This is probably a topic for another thread but the Atlanta Hawks probably regressed as a young talented team precisely because they weren't much of a young, talented team. That conference finals run they had was solely on the back of a bunch of vets they went on a shopping spree for over the COVID offseason and Trae Young being insanely hot before teams learned how to guard him. Once some of those older vets showed their age/missed a bunch of games, the young guys weren't ready to step up and that led to their front office trading the farm for a secondary all-star (Murray) and moving one of their actually good young players for cap relief/a single pick.
In contrast to that, the Kings pretty much made it to game seven on the backs of their young guys including a rising superstar in De'Aaron Fox and a rookie who JVG could barely conceal his happy stick for over the course of two games. It was in fact their "veterans" laying an egg (Harrison Barnes becoming unplayable, Sabonis just completely being out of his element) that probably did the team in more than anything. Now those young guys have some experience (Keegan seemed to just keep growing as a player as the series progressed. Malik Monk showed that his relentless aggression works when it counts) and the Kings front office still has time and resources to keep the train rolling.
They were pretty young. I know they had Gallo and Lou but Trae, Collins, Huerter, Capela(26) and I think Bogdan was 27. There was Reddish and Onkongwu.
I wasn’t suggesting our young guys could regress like I wasn’t talking about Atlanta’s young players regressing(even though a lot of theirs did)…I think basically all the Kings top players still have their best seasons ahead of them…even a steady guy like Domas has a lot of things that will be unlocked over the next couple of seasons.
I’m talking about keeping certain veterans around like Atlanta did and stagnating their growth…
Actually, forget Atlanta…
I’m merely trying to say I don’t think the Kings should bring HB back but I’m trying to say it indirectly for some reason.
I think they will bring him back simply because he might be a leader of the team, but I think doing so would greatly block some good possibilities for Keegan, the Kings building more depth at the wings, potentially bringing Vezenkov over or re-signing Trey. Which is why I referenced Atlanta and sentimentality.
But then again, Monte pulled the trigger of the Tyrese trade so maybe he’s not the sentimental type