Please welcome our newest Kings Herald, contributor, Noel Harris! Noel is a digital journalist at the San Francisco Chronicle and a former Kings beat writer for The Sacramento Bee. You can follow him on Twitter.
Coming into this season, the vibe coming from the Kings seemed to be all positive. From what players were saying to what the team showed on the court, it looked as if it was all good in the days prior to the season opener in Portland.
Then yesterday happened.
If you’re a Kings fan, you already know, so I won’t go into the whole Marvin Bagley III news. But, in case you decided to sleep through yesterday because Sacramento wasn’t playing on the NBA’s opening day, our Tony Xypteras can get you up to speed on the situation.
The Bagley news notwithstanding, I still think there’s a lot to be optimistic about with the Kings. For this reason, I’m using my first post with The Kings Herald to explain why I think the Kings can finally break this dreaded postseason drought to play at least an 83rd game this season.
I know this doesn’t count in the grand scheme, but the Kings are coming off their second summer league title. Also, they’re one of five teams which just completed an undefeated preseason.
What does count is their selection of Baylor’s Davion Mitchell. Coming into this year’s draft, it looked as if fans were mostly behind taking Arkansas’ Moses Moody. However, the defensive prowess Mitchell has shown both over the summer and in the preseason is turning heads.
Mitchell for the Kings is a absolute dog on defense! I’ve heard stories but that young man is gonna be a problem! pic.twitter.com/6e9ZwKYYYT
— Channing Frye (@channingfrye) October 15, 2021
He’s also displaying a 3-point stroke that — if improved from the 34.5% he nailed while helping the Kings finish 4-0 over the preseason — could be a valuable asset for a team that was in the NBA’s bottom third in percentage last season.
Also of note is the acquisition of veteran big man Tristan Thompson. Entering his 11th NBA season, Thompson has shown a level of leadership, humor and even swagger not seen on this club since Iman Shumpert was traded at the 2019 deadline. From Thompson taking over to answer a question to Buddy Hield about possibly being dealt away this offseason, to his enthusiastic interruption of a postgame interview with Mitchell, it looks clear that his presence will go well beyond the box score.
He can leave the box score to several notable faces from last season, led by De’Aaron Fox. Going into his fifth pro season, Sacramento’s point guard has increased his scoring average each campaign — from 11.6 ppg as a rookie to a team-leading 25.2 ppg last season. What’s also encouraging is his recent free-throw shooting. A career 71.8% from the line, Fox missed just one of his 14 attempts this preseason. Improvement from him could help go a long way for a team that lost several close games: 11 by six points or fewer.
Sure, there are several reasons to think I’m being overly optimistic here. Much of it is what we’ve all heard before: The West is deep, analysts don’t have the Kings as a winning team — hell, even the fans have become accustomed to Sacramento’s season ending before the playoffs. And, now, the Bagley drama adds another layer of “here we go again” to the mix.
However, the fact is that the Kings have knocked on the playoffs’ door the last two seasons, missing the chance to be in the recently added play-in segment by 2 games last season and 2½ in COVID-shortened 2019-20. That’s as close as they’ve been since finishing with the 8 seed in 2005-06, the last time they made the postseason.
Again, I feel like things are pointing the right way for this ballclub. I’m not making any predictions here, but I don’t think it’s crazy to think that this is finally the time we see Sacramento on that bracket.
Even making the play-in round would be a welcome development for the team and a nice treat for the fans.
What do you think, Kings fans? Will Sacramento make the postseason and not set the mark for playoff futility? I’ve laid out why I feel like they can make it. Let us hear your take. There could be a prize in it for you.
Welcome to Basketball Hell, Noel!
Welcome, Noel.
Oh, and as it pertains to Channing Frye…
Looking at that radio….he doesn’t need an antenna. He IS the antenna!
….”is that an antenna on your radio? Or are you just happy to see me?”
I don’t think any of the Bagley stuff will have an impact on anything. Ask the Sixers if they’d rather have their tenth-best player demanding out, instead of their second (third?). It’s 98% offseason noise that amounts to almost nothing.
And welcome to this whole thing! You’ve covered the team, so I’m assuming that you have thick calluses in place. They will, in fact, save your life.
For me, the timing of Walton’s firing is an underrated component in the team’s success this season. The sooner he goes, the better the Kings’ odds get in every remaining contest.
Me too. I’m just waiting for that Lloyd Pierce like boost once Walton is gone.
why was Pierce fired?
Welcome!
About that optimism:
If your vision of this team is not playoffs or better, you need to have it checked. Visit your optimologist today!
Welcome aboard TKH.
Best writers and best commenters around in Kangzland.
Welcome Noel! Hope you’re good luck to wins compared to the other writers :D. J/K. Love the optimism
I haven’t seen Otis anywhere ever since Shaq left us wait a minute is Otis Shaq???
Playoffs for sure!
I don’t understand how anyone could be upset over yesterday’s news, to me it’s absolutely wonderful to know that Bagley will no longer be gifted playing time. The only way it could’ve been better is if Walton benched himself.
Agree. It’s nice to know they’re actually playing to win, when they say they’re playing to win.
Yeah, agree that Bagley really hurts more than he helps, and this should be the beginning of the end of the social media nonsense, whether he’s moved or he sits. The situation could and should have been avoided, but the outcome is that less bad players will occupy Bagley’s minutes, which is better for the team.
Well none or few of the “experts”picked the SF Giants to win the division let alone win 107 games in the regular season so it’s possible that the Kings win more than the 35.5 games Vegas and me have predicted.
So there could be luck involved, harder to believe that there could be skill involved or most likely of all that unknown to most of us we have quietly moved into a different dimension where the Kings are not always consistent losers.
In fact one of the only people aware of the dimensional shift was Otis who didn’t choose to not to come because of a paucity of stats.
So fellow fans, the good news is that the Kings will win the Championship for the 2021-2022 season. In the previous dimension the Kings will win exactly 35.5 games (don’t ask me how that will happen).
The bad news is that during the Championship parade is the North and South poles will shift and that hoops as we know them will be gone for 10,000 years. When hoops does return it will be played by 30 foot tall humanoids.
The bad news (for Marv) is that he will not be included in the rotation of any team which will prove once again that truly…….there is nothing new under the sun!
The Bagley news was really nothing. We already knew Bagley wasn’t going to be a combination of Karl Malone and Tim Duncan. We already knew the previous GM picked him over the guy who is now regarded as the 8th best player in basketball. The questions were: would Bagley get a contract extension? No. Would Bagley be a starter or a major rotation player in opening day? The answer is no. We would have found that out today without the agent’s tweet. Is Bagley done with the Kings? Done with the NBA? Does he have a chance to earn back a place in the rotation? Time will tell. No basketball hell here.
If we play with the same defensive intensity as Summer League & Preseason I’ll be happy. I could care less what the record is….I just love that kind of basketball but it also leads to winning. I do agree with Jerry that this is probably the most talented team since the Adelman empire.
Kings opening day hopefuls, I’m over here like –
Welcome to the Kings Herald fam, Noel!
Welcome to The Kings Herald, Noel.
Sadly, my answer to your question is – no. For their 83rd game to be the playoffs they’d have to get the 6th seed or higher which only terminally optimistic fans are seeing. They could get into the play-in but likely in the 9th or 10th spot. Then they’d need to win 2 games, the second on the road. Not likely. And play-in is not playoffs.
I say no simply because the front office has not upgraded the 11th/12th seed team from last year.
Subtractions
Additions
They just didn’t improve the roster enough to make it out of the play-in. Hopefully, they make it into the play-in at least. As per usual with my team, I’d love to be wrong.
Speaking of, has anyone seen JLV?
Well I am. Kings are making the playoffs. There I said it.
I think the Kings have a reasonable shot at 41 games and possibly 45. Maybe they are better, but I doubt that. This team was at the bottom of both DRtg and DRB% all season a year ago. With largely the same group who is getting minutes, and with Len/Thompson which will help some. But not enough to be a major needle mover.
This team will need to rebound better with their smalls (other than Buddy Hield) if they are going to improve. They will need to stop the point of attack better, and this is not just Davion Mitchell’s job. It’s De’Aaron Fox’s job first and foremost, unless of course he’s not the All Star caliber PG.
The depth is better 1-10. Oct/Nov is going to be tough. But not that tough, and certainly it’s the reality of being in the Western Conference. Some stretches are tougher than others. And, it’s still the NBA. The worst team in the L is always tough to beat despite the perception otherwise.
I believe in this team and the possibility of them. But….I’ll also have to see it before I trumpet their ability. I want to see it. Everyone wants to see it. It starts tonight against Portland. It’ll be fun to see whether or not this group can figure it out or be mostly disappointing in the aggregate.
And, welcome.
This why I really wanted Monte to after Josh Hart this past summer. He would have been a nice addition to wing depth and would have helped solve the defense and rebounding issues. Hell, he might even be the starting SF on this team with the way the roster is constructed.
But at 12 million AAV? And there wasn’t necessarily a S&T ability to pull that off, either.
I think he is definitely worth $12M to this Kings roster. I just recall there was some tepid interest rumored to be taking place by the Kings. He was also very late to get that deal.
I won’t argue that part, even though it makes it look like I was. More to the point was how you acquire Hart at the 12M AAV. And i still don’t see how that works out. I also don’t see the point of paying him more at 18M AAV to make a S&T work, either.
I’m fine with not signing Hart.
I’m also fine not signing him. I guess I’m more in love with the idea of Hart’s skillset as this roster is currently made. I thought it was interesting that Monte had interest in him, and I now feel I know why even more so than this past summer.
Shouldn’t any GM have interest in talented players Adam? Josh Hart is a talented player who, realistically speaking, could have helped this team. Assuming the cost was a reasonable one, and that’s where the issue comes.
The opportunities don’t stop at Josh Hart, that’s all I’ll say.
In one of the Multiverses the Kings will win the championship, we can only hope it’s in this one.
It would have to be the one where the SIxers start 0-4 and dump Simmons for Buddy, Marv, and picks. Go Pels tonight!
It’s a fine line between a home court advantage playoff team and an 11 seed (I see that as the Kings best and worst case scenarios this season).
Laugh if you want about a 4 or higher seed, but if the Kings stay relatively injury free and, perhaps more importantly, start getting close calls… it could happen. I know, I know lots of “ifs”.
If on the other hand, the Kings lose a few in row and get discouraged (perhaps because Walton is not the best coach) or if they have significant injuries, they could somewhat easily drop out of a playoff spot / end up with 32 wins.
I’m going to be an extreme optimist (you almost have to be to be a long time Kings fan) and say 47 wins this year.
Go Kings!
Playoffs? Did I miss a Simmons trade to SAC??
Don’t blink.
Welcome Noel, appreciate and share your optimism. I’m laughing at all the experts predicting the Lakers as champs. They will be lucky to make the play in. There are a number of teams in the west that may see a fall off this year and the Kings are primed and ready to surprise the NBA. I reserve the right to change my mind. I’m looking forward to opening night, I will be behind the Jazz bench politely razzing them at every opportunity.
Welcome, Noel! I’m not sure how we get new people to write about this franchise, but we’ll take it!
Kings fans….we can’t stay away or leave no matter how bad things get. 😉
You can check-out any time you like, But you can never leave!
I hate hotels.
6th seed or bust
The kings will be in the playoffs this year. Playoffs, not play-in.
Put it in the book and send it to the line.
https://twitter.com/James_HamNBA/status/1450998152706736131
Moe revenge game? Or does that only happen to us?
Where is the game thread?
Good start but Harkless….
I didn’t want him re signed, and wanted Buddy starting with Fox/hali/barnes/holmes
Moe looking much better now.. Crisp. I got ahead of myself
It’s over at STR.😀
It’s only opening night. That’s all.
Tyrese Haliburton being +14 with zero points in the first half is the most Tyrese Haliburton thing imaginable.
Kings torture! Fun win tonight!
Goddamn Cardiac Kings, they got away with this one.
Please fire Luke Walton, he’s useless in these kind of situations.
No game day thread tonight?! Odd. That was super fun
Wow, The Kings showed up but the Kings Herald did not, that is a first. It took multiple attempts to log in and there was no game thread.
No game thread
[video src="https://thumbs.gfycat.com/FreshMammothBee-mobile.mp4" /]
Since this turned into the game thread, it can be the dance thread too.
1 down 81 to go to an unblemished record. Bring on the Jazz.
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