Grade the Kings off-season so far

[Sac.Kings]

Skal has been bulking up a lot this summer. He's been going beast mode in the gym per reports which is exactly what he needs. I believe in him.

He can look like the Rock, but if he still cowers in fear every time someone bodies him up in the post then it's all for nothing. His strength should help with defense in the post, where he was a joke last year. Everyone backed him down like it was nothing.

I got nothing against him, but if you don't have even a tiny mean streak, you will get eaten alive in the NBA. I'd love to be proven wrong. I'll be watching...

 

[Folsomkingsfan]

Love or don't mind everything besides the bagley pick.

 

[DesertFox]

It's easy for WCS to be hyped for Giles when he's in street clothes whole you start. It's different when he's taking your minutes, and he's not playing at a level better than you.

Zbo is a great mentor on a young struggling club, but how will he feel sitting on the bench watching Bagley and Skal make mistakes a year after putting up numbers?

Shump is all excited now, but how will he be riding the pine watching Bogi and Bjelica get beat on D?

Skal might have a great new 3 point shot, but will we want to see that at the expense of Giles and Bagley?

There is a lot of potential, but on both sides of the coin. Joeger will have his hands full, and Vlade needs to help him out and clear up some logjams.

 

[kingdivac]

Love the trade, like the signings. Still quite salty at the draft.

I'm with you on the draft. I think Doncic may turn out the better talent, and I wasn't big on Bagley. Wait the season and then judge. It'll be pretty evident though within a few months of the season for comparison sake (told ya so's ). Sometimes players break out over time but I think thats less common.

I did like the free agent signings. They learned from last year, and didn't go overboard. They need at least 2 players to break out consistently to be competitive - 3 or 4 would be a wild success. Hopefully at least 1 does.

 

[Blob]

He can look like the Rock, but if he still cowers in fear every time someone bodies him up in the post then it's all for nothing. His strength should help with defense in the post, where he was a joke last year. Everyone backed him down like it was nothing.

I got nothing against him, but if you don't have even a tiny mean streak, you will get eaten alive in the NBA. I'd love to be proven wrong. I'll be watching...

If he develops the functional strength he needs to battle in the post, which is what he is doing now, he is not going to "cower in fear". He's going to dish it out as much as he takes it. Skal is a player who gets to the spots he wants on offense. He also is relatively patient executing his moves. This shows his willingness to battle. I didn't see Skal throwing up a lot of desperate fade aways or getting pushed off the block so far he ended up in no mans land like Willie. These are signs that indicate he can progress on defense and hold his own. Also remember he took up the game late and given his Haitian background did not have access to state of the art training resources. Lastly I think his best position is CENTER and he has not always been afforded the opportunity to play center. Skal is a keeper. He may not turn into the star we originally envisioned but I think he can be a valuable rotational player starting this year.

 

[Kingster]

The Kings have had a large talent infusion, with the additions of Giles (playing), Bagley, Bjelica and Yogi. All of them are complementary to a fast paced open court game. If you assume that there will be improvement next year from some out of the group of Fox, Hield, Bogs, Skal, Jackson, WCS, and Mason, and you assume Joerger is going to take the reins off this very athletic bunch, this is going to be a wholly different and better team than last year.

I gave Vlade a B. There could be more moves afoot before the season begins, which could put him at an A level.

 

[Kingster]

If he develops the functional strength he needs to battle in the post, which is what he is doing now, he is not going to "cower in fear". He's going to dish it out as much as he takes it. Skal is a player who gets to the spots he wants on offense. He also is relatively patient executing his moves. This shows his willingness to battle. I didn't see Skal throwing up a lot of desperate fade aways or getting pushed off the block so far he ended up in no mans land like Willie. These are signs that indicate he can progress on defense and hold his own. Also remember he took up the game late and given his Haitian background did not have access to state of the art training resources. Lastly I think his best position is CENTER and he has not always been afforded the opportunity to play center. Skal is a keeper. He may not turn into the star we originally envisioned but I think he can be a valuable rotational player starting this year.

Agreed, although I think stretch 4 is probably his best position. I don't think Skal fears anybody. He just hasn't had the physical strength to deal with them.

 

[ESP47]

We need to stop talking about getting an SF. I fully believe Vlade is gonna use Shumpert & JJ there this season and then hand it over to Bagley. Right or wrong, I think that is the plan.

You saw the 15 air balls Bagley put up in summer league right? The dude is not a 3. Isn't even remotely close. We don't even know if he has the skills to be a stretch 4. Let alone a 3.

 

[206Fan]

Gave it a B-. I loved that the Kings went after LaVine. I liked the Yogi signing. I also liked that we attempted to pursue Hezonja. I'm meh at best on the Bjelica signing. I don't know why he's gathering all this excitement. I guess it could be the yearly bench player fan favorite.

The reason why I gave it a B- is because we didn't recklessly used our cap space like last year which is a big +. However, we still didn't really address our SF position. There were more SFs out there aside from Hezonja.

Overall, I'm satisfied with the offseason. The FA market was smaller this year

 

[John Galt]

A... I know I'm a homer but I never wanted Hezonja. I think he took the right shot at Lavine. I think he never had any shot at Smart. Temple was not an important piece for next year so let Vivek has his million dollars. Stockpiling 2nds makes sense to me as a strategy. He got a dead-eye shooter stretch 4 for a fair price. He got a very good backup PG. I wanted him to draft Doncic but I think time will tell that he drafted a very very good player. Superteam Just Young

 

[lwc]

You saw the 15 air balls Bagley put up in summer league right? The dude is not a 3. Isn't even remotely close. We don't even know if he has the skills to be a stretch 4. Let alone a 3.

Notice the three important words I used in my original post: Right or wrong. I'm not saying that Bagley should be the three but I truly believe that Vlade Divac believes it is a possibility.

 

[Pizzaguy93]

B+/ A-
I’m a fan of the effort put forth by this franchise to continue its rise to relevance this offseason. We drafted Bagley, a move that showed faith in our core (buddy bogdan fox). Though not drafting Doncic seemed KANGZ at the time, I’m not sure the energy in the locker room would have been fantastic. This is the right move for a franchise trying to gain respect in the loyalty and culture departments from vets.
As for free agency, we were a player. Not necessarily a winning player, but we made some noise. Almost stole a near upper echelon talent of Lavine, didn’t make absurd offers to force players here that probably didn’t want to come (Hezonja/Parker/Smart), and then stole a couple of solid players from respected franchises by selling what we’ve got here and by being smart with our cap space. We still have room, and some extra roster guys, to make a move or two!
I have my reservations, I would’ve rather seen Shumpert go than Temple but perhaps the FO sees something that’ll make me feel better about not going after Ariza early in FA too. That guy is potentially the best defensive minded vet in the league. He’s guarded everyone that’s anyone, from Kobe to Donovan Mitchell. Would’ve loved him to mentor JJ. But here we are. Better, Stronger, and Faster than we were last year, and that’s hard to complain about.

Giles = GOAT

 

[nofun]

This is a tough one, as I'm not sure if I want to grade the team on what I was afraid they would do, what I hoped they would do, or what they actually did...

Sure, the team didn't publish a "1, 2, 3.. Michael Porter Jr Rocks!" video, and we didn't sign Z-bo to an extension, so that's re-assuring. But on the other hand, I was hopeful we could come out of this offseason saying:

1) We nailed our draft pick and got a guy who's going to be a star for us for the next decade; and/or
2) We have a legit small forward; and/or
3) We leveraged our cap space to pick up valuable assets.

Unfortunately, while it's (probably) too early to judge Bagley, as of right now, I wouldn't say we hit on any of those with certainty.

Yet, the team did some good things: Bagley wasn't considered a reach at 2, the Temple trade was competent, the Ferrell and Bjelica signings were fine... and, we didn't do anything overwhelmingly stupid that we'll be paying years for (or at least through draft day next year...).

Personally, I would have preferred had we:

1) Drafted Doncic.
2) Alternatively, made the trade ATL made with DAL for a future first, then taken one of Bagley/Jackson/Bamba/Carter with the #5. Personally, I think it was 50/50 that Bagley would've still been available at 5.
3) When Mitchell Robinson fell out of the first round, traded up to get him as a low risk/high reward prospect. Maybe we tried.. who knows. The Knicks took him one pick prior to ours.
4) Used our cap space for assets... The DEN Faried & picks trade, and the PHI Holmes trade jump to mind.

We don't seem to have damaged ourselves in any way other than, perhaps, in missed opportunities. But I'd feel better if I could've checked off some/any of those three statements above with conviction. So, I'll give the summer a C for now...or a B, if graded on a curve.

 

[kingsboi]

I give them a C. It's year two of the rebuilding phase so creating lots of playing time for the youth is the most important and if they are going to sign free agents, it's on short term deals so Vlade has been consistent on that front. Bagley was a given at number two, question is how much does he pan out.

 

[Kingsfan23]

The 2 pick was the most crucial of the last 5 years, and a lot of fans left SL with questions about Bagley against NBA players and him having maybe the least productive SL of a top pick

 

[jcwkings]

I voted C- because I think he got the draft wrong. The rest of the moves have all been anywhere from good to fine but this pick was the most important pick in franchise history. I'm not saying Bagley will be bad but I just think Doncic was a franchise changing talent, Bagley isn't. Hopefully he proves me wrong.

 

[Warhawk]

this pick was the most important pick in franchise history

Why?

 

[Folsomkingsfan]

Why?

I'd also argue that it was the most important pick so far in our history. 13 years removed from the playoffs. A team brimming with potential, yet no clear franchise player. Our highest draft pick ever. The implication that if this pick busts we will be looking at an entirely new front office and additional years thrown on to our seemingly endless rebuild. The massive added weight that this pick does to our image as a franchise. There is a ton riding on this pick for both fans and the front office.

 

[jcwkings]

Why?

I'd also argue that it was the most important pick so far in our history. 13 years removed from the playoffs. A team brimming with potential, yet no clear franchise player. Our highest draft pick ever. The implication that if this pick busts we will be looking at an entirely new front office and additional years thrown on to our seemingly endless rebuild. The massive added weight that this pick does to our image as a franchise. There is a ton riding on this pick for both fans and the front office.

This.

 

[John Galt]

People will be looking back in 5 years saying Giles #20 was the most important pick in our franchise history. bookmark this

 

[Warhawk]

I'd also argue that it was the most important pick so far in our history. 13 years removed from the playoffs. A team brimming with potential, yet no clear franchise player. Our highest draft pick ever. The implication that if this pick busts we will be looking at an entirely new front office and additional years thrown on to our seemingly endless rebuild. The massive added weight that this pick does to our image as a franchise. There is a ton riding on this pick for both fans and the front office.

Apparently you forgot about our #1 overall Out-of-Service Pervis?

I think the work Vlade has done over the past couple years to reshape the team is more important than one draft pick, personally. If Fox and/or Giles pans out (all star, or similar), and Bagley becomes merely a very good player, who cares? If Bagley is "only" a triple and not a home run I am fine with that. The draft is ALWAYS a crapshoot. Unless you pass on LeBron as the #1, no individual draft pick is that important to stake the jobs of the GM and staff on. You have to pick well, obviously, but player development can be as big a part of player success as choosing the right draftee. You can always go back and point fingers at better players not drafted by your team, but often other teams passed on them as well. A lot of it is just pure luck.

 

[VF21]

Interesting that over 70% of the respondees give Vlade a B- or better. Pretty good IMHO.

 

[Gary]

Sorry guys/gals.. F.. I can't see this team winning more than 25-30 games at the most. A 25-30 win season (again) is a failure. We have been rebuilding long enough.

 

[Pacboy]

Sorry guys/gals.. F.. I can't see this team winning more than 25-30 games at the most. A 25-30 win season (again) is a failure. We have been rebuilding long enough.

Lol, you would have given it an A+ if he had pick Trae Young I bet

 

[VF21]

Sorry guys/gals.. F.. I can't see this team winning more than 25-30 games at the most. A 25-30 win season (again) is a failure. We have been rebuilding long enough.

That's not the question, Gary, but feel free to post another negative comment.

 

[Sac.Kings]

Sorry guys/gals.. F.. I can't see this team winning more than 25-30 games at the most. A 25-30 win season (again) is a failure. We have been rebuilding long enough.

There's no way we are as bad next season as we were this past season. We have better talent and it seems that the coach is finally catching on that this roster is designed for up tempo basketball. We have 2 new studs in Giles and Bagley (health permitting) along with an improved Fox and a new offensive game plan. I'm expecting 30-40 wins, hopefully closer to 40.

Every single person on our roster apart from one or two players is hard working and earns their way into playtime. Even our new acquisitions such as Yogi went from a 10 day contract to 6.3 million. I'm all for a wait and see approach but our roster does make sense, apart from the large number of bigs we have. I do expect that to be fixed though.

 

[allrightythen]

I voted B.

They drafted a player who I thought was a top 3 guy and had as high of a ceiling as anyone in the draft.

FA was crazy but they came away filling needs with solid choices at good prices. They didn't compromise the future and left themselves flexibility for future moves whether through free agency or trades.

In short they didn't do anything stupid while addressing some short-term needs and adding big-time potential. They did all that without hindering future flexibility. Seems like a solid, if unspectacular, off-season.

 

[Noble]

I'll go with a C+ for now

We needed an interior scorer and rebounder and got one of the best prospects in the draft in Bagley. TBD

Yogi and Bjelica are solid vet signings where backup vet pg was a must, as well as a big 3/stretch 4 was needed.

Trading Temple was meh but we got younger, more cap, and a pick so whatever.

Wished we went for Capela

 

[Gary]

Lol, you would have given it an A+ if he had pick Trae Young I bet

Of course man!

 

[Gary]

That's not the question, Gary, but feel free to post another negative comment.

We will all die someday......

OK.. I have no idea how fans of a team can stay positive when you are continuously rebuilding. Bagley III, Yogi, Nejsdfjgd aren't really making me think we're going to be doing much better than we did this year. Oh, and we get McLemore back...

On a positive note we do play in a beautiful arena!