okay, one more…I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player lose the dribble on the wrap around tap more than LaVine. Man should never bring the ball up…
sorry for the rant…
New strategy: Turn Kings’ games off after the third quarter.
Go to bed happy with images of ball movement and good offense in your head.
Hate watching CAN be fun, for at least 1.5 quarters. I just imagine the Kings jerseys say “Dallas Cowboys”. 🙂
We’re still playing games? I don’t care. Management/ownership destroyed the Beam Team and left us this empty carcass. Wake me when we stop doing stupid sh*t.
That’s gonna be a long slumber!
Insert Titanic gif here.
Remind me who we lose our pick to if we’re out of the Top 12 in the draft?
Atlanta
That’s what I thought.. Thanks.
Huerter trade.
Thanks.. I couldn’t remember if it was that Atlanta trade or a more recent one.
What’s really wild is the Huerter’s deal was needed to complete the LaVine deal, so basically the pick we are about to give up to ATL was needed to get LaVine.
No playoffs. No pick. Where you going, Kings?
never, never land.
If we keep doing what we are doing, we will get what we got. That goes two ways: doing this season this way gets us 10th.and a first round away game loss. Losing and we have done that for years- gets us 11 and a draft pick.
I go with second option.
There are parts here, but they do not mesh. # players just take turns chucking.
If Keegan – who is not one of the 3- was unshackled (mostly a personal problem with him- he stops himself) and the rest of the guys passed the ball, would the outcome improve?
I like DDR but he just shoots until his arm gets numb. Zach hides until the caffeine kicks in. Malik can’t help himself.
If DDR is moved, do the Kings have to attach a pick to accomplish that?
Probably need to attach some type of pick. He just needs to go. His style does not mesh what the Kings need to do to be successful.
I don’t think the Kings would need to attach a pick. His deal is fair and his partial guarantee for the following season may be attractive to a contender. The Kings may have to eat some salary to move him, but I don’t think a pick would be necessary.
I would tend to agree, though I did not know that his partial guarantee is $10m.
Yup, that’s why the Kings would likely need to move him by eating salary for 2026-27 year. An interesting wrinkle is his full guarantee date isn’t until 1/10/27.
Musings….
Reminder:
Losing highlights the worst of every player, just as winning cures all ills.
Zach Lavine is/was an All-Star, 20+ ppg game scorer 2021 and 2022 for the Bulls, and a past 6th man of the year.
The 6 time All-Star DeMar DeRozan has been All-NBA three times, the last 2023, on the 2nd team.
My point: These are not “bad players” – and I agree that there is a fit problem. However, that is a problem with the system they are in (or not in). A No Assist Domas isn’t a fit either (he had just one assist against Boston as well). Malik Monk has been the starting point guard, or there is no point guard (unless you want to count Keon or Zach) to start.
I look at the rosters of the LA Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies (and include the games missed by stars Curry, Leonard and Morant) and if you asked me any time between the start of the season and the trade deadline, for example, if I would trade rosters with any of them – the answer is No.
The talent level continues to be greater than the record. The same can be said of the Mike Brown Kings.
It’s not just the roster fit. It’s the coaching fit. Somehow, the solid franchises can figure it out and the Sacramentos, Charlottes, Washingtons can’t seem to ever figure it out.
And yes – that means, it starts at the top.
But you knew that.
I don’t think just amassing perceived talent is the way to build in today’s NBA…see PHX. It has more to do with fit and roles.
It definitely starts at the top and it seems this roster is built like a fantasy points league. They expect to win by putting a bunch of dudes on the floor that can score. It stinks of ineptitude and I don’t think Monte is dumb. It comes from above him.
Adding…a team Monte (or whoever is running the shit show) should keep an eye on is Denver. They have shown they don’t want to spend deep into the tax and are about have Murray’s fat extension kick in. They also have an extension kicking in for Aaron Gordon for the year DDR’s contract is partially guaranteed.
I don’t see how Denver have all 4 of Jokic, Murray, Gordon and Porter Jr going forward. They are going to be in worse cap hell than the Suns are now. DDR’s short term production and partial guaranteed could be of value to them.
Denver also has two young wings in Watson and Holmes on cheap deals. From all that, I could see them moving off o Gordon or Porter Jr to cut costs. DDR for Gordon works straight up as does DDR and Monk for Porter Jr.
I think they only need to attach a pick for an upgraded piece, if they are willing to give him away for parts they can do that for free imo
I get the people on here who can’t watch LaVine but for me it has been DeRozan all year long. Just an overrated and inefficient player that really only has value as a 20-25 minute, 10-15 point player off the bench. The idea that someone who plays the way he does should be a featured player and in the end of games is a gross mis-assessment of his value. Cannot stand watching the guy, ruined the Kings.
Since I’m too lazy I need a write-up on the analytics of how inefficient/ineffective he and the Kings have been when he’s on the court. Haven’t seen him do anything defensively. Guys who don’t play two ways are not that valuable.
If you get the microscope out, you can see a very narrow (non-ping pong ball bounce) window to the Kings keeping the pick.
While the odds would seem to be against Phoenix catching the Kings with Durant out, they are only one game back in the loss column, and the last game of the season is Suns at Kings, with the tie breaker for them hanging in the balance. The Suns could theoretically keep pace with this limping excuse for an NBA team, and a Suns win on closing night, at G1C, would be the most appropriate of punctuations on this season.
Failing at that, the Kings are also neck and neck for w-l record with Atl and Orl, the current 7-8 teams in the East. If either/both of those teams finish with a better record than the Kings but fall to Mia or Chi in the play-in, they could join the lottery 14 while having a better record than the Kings. That would be enough to get the Kings to 12.
These scenarios are not likely, but they probably (at the moment, at least) possess better odds than the 4.7% that the Kings currently have of jumping into the top 4. That said, the prevailing odds right now would be a 10th place finish, a loss at Dallas, and the 13th pick conveying to Atlanta. All of it the residue of one of the most disappointing seasons in Sacramento history.
The organization’s ability to devalue its assets is stunning. The return for Fox was paltry to the point that they would have been better off not making the trade. Fox was under contract through next season. They should have waited until summer, but the crush that Vivek has long had on LaVine was overpowering. So the Kings gave away one of its best players of the Sacramento era (I would have rated Fox behind only Richmond, Webber, and maaaaaybe Peja), and a player on a very short list of elite Kings picks (Peja, Fox, and Cousins?).
And in doing so, they have completely devalued Sabonis. Don’t think so? Go look at his splits pre and post Fox. It is a startling difference (-6ppg, -1+rpg, -2asts., efficiency numbers down across the board).
They have also done a number on Monk, who was a decent value as a super 6th man but is middling (at best) as a starting PG. And I don’t know how you get that genie back into the bottle.
The most preposterous part of the Fox deal is that they did nothing to address the hole that they have at the starting 3-4. The keystone player that they got back was…yep…another shooting guard, so not only did they not address the 3-4, they created a gaping hole at PG.
There is so little of value on this roster right now. Keegan will be a value to contract for one more season. He will continue to be a fine player after that, but at a cost. Keon Ellis is a steal at his current contract, which also lasts one more season unless the Kings draw up a new deal for him.
And therein lies the real issue for this permutation of the Sacramento Kings. There are not enough assets or cap space to re-tool, and there is not a lot in the asset cabinet to generate future assets if you want to start from scratch (concoct a scenario where you trade every player of value and when you get done, the Kings as a rebuild team still won’t have the assets that stack up against SA, Hou, Uta, Por or OKC).
Nice arena, though. No sheds.
Great points, Rob.
The only caveat I may have is I can squint and see a scenario where the Kings could retool and come back better next season. For me, it’s all about moving DDR and filling the holes you mentioned. I think Sabonis, LaVine, and Keegan can co-exist just fine, if given the right supporting cast. If DDR can be moved for a starting caliber PG and/or 3/4 wing, you could make that sum is greater than their parts situation happen. This would also mean either moving Monk back to his 6th man role or moving him all together.
You and I have both mentioned how a FVV type PG could really benefit this team as would another 3/4 wing like Keegan who can provide spacing and defense. The Kings don’t necessarily need more star power, they instead desperately need complementary pieces.
Now, how to go about doing this is anyone’s guess, but it should would help to have a pick in this year’s draft to facilitate it.
People LOVE sheds.
The Blazers might be the best hope to get the Kings to 12th. Give Keegan a ticket to Portland and give him Kris’s jersey for the rest of the season.
Some of you are experts on the intricacies of the game and I’m hoping you can answer. Based on the standings, the Kings are sitting at 14th, 1/2 game ahead of Phoenix and Orlando. If the Kings were to finish below those two teams, wouldn’t they be at the 12th spot and be able to retain their 1st round pick? If so, wouldn’t it be better to make an effort to lose most of the rest of its games? I know it’s no easy task to tank below the Suns but we have more to lose finishing at 13 or 14 than they do. This team, and ownership, doesn’t deserve backing into the playoffs only to lose the play-in and sacrifice an opportunity for a good draft pick on a lower salary. This would be instead of picking up a mid-level exemption player who doesn’t make the team any younger. If I’m right about the standings (and Miami is only 1.5 games behind), I fail to see the value in making an effort to win more than 1-2 games.
I’d say many of us here agree with your assessment. The Kings do not benefit one bit from winning another game this regular season. They are not catching the 8th seed and at best will finish 9th, which would still require 2 play-in wins for the privilege to get smoked by OKC in round 1. It’s pointless. A first round pick is far more beneficial to the team’s long term success
The 16 teams that make the final field of the playoffs get picks 15-30, in order of their l-w record. The 14 teams that do not make it past the play-in are the 1-14 picks, again based on l-w record.
So that would be correct? By falling below two teams beneath the Kings in the standing would put them at the 12th spot? Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Yes, the front office has no brains.
It’s all starting to make sense. Matina Kolokotronis is a zombie.
I’m with you. I’d prefer they lose the next few games so they can mismanage another draft pick.
But there are some good ISO guards in this draft!
As long as they’re not taller than 6’2″ and can’t shoot.
I’m not worrying about what the Suns do. They’ve got too hard a schedule to bank on them winning much the rest of the way. I’m watching Orlando, Chicago, and Miami. We just need two of those to pass us and we’ll be in the bottom 12. The Magic are almost there. And I know the Heat and Bulls are 2-3 games behind us right now with only seven games left. But they both have very winnable schedules the rest of the way, as opposed to us. Plus, those three teams are all fighting to get the best position possible in the play-in, along with the Hawks. Things could bounce our way to retain our pick, even though one of those three teams will get ‘disqualified’ from being compared with our record once they make the playoffs through the play-in. Then just pray to avoid the Kangziest luck ever by having someone pass us up in the lottery draw to knock us out of the bottom 12. (Or does draft order due to the lottery even affect the stipulation for us being in bottom 12 league records per the Hawks pick?)
Well, Pizza Guy Emeritus is locked in as coach now. Mike Bibby signed with Sac State.
A kings loss followed by a Blazers win against the Raptors on Thursday will put the Blazers 2.5 out of 10th. With 6 games left
Hoping for a miracle.
Sporting News suggested Sabonis trade to the L*kers for Knecht, First Round Pick and spare parts. I think that’s a terrible get for a perennial fringe All-star. Especially pairing him with Doncic – which would be a fun offense, but make me sick..
Curios what others would think of that return?
Very hard pass.
I regret that I have but two middle fingers to give to this trade idea.
Badge Legend