In December reports surfaced that Rich Paul met with the Sacramento Kings front office to ask a specific question:
What’s the plan here?
That meeting (or perhaps a meeting months earlier depending on which sources you choose to trust) led us to this point. Less than 3 months later that question no longer related to De’Aaron Fox and his future with the Sacramento Kings. The Kings were active at the trade deadline, most notably trading away their star point guard. The Kings made a couple other moves as well, and while in a vacuum I like some of the secondary moves, the question remains the same and the answers seem murkier than ever.
What’s the plan here?
First, let’s take a moment to fully review the current lay of the land.
De’Aaron Fox and Jordan McLaughlin were traded to the San Antonio Spurs, and Kevin Huerter was traded to the Chicago Bulls in the same deal. The Kings received Zach LaVine and Sidy Cissoko. Cissoko was then re-routed to the Washington Wizards in the trade for Jonas Valanciunas. Colby Jones and Alex Len were traded for Jake LaRavia. There were also draft assets flying every which way, and honestly I don’t feel like I have a full handle on which picks are still owned by the Kings at this point, but I’m sure it will become clear as the dust settles and there’s time to look at all the deals. But overall, I’m still fairly confident the Kings ended up with more picks than they started with.
In the aftermath, here’s a rough look at the current rotation:
Malik Monk/Devin Carter
Zach LaVine/Keon Ellis
DeMar DeRozan/Jake LaRavia/Doug McDermott
Keegan Murray/Trey Lyles/Jae Crowder
Domantas Sabonis/Jonas Valanciunas
That puts the roster at 12, with 3 open roster spots. Teams are required to carry 14 players during the season, and are allowed to drop to 13 players for up to 2 weeks. I expect that Isaac Jones will be converted to a full roster spot soon, bringing the Kings to 13, and then they’ll have some time to work the buyout market and evaluate free agent options.
A quick tangent on free agents: Ben Simmons has been bought out and waived by the Brooklyn Nets, and would be a nice addition as a backup point guard, but it seems unlikely. He’s expected to meet with multiple teams sitting higher in the standings. Of the options out there, my preference would be Dennis Smith Jr. He’s been a free agent all season, but was a productive player last year and is a pesky defender. Markelle Fultz has similarly been a free agent all year, and would be another good option to look at. Isaiah Thomas’ name will surely be a popular option among Kings fans, but I’m not sure how much he helps.
Why am I focusing on free agent point guards? Because it’s clear from the last two games that while the Kings added some much-needed depth to the roster, this is still a roster with some major flaws. Malik Monk is a capable ball handler, but he can’t play 48 minutes a night. Some nights, when he’s playing out of control (something we know happens from time to time and is an accepted part of the Malik Monk experience), you want him playing WAY less than 48 minutes. But Devin Carter isn’t ready for major minutes. It’s sadly apparent that his role is not going to be that of a traditional point guard, at least not yet. Carter is a good disruptor, a very good rebounder, but he is not a guy you want to rely on to run the point for extended periods if the goal is to keep winning this season.
Another major issue that is obvious after just two games is the defense. The main discussion around Fox’s defense often resorted to whether he was locked in often enough, while taking for granted his ability to lock in when it mattered. The Kings best defenders are Keon Ellis, Keegan Murray, and Jake LaRavia. Obviously LaRavia hasn’t played for the Kings yet, and his arrival should help, but the roster construction makes Ellis and LaRavia somewhat irrelevant in the clutch moments of a close game. Is Monk going to be benched? LaVine? DeRozan? Nope. Are any of those three going to see significantly reduced minutes the remainder of the season? Nope. Keegan Murray can’t guard five guys. Domantas Sabonis can’t be the backstop behind three turnstiles. The Blazers picked the Kings apart over and over again.
So again we come back to the same question.
What’s the plan here?
The current roster has four players who are best with the ball in their hands: Monk, LaVine, DeRozan, and Sabonis. And the team does not have a point guard to run the offense. And the coach has talked about not having set plays, but rather allowing the team to read and react. We know Sabonis can act as a distributor, but we haven’t seen that nearly as much since Doug Christie took over. And while I’m willing to give the offense some leeway since they haven’t practiced together and are still integrating new players, I don’t know that familiarity solves the fundamental roster construction issues facing this team. How do you balance the touches, how do you find way to create room for these guys to operate? How do you ensure Sabonis isn’t just a screen-setter who scores on putbacks? These are major concerns after just two games of these new-look Kings.
I would not have traded Fox for a package centering on Zach LaVine. Put aside LaVine’s health concerns, put aside his contract, and I still wouldn’t have. And not because of LaVine’s talent. LaVine is really damn good at basketball, on offense anyway. I wouldn’t have made that trade with LaVine as the key piece coming back because he simply does not fit the rest of the roster. And while I could chalk it up as “well they’re not done making moves, we have to see what else they do this summer”, I’m tired of saying that every single summer and every single trade deadline. It’s been three years since the Kings acquired Domantas Sabonis. The following summer they made multiple moves and ended up with a really solid looking roster, leading to the Beam Team season. Since then? It’s been half-measures or complete inaction, and it’s incredibly obvious that there is no underlying plan being executed. This team is an assembly of talented players. It’s a team of guys I like watching play basketball. It is not an assembly of complimentary players, and it is not a team of guys I like watching play basketball together. Because they just don’t fit. Maybe they can figure it out with a little time playing together. This isn’t a team assembled with a goal of more moves this summer, it’s a team assembled to try to win now. It’s the same win-now mandate that’s existed ever since Vivek arrived, and it’s playing out the same way it always does.
What’s the plan here?
There is no plan. Because the top of this organization can’t look farther ahead than the possibility of first round playoff revenue in two months. And the great irony is that the shortsighted approach will likely result in missing out on that playoff revenue for the 11th time in Vivek’s 12 seasons as Chairman of the Kings.
Lol, in the article photo it looks like Malik and Zach are pointing at Vivek sitting off camera thinking “he did it.”
Has anyone seen our playoff hopes?
It went thataway!
Because they are. This has Viveks stink all over it
Doesn’t sound like the problem is as much the roster itself but leadership not being able to wear the pants and tell players they need to come off the bench or be in this particular lineup for the betterment of the team.
coaches and not player should dictate rotations for a reason, if a coach can’t do that, they shouldn’t be a coach.
Taking after Rob Hessing?
The problem is the roster as it has been since the end of the 2022-23 season.
Playing Keon Ellis and/or Keegan Murray five more minutes per game is not going to turn this team around. Yes, they’re better defenders, but any marginal defensive improvement in those minutes would be counterbalanced by Ellis turning the ball over and Keegan missing shots.
They had a chance to think long-term and blew it to maintain this team’s standing as fringe play-in team.
It’s not about total minutes, it’s how those minutes are distributed and who they pair with and yes, that’s a HUGE difference.
Help me understand why you see this so clearly and professional NBA coaches, analysts, players and media members don’t?
Easy, it’s not that those people don’t see it, it’s that the NBA culture (for the most part) and ESPECIALLY the kings, allow players to dictate things and we don’t have coaches or FO that empower coaches to do what’s best for the team in terms of rotations because it will bruise a players ego
Just so I’m understanding, the two choices here are:
Just so I’m understanding.
Do we know what trades could have been made for Fox that would have been a better long term route?
I wanted them to get youth and picks, but that might not have been on the table in trade talks.
It hasn’t been reported from what I’ve seen, but not making the move before the summer was also an option. I would argue a better option than the deal they agreed to.
Doubt we will ever know what the options with SA were, nor will we know if a better deal would have happened in the summer.
I wanted young 2-way wings and picks. We got Lavine and some draft capital, JV, and LaRavia. Maybe it all comes together and they score enough to outpace the bad defense. Or it all goes terribly wrong and they get to keep their 2025 pick and end up with Cooper Flagg.
All I know is, I will be here for all of it.
No idea. I heard that half the teams in the NBA made calls, so I have a hard time believing Zach LaVine was the best long-term move they could have made.
If the goal was to stay locked in to the high 30 to mid 40 win range, then sure, that’s your deal. It’s not championship or bust for me to enjoy the team, but a capped out mediocre team without promising young players or good draft assets just isn’t a lot of fun. There’s very little hope of anything changing. A 29 win team is worse day to day, but at least holds out the promise that you can draft an All Star or better difference maker with brighter days ahead.
OT: Len reuniting with Hali!
The whole mindset that you have to trade star players if they’re not re-signing is comical to me. They panicked and got a huge contract that doesn’t fit or improve team. So what if Fox clearly wanted out, you have him under contract and can trade him when the deal is right or let it play out and he walks. So what! Then you still have a huge amount of money in free agency and if you can’t land good free agents you’red screwed anyways. So that’s your big problem but I would’ve been fine with them letting him go for nothing, it can still work out that way.
I’m okay with Fox being gone, these next few years will be his chance to prove he’s a superstar and maybe he is. Good for him, Kings messed up, and he deserves a shot elsewhere. Brown is gone and that’s okay too, looking like Monte is next barring a top 5 or 6 finish this year, I think he should be gone. Those 3 guys were the The Beam Team and it was a beautiful year but things change quickly, try something else. Yeah Vivek sucks but it’s who we got so just hope he can hire a good GM because Monte was just never enough for me.
I don’t think letting a guy like Fox walk in FA s good asset management. I’m of the mindset that they moved him at the best time they could. Had they gone into summer or even next season, the market would have gotten smaller for him and the return even less. Worst case he officially asks for a trade and Monte loses even more leverage.
The other 28 teams knew Fox wouldn’t sign an extension with them, as his preferred destination were the Spurs, so really, the Spurs were bidding agains’t no one. Had Fox’s desires remained to play in San Antonio, each passing week would have lowered the price of his return in trade. The Spurs took the opportunity to trade now rather than later because of bird in hand. Could Fox’s have had a change of heart in the coming months? Possibly, but doubtful. Spurs got their guy now and the Kings get the best they could for Fox. Losing him in free agency is far worse than when they got in return
For all the talk of LaVine’s bad deal, it’s less money than the Kings would have been on the hook for in Huerter and Fox next season, so really it’s one extra year of LaVine, who will still have trade value at then end of his current deal. Also, keep in mind LaVine’s last year is a PO. It’s doubtful he opts out of $49M, but he could be renegotiated to a longer, but cheaper by year, deal that’s far more beneficial to the Kings and ends up guaranteeing him more money.
As GM I honestly would of traded him before this year started the second he walked into my office and told me we needed to extend Mike Brown because he won’t play for another coach.
I would, too. Good thing that’s not what Fox said.
When did Fox say he wouldn’t play for anyone but Mike Brown?
How much time is left on Monte’s contract?
I think his contract is up after next season, last I heard on 1140.
If we don’t make the post season this year, which is highly likely, I’d be surprised if he and Wes Wilcox are still employed here.
Thanks, I couldn’t remember if it was this year or next. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he gets an extension sometime between now and the beginning of next season…. Which means we’ll continue to stay in basketball purgatory.
What does it matter if Vivek keeps wanting and getting offensive minded guys? Stauskas, Buddy, and now LaVine. Notice a trend?
I agree completely which is disappointing. I think this year or between now and the next deadline is decision time for the next 5 or so years. Vivek needs to pick a lane and either move some of these guys to get better (as opposed to lateral moves like just happened) or sell the farm and do a full rebuild. One of the most disappointing things is that I think the fans have an apatite for a full rebuild rather than staying where we’re at in that 8-12 place range. Unfortunately I have no hope other than for a miracle to happen and this team to be competitive as is.
But then they draft Davion and Devin, along with Colby, and those guys don’t scream “offense”. It’s a weird thing they are doing.
most players want to compete and win. I get that there are pros and cons to it when factoring the draft situation, but I would want to support the players. Lauri Markanen recently said:
“I don’t think losing, or purposefully losing, should be part of professional sports. I feel like athletes always want to compete. I understand why some organizations around the NBA are doing it, but I feel like it sucks, in my opinion,”.
Player morale is important.
There are also ways to build a team to naturally lose even when trying hard. If you’re trading away your best player, you could acquire young talent and draft picks. A bunch of young talent can try hard, learn, develop, and still be losing.
This really isn’t that hard, most teams in this league figured it out a long time ago.
I get your point. Everyone knows that if you lose, you get a higher pick. However, part of my point is that most players do not like being on losing teams. I never suggested the trade that the Kings made, but it was made and this is the roster, so I’m rooting for them.
well, that’s where coaching comes in.
Is this a more balanced roster? on depth- yes. JV is the best backup 5 that Domas has had and it ain’t close.
Jake LaRavia – that’s a wait and see, but he sure seems to fit better than Kevin Huerter, whom, in my mind, was part of the catalyst for change, starting around this time, one season ago. If we could use the Wayback Machine, I’d ask Mr. Peabody to trade Huerter. Who knows the Butterfly effect there?
The Kings traded away the best player in these trades, De’Aaron Fox. Leaving all the finger pointing behind us, it’s history now, they have a different former All-Star, Zach Lavine, who I think is pretty damn good (when healthy). He is not an All-D team candidate, but he is a net plus player.
They need to win games. The talent is there, Teams with less are doing more.
To me, and I’ve seen the recipe analogies – it goes to the Chef.
If Coach can’t make a decent dish with these players, find someone else. IMO, describing this squad on their shortcomings is tiresome and unproductive. Excuses come and go. Win or don’t win.
I agree 100%
well said
A chef can only do so much with an empty pantry.
Keep firing chefs until the food improves!
this pantry ain’t empty
It is compared to many of the other WC pantrys.
If the coach is the chef in your analogy, this org. has changed chefs more than every legitimate NBA restaurant.
I think the simple fact is that the pieces don’t fit well enough for this roster to win games consistently. I don’t think it’s anything other than poor roster construction. Could they do more with a better coach? Probably but the ceiling is just so low. Maybe they can make it through the play-in but they have no shot at winning a playoff series with this roster. Zero percent chance regardless of the coach.
This video sorts of wraps it up as well. The Kings are weird right now. No true PG and 3 iso scorers with Keegan and Sabonis as afterthoughts on offense. Moves will have to be made this summer.
Monk is a really good primary initiator. He’s a three level scorer who runs the pick and roll well and it’s difficult for the defense to anticipate what he’ll do. the guy who uploaded the video sort of loses credibility when he talks about Monk and his role as PG.
Would your comment about weirdness be resolved if the team started Keon and brought Lavine off the bench in a role where he would have the green light to score?
So much of the roster fit would look better if keon replaced demar in the starting group. Demar could come in and iso clean up every minute mink isn’t on the floor and balance the rest when lavine isn’t on the floor.
Possibly, but that’s an incredibly small team with LaVine at the 3
it’s already, demar isn’t really bigger than LaVine, at least the defense would improve and the offense would have more flow. It’s an easy win/win imo but won’t happen unless somehow Demar steps up and says it’s okay to happen.
Demar already has the rapport.
also the worst defender and worst ball stopper in the first group
also on pace to become a top 20 all time nba scorer who still has efficiency.
also someone who can get a shot up with the clock winding down which is important when playing with guys like Keegan who tend to throw last second grenade passes. (an improvement area for him)
on the topic of shot clock winding down Lavine let the shot clock expire twice last game. Both times he had the ball with over 5 seconds, made a move and could have got a shot up but chose to pass it while the buzzer sounded, giving no-one a chance to shoot it.
this argument that his past 15 years of scoring matters for today is really weird to me.
this year’s stats are 21.7 pts on 16.6 shots, and 3.7 assists to 1.3 turnovers. he’s still a bucket getter.
Monte told DC that LaVine was Klutch
This I could see,
I’m of the mindset that Keon should have been starting and getting 30 minutes a game since day 1 of the season. Monk should have never been put into the starting lineup, but that bed has been made and I don’t see that being undone now. It’s been a snowballing effect of bad decisions.
In the back of my mind, had Keon been starting this whole time, the Kings may have been be doing a lot better in the standings, Brown might still be here, Fox might still be here, and talk of All-NBA would be very real. This shit of a timeline all began when Huerter got the starting job on game 1. It’s been downhill from there.
Is it stands going forward, I don’t know what the hell the Kings are going to do. Yes, Monk can play PG, but he’s a wilder version of Fox doing it. He’s more loose with the ball, takes more ill-advised shots, and is a worse defender. I can squint and see that Monk might approach Fox’s offensive numbers and he does come cheaper, but the Kings aren’t better for it. I’d also argue that he is NOT a 3 level scorer. He’s a below average 3pt shooter who may now feel he has the green light to let it fly.
I agree that Keon should have been starting at the beginning of the season and that the team would have been winning more.
Monk’s style of play is part of why he’s good. he should have the green light. as Domas said last year, “that’s why we love him”.
Adamsite, I agree with this 100%, it’s absolutely a snowball effect from coach Browns inexplicable decision to start Huerter over Keon, especially with ZERO pre-season run.
The plan is as follows:
Vivek’s plan: pump Lavine to sell season tickets, make the playoffs, bring on some other Svengali figure in the offseason as an “advisor”. Maybe give Anjali or the son some role they aren’t qualified for. Wear some dumb shirts during the home playoff games.
Monte’s plan: make the playoffs to save his job, deal DeRozan over the summer, acquire some other win now players.
Year after year after year, the issue was that we lacked the talent to win most positions on most nights. A couple of years ago that flipped, and we won most nights at C, PG & 6th man. What we needed at this point was a rounding out of the roster. A stretch 4. Depth at the 3. A backup C.
Well, we have a little more depth at the wing on what will likely be a short term rental, and we have a backup C. Oh, and we also lost our almost nightly advantage at PG & 6th man. A poor trade off, in my opinion.
This stinks for Kings fans, who are forced to lower their expectations to either olay-in hopeful or 13th or worse pick preserving finish. This stinks for Domas, who is wasting his prime. This stinks for everyone except an ownership that will let TPEs go unused & will sell picks for cash and/or to get out of contract, all while sharing in tax dollars generated by serious teams.
Not a lot of cap space moving forward, and our asset cabinet pales in comparison to much of our competition (notably OKC, Hou, and yes, SA).
The Kings truly are the Cleveland Browns of the NBA. They are often times at their most “entertaining” when they are not playing.
And the arena is getting old.
Ditto, on the Sabonis sentiment. I feel bad the dude is wasting his best years here in NBA purgatory. Can you imagine the kind of accolades he’d be getting if he were playing in NY or LA? The guy is truly special and ownership/management can’t get out of their own way in putting solid and complimentary pieces next to him. The team is at it’s best when the ball is in his hands and the offense runs through him, yet Kings brass went out and got 3 high usage dudes to share the court for the vast majority of his minutes. It’s just mind boggling stuff.
The Cleveland Browns are the Sacramento Kings of the NFL. I think the Kings are the worst organization in professional sports, full stop.
Hard to argue.
The A’s are intentionally worse, but otherwise, I agree.
The A’s don’t have the worst owner in the world. They have the worst person in the world. Whatever we deserved as Kings fans in ‘13, triple it for A’s fans.
Yeah Fisher is uniquely terrible. That’s a good point. When I think about the Kings, I think about 40 years of incompetence. That’s why I’d have the Kings at the top but there’s certainly a good argument for the A’s the last decade. And of course, Fisher and Vivek make perfect terrible bedfellows. They both seem to have a reputation for treating people like garbage.
The initial plan post trade deadline is for our new players to settle in and see how the team adjusts and begins to gel as a unit. Two games is a small size.
Lavine is a very good player and likely the best we could have done as Fox and his agent forced a deal that protected his new team’s players and best draft picks. Good for Fox and the Spurs, but not so good for the Kings and us fans.
And the Kings could have said no to that deal & re-visited the situation this summer.
Bad, panic-driven trade of their own making.
I don’t know, Rob, I don’t feel the Kings could have gotten a better return had they waited until summer or even next season. The situation was spoiling day by day. I guess another team could have entered the picture and Fox widened his “desired destinations,” but is it worth that gamble? The Spurs offer could have gone from table scraps to bread crumbs. I guess we’ll never know.
The return they got neither propels them forward or rests the franchise. Either trade him for a really good player that solves a gaping roster hole, or get better picks & prospects. LaVine is salary filler. His overpay is offset a little by Huerter going out. But the picks were not close to recent market value. The risk of getting less was quite minimal.
I don’t disagree that the returns were pennies on the dollar, but that’s what the market provided. It’s hard when you are only negotiating with one party because Klutch Sports has put up those boundaries.
I think we can both agree that had Fox not listed the Spurs as his preferred destination a bidding war would have gotten the Kings far more in return. I blame Klutch just as much as management for the Kings minimal returns.
And there was no reason to cave to a bad market. The real risk here is, can you do better than the ‘27 & ‘31 pick? I think there is minimal risk there.
Throw in Castle & it’s a different convo. Or the Atlanta pick. Absent of that, walk away. SA can try to obtain a top 25 player of need without giving up a core rotation player or prime pick, but they can’t demand it.
You are 100% on all counts, Rob. For people who are saying we couldn’t have done any better, the question I have is could we have done any worse if we waited until this summer? What was the rush to move into this?
Again if the picks we got back were amazing, or if there was a really great player that we could add on to our team that either made us better now or optimally in the future, then great pull the trigger.
If Fox wasn’t going to extend then we wanted to make sure we got a deal done before we were forced into a sign and trade. But this summer would not have changed anything except there’d be more teams who could possibly get involved. It’s not even like we were trying to get a draft pick for this draft, because the one we got isn’t going to convey.
Could we have gotten anything better back now? Maybe not. But again if that was the case why make the trade now? San Antonio is going to be better this season. This was obviously a great trade for them because they get half a season to see Fox play with the rest of the team and figure out what they need.
For us there was literally no rush. We aren’t tanking and we aren’t going to be significantly better the rest of this season after the trade. It can’t even be excused by Fox demanding to be treated like Butler did.
It literally feels like management made this trade because they knew that fans were getting frustrated. And that is a terrible terrible reason to make business decisions.
I’m not going to argue whether we’re any better or any worse right now. But I will agree 100% with Greg that there’s no clear plan for now or going forward.
This is exactly how I feel about the move. It was close to being a positive trade that could make the team better but at this point, it’s lateral with not much upside.
It was totally a lateral move, as most NBA trades are, unless you are dumping a guy. On paper LaVine and Fox are not that dissimilar production wise. I guess you could say the Kings at least got some picks out of the deal, but meh.
I still probably would have not liked the trade, but I would have understood it and acknowledged / respected the thought behind the pivot.
In Ranadive’s almost 12 years, we have drafted two pure pearls (Fox & Hali). We traded one for a different pearl (Sabonis). This trade gave away a pearl with very low odds that the return will begat a new pearl. And even if it does, it is at least 2+ to 6+ years away.
I’m trying to rack my brain on a situation where a team benefited from holding onto that kind of hope and ended up getting a better return, but I can’t think of any.
It seems to me that in these types of situations, the players always get what they want and the sellers move on as quickly as possible.
And I’m not talking about the benefit. I’m talking about how minimal the downside is based on how shitty the deal was in the first place.
The delayed and inevitable break-up is a drag on a team and becomes a growing distraction. Taken from his damage control interviews this week, Fox wanted out once Mike Brown was fired. Hanging on to him for the rest of the season on the hope of getting more in a trade later would have been a bad idea.
No player put more boundaries in place this season than Jimmy Butler. He sabotaged destination after destination because he didn’t want to go anywhere but Phoenix. Yet Pat Riley held firm. And the Heat got a good return from a team that wasn’t the Suns.
I do agree that sooner is better as far as deal making a Fox deal went. My issue is with the approach to using a third of the cap in a desperate bid to hold on to being a high 30 to mid-40 win team. Rumor was that half the teams in the league made inquiries for Fox. I have doubts that ALL of those inquiries were worse than the one the Kings took.
I also don’t buy the idea that Fox inevitably would never re-sign wherever he was dealt. One, if half the teams in the league contacted the Kings, those teams didn’t believe that to be true. Two, if Fox were moved to say, Orlando, he’s not a free agent for a season in a half. Things change.
Even if Fox were on another team and directly colluding with the Spurs (he wasn’t) can they afford to spend a year and a half of Wemby’s career waiting on Fox? What if Fox goes deep into the playoffs with Orlando in a weak Eastern Conference? What if Wemby ends up with a foot or knee injury next season and Fox changes his mind?
I don’t buy that the Kings were boxed in by Fox’s request to go to San Antonio, or there wasn’t one team in the NBA with a promising young guy or top 10 pick that would have been a better long-term play for this team.
Ummm. The plan is rather obvious. GET ZACH LAVINE TO SACRAMENTO.
Mission Accomplished.
Sadly, I think you’re right. Imagine the goal being to get Zach Lavine, a player the rest of the NBA actively didn’t want. Comical.
This could be 100% true. The Kings front office wasn’t looking to get a great return on Fox, they were actually looking to get a return on Fox AND land LaVine.
I’m really surprised we didn’t turn Trey lyles and Kevin Huerter into Kyle Kuzma.
Yeah, and getting LaVine simply screams “win now” move. He’s not a piece for the long term.
We’ve also inherited whatever trade issues Chicago (a notably terrible FO) had trying to move him for the future as well.
Watch Lavine get settled, he and the team become more productive,and the outlook on him and the trade change.
To be fair. LaVine becomes more valuable as that contract dwindled. But point taken.
Head of basketball ambassadors or whatever the eff his job title is approves
The plan is to make the play-in. That’s it. That’s the only plan. That has always been the plan. Compete for championships? Vivek has zero interest in that. If you are hoping for that outcome at some point, don’t bother. It will never happen while he runs the team. I’d actually be pretty shocked if the Kings make the playoffs again while he runs the team. Hubris and incompetence rarely create an environment where sustainable success can take place.
Really sucks because after the end of the 2022-23 season, I felt so optimistic we were finally turning the corner and heading for long term success (at least from a competitive standpoint). Now we’ve just come crashing back down to where we’ve been most of the Vivek-era…just being a NBA laughingstock.
I mentioned this on bluesky; the names have changed but the situation seems to be no different than the George Karl days
It’s true, competing for a championship requires you to spend in today’s NBA. They only outliers are a team like OKC who has yet to extend or max out their young stars, sans SGA. They too will be in the tax and aprons once they properly pay guys like Williams and Chet. Should the Kings sneak into the 8th spot, it’s just gravy. Vivek seems content to be middling in salary and performance because it meets the bottom line. LaVine and Monk are flashy kinds of players that puts butts in seats and keep the books in the black, but haven’t proven to take any team beyond average.
As I mentioned in another thread, in the days leading up to the Fox trade I was fretting that we’d land either LaVine or Kuzma as the centerpiece of the trade. That fear is coming to fruition. When we really needed 6’8″ – 6’10” guys who could be decent on both ends of the floor – they didn’t need to be spectacular, just decent – we got another high-usage guard who’s allergic to defense. We literally traded away the franchise cornerstone to quench Vivek’s years-long mancrush. What’s the plan here? The plan is apparently to just let Vivek keep spitballing whatever ridiculous moves he wants to make, and then force the GM to make the moves while blaming outgoing players and coaches for the inevitable crappy product. Until the root cause of the problem is addressed, the on-court product will never be of quality.
they offered Fox an extension
blob:https://kingsherald.com/bfdeb8a8-430e-450b-8619-3b08a2e47722
Part of the plan?
Playoffs?
Nix!
Nixnay on the ayoffsplay.
Nove Nix!
Sell off some second rounders for more cash
Gotta save those to get rid of players we used other picks to acquire!
Monte needed to get those future first rounders in order to flip them for even more second rounders to attach to the contracts of LaVine and DDR in order to get out of their contracts. It’s 4D checkers.
Fuck Vivek
Just another corporate asshole abusing the people.
Badge Legend