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Kings Pulse: Evaluating Sacramento’s trade assets with James Ham

James joined me to break down the value of McNair's assets for this deadline.
By | 12 Comments | Jan 23, 2022

The Sacramento Kings are often mentioned in the ridiculous amount of reports that have been coming out this season with the looming trade deadline just over two weeks away.

I’ve been focusing most of the recent Kings Pulse podcasts on the deadline and potential acquisitions or departures come February 10th and today’s is no different!

James Ham, Kings Insider for The Kings Beat and ESPN 1320, joined me to talk about the tool chest that Monte McNair has at his disposal. James, as most of you probably know, has his finger on the pulse and behind-the-scenes thought process in Sacramento maybe more than any other media member.

I know we all feel like there HAS to be a significant change made. It feels painfully obvious. But, I start the conversation by asking James if that is 100% clear and how much does the impact it was have on this very season play a factor? Can McNair comfortably makes moves with a focus on the future, even if it means he’s not prioritizing the postseason this year?

The meat and potatoes of this episode revolve around Harrison Barnes, Richaun Holmes, Buddy Hield, and Marvin Bagley. Of course, we also touch on De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton’s value and how they are viewed by the franchise decision-makers, potential incoming names (if not Ben Simmons or Domantas Sabonis, then who?), and more.

“I think that most deals that we’re gonna be talking about with the Kings, if they’re swinging for the fences and they’re going nuts, there are gonna include multiple first round picks. I think you have two types of deals that we’re looking at right now…

Starting with Harrison, James shares his insight on what the leaguewide value of the veteran forward is, including what the Boston Celtics were willing to offer the last deadline and I throw in two deals made recently for what I view as similar players that may work as a starting point for expected returns.

Also, Barnes may be the most commonly floated around name right now, but is there a chance the Kings would rather keep him around for the long run? He is somehow just 29 years old and Sacramento’s desperate lack of wings is obvious.

As for Richaun Holmes, we have a mini-rant about his underperformance and the way the fanbase has reacted. Understanding the context of his injuries, unavailability, and season as a whole is crucial. The endpoint is that he’s still kinda really damn good at basketball…

I asked James: Is there a chance Richaun Holmes holds even more value around the league than Harrison Barnes does?

“I think if you were the put the two (Barnes and Holmes) side-by-side at this point they’re equal value at this point, and maybe even a little leaning towards Holmes.”

We then shift to Buddy and Bagley. Is the reported Los Angeles Lakers package (Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell) an example of Buddy’s potential value or an outlier from a desperate front office?

For Bagley, it’s apparent that there are teams around the league who still believe there is potential there — given he is just 22 and has shown notable improvement as of late. We touch on the important question with MB35: Is there actually a chance that the Kings would offer him the qualifying this offseason and match an offer sheet? If not, then McNair would just be letting another “asset” walk for nothing…

Also included:

  • An explanation as to why draft picks are probably the most valuable thing Sacramento can put on the table, including Fox and Haliburton
  • A fun story from James about talking with Kevin Durant during the NBA Finals and realizing KD wanted out of Oklahoma City
  • AGAIN, STOP HATING ON RICHAUN HOLMES!! OF ALL PEOPLE!
  • The potential of multiple separate deals being made
  • There’s a good chance Tristan Thompson has played his last game with the Sacramento Kings
  • And more I’m surely forgetting!

James was great to have on the show and spend about 90 minutes talking about what seems very likely to be a trajectory-altering next couple of weeks for Monte McNair and the Sacramento Kings franchise.

The Kings Pulse podcast is available on all major podcast platforms. There is also a video version of each episode now being uploaded to YouTube!

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Ralph_Furleys_Tailor
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January 23, 2022 6:13 pm

My goodness. You run a fan forum website predicated on the fan base of a woebegone team still caring enough to sign in and post. Might I recommend that your writers stop with the boo-hoo apathy angle. I would also like to add that if someone comes here and hates on Holmes (which is warrant less) you might just chalk it up to the bell curve.

devo8080
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January 24, 2022 12:11 am

I mean, they could have said “James Hamm evaluates Kings trade assets:”
comment image&ct=g

jwalker1395
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January 23, 2022 7:08 pm

The Delon Wright trade has probably been Monte’s most obviously bad decision imo. Wright would be the third best guard on this basketball team, on a good contact, and in his prime and instead we got washed ass TT

ArcoThunder
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January 23, 2022 9:01 pm
Reply to  jwalker1395

Yeah, that was dumb. Worst part is that it was collateral damage after the bungled buddy to LA trade. Got back handed to both sides of the face on that one.

SPTSJUNKIE
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January 24, 2022 4:57 am
Reply to  ArcoThunder

I don’t blame McNair and the FO for the LA situation. LeBron pushing for Westbrook and the Lakers’ FO going after him instead was bad for both franchises.

Ultimately, it will be on McNair to make something positive happen. But I will say, between the Bucks and Lakers trades, he’s had two pretty bad breaks that have hurt both teams his first two years.

We still would need a step change in talent with a big move. But this team would look better with Dante, Kuzma, KCP, and an additional first.

SPTSJUNKIE
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January 24, 2022 4:52 am
Reply to  jwalker1395

Completely agree. The original trade was a strong one. A couple of seconds for a useful rotation guard on a cheap contract improved our talent base.

I understand that there were high hopes for Mitchell and part of the reason for the deal was to open minutes for him. But TT has been a net negative on the court across two franchises for about 4-5 years.

Seems like we could have let Mitchell try to beat out Wright and earn minutes (helping team performance until he did), waiting to trade Wright to a guard-needy team once injuries struck to recoup assets, and signed a replacement level player with TT’s skillset and impact for the minimum.

rockbottom
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January 23, 2022 9:09 pm

Monte has a tough job getting top talent in trade for mediocre talent ! He does have the green light until he doesn’t !

MidtownMike
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January 24, 2022 12:00 am

Best get for us that including fit imo would be myles turner and Ben Simmons. Turner fits better next to Simmons on the offensive end and is better than Holmes defensively.

Big triple team trade:
Kings get- Simmons, turner, Tobias Harris
76ers get- Sabonis, hield, tj Warren (injured $ filler)
Pacers get-Fox, Holmes, bagley, ’22 top 5 protection, ’24 unprotected

Kings keep Hali for future and Barnes for now.

Hali, Davion
Davis,
Simmons, Barnes
Harris, Barnes
Turner,

rockbottom
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January 24, 2022 5:35 am
Reply to  MidtownMike

Great deal for Kings and Pacers ! Terrible for 76ers !

MidtownMike
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January 24, 2022 10:36 am
Reply to  rockbottom

You think getting Sabonis and Hield is a bad get for Simmons and getting out of Harris’ contract is terrible for them? What else do you think they’d want?

TaintedMeat
January 27, 2022 6:38 pm
Reply to  MidtownMike

What are the odds McNair just saw this and called the other GM’s?

Kingsguru21
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January 24, 2022 11:01 am

Why would you honestly ever hate on Richaun Holmes for? I’m confused greatly by that.

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