The dominant Summer Kings improved their record to 3-0 after defeating the Phoenix Suns on Monday night. Their run continues in an early afternoon game against the 2-1 Cleveland Cavaliers at 12:30 PM PT / 3:30 PM ET on ESPN2. Consider this your open thread for contest. Go Kings.
Sacramento Kings vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Las Vegas Summer League Open Thread
The undefeated Summer Kings are back in action Wednesday afternoon.
By Tony Xypteras | 71 Comments | Jul 16, 2025
Jun 25, 2025; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Nique Clifford arrives before the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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SL championship incoming.
Vivek gonna throw a parade in downtown.
Kangzzzz
Apparently there are 8 other undefeated SL teams. Kings have to win the game and win by the biggest margin possbile just to make the playoff bracket.
Looks like we’re sitting in 4th place, 1.4 net pts per game ahead of the TWolves for that final spot in the playoff bracket.
Nique is going to cook. Hopefully Max is playing.
I really don’t like point differential as a tie breaker. Sportsmanship used to be taught, now it’s “go run up the score”. They need to find a different way. Same stuff happens in the silly Mid-season, NBA Emirates Cup thing (or whatever that stupid thing is called).
When you only have 4 games to determine seeding, how else can you determine tie-breakers? Assist to TO ratio? The only good thing about point differential is that it takes into account offense and defense.
ooh, opponents points per game as a tiebreaker would be cool. Why not emphasize defense?
Because the NBA doesn’t emphasize defense?
lol, good point
Congeniality
If it didn’t cost money he would…Kangzzzz with sleeping Zzzz is perfect
Edd from Ed, Edd, & Eddy voice
“Summer rings, you can never predict them!”
Summer rings make me feel fiiiine.
Did y’all listen to the interview with Maxime? Really impressive to listen to and then to find out he was a computer science and mathematics major as a D1 athlete. Dang.
His interview had me beaming! Great, thoughtful answers all while staying focused on in-game action and cheering his teammates.
Could be more beaming than we do in the season.
Seems like the Kings found some gems in Max and Nique. Now let’s trade them for some win-now players, lol.
Don’t you dare put that evil on us, BTS!
Looks like we’ve got a point guard on our hands folks! Impressive performance by Clifford with 8 assists and 1 turnover.
Actually, 9 assists in the box score, and 1 TO. It’s a small point of correction, and more to your emphasis – ‘Nique is showing many facets – consistent scoring, was 7/10 from 3FG the first 3 games, today 2/7 which drops him from 70% to 9/17 or 53%, had a 12 rebound game, and now a 9 assist game.
That’s about as well rounded a player as we’ve seen around these parts.
It’s just Summer League – but I’ve seen 2012 Summer League Jimmer Fredette and Thomas Robinson – and this is a whole lot better.
We’ll find out soon enough, but worrying and wondering how good he’ll be rather than worrying and wondering how bad he’ll be is a welcomed relief.
Actually, I was not incorrect because he had 8 assists and 1 TO when I posted my comment. I also recall Fredette and Robinson. Yes, Nique has a well rounded game. I’m thrilled he’s on the Kings. But that ball handing…wow. He needed to cut down on the turnovers and he sure did that today!
apologies MC. I should have checked your comment time and the game time before I mentioned the box score. I’ll try and do better next time.
“Summer League Jimmer Fredette”, lol
Thanks for making me feel just a tiny bit better about the current Kings.
DC handling the ball literally reminds of Summer League Jimmer. Can’t deal with pressure and looks like he’s going to get picked each time a defender is guarding him. Also looks to pass right away. Only difference is we have other solid ball handlers on the team and don’t need to look to ThRob to bring the ball up lmao
4-0 baby!
-Nique is so impressive. Very skilled handling the ball and creating. Still giving me the J Will/Roy vibes.
-DC with the ball in his hands reminds me of Buddy, just feels like he’s going to get picked. Always has his hair on fire. He’s going to have to learn how to slow down and chill.
-Max obviously needs to put on some weight and strength. Certainly a project player but one worth investing in. Chet light.
-Proctor on CLE can absolutely shoot the lights out the ball. At a minimum he’s an NBA level floor spacer.
Agreed. Proctor looked great today. DC looked flustered and made some bad decisions down the stretch handling the ball but made up for it with that block at the end. He’s a confusing player and I wish he was 6’5″ cause I love his defense and rebounding.
Carter’s inability to grt by defenders on the perimeter is concerning. He doesn’t have a quick first step, which leads him to being more of an off ball spot up type of guy, or the type that backs his man down. I still don’t see how he gets consistent minutes on the current Kings roster, especially with Nique playing so well right now.
Nique really is fun to watch. Versatile offensively, never know what he is going to pull out on that end. Unlike DDR who does basically the same thing every possession.
I know the Kings don’t have the “Star” player on the roster right now, but they can keep getting ancillary players that are solid and play good ball.
Yep. Keep building out the depth on the roster. Maybe we get lucky and unintentionally tank into a top 3 pick next year and land our future star. You never know.
I think I speak for all of us when I say that DC’s hair could use a controlled burn.
Clippers have assembled a pretty nice roster, great work this offseason by that FO.
This roster would be a super super team 5-8 years ago, but still should be top 6 in the West if healthy.
Beard
Beal
Leonard
Collins
Zubac
Ben Simmons, Bogi, Batum, Brook Lopez, Derrick Jones
I’m still confused how the Clips end up with Beal. It seemed it used to be that a player had to clear waivers and that any team had a shot at the player starting with the worst record and working through that. Beal on $11 million over two years that the Clips are paying is just a rich get richer thing that bothers so many NBA fans. It seems the top teams get whoever they want at any price they want and smaller market (or dysfunctional) teams get passed by. But I agree the Clippers now have a team that would be a cinch for the finals if 5-8 years ago. Health will determine how far they go. But they have the depth for load management so maybe they can avoid some injuries to key players.
I think a buy out is different than waivers. On top of that, a team is not going to claim a waived player if that player’s agent makes it clear that the player is not going to sign with them. And claiming the player to block another team is sort of suicide at this point. It is a player’s league.
He did clear waivers. If a team were to claim him, they would have to take on the full balance of his contract. Obviously, no team wanted that.
WIth approx. average games played per season since 2020 (to use an arbitrary BIG ROUND number):
Beard (64)
Beal (51)
Leonard (38)
Collins (45)
Zubac (74!)
Simmons (33), Bogi (59), Batum (68), Lopez (64), Jones (65)
The ineptitude of Monte McNair is something else. He gave away DM for nothing and a year and a half or so later he’s starting caliber and we sign an old vet to almost twice what DM got from MIA.
https://www.theringer.com/2025/07/17/nba/nba-free-agency-signings-2025-best-deals
Davion Mitchell, Miami HeatTwo years, $24 million
It took several years for Mitchell to establish himself as something more than a situational stopper, but everything started to click last season—first as Toronto’s fill-in starting point guard, and then as a critical part of Miami’s playoff push. His handle was finally tight enough to actually run the point, and a surge in playmaking followed. Mitchell’s jumper, which had long held him back, cashed during his time with the Heat at an incredible 45-percent clip. With that came a certain plug-and-play ease; if Mitchell’s shooting holds, he’ll open up all kinds of lineup possibilities for Miami.
Re-signing a player with that type of potential to this type of deal is a no-brainer. That’s below-market value for a starting guard, and the last we saw Mitchell he was absolutely a starting-caliber guard—even if Norm Powell’s arrival in Miami winds up nudging him into a bench role next season. Yet at the same time, it’s a great deal for Mitchell to lock in a two-year deal that will more than double his career earnings. The market might have been more robust for Mitchell if he was able to court offers in unrestricted free agency, but as it stands, everybody wins. The Heat help yet another “second draft” candidate to play the best basketball of their career, and Mitchell doubles down on a situation that clearly suits him. Players like Mitchell don’t just find a home in the NBA—they make one.
At the time, Davion was behind Fox, Monk, Huerter. His path to playing time was blocked, for the most part. I understand the decision to move him. What I didn’t like was the deal, which is a completely different story that has been discussed ad nauseum on this site.
Davion just wasn’t a good fit here. Our defense at the time was very switch-heavy, and it made Davion too easy to target. He’s not big enough to guard wings at all. His three point shot was also too unreliable to create any floor spacing. He shot better last season, and if he’s truly re-found his three point shot that’s a big boost for his career. He also needed a little time on a worse team where he would have the freedom to get comfortable, and he got that in both Toronto and Miami.
The issue is that he was a tough fit from the day he was drafted, when the Kings already had Fox and Haliburton. It was a bad pick, and it eventually resulted in a bad trade.
I’m happy to see Davion succeed elsewhere. I would not have been eager to bring him back and hand him the keys as the starting point guard. All that said, I still would have preferred Davion over Schroder, especially considering the contracts.
Yeah, hindsight is 20/20, but at the time Mitchell really wasn’t performing will for the Kings. It was also just a straight up salary dump to get the Kings below the tax. I wonder who was pushing for that?
It wasn’t Vlade level of bad in attaching a protected first to JT and Stauskas, but cost saving moves are similar. Hmmmm, wonder why?
I’m with you, giving up JV (who the Kings gave up two 2nds for) just so you can overpay Schröder is worse. The Kings now have another untradeable contract in this new CBA to go along with LaVine, DDR, and Monk.
It was a protected 1st and 2 pick swaps.
Because we just have to get that extra cash to spend on washed up win now vets.
I just don’t agree. Davion shot 36% on threes in his final season with the Kings – better than Kevin Huerter that season. Greg is right that he’s small, but he was a complete menace one-on-one against guards, including Curry in the Warriors series, and I don’t think he was any worse defensively than Malik Monk against bigger players.
Defensive rating is a team stat and is minimally useful at best in evaluating individual players.
Davion’s handle wasn’t great at the time and he definitely wasn’t a playmaker. But by all accounts he was a tireless worker and his shooting looked like it was improving, which continued over the next two seasons.
He’s not going to carry your team, but I would 100% take Davion over Shroeder, especially at their ages and salaries.
Agreed. He was a rotational player at PG and a short time later we had no PGs on the roster. Constant roster mismanagement.
Davion was fine. I think the organization was enamored with Monk and his flashy offensive game, not valuing defense of any kind. Even if Davion wasn’t an all-defense type of guy, he would at least look good against smaller guards.
This is the crux of my response too. He’s a useful back-up/spot starter in the right rotation configuration with the right roster. He would be nice to have on the roster on the cheap. The issue is less about having Davion or not. It’s that he was dropped for nothing.
That’s the crux of the matter, giving up talent for nothing time after time. I won’t give MM a pass on the DM transaction.
Gregs back dropping comment gems…
It’s just summer league. Let’s see how he comments once the regular season begins.
To me, this is more about the player than the team.
Davion Mitchell is a gym rat and worked and worked and worked some more to hone his game. That’s a credit to him and his persistence. It is also a credit to the Miami Heat, Riley and Spo, who continue to find diamonds in the rough.
At the same time, it is always situational. The right team, the right coach, the right time. He is not Ty Halliburton, but the Ty Halliburton we’ve seen in Indiana never would have emerged had he remained in Sacramento (IMO).
Off Night has always been a dawg on defense, but his shooting was circumspect, and his point guard direction and passing was barely passable.
I recall TGJR (The Great Jerry Reynolds) who is more right than wrong about these things talk about Davion in comparison to Kyle Lowry, another former Toronto and Miami player who made his career, also through moxie. \
I am happy to see this former King succeed and get a bigger paycheck. Good on him.
At the point when he left Sacramento, he wasn’t a particularly good fit anywhere. The man was a pitbull on defense, but couldn’t hit threes consistently, could slash but was often blocked, and while he was certainly a willing passer, he never appeared to be someone who could get you 6+ assists on a consistent basis. Most of all, there wasn’t much in the way of improvement in his time here.
I’m truly happy that he’s getting paid because he’s a hard worker (to say the least) a good citizen, and with me, when you can defend like that, you ought to get fat checks. I imagine a lot of us feel that way.
But the hindsight retellings are largely disingenuous. I was a fan and wasn’t upset about him being moved. My recollections here and with most things are admittedly poor, but there was no outcry about what an awful move it was. Some may have said that it would come back on bite us approximate to the buttocks region, but the vibe was mainly gratitude for all of his work, and well-wishes for his future.
If you feel someone patting you on the back but also notice that your shoulder hurts, you may be a revisionist.
This. 100%.
I liked Davion. LIKED, Dottie! I didn’t have much particularly good or bad to say about him. I didn’t pin my hopes on him but also loved his defense, so I didn’t spend time talking trash about him.
But a whole ton of people here shat upon him on the reg. I don’t recall who, specifically. It just felt as though 4 out of 5 Davion comments were negative. It’s funny to see the retroactive love for Davion now.
I guess he was the “one who got away”, lol.
To be fair you can say that about anyone that leaves this god-awful franchise.
Are there any Summer League players that won’t make a final cut on the main roster that the Kings should have their eyes on? Maybe a back up PG or PF?
Let’s also add that characterizing Schroder’s contract as “ almost twice what DM got from MIA” is a bit hyperbolic. Schroder’s contract is for 3 yrs/$45M, while DM’s contract is for only 2 yrs/$24M; and the final year of Schroder’s contract is only partially guaranteed at $4.35M.
I’ve been trying to verify Schröder’s deal from other sources but so far it seems only Spotrac has the deal structured like that. The reason I question it, is it has his starting salary at the MLE, but It’s been reported he signed using Huerter’s TPE. They are also the only site that his his 3rd year with the partial guarantee of $4.3M. It seems the $45M is accurate, but I’m not 100% on the structure of the deal. Have you seen this reported elsewhere to verify it?
I’ve seen it reported on various sites that the final year is a $4.35m guarantee. Each season has a 5% increase. They might be getting their information from Spotrac, so I don’t know…
I got my info from Spotrac, usually a pretty reliable source.
Kings in playoffs!
Oops, a bit premature. Three teams could still pass them, but they would have to win big.
This is the standing now per ESPN
If SAS and Raptors win, that will knock Kings to 4th. Charlotte, Clips, and Hawks would each need to win by between 18-20 points to catch the Kings. The chances of both SAS and Raptors winning and a 20 point blowout by one of the other three is probably around 50% TBH.
If Charlotte can beat SAS by less than 20, the Kings chances go way up. Then Raptors would have to win and the Clips and Hawks would have to win by at least 19 and 18 points respectively.
Question: Does anyone here think Markelle Fultz can be the backup point guard for next season? If so could change a lot of things.
No. He couldn’t do it last year either.
Depends what you mean by “handle.” I mean, sure, he could be the back-up and, with the right rotations, could even lead an effective unit. The problem being he isn’t really good enough to justify the rotation accommodations you would need to make it work.
Of course, that presupposes you’re trying to win this year. In my “approach-no-GM-or-owner-would-likely-allow,” where I focus on acquiring as much draft assets as possible (which emphasis on lack of protections over proximity) and fill the roster with (1) young guys (Nique, Carter, Reynaud), (2) serviceable but overpaid vets on bad contracts (taken on for picks), and (3) low-risk/low-cost lottery tickets (preferably with a team-option second year. Fultz would absolutely be someone I would put on the list of players that could fit in #3.
I saw Markelle Fultz at Golden1 when he debuted as a King and I got very excited.
And then he played other games.
The first bite was much better than the whole meal.
Like Ben Simmons – the can this mean he’s back! fantasy has remained only a sparkle and flash in a sea of dull disappointment. He’s not bad, but he ain’t good either.
I’d rather see the playing time go to a younger prospect: Boogie Ellis, Mason Jones or someone like that
I’m fine with that. I think there’s a better chance of Fultz being and impact player than Mason Jones or Boogie Ellis. Now, that doesn’t mean there’s a good chance of Fultz being an impact player. Also, fun fact! Fultz is a full two months older than Jones. He’s about 2.5 years older than Boogie Ellis. But I’m happy to throw some minutes at Mason Jones and give him a chance to surprise us and/or help the tank. That said, Jones, Clifford, and Carter are all probably fighting for the same minutes/role.
oooh, if it’s a dawg fight, will Clifford (Big Red Dog and his diamond encrusted avatar of bling) have the advantage?
Boogie was playing with the Suns against the Kings on Monday.
I would be a very happy camper if 2 things would happen this Summer. #1 We somehow get Jonathan Kuminga. #2 we trade Derozan. I would like a trade say DDR to the Pistons for Isiah Stewart and Ron Holland. I say that would do it for me.
I don’t think the Pistons have any plans to move Holland—especially after the Summer League he’s had. You’d figure he’s a key part of their future plans, right alongside Ivey, who’s coming back next season.
Maybe if we ask nicely, they might say yes.
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