2022 California Classic Day 3 7/5/2022 (Kings vs Lakers 2:30PM Pacific, NBATV)
- Thread starter Tetsujin
- Start date
C-Dave said that he was MC at a rally for the draft and he yelled out “who wants Jaden Ivey?!” Thinking that everyone would start screaming. It was relatively quiet. Then he said, “who wants Murray?” And the place went nuts. They were shocked and Cunningham said that social media is not a good way to take the temperature of the room in regards to fan consensus. I was pretty surprised myself as I assume Ivey was largely the fav amongst the fans
Anyone else think Murray went to the perfect landing spot? If he were drafted to most bottom 10 teams, they'd immediately push for him to develop his face-up game and ball skills. With the Kings, we don't need him to immediately add that part of his game. I think we'll see him in an expedited Kawhi-Spurs role. All he has to do is play good defense and make his shots.
Fox and Sabonis will cover up for any weaknesses he has, specifically his playmaking.
It feels awfully strange to say this, but I think we were a perfect landing spot for any rookie.
Fox and Sabonis will cover up for any weaknesses he has, specifically his playmaking.
It feels awfully strange to say this, but I think we were a perfect landing spot for any rookie.
I agree, for one, he isn't coming in with the pressure to be anything but a cog in the Fox-Ox machinery, I mean sure some folks think you have to get a star at X position in the draft, but realistically this was a tough draft to guarantee one exists. I am absolutely certain 2-3 of the top 5 picks are going to be bigtime disappointments but I couldn't tell you who for sure. And two, while the Kings may or may not be any good, they aren't a guaranteed tank team with a placeholder coach where players are free to stat hunt, skimp on defense, and chase the monthly and post season kudos. Murray is going to enter a system that hopefully is here for a long time and be expected to play within it and support the established players (of which there are currently 3).
Even if Jaden Ivey becomes the breakout star of this draft - something I'm hardly convinced - and knowing that we sent DDV packing, I still don't see how we wouldn't have been left with a huge hole in one of the 3/4 spots. It's still our weakest position even after adding Murray and an extreme premium in the NBA.
But a lot of the people dogging the pick think we could have traded down to at least 7 and still got Murray ignoring reports that at least two of the teams trading up were targeting him. And we'd have missed out on Mathurin the next most exciting prospect if we had done that unless we traded to 6, and I'm not uber excited about Duarte who was one of the of the most talked about rooks for the first 2 months or so and then fell off the rookie radars.
And then there's the multitude of Tuckers on YouTube who have clearly never watched a Kings game in their lives.
But a lot of the people dogging the pick think we could have traded down to at least 7 and still got Murray ignoring reports that at least two of the teams trading up were targeting him. And we'd have missed out on Mathurin the next most exciting prospect if we had done that unless we traded to 6, and I'm not uber excited about Duarte who was one of the of the most talked about rooks for the first 2 months or so and then fell off the rookie radars.
And then there's the multitude of Tuckers on YouTube who have clearly never watched a Kings game in their lives.
In order for Ivey to produce at the level sports fandom wants, he needs to have the keys to the car. Ain't happening with Fox and Sabonis taking up the first two seats, and a coaching staff looking for the playoffs.
Detroit is a great landing spot for him, personal narrative aside (which I think is more of a detriment). He's not being counted on to produce wins this year, just stats, and is surrounded by players like Cunningham and Bey, who provide complimentary skills.
Detroit is a great landing spot for him, personal narrative aside (which I think is more of a detriment). He's not being counted on to produce wins this year, just stats, and is surrounded by players like Cunningham and Bey, who provide complimentary skills.
