Yeah, there's a lot up in the air for sure. But honestly, pretty much any plan, whether rebuilding, or surrounding a team around LaVine/Domas should and needs to include massive minutes for Devin and Keon. If we want to make that offensive pairing work, the defense of those 2 and Keegan need to be in the lineup as much as possible.
Friar
- Thread starter Tetsujin
- Start date
Yeah, there's a lot up in the air for sure. But honestly, pretty much any plan, whether rebuilding, or surrounding a team around LaVine/Domas should and needs to include massive minutes for Devin and Keon. If we want to make that offensive pairing work, the defense of those 2 and Keegan need to be in the lineup as much as possible.
Yeah keeping him pigeon holed to ensure they can squeak into a play in game and get embarrassed on national TV again is probably not going to be the best plan moving forward.
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
the thing is they “need a point guard” according to Domas and Scott. Let’s say you sign a starter this offseason. One of Keon or Devin is likely to be getting 15 minutes or less unless you move Monk.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
And that would be peak Kangz. Devin, this is your summer young man. Elite athletic ability, the ability to go right or left off pick and roll, this isn't some usual thing. Don't screw this up Kings.
I mean... Devin is a PG isn't he?
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
the team doesn’t seem to see him as a lead guard. I don’t think he is an elite facilitator or anything but I think he could do the job as a secondary facilitator if Domas is your primary. If not, we will be entering Keon vs Devin territory where one of them is not long for the team
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
Devin is more of a combo G, which hopefully the Kings realize is pretty much every single PG in the league right now, lol.
Elektrik
Starter
Ouch! I thought we didn’t mention his name…
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
yeh. How about use the triple double machine to drive the offense? Domas has a plus handleand is 6’10. Sure he can do the dhos but he can distribute on the elbow too. There has to be an offensive coordinator out there that can maximize his and others skillsets. Im watching Joker right now. They give him the ball at the top of the key. If they sag off he shoots the three. Domas can do that too. If they press up he shoots darts. Simple basketball.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
The only issue is Domas kind of outed himself when he said they needed a PG. For Domas to be that guy, he should have come out and said, "I am that guy". Maybe it means nothing but that kind of sent the alarms off in my head. Fox ended up being the same type of player in the end.
ShastaKingsFan
All-Star
He's never viewed himself as a lead option. Part of why he has turned down so many open shots
twslam07
All-Star
I’m not necessarily disagreeing, but Sabonis takes longer to wind up his shot than Joker which makes it easier for his man to sag off and still get a good contest. Also, I could be wrong, but Sabonis seems to be much more bothered by a contest on his jump shot; whereas, I’ve seen Joker knock down plenty of 3s with a hand right in his face.
Again, I think there are definitely opportunities for him to take more 3s (especially if he speeds up his release). The guy has shot 39.7% from 3 over the past 3 years on 1.5 3PA (41.7% from 3 on 2.3 3PA this past season). I think the coaching staff needs to empower him to shoot more. If he can shoot 38%+ on 4-5 3PAs, that will do even more to open up our offense and it should make it easier for Sabonis to take his man off the dribble since they’ll be more hesitant to give him space.
Jdbraver137
Bench
I’m not gonna lie, the shoulder is a concern.
Telemachus
Starter
It is most likely scar tissue. Breaking up scar tissue from a surgery hurts and can take awhile to get rid of.
Caccia
Starter
Interesting.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
If it isn't structural it's just going to be nuisance and from what Carter said the other day it's just a pain thing mostly. Back in the day they would just cortisone all the pain away but we know now that's not good because it wrecks your joints.
Jdbraver137
Bench
IMO he would make a great sixth man
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
It starts with local media. They all wrote him off before he stepped on the floor. All of them are non supporters outside of maybe Nunez.
It’s interesting that fans love Keon and generally don’t like Devin. The only thing I’m sure he will be better than Devin at is shooting. Scoring, rebounding, ball handling, passing and defense are all things that Devin has a higher ceiling on. Now maybe he doesn’t get there but it’s on the table.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
Many didn't like Keon at first either, more than a few said he wasn't an NBA player. This is what happens when people look at summer league for stats rather than what a player looks like under the completely unhinged circumstances of their first summer league experience. For those watching Carter was getting almost ALL of the opposing teams pressure on defense. Early on Clifford didn't, the last few games he did. How'd he look those last two? He ended things looking like less of a PG than Devin did. All in all both looked fine for where they are at IMO. Jones showed out and part of that is also that bigs who play closer to the rim have a serious advantage since the hardest part of summer league is getting the ball up and moving. Finishing within 5 feet is still finishing within 5 feet.
sactowndog
Hall of Famer
Devin problem is right now he has two paths but isn’t really there for either path. He could be a credible 3 and D type player but his lack of length limits him some and he has to make 3’s consistently. Or he could be a primary ball handler but his decision making isn’t great.
He is not a finished product but currently he is stuck in the middle.
On draft day there were rumors (probably credible) that we were trading the pick for a big wing. Then when it was announced he was injured and wouldn't start, it doubled down on hate for drafting a guy that couldn't help us win right away. Then Brown gets fired and Fox demands out, so fans projected all that hate onto him. It's not really fair at all, especially if he turns into a reliable player. There is certainly reason to question why Monte picked him when there were players that could have fit our immediate needs that have looked good in their rookie season but you can't blame Devin for that.
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
Yeh I think you could make the argument that Devin was the most likely playoff contributor of the guys projected to go in his range. Knecht is bigger but can’t play defense. Ware had a good rookie season but isn’t good at defense yet and is getting his work ethic questioned (in public) just like he did in college and high school. Ryan Dunn was in my final three but his offense in college was like Dillon Cardwell.
As Vecenie said, the swing skill is going to be the shooting. If you are a guard you have to make 35 percent of your threes or you are a fringe rotation piece at best. I’m hoping we keep him, certainly don’t want him shipped off for nothing. I could live with the Kuminga deal because at least that is an upside bet.
I wanted to buy back into the draft to draft Dunn but I was well aware of his offense. Makes you wonder if we invest in Cardwell at all can he give anything on that end. By the final summer league games he was at least getting stuff at the rim after looking like an instant TO early.
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