Walton fired

I know Vivek isn't that popular but if Gentry can't get the team looking better fans are going to turn on Vivek big time. He's been offered a hell of a lot of patience I think.
Can't turn on Vivek without first making some roster moves. Like it or not this has been Deaaron's team for at least 3 years.
 
Sources close to Walton seemed resigned to his fate in private conversations in recent days. One referred to Ranadive as “the forever chaos agent.” The Kings have gone 256-397 (.392) since Ranadive purchased the team in 2013. They have gone through six head coaches and four general managers in eight-plus seasons under Ranadive’s stewardship. 7 hours ago – via Sacramento Bee
 
I get that Vivek hasn’t been the winningest owner in the league but he at least seems like an okay human being, which is more than you can say for some of the ownership groups out there *coughcoughBob SarverJamie DolanTillman Fertitacoughcough*

And the Kings habe all their picks finally and aren’t mired in cap hell.
things definitely aren’t great but they’re no longer “Oh Crap! Vlade traded a bunch of draft capital to sign Marco Bellinelli” bad anymore.
FACST! And this season is far from a total loss. Still way too early and we play in the Western Conference, so, adversity is to be expected.
 
From our friend Scot Pollard:


Scot was right about the KINGS drafting Thomas Robinson and Ben McLemore, but he’s wrong on this one. At least about Walton not being part of the big picture problems.

Just because the KINGS have a multitude of problems doesn’t mean the head coach can’t be one of them.

IDK this for certain but my guess is Pollard hasn’t seen many KINGS games during Walton’s tenure as most tortured KINGS fans have. If he had, I really doubt he’d be coming to his defense despite the other valid points he makes.
Yeah i love the love that many fans had and still have for him, but i couldn't care less about his basketball hot takes, especially when he and Walton are likely friends. Meh.
 
From our friend Scot Pollard:


Scot was right about the KINGS drafting Thomas Robinson and Ben McLemore, but he’s wrong on this one. At least about Walton not being part of the big picture problems.

Just because the KINGS have a multitude of problems doesn’t mean the head coach can’t be one of them.

IDK this for certain but my guess is Pollard hasn’t seen many KINGS games during Walton’s tenure as most tortured KINGS fans have. If he had, I really doubt he’d be coming to his defense despite the other valid points he makes.
Actually, Pollard is right and you are wrong. The problem is lack of talent on this team....not the Coach.

What players has Monte brought into the Kings that could change this dynamic? Was Tristan Thompson going to make the difference this year? Hassam Whiteside? You have a glaring weakness at Small forward. Moe Harkless? Come on man.

The problem is that Monte went for the "Lipstick on a pig" remodel rather than a tear it down-rebuilt it Hinke hybrid style.

The Kings goal is to make the play-in. 2/3rd of all NBA team make it to the play-in. Goal should be making it to the NBA championship. Any goal short of this is crap.

If he didn't like Luke, why did he speak so glowingly about him just in the recent Athletic article. Just a week ago I read an article in the Athletic about how great the relationship was with Luke and the organization.

Now, Monte says play faster publicly now. More crap.

The problem is lack of talent....and that is squarely on the back of Monte. What deals has he made to get the Kings to a better place. This lack of talent falls squarely on Monte's shoulders. He sold Vivek on the plan to keep the core, and build the fringe...this is the plan to keep the peeps in the seats by showing incremental improvement. And Vivek bought in. How has that worked out so far. The record speaks for itself. And now Monte is in the hot-seat.

BTW, Vivek decided to fire Luke yesterday. Monte was told to go and tell Luke. That is the part that Monte forgot to tell us in the presser.

Now the Kings need to put their big girl panties on and begin the inevitable-the total rebuild.
 
could they put up back to back seasons with historically bad defense? in basketball hell, all is possible
Collectively, this team has a poor motor. Only person with an above average motor is Davion. Playing faster will just lead to a repeat of last year where the entire team is more focused on out running the opposition than stopping them. Opposing teams will just do the same sh*t: play no defense in the 1H then clamp down in the 2H. It'll be the same crap. Made a boatload of money last year betting on the 1H over for both teams. And then the 2H Kings only under. Lolzzz.

Bring on the tank.
 
Pollard didn’t say Walton was a good coach. He just said what everyone already knows: the Kings lack talent. If McNair does not use this window to trade Fox, Buddy, and Bagley, he’ll be gone by this time next year.
Memphis lacked talent last season as well. Yet, they figured out a way to move things in a positive direction
 
I am so glad Luke is gone... Many times I felt He would just play guys according to how they matched up to the opposing team. It would be nice to see the Kings play their best guys and have other teams adjust to it for a change... Maybe a bigger lineup perhaps? fingers crossed....
I couldn't agree more. The current example is not playing Len, after he had played well for us (again). and mysteriously handing Metu a starting spot in the lineup for some preset amount of games
 
Collectively, this team has a poor motor. Only person with an above average motor is Davion. Playing faster will just lead to a repeat of last year where the entire team is more focused on out running the opposition than stopping them. Opposing teams will just do the same sh*t: play no defense in the 1H then clamp down in the 2H. It'll be the same crap. Made a boatload of money last year betting on the 1H over for both teams. And then the 2H Kings only under. Lolzzz.

Bring on the tank.
Holmes has a better motor than most at the 5 spot
 
I know Vivek isn't that popular but if Gentry can't get the team looking better fans are going to turn on Vivek big time. He's been offered a hell of a lot of patience I think.
hell of a lot? The honeymoon period ended years ago lol. Fans have treated him like he’s the perfect owner
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
Yes though Minnesota has a much more balanced roster with Towns and Edwards. I would take a roster with Towns and Edwards over the Kings.
Imagine all the issues Kings fans have with Fox except the dude's 7 feet tall, afraid of king the ball inside, and softer than Jello. Edwards is also a super exciting player but also has the same toughness questions. Also the T-Wolves have the same issue as the Kings except instead of point guards and centers, they have a glut of scoring combo guards and forwards that can't shoot.
 
Actually, Pollard is right and you are wrong. The problem is lack of talent on this team....not the Coach.

What players has Monte brought into the Kings that could change this dynamic? Was Tristan Thompson going to make the difference this year? Hassam Whiteside? You have a glaring weakness at Small forward. Moe Harkless? Come on man.

The problem is that Monte went for the "Lipstick on a pig" remodel rather than a tear it down-rebuilt it Hinke hybrid style.

The Kings goal is to make the play-in. 2/3rd of all NBA team make it to the play-in. Goal should be making it to the NBA championship. Any goal short of this is crap.

If he didn't like Luke, why did he speak so glowingly about him just in the recent Athletic article. Just a week ago I read an article in the Athletic about how great the relationship was with Luke and the organization.

Now, Monte says play faster publicly now. More crap.

The problem is lack of talent....and that is squarely on the back of Monte. What deals has he made to get the Kings to a better place. This lack of talent falls squarely on Monte's shoulders. He sold Vivek on the plan to keep the core, and build the fringe...this is the plan to keep the peeps in the seats by showing incremental improvement. And Vivek bought in. How has that worked out so far. The record speaks for itself. And now Monte is in the hot-seat.

BTW, Vivek decided to fire Luke yesterday. Monte was told to go and tell Luke. That is the part that Monte forgot to tell us in the presser.

Now the Kings need to put their big girl panties on and begin the inevitable-the total rebuild.
In terms of McNair, as far as I am concerned, he owned Walton as soon as he retained him this summer. That is despite my thinking he didn't have the opportunity prior. And as you said, didn't until Vivek told him to.

In terms of the other criticism of Monte goes, ever hear of trying to make lemonade out of lemons. Vivek is the lemon IMHO. He took the job with the caveats attached. Let's just hope for non-bitter lemonade.

In terms of public messaging, what do you expect him to say? Walton sucks and is a prick to work with. I suspect he let Walton hang himself. He did put distance between himself and the lineups and strategy used during the game.

As long as there is a chance for him not to own the longest non-playoff streak to himself, I don't think Vivek will allow any changes to strategy and more importantly goals for this season.
 
I would not in a million years trade with Minnesota or New Orleans and Charlotte plays in the East and has some good luck but their management has proven inept that I'd definitely not "immediately" do such thing.

Now that Walton is gone we can truly see how talented Monte is or isn't - though unfortunately this season is a total loss. It's going to come down to mid-season moves and hopefully nailing the draft. But this is where we'll find out.
Yeah let’s go through the starting rosters of the three teams:
Minnesota: Towns, Edwards, Russell, Beverly, Vanderbilt…..
Needs a PF and true SF but Towns and Edwards are both better players than anyone on the Kings. Again seems an easy call.

Charlotte: Hayward, Bridges, Ball, Plumlee, Rozier……
Much more balanced line-up. Bridges has exploded this year. Really only need a center and they are already above .500. Seems an easy call here.

Pelicans: Ingram, Valencinius, Satoransky, Hart, Alexander
Pels are a mess but they do have Zion, Ingram and they have 11 incoming picks many from a collapsing Lakers team. This one is the hardest call but the picks to me tilt this to New Orleans. Forwards are the hardest to find and in Zion and Ingram they have 2 good young forwards.
 
Fact, Kings declined and stagnated under Luke’s tenure.

To the argument that we have insufficient talent to compete, it seems like we’re saying Willie Cauley-Stein + Harry Giles + Kosta is > than Haliburton + Mitchell + Barnes.
Actually it is saying that Bogdanovic, Bjelicia and Joseph > Haliburton, Mitchell and Metu

That comparison at least right now is harder to say
 
Yeah let’s go through the starting rosters of the three teams:
Minnesota: Towns, Edwards, Russell, Beverly, Vanderbilt…..
Needs a PF and true SF but Towns and Edwards are both better players than anyone on the Kings. Again seems an easy call.

Charlotte: Hayward, Bridges, Ball, Plumlee, Rozier……
Much more balanced line-up. Bridges has exploded this year. Really only need a center and they are already above .500. Seems an easy call here.

Pelicans: Ingram, Valencinius, Satoransky, Hart, Alexander
Pels are a mess but they do have Zion, Ingram and they have 11 incoming picks many from a collapsing Lakers team. This one is the hardest call but the picks to me tilt this to New Orleans. Forwards are the hardest to find and in Zion and Ingram they have 2 good young forwards.
Hard as it is for you to believe I wasn't just going roster, but GM and ownership on those. I trust Monte more than the GMs of those 3 clubs.