[Game] Kings at Knicks, 1/31/2022, 7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT
- Thread starter Capt. Factorial
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I think in a fresh season, it could. But what's the point? 3.5 back of the 10 seed now. 7.5 back of the 8 seed. And we've spent a majority of the last 2 weeks getting our teeth kicked by opponent after opponent.
If we were somewhere around .500, fine. I still wouldn't like the plan, but you could at least justify the move to break the playoff drought and move forward. But the Kings basically have to start playing perfect basketball now for a slim chance to be an 8 seed.
If we were somewhere around .500, fine. I still wouldn't like the plan, but you could at least justify the move to break the playoff drought and move forward. But the Kings basically have to start playing perfect basketball now for a slim chance to be an 8 seed.
It could work though and that remaining unit is pretty much what you need these days to match up. Grant isn't a perfect true 3/4 and Fox/Haliburton is still a skinny, smallish combo backcourt but this would be the best thing they'd had probably since Bonzi/Ron Ron. Even in a worst case those guys will have trade value in the end as long as they don't do what they usually do and sign Turner to a long term deal than allow someone to sneak up behind him and into his role on a 1 year MLE deal then re-sign that depth to big money.
When the only guy in the organization who cares about defense is the greenhorn GM who apparently can't get anyone else to listen to him*, this is what happens. You could argue that a second round pick doesn't deserve minutes anyway but when you're horrible defensively and you have a defensive specialist sitting on the bench getting zero minutes that's hard to explain. Looking poor in one minute against this year's MVP frontrunner is not an excuse to bench him in every other game.
*Apologies to Doug Christie who obviously cares about defense too -- I just don't think assistant coaches are allowed to make decisions about the rotation.
*Apologies to Doug Christie who obviously cares about defense too -- I just don't think assistant coaches are allowed to make decisions about the rotation.
I will confess that I had strong hopes this season. Some seasons past too, I was optimistic (and one year we did come close to making the PO, except for the descent at the end), but this was my most hopeful season in Luke's term. We had two reasonable drafts over the last 2 years, Hali was coming off a strong rookie season, Davion had a strong summer behind a successful college career, Bagley was healthy, and we seemed to be focusing on defense (at least in talk and thought). Boy, what a let down!
Yeah and the ultimate insult really is that any amount of guarded optimism is rewarded with disproportionate levels of disappointment. People were begging the team to trade everyone and tank just two weeks into the season and apparently those people were right. We're being conditioned to expect failure and that's not fair to anyone.
I just don't really see a workable deal at all. We obviously don't really want THT and a bunch of random salary junk for Buddy. But why would anybody else want THT and a bunch of random salary junk for something we'd accept for Buddy? The Lakers' only real asset is an unprotected 2027 FRP, which, seeing that it's the Lakers, and it's infinity years away, isn't really that attractive. They're not going to be making LeBron or Davis available, and I'm pretty sure they were the only franchise in the league who actually wanted Westbrook's contract, so I don't think they can pawn him off. They just have no assets.
Shoot, I'm not even sure I'd take THT + 2027 unprotected for an expiring Tristan Thompson. That $20M or so THT is due the next two years doesn't seem worth it.
Shoot, I'm not even sure I'd take THT + 2027 unprotected for an expiring Tristan Thompson. That $20M or so THT is due the next two years doesn't seem worth it.
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