Today felt a bit ominous. With the Kings’ matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans scheduled for tonight, my mind immediately brought me back to almost exactly two years ago on March 11, 2020. The Kings and Pelicans were warmed up and ready to face off in a nationally televised game, as they were both in position to fight for a late 8-seed run. But then Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz tested positive for Covid-19 and the NBA came to a screeching halt. Today, we are hopefully marching towards the end of the tunnel of this pandemic, but I can’t help but feel some light PTSD with the similarities of the situation. This time, instead of the 8-seed, the Kings and Pelicans are in contention for the 8-seed’s ugly cousin, the newly debuted 10-seed, for play-in participation. Tonight was an opportunity to see which team wants this 10-seed more (or less?). Let’s see how they did:
Quick Stats
Outcome: Kings lose, 125-95
Sacramento Kings: 95 pts, 39.3% fg, 22.9% 3 pt, 68.0% ft, 20 ast, 38 reb, 11 to
New Orleans Pelicans: 125 pts, 59.1% fg, 37.9% 3 pt, 83.3% ft, 30 ast, 50 reb, 16 to
Well, if that’s what that 2020 game would’ve been like, I’m glad we didn’t have to suffer through it. The new Kings looked like the old Kings as we saw a lot of old habits resurface and a lot of defensive awareness disappear. This loss squanders nearly all of the Kings’ hopes of participating in the play-in tournament as they fall to four games back from the Pelicans in the 10-seed with only 18 games to go.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
The Good
- Core Score: The Kings got consistent play, effort, and scoring from their core pieces. De’Aaron Fox (25 points, 6-9 FTs), Harrison Barnes (19 points), and Domantas Sabonis (15 points, 14 rebounds, & 7 assists) all led the Kings in contributions tonight. It’s important that these three find a comfort in playing together and a consistency in production. Without consistent scoring from all three, the Kings will always face an uphill battle when it comes to winning games.
- Offensive Glass: The Kings were persistent on the offensive glass tonight, securing a total of 12 extra possessions. Domantas Sabonis used his agility advantage over Jonas Valanciunas to grab multiple boards in one possession. Half of Sabonis’ 14 rebounds came on the offensive end. Donte DiVincenzo was also really fun to watch – as a smaller guard, he showed no fear in crashing into traffic to try to gain extra opportunities for his team. DiVincenzo was able to get two offensive boards himself.
The Bad
- Secondary Support: While it was good to see the Kings’ three main players be productive tonight, it was equally as bad to see the lack of production from others. After having a breakout night on Monday, Trey Lyles got the return call to the starting lineup tonight. However, the result was much different, as he had just four points in 20 minutes. Justin Holiday also had a quiet night, logging just five points in 24 minutes. From the bench, Jeremy Lamb led with 12 points, but Davion Mitchell (4 points) and Donte DiVincenzo (7 points) had rough shooting nights, combining for 1-9 from the 3-point line. With how much this team still struggles on defense, the Kings simply can’t afford to have two starters finish below six points, or get minimal production from their bench.
- Soft Doubles: Brandon Ingram went full psycho tonight as he used his daddy long leg limbs to tear up the Kings’ defense. Despite some great individual coverage by Harrison Barnes, Ingram scored 24 of his 33 points in the first half. There were multiple possessions where Barnes played as good of defense as you could expect someone to play, and Ingram still managed to lift the ball over him and hit tough shots. As an adjustment in the second half, the Kings looked to send some double coverage to slow Ingram down. However, these doubles were often soft and by the wrong person. They often left CJ McCollum and this left an easy decision and pass for Ingram to find. The intent was there, but the execution was poor.
- That Dang Third Quarter: As we’ve seen so many times before, the third quarter is where things really got out of hand. After trailing by just four points to start the second half, the Kings fell apart down the stretch of the third quarter and went into the final 12 minutes with a 14-point deficit.
The Ugly
- Hot Start, Cold Middle, Freezing End: The beginning was so promising. The Kings started out HOT, shooting 5-10 from deep and with De’Aaron Fox and Harrison Barnes finishing in double digits by the end of the first quarter. And then it was all downhill from there. By quarter, the Kings scored 33, 28, 21, and 13 points, respectively. They were able to hang around through the middle of the game, despite their declining shooting, but by the fourth quarter, it was freezing cold on the Kings’ end of the floor. The most glaring stat from tonight is comparing the Pelicans’ 59.1% from the field to the Kings’ 39.3%. I need a hot shower after that ice storm.
- Transition Defense: As always, the defense was ugly. But the ugliest part of it tonight was in transition. The Kings not only got beat on primary leak outs and just getting outworked down the floor, but also in secondary attacks. Even when all five guys had made it back past half court, the Kings still stayed scrambled and out of defensive shape long enough for the Pelicans to make a few extra passes and get easy buckets.
The King of Kings
Since stats don’t matter in a 30-point loss, I want to give tonight’s crown to Donte DiVincenzo. I enjoyed watching him guard the ball on defense, get after loose balls, and crash the glass as if he rightfully belonged among the seven-footers. His hard work and fearlessness were a bright spot for me in tonight’s game.
Operation: M.C.N.A.I.R. Watch
Tonight’s chosen charity is Alchemist Community Development Corporation, a Sacramento nonprofit which connects local communities to land, food, and opportunity. Donate here if you are able, and be sure to notify Will via Twitter (@WillofThaPeople) or e-mail ([email protected]) so he can keep track of donation totals.
Up Next
Thursday, March 3rd @ San Antonio Spurs – 5:30 P.M. (PT)
I mentioned in the pregame comments that this game would say a lot about both teams. It sure did.
When do the players realize that the third and fourth quarters are also added into the final score?
Me next year rooting for the 8th seed’s ugly cousin while in my future Kangz’ Kurse onesie once the merch becomes available:
So . . .
How about them recent Wordle words? Wild, right?
Is Dutch a five letter synonym for party pooper?
I’ve never been so offended! I’m an American, we don’t do truth!
Hey, it’s been tougher since the NY Times took over!
That’s just an urban legend!
So we just need a good coach, get a bunch of players who play defense and can shoot from distance, and get Fox to play well a whole season?
How hard can it be?
I mean, it’s not that good 3&D players are coveted around the league, right?
Why go for wing players when you can sign even taller ones?! Get me another C!
My first comment is I love the Sacramento Kings and have and always will be a Kings’ supporter. My observation of last nights game. First half was good. We played good enough to win the game. The second half I will use an old term from when I played. Two words. We choked. It’s too bad the NBA relies so much on the three point shot. You make a good amount you probably win. You miss as of last night you lose. And yes you do have to play defense. You don’t have to be an all-star to play defense. But unless this team changes its attitude toward the game both as an individual and a team we are destined to go nowhere. In the movie Hoosiers at the end of the game with the outcome on the line the team is in the huddle. The coach doesn’t ask who wants to take the shoot to win the game. It’s the player who tells the coach”I’ll make the shot” That’s the difference in attitude this team needs. One other comment. Defernse is something a player has to buy into and understand how it will affect the game. I’ve said it before offense wins games and defense wins championships Last nght we had neither. GO KINGS!
Well, it shouldn’t be that hard to hire a good coach with a good plan for developing a system that optimizes Sabonis’ talent, to acquire one or two players in the offseason who fit that system, and to draft well. There are a lot of people in that front office.
You misspelled “that’s who they are”. 😜
Sigh.
Adelman also had by far the most talented group of players in Sacramento history. I think some of the other coaches we’ve had (Karl, Joerger, maybe others) also could have had winning seasons with those players.
It’s all about the players and nothing but the players and the evidence is overwhelming. The GM position is the single most important position in each organization because that position determines the roster and the best rosters win. It’s really that simple.
I partly disagree.
Yes, in many cases, talent trumps all.
But I have seen teams with lesser talent win regularly from more talented teams because they were better coached, played together and in a more coherent manner.
The Spurs and Mavs over Miami championships come to mind, as well Detroit beating the Lakers.
Having a good team is much more than just throwing a bunch of good players together and letting them play. Coaching matters.
Or let me put it like this; do you think Keith Smart would have had the success that Adelman had with the Kings? I very much doubt it.
I agree. Coaching has a lot to do with it.
You will noticed that Popovich considered one of the greatest coaches of all time isn’t winning right now. Why? He doesn’t have the players. The marginal difference between these coaches in reality is quite small. Look again at Steve Kerr and how dramatic his record has swung over the past few years. Lastly, fans once again are screaming for yet another coaching change as if it’s going to make a significant difference. Believe me it won’t. Also the coach we are likely to snag really won’t be much different than Gentry in terms of competency. You want to go young and find someone to grow with the team, I’m fine with that but 90 percent or more of a teams success is determined by the roster. Lastly, Adelman was competent like most NBA coaches but he had the best rosters in Kings history no doubt so therefore the best record. Also keep in mind we had coaches who failed here and had success elsewhere, Malone being one example and we’ve had coaches who had success elsewhere like Karl and failed here. The evidence as I said is overwhelming. Right now, a coach is about 15 on our list of priorities. The 14 priorities before that our each roster spot with the number one priority this next draft and number 2 is getting Sabonis secured long term or getting long term value for him. Everyone can say how much a coach matters and the truth is that within the competency level of the NBA, the difference is very small. The GM is another topic. The difference between someone like Jerry West and Vlade Divac is monumentally more dramatic than the difference between let’s say Kerr and Gentry.
Have you read the two first sentences of my post?
Having said that, Popovich has been doing more with less for years. He usually – with some exceptions – brings out the best in his his players and managed to hide weaknesses.
We can have a long discussion about what percentage of importance can be ascribed to the GM, players, coach and other matters such as chemistry, the medical team etc. Not sure that will lead to a de3finte consensus.
Bottom line, IMO, is that all these things must be good and working together to become good or great, and this organization has not have a clear defined plan that allowed all the parts to be in lockstep together.
We’ll see if that is changing. I hope so.
So let’s just come together and agree everything sucks.
Sure I’ll take your word for it. As opposed to, I don’t know, 30 years of experience being a NBA fan.
This team needs more talent AND a new head coach IMO. Both are necessary at this point. A new head coach could possibly get this group to 500, but not under the circumstances Gentry’s had to do it under. You don’t integrate 6 new players, on a road heavy schedule no less, and do so without having a perfect fit between your two main core pieces on top of that.
Whoever thought the playin was a serious possibility was crazy. I thought it was possible after the first two wins, but I wasn’t going to bet the house on it or anything. Because eventually teams get some tape, they figure out a few different ways to defend Sabonis and Fox, both, and away you go. Boom. Bad offense. There isn’t enough consistent shooting on the roster either. Outside of Barnes, there’s nobody you can go to for offense consistently. Other than maybeeeeee Terence Davis.
Uh, Rick Adelman’s resume is just a bit more than he coached good players. Just ask Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter, Buck Williams and a few Blazers he started his career off with. They had this nasty habit of winning 50 games every year. Sure, they did that before Adelman, but not as often as they did with him. Just look at Portland’s record from 1985 to 1995. Rick Adelman coached every one of those 50 win teams but one and that includes one season coached by some guy named Dr Jack. Who knew a thing or two about coaching.
The interesting thing about Adelman is that at every stop, every head coach who came in after him tended to be worse with similar rosters. That happened when he left Portland, Golden State and Sacramento. Even when he left Houston and Minnesota, they didn’t exactly suddenly find success without him.
Malone got fired when the Kings were 11-13 in his 2nd season. If he had 25 games to go with this roster, there’s no doubt in my mind the Kings would still be in the mix for the playin. He’s that good of a coach. I know his abilities to design game plans defensively is a good thing, he connects with players, and frankly, Vivek Ranadive made a bad mistake trusting Malone over D’Alessandro the way he did. It’s led to a number of other decisions that were as bad, if not worse, like hiring Vlade Divac to play peacemaker then run the franchise on top of that.
Despite how often I disagree with the more negative commenters here, I would venture to say that the area’s that this franchise has failed in is immense. Player development has been poor, utilization of assets (at least until McNair IMO) has been poor, the coaching was generally the least of the problem. Dave Joerger is, IMO, a NBA coach. I know Luke Walton is hated, but I think the roster responded better to him than they have to Gentry. And these are all area’s that despite where I may, or you may, or anyone else in the fanbase stands, tends to be a general area of agreement. There’s been lots of failure from lots of area’s throughout the organization. (Perhaps not the business side though.)
This off-season is a golden opportunity for the Kings to really improve. Improve your talent. Improve your head coach. Perhaps make some gains in player development (although that’s always more of a long term goal).
It’s not just ‘talent.’ It’s more than that, it always has been. It’s a complex puzzle that requires a lot of people to be at the top of their game in order to win games. It’s pretty much that simple to me.
Yes a better coach will help but only slightly ! It is a player, talent league ! Plenty of evidence ! Check records of Bucks, Celtics, Spurs after arrival of Kareem , Bird , and Robinson . Same coaches !
Well said.
You need to have conversations with Popovich.
He provided you facts for his position that you couldn’t rebutt with facts.
How many coaches are there available that can make a difference like Popovich? Not many, and not ones that are likely to come to Sacramento. If this is the goal, the Kings should take a risk and hire a young coach from the pros or college that has the potential to be a Popovich, instead of hiring experienced ones who have already reached their ceiling.
I really agree with your statement. There are a few coaches in the college ranks who would do a good job. Whether they are willing to take the Kings job I can’t answer. One of my favorite college coaches is Jay Wright out of Villinova. He probably would’t want to leave is job but their might be somebody who would. We need freshness.
I’ve thought about Wright, too.
Another misnomer is that player development has been horrible. Player selection has been horrible not development. If player development was so poor you would have seen many players leaving the Kings and succeeding elsewhere. It’s just not happening. Example WCS, Justin Jackson, Malachai Richardson, Papa, Mr bad knees, etc.
It’s easy to make statements but much more difficult to back them up. Lastly, it is mainly just talent especially when you define talent in the broader context. Talent includes the ability to take on various roles and integrate with other players, talent includes playing both sides of the ball, talent includes game preparation and performance consistency. A roster of talented players wins.
I bring this up because saying anything else really deflects the blame from where it should be. The blame lies with Vlade Divac and ownership for hiring him. If we don’t see measurable improvement next year add McNair to the list. It’s not coaching and it’s not player development, it’s player selection and Vlade and now to a lesser extent it’s McNair. Had we drafted Luka instead of Bagley you wouldn’t be complaining about the coaching.
Okie dokie artichokie.
I’ve made my points but you’ve yet to address any of them because it doesn’t fit your narrative. You’re welcome to keep talking to yourself.
I usually skip over your posts because they are long with not much substance.
Yep, I would say the same of you. Looks like I’m going back to that.
Honestly who knows whose call it actually was to fire Malone. Last time I checked D’Alessandro was back working with Malone in Denver and there hasn’t been any issues for the last few years (as far as I know). Also liked to point out Chris Mullin was an advisor around the time. But ultimately I put that on Vivek for consulting bad advisement.
It always worth remembering that. Kerr, Riley , Popovich have had 20 win or fewer seasons ! Also, Red Auerbach won nothing until Russell arrived ! Major stars far more important ! Remember Adelman was fired by Warriors after a couple of 30 win seasons !
Many good points and evidence there.
This talk and I’ve heard in many times that the Spurs somehow won with inferior talent is just uninformed hogwash. You ought to go back and take a closer look at those rosters. There’s all time greats on all of them.
Let me quote from a comment here above.
2017-18 San Antonio Spurs Roster and Stats | Basketball-Reference.com
Fair enough, that at least is evidence as you care to interpret it. Much better than the other rebuttals.
If you asked me I knew that was true but seeing it in black and white…damn.
Nobody wants to get stomped, but these losses are necessary so that no one in the Kings organization can possibly justify going into next season while tinkering around with bench vets. This team still needs real work. Get to it. This offseason.
This is an excellent point Spackler. I personally don’t care if the KIngs ultimately make the playin (and the playoffs), but I don’t see that having any high sort of likelihood. But if it kills the delusion of Vivek Ranadive that a new head coach isn’t necessary or more talent isn’t needed, I’m all for the losing.
Shit, if they trying to win, they aren’t going at it very well. Ingram could have possibly dropped 50 last night, and could have easily dropped 40. And, the story of the game for the Kings was how bad they were on offense despite the fact that there were good moments from De’Aaron, Domas and Harrison.
I didn’t watch the whole game, but when I tuned in late 3rd it seemed like a very familiar story. This team’s offense isn’t very good, and while the defense isn’t either, there just isn’t enough on either end to support the current mix of players staying togeter as is.
Obviously Fox and Sabonis will be back barring a far more shocking trade than the one that sent Tyrese to Indy. But after that? I can see any number of these guys being traded under the right circumstances and I’m having a hard time justifying bringing any of them back necessarily. Even then, there are certain guys I expect will be back anyway barring that very surprising trade.
I agree. You can’t win with 3 players. Look what happened the other night when Lyles scored 24 points. Bingo. A win.
Playing a NBA team with 2 or 3 legit NBA players doesn’t hurt matters in the W column, either.
Agreed on Vivek. While he was quick to make a change in his early years as owner, it seems that he has turned a complete 180 in the last few years, where it now takes complete disaster for him to OK a major move of any kind.
While I certainly don’t like any 25 point losses, a month of piling up losses will:
Upside of Vivek’s 180: It’s evidence that McNair, and not Vivek, is indeed calling the shots in the front office. The org’s entire personality has changed. I much prefer deliberate and thoughtful to scatterbrained, “fail fast,” “NBA 0.3” (not a typo) Silicon Valley-wannabe nonsense.
Yes! Hopefully they are shedding reality onto the Grand Illusion.
agree. The danger of a few wins now is that the organization thinks Kings are “just a tinker away”. Nope.
Moved 6 new players in and 3 are potential keepers: DS (obviously), DDV and Holiday. I don’t think either of the last 2 are high quality starting SG/SF in the NBA. Neither is TD but all can be bench guys. That leaves a hole at SG. And Kings need a PF- one who can stretch the floor, block shots and protect the rim and plays team ball- you know- the guy that does not exist at all.
HB is not a classic SF.
Hence, Kings are quite a few players short- have to hit home run in draft. and trade and sign FA.
IMO the draft weakens or gets murky after #7. So why beat SAS in a meaningless game?
Trey Lyles? his inconsistency moves him deep to the bench. Lamb can score, plays no defense and is not a 6th man type of scorer.
It’s really disappointing/pathetic that this team has the goal to make the play-in tournament (in itself somewhat pathetic), plays a rival in that race, and then to just roll over in the second half and lose by thirty.
I’ve been trying to frame all of this team’s problems in one single question, but I can’t seem to be able to get past ‘WHY???????’
It’s interesting when you accept the likely valid premise that only FO’s tank, but the players and coaches don’t tank…
Try attitude.
You’ve really asked the only pertinent question for this management. I can’t help thinking about that Styx song. Welcome to the Grand Illusion.
Starting Lyles the previous game was a nice move, but then he barely plays the next game? And what’s Holiday doing starting? We don’t have the greatest talent, but we rarely seem to have the right mix of players on the floor at any one time.
This season is officially a wash, looking forward to a new coach next season. And please Monte trade our vets, and that includes Barnes (and maybe our pick) for younger talent.
I have some ideas but I have a few questions. One is can Monty talk to a player he is interested in before the trade? He could use the phone but I would prefer face to face. If he isn’t interested in being a King then don’t trade for him.
I tend to agree with you on all these issues. Lyles plays scores 24 and we win. Coach replaces Lyles last night with Lamb. Don’t understand this at all. Holiday was supposed to have a really good 3 point shot. I haven’t yet to see it. Don’t blame this on coming to a new team.Coach needs to understand his players and sees during the game who is doing good and who isn’t. You don’t just sub to sub. On Barnes. Right now is the the third best player on this team and for the most part the most consistent, but his age does not factor on what Monty is trying to build. I have some ideas on trades but will take a couple of days to iron out the details.
Kings aren’t doing themselves any favors by spending two nights in New Orleans during Mardi Gras in the middle of a back to back. That being said, I find it kind of funny that the league would schedule a Pels game in N.O. the day after Fat Tuesday.
This is probably an aircraft issue. You’re required to check into a new hotel once you get to that city, or at least that’s the rules that I was under the impression of. In otherwords, the Kings are, by league rule, expected to check into a San Antonio hotel.
Who knows though. Maybe they wanted to stay in New Orleans because they wanted to gamble at Harrah’s or something.
Could very well be an aircraft issue, but I’d have to imagine after the coaches said, “Hey guys, we need to stay an extra night in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, so tuck yourselves in early because we have an early morning.” the players were like “good idea! Off to bed!”
It’s clear it was a plane issue. Like I already said, you can’t just stay the night in the citu you just played in and fly to the city that you’re playing in the same day UNLESS you have an issue like your plane isn’t working. Its a violation of the CBA travel requirements, I believe.
That’s interesting. I wonder why that is. Is it something to do with the host city wanting visiting teams to stay in theri city for local commerce? Or is it players not wanting to travel on a day they are playing?
Just curious, so does a team like the Kings travel and stay in The Bay before a Warriors game or do the players drive down there on game day? I’d imagine there is some kind of mileage factor, but team in the East are pretty close as well. Philly is something like 90 miles from NYC and 130 miles from D.C. I’m not familiar with East Coast travel, but do those teams fly from place to place that are that close?
It’s probably both. Guys like Barnes probably prefer to drive himself and stay at home rather than stay at the hotel the night before. Especially if you are coming back home afterwards.
But you also have younger players who are expecting to stay in hotels on the road.
Yeah it’s mainly so the NBA can say we bring ‘x amount of dollars to your city every year.’
That’s usually not a recipe for success and teams want to get to the next city if they can. Especially when it’s in a b2b situation like this one. I mean realistially it’s only about a 45 minute flight to San Antonio anyway. It’s not going to be that big of a deal. They were likely to lose tonight either way.
If that is the case then you are gambing with the King’s futurer.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Due to plane issues the Kings are still at the arena in NOLA. <br><br>Always good for a back to back</p>— Carmichael Dave (@CarmichaelDave) <a href=”https://twitter.com/CarmichaelDave/status/1499268047260979200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>March 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
For whatever reason, I can’t get the tweets to embed here.
Don’t use the embed function, just copy the URL address of the tweet and paste it.
Danke Adam!
This is great news, lets land a top 5 pick, rather than get a 10 seed and lose in the play in game!
Agree 100%.
The Kangz are dead. Long live the Kangz!
Agree. This is the second year in a row, we tried the cognitive dissonance strategy around the trade deadline. Yeah, we shuffled the roster quite a bit but did we position ourselves better for the future. TBD
TBD is a good way to say it. It won’t matter if we don’t get a good coach, and what good coach would want to go to Sac? Have to hit the lottery on someone.
Maybe a coach that wants a 15 million dollar job for 4 years and only need to work 2 😀
Not a coach. It won’t matter if we don’t get more good players.
need both! one without the other won’t do it.
Watching Sabonis, I still can’t figure out how the Pacers were so bad? Sabonis + a traditional C/rim-protector in Turner + Brogdan can’t have been that bad, right?
I think the issue with that group of guys was that either one or two of them would always be injured. They could never consistently have all three guys available at once.
I think that Turner wanted to be more fully formed and that he and Sabs were a little redundant, in the same way that Fox and Hali were a little redundant. Also, Brogdan has missed more than half the season.
That’s a good question. I didn’t watch enough Pacers’ basketball to answer it. There always seemed to be a narrative around Sabonis and Turner. In theory one was supposed to cover the other’s weakness and vice versa. In practice it couldn’t work. One of them had to be traded. Seems like there were no takers for Turner. Is Turner a low IQ player? If so, maybe the Kings should not have low IQ players share the court with Sabonis.
If so, maybe the Kings should not have low IQ players share the court with Sabonis.
“But, you already traded me fool!!”
Bagley was also traded. Those are easy targets. I’m just thinking about those glory years where nearly every player in the rotation had a high bball IQ. Sabonis would be able to play in that offensive system.
Turner is terribly overrated. He looks good in a uniform and is right out of central casting for the part but he really doesn’t translate to winning basketball. This mix with Sabonis is really not the point. If he’s a complete player, he works very effectively with Sabonis.
The matchup was a great look at just how much work needs to be done. Without Zion, the Pels still put the most upper end talent on the floor. Ingram / CJ / Jonas > Sabs / Fox / Barnes. And if Zion never plays another minute for NO, you can bet that they would get a nice asset or two in a trade.
Absent of some ping pong ball magic, SA, Por, Hou & OKC all have more draft capital than the Kings this off-season. One could argue that Memphis has more draft capital as well. This will make it tougher to vault or even stave off some WC teams, while others will remain out of reach.
I’m not really disappointed with the post-trade level of play. The personnel is just so different that it would have taken a miracle for everything to gel and this team be substantially better than they were before the trade. For me, this is a set of games to give Fox and Sabonis some time together, and to see how or if Barnes fits in the mix. Meanwhile, we are watching the best player to hit Sac. since DeMarcus Cousins. When you figure that Cousins was not fully formed while IT was here, Sabs / Fox may be the best 1-2 punch that Sac. has seen since Artest / Martin, or maybe even Artest / Bibby.
It is still a very small needle that the Kings have chosen to thread. With basically two seasons after this one to make Sabs / Fox work, I’m not sure that they can afford to draft and develop the third musketeer. It may take the trading of Barnes and the pick to get another Sabs / Fox level of talent, and that may not be enough.
Maybe the right coach could coax 40 wins out of a team led by Sabs / Fox (it would take some miraculously good health), and I think that level of play would buy the front office enough time to make its next move. But when the Kings go to camp this fall, this front office will have had three full off-seasons and two trade deadlines under its belt, and they have chosen a definite lane. Tick-tick-tick.
Vivek’s fast track lane.
I think we know enough about Barnes what we need is a better idea on what Mitchell can contribute. Playing anybody at his expense is a tactical/strategic error at this point. I also don’t really buy the two year timeline. One it’s not going to happen in two years for some of the reasons you mentioned and two we either have to sign Sabonis longer term or try to make a Haliburton plus trade for him when management gets the two year reality check. Also if the win total ticks up some next year, there’s much more to the story. Is that win uptick sustainable based on the age and contractual obligations of the roster along with the available cap space and draft capital. There really are no shortcuts barring major luck in the lottery. Of course a few years ago we got some luck and blew it.
I don’t sweat Mitchell as much, as he is either destined to become a 6th man or less. He is not the answer at starting shooting guard or starting point guard. The Kings need to address the top end of the roster before it begins to worry about complementary pieces.
I like Mitchell, but he is neither cause nor cure when it comes to making this team substantially better.
That’s very premature regarding Mitchell. Not to say you could ultimately be right but I think there’s a reasonable chance when you consider both sides of the ball he becomes a better player than Fox. Also, right now he is the top end of the roster after Sabonis and maybe Fox.
Right. He’s at the top end of the roster, and that is a problem. It is not his fault, but it is a problem.
Could he make an exponential leap? Sure. I think it’s more likely that his career arc is Patrick Beverley adjacent. A fine NBA pro, worthy of his place in his class draft, a fine complementary player for a team that has at least three better players than him on the roster. Your mileage may vary.
Which is exactly why a month of losses is the best way forward, giving us a top 5 pick v. #9 like last season.
Well, we’re not catching the bottom 4, so it’s between the Kings and Pacers for 5-6 and the Kings and probably Blazers for 6-7.
The lottery odds say to drop a position, so 5 favors a 6 pick and 6 favors a 7 pick. 42% of a top 4 at 5, 37% at 6.
It would be fascinating to see the Kings land a top 3 pick under the circumstances. I almost feel as that they would feel compelled to trade the pick, given the investment and timeline in Sabs and Fox.
Top 3 is out. Catching OKC is a slight possibility…Kings only are 2 games behind, and OKC has an easier SOS for the rest of the year. Would be interesting to see if OKC goes even more full tank during this last month (ie. bench Shai, Gidden, Dort, etc..).
OKC is on a pace to win 26 games – that has them going 6-14 over their last 20. I don’t see the Kings going 3-15 down the stretch.
I have the Kings clearing OKC by 4 games – they are 3 wins ahead of them right now.
That’s really not the point. We should be evaluating and developing the young players and especially Mitchell and I think Queta and Metu. Playing Harkless, Lyles, et al really doesn’t fit the priorities right now.
You’re correct. The bigger issue to me is who they are putting on the court. Let’s play Michell all the minutes he can physically handle and let’s take a look at Queta. Also, I don’t rate him as highly as others but DD is 25 so let’s get a good evaluation of him. I don’t need to see Harkless and some of these journeyman veterans anymore. Winning these last 18 games should not be the first priority right now
I like Mitchell. We all need to understand he is a rookie. At this stage of his game he is inconsistant in is play. Some times on offense, he is already a great defender who gets no calls from the referees,he can score 14 to 16 points a night and someyimes only 4or 6. On offense I would like to see him be more consistant and score in the 12 to 14 range most of the nights then he would have an impact on the outcome of the game. He is still a tookie.
I like Mitchell, too. And I think that projecting him for a Beverley-esque career is a compliment, and more than worthy of where he went in the draft. But I have seen nothing to this point to indicate that he can be a top 3 performer on a 50 win team, and that is what the Sabs/ Fox duo is missing right now.
I remember Jason Thompson taking so much heat around here, and the problem was not so much Thompson as it was that the was severely miscast. He was a guy that should have had ten year career as a bench big, but he wound up being a guy that logged big minutes as a starter for the Kings. That was not his fault, but he took the heat. I sure would like to see Mitchell avoid the same fate. If he put together a Bobby Jackson career that would be huge. And make no mistake, B-Jax was never a top three player on any of the Kings great rosters. He was vital, but not a top three.
I’m reserving judgment on Mitchell. I just said drawing any conclusions would be premature and that he is at the top of the roster. I didn’t characterize it one way or another if it’s a problem. I think the general lack of talent which is THE problem is the main issue.
And I think that it is the dearth of upper end talent. The Kings have had a lot of guys over the past several years that would be reasonable bench pieces. The problem has been that these bench pieces have been their starters.
Do whatever you want to the middle of the roster. Until you fix the top you’re spinning your wheels.
I think it’s been discussed around here before, but Sabonis really has no incentive to sign an extension this summer with the Kings. He stands to make a lot more money if he waits until the end of 2024 season and hits UFA. Kings would still have the right to offer an additional year, but that is about it. From that, that is where the two year window comes into play. The Kings need to make significant improvement for a player like Sabonis to want to stick around.
If you were Sabonis and the Kings were still hoping for the play-in in two years, would you want to stick around or chose your next stop and possibly chase a ring? This doesn’t even take into consideration what a disgruntled Fox may do in two years. 7 years with the same team and no playoffs??!! Yikes. Very few players over the last 40 years have that distinction.
Several good points there which is why I didn’t like the trade. It’s very possible we lose Sabonis to free agency in two years and like I said, barring some long shot luck, I just don’t see a dramatic change in two years. Of course there is the option to trade Sabonis but it better bring back something better than Haliburton. As for a disgruntled Fox, the fans have more right to disgruntlement than Fox and an off-season trade that includes Fox wouldn’t concern me.
I think the front office has chosen a course where they almost have to trade one or two first round picks to have a real chance to get better, assuming they don’t jump in the lottery, or score someone at 5 or 6 that should have been taken a 2 (which is possible, but can’t be banked on.)
I think the front office is looking at acquiring as much cheap shooting as possible, and then dealing Barnes with one or two firsts for a player one level up. Then they look at acquiring someone overpaid but talented (like Tobias Harris, but maybe not specifically him due to cap issues). Maybe if all those things go right, you get into the bottom tier of the playoff race.
I agree with this. I feel Monte is looking to go all in this offseason and land that 3rd star next to Fox and Sabonis. My fear is what it will cost and will it really make that much of a difference.
My hope is Monte gets a littly lottery luck and jumps into a top 3 spot and lands that third, and most importantly cheap and locked up, star via the draft. This would allow them to move Barnes, if they so choose to, for smaller more versatile pieces, like cheap shooting. Keeping Barnes with that top 3 prospect, regardless if it’s Chet, Paolo or Jabari, could also work just fine.
I really hope the lottery gods smile upon us once again, only this time we don’t fuck it up.
A couple of posts ago I said to you lets get together and talk Kings. I said I would buy the beers. It would costyou some travel time and a lunch but might be worth it. We might even have some fun. Reply here and I will forward details.
Hehe, will the lottery gods want to give the Kings another chance after seeing how they blew the literal “best-case scenario second pick?” 😉
You’re thinking like me. If we got lucky and got a third spot, that might keep them from making a drastic mistake. Paolo and Timme in the second round would be a nice haul.
You could be right on managements thinking in fact you probably are. Not the strategy I would be employing and just because you have Sabonis doesn’t mean there is a timeline. We just need to keep getting better and hopefully younger.
Just a morbid fact, I’m 78 and if we stay commited on the same timeline we are now doing I will be dead in a reasonable timeline before the Kings reach the playoffs but I will still be a Kings fan to the end.
“Here lies Jack. We’ll miss him more than the Kings missed the playoffs.
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And that’s a lot!”
Was I the only one who thought things would go south when Fox said that the Kings would make some noise in the last 22 games? Or did I just not understand that it would be a different kind of noise?
How many more times will these words be used for remaining games? 😀
You forgot the “ce” on the end.
Good one
Statistical analysis of NBA drafts by team:
https://pudding.cool/2022/02/redraft/
This is only through 2017, as they wanted five years of data, and it shows the Kings as the second worst drafting team in the NBA, and this does include the Petrie era. And of course, Vlade Divac drafted Marvin Bagley right after their data cut off.
“Watch this Lisa. You can actually pinpoint the second when the Kings fans’ hearts rip in half when the Kings took Bagley over Luka.”
Are you surprised by that. How do you think we got into this mess. We’ve had our draft chances and blew it.
I’m not surprised. Just passing along info I saw.
No Spackler, you were surprised! Admit it!
There are some head scratchers in there analysis. How are Willie Cauley-Stein, Harry Giles, and Skal considered “A” picks? Hell, Papa G got a “B!” According their analysis there were only 6 players better than WCS picked after him in his draft class? Just glancing at the 2015 draft class all of these guys were picked behind of WCS and all I consider better than him:
Myles Turner
Trey Lyles
Devin Booker
Cameron Payne
Kelly Oubre
Terry Rozier
Delon Wright
Bobby Portis
Tyus Jones
Larry Nance Jr.
Kevon Looney
…and that is just the first round
In the second round there was:
Cedi Osman
Montrezl Harrell
RICHAUN HOLMES
Josh Richardson
Pat Connaughton
Norman Powell.
Am I missing something in their analysis? What metrics are they using?
Methodology is here;
https://pudding.cool/2022/02/redraft/#method
I agree we’re awful at drafting, but Jason Williams is a D+? And WCS anything above D is idiotic. So far Kings are drafting well under Mcnair. it’s a start!
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