2022 Everything Free Agency/Trades Thread
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Jordan McLaughlin at PG, Jaylen Nowell at SG and Taurean Prince, Josh Minott, Wendell Moore on the wing. Don’t get me wrong, they overpaid like no other for Gobert and it’s going to be very interesting to see how they make it work, but this team still has pieces and if they find a way to make it work and Ant takes another step could be a team different enough to make a little noise.
What needle-mover acquisitions were you expecting? Who were the Kings going to deal for that would juice season ticket sales by virtue of their name recognition alone? Whether the fans approved or not, this off-season was always going to be about building around Fox/Sabonis. The team was going to improve marginally with a focus on areas of detriment, like outside shooting.
That said, I realize my questions are wasted on you, and that you're mostly interested in trolling for the lolzzz.
That said, I realize my questions are wasted on you, and that you're mostly interested in trolling for the lolzzz.
Did they though?
Let’s look at the standings for the western conference above us from last season:
1- Phoenix Suns
Currently embroiled in Deandre Ayton drama. If they manage to swing him for KD, then sure they got better. If they end up having to take a Myles Turner trade, probably not. Neutral… For now.
2- Memphis Grizzlies
Lose Kyle Anderson and DeAnthony Melton. JJJ is going to miss a chunk of the season with another broken foot. They were already a pretty deep team to begin with so losing Melton and Anderson might not hurt them too much. Not having JJJ to start the year will. They’re roughly neutral. Maybe a little worse.
3- Golden State Warriors
Lost a significant portion of their depth chart. Sure, signing DDV helps them make up for some of what they lose from GPII but they’re pretty Much hoping for Kuminga and Moody to make leaps to maintain their forward rotation. They got worse but they still have their stars so they’re not as bad off as some of the other teams this summer.
4- Dallas Mavericks
Lost Jalen Brunson. Don’t have the resources to recoup his loss in the near future. Christian Wood should be a nice fit next to Luka but isn’t the best defender. They vastly overpaid for Javale McGee. They got worse.
5- Utah Jazz
Lost their defensive centerpiece. Fit wise, all the guys they acquired for him work around Donovan Mitchell and his staunch refusal to play defense at this point in his career. They also finally have draft picks to work. Not sure that this can be called an immediate improvement though no matter how down I was on the Mitchell/Gobert pairing. Also their great head coach decided to leave. Will Hardy could be the next great wunderkind. He also cold fall flat on his face.
6- Denver Nuggets
On the one hand, Jamal Murray is apparently finally going to play next season. On the other hand, the loss of Monte Morris is probably gonna hit them harder than they think. Bruce Brown is a nice pick-up on the MLE And KCP is a solid 3-and-D guy to slot into their starting lineup. I like their picks in the draft and that should help with some of their depth issues but they’re still pretty thin at the top of the roster and lacking plus defenders. A little better or around the same.
7- Minnesota Timberwolves
If we’re going exclusively through video game-style “Their overall rating has improved!” Standards, they’ve gotten better. Personally, I think there are some significant fit issues they’re going to need to figure out. The trade also completely gutted their depth chart from last season But I’ll be charitable and say that they got better.
8- LA Clippers
The first team on this list that got undeniably better. Kawhi is going to be back. John Wall finally gives them a point guard. Losing Hartenstein hurts them a bit but they were able to keep EVERY other one of their free agents. They are ridiculously deep at every position aside from center. They might be my pick for Western Conference Champions this year.
9- New Orleans Pelicans
Brought in Dyson Daniels and maintained their core from last seasons run. They’re getting Zion back on a max extension. If he’s back and healthy, I’m still not sure how he fits in their system and alongside their other guys. They’re around the same as they were to end the season, maybe a little better.
10- San Antonio Spurs
They’re clearly tanking this season.
11- Los Angeles Lakers
Fired Vogel and replaced him with Darvin Ham. The Russell Westbrook issue looms over their head. Dame Jones is a nice signing for them and Lonnie should help make up for their loss of Monk and Melo but it’s hard to say they’ve actually gotten better than they were when we last saw them.
On all the teams above us last season, there’s been a hell of a lot of shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic. While I’m not sure a lot of these teams got much worse, I’m having a hard time saying almost any of these teams got significantly better. Below us, I guess you can say that the Blazers are better but are they better than they were BEFORE they decided to blow things up and trade CJ and Norm and Covington for pennies on the dollar?
Let’s look at the standings for the western conference above us from last season:
1- Phoenix Suns
Currently embroiled in Deandre Ayton drama. If they manage to swing him for KD, then sure they got better. If they end up having to take a Myles Turner trade, probably not. Neutral… For now.
2- Memphis Grizzlies
Lose Kyle Anderson and DeAnthony Melton. JJJ is going to miss a chunk of the season with another broken foot. They were already a pretty deep team to begin with so losing Melton and Anderson might not hurt them too much. Not having JJJ to start the year will. They’re roughly neutral. Maybe a little worse.
3- Golden State Warriors
Lost a significant portion of their depth chart. Sure, signing DDV helps them make up for some of what they lose from GPII but they’re pretty Much hoping for Kuminga and Moody to make leaps to maintain their forward rotation. They got worse but they still have their stars so they’re not as bad off as some of the other teams this summer.
4- Dallas Mavericks
Lost Jalen Brunson. Don’t have the resources to recoup his loss in the near future. Christian Wood should be a nice fit next to Luka but isn’t the best defender. They vastly overpaid for Javale McGee. They got worse.
5- Utah Jazz
Lost their defensive centerpiece. Fit wise, all the guys they acquired for him work around Donovan Mitchell and his staunch refusal to play defense at this point in his career. They also finally have draft picks to work. Not sure that this can be called an immediate improvement though no matter how down I was on the Mitchell/Gobert pairing. Also their great head coach decided to leave. Will Hardy could be the next great wunderkind. He also cold fall flat on his face.
6- Denver Nuggets
On the one hand, Jamal Murray is apparently finally going to play next season. On the other hand, the loss of Monte Morris is probably gonna hit them harder than they think. Bruce Brown is a nice pick-up on the MLE And KCP is a solid 3-and-D guy to slot into their starting lineup. I like their picks in the draft and that should help with some of their depth issues but they’re still pretty thin at the top of the roster and lacking plus defenders. A little better or around the same.
7- Minnesota Timberwolves
If we’re going exclusively through video game-style “Their overall rating has improved!” Standards, they’ve gotten better. Personally, I think there are some significant fit issues they’re going to need to figure out. The trade also completely gutted their depth chart from last season But I’ll be charitable and say that they got better.
8- LA Clippers
The first team on this list that got undeniably better. Kawhi is going to be back. John Wall finally gives them a point guard. Losing Hartenstein hurts them a bit but they were able to keep EVERY other one of their free agents. They are ridiculously deep at every position aside from center. They might be my pick for Western Conference Champions this year.
9- New Orleans Pelicans
Brought in Dyson Daniels and maintained their core from last seasons run. They’re getting Zion back on a max extension. If he’s back and healthy, I’m still not sure how he fits in their system and alongside their other guys. They’re around the same as they were to end the season, maybe a little better.
10- San Antonio Spurs
They’re clearly tanking this season.
11- Los Angeles Lakers
Fired Vogel and replaced him with Darvin Ham. The Russell Westbrook issue looms over their head. Dame Jones is a nice signing for them and Lonnie should help make up for their loss of Monk and Melo but it’s hard to say they’ve actually gotten better than they were when we last saw them.
On all the teams above us last season, there’s been a hell of a lot of shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic. While I’m not sure a lot of these teams got much worse, I’m having a hard time saying almost any of these teams got significantly better. Below us, I guess you can say that the Blazers are better but are they better than they were BEFORE they decided to blow things up and trade CJ and Norm and Covington for pennies on the dollar?
I mean, the easiest assumption was to continue to go longer, better defending, and a tick better shooting on the perimeter. Instead, the Kings went full midget, softer, and a tick better shooting. Going full midget makes sense if you have Gobert anchoring the defense. Not so much when you have Domas and Holmes running around on the back line. Maybe Queta morphs into Gobert this summer or maybe Fox decides to play defense or maybe Huerter goes Mike Bibby and walks into camp as a power 3 or maybe Brown creates NBA defense 3.0 and makes it work with midgets on the perimeter and no defensive presence in the paint, but I ain’t holding my breath. More importantly, I ain’t giving a dime to this org until they prove they can win with Fox as the head of the snake.
Full midget? Malik Monk is undersized, but Huerter and Murray have considerable length at their positions. Unless I'm missing something, those are the Kings acquisitions thus far this offseason. I have no problem with characerizing these acquisitions as counter to a prioritizing of defense, but "full midget" is a gross exaggeration.