Balancing the First and Second Units
- Thread starter Jdbraver137
- Start date
he actually makes me a bit nervous. 4 years left on his deal after this season and he plays around 60 games each season. A 7 footer with back problems is probably not my first choice. It’s not a hard no for me but I’d have to see what a deal looks like. There aren’t a ton of playoff caliber teams that can match his salary and have a need
The offseason trade that continues to make so much sense for both teams is Demar for PJ Washington. Dallas is clearly in a win-now situation, and has explicitly said their window is a title in the next 2-3 years. Demar fits perfectly in that window, and he balances out their starting lineup nicely. Lively/Gafford along with AD, Demar, Klay and Irving is very solid. The center and AD more than cover up the weakness of the wing defense, and Klay, Irving, and AD provide sufficient spacing on offense to allow Demar to cook in the midrange. A total win now move for Dallas.
And we finally get to balance out our lineup. PJ is a perfect 4 to play alongside Domas. Plus, the added benefit is that it pushes Keegan to a full time 3. We suddenly go from undersized and soft at the wings, to big and defensive minded. The lineup also has tons of shooting, with PJ, Keegan, Domas, Lavine and Monk all being capable and willing shooters. Plus, if you add PJ to the lineup, you can still manage the Lavine and Monk egos by letting them start and bringing Keon off the bench. The bench doesn't have a ton of scoring, but it is tough as hell, long, and super defensive minded. Imagine this lineup next year:
Domas/JV
PJ/Lyles
Keegan/LaRavia
Lavine/Ellis
Monk/Fultz/Carter
And we finally get to balance out our lineup. PJ is a perfect 4 to play alongside Domas. Plus, the added benefit is that it pushes Keegan to a full time 3. We suddenly go from undersized and soft at the wings, to big and defensive minded. The lineup also has tons of shooting, with PJ, Keegan, Domas, Lavine and Monk all being capable and willing shooters. Plus, if you add PJ to the lineup, you can still manage the Lavine and Monk egos by letting them start and bringing Keon off the bench. The bench doesn't have a ton of scoring, but it is tough as hell, long, and super defensive minded. Imagine this lineup next year:
Domas/JV
PJ/Lyles
Keegan/LaRavia
Lavine/Ellis
Monk/Fultz/Carter
Yeah, that ain't the list and for the most part you'd be rearranging deck chairs while actually reducing your own timeline. You certainly don't want to shoot your shot this early if you're Monte. Wait and see what happens, build, develop, etc. The Kings starting line up is what it is, and for anything to remotely change with this roster it starts and ends there. Just like it did with Fox. They replaced him immediately when trading him essentially, now the other things are what matters. Draft well, develop youth, hang onto your picks, and see what works with your squad and a way forward and what opportunities might arise at some point.
Complete list of players wanting to come to Sacramento:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What started out as an effort to seek ideas on balancing the current first and second units has morphed into a full fledged fantasy trade fest. The roster is set for this season, folks. It's akin to searching for prospective brides at the altar. Now, we're fantasizing about possible divorcees.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What started out as an effort to seek ideas on balancing the current first and second units has morphed into a full fledged fantasy trade fest. The roster is set for this season, folks. It's akin to searching for prospective brides at the altar. Now, we're fantasizing about possible divorcees.
Last edited:
Complete list of players wanting to come to Sacramento:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What started out as an effort to seek ideas on balancing the current first and second units has morphed into a full fledged fantasy trade fest. The roster is set for this season, folks. It's akin to searching for prospective brides at the altar. Now, we're fantasizing about possible divorcees.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What started out as an effort to seek ideas on balancing the current first and second units has morphed into a full fledged fantasy trade fest. The roster is set for this season, folks. It's akin to searching for prospective brides at the altar. Now, we're fantasizing about possible divorcees.
So turning our attention back to the roster we have for the rest of the season, I guess I look at it more from a long term perspective. I think there are many reasons to leave the starting and closing lineup as is (Monk, LaVine, DeRozan, Murray, and Sabonis), but unfortunately, among that list of reasons, none of them include winning more basketball games this season…
- We increase our odds of keeping our 2025 1st (which would be a lottery pick) since that lineup has shown to not be that effective thus far
- We keep Monk, LaVine, and DeRozan “happy” heading into the offseason where you inevitably need to trade at least one of them. I’d rather be in a position of trading a player who is happy/content vs. a player who might be publicly upset about coming off the bench and/or not closing out games. It should help us in negotiations (or at least not hurt us).
- And by keeping all of them “happy,” it allows us a longer runway to gather more data to see which guys we should keep/move forward with the following season. For example, if we decide to bench Monk for Ellis now, we risk Monk becoming upset and/or asking out (which also likely lowers his trade value on the market), but as the season goes on and we gather more datapoints, maybe we realize that we’re much better when our backcourt is Monk/Ellis vs. Ellis/LaVine. Well did we already burn that bridge with Monk considering he’s upset about being initially benched/not closing games? Are we now forced to move Monk after realizing he’s the better fit, long term piece for us?
- You might keep Ellis’ price tag down when it comes time to resign him. Heading into the offseason, I expect that we will decline Ellis’ option making him a RFA (vs. allowing him to become a UFA the following offseason). If Ellis is not starting and closing games, perhaps we can get him on a slightly better long term deal.
In general, keeping the lineup as is seems to give us more flexibility in the long run in how we want to build the roster while potentially improving our assets (keeping the 2025 1st and getting Ellis on a better contract).
I know it’s frustrating because it’s glaringly obvious that Monk, LaVine, and DeRozan is not going to work long term, but I think it’d be best for our future to keep it as is (until we get to the off-season obviously).
Would Christie call Monk, DeRosen, and LaVine into his office to have a man-to-man-to-man-to-man conversation about balancing the team? That is, prioritizing defense.
Would he ask if anyone of them would be willing to come off the bench to improve the team? Might any of them say yes? Is it even a necessary modification?
If they all said no, does he have the authority, power, and courage to make a decision about who becomes the 6th man? What assurances would he have to concede to a guy(s) that has to sit?
All questions, no answers.
Would he ask if anyone of them would be willing to come off the bench to improve the team? Might any of them say yes? Is it even a necessary modification?
If they all said no, does he have the authority, power, and courage to make a decision about who becomes the 6th man? What assurances would he have to concede to a guy(s) that has to sit?
All questions, no answers.
