[The Athletic] Kings request permission to interview candidates for head of basketball operations

Status
Not open for further replies.
Perception is sometimes all that matters and so far all the perception is naturally going to be that it is. The Vlade thing and then candidates dropping like flies is enough dots to start connecting things even if the result is totally off base compared to the picture the dots actually are drawing.
Is it? Two candidates "dropping out" that were never leaving their comfy positions to begin with, doesn't really give me cause to pause. We aren't privy to who and how many candidates we'll even be interviewing
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
I just read the Kings have narrowed it down to Gupta, Monte McNair, and Wes Wilcox. per Sactown Royality.
Now more than ever, I would not rely on STR for much. It appears to be a ghost town and may well be run by an SB Nation drone in Peoria, Illinois who wouldn't know what colors the Sacramento Kings wore if they weren't splashed on the front page of the blog.

But my point is: The title and text of the article in question ("down to three") do not match the source material, which is a Woj tweet from the 12th which says that those three are AMONG the candidates. Yesterday (the 13th, later than the 12th), we learned that Calvin Booth has also in fact interviewed for the job. The final choice may well be one of those three, but we shouldn't take it from an SB Nation anon trying to drag 300 words out of a Woj tweet. Really, could just link the Woj tweet.
 
Is it? Two candidates "dropping out" that were never leaving their comfy positions to begin with, doesn't really give me cause to pause. We aren't privy to who and how many candidates we'll even be interviewing
Again, I'm talking perception. It was apparently enough for the media to start asking questions.
 
Barnes is the oldest one at 28 which is just cusp of prime age. Yes, this a fairly young team, the ones bringing the age average up are the role guys.
Bogie is 28. Buddy will be 28 in December and as you mentioned, Barnes at 28. These are core and not role players. As of 19-20 season, they would be considered to be one of the older NBA teams as they fit in the group consisting of of the top 10 oldest teams.
 
With Gupta / McNair I think D’Antoni might be in play. I personally wouldn’t be too excited about MDA, but no doubt all 3 have history together and they might try to build something in Sac - assuming Vivek commits to spending and getting out of the way.
 
Bogie is 28. Buddy will be 28 in December and as you mentioned, Barnes at 28. These are core and not role players. As of 19-20 season, they would be considered to be one of the older NBA teams as they fit in the group consisting of of the top 10 oldest teams.
I'm not sure if it makes any sense to bring Bogdan back at this point. I think giving it one shot with the established or already paid core is OK, adding much more long term money at this point is unwise since you've just given yourself more hill to climb in a worst case scenario. Especially if they view Bogdan as a SG, it makes no sense. It's like re-signing Jason Thompson all over again (albeit with more talent) and with Bogdan probably a lot more costly. You just paid Buddy big bucks, see if you can build him back up after Walton nearly destroyed him. Play these pieces the right way and even if you don't win at least you can start building some individual value because trading anyone now will likely result in a major loss of value.

At the end of the day, this would be a squad that needs to be competing from day 1 not years from now and that goes for them keeping this team together under any circumstances. I always thought Vlade was making a big mistake in how he pictured this squad. It was always as if they had years and years to put it all together when he didn't build that kind of situation. Just because Fox and Bagley were young, that wasn't at all the timeline he was creating. A competitive team where your oldest players are 28 isn't old. Now a resetting team at that age is older but a reset would be far more involved and shouldn't be the first course of action IMO. Not at this point. Find the right coach first and see. You still have time to make reset moves if need be. But giving Walton another shot gives you very little rope if what we saw last year is only going to be compounded. The odds are against him being the person to lead the charge at this point just from his lame duck status and the obvious negatives built up during the bubble run. Having any holdovers from your former FO puts the odds of this working out mostly as is at well below the under. You never know, it could all magically work out with Walton but again, I wouldn't bet on it.
 
I'm not sure if it makes any sense to bring Bogdan back at this point. I think giving it one shot with the established or already paid core is OK, adding much more long term money at this point is unwise since you've just given yourself more hill to climb in a worst case scenario. Especially if they view Bogdan as a SG, it makes no sense. It's like re-signing Jason Thompson all over again (albeit with more talent) and with Bogdan probably a lot more costly. You just paid Buddy big bucks, see if you can build him back up after Walton nearly destroyed him. Play these pieces the right way and even if you don't win at least you can start building some individual value because trading anyone now will likely result in a major loss of value.

At the end of the day, this would be a squad that needs to be competing from day 1 not years from now and that goes for them keeping this team together under any circumstances. I always thought Vlade was making a big mistake in how he pictured this squad. It was always as if they had years and years to put it all together when he didn't build that kind of situation. Just because Fox and Bagley were young, that wasn't at all the timeline he was creating. A competitive team where your oldest players are 28 isn't old. Now a resetting team at that age is older but a reset would be far more involved and shouldn't be the first course of action IMO. Not at this point. Find the right coach first and see. You still have time to make reset moves if need be. But giving Walton another shot gives you very little rope if what we saw last year is only going to be compounded. The odds are against him being the person to lead the charge at this point just from his lame duck status and the obvious negatives built up during the bubble run. Having any holdovers from your former FO puts the odds of this working out mostly as is at well below the under. You never know, it could all magically work out with Walton but again, I wouldn't bet on it.
If we kept Joerger and drafted Luka it would’ve been a completely different story. But I agree with your general assessment - at one point it was possible to do something with this group but I think that time is past.

Getting rid of Luke has to be the number 1 priority. If I was running this team I’d make the short term goal getting a big return on guys like Buddy Barnes and Bogi. And for that to work I think you need a coach who knows what he’s doing to showcase them. On the flop side, if we get to the ASB and this team actually looks good, you have the luxury of letting it ride.

We do have solid young talent but it def feels like we’re at the point of viewing those as assets rather than the core of a future team (Fox and Bagley being the exceptions)
 
Dumars is supposedly at least tight with Gupta. If they really are proposing this two headed monster, which I'm a bit unsure why McNair would want to move from Houston to Sac, except for the fact that Morey is also rumored to be on a short leash, it's clear who the one and two would be so I am not too troubled about Dumars if there is a personal connection.
 
Dumars is supposedly at least tight with Gupta. If they really are proposing this two headed monster, which I'm a bit unsure why McNair would want to move from Houston to Sac, except for the fact that Morey is also rumored to be on a short leash, it's clear who the one and two would be so I am not too troubled about Dumars if there is a personal connection.
I think the situation is in flux in Houston so if next year does not go well, then Morey may not be there anymore and McNair may just be reading the tea leaf and making the leap first. Also, Gupta and McNair work together in Houston so they already know each other.
 
I think the situation is in flux in Houston so if next year does not go well, then Morey may not be there anymore and McNair may just be reading the tea leaf and making the leap first. Also, Gupta and McNair work together in Houston so they already know each other.
This seems like a potential huge upgrade over Vivek's original plan with the two numbskulls he brought in when he bought the team. Vlade was a nice bridge but holy hell if Bagley doesn't pan out he's going to go down as the iceberg that sunk the titantic.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.