Welcome back to Chainmail! Oh boy, what a week it has been in the Kangzdom. Let’s review, shall we?
- The last few days have been filled with a flurry of trade rumors, smokescreens, outright lies, and everything in between.
- According to multiple reports, Sacramento’s plan is still to push for the playoffs, or at least the consolation prize of the play-in tournament. The term “mandate” has been bandied about quite a bit.
- Monte McNair shared that there are no plans for a multi-year rebuild or retool in an interview with 1140 KHTK.
- De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton are off of the table in trade talks unless they aren’t at some point.
- Domantas Sabonis and Ben Simmons are the primary targets of Kings General Manager Monte McNair (unless he can’t make the trade, then the Kings were never interested and they should be praised for maintaining future flexibility)
- Jerami Grant has also been linked to the Kings, as has Tobias Harris
- Tyrese Haliburton is currently in health and safety protocols. Other than that, the Kings are fully healthy at the moment.
- After picking up a quality win over the Los Angeles Lakers and taking care of business against the floundering Houston Rockets, the Kings have lost back-to-back games against the Rockets and the Detroit Pistons, including blowing a nine-point lead with two minutes to go on Wednesday evening.
- The Kings have lost 11 of their last 16 games. Those losses include the aforementioned Pistons and Rockets games, as well as getting beaten by the Hawks when they were missing Trae Young, the Blazers when they were missing both CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard, and the Dallas Mavericks when they were missing Luka Doncic and several other starters.
- The Kings are now 12-18 under Alvin Gentry.
- The Kings are on pace for 31 wins and 51 losses.
You know the deal. Hit us with your questions, and we’ll answer.
What question is even left to ask about this team?
That’s it. That’s my question.
How do you all keep doing it? The writers on this site are amazing. You all continue to write outstanding previews, recaps, interviews, podcasts, etc all while not falling into the pit of apathy many of us have found ourselves in. So seriously, how do you all keep doing it?
Oh…and please don’t stop.
I know! It’s like if your profession is to cover this team day in and out, how do you sustain this type of mental trauma?
It’s gotta be those fat paychecks…oh wait, damn. How *do* you guys manage?
https://twitter.com/MattGeorgeSAC/status/1484053361502474240?s=20
Well good thing he’s got his first child to distract him part of the day and night haha
We sure don’t need Luka now, do we Matt?
So, I guess we know in which stage of grief Matt is.
If this team has proven one thing over the last two and half seasons they’ve been together, it is that they are not talented.
What? They are so very talented they are making a run at the play in. Now that’s talent.
No reason to rebuild
Matt George is terrible. A part of the problem. All these years ignoring the obvious. Being a mouthpiece for the organization (or so it seemed).
Media needs to question these idiots and he’s not doing the job. He stinks.
Open your eyes Matt. A little late, dude.
This.
TKH writers and this community of people are the ONLY reason that I’m still following the Kings in any capacity. I love making jokes and making of fun of how bad this organization is with all of you, while at the same time getting deep-dive basketball analysis.
Come to think of it…we are only three months away from TKH’s two year anniversary.
i’d give this comment 100 thumbs up if I could (and maybe 1 thumbs down if i could do that just because its TKH and somebody has to do it)
Seconded. I truly am apathetic to the Kings to these days but still come to read the articles and skim the comments. Truly grateful to the guys that work so hard to keep this website running when it sometimes feels like nobody would notice if we all just stopped talking about the Kings.
And credit to those who write comments from which a casual fan (such as I) can learn basketball.
WOW
Logged in to agree. The coverage here is amazing. The commentariat is amusing.
If you had to imagine one move (trade, coaching hire, FO, ownership, etc) that would make you finally say, “I’m done,” what is that move and how likely do you think it is to ever happen?
Lmao, so good. I was rooting for them to bring back CoJo, George Hill and Dedmon at the deadline.
Vivek fires Monte and Gentry, announces “This is not acceptable and only I can fix it. I am immediately taking over all GM and coaching duties.”
This is good. For me, they only thing that would be worse would be giving the GM job to one of his kids.
Time for the Vivek ‘go on’ meme?
He may have already done that. Aneel seems to be lurking/part of the deciders
Sad part is you likely aren’t far off because I am predicting this:
1 Monte Fired.
2 Kings announce Doug Christie as the next HC and sign him to a four year deal.
3 Kings announce they will conduct a thorough GM search.
That’s the order. This is the way.
I’m going to go the other way, with the same result.
The sad part is both are so plausible.
For me, it’s the move(s) they DON’T make this deadline: No trade of Fox, Barnes, Hield, Haliburton, or other so-called “core” (core of losing) pieces. If there isn’t a BIG move in the next few weeks, I am done. (For a minute, at least.) If the F.O. can’t see the urgent need to blow up this trash can and just try something already, why should I care anymore?
The Kings play-off push.
Play-in, not playoff
Are there any players on the current roster that are on the next Kings .500+ team? Any on the next 50 win team? Anyone in the organization?
Does Slamson count?
Slamson will just be laying at the end of the court snoozing when team ever reaches 500 or playoffs !🤣
I was gonna recommend that smaller, inflatable variation of Slamson but couldn’t recall a name
Monte wears the Slamson costume?
Disgrace to Slamson.
Scott Moak when he’s Gary Gerould’s age.
I genuinely wonder how old I’m going to be by the time the Kings are a good team again. I was 15 and was finishing my freshman year in high school when the Kings made the postseason in 2006.
Lucky you. I,m 78
for somebody born in 2022, how old will they be before the Kings hit .500? playoffs?
63
Can we get this on billboards around Sacramento and Atherton (since that’s where Vivek’s mansion is)?
https://twitter.com/j_sepan5ki/status/1484050617018454017?s=20
You can absolutely get it. Just call some billboard & media companies, and have your credit card handy.
The billboard companies actually turned down the last one. That’s why it ended up out on Hazel Avenue or something rather than Downtown.
I guess that means that the answer is “no.”
I actually saw the thing. This is how obscure it was. It was facing WB 50 but actually next to the EB 50 lanes west, eh maybe 500 feet or so, of Hazel.
If I didn’t know what it was, I wouldn’t have recognized it.
“Star” guard.
What new hobbies did y’all pick up during corona?
For me it is
(i) making sourdough bread (and eating);
(ii) preparing and drinking cocktails (I learned to appreciate Negroni’s); and
(iii) speed cycling, to lose some of the calories from (i) and (ii)
Probably watched more TV in the last two years than the previous ten combined. Watchmen, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, WandaVision, Loki, whole bunch of documentaries.
Picked my camera up again and made a photo essay of pandemic life.
Perfected a recipe for maple roasted carrots.
Found a knack for designing trivia quizzes for other people. That’s all I’ve got.
Oh, nice. Would you care to share it?
Depends on how willing you are to cook in Freedumb units.
Photojournal is easier to share if there’s anyone who thinks Portland burned to the ground a year and a half ago and is just a smoldering crater of anarchy.
Help a Dutchie out. What are Freedumb units?
Well, we measure temperature in Fahrenheit, length in feet, time in increments of football quarters, weight by increments of bald eagles, liquids by how much the average frat boy can chug before committing a party foul.
So for you to get the recipe right, you’d have to set your oven to 450 F and cook for 3 NFL quarters, melt 0.1 eagles’ worth of butter in a bowl, mix with 0.2 eagles’ worth of maple syrup (Vermont, of course, none of the Canadian commie crap), and then pour over 1 flag’s stripes worth of chopped carrots (cut to .38 caliber increments) before placing on a sheet pan in the oven.
President Camacho approves!
Maybe the Kings just need electrolytes.
Greatest documentary of the 21st Century thus far?
It’s got what KANGZ need!
I blame myself for asking.
wait…Portland’s still there?
divorce.
I heard it gets boring after 4 times. Is that true, Marty?
I learned to make Cosmos!
Bought too much Vodka and Cointreau, etc…..so now I’m having to make Cosmos every day just to get rid of it all.
I know people are going to dislike this, but on a sunny day try adding a splash of 7up, ginger ale, or ginger beer to your Cosmo.
I’ll try it, thank you, BHE!
And I liked your comment. There’s no dislike button anymore, so no one can dislike it.
I’ve been learning piano (finally), got my teaching credential, and earned a Masters in educational innovation.
Yeah, impressive, but can you make a Last Word?
Ehhhh, I could back in “Bartending School” in my early-20s. Those Prohibition era cocktails (Last Word, Sidecar, Gin Rickey, Bees Knees, etc) got really big around that time. But don’t think I ever actually made one in a bar setting. Back then at least, most bars in SF didn’t stock green Chartreuse. Just the yellow stuff for some reason.
How long can any player – even stars like De’Aaron Fox – keep playing for the Kings without getting beaten down by the losing and culture? How different would Fox look in a different environment?
The answer is four years, in Fox’s case.
“Star” like Fox
“He’s 207th in VORP, 149th in BPM, 71st in PER, 223rd in WAR, 220th in RAPTOR, has a .408 career winning percentage, 0 playoff appearances, and 0 individual awards in 5 seasons. So when you ask me what makes Fox a star, I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
If the 5 Stages of Grief in order are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, where do you think the fan base currently sits? I’m going somewhere around exiting depression, entering acceptance. Also, is acceptance irreversible?
I only do anger and acceptance, which is a real timesaver.
I’m a Bengals fan. I can do sixteen years standing on my farking head.
That is an amazing life hack.
I’ve created a 6th stage: Popcorn-consuming bemusement.
Why does this site have idiots who make these ridiculously long comments?
Is idiot the most tiresome, overused word of all time?
Well, Pook, there are a number of theories on that. I will begin my seventy-two point explanation with a key to the numbering and lettering system I’ll be using for paragraphs, subparagraphs, sentences, subsentences, footnotes, addenda, witty bon mots, and vaguely anti-vaccine parentheticals.
1.
(a)
I can do with some witty bon mots. Hit me Sims.
I. HAVE. NOTHING.
Are you also going to have twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence?
High irony
Highrony!
Mashups > non mashups.
Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick
Malone’d
how long is McNair’s leash since he was hired to push for play-in with the current group but failed to do so in back to back season? And is he fit for the job if this ownership group wakes up and realize a proper rebuild is the only way to do it?
Green light turns to Red with no caution soon for Monte ! The dismissive little chap will then find another rookie GM to put out front !
This is like a fortune cookie written in the Ozarks.
Why do all radio sports hosts have to preface any critique of a Kings player with “You know I love ______, he’s been nothing but a good teammate and member of our community, but ________”?
I’ve listened to KHTK’s new afternoon host, Nick Cattles, a few times. Breath of fresh air, if for no other reason than he is not a Sac native and is willing to talk about the Kings more objectively. Last week, he (rightfully) mocked the “push for the playoffs” mentality, calling it out for the pathetically low bar that it is. If your ultimate goal is to make the playoffs, you will never, ever compete for a championship, which is the entire point of participating in the NBA season to begin with.
Not a fan and much prefer Jason Ross !!
Jason’s a great guy and very professional, but I have to say, he’s just “too nice” to anchor a show. He equivocates way too much, and qualifies almost every one of his stances/opinions by saying things like “well, I understand that [x], and also [x], so you know, I totally get it, but I guess I think I might think [y], but I could totally be wrong, and so take everything I say with a pound of salt.” Etc, etc. It’s just not his style to be direct and assertive, and for better or for worse, that doesn’t make for very compelling radio, especially when the hometown team is a legendary level of awful and deserves to get shredded unequivocally at every turn.
It’s important that you bear in mind that people on the radio are not our best and brightest.
And not terribly good-looking, either.
I will ask once again, and this time I expect an answer: Kangz, or KANGZ?
This is an unofficial answer, but I’d say the use of either is conditional.
For example, if the Kings come out flat against a mediocre or bad team, get behind, stay behind and lose? Kangz.
For games against the worst teams in the league that are just given away, such as last night’s contest? KANGZ.
I make a motion to approve.
Seconded. Andy nails it. Or is it NAILS IT?
This is an unofficial answer, but I’d say the use of either is conditional.
And in either case, it would be “nailz” it.
Does anyone on here own the domain Kangzherald.com?
I know this current roster could make Gregg Popovich look bad, but I do still believe NBA coaching maters. Assuming significant roster changes, how much impact will this off-season’s coaching hire make, in your eyes?
Any names that come to mind for us to hope for (before we have those hopes dashed)?
Kenny Atkinson is a guy I like. But, I believe he would be far more effective with rebuilding a young team. As opposed to taking over a team full of vets.
Stotts? Someone who has taken a team with 2 good players and a bunch of crap to the multiple playoff seasons.
Probably there will be little impact? I mean if they hire a coach with the potential to make an MVP out of a mid second rounder or a coach who might even get a couple of second or third place COY votes, Vivek is likely to fire him fairly soon. Again.
Can we get relegated to G league?
That should be written into the next CBA agreement
You want the team to lose more?
Spain? China? India? WHERE DO WE NEED TO GO TO WIN?!
The Kings would be playing in the local B level rec league within a few years.
I see 2-3 wins in the next 10 games. This team will make a few minor moves at the 11th hour. Believing, the 2-3 role players are the difference. Much like the last decade and a half. Monte and his lack of foresight(“Lets play with pace, Lets build around Fox and Hali, We don’t need wings, stretch 4’s and Bigs, Lets just build a team of guards and a bunch of mediocre bigs)
it won’t matter at that point. Kings will be 16-18 games below .500 by Feb 10th. Clearly out of any playoff scenario and probably out of the play in option. I see the Blazers playing hard with Mccolloum and Simons leading the way. Spurs never tank. They will play hard to the end, and even the Pels don’t have a tank attitude yet. Only OKC and Hou are considered Tank Teams in the West at this point.
Monte will believe these integral role players he signs or trades for are the missing piece towards the 5th seed. Fooled again. Kings will win 33-36 games and enjoy the 10th pick in the 22 Draft.
Hamster Wheel offseason again. Monte fired, Another GM search, Another HC search. Same BS 16th year.
If this is the plan then screw it, go all in. Who says no?
Fox and some draft capital for Sabonis
AND
Hali, Barnes, Buddy, Bagley, and this year’s first for Simmons+Harris
Defense:
Offense:
We’d be desperate for shooting and an upgrade over TD. We’d also struggle against the giants of the NBA, but against most lineups this defense may be pretty good? Simmons and Davion have clamps, Harris and Sabonis are passable. Could work? Could be an extremely versatile and positionless basketball that embodies the modern game, helps us win now AND later. It simply may be crazy enough to work. What do y’all think?
I kind of like it. I would rather see Simmons at the 4-5.
I would rather keep Hali and TD.
Trade for Tobias, Simmons and Robinson/Yurtseven from Miami for Holmes/Pick 2023
PIck up Rodney Hood and Goran Dragic who are bought out by their respective teams.
Hali/Davis/Robinson/Tobias/Simmons
Bench: Davion/Goran Dragic(Buy out signing), Rodney Hood(Buyout), Metu, Yurtseven
I would actually like to just blow the whole thing up. Accumulate draft capital and young assets. But, I don’t think this ownereshizzle will ever be that smart.
I also am in favor of a slower rebuild via draft capital and cheaper, younger talent but with this trade it kinda feels like trading a giant pile of garbage for two 25-year old all-stars under contract for the next several years, and complement each other’s games. You can do much worse.
What is your opinion on buying used shoes from a thrift store?
The underwear is a better deal.
True! Plus it may have belonged to someone famous!
Like the guy who murdered all of those male prostitutes at a truck stop along I-5.
OT: LOL
https://twitter.com/KyleNeubeck/status/1484259050040836097
This is wild.
https://twitter.com/btoporek/status/1484258424888217605
So, Monte getting Buddy Hielded again.
And I’m sure that those deals are so lopsided in Morey’s favor that his computer slides off of his desk every time he thinks about them.
Hali, Fox, and 50000 unprotected first-round picks.
Community seems hyperbolic and always on a crusade for the next thing. Prior to walton getting fired it was him, now we seem to have moved on to other things, but it seems like there is always an obsession with something in how the org is run and unending/ unrelenting depression. I mean I can almost guarantee the same 3 comments will accompany any story regardless of topic. Either “We need to trade players as of yesterday and Monte has failed because he hasn’t done this” or “Vivek is the root of all evil in the world” or “we must absolutely tank, tear down and rebuild! Even a blind Muppet could see this! How have we not done it yet”. I don’t understand why it always has to be that way. Perhaps you can explain it. Do people just enjoy being negative? I mean there is a lot of negativity here in the comments more so lately than usual. Look the kings aren’t winning a lot right now and I get that is disappointing but why so hyperbolic about the whole thing? People seem to go to extremes to hate on the team sometimes when it doesn’t really seem necessary or even on topic. Maybe you could explain why that is.
What comes first…the chicken or egg?
Have you watched this team? Have you noticed an owner crushing this team?
Have you ever thought-it’s not negativity it’s pointing out reality?
pretending that everything is A ok? That’s the answer?
You are welcome to celebrate things like Terrance Davis’s career high 35 pts last night. Most people are more concerned with the overarching ineptitude at nearly every tangible level
If you want to support a winning team than reality dictates a good measure of negativity ! Writing about a 16 year loser makes negativity a fact !
Welcome to TKH, Vivek! The water is warm!
How much worse could the Kings be if they had just kept Walton as coach?
Would hiring of coach Lasso motivate players and bring the apathetic fans back to give a f*ck about this team once again?
Why do I even watch this dumpster fire of a team, and because I’m here ranting about it, do I need counseling or something?
Assuming the report that Sacramento wants to build around Halibuton and Fox is accurate – Can you give me a few potential free agent targets that you would be excited about joining them?
Is this a trick question? There are no free agents that want to come to this dumpster fire. Kings would have to overpay a far past their prime vet to come to Sac. See: Z-Bo and George Hill. The only ones will be fringe NBA players and vet-minimum guys.
Seems like a lack of imagination.
It’s the Kings. They’re ALL trick questions.
According to Hoopaddict.com, there are 350 Div 1 basketball teams with 5,522 players (of whom 4,589 are on scholarship). Given the 5 seconds I checked, (350 x12) this would seem to be just the # of male athletes.
Assuming that on average, 1/4 of these are graduating or eligible for the draft each year, this would be around 1,250 potential rookies each year (figuring there might be some good walk-ons that don’t get scholarship so I went deep into statistical analysis and rounded to 5,000 athletes and divided that by 4).
Of these 60 get drafted in the two rounds of the NBA draft, leaving 1,190 new potential players each year.
Let’s say we created a team from the last 2 years of these ‘left over’ players who were desperate to play and added the best NBA coaching staff so we had solid coaching and players eager to learn and work/play as hard as humanly possible so they could stay in the league.
How much worse would this team do than our existing Kings roster and which team would you rather watch on a nightly basis?
It would be much worse–in contention for worst record in NBA history. It would also represent an upgrade in strategy from the front office. The team could conceivably be in a better place in 3-4 years by adding several high draft picks to a roster of well-coached role players.
One could argue that building a 30-ish win team is the easiest thing to do. It takes neither skill nor guts.
I believe that McNair has said that tanking is not an option, despite the reality of this team, its lack of leadership, and its coaching. If the front office remains inflexible about this view, then how else can we see it than as a failure of management (and ownership)?
That is, for reasons other than the game of basketball–enticing fans, whatever–the Kings are going to try to make the playoffs no matter what. Honestly, how dumb is that?
Why on Earth is the F.O. apparently NOT eager to trade Fox? He’s on a max contract and is not playing like a max player; he has been the de facto leader of this team for the better part of 4 seasons and has taken it nowhere; there are continual whispers/rumors/etc about his inconsistent drive and work ethic, which is probably at the root of the entire team’s inconsistent drive and work ethic, given that he’s the leader; and he couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn if you sat him on the horse. “But he’s the best player on the team” doesn’t mean anything– the team stinks, and he’s part of the smell. Right? Right?
just for fun… Like you said max contract, yet not living up to it. so his value is low right now.
selling low is not how you become a billionaire.
All I’ve ever read are puff pieces about his work ethic and drive. IG posts about his bodacious pecs. Can you point towards some of these whispers and rumours, I would read that.
Honest question: How many NBA GMs do you think are eager to trade their best player?
Gentry is right on schedule. His record with the Kings is 12-18.
Perfect .400 ball.
almost as good as Luke’s .422! We let a goddamn basketball genius slip away, right through our fingers…
Is the org serious about trying to make the playoffs this year, or is it just a ruse to try to placate the fanbase? It’s hard to believe that anyone could be stupid enough to think this team could make the playoffs this year.
I’m sure the org would LOVE to make the playoffs this year. They’re very serious about it. What I’m not sure of is if they’re willing to do what it will take to make it happen. I actually had a talk like this with my class today. The difference between wanting something and actually being willing to do what it takes to make it a possibility.
Is there really a path for them to make the playoffs this year, though? If think a multi-year path would be more realistic.
Sure. I mean, they’re 1.5 games out of the play-in. There’s clearly a path. It isn’t really even unrealistic. Now, I’m not suggesting that I think they should sacrifice the future to chase the 10th seed or that the 10th seed is even any sort of accomplishment.
A few questions:
Barnes for Patrick Williams and Derrick Jones jr.
It seems almost impossible for Kings to be this bad for this long. How can the Kings manage to go from imbecile to imbecile in the coaching ranks, incompetent GM’s one after the other, and now progressively worse ownership?
Who knows when the pendulum will swing in our favor, but I don’t see this pattern ending anytime soon.
Here’s a trade that might work.
Kings give up Holmes, Barnes and Harkless to the Wizards for their Bertans bad contract, Montez Harrell on an expiring, Rui Hachimura and Avdija.
We get two good young players, Harrell for this year and take on Bertans unfortunate contract who does have some value providing a little shooting off the bench.
The Wizards have Gafford and a returning Thomas Bryant so they may not want Holmes.
I’ll concede that this trade would work very well fork one team, but unfortunately, the other would laugh itself to death.
I received a call from a recruiter this week about a job in Phoenix. Man, that city is way too hot for me, I could never live there. If you had to move to a different city for work, somewhere pragmatic, where would you go?
I’m not sure what’s pragmatic for you, but:
In The World: New Zealand or Portugal
In North America: Vancouver, BC
In the US: Seattle
In the US with a lower cost of living: Raleigh, NC
Take your shirt off, twist it ’round your hand
Spin it like a helicopter
Raleigh is a great one, used to live there. NZ and Vancouver are EXPENSIVE but I agree, if you can swing it.
I should note, that was TJ Warren era Raleigh. He was dominant in college, super fun college games.
We came pretty close to moving there last year chasing a job for my wife. There are very few positions across the country at her level. Fortunately, the same position became available for her at her current place so we were able to stay. But I was into the idea.
Not Seattle ! Becoming a crime, homeless hellhole !
Crime is down all over the country. Just say no to copaganda.
Eastside is not as crazy as Seattle – Bellevue/Redmond are much saner places
Violent crime is up all over the country.
Maybe it has something to do with extreme economic insecurity, the daily erosion of the social contract, and a whole bunch of people going into prepper mode in March 2020 and buying guns.
Seattle has its problems, yes. So do Sacramento, LA, Houston, Boston, Miami, Milwaukee, just throw a dart at a map of the US and take your pick.
Booooooo, nuance and perspective. BOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Look man, if you’re trying to steal my screen name, just ask.
I live in downtown Seattle, it is hardy a crime ridden hell hole, unless you work in conservative media and need a boogey man to keep your viewers afraid and clutching their guns.
Victoria, BC would be a good bet. Slightly more affordable than Vancouver, you’re on an island, and it’s in Canada’s only pocket of Mediterranean climate. Love that city, reminds me of Santa Cruz if it were the size of Sac.
It IS fantastic there. Though not all that much cheaper. I don’t know where LesJepsen is, but Victoria is probably still more expensive than the Sacramento area.
True. I was thinking more in relation to Vancouver if the goal is to be in the Northwest while still getting out of the US. I haven’t personally been, but I’ve heard good things about Nanaimo and Duncan as well.
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