Domas Sabonis named Third All-Team NBA
- Thread starter Tetsujin
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Ya know, they might be doomed regardless! It's a difficult time to rise up the standings out west. All they can do is try to add plus talent, preferably on the defensive side of the ball, refine their offensive approach, and commit to the full 48. If the Kings add a couple complementary pieces and eliminate some of those slippage games where they lose to bottom feeders, that alone may be enough to stay above the play-in line.
As for what catapults them into the upper echelon of the west? It's going to take a more creative mind than mine to figure that out. Keegan becoming a legitimate "third star" would go a long way toward achieving that goal, but that will require patience. Beyond that kind of in-house development, I don't yet know who the Kings could feasibly acquire that catapults the team into the title contender conversation.
And given the sheer brutality of the western conference, I would be satisfied if this iteration of the Kings competes in the playoffs every season, with a chance to make a conference finals if matchups/injuries break in their favor. I know a lot of Kings fans feel differently, and I understand the thirst for a championship, but I'm just happy that "my team" isn't a joke anymore.
As for what catapults them into the upper echelon of the west? It's going to take a more creative mind than mine to figure that out. Keegan becoming a legitimate "third star" would go a long way toward achieving that goal, but that will require patience. Beyond that kind of in-house development, I don't yet know who the Kings could feasibly acquire that catapults the team into the title contender conversation.
And given the sheer brutality of the western conference, I would be satisfied if this iteration of the Kings competes in the playoffs every season, with a chance to make a conference finals if matchups/injuries break in their favor. I know a lot of Kings fans feel differently, and I understand the thirst for a championship, but I'm just happy that "my team" isn't a joke anymore.
Bottom line and I've repeated it before is that this is where I'm at. Maybe it's because I have been a fan since day one. Maybe it's because I moved to Portland in the final year we made the playoffs and watched them rebuild multiple times while we were in a drought (their current situation seems pretty friggin pathetic though - perhaps they had fools gold in their 2019 WCF run much like ATL did with their ECF run and pushed chips in at the wrong time and then fired a coach because he wasn't a miracle worker - something we're all too familiar with).
But not being a national joke and not rooting for my team to lose before the all star break so we don't jeopardize our draft selection, seeing a Kings fan in Portland and giving a "light the beam!" instead of someone apologizing to me for my sad luck as a fan, those kind of things, they make this whole thing fun.
But not being a national joke and not rooting for my team to lose before the all star break so we don't jeopardize our draft selection, seeing a Kings fan in Portland and giving a "light the beam!" instead of someone apologizing to me for my sad luck as a fan, those kind of things, they make this whole thing fun.
If you remove the bogus, fragmented, injury-plagued 2019-2020 “bubble” season from the overall equation — what has AD really ever accomplished during the other 11 seasons he’s played?
The Pels made just 2 postseason appearances over his 7 seasons there, with the other 5 seasons consisting of just 27 to 34 wins.
Excuses were constantly made for him not having enough talent around him, despite being a #1 overall pick and “supposedly” a superstar.
He goes to LA with LBJ and in the 4 non-bubble seasons he’s been there, they missed the postseason once and were ousted in the first round twice. Even the WCF appearance they made last season they were SWEPT.
And let’s not forget all the above occurred with benefit of big market, storied franchise recognition and bias. Yet it’s still not enough (sans the NBA being hellbent on continuing then gifting LBJ a title during the Summer of 2020).
If AD isn’t a vastly overrated player, then I don’t know who qualifies.
The Pels made just 2 postseason appearances over his 7 seasons there, with the other 5 seasons consisting of just 27 to 34 wins.
Excuses were constantly made for him not having enough talent around him, despite being a #1 overall pick and “supposedly” a superstar.
He goes to LA with LBJ and in the 4 non-bubble seasons he’s been there, they missed the postseason once and were ousted in the first round twice. Even the WCF appearance they made last season they were SWEPT.
And let’s not forget all the above occurred with benefit of big market, storied franchise recognition and bias. Yet it’s still not enough (sans the NBA being hellbent on continuing then gifting LBJ a title during the Summer of 2020).
If AD isn’t a vastly overrated player, then I don’t know who qualifies.
Putting up numbers in Boston, LA, or New York counts for more than putting up numbers anywhere else. These awards are decided by media members after all. The joke of it is that these media members now have the power to dramatically impact player salary figures with these awards -- as if we needed another reason for stars to avoid small-market teams in free agency.
Checking the ballots, this same guy voted for Monk as the best 6th man and giving the 2nd and 3rd place to Alvarado (because of Spanish language???) and Jaquez (because of Spanish last name???), which could work well for Monk since Reid got zero points out of him. Only 2 more people didn't vote for Reid, one of them was Stan Van Gundy that we are unfortunate to hear in the playoffs, he went for Powell, Portis and McConnell instead.
I don't think I can remember any Lithuanian NBA player who was hell-bend over the max $$$. Maybe it all started with Arvydas Sabonis? He came to the NBA when he was 31+ years old, to make some extra cash before retiring for good. Since his health was almost nonexistent, any normal contract was enough for him. Lucky, Arvydas had a chance to really compete on the highest NBA level. Arvydas even kept his promise and played for his "Žalgiris" team when he was 40 and was named Euroleague MVP. Ilgauskas - injuries, injuries, injuries... I guess it formed a mindset that a decent contract is better than getting greedy and be left with nothing.
One more thing - most of the Lithuanian pro basketball players (NBA, Euroleague) invest their earnings smartly. That way the size of the contracts is not as important cause made money keeps making money. Šarūnas Marčiulionis had a hotel and a restaurant in a nice place in Vilnius, later invested in other real estate. Arvydas - has a nice hotel and restaurant in a sea resort town of Palanga near the Baltic sea and other properties. And the list goes on. Jonas Valančiūnas always signed a team friendly contracts. Domas - too. One thing brings a little smile to my face. Pacers signed Myles Turner after his rookie term expired. Next year was Domas time. Negotiations took a bit longer. Later we learnt that Pacers initially offered Domas less than Myles got. Domas draw the line - he will not sign with Pacers for even a penny less than Myles did.
Anyway, Domas does well. He has some endorsements and his parents are well off due to his father. Domas loves the game and he will never chase max $$$. For Domas most important thin is winning. I hope that will help Kings to build a real contender around Domas, Fox and Keegan. I hope, I hope, I hope...
One more thing - most of the Lithuanian pro basketball players (NBA, Euroleague) invest their earnings smartly. That way the size of the contracts is not as important cause made money keeps making money. Šarūnas Marčiulionis had a hotel and a restaurant in a nice place in Vilnius, later invested in other real estate. Arvydas - has a nice hotel and restaurant in a sea resort town of Palanga near the Baltic sea and other properties. And the list goes on. Jonas Valančiūnas always signed a team friendly contracts. Domas - too. One thing brings a little smile to my face. Pacers signed Myles Turner after his rookie term expired. Next year was Domas time. Negotiations took a bit longer. Later we learnt that Pacers initially offered Domas less than Myles got. Domas draw the line - he will not sign with Pacers for even a penny less than Myles did.
Anyway, Domas does well. He has some endorsements and his parents are well off due to his father. Domas loves the game and he will never chase max $$$. For Domas most important thin is winning. I hope that will help Kings to build a real contender around Domas, Fox and Keegan. I hope, I hope, I hope...