Last night’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies was a new low for the Kings this season. Not only was the 41 point margin the worst loss by any NBA team so far this season, the Kings managed to do it against a 4-11 Memphis team missing its two best players. Over their last eight games, all losses, the Kings have been outscored by 187 points, including four losses by 27 points or more. We knew the defense was going to be bad, and it is, but the offense has been just as bad despite featuring a team full of players known only for their offense.
Even Coach Doug Christie has seemingly lost his fire. Not even four games after his fiery tirade following the loss at home to the Atlanta Hawks, his postgame press conference after an even worse loss to the Grizzlies was far tamer. Maybe he realizes that this team as currently constructed is a lost cause, and there’s only so much energy left to give for a bunch of players that probably won’t finish out the year with this team. I shudder to think what the atmosphere at Golden 1 Center might be should this type of play continue when the team gets home next week (and immediately has to play the Minnesota Timberwolves yet again).
There’s no magical elixir that is going to fix this team. Coaches, players and even fans all seem to just be waiting for the next shoe to drop when this team makes an actual commitment to rebuilding, and that likely won’t be until December 15th when the trade market really starts to open up. But why should the Kings wait until then to make some major changes? What does playing DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Dennis Schröder really do for this team? If they’re not part of this team’s future, just don’t play them. Invest in the players that might be around for a while instead, or at least see what you might have in them. Throw them into the fire, because at this point what is there to lose? It’s not like these veterans are building trade value or setting good examples for the young players. If anything it’s the other way around, as the team oftentimes only plays more energetically when the young guys are in the game.
I want to see what Nique Clifford can do with more responsibility and initiative. I want to see if Maxime Raynaud can hang with NBA guys. I want to see Keegan Murray given the reins and utilized as a primary scoring option instead of simply being asked to be the glue guy. I want to see if Devin Carter can develop into something before the Kings give up on yet another draft pick. And my god, do I not want to see Keon Ellis languishing on the bench, game after game.
I don’t care about seeing DeMar DeRozan hit another midrange jumper after dribbling the ball for 20 seconds. I don’t care that Russell Westbrook just got his 10,000th assist. I don’t care how many meaningless points Zach LaVine scores in a 30 point blowout loss.
Bad teams can still be interesting. Bad teams can still be fun. This team right now is neither, and it’s excruciating to think about the fact that there are still 66 more of these games. What’s even worse is not truly knowing what the Kings will do. Any sane team would be seeking to blow this up as soon as they could. But I could just as equally see the Kings pivoting and using more assets to acquire a LaMelo Ball or Ja Morant and think that will be their panacea. Kings fans have seen and heard it all, and at this point there’s no trust between this fanbase and organization that things can get better.
I’d say this is rock bottom but if there’s one thing we’ve learned about the Sacramento Kings over the years, it’s that they can always go deeper.
Ah, the joy of being a Kings fan
Fans: “we’ve reached rock bottom.”
Dismissive little chap: “Hold my team…”
It is surreal to note that just 3 years ago, Memphis and Sac were fighting it out for the 2nd seed in the WC. And now, the Kangz are the 2nd…to the bottom of the WC. What a complete fuck up by the org.
Staying pat in ’23 was forgivable, but bringing in DDR instead of adding a PF was the flint that started the spark, that now has turned into a house on fire. No time to mourn, as rockbottom is still coming. And i absolutley do not have an iota of confidence that current ownership will fix this. The Beam Team is dead. Long live the Kings herald.
Pairing Domas with a defensive stretch 4 has been the obvious need since Domas was acquired, yet Monte and Perry have completely shirked this idea. It’s really quite odd. Keep in mind, DC could have been Ware. Mitchell could have been Sengun (I know not a fit with Domas, but was an obvious pick imo). But neither GM has made any effort to pair Domas with the right big even after giving Domas the bag and making him the franchise’s center piece.
Harrison Barnes would be massively better than what the Kings have.
We literally can’t have nice things. How bad do we need a architype of a player like Barnes? Kings FO saw greener pastures. For all his faults he filled a solid role for a team and is still starting on what looks like a top team so far.
Barnes has always been a solid player. What I wouldn’t give for him as our starting 4 and Keegan as starting 3. Sigh…
Davion Mitchell is currently better than Schroeder or Westbrook . Starter on a winner . Yep, gave him away for nothing and Sengun was better but a lot of teams passed on him . Clearly, not an obvious pick by the league or Herald .
And Queta is starting and doing well on the Celtics.
A lot of players are better than Shroeder. And if you think that move was bad, the addition of Westbrook takes the cake.
Actually Monk is a better PG than Shroeder.
Have to disagree here. I like Malik, but he’s a terrible point guard. Schroeder isn’t good, but he has better point guard skills than Monk.
Agree that Westbrook made no sense, and that he’s better than Schroeder, but they’re also not paying him any money for any length of time. They paid Schroeder double what he’s worth.
The owner is the issue- always
Getting this tattooed this weekend. Time feels right. SMH.
The ddr got Barnes and first was absolutely the start of the tear down…jacked the entire playstyle off the team on offense and defense
Although true, certainly in retrospect, at the time the consensus under Kings fans and also at TKH was that Barnes had to go and that DDR was a clear upgrade.
When national media people called it a bad move and questioned DDR’s fit on offense and the downgrade on defense, many here were attacking the national media a-holes for their lazy ‘LOL Kangz’ takes. Talent would trump all…
It’s Groundhog Day. Light the Beam!
This is what this Kings season has seemed like to me – how low can they go?
Where have i seen this?
The beam’s not coming out the way we wanted this year.
Man, Rick Mahorn is not aging well.
I initially thought they could be a mid-bad 30-35 win team once Keegs got back but clearly the vets are completely checked out and HCDC is in way over his head. I am, for the first time, fully endorsing a tank.
Sabonis, Monk and DDR should be tradeable for positive assets and/or expiring contracts. Keon and Westbrook too, I guess. Lavine and Schroeder probably not but they can probably finagle enough cap space to buy out Schroeder in the offseason. Lavine might be miserable enough to decline his player option, especially if he starts coming off the bench for 18 minutes a night.
Let’s do it! 5-77, here we come!
My fear is that they will try to do something stupid in the short term. They should trade anyone and everyone that has value, as no one on the current roster is going to be a part of the next good Kings team. I say this not because (for example) Murray and Eliis lack talent, but this team is not going to be relevant anytime soon, so get as many picks and younger prospects as you can. As it pertains to bad contract, just ride them out. You have to pay someone to make the salary floor, so if you can’t get even an unconveyed future 2nd rounder for LaVine or Monk or Schroder, let ’em rot on the vine here. Then spend the next three off seasons in the first half the NBA lottery. I think that’s the shot for this organization, which would be greatly enhanced if Vivek Runtadiva would sell and leave.
I would actually be interested to see Keegan on a team that is competent and knows how to utilize players to their strengths. Keegan on teams like the Spurs or Indy would be a completely different and better player. Given the contract he’s on, he’s oddly slightly overpaid but the contract itself is still reasonable, if not good given the cap rise and Keegan’s age. He could fit right in on so many teams.
Yes, doing something stupid is this owner’s modus operandi.
I know I’ve mentioned it before, but…….. fuck you Vivek
he treats this team like his little toy and fucks over everybody in Sacramento and every Kings fan. He doesn’t care about anything but his ego. Just sell the damn team.
To whom would Vivek sell? Would they keep the team in Sacramento? We’re screwed.
The Buss brothers just got fired down in LaLa land, but they’d look to move the team to Las Vegas
I don’t care. I refuse to be held hostage by a bad product. Go be on the short list of worst run professional sports franchises somewhere else. Good riddance if the only choice is this shitshow.
Amen!
At this point, Keegan and Keon will be eligible for social security before the team turns things around so I would just suck it up and trade them both even though I’d love to see them stay.
Move everybody possible and eat the contracts that we can’t move.
Is there a world where 26-27 isn’t also a sub 40 win season at best?
If we can find a home for Sabonis (which shouldn’t be too hard), trade him and then the $ really open up in 27-28 (as long as we don’t stupidly take on any long-term contracts and especially if Zack decides that another season in hell isn’t worth his player option and flees for his sanity).
We should have two pretty high, cheap, draft picks and plenty of dollars to sensibly build around them.
I agree with you. But I also think that Zach and Dennis will be tradeable for expirings (problem will be roster slots). Teams will get desperate for scoring and ball handling in a wide-open East. That’s where I can see all these scorers we employ end up.
I feel someone is going to trade for Tobias Harris and Terry Rozier’s expiring deals, and I hope it is the Kings.
How about LaVine for Middleton and Kispert? Miggleton’s expiring contract is 33 mil.
I don’t get all the whining that’s been gone on around here since season’s start. Isn’t this exactly what we have been waiting and clamoring for, for so long? The Kings are extremely bad which will finally (let’s hope) force Vivek’s hand and embrace a rebuild, or to at least to unload some vets. We should be rooting for the losses to mount and be happy about it.
The more losses, the more likely this roster gets blown up before the trade deadline and we can legitimately be in the running for a top 3 pick. A top 3 pick in this upcoming draft could really turn things around quickly for this franchise.
Trade all the vets (Dennis, Domas, Monk, Zach, DDR) and play the young guys, which will guarantee a bottom 3 or so finish. You have to play the odds.
My advice, don’t watch the games until the some of the vets are traded and just root for losses and check in here to comment on how this franchise should proceed and what moves could be made. December 15th is not far, can we get some hypothetical trade columns going?
The vets named are not tradeable.
Everyone is tradeable, just depends on the price and what you’re willing to take back.
You’re not going to get better if you’re offloading picks or taking back other bad contracts for LaVine, Schroder, Monk, DDR, etc. So much dead weight on this team.
And1 – There is no evidence that they will actually rebuild. I fully expect Vivek to get absolutely fleeced in doubling down on Ja Morant or some other stats-first player that will not get to 40 wins.
And there in lies the problem. It’s much more likely that this stupid ass owner is not gonna rebuild, but try to do his brand of whatever. And that this team will just continue to be shit.
you see the Washington wizards? That’s how bad the kings organization is. Maybe worse. I don’t know if there’s a way out in less the owner sells. I don’t think his ego is in Check at all so the idea have him backing off and letting somebody else run. The show is slim
Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole were traded this past year. Anyone is tradable.
What we’ve been clamoring for is for Vivek to sell the team. All this does is create a slightly better chance of him doing the correct thing via basketball ops for the first time since he’s been owner. I’m glad his decisions are getting the shame they deserve, but that is no guarantee he doesn’t keep at it. It’s been 12 1/2 years of massive stupidity at this point. Does anyone have a massive leap in competence after that much time?
100. Of course, there’s whining going on. Complaining. And all rightfully so.
He’s not getting enough shame.
If this fanbase will continue just sitting at home and in the arena bitching about Vivek, nothing will change.
It’s time to collectively buy courtside seats and to vomit all at the same time. The Wave, but different.
“Fire Nico” was effective in Dallas. Kings fans – please don’t boo. Chant “Sell the team” instead.
My concern is that this org. won’t see a true teardown and rebuild through. They got here through hubris, not design. I think Vivek lacks the humility to even internally admit to his mistakes. And a complete teardown is such an admission.
This is a set of players that the owner and his GM ACTUALLY thought would compete. Even completely incompetent people are right SOME of the time. It’s WAY past clown car incompetence down there.
The league is playing chess and Vivek is flipping a double-sided coin and calling the wrong side, over and over. I wouldn’t even be able get myself out of bed every day if I did anything that badly for that long. I honestly believe that most people on this site who have been watching basketball for any length of time would do better.
Nothing but facts told here !
One of the things that frustrates me the most is that I honestly feel that the team would be better if any close fan of the team had been GM instead of the many clowns that Vivek has brought in over the years. The people who actually work in NBA executive circles *should* know more than the casual fan but in this team’s case it seems like that may not be true.
There is a very real chance that this is all deliberate.
Reminds me of the female owner in “Major League”. Just can’t figure out what we as fans did to deserve this shit show.
Sam Amick very much believes that people in the front office are disappointed, and the absolutely insane part is that this implies that they are surprised.
I could see sabotaging the team. Vivek’s good buddy and fellow worst owner in sports John Fisher provided the model for it in Oakland. But to what end?
Agree. That’s how big Viveks ego is. He is a world class narcissist. Delusional.
This! 100%! The other cautionary tale here, is if they continue to play guys like LaVine, DDR, Monk, etc heavy minutes is you run the risk in injuring them, just like Domas is now. This lesson should have been learned when a a disgruntled Rudy Gay wasn’t moved and he then got hurt a few weeks before the deadline.
There is no need to “showcase.” Everyone and their uncle knows what the vets are capable of. If the plan is to move them, then sit them until you do. It’s as simple as that.
I can only imagine what JLV would be thinking if he were still around to post.
I can see the Zion, Lamelo, Tray, Morant for a 2026 first rounder any day now.
That’s how Vivek operates. I’ll truly be in shock if they do a full rebuild.
As an aside Derik Queen and Fears are amazing to watch. Pels may suck. But Dumars did a great job drafting those 2.
if they trade a Zion get another piece. They are a
good coach away from being relevant again. Enter Mike Malone
Yes, but giving up one first rounder won’t be enough for the Kings. They’ll mortgage multiple draft picks to get back to their late 30 win comfort zone.
I’m digging out my “Welcome to Basketball Hell” T shirt.
What I find so interesting about this moment in time, and I’m not pointing the finger at any individual….
Fans point out the decade-long incompetence of this owner, and in the same breath hope that same owner executes a proper rebuild.
It’s like you’ve been physically abused by your spouse for a decade, and then you trust that spouse with selecting the right counselor and getting the proper care that they need.
i’m not doing it.
They’ll get a high draft pick, and it will be the same dumbasses making the decisions.
I told you long ago that when they rolled out Shaq as partial owner, it was a GIANT red flag. GIANT.
Maybe it truly is just a real estate deal, and that douchebag family truly just doesn’t give a fuck about the same things that we do.
What say you? LaVive for Middleton and Kispert. Middleton expiring contract 33 mil.
DeRozan for Derrick Jones Jr. and Bogi.
Monk and Carter for Mann and Sharpe.
Sabonis and Ellis for Kuminga, Moody, Heild and Trayce Jackson 2026 first 2027 pick swap, and 2028 first.
Starters: Schroder, Moody, Murray, Kuminga, Sharpe.
Backups: Mann, Clifford, Kispert, Jones Jr.( Achiuwa). Raynaud.
PS. all starters except Schroder are young. We now have another 2026 pick(2) and another 2028 pick(2). Pick swap favors Warriors. After this year we have 33 mil at east off the books depending who goes this year who is now on the team.
DeRozen for Jones jr. and Bogi might have a chance . Others no way . Washington took Middleton to get his expiring contract not to trade it for a worse one .
Have you even read Marty’s comment?
I try to understand what made you think that he would be interested in discussing a trade idea?
He’s allowed to talk about any trade idea he wants to at anytime he wants to.
but we’re not allowed to criticize Kayte and her horrible color analysis.
You can criticize Kayte all you want and I will allow it. I didn’t say anything of the kind. All I did was making a statement. You are allowed anything you want and anything you want to criticize or anybody you want including me. On the trades I only want to show how things might happen. It’s only hypothetical and was said to maybe get some of you thinking. That’s all. If I offended anyone please accept my apologies. I would though like to hear from you on what trades you might consider.
Marty, I think it’s just people looking for some bit of flotsam to cling to, instead of drowing in a sea of despair. Hope springs eternal etc.
So hoping that this franchise is bad enough to lottery itself into a high pick and then drafting the guy who will can lift the whole program on his shoulders seems like the best bet, even with how remote that chance is.
I agree with you; even if this team would get the next LBJ, they will fail to develop him properly and/or surround him with the right people.
It would have been hilarious if Precious was at #2, but this is funny too.
Badge Legend