Well...
1) Vlade was never technically a full member of my list. Although he could have been on an addendum, and certainly earned the spot by mishandling the two greatest bird-in-the-hand talents of his era, and somehow ending up with neither of them. Not to mention continuing the ridiculous worst in the league Kings coaching carousel.
2) the toxic media has largely been purged. That's a flat yay, and Grant being drug out into the light by Boogie remains one of the few lol highlights of this most ridiculously bad of years. Given some time to bleed out, it may even drain some of the toxicity from the fanbase and restore lovable loserdom to the franchise.
3) A GM with a plan might even open a future. But with the remaining list members still holding ultimate authority in the kIngs hierarchy, the chances are dim. You figure Vivek can't possibly be as big of a dumbass as he was when he bought the team. Maybe. But every failure is an invitation to meddle. And the heir apparent, while I would be intrigued, is the guy who drafted Darko over DWade, Melo and Bosh.
4) Unfortunately I do not like the NBA's current product to such a degree I now actively encourage people not to watch it and have been engaging, pre-COVID, with Mark Cuban to try to convince him to table a motion to fix the damn rules and restore basketball rather than trashball. The COVID catastrophe has cost them billions and might shake the tree, but then again maybe it will allow them to defer the concerns about plummeting TV ratings and just blame all the problems on the disease. Or worse yet, Adam Silver can continue his fatuous beta-boying fawning over Euroball and actually pervert the league even further. And Vivek would be just the guy to hire Daryl Morey and Alvin Gentry this offseason and turn the franchise into everything that is wrong with the league.
5) Ironically, after 35 years of futility, the Kings team that the current squad reminds me most of is the one that first arrived in Sacramento. Opportunity after opportunity to acquire or retain superstars have been blown, and instead you have a high scoring defense free group of soft perimeter players peaking just at the fringes of All Stardom (Theus, EJ, Woodson etc.). You have a disappointing young big with some star but no superstar potential (Thorpe in this comparison, although at the moment Bagley could end up being Pervis). A nice flavorless placeholder coach. A big all offense PG (Theus). and the ability to win in the mid to upper 30s, sneak into a playoffs maybe (and avoid the all time futility record) and get bounced. It's almost come full circle for the franchise, with a giant jelly filled doughnut of a Sacto tenure. 8 glory years at its heart, same ole everywhere else.
There is more potential for health than there has been in a long time, but the top decisionmakers who helped create and nurture the sickness are still there to do it again. There is a breathing moment here worth paying attention to, but the Kings are just as likely to draft Joe Kleine and hire Shaq to be the new coach as they are to get it right.
P.S. Longstanding note for the next GM, and Vivek's brain: During the Rick Adelman era the Kings DRTGs were 103.1, 102.1, 99.6, 101.1, 99.1, 104.9, 108.2, 105.0 and they made the playoffs all 8 years. In the other 27 Kings seasons, they have only been under 108.0 ONE (1) time. And they made two playoffs as 8th seeds in all those years. Best argument for Dumars might be at least he understands that defense matter.s
1) Vlade was never technically a full member of my list. Although he could have been on an addendum, and certainly earned the spot by mishandling the two greatest bird-in-the-hand talents of his era, and somehow ending up with neither of them. Not to mention continuing the ridiculous worst in the league Kings coaching carousel.
2) the toxic media has largely been purged. That's a flat yay, and Grant being drug out into the light by Boogie remains one of the few lol highlights of this most ridiculously bad of years. Given some time to bleed out, it may even drain some of the toxicity from the fanbase and restore lovable loserdom to the franchise.
3) A GM with a plan might even open a future. But with the remaining list members still holding ultimate authority in the kIngs hierarchy, the chances are dim. You figure Vivek can't possibly be as big of a dumbass as he was when he bought the team. Maybe. But every failure is an invitation to meddle. And the heir apparent, while I would be intrigued, is the guy who drafted Darko over DWade, Melo and Bosh.
4) Unfortunately I do not like the NBA's current product to such a degree I now actively encourage people not to watch it and have been engaging, pre-COVID, with Mark Cuban to try to convince him to table a motion to fix the damn rules and restore basketball rather than trashball. The COVID catastrophe has cost them billions and might shake the tree, but then again maybe it will allow them to defer the concerns about plummeting TV ratings and just blame all the problems on the disease. Or worse yet, Adam Silver can continue his fatuous beta-boying fawning over Euroball and actually pervert the league even further. And Vivek would be just the guy to hire Daryl Morey and Alvin Gentry this offseason and turn the franchise into everything that is wrong with the league.
5) Ironically, after 35 years of futility, the Kings team that the current squad reminds me most of is the one that first arrived in Sacramento. Opportunity after opportunity to acquire or retain superstars have been blown, and instead you have a high scoring defense free group of soft perimeter players peaking just at the fringes of All Stardom (Theus, EJ, Woodson etc.). You have a disappointing young big with some star but no superstar potential (Thorpe in this comparison, although at the moment Bagley could end up being Pervis). A nice flavorless placeholder coach. A big all offense PG (Theus). and the ability to win in the mid to upper 30s, sneak into a playoffs maybe (and avoid the all time futility record) and get bounced. It's almost come full circle for the franchise, with a giant jelly filled doughnut of a Sacto tenure. 8 glory years at its heart, same ole everywhere else.
There is more potential for health than there has been in a long time, but the top decisionmakers who helped create and nurture the sickness are still there to do it again. There is a breathing moment here worth paying attention to, but the Kings are just as likely to draft Joe Kleine and hire Shaq to be the new coach as they are to get it right.
P.S. Longstanding note for the next GM, and Vivek's brain: During the Rick Adelman era the Kings DRTGs were 103.1, 102.1, 99.6, 101.1, 99.1, 104.9, 108.2, 105.0 and they made the playoffs all 8 years. In the other 27 Kings seasons, they have only been under 108.0 ONE (1) time. And they made two playoffs as 8th seeds in all those years. Best argument for Dumars might be at least he understands that defense matter.s
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