HB IS BACK

That's a solid 9 man rotation. Add Kessler, and there aren't a lot of minutes to go around for any player we might sign (not getting a major piece with the money we have left; could be via a trade though). We are very weak at the 5 spot though. Unless Neemy is ready to step up big time, we will need an added player there. Lyles played well, but is undersized.

The West is actually quite big at that spot. Some of the players at the 5 spot are
Jokic
Gobert
Nurkic
Kessler
Davis
Ayton
Adams
Valanciunas
Wemby

We were really lucky with injuries last year. Can't rely on that again. We need a solid backup at that position, or hope that Neemi is ready.
I still wouldn't mind a trade for Valanciunas if the Pels need to dump him. Back up C solved, no long term money, and he and Domas could play together some as they did on the national team. Other than that, if they bring back Lyles, I really hope the other C spot is either if not both of Queta and Stephens. Stephens has a legit shot on the team I think.
 
Excellent news, well earned contract. Coach Brown wants him no one else should really be all that sour about this, but I suppose you cant make everyone happy. Never bought for a second any rumors saying the Kings wouldn't bring him back.

"Dance with the one who brought you"

Just because he shot 24% from 3 in the playoff series doesnt mean thats what will keep happening, this is a safe bet. He obviously keeps in terrific shape and looks lean as he always did, so I'm not all that worried about him slowing down due to age. He looks exactly the same to me after all these years, like appearance wise he doesnt look like he's aged 11 years in his time in the NBA.

I like the idea that with more experience and chemistry built already that we'll see an uptick from that alone, and when your talking some of these other PF options for us, its not always guys like Barnes who can be patient and wait to step up when its his time to hit big shots, as he did for us in the regular season, some of the other options are more high volume types that could shift our shot distribution possibly in an unhealthy manner.
By the way, what was the three point percentage of our
other players in the payoffs? I still have the impression that we lost because nobody could hit threes. Not because of defense.
 
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AL in CAL surely doesn’t have any evidence to back up his claim thus the reason he didn’t provide any. It just is true because he said so, apparently.

The facts bear out that HB is and has been the superior player YET some people are whining about HB making 18M while being ok with the idea of handing an inferior player 25M.

Talk about being disconnected from reality.
 
there is no question the Warriors were worn out after our series. I don’t think that happens if they played a different squad than up round one but who knows. As far as the comparison to Denver? They have had years together under the same coach vs one for us. Sure Fox/Barnes have been together for a minute but the starters as a whole have been together just the one year
If you are worn out after a series, you probably aren't a contender. You certainly are going to have a tough time as the postseason goes on. The Warriors were a 6th seed and the next series they looked it. Next year might be different for them, maybe not. Right now I don't think anyone as of this moment is using them as the measuring stick for ultimate success. Even if they should be considering their very up and down nature as a contender they aren't.
 
If you are worn out after a series, you probably aren't a contender..
Not many teams have played at the pace the KINGS did last season nor as efficiently. That’s precisely why their offense was statistically among the best ever.

Then factor in that the Warriors are an aging team that won the title the season before and has a lot of wear and tear from a decade of deep postseason runs.

Then also factor in that Steph, Klay and Wiggins missed a lot of games due to various injuries and weren’t necessarily in top form.

So, your characterization is omitting a lot.

Fact is, this same Warriors team were defending champs. So to say they “probably aren’t a contender” is beyond flawed.

There were numerous factors that led to a different outcome than the season before and the KINGS wearing them out due to their style of play was among them.
 
Again, we find out tomorrow what's up but the idea would be what else could they have gotten for that pick. A salary dump is a salary dump. Salary dumping to bring your own team back isn't necessary from a competitive standpoint.
But it is from a long term team building perspective. Have you read the new CBA? Because I certainly have not. But I do know it’s now not as simple as claiming an owner is cheap for not wanting to pay the luxury tax. There is a reason teams like the Hawks are shedding players like Collins for nothing. The team has to be smart with their finances or you **** things up for years. I haven’t done the calculus, but I’m pretty confident the team is fully aware of how much Holmes’ salary was going to screw with their ability to both keep the core of the team together as well as make improvements.
 
I think the pushback you're seeing is because the Kings look like they might be "running it back" with the same core that lost in the 1st round playoffs. Everyone else in the Western Conference seems to be adjusting and improving their rosters. The Kings finished with the 3rd seed last year, but the West was historically injured. Only 5 games separated the Kings from the Suns, Clippers, Warriors, and Lakers. But keep in mind, all 4 of those teams had their star players miss a third of the season.

I think it would be a disappointment to have the same exact roster from last year. I don't think you could even peg us in as a guaranteed playoff team next year.
OKC, Dallas, and Pels weren’t far back either. All had players out serious time and added lottery draft picks.

Dallas didn’t have Kyrie for more than 1/3 of the season and just added the 12th pick and top center…

OKC didn’t have Chet Holmgren all year and added Casen Wallace 10th pick…

Zion missed a bunch of the season and the Pels added Jordan Hawkins 14th pick

and San Antonio added supposedly the next Lebron James
 
By the way, what was the three point percentage of our
other players in the payoffs? I still have the impression that we lost because nobody could not threes. Not because of defense.
Our defense was quite good in the playoffs. Mike Brown even commented on it after the season saying that it shows we can play really good defense when we want to, we just have to want to do it every game.
 
OKC, Dallas, and Pels weren’t far back either. All had players out serious time and added lottery draft picks.

Dallas didn’t have Kyrie for more than 1/3 of the season and just added the 12th pick and top center…

OKC didn’t have Chet Holmgren all year and added Casen Wallace 10th pick…

Zion missed a bunch of the season and the Pels added Jordan Hawkins 14th pick

and San Antonio added supposedly the next Lebron James
here is the list of injury days…

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/injured-reserve/2022/
 
For all the cap experts are there:
I thought we could go over the cap to re-sign HB, but it seems like the HB contact will be counted as existing salary. Is that correct?
 
I'm still with you! Though I think Monte will roll with the roster we had last season plus maybe Sasha Vezenkov and Jalen Slawson. Barnes had a bit of a down year by his standards and Keegan should continue to improve so I do think we can expect the team to be better next year even without a big addition. Continuity for the core guys could also lead to improvement on the defensive end. I also think Huerter and Barnes will continue to be available on the trade market for the length of their deals so it's in our best interest to keep them on the floor and give them every opportunity to outperform their contracts.
Honestly, I don't see a place for any of the rookies on the main roster. Haven't seen them play other than some highlights, but doubt SRPs make the main roster for a team looking to make a deep run, even if it is short on wings. Would be very surprised if either of these guys can outplay Kessler as of now.

I do think Neemi makes the main roster. We clearly need someone at that position, and we have extended him a QO. He's done everything he can in the G-league. He now needs to play on the main team, or be moved. Unless Monte signs someone with the remaining cap, or bring back Len/Metu, it's Neemi's position to lose. I'm assuming we bring Lyles back, but I don't expect him to spend too much time at the 5.
 
true but someone has to guard those 2-3 wings. That is our problem!
Not this year (perhaps not even next, given the kind of money invested in Barnes), but I was hoping that Keegan will move to 4, and we will have someone else starting at 3.

We might still go and get someone to play backup 3. Else, it's more likely going to be Sasha, and potentially more of Kevin and Edwards.
 
Its around the price for solid NBA starter.

Huerter is at $16m, Bojan Bogdanovic is around $17m plus a lot of similar level players. MLE is at $12m these days and that doesn't get you a solid starter in most cases.
We actually don't need a starter. We shouldn't get one either, unless it's someone who is willing to take a back seat. That's not very common.

Else, you are paying starter money to a backup, and often creating friction. What you really hope is that you sign a backup, who outplays his contract (and potentially even the starter), allowing you to move the starter.
 
Anyone has any news of KZ?

Wonder if we should consider him? I know he was extremely underwhelming last year, but there were probably some injury issues. Plus, at the start of the season, he was the starter, and he was not ready for that role.

Now, if he is brought on, he'll be a backup. He's known for his defense, is familiar with Brown's system, plays a position of need, and will come quite cheap. So basically, he ticks all the boxes. If Brown has any confidence in him, we can probably consider him. Perhaps a non-guaranteed contract.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
For all the cap experts are there:
I thought we could go over the cap to re-sign HB, but it seems like the HB contact will be counted as existing salary. Is that correct?
We could have gone over the cap but as of now we are still well under the cap.

We could not have signed other players before Barnes however because Barnes was taking up 27-28million in cap space. By re-signing him first, we opened up $10 million in cap space. (the other option was relinquishing our Bird rights to re-sign him over the cap, so if we wanted to keep him it made sense to sign him first)
 
Not many teams have played at the pace the KINGS did last season nor as efficiently. That’s precisely why their offense was statistically among the best ever.

Then factor in that the Warriors are an aging team that won the title the season before and has a lot of wear and tear from a decade of deep postseason runs.

Then also factor in that Steph, Klay and Wiggins missed a lot of games due to various injuries and weren’t necessarily in top form.

So, your characterization is omitting a lot.

Fact is, this same Warriors team were defending champs. So to say they “probably aren’t a contender” is beyond flawed.

There were numerous factors that led to a different outcome than the season before and the KINGS wearing them out due to their style of play was among them.
It was this teams first trip to the postseason as a unit and I thought they were competitive. Ultimately, our young 48 win team lost in 7 games to a 44 win team who have also won 4 (5?) Championships in the last however many seasons. Feel that those who go on and on about us being poor have some kind of agenda.

I don't think anyone here would argue we don't need to improve. If anything, the many disagreements on the best way to improve show that there is no one single approach or no one model of logic available.
 
Sportrac has HBs contract as 12.25% of the cap. Without knowing/ caring too much about how much other people get paid, that seems like a reasonable % given his role.

What do people think happens next? Resign Lyle's and sign a better backup 5 e.g., Plumlee?

Sign PJ Washington or Grant Williams? Btw if we end up with PJ Washington the guys who have been throwing up PJ trade proposals for the last 3 years better show some gratitude. :cool:
 
I have no idea where the thought process come from in trading away an extremely promising young defensing specialist and developing point guard who continued to show great improvement last year... for cap space in a mediocre free agent market stacked with players that play the position of our All-Rookie first team draft pick who just broke the three point record for rookies.

I'm open to being enlightened!
The thought process is to trade for a better player.
 
Not sure why people are against this? The team we have now took us to the playoffs for the first time in a LONG time. Why not keep them together a couple years to see how much we can improve? The team obviously has great chemistry so why ruin it after the first year? HB signing is just fine by me.. The people that want him out are the same people who want to rebuild this current team as if we were still losing. We're not losing anymore, and HB will help us get to the next level. The championship is in the air right now. I think we have a legit shot of winning if we keep our team together.
This. Not saying everyone should be in love with Barnes but the doom and gloom is odd, considering the way our offseasons used to turn out.

 
By the way, what was the three point percentage of our
other players in the payoffs? I still have the impression that we lost because nobody could hit threes. Not because of defense.
Of the players in all seven games, the best were:

Murray 37.5%
Fox, Monk, Lyles 33.3%

No one else shot over 26%.

It's safe to say that Golden State's defensive strategies worked like a charm.
 
Honestly, I don't see a place for any of the rookies on the main roster. Haven't seen them play other than some highlights, but doubt SRPs make the main roster for a team looking to make a deep run, even if it is short on wings. Would be very surprised if either of these guys can outplay Kessler as of now.

I do think Neemi makes the main roster. We clearly need someone at that position, and we have extended him a QO. He's done everything he can in the G-league. He now needs to play on the main team, or be moved. Unless Monte signs someone with the remaining cap, or bring back Len/Metu, it's Neemi's position to lose. I'm assuming we bring Lyles back, but I don't expect him to spend too much time at the 5.
I would be surprised if they don't bring back Len.....I think Brown was on to something with his defense, Came in and showed exactly some of the glaring deficiencies in Sabonis game.....Sabonis interior defense is sub-standard. Monk and sometimes Fox were looking for him. Bring him back on the cheap and get him better involved.
 
OKC, Dallas, and Pels weren’t far back either. All had players out serious time and added lottery draft picks.

Dallas didn’t have Kyrie for more than 1/3 of the season and just added the 12th pick and top center…

OKC didn’t have Chet Holmgren all year and added Casen Wallace 10th pick…

Zion missed a bunch of the season and the Pels added Jordan Hawkins 14th pick

and San Antonio added supposedly the next Lebron James
I wonder about Wembanyama......injury risk is a big problem for his absurd length.....knees and ankles. He looks like an injury waiting to happen on one undercut from a guard going under him.....
 
I wonder about Wembanyama......injury risk is a big problem for his absurd length.....knees and ankles. He looks like an injury waiting to happen on one undercut from a guard going under him.....
Of any of the giants who've entered the NBA I'd think Victor looks like the least likely to be injured tbh.. because of his exceptional body control / balance.. He moves like a basketball player not a giant, a big part of why he was so obviously #1..

Once upon a time star baseball player Sammy Sosa sprained his lower back while sneezing. Injuries happen its a part of the game.

Lets not forget that Kareem Abdul Jabbar was a legit 7'2 and productive in his 40's in the NBA, he's a far more appropriate comparison point than some of these people just purely focused on height, where they end up comparing the Tacko Falls and Boban's to Victor because of height alone, when most of the giants (7'2 and above) who enter the NBA its strictly for bench duty / 3rd string C, Victor's here to do damage it's apples and oranges comparing him to 3rd stringers.