List of potentially realistic star forward trade targets:
• Paul George - Heavily rumored to be leaving, although he’s been linked with Philly.
• Brandon Ingram - Rumors of Pelicans splitting apart the BI/Zion duo this summer.
• Mikal Bridges - Nets may move off of him to get some draft capital back to get their rebuild going. Would come at a big price though, he’d be coveted by a lot of teams.
• Lauri Markannen - If Utah wants to fully buy in on the tank and cash in on his value, they nay do it this summer. Not sure it’s likely though.
• Julius Randle - If NYK makes a trade for a big star, Randle may be moved to make room. Would probably be the worst fit for us of all the options.
I think Ingram is the most realistic of the options, and I believe he’s a FA in 2025 so may not be as steep of a price. I’d package the 2024/2028/2030 picks plus a swap or two if they want, and fill the salary necessary in. It’d be a risk, but the Kings are at a point where they will need to take some type of risk to solidify themselves as a regular Playoff team.
List of potentially realistic star forward trade targets:
• Paul George - Heavily rumored to be leaving, although he’s been linked with Philly.
• Brandon Ingram - Rumors of Pelicans splitting apart the BI/Zion duo this summer.
• Mikal Bridges - Nets may move off of him to get some draft capital back to get their rebuild going. Would come at a big price though, he’d be coveted by a lot of teams.
• Lauri Markannen - If Utah wants to fully buy in on the tank and cash in on his value, they nay do it this summer. Not sure it’s likely though.
• Julius Randle - If NYK makes a trade for a big star, Randle may be moved to make room. Would probably be the worst fit for us of all the options.
I think Ingram is the most realistic of the options, and I believe he’s a FA in 2025 so may not be as steep of a price. I’d package the 2024/2028/2030 picks plus a swap or two if they want, and fill the salary necessary in. It’d be a risk, but the Kings are at a point where they will need to take some type of risk to solidify themselves as a regular Playoff team.
Re: The very first sentence in your post (and the one I've placed in bold text)...Can we now admit this was an absolutely massive blunder? Like, how in the world did last year’s performance make anyone believe this team was going to make forward progress? As many predicted, the team didn’t live up to their previous heights. Other teams got better. We got less healthy. Essentially an entire year was punted on the hope chemistry and internal growth was the key to a massive leap forward.
Monte needs to earn his goodwill back in big time this offseason. There needs to be big time changes. He’s hamstrung by the pick not conveying. He’s hamstrung by the cap. It’s not going to be easy. He pushed his chips in with this team for some reason, and they are not close to it. Imagine the nightmare scenario Monk gets the bag from someone else?
We have a foundation with Fox and Sabonis. But they need big help to be a contender. Is Keegan really going to be that guy? This season was not inspiring, I have faith but not necessarily third-star faith.
You’re the award winning GM, Monte. The ball is in your court. The seat isn’t hot yet, but when it’s said and done there’s a very possibly chance we look at the “RUN IT BACK” offseason might be where it began to crumble down. I want him to prove me wrong. I want to be more invested next year. I want to feel passion for this team.
Get out there and do your thing.
Kings have their own balance issues. One option might be we sign Monk and let him start and Trade Fox for BI and 3 or 4 NO picks.
it’s risky but it gives you a much better fitting roster. I would also offer the Monk Sabonis 2 man game is much better than the Fox Sabonis 2 man game.
Never ever ever ever would have seen this thread coming. You made it a point to show how ambivalent you were to this team all year, yet now you're trying to take a victory lap? Whatever man
What's always lost on me is these sort of idea threads never really show what we should have done differently? What was the solution that was an actual realistic play we could have made?
The two moves I would have changed is the 24 pick for cap space to ink Domas (although I do get it) and I would have thrown the HB money to Grant Williams. But again, who knows if Grant Williams was even an option? The pick for cap space was in our control though, so I that is something you could knock Monte for and count as a loss for him.
This season wasn't a total loss, but the I think ultimately Monk and Huerter's injurys; both of whom were focal points of our offense, did us in here down the stretch. Keegan drastically improved, we found our future starting 2 in Keon Ellis and Davion Mitchell proved he's a real NBA rotation player.
Gotta get Monk back and have to repackage Huerter and HB into something else this off-season. Those are the three points I'll be looking for this off-season to consider it a "success" or not. At least 2 of those 3 need to get done.
I don't see how McNair is going to catch up to teams like NO, OKC, Houston and others who have much more trade/draft capital than the Kings and are improving at a faster pace than the Kings. Essentially, it seems he's left to do more with less (than other teams), which is a daunting and risky proposition. How many times has a GM been able to parley low 1st round picks and 2nd rounders into a powerhouse? Denver pulled the Joker out of their hat, but wow, that's a very low probability event. So, yes I'm confident the Kings will improve, but no, I'm not confident they will improve at a faster rate than the competition. Monte may have to go in a radical direction. Otherwise the Kings could be like a Portland who had a great player in Lillard (and also CJ), but accomplished nothing over many, many years.
Do you think that would get you past OKC, Houston and NO next year? Retaining Monk is status quo. So the only variable is "turning Heurter and Barnes into something else." Do you think the "something else" can be major enough to beat OKC, Houston and NO next year? Keep in mind that those aforementioned teams are also looking to get better next year. They won't be this year's teams. They will most likely be improved versions of this year's teams, and with trade/draft capital exceeding the Kings, they could be much better.
I’m fine moving off of a few of these guys, but Monk needs to be brought back. Only guy other than Fox that 1. Doesn’t wilt under pressure and 2. Can actually create his own shot
you left out San Antonio with Wemby and Memphis getting healthy….. OKC, Houston, Memphis, San Antonio and NO all tanked and drafted for length. Two things Monte refused to do and all will likely add talent this year.
Realistically who will be better than us next year.
Very Likely
Minnesota: Minnesota loses no one Gobert and Conley getting old …. 27th pick
Denver: Everyone back plus 28
Dallas: Everyone back Kyrie and Hardaway old Lively and Hardy will get better plus Luka
OKC: 1st seed youngest team ever plus 12
Possibly better and rising
New Orleans: Val free agent, CJ old: core Zion, Ingram, Murphy, Jones plus 16 - 20
Memphis - Morant, JJJ, GG Jackson, Bane, Smart as a core plus 7
Houston: Van Vleet, Brooks, Adams. Getting old but core of: Sengun, Green, Thompson, Eason Whitmore plus 9.
Possibly better hanging on:
Pheonix- Old how long hold on
Lakers - Old how long hold on
Clippers- can they keep team
Probably worse:
San Antonio: Wemby Vassell + top 4
Golden State: old no pick
Portland: Scoot and Shaedon. Should have tanked harder.
Utah: Kessler +8, +29
Seems like we are pretty destined to be in the play-in no man’s land which pretty much aligns with Monte’s keep all options open strategy.
This team is at its ceiling. Only fix options are trading for a third star at the cost of Murray and our remaining depth, or a compete tear down of probably everyone aside from Murray. This team has too many flaws. Minor improvements and/or possibly bringing in another quality starter are not going to raise the ceiling as much as we need it to.
sports too unpredictable to have things mapped out like this. Doesn’t take into account any internal improvement, Kings can win the lotto/draft an impactful player or trade for one, players demand trades, injuries, etc
Lol that's been said the last 20 years.And Utah and Portland won't stand still either. Utah has a lot of draft capital and Ainge will be looking to use it to get better.
Lol that's been said the last 20 years.
The Mavs weren’t a playoff team last season then drafted OMax. Now look at them! #MONTEMCBUMMonte blew it apparentley by not taking OMax….hahahahahaha. What the heck are we doing here?
Danny Ainge has a gimmick and that gimmick is hoarding draft assets and doing juuuuuust enough to get mentioned in trade rumors to satisfy his fan base until those assets start depreciating value.They said the same thing about the Kings a couple of years ago. I wouldn't dismiss any of them.
That'll be sad if they came back next year with the same roster. If they can trade Barnes, Mitchell and Huerter for someone like Kuminga, GPII...i'll be a happy man.
while I tend to agree let me give you two stats that might indicate if you squint real hard and say a prayer…..
catch and shoot 3%
Keon Ellis - 42.4 on 2.1 attempts versus Kevin Huerter - 34.9 on 4.1 attempts
Kessler Edwards - 40.4 on .9 attempts versus Harrison Barnes 38.2 on 4.0 attempts.
Kessler is a restricted free agent the Kings would like to keep cheap so maybe that’s why they didn’t play him as much.
but if he and Keon can up their attempts and keep their averages, add a forward with our pick Salaun? …. We might have a higher ceiling than we thought
Similar "Gimmick" in OKC. How's that working out?Danny Ainge has a gimmick and that gimmick is hoarding draft assets and doing juuuuuust enough to get mentioned in trade rumors to satisfy his fan base until those assets start depreciating value.
also players not wanting to go to Utah is a legitimate thing.
I’m fine moving off of a few of these guys, but Monk needs to be brought back. Only guy other than Fox that 1. Doesn’t wilt under pressure and 2. Can actually create his own shot
sports too unpredictable to have things mapped out like this. Doesn’t take into account any internal improvement, Kings can win the lotto/draft an impactful player or trade for one, players demand trades, injuries, etc
If we're being honest with outselves Ainge is probably one of the better GMs out there, so I don't get the critism either. Traded for Garnett and Ray Allen to win a championship. Made the bold move to draft Tatum over Fultz when Fultz was the consensus #1 pick. Drafted Jaylen Brown. Robbed the nets by trading away Garnett and Pierce while their value were still somewhat high. Jury is still out on him with his stint with the Jazz, but he did trade for Markennen with a lot of cap space and draft assets to work with still.Similar "Gimmick" in OKC. How's that working out?
Like keeping Kessler Edwards is going to make a difference?
Obviously, injuries to Monk and Heurter hurt. And since the Kings already owe a #1 pick to Atlanta, for Heurter-that the Kings seem to want to get rid of-we have more problems getting better. And to re-sign Monk, it will take a bundle.
Biggest mistake was that the Kings had 40 mil available to sign a big free agent, last off-season. That was the time to make a big splash. Instead, they ran it back by extended Domas and Barnes. This was the one opportunity to add a player, that could really make a difference. I actually think that Vivek made this decision, rather than Monte.
Accordingly, this is the Kings level for the foreseeable future. One piece of good news is, I think the Warriors are in worse shape.