Then we wouldn't have Sabonis and our starting center would be who? Richaun Holmes? Having a defensive wing wouldn't even matter at that point because we wouldn't be a playoff team. Other teams wanting Haliburton is a given. He was already a rising star in his second season. Monte clearly wanted Sabonis and targeted Sabonis because of the fit with Fox. He was ahead of almost all of us in seeing the potential of a Fox and Sabonis pairing and he now has an Executive of the Year award because of it.
Kings trade rumor SZN 2023-2024 edition!
- Thread starter Tetsujin
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I am getting pretty sick of everyone just discounting how freaking good Domas has been as a King, especially as the #2 man off of Fox. It's not just the officials he doesn't get respect from, it's everyone in the media too. We're getting to watch 2 of the greatest Kings ever, in their prime, play together.
I just don't get it. Because he's not as good as Jokic? Because he "failed" in the playoffs despite a broken finger, a bruised sternum because he got curb-stomped by an opposing player and a black eye? Because an upstart Kings took the defending champs to 7 games and an NBA legend had to drop a 50 bomb to knock us out?
I just don't get it. Because he's not as good as Jokic? Because he "failed" in the playoffs despite a broken finger, a bruised sternum because he got curb-stomped by an opposing player and a black eye? Because an upstart Kings took the defending champs to 7 games and an NBA legend had to drop a 50 bomb to knock us out?
On top of that a big part of what Domas does is facilitate the secondary options after Fox and himself and those guys weren't hitting against the Dubs even with wide open looks he set up for them.
I don't understand how his contributions can be so widely dismissed it's like people forgot the last 3 years before the trade.
I don't understand how his contributions can be so widely dismissed it's like people forgot the last 3 years before the trade.
I guess one other thought, if you had a 20 point scorer at the 2 guard maybe you could have a Kessler Edwards or similar defense first player at the 4. I think we should also acknowledge the fact that Monk is not a guarantee to re-sign with us. I think 4-5 teams with starting guard positions and cash could potentially be interested. A lot of factors outside of money will go into that decision including Malik’s relationship with Coach. He seems to like being coached hard but only he knows for sure. I think we see his relationship with Swipa as a positive but I could also see Fox being the type of friend that tells Monk to get the biggest payday even if it’s not with the Kings.
One more quesition , as a new King 
, which i think will be better here :
Why are HB and Huerter with a status of untouchable starters and even stars of the team ... Doesnt matter what they do on the floor, so far HB has 3 strong games , red velvet 4/5 they have been given chances after chances and minutes well above 27-18 minutes , while 2/3 poor minutes from players like Duarte , Vesenkov , McGee, Mitchel (i know there is a topic specially to him) and they are ''frozen'' till the end of the games , many times even for the next one or few ...
I have been watching Lyles only for two games , but in my opinion both he ans Vesenkov (i know you will not agree here) are much better then HB as a starers for postion 4 , and Malik Monk is much much better then Huerter as a starter ...
I am a new here (saying it again ) but had watched whole 20 games so far (5 summer included) and this is what my opinion is :
Sabonis
Fox
Murry
Monk
Lyles/Vesenkov
Looks for me lets say better
, which i think will be better here : Why are HB and Huerter with a status of untouchable starters and even stars of the team ... Doesnt matter what they do on the floor, so far HB has 3 strong games , red velvet 4/5 they have been given chances after chances and minutes well above 27-18 minutes , while 2/3 poor minutes from players like Duarte , Vesenkov , McGee, Mitchel (i know there is a topic specially to him) and they are ''frozen'' till the end of the games , many times even for the next one or few ...
I have been watching Lyles only for two games , but in my opinion both he ans Vesenkov (i know you will not agree here) are much better then HB as a starers for postion 4 , and Malik Monk is much much better then Huerter as a starter ...
I am a new here (saying it again ) but had watched whole 20 games so far (5 summer included) and this is what my opinion is :
Sabonis
Fox
Murry
Monk
Lyles/Vesenkov
Looks for me lets say better
Yes, it's mostly because of his lack of post-season success. The broken thumb on his non-shooting hand was something that he dealt with since late December, and it didn't seem to affect him at all in the regular season. The bruised sternum was a fresh injury, but he played poorly in his first game before he suffered that injury. If you want to be considered a star in this league, there's a certain jump you need to take in the playoffs. Sabonis didn't make that jump. If he wants to prove people wrong, then he needs to play a lot better this year during the playoffs.
I think the majority of Kings fans would agree that Sabonis was our best player last season. But there's a reason why Fox was the one who got all of the media attention and praise after the playoff series ended. It's because he showed up and showed out.
Welcome to winning basketball. What you do in the post-season means a lot more than the regular season.
I think the majority of Kings fans would agree that Sabonis was our best player last season. But there's a reason why Fox was the one who got all of the media attention and praise after the playoff series ended. It's because he showed up and showed out.
Welcome to winning basketball. What you do in the post-season means a lot more than the regular season.
One more quesition , as a new King , which i think will be better here :
Why are HB and Huerter with a status of untouchable starters and even stars of the team ... Doesnt matter what they do on the floor, so far HB has 3 strong games , red velvet 4/5 they have been given chances after chances and minutes well above 27-18 minutes , while 2/3 poor minutes from players like Duarte , Vesenkov , McGee, Mitchel (i know there is a topic specially to him) and they are ''frozen'' till the end of the games , many times even for the next one or few ...
I have been watching Lyles only for two games , but in my opinion both he ans Vesenkov (i know you will not agree here) are much better then HB as a starers for postion 4 , and Malik Monk is much much better then Huerter as a starter ...
I am a new here (saying it again ) but had watched whole 20 games so far (5 summer included) and this is what my opinion is :
Sabonis
Fox
Murry
Monk
Lyles/Vesenkov
Looks for me lets say better
, which i think will be better here :Why are HB and Huerter with a status of untouchable starters and even stars of the team ... Doesnt matter what they do on the floor, so far HB has 3 strong games , red velvet 4/5 they have been given chances after chances and minutes well above 27-18 minutes , while 2/3 poor minutes from players like Duarte , Vesenkov , McGee, Mitchel (i know there is a topic specially to him) and they are ''frozen'' till the end of the games , many times even for the next one or few ...
I have been watching Lyles only for two games , but in my opinion both he ans Vesenkov (i know you will not agree here) are much better then HB as a starers for postion 4 , and Malik Monk is much much better then Huerter as a starter ...
I am a new here (saying it again ) but had watched whole 20 games so far (5 summer included) and this is what my opinion is :
Sabonis
Fox
Murry
Monk
Lyles/Vesenkov
Looks for me lets say better
However, when it comes to the bench unit and backup players, it is almost the exact opposite. He has less confidence in them. As soon as a player messes up multiple times (mostly on defense), he will sub them out for someone else. Most of these bench players have very short leashes. If a bench player plays good, then he rewards them with more playing time. But as soon as they start to play bad, he replaces them with someone else. They will see inconsistent minutes throughout the season.
I think coach does play favorites with some players, but not everyone here will agree with me here. I think McGee gets too many touches on offense and Coach Brown will let him go unpunished if he turns the ball over. Duarte doesn't get penalized for his mistakes the way Kessler does.
With Harrison Barnes, he's an NBA veteran, so I think coach Brown trusts him a lot and favors him over the younger players. If the Kings start to lose games, I think that's the only time he would bench Harrison for someone else.
With Malik Monk, there are two reasons why he doesn't start. The main reason is because coach Brown thinks that Monk is better as an energy spark off the bench. He likes that Monk is able to score by himself and assist others because his skills are very valuable for our bench unit. The second reason why he doesn't start is because he is bad on defense. He's a small SG and he doesn't like to put in a lot of effort on defense.
Yes , but that is totally infair for those who we call ''bench players'''...
I will teak Vesenkov and speak about him , cause for obvious reasons he is my favourite ...
It is impossible for any player to play something likke 5-3-3 (minutes) and to be on top of all of this periods. When he was 70% shooting with Clevland he did not get more minutes , but when he was 0-3 against pelicans (and he actually scored his first and only 3 points with the last touch of the ball for the game) he got frozen for the second half and next game (hope not games) ... Also when somebody like him is getting 90% of his time with the second and third unit (both with players wanting to show off) he isnt getting much passes which eliminates all of his positive things ..
King took him because of his great movement without the ball but he isnt getting almost none the ball after such move ...
And even it is obvious that he is putting more and more effort to his weak side - defense , and with the exeption of the game with SA where he made 3 fast stupid falls against Mamukelashvili (for which he got frozen again of course) he is improoving at that part of the game...
I am FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR away from the level of the best coach for last year , out of question , but as a fan i see very diferent attitude against second and third unit and the ''star starters''
Yes every team needs its 6th player so maybe for Monk is best to act like such , but still in my opinion he is better option the Huerter for more minutes on the floor
I don't see a reason to look for alternative of sabonis at the moment...
He is playing great and i dont think 7 games last year are indicative how strong he will be in the playoffs...
Honestly i don't see a reason for trades at this moment , but i know all fans are dreaming for the the third STAR so let the rumors continue
He is playing great and i dont think 7 games last year are indicative how strong he will be in the playoffs...
Honestly i don't see a reason for trades at this moment , but i know all fans are dreaming for the the third STAR so let the rumors continue
Yeah it’s pretty silly. Kings are good because they have Sabonis. People seem to forget that. He gave this team an identity. The Kings were a mess. Some talented players but it didn’t seem anybody knew were to begin to make the team better. We were talking about Ben Simmons while we had two ball dominant guards who weren’t playing well next to each other. Like that would’ve built a coherent roster.
It became very apparent and easy to see what type of players the Kings needed to add as soon as Sabonis was added. I said it after just a game or two with the guy that even though that season was lost, there is finally a clear path to building a winner thanks to Sabonis…and I was right. I hated the move when it happened as well. Take Sabonis out of the fold for a “wing” or keeping another high level guard. This team sucks. Plain and simple.
You’d figure fans would be more grateful and recognize his value. He’s so valuable he turned the SACRAMENTO KINGS around in his first full season. I don’t know how much more proof you need that a player is legit lol. It’s not a coincidence.
So he had a bad playoff series. Many all stars who don’t get such disrespect have had bad playoff series. Last season Donovan Mitchell had a bad playoff series. Anthony Davis had bad series. Jaylen Brown had a nightmare series against Miami. Steph Curry wasn’t especially good against the Lakers after torching the Kings. How about Embiid? His numbers seemed pretty hollow when the Sixers lived and died every game by how well Harden and Maxey played and he disappeared at the end of every game. If only they had Alperen Sengun instead. You know, somebody who has proven it in the playoffs!
Not to mention Kings fans have already done this dance with Chris Webber back in the day and that turned out to be stupid.
It was just a bad series from a 3 time all star who actually was the best player on a high seeded playoff team, yet..since you have to “prove it in the playoffs” all of a sudden we talk about somebody like Sengun like he has equal or higher value. As if he’s ever accomplished anything or because he has played 15 games at the level Domas has played for years.
It became very apparent and easy to see what type of players the Kings needed to add as soon as Sabonis was added. I said it after just a game or two with the guy that even though that season was lost, there is finally a clear path to building a winner thanks to Sabonis…and I was right. I hated the move when it happened as well. Take Sabonis out of the fold for a “wing” or keeping another high level guard. This team sucks. Plain and simple.
You’d figure fans would be more grateful and recognize his value. He’s so valuable he turned the SACRAMENTO KINGS around in his first full season. I don’t know how much more proof you need that a player is legit lol. It’s not a coincidence.
So he had a bad playoff series. Many all stars who don’t get such disrespect have had bad playoff series. Last season Donovan Mitchell had a bad playoff series. Anthony Davis had bad series. Jaylen Brown had a nightmare series against Miami. Steph Curry wasn’t especially good against the Lakers after torching the Kings. How about Embiid? His numbers seemed pretty hollow when the Sixers lived and died every game by how well Harden and Maxey played and he disappeared at the end of every game. If only they had Alperen Sengun instead. You know, somebody who has proven it in the playoffs!
Not to mention Kings fans have already done this dance with Chris Webber back in the day and that turned out to be stupid.
It was just a bad series from a 3 time all star who actually was the best player on a high seeded playoff team, yet..since you have to “prove it in the playoffs” all of a sudden we talk about somebody like Sengun like he has equal or higher value. As if he’s ever accomplished anything or because he has played 15 games at the level Domas has played for years.
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Yeah, I think he’s only 22 but sure expected a lot more out of him four years in. Is he just a failed fourth pick or is the Chicago system just that bad.
I haven’t seen enough of the Bulls to really know, but straight out of college would have thought he’d be a terrific forward especially on the defensive end.
I haven’t seen enough of the Bulls to really know, but straight out of college would have thought he’d be a terrific forward especially on the defensive end.
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Perfect.
The only thing you missed as well is Fox basically leapt into "superstar" trajectory the second Domas got here. I remember after that first Minny game and the hug he gave Domas at the end. It's like he knew right away he finally had a running mate that was there to make him better. We forget that Fox had really been struggling next to Hali and was being called one of the worst contracts in the NBA up until that point. Now he's basically cemented a spot as a top 10 player.
The only thing you missed as well is Fox basically leapt into "superstar" trajectory the second Domas got here. I remember after that first Minny game and the hug he gave Domas at the end. It's like he knew right away he finally had a running mate that was there to make him better. We forget that Fox had really been struggling next to Hali and was being called one of the worst contracts in the NBA up until that point. Now he's basically cemented a spot as a top 10 player.
look I want Domas to be able to carry us in the play-offs but you act like the concerns around his game are just “stupid” or “ungrateful” Kings fans. Those concerns are shared and voiced by a number of NBA analysts and have certainly been born out in some NBA match-ups we have seen this year.
Now can Domas extend his range and address some of the concerns? We both hope so.
Now can Domas extend his range and address some of the concerns? We both hope so.
yep and a certain contingent of NBA analysts don’t believe you can win in the post season with Sabonis at center. He doesn’t stretch the floor or offer much in terms of rim protection. So far he has yet to prove them wrong. He has been in the playoffs 3 times (4 if count OKC) and has never been past the 1st round. His +/- combined is -18.5 …..
He is our guy and we will ride with him but if you don’t have concerns then you haven’t looked at the data.
He is our guy and we will ride with him but if you don’t have concerns then you haven’t looked at the data.
It's not just a cliff without Fox though, it's a jump from space and it appears that Monte sees it. 125 to 102. That's far too dependent on 1 single player. Add as much talent as possible and figure it out later. The issue is teams that rely on depth at some point lose that depth. Consolidate. And this isn't about regular season numbers, it's about what we saw in the playoffs when the system sputtered. It's a fairly unusual opportunity to potentially add that kind of talent without touching the untouchables on your squad. Monte might just be able to do that. If the Kings start to dominate, maybe it changes his plan who knows.
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sample size is pretty small still and slightly skewed by the Houston debacle but here are some offensive stats so far:
PPG-9th
offensive efficiency-11th
First quarter scoring-1st
Second quarter scoring-17th
Third quarter scoring-24th
Fourth quarter scoring-21st
Floor shooting percentage 20th (2nd last year)
our offensive efficiency last season would be 5th this year.
It’s too early to glean too much from these numbers especially considering the games missed by Fox but by the numbers we are currently not an elite offense. If Keegan returns to form and we keep getting KVon instead of lil Kevin we will start seeing a climb in the rankings.
PPG-9th
offensive efficiency-11th
First quarter scoring-1st
Second quarter scoring-17th
Third quarter scoring-24th
Fourth quarter scoring-21st
Floor shooting percentage 20th (2nd last year)
our offensive efficiency last season would be 5th this year.
It’s too early to glean too much from these numbers especially considering the games missed by Fox but by the numbers we are currently not an elite offense. If Keegan returns to form and we keep getting KVon instead of lil Kevin we will start seeing a climb in the rankings.
Yeah I just don't see Domas needing much more of a midrange game than he already has. He shoots when he's wide open and his numbers show it.
Look at his shooting percentages from all areas of the court. Elite.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SAC/2024.html#shooting
Look at his shooting percentages from all areas of the court. Elite.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SAC/2024.html#shooting
You don't think any of those players got heat from their fan base or the national media? They absolutely did. People were calling Embiid a fraud all over the internet for winning MVP after he stunk it up in the playoffs. Jaylen Brown might be one of the most hated stars by his own fanbase. All but one of those guys you mentioned made it out of the first round too. And none of those guys underperformed as bad as Sabonis, nor did they get outplayed by Kevon Looney. 34.7mins: 16.4pts 11rebs 4.7asts 3.7tos 0.9blks 1.4stls on terrible shooting splits of 49.5/20/57.1.
Sabonis was bad in the playoffs. He has the chance to change the narrative this year around. Again, once you reach a certain success in the league, your post-season play matters A LOT. This game has been defined by rings. It's why 2002 stings 20 years later.
Two things can be true at once: 1) Sabonis did not play good enough in the playoffs. 2) he's the best thing to happen to us in 15+ years.
Sabonis was bad in the playoffs. He has the chance to change the narrative this year around. Again, once you reach a certain success in the league, your post-season play matters A LOT. This game has been defined by rings. It's why 2002 stings 20 years later.
Two things can be true at once: 1) Sabonis did not play good enough in the playoffs. 2) he's the best thing to happen to us in 15+ years.
That was part of the problem, but at the end of the day, those players were way too reliant on Sabonis to create their offense. Our shooters let the team down in the post-season. On another note, that's why people hint at the Kings needing a 3rd star who don't rely on someone else to give them good looks.
Our shooters need to show up in the playoffs. It was frustrating to see how wide open 3s were pretty much automatic for every single team in the playoffs except us.
Our shooters need to show up in the playoffs. It was frustrating to see how wide open 3s were pretty much automatic for every single team in the playoffs except us.