What an abysmal offseason.
- Thread starter nikefutbolero
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FA isn't over so I'm holding off judgement when for all intent and purposes it is actually over. The only thing that I can say definitively now is that Monte is being very disciplined in how much he is paying to retain Kings' players, thereby remaining under the cap and having flexibility to strike in the future to improve the status quo. So far, there has been a very mild upgrade to the status quo, imo. When this mild upgrade is compared to other teams in the West, at least from my eyes, the Kings are at best treading water. Will Monte be able to leverage the remaining cap room and the financial flexibility of the roster to yield a big move? Time will tell.
I just hope they get enough defense out of the 1-4 positions w/ the right combo of guys since they didn't sign anyone really that's known for defense (outside of Colby Jones but he's a rookie). They don't really have any clearly above average defensive guys outside of Mitchell/Len and they're back end of rotation players. We'll see how it all comes together.
Yeah, right now while the Kings don't have cap flexibility on the horizon they certainly have a plethora of cap fitting contracts. Huerter will be underpaid, Barnes slightly compared to his production and by a good amount compared to his position, Murray and Davion are still on rookie deals (Duarte too), Sasha is on a great deal if he busts out, Lyles if he's a backup C is maybe slightly overpaid. Lyles is the only concern because role might matter more than anyone as to his minutes but he's only a two year deal so even the downside is minimal. The main issue is Monk. He's on a steal of a deal now but that ends after next year. Anyway you slice it, if it works it works, if it needs tweaking, the opportunity is there.
And the other thing, and I brought it up during these games, look who isn't on the floor for Edwards to be on it. Keegan played 15 minutes that game. The Suns appeared to be one of those bad matchups for who knows what reason for Keegan. On the season Keegan averaged 21 minutes per game against the Suns and put up around 8 points and 3 boards on 42% shooting in 4 games. These are the downsides when you expect defensive impact to come from the back of your bench, they will simply have to replace someone else to even play.
I think another year of playing together, growth from Keegan, and a couple of new additions will be key to a strong season. We have just tasted some success for the first time in a long time. Fox has taken almost no time off at all and is working with Keegan daily along with his trainer. These guys want it.
I also think Sasha is going to be a surprise for us. He’s a smart player and will be taking full advantage of our offense. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him join the starting lineup halfway through the season. On paper, he’s a better fit to the starters due to his shooting and rebounding than Barnes is. However a rookie is a rookie no matter how old so let’s see how that plays out. What a nightmare for teams though, Huerter, Keegan and Sasha all doing dribble hand offs all night long and if all 3 start? “Better call an ambulance, but not for me!!”
I also think Sasha is going to be a surprise for us. He’s a smart player and will be taking full advantage of our offense. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him join the starting lineup halfway through the season. On paper, he’s a better fit to the starters due to his shooting and rebounding than Barnes is. However a rookie is a rookie no matter how old so let’s see how that plays out. What a nightmare for teams though, Huerter, Keegan and Sasha all doing dribble hand offs all night long and if all 3 start? “Better call an ambulance, but not for me!!”
And also to add on, when you watch Jones play he does have some weight to himself. Even at 200-210 pounds he looks more like a brick than someone like TD which is also why he's not nearly the athlete but in guarding up it's an advantage. Jones looks harder to move and he looks like his is more the body type you feel. Whether or not he can guard way up will be determined but he at least looks like he can as opposed to someone like TD who was forced into some of those matchups last year.
I do not believe that Vivek is cheap.
I can believe the Raptors FO would have asked too much, if the Kings FO tried to make plays for OG or Siakam.
It has not been an abysmal off-season but I think it could have been better. This article on CBS Sports nicely sums up the "issue". I am quoting them in the 4 bullet points below.
1) The Kings FO gave away a meaningful asset to create cap space.
2) With a new Sabonis deal coming, this was their last real opportunity to actually use the cap space.
3) The opportunity cost of running it back and adding Duarte and Vezenkov was the chance to add a long-term difference-maker.
4) So, if the Kings were going to use their cap space to extend Sabonis, they should have at least gotten a bit of a discount. They did him a solid by paying him early, but they still paid full sticker price.
Anyway, the dice has now been rolled. I like the Duarte pickup. Kings fans have to hope that Duarte, Vezenkov, Kessler, Jones and Slawson come good, in addition to everyone they brought back.
I can believe the Raptors FO would have asked too much, if the Kings FO tried to make plays for OG or Siakam.
It has not been an abysmal off-season but I think it could have been better. This article on CBS Sports nicely sums up the "issue". I am quoting them in the 4 bullet points below.
1) The Kings FO gave away a meaningful asset to create cap space.
2) With a new Sabonis deal coming, this was their last real opportunity to actually use the cap space.
3) The opportunity cost of running it back and adding Duarte and Vezenkov was the chance to add a long-term difference-maker.
4) So, if the Kings were going to use their cap space to extend Sabonis, they should have at least gotten a bit of a discount. They did him a solid by paying him early, but they still paid full sticker price.
Anyway, the dice has now been rolled. I like the Duarte pickup. Kings fans have to hope that Duarte, Vezenkov, Kessler, Jones and Slawson come good, in addition to everyone they brought back.
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Fair enough. Thanks for offering a detailed explanation and clarifying.
Re: Looney in the playoffs, my thoughts are these. While I won’t go as far as to say defensive rebounding wasn’t a problem and doesn’t need to improve, I do believe it is being overstated and overemphasized.
First, Domas was the leading rebounder in the NBA last season. And the dude was hurting badly at playoff time. Not only his broken hand, but his sternum among other ailments. He wasn’t able to play, move, box out, or rebound to his fullest capability.
Secondly, in the game where Looney had double digit offensive rebounds — it was just one of those games similar to when a player just gets hot and the ball just always finds them and the shots go in. Long rebounds were caroming right to him wherever he happened to be. If there were 5 KINGS around the basket, the ball went long over their head to where Looney was. Not saying he didn’t create some of those rebounds with effort, but many of them were just fortunate bounces and timing.
Over 38 seasons watching this team, I’ve seen games like that before. Many times. This one just happened to occur in the postseason which magnified it.
All in all, I’m not that concerned about defensive rebounding being a long term problem. As I stated, Domas is a tremendous rebounder when healthy and the team can be coached better on how to anticipate and secure the long rebounds that often occur from volume 3-point shooting.
Re: Looney in the playoffs, my thoughts are these. While I won’t go as far as to say defensive rebounding wasn’t a problem and doesn’t need to improve, I do believe it is being overstated and overemphasized.
First, Domas was the leading rebounder in the NBA last season. And the dude was hurting badly at playoff time. Not only his broken hand, but his sternum among other ailments. He wasn’t able to play, move, box out, or rebound to his fullest capability.
Secondly, in the game where Looney had double digit offensive rebounds — it was just one of those games similar to when a player just gets hot and the ball just always finds them and the shots go in. Long rebounds were caroming right to him wherever he happened to be. If there were 5 KINGS around the basket, the ball went long over their head to where Looney was. Not saying he didn’t create some of those rebounds with effort, but many of them were just fortunate bounces and timing.
Over 38 seasons watching this team, I’ve seen games like that before. Many times. This one just happened to occur in the postseason which magnified it.
All in all, I’m not that concerned about defensive rebounding being a long term problem. As I stated, Domas is a tremendous rebounder when healthy and the team can be coached better on how to anticipate and secure the long rebounds that often occur from volume 3-point shooting.
Kessler is an A+ defender. He also went 0-7 in the NBA G league game tonight. He isn’t playable if he can’t hit 3’s. Even @Vinny Basketballerino would agree….
Thank you for this thorough analysis.
Zooming out to the bigger picture it just doesn't strike me as the right time to make a big financial committment to a "third star" when you have that potential third star on your roster. I mean that pretty much sums it up for me. You sign that third star, your dollars and your organization are committed. You essentially forego the opportunity that is at your doorstep... because that new guy needs the ball. It will harder bordering on impossibly for Keegan to develop into that player being the fourth or even fifth option. And if he did, despite those fewer touches and lack of opportunity, you've then committed massively to a guy that then has to be (and likely will be very disgruntled by) the fourth option.
This was the offseason to let it simmer. I'm betting on my nona.
Zooming out to the bigger picture it just doesn't strike me as the right time to make a big financial committment to a "third star" when you have that potential third star on your roster. I mean that pretty much sums it up for me. You sign that third star, your dollars and your organization are committed. You essentially forego the opportunity that is at your doorstep... because that new guy needs the ball. It will harder bordering on impossibly for Keegan to develop into that player being the fourth or even fifth option. And if he did, despite those fewer touches and lack of opportunity, you've then committed massively to a guy that then has to be (and likely will be very disgruntled by) the fourth option.
This was the offseason to let it simmer. I'm betting on my nona.
Yeah, we’re not done. This summer was not the only time to make a big move.
Again, I would have preferred to keep that #24 to give us another tradeable asset down the road but Prosper wasn’t even my 1st choice at that pick so not only do I disagree that we’ve made some catastrophic error by moving the pick but I also don’t agree that Prosper was the consensus guy to pick at #24.
Prosper’s athleticism is pretty freakish but his rim protection is lacking, his standing reach is only 8’8” (decent for a SF but below average for a PF), and I’m not overly confident in his shooting. He didn’t seem like quite the right fit at PF long term. I would have preferred Maxwell Lewis or Leonard Miller. Not that I think they are that perfect PF fit next to Sabonis (Lewis is a SF anyway) but that they both have some star upside in them. I think they would have been a low risk, high reward type of pick and that upside potential reputation tends to stay with these guys for at least a few seasons helping their trade value to stay in place.
Now do I think we have no way of trading for a 3rd star because we don’t have #24? Of course not, but again, it makes it easier to facilitate a trade of this magnitude the more assets you have.
Having said all of that, let’s focus on what McNair has done and where we are today…
If Murray becomes that 3rd star, great! That makes McNair’s job much easier as he can just tinker around the edges and make moves to bring in upgrades, more complementary pieces around Fox-Murray-Sabonis.
If Murray is not looking like that guy, McNair will likely have to make another big move at some point. I think it makes sense to see how this season plays out and see if Murray is that star (or is on his way). In the 2024 off-season, our 2024 1st (hopefully) conveys to ATL. It’s Top 14 protected which means it will convey if we make the playoffs. If that happens, McNair will have the following young assets/picks at his disposal to make a trade:
I think it makes sense to stay patient, see what this core does with another year under its belt, see if Murray is trending towards stardom, allow the 2024 1st to convey (freeing up our ability to trade all future 1sts), and then assess what moves need to be made to take that next step.
Again, I would have preferred to keep that #24 to give us another tradeable asset down the road but Prosper wasn’t even my 1st choice at that pick so not only do I disagree that we’ve made some catastrophic error by moving the pick but I also don’t agree that Prosper was the consensus guy to pick at #24.
Prosper’s athleticism is pretty freakish but his rim protection is lacking, his standing reach is only 8’8” (decent for a SF but below average for a PF), and I’m not overly confident in his shooting. He didn’t seem like quite the right fit at PF long term. I would have preferred Maxwell Lewis or Leonard Miller. Not that I think they are that perfect PF fit next to Sabonis (Lewis is a SF anyway) but that they both have some star upside in them. I think they would have been a low risk, high reward type of pick and that upside potential reputation tends to stay with these guys for at least a few seasons helping their trade value to stay in place.
Now do I think we have no way of trading for a 3rd star because we don’t have #24? Of course not, but again, it makes it easier to facilitate a trade of this magnitude the more assets you have.
Having said all of that, let’s focus on what McNair has done and where we are today…
If Murray becomes that 3rd star, great! That makes McNair’s job much easier as he can just tinker around the edges and make moves to bring in upgrades, more complementary pieces around Fox-Murray-Sabonis.
If Murray is not looking like that guy, McNair will likely have to make another big move at some point. I think it makes sense to see how this season plays out and see if Murray is that star (or is on his way). In the 2024 off-season, our 2024 1st (hopefully) conveys to ATL. It’s Top 14 protected which means it will convey if we make the playoffs. If that happens, McNair will have the following young assets/picks at his disposal to make a trade:
- Davion Mitchell (1 yr left on rookie deal)
- Chris Duarte (1 yr left on rookie deal)
- Keegan Murray (2 yrs left on rookie deal)
- Colby Jones (3 yrs left on rookie deal)
- 2025 SAC 1st
- 2027 SAC 1st
- 2029 SAC 1st
- 2031 SAC 1st
- 2026 SAC 1st Pick Swap
- 2028 SAC 1st Pick Swap
- 2030 SAC 1st Pick Swap
- 2024 DAL 2nd
- 2025 SAC 2nd
- 2025 POR 2nd
- 2026 SAC 2nd
- 2027 SAC 2nd
- 2028 SAC 2nd
- 2028 DAL 2nd
- 2029 SAC 2nd
- 2030 SAC 2nd
- 2031 SAC 2nd
- Barnes = $18.0 mil
- Huerter = $16.8 mil
- Murray = $8.8 mil
- Lyles = $8.3 mil
- Sasha = $6.7 mil
- Mitchell = $6.5 mil
- Duarte = $5.9 mil
- Jones = $2.1 mil
I think it makes sense to stay patient, see what this core does with another year under its belt, see if Murray is trending towards stardom, allow the 2024 1st to convey (freeing up our ability to trade all future 1sts), and then assess what moves need to be made to take that next step.
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Manute was an absolute Prince of a player and a person. For those who don't know:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manute_Bol#Humanitarian_efforts_and_activism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manute_Bol#Humanitarian_efforts_and_activism
