A year wasted thanks to Monte.

[206Fan]

As long as we're going to resurrect this thread after a frustrating series of losses, I wanted to re-post @Padrino's well-thought out response as well. It's not any less true today than it was in February...

Fox and Murray taking big steps forward as individual defenders and Keon Ellis emerging as an ideal two-way roleplayer at the SG position are significant developments in terms of this team's future potential. K'Von had a bad year shooting the ball by his standards but he also showed improvement on defense, particularly in the last month.

Each of us chooses whether to dwell on what this team is not currently or remain optimistic about who they could become in time. And I don't think its hard to be optimistic even after a loss if you just lengthen your timeline and consider the next 5 years of Kings basketball as your frame of reference instead of the next 3 weeks.

I think the issue for this team long-term is that we've already seen the max potential of a Fox-Domas combo last year when we had elite shooting with A+++ role players around them. A year after almost beating the Warriors in the 1st round, we might not even make the playoffs. I don't think the duo of Fox-Sabonis is our main problem, but it becomes more clear that we still need a #3 guy. Keegan's offensive developments were underwhelming this year and it's not clear at all that he can eventually be the #3 guy. There's too many games and instances where he didn't answer the call when needed. Monk could've been our #3 (I'm leaning towards no), but he never got enough shots for whatever reason. The #3 scorer is a big hole to fill on the team.

I could easily see things getting worse from here rather than progressing.. especially if we can't replace Monk.

In regards to Keon and Kevin, I'm not inspired by either guy as the starting SG. I love Keon, but he plays with 0 confidence on offense. He never looks to do anything with the ball and occasionally will pass up wide open 3s despite being a good shooter. I don't really know if he can gain confidence with more experience, but I certainly hope so because I think his defense is what the team severely needs. In regards to Kevin..... I would really like to see him in a different jersey next year.

it's only a wasted year if we have expectations that don't match the current roster make up. success isn't always going to come in orderly sequences, there will be a year or two where there will be a first round exit or in this years case, no playoffs at all if they fail to win in the play-in. let's take a look at a current scenario where last season OKC was not in the postseason playoff picture and most of us knew that once healthy and if Chet performs up to par, they are a Playoff seed. This year we see the same improvement from Houston who will most likely be a additional team you can add that will be fighting for seeding so it goes without saying that the West is simply a Gladiator blood bath for the forseeable future and all those losses the Kings had to bottom dwellers clearly has come back to give them a reminder of how there are no off nights in the NBA and that being a consistent winner is really hard in this sport.

This just reminds me how much the Kings are older and more experienced than OKC and Houston.

Outside of Keegan (23) and maybe Keon (24), we don't really have any young, productive, and promising players whereas OKC has Jalen (22), Chet (21), Giddey (21), and Wallace (20). Houston has: Green (22), Eason (22), Amen (21), Sengun (21), Jabari (20), and Whitmore (19).

Jeez. The West is going to be a permanent blood bath, and all of this without Ja too.. and eventually Wemby. The Kings need to start kicking things into 1st gear because it's only a matter of time before everyone below us catches up.

 

[SacTownKid]

I got to look up this “company line” from Monte and Brown of taking a step back being acceptable. If that truly came out of their mouths, that is a major cop out. That’s pretty much keeping expectations low in case we run into a key injury. I’m sure Vivek is not aligned to that thinking.

All of that said, the stagnation is not without trying. Monte made some efforts out there to move the needle, just the few players who could didn’t have the same interest in us.

I wonder if we could make a splash similar to what the Knicks are doing. They went to the post season in 2020 with Randle but realized that wasn’t good enough. They fixed their draft mistake of not getting Haliburton and signed a top 5 pg in Brunson. They then proceed to get Hart, DDV, OG and are looking like one of the teams with a really bright future after things looked really bleak 2 years ago

Monte had one summer to max out any potential cap space with this current incarnation of his roster though and that was last summer. It even cost him a first rounder. The Knicks had a clear vision and plan, and didn't whiff. Monte is now at the stage where he's going to have to tinker. That or open his mind about certain deals and who or who isn't off the table in discussions. Who knows what the draft pick situation is going to end up being with the Hawks pick still in limbo, but Monte better be open to these picks deals teams seem to like so much. That's basically all he's got at this point.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

I still can't believe we freely gave up a 1st round pick to dump Holmes. Talk about poor asset management.

Was it poor asset management, though?

Holmes is straight up broken, and was owed $25M over two years. He has already bounced from Dallas and over the first year of that deal was worth 1.3 WS, so we can basically extrapolate him to about 2.5 WS over the course of the deal. Since you should be paying about 3% of the salary cap (back-of-the-envelope $4M right now) for 1 WS, Holmes is only going to put out about $10M worth of play, so that's $15M dead money...about 4 WS worth of money. Add in the cost of the rookie deal at #24 (about $13M over four years) and the Kings netted about $28M in the deal. So unless the player picked at #24 was going to be worth 7 WS ($28M/$4M) over four years, keeping the pick would be expected to be worse than spending that money in free agency.

So who was available at #24 for us to pick that is going to drop 7 WS in their first four years? We can safely exclude any players selected after Colby Jones (#34) because clearly we would not have passed on a player at #34 but taken them at #24. So the list of options is thus:
O-Max
Sasser
Ben Sheppard
Nick Smith Jr.
Sensabaugh
Strawther
Kobe Brown
James Nnaji
Jalen Pickett
Leonard Miller

Sasser and Sheppard lead the pack here, both on pace for a whole 3 WS, and nobody else is even close to that. Things can change over the next three years, but right now it's not looking like there was exactly a huge windfall available at #24 that we threw away to dump Holmes' salary. It was a late pick in a draft that had mostly run out of talent. When you can give that up to get rid of a $25M anchor, that's *good* asset management.

 

[24 rick barry]

I think it comes down to this.

The Kings are a really good team when healthy. And a healthy Kings teams could give most teams in the West a run for their money-excepting teams NO, and who knows. I can see why they walked it back.

On the other hand, the Kings had what was once known as an inflection point that could have altered the course of this team to realistically be able to compete for a championship....I think the Kings had a huge opportunity this past off-season with over 40 mil available at one point.

This would have been the opportunity to land the big fish that could have made the Kings contenders for a championship.

I think Monte and Wes's direction of staying modest and signing Domas first-which solidifies us as a player, or to swing for the fences, seeking out a star was made by Vivek also. (like to hear what throughtful FunkyKinsgston things about this)

I suspect that this is what is most haunting and painful to Vivek (no dis-respect intended), right now-right up there with missing out on Luka.

Instead and understandably so, the Kings decided to use large block of the available money to sign Domas for many years to come. I am sure that many owners/execs-Marc Cuban, Morey, etc, would have jumped at the opportunity to match Fox and Domas (Monk) with a legit star.

Yes 2 formidable players are on contract for some time. However, this comes at a significant price. For this next season, The Kings do not have a comparable lump sum of money (40 or so mil.) available to pay that star. With Monk's contract up this year, and with the hope of retaining him (you can see how much we miss him already, (i believe we have lost 4 out of the last 5 without him), this makes us out of the free-agent pool. And the Kings have some debt too-such as the 1st round pick owed to Atlanta.

Although a very good team, the team as currently constructed, even if healthy, does not have enough reach to win a championship.

 

[BenchMob]

Question regarding contracts, is going into the luxury tax an option to sign Monk and get a free agent?

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

Was it poor asset management, though?

Holmes is straight up broken, and was owed $25M over two years. He has already bounced from Dallas and over the first year of that deal was worth 1.3 WS, so we can basically extrapolate him to about 2.5 WS over the course of the deal. Since you should be paying about 3% of the salary cap (back-of-the-envelope $4M right now) for 1 WS, Holmes is only going to put out about $10M worth of play, so that's $15M dead money...about 4 WS worth of money. Add in the cost of the rookie deal at #24 (about $13M over four years) and the Kings netted about $28M in the deal. So unless the player picked at #24 was going to be worth 7 WS ($28M/$4M) over four years, keeping the pick would be expected to be worse than spending that money in free agency.

So who was available at #24 for us to pick that is going to drop 7 WS in their first four years? We can safely exclude any players selected after Colby Jones (#34) because clearly we would not have passed on a player at #34 but taken them at #24. So the list of options is thus:
O-Max
Sasser
Ben Sheppard
Nick Smith Jr.
Sensabaugh
Strawther
Kobe Brown
James Nnaji
Jalen Pickett
Leonard Miller

Sasser and Sheppard lead the pack here, both on pace for a whole 3 WS, and nobody else is even close to that. Things can change over the next three years, but right now it's not looking like there was exactly a huge windfall available at #24 that we threw away to dump Holmes' salary. It was a late pick in a draft that had mostly run out of talent. When you can give that up to get rid of a $25M anchor, that's *good* asset management.

The desire for some fans to want Monte to make moves just to be able to tell their friends, "Hey, look! Our GM made a move" is, at best, mind-boggling. There's absolutely NO ONE on your list that screams out at me as someone who would have been able to move the needle significantly enough for us to currently be a legit contender in the Western Conference. But, here we are...

 

[Dongoodboy]

Was it poor asset management, though?

Holmes is straight up broken, and was owed $25M over two years. He has already bounced from Dallas and over the first year of that deal was worth 1.3 WS, so we can basically extrapolate him to about 2.5 WS over the course of the deal. Since you should be paying about 3% of the salary cap (back-of-the-envelope $4M right now) for 1 WS, Holmes is only going to put out about $10M worth of play, so that's $15M dead money...about 4 WS worth of money. Add in the cost of the rookie deal at #24 (about $13M over four years) and the Kings netted about $28M in the deal. So unless the player picked at #24 was going to be worth 7 WS ($28M/$4M) over four years, keeping the pick would be expected to be worse than spending that money in free agency.

So who was available at #24 for us to pick that is going to drop 7 WS in their first four years? We can safely exclude any players selected after Colby Jones (#34) because clearly we would not have passed on a player at #34 but taken them at #24. So the list of options is thus:
O-Max
Sasser
Ben Sheppard
Nick Smith Jr.
Sensabaugh
Strawther
Kobe Brown
James Nnaji
Jalen Pickett
Leonard Miller

Sasser and Sheppard lead the pack here, both on pace for a whole 3 WS, and nobody else is even close to that. Things can change over the next three years, but right now it's not looking like there was exactly a huge windfall available at #24 that we threw away to dump Holmes' salary. It was a late pick in a draft that had mostly run out of talent. When you can give that up to get rid of a $25M anchor, that's *good* asset management.

Dallas trade Holmes and a 2nd for Daniel Gafford, so maybe Holmes is not that expensive to dump? The trade stinks no matter how you put it, props to Dallas turning the cap space into Gafford and a young prospect.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Question regarding contracts, is going into the luxury tax an option to sign Monk and get a free agent?

I think if we sign Monk to the max we're allowed (base year at 17.4m) we'll be just beneath the first apron which is pretty low into tax territory, but that also means re-signing everyone else.

Here's our projected cap table:
https://www.spotrac.com/nba/sacramento-kings/cap/2024/

Projected luxury tax: $171,315,000
Projected first apron: $178,655,000

Just in general following the thread, I think there is a fair chance that re-signing Barnes wasn't the original plan with the cap space cleared up, but rather than make a public stink about swinging and missing in FA, they quickly re-signed Barnes as the backup plan. We might not like it, and often Brown is not quick enough to pull him when he stinks, but going into the season without a starting level replacement would have yielded even worse results. Hopefully his contract still makes him acceptable in any deal with picks or one of our cheap attractive guys to get a starting quality replacement back.

 

[gunks]

The desire for some fans to want Monte to make moves just to be able to tell their friends, "Hey, look! Our GM made a move" is, at best, mind-boggling. There's absolutely NO ONE on your list that screams out at me as someone who would have been able to move the needle significantly enough for us to currently be a legit contender in the Western Conference. But, here we are...

You think they'd know better after Vlade "rearranging deck chairs on the titanic" Divac.

Honestly, from all the rumblings we heard over the summer, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if Monte overestimated Keegan's readiness to step into the "big three" and that factored in to his lack of major moves. Multiple sources, from FO to players, were saying Keegan was looking like That Dude.

I'm still bullish - is it bullish or bearish? Ah whatever, I'm still optimistic on Keegan's development into that 3rd star for us. But Monte will again be faced with the conundrum of either continuing to bet on Keegan or making a major roster move (should the opportunity present itself) this summer, likely with the pressure of an impatient fanbase and owner breathing down his neck.

I still don't think we need to swing for the fences. Just upgrade Huerter and HB. Resign Monk. Trust "The process" with KM. Oh, and maybe get Fox a sports psychologist to help him with his annual "winter bummers".

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

You think they'd know better after Vlade "rearranging deck chairs on the titanic" Divac.

Honestly, from all the rumblings we heard over the summer, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if Monte overestimated Keegan's readiness to step into the "big three" and that factored in to his lack of major moves. Multiple sources, from FO to players, were saying Keegan was looking like That Dude.

I'm still bullish - is it bullish or bearish? Ah whatever, I'm still optimistic on Keegan's development into that 3rd star for us. But now Monte has the conundrum of either continuing to bet on Keegan or making a major roster move (should the opportunity present itself) this summer, likely with the pressure of an impatient fanbase and owner breathing down his neck.

I still don't think we need to swing for the fences. Just upgrade Huerter and HB.

Agreed.

 

[sactowndog]

Was it poor asset management, though?

Holmes is straight up broken, and was owed $25M over two years. He has already bounced from Dallas and over the first year of that deal was worth 1.3 WS, so we can basically extrapolate him to about 2.5 WS over the course of the deal. Since you should be paying about 3% of the salary cap (back-of-the-envelope $4M right now) for 1 WS, Holmes is only going to put out about $10M worth of play, so that's $15M dead money...about 4 WS worth of money. Add in the cost of the rookie deal at #24 (about $13M over four years) and the Kings netted about $28M in the deal. So unless the player picked at #24 was going to be worth 7 WS ($28M/$4M) over four years, keeping the pick would be expected to be worse than spending that money in free agency.

So who was available at #24 for us to pick that is going to drop 7 WS in their first four years? We can safely exclude any players selected after Colby Jones (#34) because clearly we would not have passed on a player at #34 but taken them at #24. So the list of options is thus:
O-Max
Sasser
Ben Sheppard
Nick Smith Jr.
Sensabaugh
Strawther
Kobe Brown
James Nnaji
Jalen Pickett
Leonard Miller

Sasser and Sheppard lead the pack here, both on pace for a whole 3 WS, and nobody else is even close to that. Things can change over the next three years, but right now it's not looking like there was exactly a huge windfall available at #24 that we threw away to dump Holmes' salary. It was a late pick in a draft that had mostly run out of talent. When you can give that up to get rid of a $25M anchor, that's *good* asset management.

So couple comments to your post:

1) Monte signed Holmes to that contract so it was bad asset management either way. Monte could have used the cap space like OKC to take on assets for picks but did not. I would argue poor use of cap space is one of the valid criticism’s of Monte

2) I think you also need to look at what forwards were available not what players between the two picks…. Monte has had good draft results but a valid argument is he over selects guards because the rest of the league will reach for long forwards. Monte has had limited success drafting at the forward/Center position with the exception of Keegan. That limitation has resulted in a team that lacks length.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

1) Monte signed Holmes to that contract so it was bad asset management either way. Monte could have used the cap space like OKC to take on assets for picks but did not. I would argue poor use of cap space is one of the valid criticism’s of Monte

Holmes earned that contract and then his production fell off a cliff. When Brown came in he was completely useless. But not signing him would have also been malpractice at the time. People said he took a discount to stay. I think there were valid concerns that he was the type of guy that looked good on a bargain contract, but his actual contract was still nothing incredibly over the top. Just that when he completely fell entirely out of the rotation it became a problem.

But at the moment of signing, it was still probably the correct move. We didn't have Domas at that time.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

So couple comments to your post:

1) Monte signed Holmes to that contract so it was bad asset management either way. Monte could have used the cap space like OKC to take on assets for picks but did not. I would argue poor use of cap space is one of the valid criticism’s of Monte

Richaun had been putting up 5.5 WS/year over two years with the Kings when Monte signed that deal - that's like $20M/year territory. Then for reasons nobody could predict he dropped off a cliff. He got poked in the eye, he had a nasty domestic squabble, his performance went to hell, we got an even better player in Domas that took his spot. It happens. The signing wasn't really all that bad, but then it turned from gold to lead and became an issue to be dealt with. Can't be helped. And yes, sure, I'd love to have found a way to wheedle Gafford out of the Wizards with that FRP instead of sending him away for nothing, but I imagine that deal wasn't on the table come draft day '23.

 

[sactowndog]

Holmes earned that contract and then his production fell off a cliff. When Brown came in he was completely useless. But not signing him would have also been malpractice at the time. People said he took a discount to stay. I think there were valid concerns that he was the type of guy that looked good on a bargain contract, but his actual contract was still nothing incredibly over the top. Just that when he completely fell entirely out of the rotation it became a problem.

But at the moment of signing, it was still probably the correct move. We didn't have Domas at that time.

I would argue Holmes production was a function of Haliburton and not sustainable without him. It’s kind of Monte’s core job requirements to project players so again the bad contract that he had to pay a first to get off of falls completely on him.

 

[sactowndog]

Dallas trade Holmes and a 2nd for Daniel Gafford, so maybe Holmes is not that expensive to dump? The trade stinks no matter how you put it, props to Dallas turning the cap space into Gafford and a young prospect.

Yep and O Max is shooting 42.5% on 5+ attempts from 3 in the G league.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I would argue Holmes production was a function of Haliburton and not sustainable without him. It’s kind of Monte’s core job requirements to project players so again the bad contract that he had to pay a first to get off of falls completely on him.

We had not traded Haliburton for Domas when we re-signed Holmes. We had no other viable center on the roster. He was still like 12m or something. There was plenty of reason to worry that he might be a slight overpay despite the consensus by most around the league and many on the forum that we were lucky to re-sign him, but there was no reason to suspect he would become so bad that we'd need to unload the pick.

However I don't think unloading the pick is that bad. A second rounder on a 2-way not killing your cap or roster flexibility in the G-League is one thing, a two year guaranteed contract player which is what all first round picks are in the G-League is something else entirely.

 

[Woot!]

If I could like this comment 100 times each day for the rest of my life, I would...

But, but, but... you CAN!

 

[Capt. Factorial]

I would argue Holmes production was a function of Haliburton and not sustainable without him. It’s kind of Monte’s core job requirements to project players so again the bad contract that he had to pay a first to get off of falls completely on him.

"Don't sign Player X because we might trade Player Y down the road" is a great way to end up with no players on your roster. I believe someone around here used to refer to the concept of "analysis paralysis"? Really, the only way to do things is to act, then if necessary, pivot. The action made sense at the time. The pivot made sense at the later time.

 

[chief bromden]

I would argue Holmes production was a function of Haliburton and not sustainable without him. It’s kind of Monte’s core job requirements to project players so again the bad contract that he had to pay a first to get off of falls completely on him.

Didn't he try to trade Fox instead of Haliburton?

 

[chief bromden]

Yep and O Max is shooting 42.5% on 5+ attempts from 3 in the G league.

OMax indeed had a nice year in the G league. Next year we will see if he can crack into the league with real impact. It would have been nice to have him in the background of this Kings team instead of players like Kessler Edwards but nothing or nobody is perfect.

 

[jiimbob]

I had been lenient with my criticisms of Monte, but now finding less reason to support him.
His good draft picks were pretty much no brainers, Davion made little sense considering our guards at the time.
The whole roll back last years squad and not making any significant move in February while Dallas found a way to improve.. but his seeing value in Huerter and the subsequent pick considerations is what gets me most.

Anyways guess theres the off season to reevaluate and improve but unless there is a significant free agent dying to come to Sacrament, not sure what he can get for what we’re willing to offer.

 

[jiimbob]

Didn't he try to trade Fox instead of Haliburton?

Some have suggested that but I don’t remember any serious trade conversations.

I like Fox more than Haliburton, but if a trade involving Fox for Sabonis had gone down recon we would be getting a little more respect and wins. We just don’t seem to have a NBA darling on this team.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Some have suggested that but I don’t remember any serious trade conversations.

I like Fox more than Haliburton, but if a trade involving Fox for Sabonis had gone down recon we would be getting a little more respect and wins. We just don’t seem to have a NBA darling on this team.

Haliburton wasn't an NBA darling on the Kings either. The team is not a darling. Fox would be a darling on another team.

There's a reason folks like Simmons would hype a Fox for Westbrook swap when Russ was a Laker. They want to see Fox and would love to have Russ on a team like Sac which makes their job of burying team and player easy.

 

[Kingster]

It's not inconceivable to think that there could be a very radical trade down the line with this team, say a Fox trade for example. OKC, Houston, New Orleans, and Utah all had major trades with veteran stars because at least in part they didn't want to be in the Chinese water torture of being in the middle for eternity. The Kings could be in the melodramatic race to stay out of the play-in and make the sixth or maybe the fifth (yeah!) spot in the West for years to come. Today, OKC and NO are better than the Kings. Houston is better head-to-head with the Kings and will soon be better in overall record, imo. And Utah has a ton of picks to vie for veteran talent and could be in the hunt for a play-in spot sooner than you think.

I've heard that fans are disgruntled because their expectations were too high for this team. That may be part of it. But I think many fans have caught on to the cruel reality that the Kings are in a race in which their speed may be gradually increasing (or not), but other teams like OKC, Houston and NO are rocketing past the Kings. (I don't want to even think about Portland). The Kings are actually going backwards relative to the competition, and without surplus trade capital where exactly do they get the fuel to catch up?

 

[pdxKingsFan]

New Orleans and Minnesota looked like they took huge steps backwards after big seasons two years ago
The biggest way to cripple a team long term is overreacting and making a rash, regrettable trade.

I know we haven't made perfect moves every time, so far I don't think we have done the above. Unless you are still pouting about Hali/Domas.

 

[dude12]

some of these proposed ideas being tossed out here most likely wouldn’t have moved the needle as long as Monk and Huerter injuries still happened. People here just dismiss these as inconsequential to the season. Aaaaaaaaand, the West is just as tough as they come and we are part of it.

Monte has done a good job. The process isn’t finished yet.

 

[SacTownKid]

So couple comments to your post:

1) Monte signed Holmes to that contract so it was bad asset management either way. Monte could have used the cap space like OKC to take on assets for picks but did not. I would argue poor use of cap space is one of the valid criticism’s of Monte

2) I think you also need to look at what forwards were available not what players between the two picks…. Monte has had good draft results but a valid argument is he over selects guards because the rest of the league will reach for long forwards. Monte has had limited success drafting at the forward/Center position with the exception of Keegan. That limitation has resulted in a team that lacks length.

Monte not getting rid of Holmes the moment he traded for Domas was the issue. I remember having arguments about how good of a combo at C they'd be. NO, you don't invest that much into a non-trendy position. In the end it cost a meh first so big whoop.

So far Monte selects mostly developed players. Even with this 2nd rounders. Smart for guaranteed and immediate results but obviously finding a star is questionable. GG Jackson wouldn't have had the same opportunity with the Kings but players like that are the steal potential types.

 

[SacTownKid]

It's not inconceivable to think that there could be a very radical trade down the line with this team, say a Fox trade for example. OKC, Houston, New Orleans, and Utah all had major trades with veteran stars because at least in part they didn't want to be in the Chinese water torture of being in the middle for eternity. The Kings could be in the melodramatic race to stay out of the play-in and make the sixth or maybe the fifth (yeah!) spot in the West for years to come. Today, OKC and NO are better than the Kings. Houston is better head-to-head with the Kings and will soon be better in overall record, imo. And Utah has a ton of picks to vie for veteran talent and could be in the hunt for a play-in spot sooner than you think.

I've heard that fans are disgruntled because their expectations were too high for this team. That may be part of it. But I think many fans have caught on to the cruel reality that the Kings are in a race in which their speed may be gradually increasing (or not), but other teams like OKC, Houston and NO are rocketing past the Kings. (I don't want to even think about Portland). The Kings are actually going backwards relative to the competition, and without surplus trade capital where exactly do they get the fuel to catch up?

That would have to basically kick off an entire rebuild I'd think. I mean, you'd be changing the one real star building block you have offensively. Domas is the backbone of the system but Fox is the weapon being used out on the battlefield. Monte has one potential opportunity for a partial reset around Domas and Fox in a few seasons, but it might have to involve another year of staying somewhat stagnant. That might be this summer considering the little wiggle room Monte might have with his cap. There is almost no justification to go into the luxury tax let alone into the first apron with this squad unless they really make some noise in the playoffs.

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

That would have to basically kick off an entire rebuild I'd think. I mean, you'd be changing the one real star building block you have offensively. Domas is the backbone of the system but Fox is the weapon being used out on the battlefield. Monte has one potential opportunity for a partial reset around Domas and Fox in a few seasons, but it might have to involve another year of staying somewhat stagnant. That might be this summer considering the little wiggle room Monte might have with his cap. There is almost no justification to go into the luxury tax let alone into the first apron with this squad unless they really make some noise in the playoffs.

We could accomplish it not by necessarily rebuilding, as you suggest, but rather by simply retooling.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Monte not getting rid of Holmes the moment he traded for Domas was the issue. I remember having arguments about how good of a combo at C they'd be. NO, you don't invest that much into a non-trendy position. In the end it cost a meh first so big whoop.

Yeah we should have pushed him into the Domas or Bagley deals. But is what it is. I don't think having a 20 something pick on a guaranteed deal benefits us this season. We had a lot of flexibility with Keon and Colby because they could contribute in their own way while going down to the G-League but not take up a roster spot if a trade opened up. As soon as one didn't Keon got a spot.

Monte picking more finished players will only be an issue if we are a late playoff team and not backfilling for development. Brown clearly seems to value the same type of guy.