Huerter likely starting when cleared

[MelTurpin]

"Mike Brown says that Kevin Huerter is “close” to being ready to play.

Waiting on a green light from the training staff.

Brown adds that if Huerter gets cleared, he will likely start."

https://twitter.com/x/status/1848823506412442050

Dont think it would be a great plan to start Huerter and bench Ellis.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Kind of a weird way to to say it. If he doesn't get cleared for game 1, will he then not start when he comes back?

 

[SacTownKid]

Brown is predictable in that sense. If you are older/the incumbent, you have the advantage.

 

[whitechocolate]

I think it's the right move to start Huerter. He's a proven three point threat and fit, in a winning line up with Fox, Keegan, and Sabonis.

 

[sono]

I like Brown's strategy, start Huerter. If his 3 pointers make up for his defensive shortcomings, then be it. He deserves it, or else the bench. No one but to blame himself.

 

[iowamcnabb]

Well all that smoke ended up being fire. It says a couple things:

1) Monte and Brown believe our best chance of competing is an overwhelming offense with passable defense instead of middle of the road for both

2) They believe that good finish on defense at the end of the year was driven by the refereeing change more so than Keon

I get the decision but I’m worried about the bench. Our back up forwards are Lyles and McBuckets, having Huerter off the bench would have mixed up the skill set a bit more. I also think it’s possible Keon could be out of the rotation on some nights. Monks getting a ton of minutes and I think McLaughlin will play too.

 

[SacTownKid]

Well all that smoke ended up being fire. It says a couple things:

1) Monte and Brown believe our best chance of competing is an overwhelming offense with passable defense instead of middle of the road for both

2) They believe that good finish on defense at the end of the year was driven by the refereeing change more so than Keon

I get the decision but I’m worried about the bench. Our back up forwards are Lyles and McBuckets, having Huerter off the bench would have mixed up the skill set a bit more. I also think it’s possible Keon could be out of the rotation on some nights. Monks getting a ton of minutes and I think McLaughlin will play too.

Or, conspiracy side here, that building up Huerter as an asset is a priority. I mean, you don't go from desperately trying to include someone as value in a trade to THIS very often. Truth still is though, the 5 mans say what they say. The starting 5 man unit beats all. Then again, which one doesn't for almost all teams? All things become almost conclusive this season so get ready Kings fans!

 

[whitechocolate]

I get the decision but I’m worried about the bench. Our back up forwards are Lyles and McBuckets, having Huerter off the bench would have mixed up the skill set a bit more. I also think it’s possible Keon could be out of the rotation on some nights. Monks getting a ton of minutes and I think McLaughlin will play too.

I don't think you plug a hole in the front court bench by creating a hole in the back court rotation, by moving a player who is primarily a shooting guard. A rotation of Fox, Kevin, Monk, and Ellis, is legit.

 

[iowamcnabb]

I don't think you plug a hole in the front court bench by creating a hole in the back court rotation, by moving a player who is primarily a shooting guard. A rotation of Fox, Kevin, Monk, and Ellis, is legit.

I think Kevin can play back up 3, he did so in Atlanta and he is much beefier now. We will see how it works but we have an awful lot of usage in that starting unit. I know we can stagger some but that concerns me. Having said that, if Kev and Keegs can go back to the three point efficiency of 2 years ago the offense will be nearly unstoppable

 

[Caccia]

This is pretty much as I predicted. Weird, too.

If Huerter cannot play the first two games--he is very close, by all reports--and the starters with Ellis blitz both Minnesota and the Lakers, would Mike Brown reconsider? Naw, too radical.

I watched an interview today with Frankie Cartoscelli, who explains that if Monk were starting, the dropoff to the bench and the pressure on the players might be too great. I also learned that Malik will indeed "speak up" if the Kings are drifting into the New Year & he still has not been given a chance.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Or, conspiracy side here, that building up Huerter as an asset is a priority. I mean, you don't go from desperately trying to include someone as value in a trade to THIS very often. Truth still is though, the 5 mans say what they say. The starting 5 man unit beats all. Then again, which one doesn't for almost all teams? All things become almost conclusive this season so get ready Kings fans!

Further, they may not believe they are contender now, and assume the best way to get there is a trade that includes a starting Huerter that is playing well

 

[upinsmoke]

I don't like it.

 

[dude12]

What this would mean is Monk at the PG spot with Keon as his running mate. I don’t hate it at all

 

[NewArena]

I'm curious to see what Huerter is like with another bonafide scorer in the lineup like DeMar. I think this will take more pressure off of him to dribble or try anything outside of what he's actually good at

 

[NewArena]

What this would mean is Monk at the PG spot with Keon as his running mate. I don’t hate it at all

I don't hate the sound of that, especially when i think of the fact that they'll both likely play more minutes than Huerter on a nightly basis.

 

[dude12]

Listening to Coach Brown the other day, he was talking about Huerter draws defenders to him. He’s one of this guys. Klay, Reggie Miller, etc. Says defenders gravitate or start hedging to him because of the threat of the 3. Something that Keon doesn’t do even though Keon shoots a good percentage. This is where Brown’s thoughts are in regards to Huerter.

 

[SacTownKid]

Further, they may not believe they are contender now, and assume the best way to get there is a trade that includes a starting Huerter that is playing well

True, but if they don't truly believe they are contender, then moving one of Domas or Fox shouldn't be out of the equation. There is no package the Kings could offer that jumps them from pretender to contender at this point in all likelihood that doesn't include either. .

 

[SacTownKid]

Listening to Coach Brown the other day, he was talking about Huerter draws defenders to him. He’s one of this guys. Klay, Reggie Miller, etc. Says defenders gravitate or start hedging to him because of the threat of the 3. Something that Keon doesn’t do even though Keon shoots a good percentage. This is where Brown’s thoughts are in regards to Huerter.

Period. The 5 mans say that Huerter should be the starter at this point. Then again, the high end of success is 1st round exit/play in. So....

 

[The_Jamal]

Listening to Coach Brown the other day, he was talking about Huerter draws defenders to him. He’s one of this guys. Klay, Reggie Miller, etc. Says defenders gravitate or start hedging to him because of the threat of the 3. Something that Keon doesn’t do even though Keon shoots a good percentage. This is where Brown’s thoughts are in regards to Huerter.

Can't teach gravity, especially with the Heurter-Domas 2 man game being so lethal that every team knows we want to spam.

I don't see why that cant be effective in the 2nd unit where he'll get more shots and then you start the defensive dynamo that doesn't need shots, but hey. Im not an NBA coach

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Period. The 5 mans say that Huerter should be the starter at this point. Then again, the high end of success is 1st round exit/play in. So....

It only works if he is shooting well on the regular....and even then, is the defense decent enough to out score the opponent?

I'm not sure they even beat the Warriors in the home play-in game, had Keon not started and been matched up on Curry

 

[The_Jamal]

It only works if he is shooting well on the regular....and even then, is the defense decent enough to out score the opponent?

I'm not sure they even beat the Warriors in the home play-in game, had Keon not started and been matched up on Curry

Our starting 5 (Fox/Huerter/HB/Keegan/Domas) was one of the best 5 man units last season. Had like a +6 net rating.

So even if with Huerter's struggles, the starters were still dominant.

 

[Sac.Kings]

I don’t hate it. This decision was probably further cemented by our shooting woes during the preseason. Given that 3/5 starters operate in mid range or down low, I can understand having 2 threats from deep out on the floor with them.

 

[Kingz19]

I haven’t watched since the first preseason game. I try not to fill up on bread.

The results haven’t looked great on paper, especially from three. I don’t know how Ellis has looked.

Fact is, Huerter creates a lot of space.

When all else fails, one thing Huerter does well every game is run around the perimeter and create space. Thats even more imperative now that you added another prolific scorer.

Even last season when Huerter was a brick layer teams still didn’t cheat off him in the slightest which is why he always found himself back in the lineup despite not really playing himself back in statistically.

Keon obviously can shoot the three but his shots come from teams cheating off him. Most of the time the ball won’t get to him. Huerter creates a whole different action out there. Hopefully he’s due for a bounce back.

Defense will be what it is. We really need Fox to commit to another level on that end. He was good last year but with DeRozan here, Fox can focus even more defensively.

 

[Insomniacal Fan]

Subtext, Coach Brown understands and values off-ball offensive impact, i.e. modern NBA offense. This is heartening, and makes me want revise my predictions upwards.

 

[Caccia]

I haven’t watched since the first preseason game. I try not to fill up on bread.

The results haven’t looked great on paper, especially from three. I don’t know how Ellis has looked...

We really need Fox to commit to another level on that end. He was good last year but with DeRozan here, Fox can focus even more defensively.

Ellis played in all five preseason games and shot 29% from three. Fox hit 31.8% across four games.

I saw games 2-5 and thought Fox was very active, very committed on the defensive end. He and Ellis were the only guys at +/- 0.00 per 36 minutes in preseason. Everyone else had negative numbers. The closest to those two was Isaiah Crawford at -5.7 and it got worse from there.

 

[Caccia]

Ellis played in all five preseason games and shot 29% from three. Fox hit 31.8% across four games.

I saw games 2-5 and thought Fox was very active, very committed on the defensive end. He and Ellis were the only guys at +/- 0.00 in preseason. Everyone else had negative numbers. The closest to those two was Isaiah Crawford at -5.7 and it got worse from there.

I wonder how much the coaching staff takes into account individual +/- stats, either per game or per 36 minutes? The guys at the bottom, at -17 or worse, have all been waived or traded, except for McDermott, who only played one game, and Isaac Jones, already signed to a two-way contract.

 

[kingsboi]

Huerter has continuity with Domas, Fox and Keegan so this is not surprising. I'd imagine Ellis will eventually get an opportunity whether its from a Kevin slump or a trade later in the season

 

[SLAB]

Well that’s probably the most disappointing move of the offseason.

 

[206Fan]

Listening to Coach Brown the other day, he was talking about Huerter draws defenders to him. He’s one of this guys. Klay, Reggie Miller, etc. Says defenders gravitate or start hedging to him because of the threat of the 3. Something that Keon doesn’t do even though Keon shoots a good percentage. This is where Brown’s thoughts are in regards to Huerter.

Yeah I've been echoing this same sentiment since the end of last season.

Teams would have no issue doubling Fox, DeMar, and Sabonis in order to leave an unproven Keon wide open from 3pt all day. He's a 3&D guy, who's too passive of a shooter.

If we still had HB, I'd be all aboard the starting Keon train, but we have DeRozan who's almost a non-factor from 3pt. We have to roll our dice on Kevin and hope he can return back to form like his first season with us.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Our starting 5 (Fox/Huerter/HB/Keegan/Domas) was one of the best 5 man units last season. Had like a +6 net rating.

So even if with Huerter's struggles, the starters were still dominant.

That's good, but in my opinion this group has a higher ceiling with Keon over Huerter against contending teams and in a playoff series. But there again, I believe there's a good chance they are trying to build up Huerter's value for a trade. He's been announced as available since before the last dead-line