Meh, the Masai aura has largely sorta worn off post-championship. His one bonafide hit was taking Scottie but aside from that, his whole “build a team of nothing but 6’8” guys” strategy backfired, he sorta bungled his top three players into leaving with minimal returns, and wound up trading like two lotto picks to the Spurs for Jakob Poeltl. There’s probably still a good GM in there somewhere but a lot of his moves feel like late tenure Geoff Petrie grasping at straws moves.
Welcome Jalen McDaniels
- Thread starter Capt. Factorial
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I'm sure Monte looked for ways to get out in a better deal. Unless he really likes Jalen McDaniels of course. Doubtful though. This just shows you how some of the Kings have devalued their assets through usage and positional stacking. This is why you don't do that. If you have players with limited upside and ones that should be playing now, send them out before you find an empty market. Hopefully Monte learned his lesson and gets something decent for Huerter, or Huerter and Barnes before the next round of please take my leftovers occurs. As is Barnes likely has a starting position. Huerter might have it on day 1, but it might be a short lived experience with Carter and Keon in wait.
And I think this is the complaint all fans have with the trade. We all expected a trade; we all wanted a trade. Unfortunately, we gave up two rotation level players (one of whom has a legitimate chance of being a useful long term piece on most teams) AND two second round picks for a guy who is unlikely to get much burn on a team looking for help at his position. I mean, even a disgruntled Sasha alone is better than Jalen and is also a forward.
I understand the trade was to save money, open a roster spot etc. I get all that. Just wonder if this was the best deal Monte could find. The speed with which he moved, wonder if he even bothered to explore other options/negotiate.
I understand the trade was to save money, open a roster spot etc. I get all that. Just wonder if this was the best deal Monte could find. The speed with which he moved, wonder if he even bothered to explore other options/negotiate.
Yeah, I've come full circle on this.
Assuming we actually do SOMETHING, this was done to facilitate the much needed shake up of the roster. Everyone complained about "we can't just run it back!" and this was a move to set up exactly that. I don't think anyone really believes we're just heading into next season as is.
-Sasha probably is a NBA rotation player, but we don't know that yet.
-Davion was only good the last 25 games of the year and was flat out unplayable until then.
We're talking about 9th/10th man type dudes, as much as I liked what Davion showed us at the end of last season. If this is the deal needed to go swing for Ingram, or Cam Johnson or sign a Naji/Obi/Jalen Smith? You don't worry a lick about getting off a Sasha or Davion type.
The only 6 that matter are:
Fox
Monk
Carter
Keon
Keegan
Domas
Everyone else and everything else should be expendable, even if there's a bit of a value loss on the deal. Go find the right 3 other pieces to put around these 6.
Assuming we actually do SOMETHING, this was done to facilitate the much needed shake up of the roster. Everyone complained about "we can't just run it back!" and this was a move to set up exactly that. I don't think anyone really believes we're just heading into next season as is.
-Sasha probably is a NBA rotation player, but we don't know that yet.
-Davion was only good the last 25 games of the year and was flat out unplayable until then.
We're talking about 9th/10th man type dudes, as much as I liked what Davion showed us at the end of last season. If this is the deal needed to go swing for Ingram, or Cam Johnson or sign a Naji/Obi/Jalen Smith? You don't worry a lick about getting off a Sasha or Davion type.
The only 6 that matter are:
Fox
Monk
Carter
Keon
Keegan
Domas
Everyone else and everything else should be expendable, even if there's a bit of a value loss on the deal. Go find the right 3 other pieces to put around these 6.
Yes, you are absolutely right. The GM of the year a year ago likely didn’t make a boatload of calls, check with his FO team, or do any research at all before pulling the trigger on this trade. 
Seems likely
Yes, you are absolutely right. The GM of the year a year ago likely didn’t make a boatload of calls, check with his FO team, or do any research at all before pulling the trigger on this trade.
Guess I was surprised with the speed and the low returns. Given that the FA was still a few days away, I guess waiting to see if something better landed was not unreasonable. Yes, I understand that that carries the risk of the Raptors moving on, and using their cap space to fleece some other team. I guess I'm just venting.
I get it. Right now it is frustrating. We traded away a couple of guys who are fringe backups/part-time starters (due to injury considerations) and a couple of second round draft picks for a "lesser" player and cap room. But hopefully the "GM of the year" is playing chess, not checkers, and something is coming down the pike to make this a positive. It may be a gamble or it may be something more. But either way, folks here have been clamoring for him to get off his ass and improve the roster. So let the man cook and see if that's what's happening before we skewer him (before FA even starts!).
By the way, he likely signed who he would have drafted in the second round anyways (given the speed of the signings) - so no harm, no foul on the picks (if you ask me).
Davion wasn't going to get much PT with our glut of guards and Sasha still hadn't cracked steady PT off the bench. I liked them both, but if this move brings in a solid rotation PF, it is what it is and hopefully the team is better for it.
By the way, he likely signed who he would have drafted in the second round anyways (given the speed of the signings) - so no harm, no foul on the picks (if you ask me).
Davion wasn't going to get much PT with our glut of guards and Sasha still hadn't cracked steady PT off the bench. I liked them both, but if this move brings in a solid rotation PF, it is what it is and hopefully the team is better for it.
I’m fine with it. The idea of stacking depth beyond 8-9 guys just kills you long term. You only have 240 minutes each game, and most good teams aren’t reliably playing more than 9 guys. To be investing huge resources beyond those 9 guys is counterproductive.
To me, the ideal roster construction is 4 main guys earning about 120 minutes per game (roughly 30 each) and 5 secondary guys earning the other 120 minutes (roughly 24 each, give or take). Then you add a small contract gunner/momentum changer who may or may not play (think Terrance Davis), 2-3 vet minimum/culture guys who know they are only going to play if injury/foul trouble, preferably a PG, center, and wing (think guys like Delly, Len, McGee, Brewer) and 2-3 young development guys on small deals.
HB and Huerter seem like Tier 2 guys, miscast and mispaid as Tier 1 guys. If you can consolidate them for a Tier 1 guy you do it. Sasha could be a Tier 2 type guy if he plays better, but you don’t need him and Lyles. Davion might be a tier 2 guy but Carter seems the better prospect.
Before the trade, you had
Tier 1- Fox, Domas, Keegan
Tier 2 - HB, Huerter, Monk, Keon, Lyles, Davion, Sasha, Carter
If (and a big if) you can consolidate some of the Tier 2 guys into Tier 1 that makes way more sense from a roster build perspective.
Tier 1 - Fox, Domas, Keegan, Ingram
Tier 2- Monk, Keon, Carter, Lyles, free agent wing
young guys- Colby, Crawford, Jones, Boogie Ellis, Slawson.
Sign a couple vet min guys. the only downside to me is losing the Portland pick. Outside of Colby and Crawford we are a little weak in the young development guys, but overall I’m much happier with the structure of roster 2.
To me, the ideal roster construction is 4 main guys earning about 120 minutes per game (roughly 30 each) and 5 secondary guys earning the other 120 minutes (roughly 24 each, give or take). Then you add a small contract gunner/momentum changer who may or may not play (think Terrance Davis), 2-3 vet minimum/culture guys who know they are only going to play if injury/foul trouble, preferably a PG, center, and wing (think guys like Delly, Len, McGee, Brewer) and 2-3 young development guys on small deals.
HB and Huerter seem like Tier 2 guys, miscast and mispaid as Tier 1 guys. If you can consolidate them for a Tier 1 guy you do it. Sasha could be a Tier 2 type guy if he plays better, but you don’t need him and Lyles. Davion might be a tier 2 guy but Carter seems the better prospect.
Before the trade, you had
Tier 1- Fox, Domas, Keegan
Tier 2 - HB, Huerter, Monk, Keon, Lyles, Davion, Sasha, Carter
If (and a big if) you can consolidate some of the Tier 2 guys into Tier 1 that makes way more sense from a roster build perspective.
Tier 1 - Fox, Domas, Keegan, Ingram
Tier 2- Monk, Keon, Carter, Lyles, free agent wing
young guys- Colby, Crawford, Jones, Boogie Ellis, Slawson.
Sign a couple vet min guys. the only downside to me is losing the Portland pick. Outside of Colby and Crawford we are a little weak in the young development guys, but overall I’m much happier with the structure of roster 2.
As I said after the trade, I'm not going to get upset until I see what else happens this offseason. But I get why people are upset.
I watched a video of Sasha's highlights from last season a couple days ago. It was only a few minutes long of course, but you could see the quick release, the cutting, the overall craftiness and I imagined him adding scoring punch off the bench. Maybe playing alongside Lyles in a small ball lineup and overlapping minutes with Domas.
But in reality it wasn't likely to happen. He would probably struggle on defense again and get sporadic minutes next season too. As for Davion, he was almost certainly gone as a FA next summer. Drafting Carter just made that even more likely.
EDIT: And now it turns out Sasha is leaving the NBA entirely.
That the Kings had to pay to dump their salaries really hurts. But you're right, we can't complain about McNair running it back and then also complain we he makes moves that give him the tools to reshape the roster.
If he doesn't USE those tools (or does a poor job using them), then I'll get upset. For now I'm going to wait and see.
I watched a video of Sasha's highlights from last season a couple days ago. It was only a few minutes long of course, but you could see the quick release, the cutting, the overall craftiness and I imagined him adding scoring punch off the bench. Maybe playing alongside Lyles in a small ball lineup and overlapping minutes with Domas.
But in reality it wasn't likely to happen. He would probably struggle on defense again and get sporadic minutes next season too. As for Davion, he was almost certainly gone as a FA next summer. Drafting Carter just made that even more likely.
EDIT: And now it turns out Sasha is leaving the NBA entirely.
That the Kings had to pay to dump their salaries really hurts. But you're right, we can't complain about McNair running it back and then also complain we he makes moves that give him the tools to reshape the roster.
If he doesn't USE those tools (or does a poor job using them), then I'll get upset. For now I'm going to wait and see.
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Why is everyone saying we sent 2 2nd round picks in the Davion trade?
From what I see on ESPN and other sites, it says we sent 1 2nd round pick (#45 this year) in the trade.
https://www.nba.com/news/raptors-kings-jalen-mcdaniels-davion-mitchell-trade-2024-nba-draft
From what I see on ESPN and other sites, it says we sent 1 2nd round pick (#45 this year) in the trade.
https://www.nba.com/news/raptors-kings-jalen-mcdaniels-davion-mitchell-trade-2024-nba-draft
The official release includes the player picked at 45 and the 2025 second.
https://www.nba.com/kings/news/sacramento-kings-acquire-jalen-mcdaniels
https://www.nba.com/kings/news/sacramento-kings-acquire-jalen-mcdaniels
Here is the official Toronto Raptors press release, published yesterday afternoon:
https://www.nba.com/raptors/news/raptors-complete-trade-with-kings
It clearly says the trade includes this year's second-round pick at #45, Jamal Shead, and one second-round pick for 2025.
https://www.nba.com/raptors/news/raptors-complete-trade-with-kings
It clearly says the trade includes this year's second-round pick at #45, Jamal Shead, and one second-round pick for 2025.
I have no idea what you're talking about. Yeah, I'm all for BPA, then clearing a path for them to play, or getting out when it's clear they don't have one BEFORE they tank in value. If there is an obvious lack of opportunity I'm all for BPA then moving them sooner than later. Kind of like Monte did with Hali. Go check my posts if you're specifically talking about Davion. I was saying to get out last deadline and I think maybe even before. Situations when unworkable are pretty easy to spot. Like Fox, Hali, and Davion in the first place. Now, if Hali were a legit 2 guard, and Davion had actual size to steal minutes in a 3 guard lineup that would work also. That wasn't it though.