In an interview with Carmichael Dave of KHTK on Wedensday morning, Sacramento Kings insider Sam Amick had an interesting tidbit to share regarding Sacramento’s offseason moves. In response to a question about the unimpressive free agent signings and allowing Bogdan Bogdanovic to head to the Atlanta Hawks, Sam had this to say:
You can’t have it both ways. Folks were upset when they weren’t more active early on in free agency. It feels like a little bit of a dirty, little secret thatthis is not a total rebuild, but it’s like a halfway rebuild again right now. They really aren’t looking at the playoffs. Newsflash, they’re not. That’s not the priority and I know that it’s hard for Kings fans to hear because of the streak.
That statement matches a long-held theory that new General Manager Monte McNair is looking to tear down the mess that Vlade Divac built over the last half-decade. If the Kings had held to Divac’s plan, they would have grown exponentially more expensive with De’Aaron Fox’s new deal and Bogdan Bogdanovic’s contract, while failing to develop into a true contender.
On the opposite end of the spectrum of Vlade’s constant overspending, Sacramento has yet to make any aggressive monetary moves under McNair, declining Bogi’s $72 million offer sheet, as well as handing out only one-year, mostly non-guaranteed minimum deals in free agency. Despite having the ability to acquire higher level players via the non-taxpayer mid-level exception worth about $9.3 million, the Kings have thus far passed on using that spending tool, avoiding any long-term or expensive deals. Heading into next offseason, the Kings will possess over $40 million in expiring contracts; financial flexibility is the top priority in the kingdom.
The simple fact that Sacramento’s new front office recognizes the hopelessness of a playoff push is an exciting and encouraging development compared to the last regime, but recognition doesn’t always equal execution. As of now, there are still multiple, bloated contracts that need to be dealt with, namely Buddy Hield’s $86 million owed over the next four years and Harrison Barnes’ $61 million owed over the next three years, as well as Cory Joseph’s $15 million owed over the next couple of seasons. With those players inevitably adding to a win total that the Kings would prefer to keep as low as possible with the impressive 2021 draft class looming, McNair will need to balance the trifecta of boosting their trade value with playing time, moving their deals as quickly as possible to open minutes and opportunity for younger players, and getting as high of a price as possible in the trade market.
Outside of those massive deals, Sacramento also has a few valuable veterans on more palatable salaries. Nemanja Bjelica is one of the best marksmen in the NBA, and his combination of size and deep three-point shooting could provide a key piece to a contender at or before the deadline. Richaun Holmes offers a similar value, if different role, and the Kings should be taking calls on his services as well, as his $5 million expiring salary is a solid asset in and of itself. Hassan Whiteside, Glenn Robinson III, and Jabari Parker won’t necessarily command the same price as their counterparts, but if they perform well, there’s an outside chance that a team could throw a minor asset Sacramento’s way for their services.
Far, far, far too many years have seen the Kings half-ass rebuilds in a desperate attempt to appear relevant, rather than taking the time to build the right way. With De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton on board, as well as the possibility that Marvin Bagley III turns his career around, a high pick in the 2021 draft, any assets gained in a Buddy Hield trade, and a free and flexible cap sheet would offer this franchise its first stable, young core in more than a decade. All Monte McNair needs to do is execute on his vision of a reset around De’Aaron Fox in Sacramento.
This is great news!
In Monte we trust.
I’ve never been more excited for 2 years down the road!
Two years away from being two years away.
Until two years down the road comes !
What could possibly go wrong?
THERE IS NO TANK IN SACRAMENTO!
Just a mini-rebuild.
Lol I knew Tim wrote this
#OnBrand
The Kings should’ve gone for a rebuild the first year Vivek took over. Should have took Petrie’s advice to trade Cousins, which really would’ve jump started the rebuild. Instead, they’ve been on the treadmill of mediocrity since then.
I’m glad to hear McNair has a plan in place to rebuild. This season is a perfect time to do it since there likely won’t be any fans in the building anyways. However, I’m skeptical at how long Vivek and ownership will be patient with rebuilding. An actual true rebuild is tough to go through. Look at how the Hawks ownership this season has pushed their team to make the playoffs rather than continue to the rebuilding path they were on.
I can easily see Vivek getting impatient as soon as next offseason and pushing McNair and company to make win-now moves. Lets hope
I’m wrong.
You think that when McNair was negotiating with Ranadive that he didn’t mention his short and long-term plans for improving the team? That Vivek has some expectation of fast results under McNair that will lead to playoff basketball in Sacramento?
Y’all can cap on the owner all you like, but he’s not a moron. I don’t guess that McNair is either, and if they managed to go through the hiring process without ever discussing near and long-term organizational objectives, well, I’m pretty sure that I can hook you up with some Enron stock at an excellent price.
Yeah, there’s copious evidence that, in this industry, he has indeed been a moron.
Whether he’s learned from his mistakes and is less of a moron now remains to be proven.
We have a Spackler siting. How exciting!
Problem is you would have assumed these were basic foundation conversations that would have happened over the years of Vivek’s tenure… either he’s a terrible communicator or listener or both because ownership and basketball leadership have never been in alignment much past the introductory press conferences.
I said nothing of the sort, nor assumed it. Vivek made a ton of bad decisions, from hiring a GM after a coach, and through hiring VD. He was winging it, and he oversaw the hiring of a lot of people who were obviously operating as though they were delivering a report for a book they hadn’t bothered to read.
There’s nothing in his tenure in Houston that indicates that McNair isn’t a thinker and a planner. Vivek may never be a basketball guy in regard to being useful in the strategic sense, but for the first time other than Malone, he’s put a basketball guy in charge.
He’s not blowing out a guy he just extended, to only give McNair eighteen months to fulfill a four-year goal. There’s no way that you take a job with the worst franchise in sports unless you are absolutely certain that everyone is on the same page, and that you’ll be the one putting the words on it.
I agree with you here. My faith is more in Monte than Vivek simply because everyone on the basketball planet knows who Vivek is at this point and how bad he and this franchise have been. You would have to be a complete fool to take on that job without having a pretty in depth discussion about how much power you actually had, and how much time. It would be career suicide otherwise.
I don’t know Monte at all… but I’m willing to bet that he and the dismissive little chap are communicating and that he has Vivek on his page right now. Vivek might not love it, but he has to be smart enough at this point to realize that after years of failure, 3 GM’s, and I don’t know how many coaches and wasted lottery picks with zero to show for it that it’s time to listen to someone else that has real knowledge and experience.
Hope you are wrong as well but doubt it !
I think this line of thinking ignores an important point – that not only free agent signings were happening during that period. Teams were actively engaged in making deals, and not just teams with playoff/championship aspirations.
It certainly doesn’t mean that McNair wasn’t trying to make deals, but it also doesn’t mean he did anything substantially different in this offseason than Vlade normally did.
Nothing more exciting than a rebuild on a rebuild ! Oh well, there is always the draft of 2025 !
In all seriousness what other option is there? The team as currently constructed isn’t going to compete for a playoff spot, there aren’t any high level free agents that are going to come here and we don’t really have the assets to trade for a star. Rebuilding every stinks but I don’t see another choice.
A near total tear down and rebuild is the best option for the team. The west is stacked. While the Kings have some decent role players, those players are findable once we have the stars in place. Those stars need to come in the next 2 drafts. I’m still optimistic Fox takes another leaphe’s improved every year so far.
Not adding multiple bad contracts to the payroll is a pretty big difference between Vlade and Monte.
Not keeping your cap space available until the trade deadline is a pretty big similarity, though.
What exactly was Monte supposed to do this off-season? Other than match Bogi, that is. You either agree with matching or you don’t. But….the Kings have no real cap space as it turned out (I thought they’d have more but that was only by stretching Parker and waiving Bjelica which I’m glad they did not do) so there’s little to be gained that way.
When you’re stuck. I’m just glad Monte McNair didn’t try to make a move to appease the fanbase. Too many FO’s do that.
I’m not sure, just saying he hasn’t done anything really earth shattering, or substantially different than what we’re used to.
Adding – I’m still absolutely happy he’s in place rather than Vlade.
The only point that I think is inarguable is that any new GM needs time before you really evaluate him.
And, no, that doesn’t mean no discussion. Most of this is a fair back and forth regardless of which side you sit on atm.
Eh. I’m just in this season for fantasy anyways. Pro sports right now feels like a mistake right now anyways, although I’ll probably still tune in to some games after binging through the latest season of Big Mouth.
Amick went to J-school to uncover definitive proof that water is wet?
“They really aren’t looking at the playoffs. Newsflash, they’re not.”
Maybe they aren’t, and maybe they are, and maybe they change gears depending on how the season goes. But this reads as unsourced, emphatic language to me – Windhorst level conclusion drawing that anyone on this board could come up with blindfolded.
It’s not like lowering the bar of expectations would benefit a front office, right?
Sure, it could. But that’s just more conclusion drawing, right? Sam, like the rest of the media, should be reporting truths, or at least trying to be, and not some cryptically sourceless disguised opinion.
I’d say that Sam reports what are truths at the time, whether you like that truth or not.
Or if it’s his opinion, he’ll let you know.
Look, the Sam backlash we’re getting here is nothing new. Kings fans are gonna Kings fan, especially with a new regime in town.
Right, like when he blasted Monte for not taking a first for Bogi. Totally noble and comprehensive reporting. Whether you like that or not.
“Blasted”.
You read what you want to read.
Nitpick a word when you want to ignore the point. It was irresponsible reporting, however you want to spin it.
Sorry dude, even he retracted it. Albeit with a bit of snark. Keep on stroking though.
He didn’t retract it, he added information.
Again, you read what you want to read.
Starting a report with “In fairness to the Kings…” doesn’t suggest retraction at all. I just skim for the Sam hate.
It is certainly your prerogative to discount or dismiss Amick’s reporting. I have been a Kings fan for a long, long time, and have found Amick to be one of the more (if not most) reliable reporters when it comes to Kings news.
As it pertains to to the Bogdanovic story, I went back and read it, and there was really little to no editorializing to it. He reported what he heard, and then added to the story as he attained more information. Such is life in the age of social media, where the pressure to get the news out overrides the desire to produce a fully formed, comprehensive story.
I trust Sam Amick as a reporter. Your mileage may vary.
Or maybe just wait the 30 minutes, or whatever it was, to report the whole story – which was the behavior Sam built his reputation on. Sorry, we need to hold our media to a higher standard than “the age of social media.”
You can shake your fist at the clouds if you like, but the “good old days” aren’t coming back.
If this puts you off Sam Amick, that’s certainly your prerogative. But I suspect you aren’t upset so much about the messenger as you are about the message itself.
Thank you, sensei. I’ve learned so much about myself here today.
I liked this for the Legends of the Fall gif. Terrific movie.
There seems a bit more to learn as with all !
Unfortunately, that’s not today’s world. It is now up to us as the consumer to vet and on-board information.
Do I prefer the Amick of ten years ago over the Amick of today? Absolutely, because the Amick of ten years ago worked in an industry that had a 24 hour news cycle, and that news cycle enabled him to produce fully formed articles on a regular basis. But in the here and now, the news cycle is 15 minutes and the average consumer has an attention span that renders most full-form articles obsolete. Amick has adapted to the changes in the industry, whether we like the changes or not.
I’m all for a return to the “good old days,” but I’m not holding my breath that it’s ever going to happen – we ain’t getting that genie back in the bottle.
I hear you, but it’s a world full of half-truths, divisiveness, and hate that is seemingly evolving as a result. Not a world I want for my family or anyone else. The cultural BS deserves to be called out as such, even in tiny sports articles about meaningless teams. Even if I likely lose in grand, combustable form.
Good thing you don’t traffic in divisiveness:
I suspect you’re one of those people who screams about “fake news” ONLY when they write something you personally disagree with, and are quite tolerant of it when it aligns with your interests.
Oh, dear. This tired, unoriginal take? I’m sorry if you took my jest at your Sam love so personally. As if all of your infantile “thumbs downs” don’t epitomize divisiveness.
Also, divisiveness doesn’t = a debate between two people.
LOL, I don’t thumbs down on the site. I’m perfectly happy letting you know when you’ve said something stupid.
That, I welcome, Aneel.
Wait, if I’m Aneel wouldn’t I generally agree with your pro-front office, anti-media POV?
I think you’ve lost track of your b.s. Maybe take a break and start fresh tomorrow.
Because you’re the secret King of Thumbs Down. Keep up.
Otis going through the thread like:
It’s only going to get worse, since I get a bit dumber after each of your comments.
This is getting childish now.
Things have changed, mainly from a technological standpoint, but it’s still no excuse for filing incomplete reports, as Amick did, which he then needed to clarify. Journalism must provide accuracy, context, and clarity, or it’s not simply worthless, it results in misperceptions.
This isn’t a simple matter like wanting to be first in reporting that a free agent signed someplace, without having the salary terms. Those can come later, and don’t change the meaning of the original report. What Amick did was either blast out a tweet without having enough context to fill in the enormous grey areas that were left, or he simply declined to provide that context to permit himself a more clickbait-inducing headline, with the added bonus of providing a follow-up, resulting in additional clicks.
I absolutely think that Amick is an excellent reporter, but his bottom line is still built around the same structure that so-called influencers and trolls depend on. I’m not putting him in those categories, but it’s all about eyeballs, context or clarity be damned. I don’t think pointing out that his work didn’t rise to the level of journalistic standards on this occasion should be construed as an attack. All of us get things wrong sometimes, but when you have the kind of reach that top-shelf reporters do, getting it right is paramount.
Problem is, I’m not certain that he got it wrong – he simply added details as he received them. The perception that his original post was an attack on the Kings front office is what’s specious here.
That’s just fans being overly protective of their team (the laundry talking), IMO.
If incomplete reporting leaves the impression that something happened when it didn’t, it’s still just inaccurate. If half a story doesn’t get the reader to understand, then it’s a disservice to publish it.
Journalistic standards may have cratered, by my standards as a reader have not.
I’m guessing that even Amick would agree that his initial tweet, lacking the ultimate context that he provided, was disappointing for him. Kudos to him for providing the additional information once he was provided with it (my guess is that the Kings front office initially had nothing to say, and their lips loosened a bit once Amick moved forward with what he had at the time). And after years and years and years of getting it right and getting out information that we might not have otherwise had, I’m not going to let a little bad timing color my opinion of Amick. He’s more than earned that, in my humble opinion.
One of the best decisions I ever made in my life? Not becoming a journalist after majoring in journalism. No way I’d want the job in the current environment.
That was smart of you. We don’t have journalism anymore, all we have is news.
The sad truth.
Amick reports on sports rumors and sports-related stories (low-hanging fruit variety), he doesn’t do hard-hitting topics like politics and policy, or even deep dives into issues like the Astros cheating scandal, something like that is done by true journalists, not twitter personalities.
Processes designed to ensure journalistic integrity were never meant for social media platforms, they were designed for newspapers and magazines. Maybe don’t get your actual news from social media.
Its like getting upset that the $1 cheeseburger you got from McDonalds doesn’t have a fresh baked bun and 100% real meat. You have completely unrealistic expectations.
If you listen to the whole interview he quite literally said it was his opinion that the Kings were doing a mini-reset this year. His opinions about this franchise have generally had some truth in them but the front office surely isn’t going to come out and say they are rebuilding again even if that is exactly what they are doing at the moment.
Then, as a national reporter, he should stick to that and refrain from, “Newsflash, they’re not. That’s not the priority…”
The “newsflash” was a colloquialism not to be taken literally. If you listen to the interview it’s very obvious. He saying it tongue firmly in cheek because it is not really a secret to anyone that the Kings are going to be looking to maximize their draft pick this season NOT compete for the playoffs.
I’ll take your word for it. That’s not how it’s presented here, in my opinion.
I’m just pointing it out because I listened to his interview and I figured this might be a topic of discussion. The interview is free for anyone to listen to on either KHTK’s youtube page or their twitter feed and Carmichael Dave posts the link of his twitter page every day. Listen and judge for yourself.
How many top 10 picks from the last 5 years have been busts? Plenty I’m sure. I definitely do not agree with tanking for the draft. If they don’t care about winning this year than trade our assets for proven young players. Are the Kings getting top 5 picks in return for Buddy, Barnes, or any of their players? Not very likely. Buddy for a pick in the 20’s is horrible value. Luke’s incompetence will lose enough games they shoulda won. If the Kings are in the top 7 of the draft next year they will be 2 to 3 years from the playoffs still. They are not gonna lay down this year and magically be good next year or the year after.
You think teams are giving up “proven young players” for our assets?
Do you think the draft is gonna do something?
What is your alternative for a lottery team that is at the salary cap this year and all but at the cap next year?
I’m not saying equal value on the younger players but Buddy Hield is talented enough to warrant a recent lottery pick that is riding the line on a contender.
Buddy’s talented enough, but he’s also on a contract that’s averaging 23.5 million per year for the next four.
Also top 5 shooter in the NBA. With the right leadership and a coach that uses him correctly he could shoot 45% from three easily
I’m not saying he doesn’t have value. But on his contract, and with his flaws (yes, he has flaws), I think you have to lower your expectations a bit.
Good coaches recognize players weaknesses and maximize their strengths. Buddy will dribble the ball off his foot every time but his catch and shoot is ridiculous. Luke is not a good coach and is hurting Buddy’s true value
So this guard that has trouble dribbling and should only be placed in catch-and-shoot positions is going to net us a recent up-and-coming lottery pick?
This is the problem in a nutshell. Hield is good, but not that good – and his new salary makes him a tougher asset to get high value back on.
He has NBA level skills and I suspect he’d be a better player on a better team where they could utilize his skills and minimize his weaknesses. As an extreme comparison Klay Thompson, when he scored 60 points against the Pacers he took 11 dribbles. But on a lesser team the league gets to see his weaknesses exposed more and not so much of his strengths
Hield is overpaid. He has the skills of JJ Redick without the credentials.
They are not getting high value for sure. But a pick in the 20’s for Buddy Hield is garbage
I would say that it’s garbage and it is also close to his current value. And that is perhaps why he is still wearing a Kings uni.
I was discussing this with someone else the other day, that Hield possesses the superior skill but that Bogi is the better overall player. Hield has the skill to be the 3rd best player on specific teams in specific circumstances, while Bogi would fit far more rosters but in a 4th best player fashion. If both were UFAs, Bogi would probably receive more overall interest, but Hield might match or surpass him in salary if the absolute perfect fit were out there for him in that free agency.
The hope is that the Kings return to the style of offense that benefitted Hield in 18-19, with him handling less and working more off-ball. If that happens, the Kings are in a much better position, regardless of whether they keep him or trade him.
This is exactly where we are with Hield. Hopefully has excelled this year and we discuss whether he’s a core piece or if we should take NY’s offer for an unprotected first. ð
He certainly has an elite skill as a volume deep shooter, and I agree that if he is properly utilized he could again be a fair value or better player. On 12/10/20 under head coach Luke Walton, he is not a fair value or better player. If the Kings amend their system to better utilize Hield, his value will increase, which will make him more valuable to the Kings both as a player and an asset. At that point it becomes a function of what other teams offer for his services, and whether or not that fits into the plan of your rebuild. Because it’s not only about the talent that you have, it is also about the amount of salary cap space that you have and how you utilize it.
I’m all ears to alternative approaches for this front office, especially since I don’t see any. They inherited virtually no real assets other than Fox on the last year of his rookie deal, and that value went away with his new contract. At this point it is up to the players on the roster to play well beyond their contracts and provide the organization with some value that they might be able to parlay into assets that can be used for the “re-tooling.” Because save exponential leaps from Fox, Bagley and Hield and a full realization of talent from Haliburton, the current roster does not stand a chance in hell of ever escaping lottery hell.
At his current contract he’s a neutral asset in my book.
It’s all about odds of success for this franchise. Multiple cracks in the upper end of the first round of the draft seems the best way to go.
So maybe the draft will do something, maybe not – but better than the odds of us landing a high-end player with our current asset base, or trying to sign a guy in free agency.
The Kings had a chance to draft a franchise making superstar less than 18 months ago.
Could have that chance this go around, too.
“They are not gonna lay down this year and magically be good next year or the year after.”
I completely agree, and I can understand the trepidation around building through the draft, especially after being a Kings fan for the last 10 years.
My legitimate, non-trolling question for you is – how else do we fix a bad, expensive, old team?
They are not getting equal value for those players because of their contracts. I’d rather take the upside of a player that has already showed some ability in the NBA. The draft is too much of a crapshoot.
Gotcha – so you’re saying move Buddy, Barnes, Bjelica for young talent rather than picks, secure a high draft pick, and see where you go from there? Any ideas on players to target?
I think Belly and Holmes would be perfect for Boston. I’d target Romeo Langford and a pick if possible.
Bridges on Charlotte
I do think Charlotte is ripe for the picking because everyone on that roster is overpaid, except for players still on rookie contracts like Bridges, so while I am sure Charlotte would love to rearrange the deck chairs with less expensive pieces, I don’t think Bridges would be one of them.
Even with Gordon in tow, I’m pretty sure they see Bridges and Washington as their front-court of the future.
I’d certainly be interested in that trade.
In Sacramento, we build through the draft and trades.
Well, in truth in Sacramento we don’t build at all.
The life of a Kings fan is Sisyphusian.
I think everyone would be pretty happy if the Kings were a playoff team in 2-3 years.
Aside from an extremely short sighted deal sending out years of picks for someone like James Harden, who could maybe drag this team to an eight seed for a few years, there is pretty much no chance this team makes the playoffs in less time than that.
14 years is a long time for fans. Hey what’s a few more?
Sadly the reality is that over the last 7 years Vivek has done basically everything wrong and put us in a position where we aren’t competitive. The only way they will become competitive is to endure more losing and attempt to pair Fox with a star player that they will most likely have to get through the draft because we don’t have the assets to trade or sign one. Blame Vivek and Vlade for putting us in a position that requires Monte to come in and cleanup a mess.
I agree, but not certain Monte can or be allowed to clean it up ! Also, many of long time high end season ticket owners will not be around for the cleanup ! Rebuild on rebuilds seems to satisfy very few ! Sadly, I have no answers and only doubts at this time ! Very sorry ð¢ to be like this !
This year there aren’t going to be any fans anyway so this is actually the perfect year to have a mini-tank season. Comeback next year with another high lottery pick and pray that it the pieces around Fox finally start to make sense. Could all fail again? Absolutely! We are the Kings after all. Will Vivek let Mcnair execute his plan? Who knows but we really don’t have any other choice but to see how it plays out and hope for the best.
What’s the path to making this a playoff team in less time than that?
Why would players of any skills wish to stick around to be a member of the Washington Generals?
Fox, Barnes and Hield to name three who signed deals recently. I have my issues with the latter two, but there you go.
Money.
Yes I’m being optimistic here, but agree with your last few sentiments. I don’t think they will lay down at all. Actually, I think we might kick some ass this year.
I like the idea, but I don’t see what assets the Kings really have. Barnes is paid very well to be a roughly average player. Hield is paid fair value for his production from two years ago. Bjelica is a nice role player on a good expiring contract. I don’t see that combination netting us much more than 1-2 lottery protected firsts and a second round pick.
Monte’s approach is absolutely the only way to make this work.
He hasn’t done anything yet. Let’s see how the trades work out before we believe
Not shelling out $72 million to a guy who could be the fourth-best player on a good team was absolutely a statement. Sentimentality is not going to impede his mission to create a winning culture. Sometimes not doing something is the smartest move that you can make.
Well, let’s not recreate history too much – he was willing to shell out a significant amount of money in order to work a sign-and-trade. First with Milwaukee, and potentially with Atlanta.
I am not sure I follow you here, there was no significant long term money in the Milwaukee sign and trade.
What significant amount of money? DiVincenzo and Wilson are on rookie scale deals which are pretty cheap when they are in the 20’s. Ilyasova had a year left at 7 million remaining.
That isn’t a ton of money to take on with so little leverage to pull off a S&T.
I think this is totally fair. We will see how it works out but I will say that personally I really liked what he did in the draft.
The only real important difference I see between Monte’s approach and Vlade’s is that Monte didn’t give a second year (or third year team option) to the middling veterans he signed with his cap space.
That’s not nothing, for sure, and may benefit the team at the trade deadline. We’ll see.
He may have gotten treated like a cat toy in the Bogdan negotiations. Outside of that, he made what appears to be an obvious first round pick and picked up the team option on Bjelica (another pretty easy decision).
Guess I’m saying that we won’t really know his approach until we see what shakes out over the next few months leading up to the trade deadline.
Definitely can’t build a statue for McNair yet. If he follows through on the proposed plan, we’ll be in a much better place, but he has yet to actually execute on anything.
Heh. The difference between McNair and Vlade can be seen in the Whiteside and Dedmon contracts. I would have fully expected a 3/$27m deal for Whiteside under Vlade’s “leadership.”
I try to just look at what he’s doing through the lens of what he’s on record saying he plans on doing in the future. McNair has said he wants the flexibility to capitalize when the right opportunity comes along. Vlade wanted to have flexibility because he didn’t want to take on other team’s bad contract, so he could sign his own bad contracts in free agency. The means may be similar, but the ends are not.
I agree McNair does not deserve credit for a hypothetical future move, but I don’t think it’s a fair characterization to say McNair and Vlade approach things similarly.
One thing I get a chuckle thinking about is that McNair’s approach actually looks like PeteD’s first season in Sac:
Now we sit and wait to see which overpaid star he’ll acquire in a trade for Joseph, Parker and Bjelly.
In what way is the Haliburton selection a falling knife? It remains to be seen what kind of player Haliburton will be, but if you catch the knife by the handle, and not the blade as with McLemore and Robinson, it makes other people look stupid, instead of that assessment landing on you.
The kid may be a falling diamond, and as long as you don’t catch it with your skull, we should take those opportunities.
lol I didn’t make a judgement if each decision was the right one. It’s literally impossible to do so at this stage in the process. I was just pointing out the similarities. The Kings could be in the playoffs this season based on the performance of our big three (Fox/Halliburton/DeRozan) for all we know.
Yeah I’ve thought about this too. The only difference is that Mcnair seems better in an interview than Pete D ever was. The truth is I don’t really think that Pete’s plan was the problem. It was the execution. The star he was trying to build around was a headcase, the coach that he fired was actually decent at his job and at least IMO, the falling knife is someone who I am much higher on because of his skill set than the guy we got last time around. But as always, I could just be deluding myself into hoping that things will be different this time around. I mean, things have to turn around at some right? RIGHT?
I think it’s important to remember that we are currently in the midst of a historic run of futility for a basketball franchise and that at some point by shear dumb luck we will probably make the playoffs again at some point in the near’ish future.
To be honest, I was actually pretty excited about Pete up until he didn’t even attempt to re-sign IT. People forget, but he was Masai’s second in command, and was in consideration to get the Nuggets GM job before he took the job in Sacramento. At the time, it seemed like a good get.
Come to think of it, McNair was also the second in command to a highly regarded GM before becoming the GM in Sacramento. Luckily, Vivek never makes the same mistake twice though! This time he will give his new GM full autonomy over basketball decisions, and not bring in a former NBA player as an adviser that’s technically not above the GM, but still reports to Vivek. Oh wait…
(jk I think this time it’s different even if that makes me Charlie Brown trying to kick the football)
That’s when I was officially out as well:
I think I was more stunned by his presser afterwards, you could tell he thought IT was just some replacement level player, and couldn’t understand why people were worked up.
Yeah the IT decision just seemed so insane in the moment. I like Bogi but I don’t think he’ll ever be finishing top-5 in the MVP race.
that sheer dumb luck already hit us in the head, must’ve still been groggy cuz we used it on Bagley.
I hadn’t made that connection before. Boo this man! Haha
WRT Reke, PDA actually did a sign & trade (it wasn’t a good haul, but Vasquez was part of the trade for Rudy). I’d be happy to acquire another overpaid star like Rudy if the star has at least 1 nice pick attached & is traded at the right time if the Kings aren’t in a position to utilize the star long-term.
Definitely obvious decisions for any competent front office. Yet, the feeling that we have someone running the basketball operations that’s smart enough to make obvious decisions is a step in the right direction regardless of how minor it might be.
He’s at lest showing a baseline level of competence that we haven’t seen in a while. It may not put us on track to make the playoffs any time soon, but it feel like a step in the right direction.
I’m curious but who is really saying that what Monte has done is amazing so far? I agree with what he’s done, and I think some of the moves have intriguing possibilities.
But that’s in no way shape or form set in stone. There’s much, much to do before we start talking about him in that manner IMO.
I don’t think I dropped the word “amazing”, but I do see a lot of people who are really impressed by what they’ve seen so far. But again, this is just my perspective to this point:
There’s not enough information at this point to think he knows what he’s doing. I’m interested to see what happens at the deadline or before, and am still glad he’s not Vlade Divac.
If you are waiting for the deadline to bring much, I suspect you’ll be rather disappointed.
Admittedly I have rather low expectations, though.
If the Kings can quickly move Hield, Barnes and Bjelica…It would almost certainly solidify a Top 5-6 pick next year.
I would imagine he’s actively working on moving Hield and Barnes. Bjelica and Holmes feel like the two real solid veterans that might get you something of value closer to the deadline.
Be interesting to see how it shakes out.
Agreed I’d rather the trades were sooner rather than later to remove any hope for the season
If the Kings are horrible this year, how does Monte properly evaluate Luke’s performance. I truly believe the Kings are going nowhere with him as coach.
He might look at how Luke takes the analytical information that is provided to him and how he applies it during games. Luke does not seem like the type of guy that likes analytics, and Monte definitely is that type of guy. End of the day, Monte can point to that as the reason for parting ways with Luke.
the feeling’s mutual. The analytics didn’t like him when he was a player either.
Luke is a perfect coach for losing games this season. I’ll be very disappointed if he’s the coach next season.
Everyone is going to overperform and screw up the rebuild.
If everyone overperforms, doesn’t that increase their trade value?
Increases the value of current assets, reduces the value of future assets (draft picks). Do you still rebuild if you are winning?
Probably not, and I’m not necessarily in disagreement with you. My guess is that it’s going to take a lot to pry away first round draft picks for the 2021 and 2022 draft.
I’d have looked hard at trading Fox and really tearing this thing down.
This isn’t technically correct:
They signed Woodard, Ramsey and Metu using the NT MLE since the Kings are still technically over the cap. That’s important because they would have only been able to sign them using minimum exceptions otherwise. Minimum deals can only be signed for two years, and the Kings would not be able to use the full Bird exception to re-sign them. By using the MLE they’ve locked up all three for at least 3 seasons (Woodard’s deal is 4 years). If any of these guys end up killing it in the first two seasons, then the Kings will have them locked up for an additional season, plus they can match any offer they receive when the player becomes a restricted free agent.
Very interesting. I learned something today! Thank you , Rordog
I love the creativity shown signing Woodard to the 4 year deal, too. That in of itself is a welcome sight.
It is important to note that if Woodard gets to his 4th season, he’ll be an UFA after the 4th year unless the Kings work out an extension and probably a re-structuring (or re-negotiating it if that helps you) of his deal in that 4th season, too.
So the Kings would have to turn down the option after year 3 and offer Woodard a QO. Only 1st round picks (which operate under an entirely different set of rules) can become RFA’s after 4 years of service time.
This is NOT great news, this is just another thinly veiled excuse to pray on the fans hope for something better down the road. don’t fall for it! trading buddy, barnes, belly will set us back even further.
we just weren’t that far off the playoffs the past few years. we were the 9th seed. well guess what, they changed the rules! We would have been in this play in tourney the past two years!
to see us heading in the right direction has to be more about money than anything else. its not “title or bust” for us. its about being competitive, and not just another also ran. we achieved that the past few years. fox doesn’t get hurt last year? who knows. bagley doesn’t get hurt both years, who knows? his flashes his rookie year were something. Everyone on our roster was still under 30. we had room to grow. yeah it would have been expensive, but what playoff team isn’t? for our franchise it makes more sense for us to be in the mix for the playin tourney rather than some fake dream that we are gonna one day become the next OKC and have 3 young super stars. the full bottom out rebuild almost never works. there are 3x as many teams that pick in the top 10 for years than finals teams built that way.
vlade got us to that stage. he had the players to keep us on the fringe, and all our young guys still had upside. fox becomes an all star, buddy and bodgan on the fringe, barnes holmes belly joseph all solid contributors. bagley the wild hard. add hali to that bunch, that better than two most lost years and lotto hopes. we also then had the pieces to swing a big trade. personally, i would have rather kept everyone else, and traded fox for an actual all star. right now how would harden look with that bunch?
the “build around fox” plan is basically the “build around cousins plan”. i am with vlade, that we are better off staying competitive with assets and be able to swing trade for a disgruntled all star. in this day and age, every year there is one coming. letting go of bodgan was worse than a crime, it was a mistake. this financial flexibility is just nonsense. stop pretending that our path to contention is through free agency! its about asset accumulation. bogdan is a good player on a good deal, and they let him go to save money. it wasn’t a smart decision. it was one for non basketball and non winning reasons. if you disagree, ask why? becuase it diminishes hali role? give me a break. have you ever seen him play? do we know if he is ready in 2 weeks to be an nba player? stop being a lacky for public consensus and grow a pair.
seems that the narrative is having it both ways. vlade “horrible” but at the same time the new genius guy everyone is in love with is building around fox – a vlade pick. everyone is okay moving on from bogdan, but one of the teams on the rise is spending money to get him. why so much faith in mcnair? giving a max contract to someone who has never made an all star team and deciding to rebuilt isn’t a strategy. its the way to protect your job for the long term and many of you are falling for it. why is everyone acting like this is smart just because he is doing it? confirmation bias.
what has this guy actually accomplished in his career besides be the 3rd or 4th most important person for the rockets. why did he even get job? that is the question we should be asking. all these people are so happy to have vlade gone. congrats, now we headed back to hell of rebuilding for yeras.
We don’t know how to win. to hire someone who has never even been a GM is a joke. if anything, we should have paid to go get someone established. giving a chance to someone without a track record is bad idea for rebuilding team that hasn’t been in playoffs. McNair was the wrong hire! why is no one even considering that! You are agreeing to get in a plane with someone who has only been a copilot! before you say “he might be next sam presti”, the spurs and rockets are not even comparable! presti won a handful of rings at the spurs. the rockets haven’t done sht. its okay to not think daryl morey is the smartest guy ever? the rockets, have never made the finals on his watch. just cause someone comes from rockets doesn’t mean theyre good. in fact, no body who has left rockets has built a finals team. at least the past couple years we had interesting basketball in april/bubble. now? we are just heading back into abyss, and too many of you fools are okay jumping back in. why? i am much more concerned this is about money, and we being sold bag of goods. you have been warned! you don’t have to think mcnair is good, or fox is worthy of max, you can be skeptical until either of them proves anything!
drink up that scotch – we’re in for a long rebuild now thanks to this clown mcnair!
You have more faith in mcnair than I… you assume that there will be a successful rebuild… ever; I don’t see one ever coming. You can not rebuild by learning how to lose over and over again.
0 faith in mcnair. furious that he got the job, and nothign he has done has made it better. i think we are headed for potentially one of the worse chapters in kings history if he’s allowed to do this nonsense. we can’t do a process in sactown. itll k1ll us. if anything, we shoudl have been pushing harder to compete, not pushing reset.
this happens all the time. gms show up and start a rebuild to give themsevles a longer leash. hate to see it happen when we were a couple wins away from a completely different ending last 2 years. the load up on top 5 picks isn’t a strategy that has worked outside of OKC and maybe philly. but philly spent money, and OKC found MVPs. fox isn’t mvp level guy. rather see us trade him for real all star than pay him likehe’s one cause he had a good bubble. mcnair knew vivek likes fox, told man what he wanted to hear to get job.
I agree… with his stewardship the Kings could be the first bankrupt team in recent NBA history.
they are playing a dangerous game. they think with this year, no fans, do a quick reset, and then have an exciting team to fill the stadium. don’t see it. hoping you struck gold with hali, next top 5 pick immeditely contributes, get good return for buddy/barnes. much more liekly its a multi year rebuild. pay for shtty team in arco one thing, but given the top $$ they charge at golden one. dangerous game. don’t see fans coming back to see trash. at least when tema competitiveish you could dream.
I agree with your observations. Kings provide a trash product that is not worth spending money to see.
Oh, Vlade, you social media maven, you.
Really digging that 2018-19 season huh?
best kings season since that artest-bonzi wells team. sad but true. but also not that sad, because i legit enjoyed it. we were close. hate to see a step sideways and then now following that up with a step backwards.
We were sort of close if you consider 9 games out of the playoffs close. Unfortunately Vlade ruined what was building by making terrible free agent signings and firing the coach that got them there.
that one cuts deep. had hope for dedmon. like corey joseph tho!
Yeah I enjoyed it too and so did many others here for the reasons you listed…I don’t think that should preclude fans on here from desiring more than a team that might sniff .500 if things break right, which is likely all that 18-19 team could ever amount to. That team wasn’t particularly close to making the playoffs as they were way back even though 9th seed. I’m not championship or bust by any means, but it’s not impossible to imagine a franchise that routinely and is expected to make the playoffs even if not championship caliber, ala Utah, Portland etc.
Going nuts over missing out on seeing that 18-19 team “reach its potential” isn’t where I’m at and a lot of others on here I would guess. Each their own I suppose.
I pray for the fans of this franchise every day.
we are stronger and at least have a dmn team. thats why such a shame to see some outside like mcnair come start making a tough situation worse.
Stopped reading when you said the team was competitive last year. Uh, wut.
Mediocre team and young, here we come!
This actually makes me very happy with the direction of the new Front Office. The Vlade years were an absolute disaster. Financially, public affairs wise, internal politics wise, and every other way you can imagine. As has been said here and other places millions of times, drafting players (small sample size, but 1 for 1), shrewd trading (we’ll see, but I am cautiously hopeful), and overpaying free agents is how we get players to Sacramento. While I disagree with letting Bogdan go for nothing, this is the path to the financial wherewithal required to make the Kings a better team. This team needs space to pay for free agents, and to absorb contracts for draft picks, something the previous front office could never seem to grasp.
“shrewd trading” – you mean like allowing your first trade to go public and completely torpedo yourself? that bucks situation was a disaster. i liked the value, but i find it difficult to see how everyone made so much fun of vlade for his initial salary cap woes for years, but new guy fcks up the basics of restricted free agency and gets a free pass.
agree rent out balance sheet for draft picks – but we didn’t do that.
like hali, but not sure we can call that “1 for 1” before he plays a game
Nobody knows how or why that trade got public…how you assign the blame to Mcnair so definitively is confusing to say the least. It’s possible it was his fault…it’s also very possible he did what every other team does working out deals before free agency and the Bucks leaked it. Who the hell knows. Probably should evaluate him after a much larger sample size and on facts we know
He set up a trade involving a restricted free agent that had no intention of going there! The trade going public was what blew it up, but the mistake was not making sure bodgan was on board. if your logic is everyone knows you make deals before FA, then the same could have been said that that dialogue. that situation was a disaster, and he was one of the two counterparties. the bucks had way more to lose than the kings, so not sure pointing the finger at them makes sense. i fear he doesn’t have a clue, and that whole situation seems more like evidence than absolving him of potential.
News of the Jrue Holiday signing is what blew it up. By all accounts Bogi wanted to join Giannis and his brother in Milwaukee but when the Holiday signing got leaked the same day as the DiVincenzo sign-and-trade, Bogi got spooked on the smaller role and likely smaller contract than he’d been expecting. You’re right that Bogi had not formally agreed to anything, but to imply that Monte completely failed to run any of this by his camp, or that “he had no intention of going there” is super presumptuous.
I agree with WizsSox – you simply have no way of knowing whether McNair had anything to do with the deal being leaked and your unfounded certainty that he’s responsible diminishes your other arguments.
if you want to give mcnair a free pass – that’s youre business. he’s one of the counterparties. he’s a rookie gm, and his first trade situation exploded for operational reasons. to not put any of that one him just shows you are willing to spin anything he’s doing as positive.
If you want to crucify McNair about the trade based on evidence that you or anybody else on this board has ZERO knowledge of then that’s your business.
You keep harping on people trying to carry the water for McNair and spin everything, but only one person on here has 20 posts on just this thread defending every angle from all commenters. Seems an agenda is coming from somewhere.
Based on what I’ve read, the most likely reason that proposal blew up is that BB8’s agent realized after the Jrue trade that BB8 would get less $ from the Bucks than they initially agreed on.
one little addendum: I believe there was a separate deal that had Bledsoe and a first round pick going to Sacramento for Bogi in a sign and trade. That presumably would’ve kept George Hill in Milwaukee. Apparently Giannis and Hill were recruiting Bogi to play in Milwaukee, and part of the reason that Bogi soured on the deal was that the Bucks needed to send Hill and Bledsoe to the Pelicans (then the Thunder) to make the Holiday trade work salary-wise. It’s super confusing, but if I understand things correctly Bogi and the Kings were on board with the initial trade, and the Kings were okay with the consolation trade package that included DiVincenzo, but Bogi was not since his role and salary would decrease after the Holiday trade was made.
How does Milwaukee and Sac pull this off though Rory? I mean, it’s one thing to propose it, it’s another to actually do it. And remember, Bogi woulda been BYC unless McNair at that point had decided being under the cap was worth losing Bjelica for nothing. I certainly can see the argument.
But I’m curious how the Kings do this without letting Bjelica go for nothing.
I’m not that good at math, so someone tell me if I’m wrong:
Again, I could be missing something. I’m by no means an expert on this stuff.
This seems possible, actually. Well done.
Of course a true grade can’t be given before he plays. however, the prevailing opinions on this draft were that the Kings had a great draft. When was the last time we heard that? Fox? And, it takes two to tango, as they kids say. Renting space to gain draft picks is not a one way street.
If it turns out that the Kings front office is responsible for torpedoing the sign and trade, then they deserve some criticism, but I happen to think the Bucks front office was going out of their way to announce they had a player that would help keep Giannis in Milwaukee. As for the shrewd trading, along with the space for picks comes this season (hopefully). Barnes, Buddy, etc can most likely be moved for picks/talent, but you still need someone that wants those assets.
vlade also came into wake of way worse disaster. d’allessandro coup of malone, george karl, ugh! that roster was gross. vlade unequivocally left things better than he found it. the lack of appreciation for the legend is embarassing. he could have just stayed on beaches in corfu, but he comes back to try to help sactown and now everyone acting like he was a failure? he’s the best we had since petrie, and when you look at final petrie years i think he did better than that. have some gratitude! or else? you deserve nothing but pain
Not that’s it’s worth rehashing the Vlade era because I’d rather forget that it ever happened but he made two of the worst decisions any GM has made over the last 20 years: Not drafting Luka and the Philly trade. Either of those moves by themselves are enough to get him on the “Worst GM’s in NBA History” list but together they signify one of the worst FO tenures in professional sports history. Vlade has left this team in the same place he found it: outside of the playoffs with no reasonable hope to ever get there.
Do you realize that Luka was the 5th pick in the draft, and 3 other teams including the Kings passed on him?
Luka was the third pick in the draft and 2 other teams passed on him. One team traded him. All 3 of those teams were wrong, 2 of their front offices have been fired and the other front office might be fired after this season.
fair point on grizzles. regardless, we were not alone. beside fact that if others projected this that they could have made move dallas did.
but also – give dallas credit. they have built around him and done a great job. also, let’s see him get to the conference finals before we declare him as greatest and this amazing guy. he could be a lower version of harden.
reality on that one is we all know story with vlade and doncic mom. its unfortunate, but i think we have all made a bad decision because of a woman. vlade is only human even tho sometimes he seems like demigod
Um, ok…
I’ve been quietly giggling to myself about the possibility that this is a Vlade burner account. No longer!
I’d do flippin backflips for a “lower version” of Harden on this team. Also I think he will be better than that overall but if that’s the worst case sign me up
other things you probably didn’t realize, cause you live in a vacuum that doesnt judge vlade accurately:
– the clippers traded baron davis and a 1st for mo williams, who didn’t do anything. oh yeah, and the unprotected 1st became kyrie. that was worse than stauskus trade.
– james harden trade definitely way worse as well.
– what about gerald wallace to the nets for the pick that became dam lillard?
– lamarcus aldridge for tyrus thomas anyone?
passing on luka def horrible in hindsight. but who is to say that he immediately becomes an mvp candidate with the kings? that’s just not how this works. its also not like he was alone in this assessment. the suns were #1, they had doncic’s old coach for crying out loud! how did they miss? what about the hawks trading him for the worse defensive player in the league. i like jaren jackson, but are we sure he’s that much better than bagley? whats that off, a few dozen extra games and injury fortune?
i have a major issue that everyone shts on vlade. was he the best gm of all time? absolutely not. but this whole “he was the worst!” is intellectually dishonest. he made some really nice moves! the cousins trade was a difficult situation, but we came away with a nice haul. it was panned by so called experts at the time and they were wrong. what about the fox pick? that was a nice move! potentially one that set us up for years? what about the bogdan trade? what about the harrison barnes trade, where we gave up nothing?
if you actually want to critisize vlade: go after the one that was legit bad evalution: trading #10 in fox draft for justin jackson and harry giles. love giles, but i think itd like donnovon mitchell or bam adebayo more.
people sht on papagiannis (unfairly) but look at that draft. we didn’t miss anyone.
vlade did more good than harm, and you should actually look at the facts versus just becoming another one of those pathetic peple who blame all organization disfunction on him. we were bad before him! i am grateful that he came back and tried to do good stuff, and more often than not did. he’s a kings legend, and even more so after his reign.
Wait so other teams also made horrible trades? Awesome! How does that pertain to the Kings?
I certainly don’t blame all of the organizational dysfunction on him. Just some of it.
Now that is a take!
I do agree with this point:
passing on luka def horrible in hindsight. but who is to say that he immediately becomes an mvp candidate with the kings?
I don’t think anyone has said or could say that Luka is a potential MVP if he is here. However everyone can say (or should be able to see) that Luka is clearly, by orders of magnitude a better player than Bagley.
Papagiannis clearly had no reason to be that high of a draft pick. I’m not saying he shouldn’t have been drafted, but I’d rather have Siakam, Brogdon, or LeVert. We clearly missed someone.
Still makes me sad that everyone wants to trade Holmes 🙁 He’s probably the only “vet” on the team I would like us to hold onto for the rebuilding process.
trading him for a 2nd rounder would just be such a pathetic outcome.
Definitely agree, can’t make the playoffs ever with just youth. Gonna need some veteran leadership to get there. Holmes is a find from the end of someone else’s bench. How many players are hungry to prove themselves after riding the pine.
The problem is that the Kings can’t match any offer Holmes gets in free agency next offseason. If they know his market is above what they can pay him, then it’s better to get something in a trade than to lose him for nothing.
I thought the whole reason we let Bogdan go was for “financial flexibility”? Shouldn’t we be able to pay ppl?
it’s because Vlade only signed him to a two year deal using the room exception. It’s complicated, but the Kings would only be able to match any offer if they have cap space to do so. As of now, the keeps will be operating over the cap next offseason. If nothing significant changes, then the only (realistic) method they can use to re-sign him is the early bird exception which limits how much they can offer. You can read more here.
You’re killing it today with knowledge bombs.
Don’t tell him this. His ego is already swollen as is.
and now my ego is also bruised 🙁
Your ego got swole bruised, why u frontin’?
I think what’s more revealing is that Holmes was even available for the room exception.
But that’s my personal feeling on it. I was also surprised by how well he played when, you know, he played.
That’s depressing. I love Holmes; I thought we had his bird rights. I had Holmes in the column of the good things Vlade did, and now I’ll have to move him to the other column, especially if Vlade knew how good he was and didn’t lock him up longer. (I can’t think of any excuse for being so stupid–Jerry could have told him how valuable Holmes would be.)
I’ll miss Holmes, especially if he starts hitting his threes–I always saw him as having the potentially to be more than a just hustle player.
FWIW jctar, it takes 3 full season of service time to acquire Bird Rights on a player.
“They really aren’t looking at the playoffs.”
At least they don’t have to print we’re not trying to make the playoffs on the season tickets.
I’m all for the tank because we’ve been conditioned to think it’s the only option but I do find it interesting that so many of us are cool with throwing away the season.
Not all of us are ok with it
So, why is everyone so insistent that they need to trade Buddy. I get he is slightly overpaid, but he is also one of the best shooters in the NBA and adds additional drive to the rim scoring when people get up too close to him. Frankly the Kings will not get back good value for him – maybe a mid to late first if we’re lucky. Buddy is better than a mid to late first. I realize he’s a bit of a primadonna and a pain in the ass, but he’s also talented. Keep him
Potentially watching a methodical and patient rebuild actually brings me great joy each step of the way. Love to watch a GM who has game, we’ll see how Monte does, seems to be going Full Monte thus far.
Kings have little chance of getting stars who want to play in Sac through trade or free-agency, that’s why I advocate for tanking. If we are lucky enough to get a player like Giannis or that one guy on Mavs, an MVP caliber talent, then we may be able to get people interested in Cow Bell Ball 2.0.
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