Monte McNair’s Trade Deadline Strategy

#10
This is what happens when Luke can't play CoJo anymore and is forced to roll with the likes of newly acquired Davis and Wright. And finally Barnes got a legit back-up in Harkless. Well done Monte for getting rid of Luke play favorite scapegoat.

Or did Luke just forced Monte's hand by playing CoJo too much for the FO to realize this is not a defensive guard he needed? Hmmmm. LOL
 
#11
Wright looks tentative on offense, but he has some great defensive instincts.
He's not the most gifted offensive player. In my experience watching him in the past, he always looks a little awkward on offense. He has a habit of dribbling to the baseline with no plan of what to do next. That said, he's a willing passer and a versatile defender. As a 3rd guard, I think he's highly valuable.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#13
I was so, so happy Monte picked him up. That dude is a legit sparkplug off the bench, with the potential for more.
Obviously the whole off-the-court baggage thing probably played into this but it is wild that a good GM like Masai unloaded Davis for a middling second round pick when (a) he’s a super cheap solid bench piece if you’re a team gunning for the playoffs and (b) he’s only 23, good, and you’re presumably on the verge of starting up a new rebuild for which you’re looking for as many young good players as possible. I mean, the kid was second team All-Rookie last year.
 
#14
Obviously the whole off-the-court baggage thing probably played into this but it is wild that a good GM like Masai unloaded Davis for a middling second round pick when (a) he’s a super cheap solid bench piece if you’re a team gunning for the playoffs and (b) he’s only 23, good, and you’re presumably on the verge of starting up a new rebuild for which you’re looking for as many young good players as possible. I mean, the kid was second team All-Rookie last year.
Seems like it must be an "off the court baggage" issue. Why give up a guy for a unknown 2nd rounder halfway through year 2 unless they are un-developable? I hope it wasn't simply a character issue, but if it was, I hope a change of scenery might inspire a change of character.
 
#15
I’m pretty happy with the additions the Kings made, although I did like Bjelica and Parker. Not going to miss Cojo too much, but he was okay for the Kings.
But these new players I think are just what we needed....lively players with some new looks offensively.
I feel good about Harkless being able to give Barnes a break.

I still can’t believe they are playing so well without the second overall pick from a couple years ago (Bagley). I just thought Bagley was going to be the heart of the team. Oh well, gotta move on. I hope they can get something for him in a trade someday. It’s kinda hard to see him fitting in with the team now, the way they‘re playing.

I’m nearly as perplexed with Jabari Parker. He was such a talent, and now he’s without a team. Oh yeah, and then there’s Demarcus Cousins. Still without a team. Go figure.

I guess the NBA is kinda like the Not For Long (NFL). It’s hard for players to have real long careers. Except for Rudy Gay, ha ha.
 
#16
I'm happy with Monte's winnings from the trade deadline. It improves our team for the playoff push. However, with the exception of Haliburton, I doubt that our youngsters are going to get any meaningful PT from this point on. And maybe that's OK if we get this playoff drought off our backs and the youngsters get a half season of first-hand exposure to a winning culture.
 

gunks

Hall of Famer
#17
I’m pretty happy with McNair.

Killed it in the draft with Hali, and all of his moves seem to be wins.

The roster he was given provided poor opportunity to make splashy moves, and with Vivek lobbying for a playoff push, I think his hands were tied on the “tear it down and tank” approach as well.

The real test comes this summer when we see what he does about Luke (despite the recent push, I think we could get a big upgrade at HC), how he approaches FA and the draft.

I’m cautiously optimistic!
 
#18
Let's be real though. He didn't really "kill" it in the draft. Pretty much the entire world agreed that Hali would be the pick. We got lucky that he dropped to us and how he turned out to be such a stud. I guess Monte deserves some credit for not "Vlade'ing" the pick and disagreeing with the entire world and picking somebody different.
 

SLAB

Hall of Famer
#19
Let's be real though. He didn't really "kill" it in the draft. Pretty much the entire world agreed that Hali would be the pick. We got lucky that he dropped to us and how he turned out to be such a stud. I guess Monte deserves some credit for not "Vlade'ing" the pick and disagreeing with the entire world and picking somebody different.
When your previous GM is Vlade Divac we can take one year of making the obvious pick to the rest of the world as “Killing it”.
 
#21
Let's be real though. He didn't really "kill" it in the draft. Pretty much the entire world agreed that Hali would be the pick. We got lucky that he dropped to us and how he turned out to be such a stud. I guess Monte deserves some credit for not "Vlade'ing" the pick and disagreeing with the entire world and picking somebody different.
Prior to the draft Hali was considered a top 5 pick. Yet, teams 6-11 still passed on him. Did they all pass on the obvious pick? Monte even mentioned that they looked into moving up to get him, but were able to stand pat and still get the player they wanted without giving up anything of value. You have to give credit were it is due.
 
#22
When your previous GM is Vlade Divac we can take one year of making the obvious pick to the rest of the world as “Killing it”.
Vlade just played the long game in this "fit" scheme by a) drafting poorly b) securing the #12 pick 2 seasons later and c) getting future endeavored masterfully netting us Hali and McNair. Now onto finding the next Adelman.
 
#23
I’m pretty happy with McNair......

The real test comes this summer when we see what he does about Luke (despite the recent push, I think we could get a big upgrade at HC), how he approaches FA and the draft.

I’m cautiously optimistic!
I don't like Walton BUT if they Kings make the actual playoffs not just play-in, I don't think that they can or would change coaches. It would be viewed as the Kings being Kangz again. I don’t think Vivek would sign off on that.

At that point I think you would have to give him another year and see if he can repeat when things have settled to whatever the new normal is.
 
#24
I don't like Walton BUT if they Kings make the actual playoffs not just play-in, I don't think that they can or would change coaches. It would be viewed as the Kings being Kangz again. I don’t think Vivek would sign off on that.

At that point I think you would have to give him another year and see if he can repeat when things have settled to whatever the new normal is.
It would be pretty funny if Walton was the first coach since Adelman to get the Kings into the playoffs.

If he does, I would be on board with him getting a billboard on I-80 of him flipping all of us off.
 
#25
Curious if anyone listened to Monte’s interview with @carmichealdave? It was a well done interview by Dave and he asks multiple questions about the Kings strategy. The answer was basically we want to keep all our options open.

The problem is that approach isn’t a strategy. Strategy is about making choices and it’s clear the Kings have not made any. It is the hallmark of Vivek’s regime and why this organization has been so bad. Even if I disagreed with him I would prefer he say here is what we will do and what we won’t do.

Here is a good article on strategy and choices.

https://www.google.com/amp/business...ng-Choices-Michael-E-Porter/24-05-2017-118791
 
#26
Curious if anyone listened to Monte’s interview with @carmichealdave? It was a well done interview by Dave and he asks multiple questions about the Kings strategy. The answer was basically we want to keep all our options open.

The problem is that approach isn’t a strategy. Strategy is about making choices and it’s clear the Kings have not made any. It is the hallmark of Vivek’s regime and why this organization has been so bad. Even if I disagreed with him I would prefer he say here is what we will do and what we won’t do.

Here is a good article on strategy and choices.

https://www.google.com/amp/business...ng-Choices-Michael-E-Porter/24-05-2017-118791
I could not disagree more. We’ve made choices, bad ones.

Bad GM hires
Bad Draft picks
Bad signing of older veterans that are replacement level players at best.

Now we have a GM, who has signed short term minimum contracts, traded for value players, has all his picks AND has the flexibility to operate as an over the cap or a cap space team. He very specifically stated that into the response about keeping Holmes. He said, and I’m paraphrasing, it’s a good thing the NBA allows transactions prior to the draft and free agency

I translate that as Buddy and Bagley are on the potential trade block.
 
#27
Curious if anyone listened to Monte’s interview with @carmichealdave? It was a well done interview by Dave and he asks multiple questions about the Kings strategy. The answer was basically we want to keep all our options open.

The problem is that approach isn’t a strategy. Strategy is about making choices and it’s clear the Kings have not made any. It is the hallmark of Vivek’s regime and why this organization has been so bad. Even if I disagreed with him I would prefer he say here is what we will do and what we won’t do.

Here is a good article on strategy and choices.

https://www.google.com/amp/business...ng-Choices-Michael-E-Porter/24-05-2017-118791
I'll have to watch the interview, but I highly doubt Monte is going to reveal his actually strategy to CMD or anyone outside of his circle for that matter. He is a tight lipped dude. All you get out him is generalities and buzz words like optionality. Some GMs/Executives will be super open and straight forward (Theo Epstein for example) while others say a whole lot of nothing in interviews.
 
#28
I'll have to watch the interview, but I highly doubt Monte is going to reveal his actually strategy to CMD or anyone outside of his circle for that matter. He is a tight lipped dude. All you get out him is generalities and buzz words like optionality. Some GMs/Executives will be super open and straight forward (Theo Epstein for example) while others say a whole lot of nothing in interviews.
Actually I think he was being pretty open about their approach. But listen and see what you think.
 
#29
The problem is that approach isn’t a strategy. Strategy is about making choices and it’s clear the Kings have not made any.
It most certainly is a strategy, whether you agree with it or not. The same way that choosing to not make a choice is in fact making a choice.

That said, I wouldn’t dwell too much on anything he says or doesn’t say. McNair strikes me a bit of being in the Geoff Petrie mold, although to a lesser degree. He’s not going to tell you what he’s going to do hence the blanket statements and cliches.
 
#30
It most certainly is a strategy, whether you agree with it or not. The same way that choosing to not make a choice is in fact making a choice.

That said, I wouldn’t dwell too much on anything he says or doesn’t say. McNair strikes me a bit of being in the Geoff Petrie mold, although to a lesser degree. He’s not going to tell you what he’s going to do hence the blanket statements and cliches.
Not making a strategy is not a strategy. It’s muddling. Most people who study strategy will tell you what you choose not to do is as important as what you choose. Again listen to the interview. I think he actually is refreshingly candid.