Fire Walton

[The_Jamal]

https://twitter.com/statuses/1367906344011898881

Behind the paywall, but essentially says that McNair is looking at the long-term and is not going to make knee-jerk reactions with their plan. SO refreshing having a GM who's looking 4 years into the future rather than one who can't plan 2 weeks down the line.

Sounds like Walton is safe through the season. Not ideal, but the only reason you'd can him is if he's lost the locker room. Which none of us actually know has happened or not.

 

[LPKingsFan]

https://twitter.com/statuses/1367906344011898881

Behind the paywall, but essentially says that McNair is looking at the long-term and is not going to make knee-jerk reactions with their plan. SO refreshing having a GM who's looking 4 years into the future rather than one who can't plan 2 weeks down the line.

Sounds like Walton is safe through the season. Not ideal, but the only reason you'd can him is if he's lost the locker room. Which none of us actually know has happened or not.

Yeah, there’s a lot in that article, on Bagley and Bjelica and on franchise finances too. Worth signing up for a trial if that’s still available for those who don’t subscribe.

 

[whozit]

Yeah, there’s a lot in that article, on Bagley and Bjelica and on franchise finances too. Worth signing up for a trial if that’s still available for those who don’t subscribe.

I enjoyed the read. The Athletic has quite a bit of content relating to the Kings also. Only reason I subscribed.

 

[kingsboi]

those sit downs with McNair during the All-star break could be his relieving but at the same time it could also be McNair emphasizing playing more youth over vets and then eventually he will finish the season out, which is what I would like to see done.

 

[Livinthedream]

That article gave a little more insight into Bjelica. Interesting that he kinda walked away.

The article also makes this feel like a full rebuild.

 

[whozit]

That article gave a little more insight into Bjelica. Interesting that he kinda walked away.

I can't say I really blame him. No one forced the Kings to pick up his option. And if memory serves me correctly, he was heading back overseas before Vlade convinced him to sign after he backed out of one contract.

 

[Livinthedream]

I can't say I really blame him. No one forced the Kings to pick up his option. And if memory serves me correctly, he was heading back overseas before Vlade convinced him to sign after he backed out of one contract.

I can understand the feelings, but he still has to show up. Imagine the reaction if some other Kings players pulled the same stunt?

 

[whozit]

I can understand the feelings, but he still has to show up. Imagine the reaction if some other Kings players pulled the same stunt?

DEF-COM 1 or is the larger number worse?

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I thought he had lost the team in the first losing streak but they seem to be playing hard after, including the second streak. But he is going to get someone hurt playing these playoff rotations for a full season.

https://twitter.com/statuses/1367906344011898881

Behind the paywall, but essentially says that McNair is looking at the long-term and is not going to make knee-jerk reactions with their plan. SO refreshing having a GM who's looking 4 years into the future rather than one who can't plan 2 weeks down the line.

Sounds like Walton is safe through the season. Not ideal, but the only reason you'd can him is if he's lost the locker room. Which none of us actually know has happened or not.

I'd been saying this all season, I hope its true. If you are a new GM and you have your sights set on a long term coaching prospect but the team is in the gutter, you do everyone a favor not bringing that guy in until the team is at least back on the sidewalk.

 

[dude12]

So....Bjelica basically got his panties in a bunch and didn’t want to play because of his role coming up

Before him, Bogie also was being a turd along with Buddy as their egos got in the way and both had to start instead of accepting a 6th man role.

Terrible optics for Bjelica being so selfish.

Cant wait til Bjelica is gone, not good enough to be doing things like this. Geez.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

those sit downs with McNair during the All-star break could be his relieving but at the same time it could also be McNair emphasizing playing more youth over vets and then eventually he will finish the season out, which is what I would like to see done.

maybe a mandate to start playing youth and stop "coaching for his job" get back to me in 3 days and say yes or get fired kinda talk?

 

[whozit]

maybe a mandate to start playing youth and stop "coaching for his job" get back to me in 3 days and say yes or get fired kinda talk?

Or giving him his goals and giving him three days to give written plan on how he is going to meet them. How many times have we seen Walton say something then not follow through? Get it in writing.

 

[SLAB]

So....Bjelica basically got his panties in a bunch and didn’t want to play because of his role coming up

Before him, Bogie also was being a turd along with Buddy as their egos got in the way and both had to start instead of accepting a 6th man role.

Terrible optics for Bjelica being so selfish.

Cant wait til Bjelica is gone, not good enough to be doing things like this. Geez.

That doesn’t sound right. Mark and Doug rave about what an amazing professional Bjelica has been every single time he steps on the floor.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Or giving him his goals and giving him three days to give written plan on how he is going to meet them. How many times have we seen Walton say something then not follow through? Get it in writing.

Three days to look at the tape.

 

[The_Jamal]

So....Bjelica basically got his panties in a bunch and didn’t want to play because of his role coming up

Before him, Bogie also was being a turd along with Buddy as their egos got in the way and both had to start instead of accepting a 6th man role.

Terrible optics for Bjelica being so selfish.

Cant wait til Bjelica is gone, not good enough to be doing things like this. Geez.

Lol, what an absolute clown. Dude is a solid role player... but that's it. He's not some bonafide playoff starter that's a core piece of a playoff team.

Let's take our 2nd round pick and move on.

 

[The_Jamal]

"While Walton’s seat does not appear to be hot at the moment, the cost of the coaches who came before him is seen by the team’s minority owners as part of his job security calculus. The Kings, who fired Joerger in April of 2019 with one season remaining on his four-year, $16 million deal, aren’t eager to continue their trend of paying for multiple coaches at the same time anytime soon."

@SacTownKid Here ya go from the conversation we had a week back. Ownership doesn't want to pay for another fired coach.

 

[jiimbob]

agree, play the youth and Im a happy fan. Hope Metu returns soon and gets a good run.
I haven’t read the Athletic article but appreciate McNairs quite approach and also want Bjelica gone.

 

[dude12]

McNair needs to find those good fits with Fox and Halliburton and whomever else is the core and players/vets who are willing to fill their secondary role effectively and not Overrate themselves as must start guys........especially when that’s not who they are.

Damn. Hang in there Fox and Halliburton

 

[hrdboild]

Sure paying fired coaches is expensive but you know what else is expensive? Paying DeAaron Fox $28 million next season while wasting an entire year of his development. I'm fine sticking with Walton till the end of the season cause there's really no way to conduct a proper coaching search right now but we can't enter the 21-22 season with Luke Walton as our head coach. That's just forest for the trees stuff. I don't know how much Luke is making a year but it can't be more than an average NBA veteran's contract.

 

[jiimbob]

McNair needs to find those good fits with Fox and Halliburton and whomever else is the core and players/vets who are willing to fill their secondary role effectively and not Overrate themselves as must start guys........especially when that’s not who they are.

Damn. Hang in there Fox and Halliburton

I think they will. Just to play the rest of the season alongside young guys, Woodard, DQJ, Metu.... instead of Joseph and Bjelica will make a world of difference regardless of wins or loses.

 

[SacTownKid]

https://twitter.com/statuses/1367906344011898881

Behind the paywall, but essentially says that McNair is looking at the long-term and is not going to make knee-jerk reactions with their plan. SO refreshing having a GM who's looking 4 years into the future rather than one who can't plan 2 weeks down the line.

Sounds like Walton is safe through the season. Not ideal, but the only reason you'd can him is if he's lost the locker room. Which none of us actually know has happened or not.

So nice to see the fire department sit idly by while the dumpster fire rages.

 

[SacTownKid]

Lol, what an absolute clown. Dude is a solid role player... but that's it. He's not some bonafide playoff starter that's a core piece of a playoff team.

Let's take our 2nd round pick and move on.

The dudes an impending free agent with his career on the line potentially. Any GM that puts himself in that situation and doesn't understand what even the most marginal role player will do just doesn't have it. Vlade was the same way. Duck his head and hope for the best as Bogdan walks for nothing clearly unwilling to help the franchise in any way while on his way out. Managing personalities and not creating a locker room in shambles is a lot of a what good GM's do.

 

[SacTownKid]

"While Walton’s seat does not appear to be hot at the moment, the cost of the coaches who came before him is seen by the team’s minority owners as part of his job security calculus. The Kings, who fired Joerger in April of 2019 with one season remaining on his four-year, $16 million deal, aren’t eager to continue their trend of paying for multiple coaches at the same time anytime soon."

@SacTownKid Here ya go from the conversation we had a week back. Ownership doesn't want to pay for another fired coach.

Then the franchise is screwed. I still don't buy a lot of it because this is nothing new and typical things that seem to leak out of front offices when the fire hits a little too close to home. These articles and news bombs are typically of the variety to give someone who might be under fire soon some cover. If there wasn't a plan when they paid out for Gentry then either there is some deep tie to Walton with ownership, as was rumored at one point, or then this is a ship lost at sea with no one on board. Which it is starting to feel like TBH. It's eerily similar to those last few years of the Maloofs but even so, they won't pay for this or that, yet they paid JT to be the next K9? Nah, it doesn't all match up and as soon as the dishes were done Petrie comes right out with the "My hands were tied". Well, you should have tied your hands prior to signing that JT contract that caused the Kings some serious headaches for the next man up. Financially what is the difference in paying Walton 2 years to go fishing then paying Nemanja Bjelica not too much of a difference to sit on the bench? It simply doesn't add up. Bottom line, if Vivek is forced to make moves based on previous mistakes and is willing to let his current GM hold the bag for the sins of the father, then this is going to head downhill in a hurry potentially.

 

[SacTownKid]

Sure paying fired coaches is expensive but you know what else is expensive? Paying DeAaron Fox $28 million next season while wasting an entire year of his development. I'm fine sticking with Walton till the end of the season cause there's really no way to conduct a proper coaching search right now but we can't enter the 21-22 season with Luke Walton as our head coach. That's just forest for the trees stuff. I don't know how much Luke is making a year but it can't be more than an average NBA veteran's contract.

If they didn't hire Gentry has a backup or a replacement option, then they don't know what they're doing. This is pretty much the guys recent career MO. To take over teams in transition.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

The way I see it is this. At best a coach can survive two years with a losing team. At best. But no coach is going to take the Kings job without a 3-4 year guarantee. So that's the real reason to ride out Walton - not because you don't want to pay him, but so you don't have to fire his successor and pay that guy. This team probably isn't winning this year or next.

 

[SacTownKid]

The way I see it is this. At best a coach can survive two years with a losing team. At best. But no coach is going to take the Kings job without a 3-4 year guarantee. So that's the real reason to ride out Walton - not because you don't want to pay him, but so you don't have to fire his successor and pay that guy. This team probably isn't winning this year or next.

Yeah, and that's the bed Vivek has made for being a total cluster F. Deal with it or deal out. You "learned" on the job and routinely got played by glorified Ivy league car salesmen while apparently learning nothing in the end. There are too many squeaky wheels going on here if the years of rumors lay somewhere in the middle. Minority owners have wanted him out. FO players have been hired over the only guy that appeared to have real power (Vlade) and it ended exactly like anyone with a shred of sense would expect. And instead of growing a pair they want to make excuses through media sources.

 

[hrdboild]

The way I see it is this. At best a coach can survive two years with a losing team. At best. But no coach is going to take the Kings job without a 3-4 year guarantee. So that's the real reason to ride out Walton - not because you don't want to pay him, but so you don't have to fire his successor and pay that guy. This team probably isn't winning this year or next.

This is a fair point. And my biggest fear is that we remain stuck in this purgatory for another decade because we're so worried about what we're paying the last guy that we try to hire a new coach who'll work for half price. If the price of getting a legitimate coach with a successful resume here is riding out the last two years of this Walton contract so the cupboard is bare once and for all so be it but there's no guarantee we'll like who's available in two years either. There needs to be some middle ground where getting the right coach for the job takes precedent over the financials. It's not like there's a bounty of playoff caliber head coaches available every off-season.

 

[SacTownKid]

This is a fair point. And my biggest fear is that we remain stuck in this purgatory for another decade because we're so worried about what we're paying the last guy that we try to hire a new coach who'll work for half price. If the price of getting a legitimate coach with a successful resume here is riding out the last two years of this Walton contract so the cupboard is bare once and for all so be it but there's no guarantee we'll like who's available in two years either. There needs to be some middle ground where getting the right coach for the job takes precedent over the financials. It's not like there's a bounty of playoff caliber head coaches available every off-season.

If Vivek hasn't learned from his own mistakes and isn't willing to sweep the previous mess out and get a fresh start, then the house will never be clean.
The biggest tell is the deadline. Perhaps, if it passes without sweeping change the players will buy back in under Walton. Now, you're still dealing with a team having to make up for one of the worst strategic coaches in the game but if they don't sink too much farther maybe, there is a shot at an 8 seed once the players know their positions are secure. Hence the "nose dive" comment from Amicks article. They think they can turn it around. They've shown they can but the odds are on Fox's shoulders basically. haha.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

This is a fair point. And my biggest fear is that we remain stuck in this purgatory for another decade because we're so worried about what we're paying the last guy that we try to hire a new coach who'll work for half price. If the price of getting a legitimate coach with a successful resume here is riding out the last two years of this Walton contract so the cupboard is bare once and for all so be it but there's no guarantee we'll like who's available in two years either. There needs to be some middle ground where getting the right coach for the job takes precedent over the financials. It's not like there's a bounty of playoff caliber head coaches available every off-season.

I don't think we were ever going to ride out more than this year with Walton unless he kept up that hot streak. No way Monte is taking the job without being able to pick his own guy - but just like a coach gets two years, a GM will get two coaching hires. So riding out one year with Walton also buys him a freebie year.

 

[SacTownKid]

I don't think we were ever going to ride out more than this year with Walton unless he kept up that hot streak. No way Monte is taking the job without being able to pick his own guy - but just like a coach gets two years, a GM will get two coaching hires. So riding out one year with Walton also buys him a freebie year.

The comment that is super interesting is the "unless a complete nose dive" happens or whatever it was. What the **** do they think has gone on at two entirely different points this season already? haha. To me they are just trying to control the narrative. Play both sides. "I can't really do it because of this" but if this or this happens in a vague way then expect it. On the surface it sounds like if he messes up then it's on him. Vivek is legit concerned about the PR of this. Dude lives in a bubble. Who cares, grow a pair and get your hands dirty. The deadline tells the story. Do they unload contracts to reset? Do they basically sit on it and see if they can make a run? Then if Walton fails make the change for a jump start to bust out late into the playoff race? That tag line comment certainly sounds like the latter.