Welcome back to Chainmail! It’s been a busy (and wildly annoying) week in the Kangzdom. Let’s recap!
- After winning 5 of 7 games, wait, tell me if you’ve heard this before, the Kings have completely abandoned everything that worked for them over that stretch. They’ve lost three games in a row, and they’re surrendering 124 points per game over their last four contests.
- The Kings are now a third of the way through their season and they have made zero progress from last season. In 2020, they ranked 12th in offensive rating, 30th in defensive rating, 24th in net rating, and 29th in defensive rebounding. This year, they rank 12th in offensive rating, 28th in defensive rating, 25th in net rating, and 29th in defensive rebounding. Cool, huh?!
- Alvin Gentry has messed with the rotations quite a bit over the last few games, to no avail. He’s started both Chimezie Metu and Marvin Bagley in Richaun Holmes’ absence, benched Buddy Hield and then overplayed him, and toyed with reducing Terence Davis’ minutes, despite him finally hitting an offensive stride this year.
- Alvin Gentry has also apologized to the fans and called his team’s performance embarrassing.
- Apparently, the Kings held some sort of players-only meeting on Monday night after a blowout loss to the Toronto Raptors in which they allowed their opponent to score 20 more points than their season average. Have no fear, though, De’Aaron Fox said Sacramento’s problems are stemming from a lack of sharpness, not effort. PHEW.
- According to Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee, the Kings have put in no calls on Domantas Sabonis or Myles Turner, because why would a talent-lacking team want to add All-Stars or Defensive Player of the Year Candidates? The good news is that the Kings have JUST begun shopping the package of Buddy Hield (a shooter who can’t shoot) and Marvin Bagley (he’s probably an okay bench power forward) in the hopes of snagging a good player.
- The Kings are on pace for 32 wins and 50 losses.
Why?
Host Error
Will we see any moves tomorrow?
Yes
Wow. Matina is really getting after it.
Oh yes I’ve heard this before. In fact, I’ve heard it every year for the past 15 years!
Rank the top five players on this roster 1-5, and then rank them if they were on the roster of the Warriors (NBA’s best record), the Griz (4th seed in the West) and Nuggets (8th seed in the West, and at the league median with 15th best record overall).
The top five players on the Kings?
Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance
Heh. I guess that flatulence, male-pattern baldness and Stockholm Syndrome failed to make the cut.
I took a very cursory and subjective look at it, and came up with Fox averaging out at 3, Holmes at 4, Barnes at 6, Hield at 7 and Haliburton at 8 (of course, the top five in and of itself is subjective and others may have a different list). This means that the Kings are only a #1 and #2 player away from being a viable NBA team. Where is the over/under on that? Three years? Five years? Ever?
It’s hard to do in a vacuum because I think a very good team like the Warriors, or even an injury ravaged team lik the Nuggets, could make very good use of a guy like Barnes and increase his value and performance. I feel he’s start on any of those teams you mentioned.
Simply put, I feel a lot of the guys on the Kings roster would be far better players on most every other NBA team.
I see your point, but I don’t see Barnes being better than (say) Jokic, Gordon or a healthy Murray or MPJ under any circumstances. So he becomes a better or worse version of Will Barton on that roster, a 5th or 6th best player, where he is a top three player here.
Agree that the players will be better on other teams…especially Barnes. Any NBA player benefits from a strategy to implement that players skills. The Kings have zero strategy. The strategy for Barnes on the Kings is simple….put him in and hope he carries the roster that doesn’t try.
Barnes on a real team is something that will be great to see. He has earned it.
Here is a crazy, earth shattering, extremely unlikely scenario:
Do you think the Kings have enough assets to make moves that net them one of Sabonis/Turner and one of Simmons/Siakam without completely selling the future draft assets and without giving up Haliburton and Mitchell? Everyone else is on the table. If Monte pulled it off, is this team a better team after those moves?
How would you blow up the roster and start a rebuild?
Asking for a friend.
“Defensive drills? AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”
The entire team too!!!
“I’ve been traded? YAAAAAAAAAY!!!”
It’s nice to see Buddy leading the defensive drill.
Be sure to include copious amounts of details!
What non-Kings subject matter should we convert this blog to so we can make better use of our spare interwebs time?
1. Lots of parking or cheapest parking?
2. Here’s a recipe for Vietnamese style chicken salad. I recommend adding some fried chow mein noodles as an extra textural component. Add that in separately so it doesn’t get soggy.
https://www.beyondkimchee.com/vietnamese-chicken-salad/
3. YouTube bballbreakdown. That guy is pretty good at disecting plays and actions.
Over at the Cleveland Browns Discord site we have a books chat, food and drinks chat, cars chat, nerds chat (about D&D and/or video games, I think), even a politics thread and a Humor & Memes thread, which around here would probably be called the Kosta and Klam Back and Forth.
So, has anyone read a good book lately? Preferably Fantasy or istorical Fiction?
But seriously, I think most here came to this community community because of the Kings, but stick around despite the Kangz. Lot’s to talk about.
Hmm…contemplating becoming a Browns fan so that I can join the nerds chat room.
I just got Mel Brooks’ recent autobiography, and it’s going to make for a delightful end of the year.
I ain’t found shit!
For fantasy, I’ve been reading Kings of the Wyld recently. For sci-fi, I’ll give my two “always recommend” series of The Expanse and Murderbot
Never really got into Sci-fi.
I wasn’t impressed with Kings of the Wyld. I am currently reading the Raven’s Shadow trilogy by Anthony Ryan which is a bit flat in character arch but still entertaining.
Other than being grossly overpriced the Murderbot series is awesome!!! These were books that I just could not put down once started.
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson is really good fantasy. I enjoyed the first three books much more than the newest ones in the series. David Garland’s runelords is very interesting. I only liked the first four books though.
What kind of sci fi do you prefer?
Yeah, Sanderson is good. But my favorite by far is Guy Gavriel Kay. Didn’t like his first trilogy but all his other novels are fantastic, IMO.
like I wrote above, not much into sci-fi, although as a teenager I had all the books by Jules Verne.
Yes to all except The Black Company. It didn’t impress me much.
And I will check out Dawn of Wonder. Haven’t heard about it.
Have you read The Broken Empire series by Mark Lawrence?
Oh, I loved Gabriel Kay when I was younger. I don’t think I’ve read anything of his since the early 90’s. Maybe you’d like Gregory Maguire’s Wicked series.
I don’t know if you’ve read Brent weeks night angel series. I enjoyed it a lot. Same with the magicians series by Grossman.
The Lions of Al-Rassan is my favorite Kay novel. Tigana is wonderful as well.
I know Brent Weeks, will check out the others. Thanks.
Over at the other site we had a whole thread about bands you have seen recently that you thought were either really good or were really bad or recorded music that you have either been listening too a lot or have recently discovered.
It was an excellent thread. I checked out a lot of the recommendations and there is music I still listen to today because of that thread.
My knowledge of the Dutch music scene begins and ends with Golden Earring but that’s just me.
I somewhat recently discovered Rodrigo y Gabriela. They performed a concert in Sac last September which was nearly sold out. Never knew they had that many fans in Sac.
Moby Dick has been a good read so far.
And a fine metaphor for Kings fans.
I’m half way through the Malazan Book of the Fallen series working on “The Midnight Tides” book. The author is similar to Frank Herbert in that he throws you into the middle of things and makes figure out what the hell is going as you read.
stock market investment
I guess you’re sort of asking what do we all have in common besides being Kings fans, to be sure that we’d all stick around here if we converted this from a Kings blog to something else.
I think we’re all gluttons for punishment.
So… a blog about gluttony and punishment?
So, the seven deadly sins?
Chicago Fire vs Zacharys?
Is Burgers and Brew the best Sacramento chain ever?
Now that we’ve fired the coach and had the “official” player’s only meeting, how long before a Kings player “officially” asks for a trade and who will it be? It’s the next logical step in a dysfunctional process, amirite?
Question for the next prediction contest?
Hoping it’s Fox
Why did Haliburton only take 2 shots in last night’s game?
I myself took 5 shots. All in the first half.
The next morning:
Hey Vivek
Vivek is the Mad Shatter.
“With the 7th pick of the 2022 NBA Draft, the Sacramento Kings (fans) select Jack Daniels, University of Tennessee.”
Can he play small forward?
He thinks he can
Q: Why do you persist with this when you seem to have moved beyond incisive analysis to what is often rather dull sarcasm?
Among other things, watching some of the more involved and vocal ping-pong back and forth on Hield’s value depending on the previous three games would be fascinating if it wasn’t so predictable and ridiculous. This is by no means a defense of his recent performance, but the disconnect between his status as one of the greatest volume shooters from distance, and “he can’t shoot” is too large to overcome.
Once you’ve devolved from reasonable disappointment in players or teams, to nothing more than active dislike? All of us, obviously, are masochists. I don’t see the results, or lack thereof, as deliberate, and they aren’t taken personally. There is no conspiracy to keep the team shitty.
Criticism is absolutely warranted, but without objectivity, it’s become hollow, and meaningless.
Since this will be responded to with the suggestion that I’m telling fans how to fan, let me clarify that I’m not talking to fans. I’m talking to columnists. You’re fans, too, and to the rest of the world, you represent the fanbase, since you have the megaphone. Total objectivity is impossible, of course, but if this is all you’ve got, you might as well dump it in the comments with my own idiotic takes.
Stop telling columnists how to column!
This is fair, and I appreciate the visual.
Fixed it.
Why do you continue to spend time reading and interacting on a blog that you seem to have moved beyond incisive analysis to what is often rather dull criticism?
I guess because it’s not a staff-wide problem.
Another fix.
Without sarcasm and snark Kings fans would perish from a buildup of toxic anger.
Also, why the hell don’t the Kings also attempt to trade Barnes etc.? To build around youngsters as they claimed they would? And Fox-they’ll never.
All signs point to these morons still thinking they have the makings of a good team without adding significant players and a coach.
The garbage you spew is just too much.
Objectively speaking, I think most here actively dislike your contributions to the site.
Yes!
I’ll let you know the moment that I begin to care about that.
It is obvious you don’t care. We don’t care either. Your garbage is more entertaining than the team.
I’m going to call that a win/win.
It will be followed by multiple lose/loses.
I will stay on Sims island! Real estate market taking a bit of a hit there today though 🙂
For someone who hates reading my articles, you sure love reading my articles.
Always commenting on your thoughts but he has nothing to say. Strange…..
They are, ultimately, content. I generally don’t look at the byline before I begin reading, but it’s usually fairly apparent when they’re your writings. I’ve seen you do excellent work, so I live in hope.
And are you telling readers how to read?
What about those of us who can’t read?
How are we supposed to learn how to read about how to read?
Maybe you and other folks, me included, who don’t hate every player on the team need to step back and stop posting as much. People are understandably angry at the team, but nothing you or I are going to say will make them feel better or change their minds on the team until the team actually becomes good.
There’s nobody who hates every player on the team, and the issue is light years from the idea Andy likes the players and people tell him he shouldn’t. I don’t dislike a single player on the Kings, except maybe Terrence Davis. I disliked DeMarcus Cousins, Matt Barnes and to slightly a lesser degree, Darren Collison and Ty Lawson. This team is plenty likeable, but they’re a bad basketball team filled with untalented players in a worse organization, and I would be happy to see any of them moved out for players who might be better (and not for the domestic violence trade discount), but I don’t dislike any of them. I can’t speak to other people but I’m certainly not going to tell you who you should or shouldn’t like or discourage you from posting.
35% so far this season, which is 96th among 156 qualifying players.
https://www.espn.com/nba/stats/player/_/table/offensive/sort/threePointFieldGoalPct/dir/desc
Fox is 156th.
Look at a guy like Cedi Osman for CLE. He is shooting 41% on six 3s per game. He is 60% TS%. He is playing 22 MPG and averaging a modest 11 PPG. Oh how glorious it would be if these were the numbers Buddy was posting! Our Ws and Ls may be reversed if Buddy was replicating the performance of Cedi.
Cedi is not on the leader board of 3s made but he is doing a lot more to help CLE win than Buddy to help SAC. In fact to the degree Cedi has been a positive force, Buddy has been an opposite and greater force to contribute to losses, in spite of difference in total 3s made.
Total 3s made
Cedi: 53
Buddy: 98
Ooh, lookie here, Buddy has made almost 2X the number of 3s as Cedi. Oh wait, it took Cedi 130 tries to make his 3s and Buddy a whoping 280 tries (10 per game) to make his!
Let me put more meat on this bone as a foremost observer of the misadventures of Buddy.
Buddy is not a lockdown defender. He is not a shot creator. His handling are below average despite a few dimes and modest improvement over the years. Buddy struggles in the mid range when forced off the line. Anytime he takes more than 1-2 dribbles, trouble abounds. He does not get to the free throw line and this was before the new rules that inhibit getting there.
Given the aforementioned aspects of his game, Buddy needs to be near 60% TS% to be net positive player. Then the good outweighs the bad. Average or tick above average effeciency from distance is not good enough. Since he is not getting to the line, not finishing at above the rim, limited in mid range, he needs to be near automatic from open 3 and make his share of contested 3s too.
If Buddy was more of a well rounded player, 36-38% from deep would be perfectly okay.
The disconcerting part of Buddy’s game recently is that he is NOT forcing as many 3s, and he is still Brick City.
He is missing good OPEN looks more than ever.
When we won 39 games Buddy was 59% TS%, then he got the contract. He was on the cusp of helping us to be a respectable \team. And he was on the cusp of stardom. He got the money with the hope this was launching pad to greatness. It was not suppose to be the high water mark of his career.
Since his best year, he has been 56% 57% and this year 53% TS%. Uh-oh, I see a trend going in the wrong way. Buddy has bottomed out as a player and no longer has former coach as a scapegoat or enabler, though the new coach has been doing some disconcerting enabling too. If he was going to reclaim or revert to his best self, I contend it would have happened when Fluke got let go.
I propose further his current slump is related to seeing TD outperform him before Old Man Gentry got cute and stupid with his lineups. The other streaky AF shooter on our roster found his groove and stepped up to be a star in a way Buddy has not done. This has led to more pressing and futility and is further evidence of his stagnation and demise.
It is not enough to dismiss criticism like this, paraphrasing as “repetitive dull sarcasm” because the critics like myself have a lot more than rhetoric on our side.
Buddy getting hot at this point is “fools gold”. I dont even want him to make shots because his horrible play has been so persistent and firmly entrenched only a new team new coach and new structure will grant possibility of a reversal, whereas in his current enviroment one made shot leads to irrational heat checks and try to make up for all the years of failure.
Even if proponent of said player, objective qualititve and quantitative analysis should lead you to want him gone too. It is not outragaeous teammates should start icing him out, like when MJ made his first All-Star team, and the players refused to pass to him!
If I am Fox or Ty, I am looking Buddys way then going opposite unless shot clock is about to expire or left with no other choice. If the coach is not going to inhibit the number of bricks through playing time, it is up to the players to exert control. Ham reported recently Davion had Buddy calling for the ball, saw him and took it himself. I love it! This is the esteemed record setter? He’s not even respected by his own guys!
We need freezing out of Buddy until the glorious trade is announced. The guy who yucks it up with the opponent following his teams latest thrashing is done in SAC except for the official announcement. This is not a player with the mindset or fortitude to reverse his long trend of regression unless forced upon him through change of environment, and even then the outlook is dubious.
And do we know he is “officially” turning 29 years old in a few days (12/17)? Because even with his improved conditioning from a year ago, he moves with agility and hops of someone 33-34 years of age. He lied about his age by one year, er “honest mistake”. Do we know it is not more than one year?! I am raising the issue not as accusation but something to think about because the lack of burst lateral quickness below the rim profile is prominent in his struggles and reflects a player on the wrong side of 30.
One more reason to dump the “elite volume shooter” for a bag of chips, or preferably with Marvin and 3 #1s for Ben Simmons!
To return to the comparison of Cedi, his profile is comparable to Buddy, sum of their relative weaknesseses and strengths. The difference is the illusion of grandeur, the aspiration to be the next record setting Curry or next Kobe, who also won by the way, instead of being a smart player focused on winning plays and playing within limitations.
Cedi could shoot twice as many 3s as he is shot, Buddy territory, if he was granted that freedom and set his mind to it. But at what cost and to what detriment to the team?
Isn’t the real differnce between a player like Cedi and Buddy not their respective skills, but their sense of entitlement and inflated sense of self-worth as players?
These variables have to be taken into account whether you want to further invest in this guy. Andy thinks there is a reasonable debate to be had about the future viability of Buddy but the debate is overwhelmingly one-sided. You would almost need a guy afraid to shoot and unwilling to honor his contract to entertain the idea of acquiring him. And even then you would probably need maximum number of unprotected picks to go with him to take the leap of faith.
The Kings have a bunch of home games in December. Besides not going, anything fans can do at these games to encourage ownership/FO to change things?
Does Sacramento Kings ownership get revenue from the Stockton Kings?
…Because I want to watch the Stockton Kings but don’t want to pay the Sac Kings’ ownership anything.
Finding a journalist to do some investigative work on the real estate deals surrounding G1C, and Matina and her husband’s possible role in them?
What were you doing when the seven-year shit storm first arrived?
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/544371444118196224
Happy anniversary…
Ah, only 3 GMs, 7 head coaches and 88 players ago…
“So Vivek, how does it feel being captain of this ship for eight years?”
But The Kings are on the cusp of massive success. Can you say Playin game….maybe, possibly…,, and I’m sure championship to follow.
The plan is working. Vivek really knows what he’s doing.
I often wonder if Vivek is ever embarassed at his constant, abysmal, face in the gutter failure at everything basketball related. What do you say to yourself every morning when you unfailingly believe you’re the smartest guy in the room, but the real world results show that you’re actually the dumbest?*
* (Excepting national politics of course, where loud stupidity is the best possible virtue and avenue to success.)
Yeah, it’s an interesting dynamic. You’re either the guy that has called the shots during this shitstorm, or you’re the guy that hired the guys that called the shots during this shitstorm. Either way, the decisions that you are making suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
Counterpoint – he has a shit ton of money and really doesn’t give two squirts about the product or consumer…or the downtown vendors that take it in the teeth when the team is this bad and people don’t come to the arena.
I imagine he is insulated by yes-men and ex-athletes who say what he wants to hear and blame everyone but him.
We all knew it was bad at the time, but I don’t know if it occurred to me that it would cripple the franchise for a decade. But you know me, ever the optimist.
I’m an optimist!
…The few times when things aren’t excruciatingly terrible and I’m thrown into the depths of despair.
I know sims – that’s why I read all your comments.
Thanks for being there, Beej.
Do you think they would remove fans for wearing paper bags on their heads during the game?
And for Kings fans, should they be plastic bags?
That does seem more in line with the nature of things.
Perhaps not if you tell them that you need them for vomiting in?
Could just call them Covid masks?
And truth is, a billboard campaign and maybe on line persistent protest, plus fans not attending games might move the needle but not sure.
Vivek needs to feel it in pocketbook and feel the pressure and embarrassment. Problem is, he’s not the embossed type. Massive Ego eclipsing reality
Just call ’em barf bags if you have floor seats and they’ll let you keep them.
♫ Kings basketball ain’t the kind of fandom to raise your kids on
In fact it’s cold as basketball hell
And there’s no one there to raise them
If you did
And all this analytics
I don’t understand
It’s just my job five days a week
A Vomit man
A Vomit man
And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time
‘Til playoffs brings me ’round again to find
I’m not the man they think I am at home
Oh, no, no, no
I’m a Vomit man
Vomit man, hurling out his nachos up here alone ♫
Still relevant
Can this be a t shirt design? I will buy one. Would you?
I saw some guys wearing them behind the NBC Sports set a couple weeks back. I am seriously considering wearing one tomorrow.
Nah, I’ve seen them at home games.
It’s the only way I’d go to a game.
Almost everyone can be traded away, we need to start the tank and actually rebuild from the ground floor. Fox is not the player to lead you to the promise land (playoffs), not with this group of individual players. Maybe keep Hali and Mitchell, but the best assets we have, Barnes, Holmes, Fox can be shipped out for draft picks and young talent. It’s rinse and repeat until we take drastic steps with this group of individual players.
Fox might be tricky to trade – he’s a 24 year old on a max contract. There’s a couple of situations where he would probably thrive (LAC, PHI, BOS), but most competitive teams are settled at PG and most rebuilding teams would think he’s too old & expensive.
Barnes, Holmes, Haliburton and Mitchell should be able to net a nice stack of moderately protected picks, though. Maybe Buddy too.
This franchise has not had the courage to properly tank, not even close. For me, I’m no longer hoping for it, and have accepted the fact that superstars are not arriving. We’re just a place to deposit NBA contracts and generate revenue for the league, so the teams that really matter can have meaningful things.
This org is where draft picks go to squander their careers away and free agents pick up easy money.
You know, it’s funny, but the Oakland A’s are basically the same thing, but they keep succeeding anyway, presumably because they have exceptional people running the show, who can succeed in spite of having one hand tied behind their backs.
The A’s are a business based on finding talent cheap then selling that talent. Kings rarely find talent and when they do they simply let it walk away.
Kings find cheap talent then destroy it.
kings find cheap talent, let it go, replace with expensive talent and then destroy the expensive talent
I don’t even bother watching the games anymore. I’ll randomly check to see what the score is, but that’s about it. If they end up winning, I catch the highlights on YouTube. If they lost, I just saved myself from being subjected to 3 hours of uninspiring bad basketball.
Kings fans hope for a better season this year ..
Question:
Will you attend a Kings game with your grandchildren when the Kings finally make the playoffs?
If you had to pick either of these two magical choices, which would you choose:
A) A team of all De’Aaron Foxes
B) A team of all Davion Mitchells
Which team would you bet money on to win more games in a season?
Is the salary cap an issue?
If not, I still go with the Davions.
Based on current level of play, the choice here seems to be between Jason Terry and Randy Brown, so (contracts notwithstanding) I would take a team of Jason Terrys over a team of Randy Browns.
Based on the thumbs up so far, it looks like Team Davion is beating Team De’Aaron by a score of 2-1.
…which is probably how a game of all Davions vs all Foxes would play out.
Why would McNair’s job be in jeopardy if Vivek ( the meddlesome owner) has the final say on all proposed trades?
Because the owner is the one who hires and fires. And the owner can’t be fired. (so the owner will fire others to shift blame)
But it’s still a good idea IMO to shame the owner regardless!
And one.
The owner is the one who gets to assign blame.
You’re Monte McNair and Vivek has given you the edict to blow it up ahead of the 2022 trade deadline. No one is untouchable.
What moves do you make?
The foundation of the roster has been shaky, and building/rebuilding/renovating on a shaky foundation is always an exercise in futility. Whether it was Cousins, Cousins+IT+Gay, or Fox+Hield+Bagley, the foundation has simply never been good enough. The franchise finds the first guy with above-average potential that walks through the door, anoints him The Savior, and makes every move for the next 3 years under the assumption that The Savior is going to be a generational talent–and he never has been. Tyreke, DMC, Fox, Bagley… their abilities range from Fringe All-Star With Serious Head Issues (Cousins) to Fringe Rotation Guy With Serious Dad Issues (MB3). It’s time to suck it up, embrace the playoff losing streak record, and knock down the whole house. Fox: gone for whatever you can get, ideally pick(s). Hield, Bagley, Barnes: gone, ideally for young and cheap talent and a pick or two. Davis: gone for scraps, because nothing’s shakier than relying on woman-beaters with mediocre talent. All other players except Mitchell, Haliburton, and Holmes (kept b/c they’re smart and make their teammates better): gone, gone, gone, gone. Coaching staff: gone. Scouting department: gone. Take out the damn trash already. If you end up throwing out some edible food along with all the rotten, expired, bad-tasting stuff, whatever. It may be edible, but it sure isn’t filet mignon. Tear it down to the studs, then dynamite the studs and call in an air strike. If I’m Monte, I walk into Vivek’s office and make this pitch. Ask for 2 calendar years to make it work. If he doesn’t like it, I hand him my signed resignation that very moment. I’m smart, I learned under Daryl Morey, and I’m not going down with this miserable ship.
Ask Vivek who he sold the team to.
I am looking to move everyone not named Rese, Davion and Holmes. Those are my best production/value/prospect assets.
Everything else goes.
You share my exact thoughts.
And I’d move Rese, Davion and Holmes for the right price. At the rate this organization is going, it will ruin these guys before it fixes itself.
Put another way, how many guys on the current roster can you see being here when the Kings legitimately make the playoffs (non play-in, over .500)?
Yes. They are also the guys that may fetch the best return, since they are still on rookie contracts or a very good contract.
Of course.
Well, the answer to that would be Rese, Davion and Holmes, hence my plan! 😉
I could see that happening if you could get anything of value for Barnes, Hield, Fox, etc. I mean, I could see a narrow window through which you land a Siakam or Ingram or Brown or Simmons for Fox (and probably picks), and if that enables Davi/Hali to grow and establish a viable backcourt, you could balance the roster and creep closer to relevancy. But if all you are getting is young players and draft assets, you might as well start from scratch and clear the cupboards.
We can turnover the entire roster, but Vivek will still be here, Vivek will still continue making stupid decisions, the culture that Vivek created will endure, and this will all start over again.
It’s kind of predictable!
I was noodling with a “watchability” scale for all NBA teams. Points for being an upper level team and/or having elite players and/or having young up-and-comers (Cunningham, Barnes, Mobley, etc.) and/or having a team full of young prospects and future draft assets.. It is as far from scientific as you can get, but I keep winding up with the Kings, Spurs and Pels (given the unsettled Zion situation) as the three teams that really don’t have a pot to piss in. The Pacers and Knicks are just above that, and the Wolves and Blazers clear this group due to KAT and Dame (and their market value), respectively. Orl, Det, Hou and OKC cans sure go either way right now, but they are more interesting than Sac, NO or SA, at the very least.
I think that is what eats at Kings fans more than anything else. The team is not good, and it has not embraced being bad. It seems so hell-bent on the artificial victory of chasing the 10th seed that the final product is not entertaining or compelling. I mean, right now this team is below mediocre, and there is just no one on this roster performing at a level to get fans excited about the future.
I don’t know what Ranadive’s involvement is today, but due to past transgressions the stigma and stink of his oversight will be present, at least until he hires a GM that is so strong and so highly regarded that there would be little doubt as to who is making the basketball operations decisions. But that guy (ex. Morey, Uriji, Presti) ain’t walking through that door.
Remember when Uriji was hired by the Raptors the same season PDA was hired by the Kings?
Fun times since then… 🙁
#2secondadvantage
I’m glad that you mentioned Ingram. With Zion-related news being bleak and bleaker, New Orleans might consider a reboot. Williamson may be elsewhere with his next contract, and the Pels haven’t had any real success with Ingram. Feels like he’d be an outstanding fit in Sacramento.
I’m all in on Ingram, not necessarily even as a player. I’ve been saying it, but this team needs some churn to see if it can win some trades and find a better mix. They have nothing to lose at this point.
I’d be all in on Ingram. It would take Fox and change and I’d happily oblige. A locked up wing all-star who just turned 24 for PG who can’t shoot and doesn’t seem to want to play defense? Yes please.
If the Kings could even package Buddy and Fox for Ingram on filler, I’d be over the moon.
Teams, depending on their goals might prefer Bagley over Hield. MB is younger, has an expiring deal, and could be a really nice piece in a youthful rebuild, assuming that’s what New Orleans decides to do. If he doesn’t shine, he’s off the books in the summer.
I had hoped that such a thing would take place here, but alas. No matter what happens, the Pels are going to sink or swim on the back of Zion, who has so far been unable to stay on the court, and isn’t generating much hope as he rehabs, or doesn’t.
It’s not worse than here of course, but whether ZW stays in New Orleans or not, that franchise could end up with two big handfuls of shit.
Agreed. The Pels are a team that I want to watch closely because I feel they are circling the drain, much like the Kings. Maybe instead of Monte pulling a Kangz the Pels pull a Pelz and trade in hopes of building around ZW and trade Ingram to the Kings for their misaligned pieces.
if somebody could trade their way from a red paper clip to a house (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/from-paper-clip-to-house-in-14-trades-1.573973) is there a way Monte could do the reverse?
Start with today’s roster and trade his way to end the season with draft choices and either:
(a) all rookies or
(b) no players left on the roster assuming that all expiring/non-guaranteed players are cut or waived as the final whistle blows in the final game
All while following all the complex rules of the salary cap?
Assume no trades are coming (because frankly they aren’t), where do you see the Kings record ending up realistically now that we are a third of the way through?
I could see a 3-15ish stretch ahead from the way they are playing and the upcoming schedule.
I don’t know if the data is publicly available, but I’m really curious how the Kings stack up against other teams financially. Do we know how many season ticket holders there are this year compared to previous years? Where do their ticket prices rank among the league? We all see the apathy and empty seats, so what signs are there of this hitting their bottom line?
From what I’ve heard, individual season ticket holders are dwindling. Ticket reps are pressing local business for ticket packages. Those local business then comp those tickets as a right off. Kings too are now comping a lot of tickets and also use those as a right off.
The fact still remains, all those comped tickets aren’t putting butts in the seats even though the Kings list them as “sold.” I’ve know quite a few people who have attended games this year for free because they got a ticket from a friend of a friend who works for some business in Sac that owns the seats or had them comped in some kind of partnership. And old work colleague asked me to attend a game with him on some tickets that were a kick-in for buying a used car from the Roseville Auto Mall. Smells of desperation.
Kings are currently 27th in attendance, reporting at 80% attendance. That’s a load of crap if you’ve seen how empty the arena has been.
I went to Costco in elk Grove, they’re selling two packs of lower level seats for every home game for 80 dollars. This is cheaper than what I paid for my season seat. So, the team is desperate.
As is their rite.
After missing both free throws against the Hornets, it appeared that Fox was smiling and laughing right afterwards. I know everyone reacts differently, but this made him look like he didn’t really care. Am I reading too much into this?
I took it more as a sarcastic smile (as in “I really effed that up”) than as a “I don’t give a sh*t” smile.
Why has Harrison Barnes’s defense gotten a pass this year? His defensive rating this season is 116.2, 440th out of 471. That’s slightly better than Fox (116.9), but significantly worse than Buddy (111.3) and Bagley (111.3).
This is a good question and it brings up a larger point.
I hear a lot of Kings radio/blogger/media folks criticize the team performance but when it comes to talking about the key players (other than Buddy) – namely Fox, Barnes, Rese – you still here only superficial analysis about their offense.
Our main guys should be held accountable for their individual contributions, particularly on defense, to the team’s poor performance! Local talkie folks tend to brush over these facts/issues.
Can we trade Andy Sims to Sactown Royalty?
love him (the person) long time.
but not his incessant contrarian posts.
I little fiber is healthy for the the site to make the stool pass smoothly. 🙂
i can’t stop thinking about the results of NOT making several big trades before the trade deadline. To me, it has to happen or the franchise is screwed. Personally, I’m completely done with this team unless major trades are made. There’s no reason to care. The vibe of the fan base right now is lower at this point of the season than it normally is which is already traditionally very low. To me this is do or die for management. A fire sale trade in for literally WHATEVER RETURN will be better then what we have now. The fans need something to give them hope to bring us back. Changing the majority of the roster is the only way. If the team gets “worse” which isn’t possible it doesn’t even matter. It’s still hope based around the unknown future of development and a new coach along the way etcetera etcetera. Hope is what this fan base needs and only many trades will get us there. Haliburton, Mitchell, Holmes all stay. Literally everyone else needs to be traded immediately. And it literally doesn’t matter if it’s for pennies on the dollar. Do you agree?
Can we trade TT? Everyday we learn more about what a garbage truck this dude is off the court!
What are your top 5 organizations in terms of ownership/FO quality?
Who are the 5 best coaches in the league?
Badge Legend