State of the Kings Post Deadline Edition

[iowamcnabb]

The trade deadline has passed and it's time to prepare ourselves for the rest of the season. How do you feel about the trades? How do you feel about the direction of our team not only for this year but next year and beyond?

What we did:
We acquired Mo Hark, Chris Silva, Terrance Davis and Delon Wright.

Who we lost: Belly, Cojo, Dikembe's relative, Parker.

I know I don't have the authority but I have officially changed Monte's name to Tinker McNair. He didn't have much to work with but lots of dinkin and dunkin for o'l Tinker.

I honestly don't know what to think of the acquisitions. From what I understand, these guys are all defensive upgrades over what we currently have. The big question is what is the long term vision for this team? Do these defensive role players take us out of the top ten come draft day? If so, is it because we have made our first playoff appearance in 14 years or are we now drafting 12th when all the top guys are gone? It doesn't appear any of the new guys outside of Davis are potential future trade assets. Will any of the young guys see the court? I have my concerns that this makes us better but just out of playoff range. most of the guys projected to be in the 11-15 range are shooting guards.

If we continue playing well, what happens to Bagley when he comes back? From a trying to win perspective he is probably better coming off the bench but will he get minutes to boost trade value for next season? How much of a stink will his family cause? How does that affect chemistry?

If Vucevic could have been had for Bagley, Holmes and 2 picks I would have done that in a heartbeat.

At this point, I am probably just going to stop rooting for a high draft pick and just try to win as many games as possible. At least it will be more entertaining that way.

 

[Iced Espresso]

Well Wright should be a definite upgrade over Cojo, but it leaves less cap for next season. His salary minus CoJo guarantee isn't that bad, hopefully the salary doesn't harm us later.

Everything else is fishing. Harkless hopefully looks like his Portland days.

Silva is a team option.

Davis I guess Monte feels is worth a look and probably more prepared than some of our young players.

The Clippers trade was just a way to get cash considerations above the salary needed to be paid.

Very meh...

But if we were going to push for the play in, the Wright deal could be huge.

 

[captain bill]

Interesting that there was zero chatter about Buddy and Bagley. Were there tight lipped conversations we didn’t hear about? Were the Kings not shopping them? Is there zero interest around the league in these guys?

And in that vein, just how bad is Buddy’s contract looking at this point?

 

[midtowner]

Buddy’s contract looks bad this year. It will look better at the trade deadline next year. And a lot better in the following offseason.

 

[Iced Espresso]

Interesting that there was zero chatter about Buddy and Bagley. Were there tight lipped conversations we didn’t hear about? Were the Kings not shopping them? Is there zero interest around the league in these guys?

And in that vein, just how bad is Buddy’s contract looking at this point?

At least Buddy's contract declines, so maybe next season or he regains form.

We got rejected for the Collins trade & Bey looking to move Marvin.

 

[twslam07]

Not too optimistic on the direction McNair (AKA Vivek) is taking. It appears we are trying to improve the team to win now?

Wright > Joseph
Harkless/Silva =< Bjelica
Davis > Parker

If we are in fact trying to win now, then why let Bogdanovic walk? There would have bene plenty of minutes to go around with a rotation of Fox, Haliburton, Hield, Bogdanovic, Barnes, Bagley, Bjelica, Holmes, & Whiteside:

PG - Fox (36 min) / Haliburton (12 min)
SG - Hield (30 min) / Haliburton (18 min)
SF - Barnes (18 min) / Bogdanovic (30 min)
PF - Bagley (26 min) / Barnes (12 min) / Bjelica (10 min)
C - Holmes (30 min) / Whiteside (18 min)

Would have much preferred an asset collection approach. Just left a bit puzzled and pessimistic to be honest.

 

[chief bromden]

I like what the Kings did. Delon is a huge upgrade to CoJo and has a trade able contract for the off-season. Terence Davis is a nice spark plug off the bench, much much better than Kyle Guy, which is an even more important role now that Tyrese is starting. Not to mention Fox and Tyrese have both been known to miss some time here and there.

Harkless brings some versatility and insurance for Barnes, probably won't end up adding much but has a better shot at helping than Bjeli did. Silva is a throw in, hopefully he has some good jokes for the team plane or something

I'm glad Barnes was kept with the assumption that the best offer was probably a decent player plus a couple picks that wouldn't be that great.

I respect the Kings for trying to make the playoffs and not be the record for the longest playoff drought. Plus, bigger trades that would involve moving someone like Buddy are just easier in the off-season.

 

[gunks]

Very underwhelming, but that’s what I expected.

The only thing that bums me out is that we didn’t move Barnes. He was our only real value piece and it would have helped out the tank.

OTOH, Barnes is young enough to be a good player to keep assuming we turn this around by next season, but that’s gonna have to happen via FA and a coaching change, not the draft, where we’ll likely be picking around 10-12 per usual.

I’ll withhold judgment on McNair for the time being. I think we’ll really see what he’s about this summer.

Two things we know: he’s not gonna be full Hinkie and burn our record to the ground for draft position, but he’s no Vlade either. Lord only knows what stupid moves the Big Doofus would have made this trade deadline. I’m sure opposing GMs miss him already.

 

[The Effort Police]

Very underwhelming, but that’s what I expected.

The only thing that bums me out is that we didn’t move Barnes. He was our only real value piece and it would have helped out the tank.

OTOH, Barnes is young enough to be a good player to keep assuming we turn this around by next season, but that’s gonna have to happen via FA and a coaching change, not the draft, where we’ll likely be picking around 10-12 per usual.

I’ll withhold judgment on McNair for the time being. I think we’ll really see what he’s about this summer.

Two things we know: he’s not gonna be full Hinkie and burn our record to the ground for draft position, but he’s no Vlade either. Lord only knows what stupid moves the Big Doofus would have made this trade deadline. I’m sure opposing GMs miss him already.

I don't think Vlade would've really done anything different this trade deadline, but we really dodged a bullet by firing Vlade for other important times.

-Bogi back at 18 million (or more).
-Poku or Precious in the draft.
-Max extension for Bagley this upcoming offseason.

I shudder to think about it.

 

[Albatros]

Just wish we could have moved on from Buddy and Bagley but can't everything you want in life.

Adds a bit of interest to the season anyway.

 

[jiimbob]

No big splash but nothing crazy either. Seeing Barnes and Holmes weren’t given away and Bjelica and Joseph were moved for solid backups.... ahh I’m okay with that.
Read up a bit on Davis, more of a footballer, with some all around skills, so intriguing, but again how well will Walton work any of them into the rotation.
Best takeaway, I still have a good feeling about our new GM.

 

[Spike]

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

 

[sactowndog]

Very underwhelming, but that’s what I expected.

The only thing that bums me out is that we didn’t move Barnes. He was our only real value piece and it would have helped out the tank.

OTOH, Barnes is young enough to be a good player to keep assuming we turn this around by next season, but that’s gonna have to happen via FA and a coaching change, not the draft, where we’ll likely be picking around 10-12 per usual.

I’ll withhold judgment on McNair for the time being. I think we’ll really see what he’s about this summer.

Two things we know: he’s not gonna be full Hinkie and burn our record to the ground for draft position, but he’s no Vlade either. Lord only knows what stupid moves the Big Doofus would have made this trade deadline. I’m sure opposing GMs miss him already.

actually while Vlade couldn’t draft better than throwing darts at a board his trades were pretty good. Both the Bogi trade and the Barnes trade were pretty good.

Did the team improve? Marginally. Wright was an upgrade because Detroit wanted to improve their tank so we took him. Meanwhile we traded picks for players both Toronto and Miami gave up on. Given those are two of the better talent evaluators in the league we shall see.

But marginally only gets us to a worse draft pick so the strategy seems confused. What little hope I have left (very little), I would rather blame Vivek than McNair. I guess the Kings are lucky they are and will remain (thanks to Burkle) the only game in town.

 

[ESP47]

Not too optimistic on the direction McNair (AKA Vivek) is taking. It appears we are trying to improve the team to win now?

Wright > Joseph
Harkless/Silva =< Bjelica
Davis > Parker

If we are in fact trying to win now, then why let Bogdanovic walk? There would have bene plenty of minutes to go around with a rotation of Fox, Haliburton, Hield, Bogdanovic, Barnes, Bagley, Bjelica, Holmes, & Whiteside:

PG - Fox (36 min) / Haliburton (12 min)
SG - Hield (30 min) / Haliburton (18 min)
SF - Barnes (18 min) / Bogdanovic (30 min)
PF - Bagley (26 min) / Barnes (12 min) / Bjelica (10 min)
C - Holmes (30 min) / Whiteside (18 min)

Would have much preferred an asset collection approach. Just left a bit puzzled and pessimistic to be honest.

We traded CoJo and Beli, neither of which were worth a first round pick. I'm all about an asset collection approach as well but I don't see how he could have gotten anything other than 2nds back, which are nearly worthless for the most part and even more worthless when you have so many that you don't have enough roster spots to keep them all.

I'd consider Davis an asset since he's only in year 2 and had a promising rookie year. To me that's worth more than a standard 2nd round pick.

 

[Section 101]

Just wish we could have moved on from Buddy and Bagley but can't everything you want in life.

Adds a bit of interest to the season anyway.

I think Buddy is gone this summer and Bagley before next years trade deadline.

 

[iowamcnabb]

I don't think Vlade would've really done anything different this trade deadline, but we really dodged a bullet by firing Vlade for other important times.

-Bogi back at 18 million (or more).
-Poku or Precious in the draft.
-Max extension for Bagley this upcoming offseason.

I shudder to think about it.

Hey now, don't be putting down my man Poku. I wouldn't take him over Haliburton and frankly don't believe Vlade would either but I think Poku is going to be a really good player in a couple years.

 

[SacTownKid]

At least Buddy's contract declines, so maybe next season or he regains form.

We got rejected for the Collins trade & Bey looking to move Marvin.

I'm hoping that Buddy continues to regain the form he's been regaining lately now that he knows the Kings wanted to keep him. The only person who knows they are on the outs is Bagley. Which was already an awkward situation.

 

[kingsboi]

With the deadline at a conclusion., the move for Wright was the writing on the wall that the Kings are pushing for that play in spot for the Postseason. They didn't give up anything of value in the process so while these acquisitions could potentially hurt their draft slot, they were already too far away from making a top 5 selection so with Fox ready to win now I suppose this is the direction for this season and beyond. Kings can still add a solid rotation player in the 10-12 range that they will likely end up in so I'm all for drafting defense, offense is not the issue for this roster.

 

[Tetsujin]

Meh, the 2022 draft is full of really awesome big men. Win the chip this year and tank for Emoni next year.

 

[gilly420]

I didn't like watching any of the players we traded or cut. Hope the new guys are better!

 

[gunks]

actually while Vlade couldn’t draft better than throwing darts at a board his trades were pretty good. Both the Bogi trade and the Barnes trade were pretty good.

Did the team improve? Marginally. Wright was an upgrade because Detroit wanted to improve their tank so we took him. Meanwhile we traded picks for players both Toronto and Miami gave up on. Given those are two of the better talent evaluators in the league we shall see.

But marginally only gets us to a worse draft pick so the strategy seems confused. What little hope I have left (very little), I would rather blame Vivek than McNair. I guess the Kings are lucky they are and will remain (thanks to Burkle) the only game in town.

Err.... the Philly trade? The rushed Cuz trade with a “better offer on the table”?!

Credit where credit is due for the Barnes trade, and even though Bogi didn’t work out, that was a slick deal too...Vlade was interesting in that he made a lot of decent low key moves (most recently, I’d say the Holmes signing would be a good example) but then would totally crap the bed on the big franchise moves.

So far McNair has only made little moves, and they’re all pretty solid. It’ll be interesting to see what he has up his sleeve when the time comes to make a major decision. I reckon we’ll see those moves this off-season when FA hits. Maybe draft day.

 

[sactowndog]

Err.... the Philly trade? The rushed Cuz trade with a “better offer on the table”?!

Credit where credit is due for the Barnes trade, and even though Bogi didn’t work out, that was a slick deal too...Vlade was interesting in that he made a lot of decent low key moves (most recently, I’d say the Holmes signing would be a good example) but then would totally crap the bed on the big franchise moves.

So far McNair has only made little moves, and they’re all pretty solid. It’ll be interesting to see what he has up his sleeve when the time comes to make a major decision. I reckon we’ll see those moves this off-season when FA hits. Maybe draft day.

yeah I blame Vivek for the Cousins trade but yes the Philly trade was horrible.

 

[gunks]

yeah I blame Vivek for the Cousins trade but yes the Philly trade was horrible.

Vivek gets his share of the blame for sure. IIRC, he was the one who decided last minute he didn’t want to max Cuz and demanded a return of Buddy or Ingram.

Oof we’ve been through it with these GMs and owners here in Sac haha

 

[captain bill]

Buddy’s contract looks bad this year. It will look better at the trade deadline next year. And a lot better in the following offseason.

when you have to wait a year and a half for a contract to maybe be good, I think you can call it a bad contract

 

[mac]

when you have to wait a year and a half for a contract to maybe be good, I think you can call it a bad contract

We're the Kings - we're always going to have to overpay and just hope that the talent pans out for us, because the relative market value will never be equal. Buddy's won't be the last bad contract we have. Tyrese is likely going to get a max contract whether he deserves it or not.

 

[sactowndog]

We're the Kings - we're always going to have to overpay and just hope that the talent pans out for us, because the relative market value will never be equal. Buddy's won't be the last bad contract we have. Tyrese is likely going to get a max contract whether he deserves it or not.

well at this point we better hope we can attract a good free agent. We are basically on track to be Portland with a great backcourt and a journeyman front court.

Fox and Hali are too good to not make the play-offs next year though the west could be loaded. This year was our chance to add a third piece. But Vivek was too impatient and arrogant.

 

[SLAB]

They got better in more ways than one.

Addition by subtraction dumping the deadweights.

Addition by addition, somehow getting probably useful players for said deadweight.

As I’ve said, you can’t complain about improving for the cost of basically free.

Let’s go, I guess.

 

[midtowner]

I’d kill for Portland.

 

[midtowner]

I am also liking McNair’s talent evaluation. I’ve wanted Wright and Harkless here for a while. If either of those players get on a streak, it could get interesting.

 

[Telemachus]

They got better in more ways than one.

Addition by subtraction dumping the deadweights.

Addition by addition, somehow getting probably useful players for said deadweight.

As I’ve said, you can’t complain about improving for the cost of basically free.

Let’s go, I guess.

Agreed. I don't think I have ever seen so many people complain about a GM making moves to improve the overall talent of his team.