I think it’s very likely this current roster is not here after 2027. No reason to reach, have to go BPA regardless of position.
Are the Kings entering a rebuild phase?
- Thread starter Tetsujin
- Start date
I think it’s very likely this current roster is not here after 2027. No reason to reach, have to go BPA regardless of position.
Yes, but under the blow-it-sky-high premise we have effectively one proven long-term player - Keegan. We will trade all of those guards, or let them expire. We may keep Keon for the rotation, maybe Nique becomes something, but maybe not on both. We have to rebuild everything else. Gotta go BPA in that case, guard or not. Whoever BPA is.
QWERTYLICIOUS
Starter
So then who do you follow on the diamond?
BuddyBuckets
Bench
Ya Nique is a perfect modern day positionless player. I think the franchise likes him more than Keon, so I'd slot him as the starting 2 and Keon as the backup, he can easily play 3-4 spots in today's NBA.
As for Sabonis, I don't think he can be the rebuild vet. His game is too specific, and then we'd have to keep fitting players around what he likes to do. In a perfect world, the rebuild center is a rim running shot blocker. Sabonis also enjoys winning, you see how upset hes been just since last deadline. He won't be content floating through 20 win seasons. Opposite of someone like Zach who is just here to put up his numbers and W or L makes no difference.
Joshyjosh31
Starter
Two guards who aren’t creators you’re not winning without a lead guard or a wing creator. I’m taking brown and the kid from Virgina tech over Wilson and other foward’s not named boozer
Joshyjosh31
Starter
Preferably Keon/Carter are our bench guards on hood to great contracts with Nique starting, very unfortunate that at this stage in Keegan’s career we haven’t even tried him out as a number three guy. Hopefully there’s a way to snag Kuminga at the deadline and he could be plugged in as a long term wing next to Keegan
Defense should be a consideration as well. Caleb Wilson and Cam Boozer would have far more impact for us defensively than an elite lead guard would. Maybe that's not enough of a reason to pass on a Darryn Peterson or Mikel Brown, but it should at least be a consideration if we have the opportunity to choose. Picking another guard may mean going one more year without adding a plus defender at the 4 and 5 positions which given our experience with the Fox era is a situation that may be far more damaging than having mediocre playmaking.
BuddyBuckets
Bench
I still like Kuminga. My fear is if we did get a top 5 pick and drafted one of the forward. What does that mean for Kuminga? He isn't happy in a bench role in GS. If we trade for him and hand him the keys, what do you do if you luck into Boozer or AJ?
If all that happens, you have a very solid three-man rotation at the Forward spot. (By the by, Wilson would also fit into that same role.) If Kuminga doesn't want to come off the bench, he has to be better than one of the other two guys.
It's early, real early. But after watching one full game on Brown/Wilson/Dybantsa and like 1.5 games on Boozer (and of course looking at early season stats), I would not currently draft Brown over any of the prime F prospects. That is open to change, but right now I don't have him in that conversation.
Joshyjosh31
Starter
Defense needs to come later we need a lead guard or scoring wing get the all star then build around him. I don’t see a pathway for Wilson to be a number one or two guy on offense Brown can.
The only guy Kuminga would impact would be Boozer, with AJ or Peterson we’d be able to put them at guard and have elite length, size, and Athleticism starting AJ, Keegan, Kuminga together. With Boozer you just have to have Kuminga as a sixth man he would still play 30mpg by moving boozer to center, not a lot centers he’d have a problem with outside of Jokic
QWERTYLICIOUS
Starter
No it doesn't. It absolutely has to be one of the top, if not the top, priorities of this franchise moving forward if it wants to see any form of sustained success. And the team doesn't have to wait for its offense to develop before bringing in the defense. Ideally, if this can be done at the same time, it needs to be done at the same time.
Joshyjosh31
Starter
Ya if it can be done at the same time but we should not be taking defensive players over guys that can be lead players on offense we don’t have any. At the moment we have zero guys that have potential to be a first or second option on a good team. Wilson and ament don’t look like top two option players Brown might not be a strong defender but he can run an offense and at 6’4- 6’5 can be a passable defender I’d take that over wilson
QWERTYLICIOUS
Starter
Unless that player is one of the better defensive prospects in recent memory, then yes, I agree with you. I'd much rather gamble on a guy who is widely known to have massive potential on the defensive end over one who has potential on the offensive end, and then worry about placing offensive-minded pieces around that guy. But, if there is someone available who clearly fills a gap on the offensive end, and there are no earth-shattering, franchise-altering defensive prospects available, then, absolutely yes, you draft for offense.
Also guys like Boozer and Wilson are big enough to fill in at least part time at the C position and young enough that they might have another growth spurt still in them if we really want to be optimistic. They're roughly the same size as Sabonis right now, for instance, but both have higher athletic profiles that allow them to play above the rim and contest shots that Sabonis can't. Of course this is likely a moot point if we're not drafting in the top 5.
The way I look at it is that a lead guard may raise our competitive floor to the point where we are no longer in the top 5 where all of the two-way wings and forwards are found. Conversely, if we take that two-way forward PF/C in this draft then perhaps we continue to struggle finding consistent offense and will still be in the running for 2027 and 2028's top offensive players while starting to build a foundation for that type of player to flourish. The Kings have been dreadful on defense for almost the entirety of their non-playoff years despite having guys who meet the definition of "lead player on offense" in DeMarcus Cousins and DeAaron Fox for much of that time. We all saw the potential with the Beam Team group offensively (they were the #1 ranked offense that first year so how could you not) but Monte needed to find a way to elevate the defense before that team was a real contender and that will continue to be a necessity for the next group. If you're not top 10 on defense then you're borderline not really a contender.
I think we should stop thinking about this as if we only get one bite at the apple and need to nab our next superstar ASAP. It wouldn't hurt to think about the type of team we want to be before committing to our next potential franchise player.
QWERTYLICIOUS
Starter
When you say "type of team", are you simply talking offensive-minded vs defensive-minded? Or are you talking another level or two above that?
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
Very good draft but they are wrong about that Flagg comment. Flagg has been projected as a league face for some time. Flagg is still like 18, in a year or two I'm sure the league will be propping the guy up as the new LeBron. lol. How he does with it might depend on who his coach is. Kidd is totally still a guy that thinks he himself is the best player on his team. Not sure he's let the ego go yet.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
It depends on who the team is building around. 2 stars at other positions that you can run offense through and history says having a defender at PG/SG is probably wise.
Well, I guess I mean a level above. It's possible to be aggressive on both offense and on defense. Doug Christie has already given ample sound bites for what he envisions out of this team -- play aggressive defense, make them feel us, take pride in defending your basket, pick up all 94 feet, keep up the pressure for the full 48 minutes, etc. As I was watching the San Antonio game it seemed like every single Spur who came into the game was able to push our players around. Some of that is not surprising since we are a very small team right now but it's also a matter of mindset. San Antonio is doing all of the things that Doug Christie talked about and they're bringing that same level of intensity and physicality to the offensive end of the floor and our squad just wilted against them.
Which is to say, talking points only get you so far. If you want to have an aggressive physical team that intimidates the competition and is relentless in their application of pressure than at some point you really need to start drafting, trading for, and signing players who have that personality and the physical attributes to back it up. This has informed my draft preferences dating back to the Adelman era because we seem to have reached a ceiling back then of how successful you can be playing a largely finesse oriented game built around the structure of creative offense and that ceiling was losing in the Western Conference Finals.
Yeah and other than Keon, we have no idea if our current crop of young players are even NBA caliber players.
Keon has cemented himself as a backup 3&D player but no one else has shown that they have enough talent to stick yet. Still early of course but Carter hasn't really shown out much at all, especially offensively. He may be our best or second best perimeter defender but his offense may also be bad enough to land him in bust territory. I'd really like to see more from him, even if he isn't given a fair shake from Doug.
Hopefully the franchise is smart enough to give themselves the highest odds of landing in a spot where a wing is the BPA.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
I don't know, I've been watching Kuminga this season and the more I do I find myself agreeing with Kerr more and more. haha. He's still young but nothing about his numbers truly pops and when you cut out the big highlights and look at the whole picture he's a good player but probably not a legit star.
QWERTYLICIOUS
Starter
So is it safe to say that you prefer/enjoy to watch more defensive-minded teams than you do offensive-minded ones?
Or have I completely read way too much into your comments, and currently sit all the way out beyond the left field bleachers??? (It's perfectly fine if you tell me that I am way off...)
Joshyjosh31
Starter
Hamstring, ribs, now knee soreness just shut him down for a while jeez
sactowndog
Hall of Famer
I don’t disagree but you can get very good point guards later like Haliburton. Good forwards rarely slide
sactowndog
Hall of Famer
Plus we have a very good point guard locked up long term in Schroder.
QWERTYLICIOUS
Starter
meh...
sactowndog
Hall of Famer
I don’t. I found the baseball free agent system horrible. And know as I have gotten older and my eyes suck I went to a game at Fenway and struggled to see the ball. It was like why bother
sactowndog
Hall of Famer
I actually like Clifford and think he could be good. He is also an example of my point.