Minutes Distribution for Next Year Thoughts

#1
Fox (35) | Mitchell (13*) | Ford
Huerter (24) | Monk (24) | Jones
Barnes (20) | Murray (9) | Huerter (6) | Duarte(13*)
Murray (23) | Barnes (10) | Sasha/Lyles (15)
Sabonis (35) | Lyles (13*) | Len/Noel (13*)

Reg Season + Playoff Rotation:
Fox (35)
Sabonis (35)
Murray (32)
Barnes (30)
Huerter (30)
Monk (24)
Mitchell (13*) *will likely be around 20 range depending on lineups and can play upwards of 30 if he’s cookin
Lyles (13*) *small ball 5 but will play 4 on nights where they don’t play small ball + Sasha isn’t hitting shots
Sasha (13)

Reg Season + Deep Bench:
Duarte (13*) *competing with edwards
Edwards (?) *Also competing with Duarte + will play in games where we NEED defense
Len/Noel(13*) *competing with each other when we don’t play small ball 5 with lyles

2 ways/Rookies:
Jones
Ford
Ellis
Queta
Slawson



Do we think it’ll look something like this in regular season and playoff time barring injury of course?
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
#5
I think Barnes and Huerter minutes are close to 24-26. Keep both guys fresh but also we have guys on the bench who will deserve time but give different looks. Sasha potentially will need at least 24.

Each game will determine which sub or starter gets more or less minutes depending on matchups
 
#7
Fox (35) | Mitchell (13*) | Ford
Huerter (24) | Monk (24) | Jones
Barnes (20) | Murray (9) | Huerter (6) | Duarte(13*)
Murray (23) | Barnes (10) | Sasha/Lyles (15)
Sabonis (35) | Lyles (13*) | Len/Noel (13*)

Reg Season + Playoff Rotation:
Fox (35)
Sabonis (35)
Murray (32)
Barnes (30)
Huerter (30)
Monk (24)
Mitchell (13*) *will likely be around 20 range depending on lineups and can play upwards of 30 if he’s cookin
Lyles (13*) *small ball 5 but will play 4 on nights where they don’t play small ball + Sasha isn’t hitting shots
Sasha (13)

Reg Season + Deep Bench:
Duarte (13*) *competing with edwards
Edwards (?) *Also competing with Duarte + will play in games where we NEED defense
Len/Noel(13*) *competing with each other when we don’t play small ball 5 with lyles

2 ways/Rookies:
Jones
Ford
Ellis
Queta
Slawson



Do we think it’ll look something like this in regular season and playoff time barring injury of course?
I would expect that Barnes will play less than 30 minutes, Murray less than 32 minutes, and Vezenkov to take those added minutes. Hard to keep a flame thrower like that off the floor when you have Fox, Sabonis, and Monk to draw attention.
 
#8
Fox (35) | Mitchell (13*) | Ford
Huerter (24) | Monk (24) | Jones
Barnes (20) | Murray (9) | Huerter (6) | Duarte(13*)
Murray (23) | Barnes (10) | Sasha/Lyles (15)
Sabonis (35) | Lyles (13*) | Len/Noel (13*)

Reg Season + Playoff Rotation:
Fox (35)
Sabonis (35)
Murray (32)
Barnes (30)
Huerter (30)
Monk (24)
Mitchell (13*) *will likely be around 20 range depending on lineups and can play upwards of 30 if he’s cookin
Lyles (13*) *small ball 5 but will play 4 on nights where they don’t play small ball + Sasha isn’t hitting shots
Sasha (13)

Reg Season + Deep Bench:
Duarte (13*) *competing with edwards
Edwards (?) *Also competing with Duarte + will play in games where we NEED defense
Len/Noel(13*) *competing with each other when we don’t play small ball 5 with lyles

2 ways/Rookies:
Jones
Ford
Ellis
Queta
Slawson



Do we think it’ll look something like this in regular season and playoff time barring injury of course?
He might see those minutes early on in the regular season, but no way do I expect Sasha to average less than 15 minutes a game by the end of the year. We didn't bring him over and give him the type of contract we gave him only for him to give us 15-ish minutes each night.
 
#9
I just have this sneaking suspicion that Sasha is going to get big minutes as the season goes on. Like 20+ at least. I think he's going to establish himself as a legit part of a 7-9 man rotation on a (our) playoff team.

If not outright starting.

Barnes could drop to the bench and even share minutes with Heurter. Not only to we have the potential for depth, but also for size advantages at almost every position, up and down the lineup.
 
#10
I just have this sneaking suspicion that Sasha is going to get big minutes as the season goes on. Like 20+ at least. I think he's going to establish himself as a legit part of a 7-9 man rotation on a (our) playoff team.

If not outright starting.

Barnes could drop to the bench and even share minutes with Heurter. Not only to we have the potential for depth, but also for size advantages at almost every position, up and down the lineup.
Do you think this is a hot take? He wouldn’t have come over if this wasn’t the case.
 
#12
Yeah I think Sashas going to take some minutes and possibly the starting spot from Barnes.
you do know the player Sasha is most compared to is Bjelicia. As a Bjeli fan I can’t count the number of people who complained about his defense. And happy to be corrected by the Serbian guys but Nemanja’s defense is supposedly better.

Now Sasha is going to take over Barnes starting role so we can be marginally better on offense and worse on defense?
 
#13
Promises about a role and whether or not you are good enough to fill that role are two different things. Brown isn't going to play Sasha a bunch of minutes every night if he's not helping the team win.
 
#14
I have 0 worries about Sashas fit and abilities. He'll probably have a "prove it" spell in the beginning coming off the bench, but I expect him to be a significant factor in team growth and Ws. More than 13 minutes.

I dont know what coach has in store or whats been promised but I think he can 100% start and is probably top 5 player on the team.
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
#15
Here we go with the Bjelica comps. If Monte and the scouts and Coach Brown who all watched him play over there came away from it and think he’s a guy we need and who will be successful, I’m buying their opinion over others right now.
Just recently, Monte and the organization decided to pass on the next Westbrook/Wade in Ivey and go with Murray. Seems like they know what they are doing.

I’m all in on Sasha being a solid contributing factor to the Kings winning
 
#16
Is Sasha being a more wing-oriented Bjelicia a bad thing? Bjelica wad a good pro pretty much his entire tenure in the NBA and really only got phased out because of his drop in athleticism and he couldn't play the 4 anymore.

If Sasha is 12-5 with elite efficiency, then that's a huge win for us
 
#17
Is Sasha being a more wing-oriented Bjelicia a bad thing? Bjelica wad a good pro pretty much his entire tenure in the NBA and really only got phased out because of his drop in athleticism and he couldn't play the 4 anymore.

If Sasha is 12-5 with elite efficiency, then that's a huge win for us
Exactly, that would be a huge piece to add if that's basically his floor. Success and fit comps are one thing, one thing anyone can see is that even Bjelica didn't have that hair trigger Sasha does. If Vezenkov's shot translates, he'll be good. Fit wise he's almost exactly like Huerter so the question might be do you need two of those types at the same time? The most interesting lineup to see is Huerter, Keegan, and Sasha IMO. Is it so much DHO and movement ability that teams can't take it out come playoff time?
 
#18
Is Sasha being a more wing-oriented Bjelicia a bad thing? Bjelica wad a good pro pretty much his entire tenure in the NBA and really only got phased out because of his drop in athleticism and he couldn't play the 4 anymore.

If Sasha is 12-5 with elite efficiency, then that's a huge win for us
People view Bjelica negatively but I think he's the reason the Kings almost finished over .500 that one season. He was the Kings best player by a wide margin by advanced metrics for the first half of that year before he tailed off. People think the Shump trade was the nail in the coffin but it was really Bjelica playing way over his head that helped the Kings get off to that hot start.
 
#19
If Sasha is good as first season Bjelly the Kings are winning 50+ games easy. But the comp is not there completely different players Sasha is a elite shooter off ball player with a ok floor good while Bjelly had a good floor game who was forced into being a shooter in the NBA. Sasha does not need consistant touches to be a force while Bjelly did. Also this Kings will not be reliant on Sasha like that other Kings team was where Bjelly was arguably the 2nd/3rd most important player after Fox/whoever and even his bad defense (assuming) won't matter anywhere near as much like it did with Bagley/Bjelica.

Team's pay scrub shooters who can't do anything else like Max Strus like 16mil per season Sasha is making like 4mil-6mil AT WORST you have a elite shooter (who is 6'9) on a near minimum contract. I don't think for what the Kings are paying him he can be a failure in any sense. regardless of how bad his defense is.
 
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Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#20
If Sasha is good as first season Bjelly the Kings are winning 50+ games easy. But the comp is not there completely different players Sasha is a elite shooter off ball player with a ok floor good while Bjelly had a good floor game who was forced into being a shooter in the NBA. Sasha does not need consistant touches to be a force while Bjelly did. Also this Kings will not be reliant on Sasha like that other Kings team was where Bjelly was arguably the 2nd/3rd most important player after Fox/whoever and even his bad defense (assuming) won't matter anywhere near as much like it did with Bagley/Bjelica.

Team's pay scrub shooters who can't do anything else like Max Strus like 16mil per season Sasha is making like 4mil-6mil AT WORST you have a elite shooter (who is 6'9) on a near minimum contract. I don't think for what the Kings are paying him he can be a failure in any sense. regardless of how bad his defense is.
Yeah the thing about Bjeli is that he was a ball handling guard that randomly grew into a big man’s body and that meant that he spent way too much time passing up open threes to randomly drive into the paint to try and create looks for his worse shooting teammates for some reason.

Sasha, for whatever it’s worth, has a completely different skill set.

Sure, they’re both big forwards (although Bjelly ended his time with the Warriors playing quite a bit of backup center) who can shoot the ball and are from the same general part of the world if you squint hard enough but that’s generally where the comparison ends for me.
 
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#21
Exactly, that would be a huge piece to add if that's basically his floor. Success and fit comps are one thing, one thing anyone can see is that even Bjelica didn't have that hair trigger Sasha does. If Vezenkov's shot translates, he'll be good. Fit wise he's almost exactly like Huerter so the question might be do you need two of those types at the same time? The most interesting lineup to see is Huerter, Keegan, and Sasha IMO. Is it so much DHO and movement ability that teams can't take it out come playoff time?
I'm too much of a dumb dumb to know what sort of insane creative offensive set you could do with 3 off-ball wizards, a legendary passing big man and a paint dominator guard like Fox, but that 5-man unit has a chance to be just flat out unstoppable with the right sets. Like HB is a great shooter, but he's not really an off-ball player persay. He's stationary C&S or the occassional on-ball creation to get to the free throw line. But not only Huerter, but Keegan was extraordinary as an off-ball shooter for a rookie. Honestly probably the best understanding of an off-ball game from a rookie I've seen in a long time. Maybe since Klay?

And from what I've noticed is Vezenkov is very comfortable as the screener too. So in LU's without Domas on the floor, I'm guessing he's going to be the primary screener for Pick n Pop action with Fox and Monk. Which is a big reason why I think Lyles gets the small-5 job, so that Vezenkov can play the screener and you still keep the floor spaced offensively. Like Noel and Len just get in the way.

And with Domas on the floor, he probably gets a TON of action as his DHO partner. Just so many fun creative sets we'll be able to do this season.
 
#22
If Sasha is good as first season Bjelly the Kings are winning 50+ games easy. But the comp is not there completely different players Sasha is a elite shooter off ball player with a ok floor good while Bjelly had a good floor game who was forced into being a shooter in the NBA. Sasha does not need consistant touches to be a force while Bjelly did. Also this Kings will not be reliant on Sasha like that other Kings team was where Bjelly was arguably the 2nd/3rd most important player after Fox/whoever and even his bad defense (assuming) won't matter anywhere near as much like it did with Bagley/Bjelica.

Team's pay scrub shooters who can't do anything else like Max Strus like 16mil per season Sasha is making like 4mil-6mil AT WORST you have a elite shooter (who is 6'9) on a near minimum contract. I don't think for what the Kings are paying him he can be a failure in any sense. regardless of how bad his defense is.
compare their defense for us please?
 
#23
compare their defense for us please?
hard to say but will have to see how it plays out but defensive rebounding I would maybe give Sasha a edge but maybe on D Bjelly cause he's 6'11 and longer/bigger in general, I don't think his defense will matter I can't see him displacing Barnes/Murray for the starting spot and off the bench he will be there to score.
 
#24
Core rotation:

1: Fox (30), Davion (18)
2: Huerter (20), Monk (24), Fox (4)
3: Murray (34), Huerter (8), Barnes (6)
4: Barnes (24), Vezenkov (20), Lyles (4)
5: Sabonis (34), Lyles (14)

Fox - 34
Domas - 34
Murray - 34
HB - 30
Huerter - 28
Monk - 24
Sasha - 20
Lyles - 18
Davion - 18
 
#25
hard to say but will have to see how it plays out but defensive rebounding I would maybe give Sasha a edge but maybe on D Bjelly cause he's 6'11 and longer/bigger in general, I don't think his defense will matter I can't see him displacing Barnes/Murray for the starting spot and off the bench he will be there to score.
still have to play defense off the bench ;-)
 
#26
Concerning Sasha I expect once he gets on the floor with NBA players we will see how big he is. Just from watching his Euro play he has a very quick release, range from way downtown and better handles than I thought. He also looks pretty big, we will see how his game translates.

My sneaky suspicion is Coach Brown & Crew are already scheming defenses for Sasha......Team Defense and some zone will be the focus IMO. Also Guards playing aggressive ball hawking defense at the point of attack can help the other defenders by disrupting the other teams offensive flow and limit the time to set up the offense.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#28

I watch clips like this and it just makes me wonder if the solution for us to getting top 15ish on D is just play Davion 30 MPG. It's not just the highlight reel stuff, but all his defensive impact/on-off numbers are very very good too.
some are too caught up in his inability to run point or not be able to shoot consistently from deep but this guy is an absolute menace and should be part of the core of Fox, Domas and Keegan
 
#29

I watch clips like this and it just makes me wonder if the solution for us to getting top 15ish on D is just play Davion 30 MPG. It's not just the highlight reel stuff, but all his defensive impact/on-off numbers are very very good too.
play him where? The problem is he is spectacular on quicker point guards and we have a lot of them in this league but watch him guarding Booker who literally just rises up and shoots over him.

Davion might well be my favorite player but his lack of length limits whom he can successfully guard.
 
#30
play him where? The problem is he is spectacular on quicker point guards and we have a lot of them in this league but watch him guarding Booker who literally just rises up and shoots over him.

Davion might well be my favorite player but his lack of length limits whom he can successfully guard.
Is this actually true? I know you reference Booker just rising up and shooting over him a lot, but I don't recall that game where he got cooked. Also... it's Devin Booker. He cooks everybody 95% of the time. If you hold him to 27 points on 20 shots, that's a win for your defense. Also, Davion is shorter and has a smaller wingspan than most 1's in the first place. He wins defensively because he gets right into the offensive players space and doesn't let him get to the spots he wants to go. He might have the best lateral quickness in the NBA on defense. Along with crazy quick hands. And you can't bully him because he's built like a damn tank. Anecdotally, that's why I feel better with him even on big wings like PG than pretty much anyone else on the team.

And maybe you just put Fox on the off-ball guard and let Davion disrupt the POA vs everybody, regardless who's on the other side. I feel there's some sampling problems with Davion since we rarely get to see him for more than 5-7 minute spurts a couple times a game. We've talked about game 6 and game 7 a lot and I do feel Brown made such a huge misstep by taking Davion out of the rotation on Steph. He was really the only guy who had any sort of sustained success vs him defensively.
 
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