iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
I trust Doug’s decision making to the Max. If he believes in the rook, Raynaud he can do it.
Keegan Murray tears UCL in thumb. Out 4-6 weeks
- Thread starter Tetsujin
- Start date
Jdbraver137
Bench
Well now we have 0 defense. Time to tank. VIVEK THIS IS A SIGN!
Joshyjosh31
Starter
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
I think this is the way to go. This could be a great way for him to solidify himself and in a round about way would help solidify DC's rotations if it works.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
Nique has moments of good physical defense. Watching summer league and so far in preseason he's going to struggle when switched onto quicker players. He's kind of on the average side in terms of lateral mobility. Against bigger guys he's done pretty well strength wise but the size has been an issue.
Jdbraver137
Bench
His shooting is terrible and he is a bit undersized. I honestly think Cardwell has more potential, if you are going with a non-shooting big.
IJ is a huge wing, what?
He's a small big, but we've been trying to turn him into a wing for sure
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
He’s got a 7’3” wingspan as a wing/forward. What about that is undersized?
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
He’s also only small as a big because he’s got a short neck because all his other measurable are all comparable/upper percentile for a big
twslam07
All-Star
And a 9’0” standing reach. Size & length is definitely not his problem.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
I'm not sure how much spacing is going to hurt the Kings. Unless they really start finding an identity soon this is going to be a team heavily relying on LaVine and DeRozan early anyway so getting to the rim might not be a big issue. Kind of an is what it is thing. If the spacing becomes an issue then make a change, but I'm not sure there is going to be one from what we've seen in preseason. Once DeMar starts gobbling up shots it's going to be iso regardless.
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
He can also jump out of the gym. In hindsight, it’s baffling that the man only made it to the NBA because his friend made him come with him to a JuCo tryout.
There's a difference in IJ being a bad shooter and Cardwell not really knowing if he's going to hit the rim or not on anything outside of 3 feet.
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
I’m choosing to look at this glass half full: most of us don’t expect this team to be top 6 so we are going to get a 10-20 game look at guys like Nique, IJ, Devin and Max.
If things go poorly, we can blame it on Keegan being gone. If he comes back and we still suck we will likely be in a position to pivot into a younger more future focused team. If he comes back and we are good, that tells us just how valuable he is. If we somehow perform well without him, that likely means one of our young pieces is a difference maker.
No matter what he is still in a position to play 60 games for us this year.
If things go poorly, we can blame it on Keegan being gone. If he comes back and we still suck we will likely be in a position to pivot into a younger more future focused team. If he comes back and we are good, that tells us just how valuable he is. If we somehow perform well without him, that likely means one of our young pieces is a difference maker.
No matter what he is still in a position to play 60 games for us this year.
Caccia
Starter
Coach Christie plans to experiment in light of this unfortunate event.
“In my opinion, you have to listen to your players sometimes, as well. I think we need to let it all play out, give guys opportunities to put their best foot forward, see the rhythm of what they’re doing — not only on the offensive end, which is a big part of it, but more importantly, for me, on the defensive end — see what they do, and (how the other starters) will communicate with you.”
https://sactownsports.com/59223/kings-keegan-murray-opportunities-christie/
“In my opinion, you have to listen to your players sometimes, as well. I think we need to let it all play out, give guys opportunities to put their best foot forward, see the rhythm of what they’re doing — not only on the offensive end, which is a big part of it, but more importantly, for me, on the defensive end — see what they do, and (how the other starters) will communicate with you.”
https://sactownsports.com/59223/kings-keegan-murray-opportunities-christie/
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Yeah, most of us wanted developmental time to be a priority this season and while it took an injury to make it happen, all of a sudden there's 34+ MPG that opened up in the rotation. Particularly for IJ and Maxime, this could be their big opportunity to carve out NBA careers with strong showings. Particularly for IJ, this is his time to shine. Go beat out Saric and prove your an NBA player. The runway could not be any more open.
The results on the floor are simply just going to be awful. Keegan held this defense together with duct-tape last season and there was significant drop-off every time he was off the floor. The one bright-spot, hopefully is we look at this team on Dec 1, with a hopefully healthy Keegan and that someone steps up with the opportunity and carves out a rotation spot.
kingsfan101
Starter
I would just start and give majority of these minutes to Keon, and move up both Lavine and DDR.
Does that make us excruciatingly small and worse defensively at 3 and 4? Obviously. However, it also opens up more minutes for one of our best 2-way players, and improves the defense at 2 significantly. Addresses our guard overload to some extent, opening more minutes for Monk and Carter.
Nique is a rookie. He has to prove himself in a meaningful game. Too early to start him. He'll get his spot minutes. Same with Maxime, IJ, and Cardwell. We were expecting rookies to spend most of the season in Stockton anyway. This opens up some potential minutes for them, but no need to shaft Keon, Devin, and Monk to allot minutes to rookies.
Does that make us excruciatingly small and worse defensively at 3 and 4? Obviously. However, it also opens up more minutes for one of our best 2-way players, and improves the defense at 2 significantly. Addresses our guard overload to some extent, opening more minutes for Monk and Carter.
Nique is a rookie. He has to prove himself in a meaningful game. Too early to start him. He'll get his spot minutes. Same with Maxime, IJ, and Cardwell. We were expecting rookies to spend most of the season in Stockton anyway. This opens up some potential minutes for them, but no need to shaft Keon, Devin, and Monk to allot minutes to rookies.
Padrino
All-Star
It will likely result in more losses, but it's also a "the wrong kid died" kind of situation. You'd rather see, like, DDR go down long before Keegan, as this situation robs the team of an opportunity to get its best defenders (who are also its youngest players) extended time together. The Keegan/Nique/Ellis trio, in particular, is something I'm intrigued by.
sactowndog
Hall of Famer
MizzouKing
Starter
Given what we expect for this season, I'm glad to see Max getting thrown into the fire. That said, my first thought was "Why couldn't the injury have happened to one of our thousands of Guards??"
coolhandluke
Starter
Rest up and get well soon, Keegan.
It's a sign from the basketball gods. The fat lady takes preseason seriously.
Kings had multiple chances to take care of the wing situation but sat on their hands for so long. Time for some deserts.
It's a sign from the basketball gods. The fat lady takes preseason seriously.
Kings had multiple chances to take care of the wing situation but sat on their hands for so long. Time for some deserts.
Jdbraver137
Bench
I actually think it is hilarious how wacky Kings fans are in bed 11-12th men. Sorry IJ isn’t carrying a team. At best he can be a role player. Think about the last time we were good. Exclude the Mike brown year because half the western conference was injured. Stars win games in the nba.
NewArena
All-Star
Did they? I'm not being sarcastic when I ask this btw, I'm genuinely asking
Blossoming star player injured? Check.
Overpaid vets with just a few years on contract? Check.
Raw, but full of potential youth on standby? Check.
Warm up the tank, boys! We're starting early!
Keegan does a lot of little things that go unnoticed to the casual fan. We will most certainly miss him defensively. He also has the ability (although we don't see it because DDR and LaVine take most of the shots) to light it up.
Trades may happen sooner than later, and I think Baja will be busy. But that's just me. I don't wish for failure, but I also know when it's time to blow it up. It's time.
That said, if you put someone in his place who is just as aggressive and willing to take zero shots? (Cough, Cardwell), things might get weird in Kingsland in a way that I did not anticipate.
Overpaid vets with just a few years on contract? Check.
Raw, but full of potential youth on standby? Check.
Warm up the tank, boys! We're starting early!
Keegan does a lot of little things that go unnoticed to the casual fan. We will most certainly miss him defensively. He also has the ability (although we don't see it because DDR and LaVine take most of the shots) to light it up.
Trades may happen sooner than later, and I think Baja will be busy. But that's just me. I don't wish for failure, but I also know when it's time to blow it up. It's time.
That said, if you put someone in his place who is just as aggressive and willing to take zero shots? (Cough, Cardwell), things might get weird in Kingsland in a way that I did not anticipate.
Caccia
Starter
Baja California?