Sunday it was revealed that a couple of Sacramento Kings players had positive COVID-19 tests. While we are still waiting to hear who those players are, here are some other updates coming out of Kings training camp.
Hassan Whiteside injury
Hassan Whiteside is day-to-day with a mild strain in his right calf. Head coach Luke Walton said we likely won’t see him in the first pre-season game, but Whiteside is participating in camp, getting shots up and doing things in the weight room.
Jabari Parker is getting noticed
Walton said Jabari Parker is in shape and looks good. De’Aaron Fox said that Parker is making the right passes, hitting threes, finishing in traffic and in general looks like he put in a lot of work this offseason, while Richaun Holmes said Parker has got his mind right, and praised him for his scoring, facilitating and being in great shape. (Apparently, he’s flying up and down the court.)
First impressions of Tyrese Haliburton
Here is what Walton said about Kings rookie Tyrese Haliburton:
I’ve been very pleased, impressed with his knowledge, how he sees the game, what he’s looking to do. We’re encouraging him to be as aggressive as possible. It’s nice right now with some of the scrimmages we’re able to play him and Cory [Joseph] together and Cory is a great vet mentoring, showing, talking, helping lead teams. He’s been impressive the first two days and I think one of the things that we heard about him is that everyone on the team loves playing with him already and it’s only been two days worth of scrimmages. So he’s got one of those personalities and styles of game that attract people to want to play with him. But like most young players he’s got a lot of work to do and he knows that, but he’s constantly asking questions and wants to put in that work and wants to get better.
Holmes said Haliburton has done a great job pushing the ball and controlling the pace.
De’Aaron Fox trying to step into more of a leadership role
Walton praised De’Aaron Fox’s leadership: We’re only two days in right now, but I do respect the way he’s going about that. Whether it’s bringing huddles in, whether it’s getting players in their positions before getting into to set. The things he’s talking about as far accountability and holding each other accountable on the court.
Holmes said that last year Fox was leading by example and this year he has made it a point to make his voice heard by making it known that he is stepping into that role.
Fox said Sunday that he knows being a vocal leader is the next step for his development.
Changes to defense
There could be some changes to the defensive schemes. Walton said, You’ll see some more switching this year than we did last year, you’ll see a little bit different on the pick-and-roll coverage.
Fox said that the way the team is switching, guarding off-ball and the way they guard pin-downs is a little different so far in camp.
Robert Woodard is jacked
Walton discussed the strength that Kings rookie Robert Woodard has shown: He’s a strong young man. One of the competitions, slash baseline, we try to get on the players is in the weight room and as a rookie he won the bench press version of it. In a grown-man league coming out of college you don’t normally see that.
Holmes said Woodard has been everywhere, and has been a great athlete.
The main theme coming out of camp so far is pace with pretty much everyone who has been interviewed so far saying it is a main focus. We’ll continue to keep you updated throughout the week.
Cue the “best shape of his life” quotes until showing nothing different in a game.
I’ll take you guys for $1600 Alex…
This makes me sad. RIP to a legend.
Nicest guy on TV.
Will miss him forever.
just replace all these with “play with pace” for this training camp
Right, same old BS. Still, some guy actually do improve. Look at Hassan Whiteside even, now a 10 year vet. After watching his first year, how did that happen?
Getting in shape for that high draft pick.
Seriously, I am freakin’ excited.
#Tankathon2021
For some reasons, I just hate reading any quotes from Alton, so I just skipped them and moved on to the next topics.
The vitriol towards Walton is intense lol
If intense = deserved, then I agree!
The sad thing is this team wins 30 games with or without Lose Alton which begs the question of why we even have him as a coach
Blame CAVID-19. He hired him in 2019 without interviewing anybody else.
Now that dumb decision virus has spread ober the entireorganization.
over
This is good
Hopefully this bodes well for sending Parker packing as soon as possible. We lived through the original Coke Machine, and I’d rather not spend the season watching part 2.
Gotta give the man a chance. Sounds like he’s tuned in and prepared. I hope the best for him.
Contract year!
He’s had 6 years of chances on a number of teams. It’s just who he is, at this point.
Parker, Williams and Bagley all former can not miss no. 2 picks !
Jabari Parker’s per 36 stats in Sacramento: 23/10.4/4.5 with a 63.8 TS%
(don’t ask about MP, dare to dream!)
I haven’t followed Parker’s career that closely, but I got the general sense that he was robbed of his athleticism by injuries. Is that true?
Eh. He once gave a quote while in Milwaukee that he wasn’t paid to play defense.
It’s really both. His challenges have been:
The latter two can both be put into the “doesn’t play team basketball” bucket.
But who knows, maybe he has gotten better in that regard.
Luke? It’s me, Marvin Bagley. A funny thing happened on the way to the practice facility…
Has anyone heard anything about Bagley? Kind of scary that we are not hearing about him being healthy and locked in, or that he has developed a shot or use of his right hand…
Guessing he’s one of the quarantine crew.
Well I hope he is fine if that is the case
This photo was taken of Bagley, just before the camera flash gave him retina damage. He’s now out for 8-10 weeks…

We need another rec option: thumbs up, thumbs down, it made me laugh but I felt bad about it afterwards. I’ll let you figure out the icon for that one.
Bagleys a surprise to the league. Kings gonna spring ’em on everybody. shhh.
Ok so I’ll be the crazy optimistic guy in the room and hope we actually have a fun talented team. If we can stay healthy and other team’s don’t maybe we win at a .500 clip.
I agree with you
From December 25, 2014:
“All the losing streaks in the world will amount to a hill of beans if Hinkie proves incompetent at selecting players. With all this losing, Hinkie has accrued Michael Carter-Williams, Nerlens Noel, and Joel Embiid. Michael Carter-Williams has proven he can play, winning the 2013-2014 NBA Rookie of the Year. “
It was not until 2018 that the 76’ers made the playoffs.
Tanking does not work.
Great organizations don’t tank, even if it looks like they do sometimes in retrospect. But the Kings come out ahead either way. If they are horrible, they get a great draft pick in a stocked draft. If they don’t, it means that some of their current players, like Bagley, Halliburton and Fox, have exceeded expectations, and there’s still a draft pick next year if farther down. So, we should just enjoy the season regardless.
When your goal is a top 5 draft pick; there will not be much to enjoy.
I’ll enjoy the 2021 draft if the Kings succeed at getting a top 5 pick
Hmmm we had top 5 draft picks in 2017 and 2018. Yet still nothing.
I enjoyed the 2017 draft quite a bit.
So in 2024 you can state that you enjoyed the 2021 draft… as we start the tank process over again.
Such a nice future.
in 2024 the Kings will have missed the playoffs for 20 straight years.
Such a nice future.
We also had Vlade Divac actively kneecapping the franchise for 5 seasons.
I feel like this can not be emphasized enough. Monte McNair may turn out to be a mediocre GM but the leap from “worst in the NBA by a wide margin” to “average” has the potential to at least get this team on the path to respectability.
I have set a much higher bar of competency when judging MMc compared to Vlade. I expect MMc to make the right moves.
With Vlade, it was like, “Nice move, you did an almost adequate job!”
Consider the picker.
Could be both with lottery luck. Could play in to the playoffs and get lottery luck.
I don’t think so. I think the lottery odds/slots are designated after the play-in games.
The San Antonio Spurs, easily defined as a great organization, won their championships on the backs of two #1 picks who are first ballot hall of famers.
The year they drafted David Robinson they went 28-54. They year they drafted Tim Duncan they went 20-62.
They missed the playoffs once since Robinson’s rookie year, and that was they year he was hurt and they drafted Duncan. This past season is only the second time they missed the playoffs since 1989.
“Great organizations” are often defined by general talent or gift of market. The Kings only have the option of generational talent. The odds of finding those players greatly increase at the top of the lottery. I’d argue that “smart organizations” know when to tank, and this year is the perfect opportunity for the Kings in a loaded West.
anyone else remember the ‘masked spurs’ from that tankin’ for Duncan year? seemed like all their players got facial injuries, or at least a few guys put on the masks for comraderie that year.
The reason why the league has a lottery was to avoid tanking back in the 80s, the Rockets tanked their way into back to back #! picks picking Ralph Samson and Hakeem Olujuwon, after which the league established the draft to stop the worst team getting the first pick
It’s a really mixed result though. The Sixers have a team of highly talented yet ill-fitting pieces that don’t really seem to be a championship contender and the fans had to sit through 3 agonizingly miserable and hopeless seasons to get there. And last year was a step back for them if anything.
I really can’t think of a team that intentionally tanked their way to a championship in any major North American sport. There is the occasional team that cashes in their season and improves their competitive position somewhat but long-term suckitude of the Hinkie sort hasn’t ever worked out AFAIK. The NBA seems like it would be the obvious case if this was an effective strategy anywhere but the Sixers are the closest example to the ideal and the results are rather mixed.
Also, maybe don’t listen to the guy drinking grappa after the Bills won
You’re missing a big piece of the story here though, BD.
The Spurs one-year tanked their way to a dynasty.
Ah, mediocre minds! 🙂
I think you have to distinguish between normal tanking, for one season to get a high pick, and a Process-like continued tank job a la Sixers.
Tanking definitely helped the San Antonio Spurs become a contender and powerhouse. It helped the Cavs, getting both LBJ and Kyrie, and the ability to trade for Love.
I don’t think the Cavs really tanked for Lebron, Kyrie or the Love trade – they just sucked.
San Antonio had a year where things weren’t going right so they decided to focus on not winning basketball games for the balance of the season. That’s fine with me. They didn’t strip-mine team and auction off anything resembling talent the way Hinkie did.
They intentionally didn’t try to win games in order to improve their draft position. That is the textbook definition of tanking. And the Cavs example is pure semantics. It’s cool if you don’t like the Process. Neither do I. But we don’t have to pretend teams haven’t tanked to good effect or that the Process didn’t get the Sixers into a very good position.
The Spurs started that season trying to win games and then David Robinson got hurt and a bunch of other things went sideways on them as well IIRC so they decided to suck for about 60% of a single season. That isn’t “tanking”, at least not how I would define it.
Hinkie auctioning off the reigning rookie of the year? Now THAT is tanking. That is the sort of soul-sucking tanking that will have every season ticket holder reconsidering their renewal.
I’m not even sure you can call trading MCW a tanking move – that was selling high.
He was not a very good NBA player, as it turned out.
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2019/03/01/sixers-shoot-to-the-top-of-nba-attendance-rankings.html
Well, sure, now things are better.
It’s that part where tickets are selling for a dollar that really, really sucks.
But…the whole point was short-term suffering for long-term gain. How can anyone say with a straight face at this point that it didn’t work?
Adding – would a guy like James Harden really be trying to get himself moved to Philly if they were still stuck in 30 to 35 win purgatory – in the East?
It kind of worked but I don’t think it will get a championship.
And 2 years of sub 20 win seasons followed by a “hold my beer” 10 win season is not short term suffering. That’s pure misery.
If the Kings put together 50 wins over 3 seasons and drafted guys who couldn’t even get on the floor for a season or two this place would be nothing but torches and pitchforks among those who still cared enough to come here. You’re looking at what the Sixers did with the benefit of hindsight without considering how awful it was for 4 years.
It might not get them a championship – but they still have significant assets to work with. You’re also ignoring that Hinkie didn’t get to hang around.
And I disagree with your last paragraph entirely. Kings fans have seen so much stupid shit the last fifteen seasons and still showed up to talk about it.
Hinkie didn’t get to hang around because the fanbase had gone torches and pitchforks among those who still cared.
The Kings haven’t been good for 15 years but they haven’t been outright terrible either. The process-Sixers were on an entirely different level of sucking.
To clarify – the Kings have mostly been a bad NBA team, but at least one that you could go to a game and there was a reasonable chance of seeing a victory.
The process-Sixers spent 3 years just getting the stuffing beaten out of them almost every time they stepped on the court. Hope barely existed.
Look, we’re on the merry-go-round here, so I’ll just make this my last post. If you think that three straight playoff appearances, leading the league in attendance the last two seasons (and finishing third the season before), and having two of the best young players at their position in the league means Hinkie went about it the wrong way?
I’ll just agree to disagree.
For me it comes down to this: Am I going to continue to drop $$$ on my (completely awesome) seats to watch a team get blown off the floor 35 times per season for multiple seasons in a row?
The answer, friends, is no. No I will not. Maybe for one season, maybe even for 2 if the needle was pointing in very promising directions, but a run of abject failure like the Sixers had would sap my will to spend thousands of dollars watching a basketball team be summarily executed on a regular basis.
Maybe not. But other will line up to pay a lot more if/when those 50-win playoff seasons start rolling in.
Seems to be true in Philly’s case.
Some of the claims I’m reading on this thread are downright embarrassing.
@Marty can obviously step in here for clarification, but that’s not my impression at all. In my understanding, Hinkie didn’t get to stick around because the league and other owners had gone torches and pitchforks, not because the fanbase did. Hinkie is seen more as a martyred saint by most of the Sixers fanbase AFAIK.
They had draft night parties with THOUSANDS of people where they hoisted banners of his likeness up on the side of the facility. Hinkie’s resignation had nothing to do with fans, anyone who suggests this is embarrassing themselves.
Fans and pitchforks, rigggght. You’re way, way, way off base here.
https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2597354-sam-hinkie-reportedly-steps-down-as-76ers-gm-latest-details-comments-reaction.amp.html
Man we have a different definition of outright terrible. The Kings have definitely been outright terrible for 15 straight years which is why we are where we are.
Dude. The tanking rejuvenated the fan base. Not the first year, but then BOOM it was embraced and the place was nuts. Anybody who had a finger on Philly sports knows what went down. It was a friggin party the last two years. So many memories. Some day they’ll make a documentary about what the fans built during those tank years. It was one of the most unique sports movements I’ve ever seen in my life.
The last two years of the Hinkie Tank were among the most exciting professional sports seasons I’ve ever witnessed in my 45 years as a rabid Philly sports fan.
–One season tank for high pick
–Process ongoing tank for several seasons
–Kings tanking while trying to succeed for over a decade
Personally, I’m not a fan of the full Hinkie, but I think we can all agree it worked a helluva a lot better than whatever the Kings have been doing for the past 14 years.
I’d take 3 miserable seasons of over 14 years of purgatory.
After 2 seasons of less than 20 wins this site would be a ghost town. Following that with a 10 win season would probably be the end of having an NBA team in Sacramento.
Eh, we went 4 straight between 17 and 25 wins. Between that and 14 straight I don’t think there’s much evidence to suggest any lack of resilience among Kings fans.
Yeah, I’d say even when the Sixers were in the middle of their tanking, the Kings were probably regarded as a bigger joke of a franchise (the season that the Sixers won ten games was Vlade’s first full season as GM).
StR was far from a ghost town during that period.
Sure. They had a plan. They sucked with purpose. We were just flailing about randomly.
That was precisely the idea Adam, breaking the Eight Seed Cycle.
Astros (cheating or not).
Ah, that’s right. I don’t really follow baseball much, but didn’t they stash all their promising talent in the minors for years on end and then unleash them all at once?
Yep, as they continued to acquire and draft more top level amateur talent to add to those promising minor leaguers. It’s within the confines of a completely different system (having a farm), but it’s still tanking.
That seems like a system that is just ripe for abuse. I’m shocked the MLBPA even allows teams to do that. Are the draftees at least getting MLB salaries while down on the farm?
Higher end draft talent gets pretty significant signing bonuses, I believe.
There’s also an economics here. Financially better to build a deep 40 man roster in baseball with younger players who haven’t exhausted their years of service than spending large sums on the free agent market. The Giants did the latter until the bottom fell out, and are now going the A’s, Astros route. Even the Dodgers do it, although they have the money to bring in a Betts. There is a bottom line, there, too, even if it doesn’t seem like it.
Tanking does not work. 2 years of 50 win seasons…. and now they are mired into another rebuild. A mediocre record at best considering they are in the East.
Mired into another rebuild, with two exceptionally talented players on the roster.
And it’s pretty unfair to say it didn’t work when Hinkie wasn’t able to stay and complete what he started.
Two exceptionally talented players who really don’t fit well together, though.
Since 2013/2014 the Sixers have all of 2 more wins than the Kangz.
Well, sure:
Considering the Sixers were actively TRYING to lose for three of those seasons, it’s a pretty specious comparison to the franchise that has been trying to win.
And I’m not so certain those guys can’t fit together, so much as they have lesser front office people trying to integrate the parts around them.
What rebuild is Philly currently going through? You mean where they’re changing the supporting cast around their two young stars they got from tanking?
How much would you give to have
On the Kings right now?
Or how about even one player in that tier?
Wait the Sixers are mired in a rebuild? What? When did that happen? Sure doesn’t look like a rebuild from where I’m sitting. I would expect them to be a top-4 seed in the east this year.
The Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs would disagree.
If the word ‘tanking’ upsets you, then let’s call it “strategic roster building”, something the organization hasn’t had in a looooong time.
Kings haven’t made the playoffs in 15 years. Kangs does not work.
I half joked the other day with a friend that it wouldn’t surprise me to see Walton start Parker and Nemanja in the frontcourt come opening night. With as packed the Kings bigs currently are, nothing would surprise me.
Nope, it’s going to be Parker and the one legged Bags
Meh…I think we go big starting off. More of an assessment period, then we should make adjustments. Opening night might look like…
Fox
Buddy
Barnes
Kaminsky
Whiteside
If not, at least we can now bang with the Fakers, Stuggets, Traillamers, Golden Stank , Phoenix Cons, and any other team that wants to step up. We’re deep. Fuck that losing shit. That mindset is poor. As the legend, Herm Edwards once said, “you play to win the game”.
We’re “deep end” as in ‘gone off the’
This team’s as deep as a stoner in Philosophy 101.
I do love false bravado. But any team that has Frank Kaminsky playing real minutes can’t claim to have depth.
We’re absolutely a deep team.
(if we were playing in the G-League)
𤣠𤣠𤣠…wtf happened to trying to win man!!!
This team has spent the past decade and a half going from winning to trying to win to just plain trying.
I think they’ll start a traditional center. The starting PF may be more of an open competition though.
ð¤
What’s this about? I don’t Twit.
Wow, FINALLY we are hearing about a good preseason camp for the team.
I haven’t been this excited for a Kings team since the media, players and coaches hyped us up prior to the bubble games.
It’s transformation season!
We got disrespected then. We showed them!
Woodward has the optimal size and physique for SF. His frame and his fundamentals and footwork and length are reminescent of Kawhi Leonard. I am not saying he’s the next Kawhi, I am saying he has the prototypical frame and skill set to excel as a wing in our league.
He will likely be able to defend interior and exterior. Switchable defenders are at premium.
He seems to have a knack for where to be, highly coordinated. I think we could have found a gem. He won the bench press over guys like Holmes and Whiteside? Wow!
My (VERY) Tentative and Premature Rotation (because why the heck not?!):
1st Unit:
PG-Fox
SG -Buddy
SF – Woodward!
PF – Barnes
C – Whiteside
2nd Unit:
PG – Guy
SG – Hali
SF – Jefferies
PF – Bagley
C- Holmes
Jabari , Ramsey and Bjelica, Jospeh are out of the rotation for now.
But this will be subject to change after I see the preason games.
I respectfully disagree with your proposed lineup….but there is no way for Woodward to start as the starting SF……..
Also, I would say Guy should be cut too…….and it would be much better for Hali to act as the PG of the 2nd unit…Hali can dishes out the ball and find open teammate……..
Finally, it would be a waste of talent if no minutes for Parker and Bjelica….Parker is still young…although his defense may not be good, but his offense is really nice….he fits the 2nd unit…..while Bjelica is also a fans favourite, and with high BBIQ, there is no reason not to play him…..
Starting: Fox, Hield, Barnes, Bjelica/Bagley, Whiteside
2nd unit: Hali, Woodward, Jeffries, Parker, Holmes…
is what I wanted to see
Can Joseph play well off the ball? It seemed like he could guard SG pretty good. I have been curious what that tandem would look like.
IMO, having Joseph and Fox share the backcourt will have defenses sagging in and just daring the Kings to shoot.
and hopefully Fox would be taking that dare. This would be a good year for him to work on his shot.
So if Jabarri has a great year does Vlade get credit for it?
nope
Badge Legend