There were games this season when Terence Davis looked like the best player on the floor for either team. I think back to that electric TNT game against the Brooklyn Nets when TD looked unstoppable and dropped 31 points on 16 shots, including a scorching 7/10 from beyond the arc. Davis is capable of getting hot and completely changing a game off the bench.
Unfortunately, Davis also completely disappears sometimes. He had 13 games this season where he played between 4 and 10 minutes of game time and registered 0 points.
The conundrum of Terence Davis is that he can look like the best player on the floor or he can be completely unplayable. It puts the Kings in a challenging position as Davis hits free agency this summer. As your 5th guard on a cheap deal, Davis is a fine piece. We can quibble over the way Mike Brown used Davis instead of Davion Mitchell in Game 7 of the Warriors series, but Davis was a useful piece for the Kings this season and I truly believe he helped more often than he hurt.
And yet I have no idea if it makes sense for the Kings to bring him back.
If he comes back cheap, I’ll be fine with it. I can’t imagine that Davis is paid handsomely to return to Sacramento, but I’d be a little upset if he was. I also have no idea if there’s a market for Davis in free agency. Some other team might see the flashes and think he’s worth a gamble on giving him a bigger role. It seems like Davis wants to come back to Sacramento, but money and opportunity will always hold sway. We’ll have to wait and see what the future holds for TD and the Kings.
He had the best “LIIIIIIIGHT THE BEAAAAAAAM” for sure tho
I’ve been in favor of trading Huerter to make a big splash since the SG position is our deepest. He’s young, an elite sniper on a good contract, and would probably fetch a good return.
All that said, it seems like TD might just be an easy depth option, especially if Huerter could be shopped? I’d only want to offer him something like $8mil/2yrs or something like that, but if he’s willing to take it then why not? He puts in effort on defense and every now and again will go completely nuclear from deep. I’ll take that as the 5th-6th guard on the roster.
I don’t understand the desire to shop the team’s best SG who is locked up on a very good deal. He is a long 40% from deep shooter who thrives next to Sabonis and is not a liability on defense. Neither Monk or TD are replacements for him.
I think it is fueled by the Janet Jackson song.
‘What have you done for me lately’ (lately as in the playoffs).
I’m not suggesting to give him away for free. I’m suggesting packaging him for a dynamic, 2-way star. If we have replacement options between Monk, TD, Ellis, #24 and free agency, then why wouldn’t you consider moving a relative redundancy for something more valuable?
Also, if he was a 40% deep shooter who wasn’t a liability on defense, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation. The dude is a turnstile and targeted every possession.
So you think Monk and TD are better on defense than Huerter? Go check out the defensive numbers of Monk and TD then get back to me on who the turnstiles are. I’ll give you one guess who has the best NetRtg of the three.
I’m not comparing Huerter’s defense to TD or Monk. All three of them are primarily offensive players who are bad on defense, hence the redundancy at the SG position. I’m comparing Huerter to the guy that could theoretically be had by trading him + stuff (OG and Pascal are the standouts but I’m sure there are others).
Fair enough. If there were a significant upgrade to the wing at the expense of Huerter I could be talked into it. If it were picks, Huerter and filler for OG I’d be hesitant. To me that’s like taking 2 steps back to move 2 steps forward. I’d much prefer to move Monk in that situation.
If teams are looking to not take on long term money, then Monk may have more value. Just hypothetically speaking, something like Monk and Holmes for John Collins, if ATL were looking to cut salary.
I guess I’m in the mindset that the Kings can keep Huerter, and his good deal, while moving others to upgrade the wing/PF spot, or just find someone in free agency.
I’m open to moving Monk, too. I just suspect that Huerter has more value since he’s an elite shooter under longer team control.
In the sense that you have to give to get, Huerter, Monk, Davion, and even Keegan are the positive trade assets we have available.
I’m partial towards Monk between the SGs for the energy/playmaking he brings as the 6th man and his chemistry with Fox. And unless there’s a crazy deal, I don’t want to move Keegan. So by process of elimination, my vote is to trade Huerter+Davion+stuff to find the third star next to Fox and Sabonis.
Neither Monk (who’s best role is 6th man), TD or Davion can replace what Huerter brings. While I may not call the SG spot a “strength” per se, I would not want to make it a weakness to gets stronger somewhere else unless that stronger was significant and then Kings would still need some size and length at SG.
Here is what I’m thinking murraytat, Tell me what you thing. From the two comments above you don’t have to do any of those things.If you let all free agents go you now have 20 mil.to spent. First go out and get your starting power forward in Cam Johnson. Now you have your starting five. Draft Chris Murray at #24. Trade Holmes to the Mavs for Reggie Bullock. This will work. Bring Vezenkov over to play the backup power forward. Use the BAE to bring him over. Last you get either Naz Reid or Drew Eubanks to backup Sabonis at the center spot. For Murray and Reid or Eubanks use the MLE worth 12,200. The Holmes for Bullock trade you get around 2ml. more. Should work. Backups would be Mitchell, Monk, Murray, Vezenkov and either Reid or Eubanks. What say you?
TD was maybe the most inconsistent guard, if not player, on the team. He would get pulled after 3-5 minutes in a decent amount of games because he was bad, never to return again.
Sure he tries, and is athletic, but the game is more than that.
I am perplexed by the desire by many to jettison Huerter. He had his best year, ever. He was inconsistent, yes and had a poor playoff run but he fit well with the philosophy and did his job- spread the floor.
In the playoffs, the duds focused on him and the DHO. They focused on stopping that because it was a strength.
Monk exceled in the playoffs because he was good Monk and because his creativity and randomness cannot be directly planned for. A team needs both.
Denver focused on KD and reduced his effectiveness – trade him?
KH has size- that helps because the others are all too small.
TD- he played a significant role- the 5th guard- most teams play 4 in a game, but if one is hurt you need the fifth and sometimes you need a change of pace. He is a bit undersized, leaving the Kings with 4 small guards. I think a larger fifth guard would help. One who is combo and can shoot, and act as third PG. Draft?? C. Jones??
I do think Ellis will take some of TD’s minutes- the defensive ones. Keon can hit the 3 but is not as explosive as TD.
Keep TD- depends on draft and on his market.
TD can create some offense, we don’t know that Keon Ellis can. He appears to be a spot up shooter mostly (only?).
the impetus to trade Huerter is not the belief that he is a bad player that needs to be replaced, but rather that he is a good player that could fetch a great player.
What great player? If a “great” player becomes available then anyone on the roster is tradeable. I hope by “great” player you don’t mean guys like OG or Beal etc. This is a solid FA class as well as a solid draft class to continue to build. I don’t get wanting to mortgage the future for solid players that are overhyped.
I’m getting a strange amount of pushback on the idea of dealing Huerter by people who are in complete agreement with this position, which is the same as my own?
I agree with everything you said, pretty much exactly the way you said it, very succinct, and insightful. Good job, thank you for stating the case so clearly.
Also, if your core is Fox, Sabonis, Murray, 2 out of three are less than stellar athletes. If you add Kevin Huerter to that line-up, then at least 3 of your 5 starters are below average, athletically, by NBA standards. Even Beal would have been an upgrade, and Anunoby would be like a nitro-injection. If they could get off Huerter’s contract swapping Barnes for OG, and insert Monk at the 2 spot, that’s 3 out 5 starters who are gifted athletes. Hard to believe any of this hasn’t occurred to Monte.
Good. For the contract Huerter is one of the better shooting guards in the NBA.
Titles are not won on a cap sheet. Do you believe the third piece to the title team will be given to us for free?
Doesn’t quibbling imply opposing viewpoints on the matter?
Are there people other than Mike Brown who halfway the 3rd quarter were still thinking that keeping TD on Curry was a good idea?
Good point. Gripe would have been a better choice of words.
Can a gripe be nurtured? If so, I also vote for gripe.
Yup. Literally every fan I was talking to during the game or since has been Why TF wasn’t Davion on Steph.
I was yelling at my TV to pull Davis and put Davion on Curry, but Mike Brown couldn’t hear me.
At some point you have to score more than the other team does to win. Halfway through the third quarter is a great time to score when you are behind.
Davion doesn’t score. Davion plays instead of TD and Brown gets beat up for playing the only guard on the roster that cannot shoot.
Meh, TD is just Monk light and is really the 3rd string SG who was often forced into playing SF with smaller Kings lineups. I’d imagine he will garner a similar salary to his current $4M per year, but if he wants more than that, let him walk. He is a microwave with flaws, much like Omri Casspi was. He may be likable but he is easily replaceable. I’m more inclined to see Keon Ellis can fill his role.
Second that, perfectly fine moving on from TD, players with his skill set are a dime a dozen.
I’ve always felt very conflicted about TD. He’s easily the most frustrating player on the Kings: he takes too many bad shots, likes to stand on the sideline when spotted up, and also makes too many defensive mistakes. Mistakes that are mostly due to a lack of focus.
On the other hand he is kind of…good? He’s super opportunistic and makes stuff happen. He had multiple games this year where he catapulted the Kings to victory, simply by being ultra aggressive. He can also be quite disruptive defensively.
This leads me to being fine with whatever the Kings end up doing with him. If they want to sign him to a cheap, two year deal, great. He’s a decent NBA player that can be part of a regular season rotation. If they opt to trade him/not bring him back, great. There’s more players of the same calibre as TD, and I personally would like to see Ellis with some of his minutes.
The TDs of the world are a dime a dozen. I’d rather give Keon the QO, who is four years younger, and give him a shot than keep TD. Use Keon’s two way on one of our second rounders. TD had some moments, but was too enigmatic to tie up much long term hope. Didn’t seem to be a negative in the locker room but wasn’t really a cog either. I think it’s an easy decision to move on for someone with more upside.
Ellis did everything you could want or expect in the G-league, I think he deserves a shot.
Keon plays serious defense, probably better than TD. He can hit a 3 but usually spot up. He is nowhere near the creator that TD can be.
Monk is creative, so is Fox. Teams need a few of those. Sometimes called “can get his own shot”
I just wrote this. I should have just read further down the thread as you beat me to it.
What are Keon’s NBA defensive stats?
Consistency. That what is distinguishes the bench player from the starter, the starter from the All-Star and at it’s highest level, the Superstar from the All-Star. TD is inconsistent, but so is Monk. Huerter, Barnes and Keegan as well, but less so (mostly, playoffs excepted).
Potential to improve: that’s the other question with TD. Can he improve his weaknesses – ball handling, passing, defensive focus to name some and can he become more consistent with his strengths – shooting and scoring, man to man D. Will he work to get better? How hard?
Pick a player to compare: Can TD be a Sacramento version of Max Strus? Maybe he is already and Strus just peaked at the right time (like Vincent and Caleb Martin, until the Finals anyway). If Coach Brown and staff like the player, and have confidence that the player will work to improve and can improve – then keep TD.
Exciting times! NBA draft just two days away. I am drowning myself in mocks and reports on the prospects, but more as a curiosity and not as finger crossing “I hope they get this right” sort of thing.
Ima huge fan of TD, I just don’t see him growing much more here due to his inconsistent and limited minutes. With that said, if either Mitchell or Huerter are moved in a trade for a Wing/F, then I’d happily welcome TD back on a reasonable deal between $4M-6M annually (maybe a little more if his market price required it).
I’m not a TD fan, but I have to give him his due for staying ready and being ready. He and Alex Len deserve major hat tips in this regard.
TD plays with a physical, reckless abandon that really was lacking with this roster. It’s like there are times when you can almost tell he’s going to the basket no matter what, other times you could definitely tell. So he’s a little predictable, but you gotta love his fearlessness. He’s ballsy with the ball. He’ll be fine as a 4th guard, if they do bring him back, after trading Kevin Huerter for what he’s worth.
I can forgive TD for being a bit less a part of the rotation this year than last year and having less of an impact because of it. I can’t forgive coach Brown for asking him to defend the SF position (or play against it, offensively) a majority of his time on the floor.
That said, I think we’ve seen what TD is at this point and I’m fine with finding anyone else who bring some shooting and better defense for the 10 minutes a night they might get, and possibly for cheaper. Keon Ellis or Kessler Edwards, for example.
TD the person did a fine job staying ready and being a good teammate. TD the player has some serious consistency (and defensive) issues that make playing him nearly impossible in my opinion.
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