He has yet to make a bad call with any single move he's made. If Holmes walks for nothing this off-season, that would be the first.
Walton came out and states he decides who plays.Walton works for McNair who is fully able to say get them time.
Not every move Vlade made was bad. That was a straight salary dump for Dallas so they could go after Porzingis in the off-season (which hasn't really worked out for them) but I still credit Vlade for making the deal happen at a time when most people saw Barnes' contract as a deal breaker. Those types of deals aren't available every trade deadline though.
I think if you look at where we were a month ago, going out to get some defensive roleplayers without losing any key rotation guys makes a lot of sense. And when all Monte gave up in return was a few essentially meaningless second-round picks, I don't see anything to complain about. No they weren't transformational deals but we're clearly more than a couple pieces away. Unfortunately. It doesn't look like we're making it to the playoffs but we were close enough to take a swing at it when the deals were made.
In your opinion....
Walton came out and states he decides who plays.
Yup! My opinion is he's done an outstanding job with the absolute crap-storm he was left by Vlade. No complaints thus far.
Yup! My opinion is he's done an outstanding job with the absolute crap-storm he was left by Vlade. No complaints thus far.
While I'm not in the camp that thinks he has done anything poorly, I don't feel he has done an outstanding job yet. That's OK, because GM's shouldn't be judged off half a season. But oustanding seems like a stretch for a what is a small collection of modest trades.
yeah you said the same thing about Vlade when I criticized him 3 years in.
I recall me questioning Vlade’s draft acumen after the:
2015: WCS
2016: Pappa G, Malachi, Skal
2017: Fox, Justin Jackson, Harry Giles
And I recall you saying the same kind of stuff you are saying now. Nice track record you’ve got going.
Disagree. How a GM operates on the margins with very little to work with defines how "good" of a GM they are. Sean Marks comes to mind with "small marginal trades" in his first few years and then he was able to turn all that work into Harden
-Didn't commit 18 mil to Bogi so we wouldn't be tied to 80+ million for a core that hasn't sniffed the playoffs.
Hali with 12
Wright (Quality NBA rotation player)- 2 bad 2n
Davis-Bought extremely low on all-rookie 2nd teamer. Assuming he has more information than we do with off-court issues.
Metu/Jones-Athletic, big wing-span project bigs
He's correctly identified that long/rangy/Athletic wings/bigs are what wins in the NBA and is taking as many shots as he can to find good ones. He hasn't had a ton of capital to really add but:
Hali
Harkless
Wright
Davis
Metu
Woodard
He gets it.
You're welcome to disagree and do make fair points. I feel he has done well and shows promise. I just feel 'outstanding' is too strong a term at this point in time.
Or...he could have fired Walton to change the culture and show that being trash won't fly in Sacramento any longer
Depends how close you thought we were to the play-offs. There were two reasonable paths at the time.
1) Make the trades and push for the playoffs.
2) save your draft picks for multiple bites at the draft in hopes a getting a contributing player with your second round picks.
you pay Monte the big bucks to make those calls correctly. Right now it looks like the wrong call. Does it mean he’s a horrible GM? Not definitively but he is stacking up a number of bad calls.
Which while not a guaranteed long term fix it has gotten many teams up from the bottom as a quick shock in time to make a run when that's the goal historically. As we're seeing right now with the Hawks. And that's definitely on Monte now. I mean, three skids like this one in one season alone isn't enough here? Lol. Even getting rid of Cojo wasn't enough to correct this thing. Sitting and spinning isn't good enough guys.
The team doesn't have the roster space to draft a bunch of players in the second round and see who pans out though. If we're talking first round picks, I would agree with you. The odds of making the playoffs this year were too low to risk giving up a significant asset. I just don't consider second round picks to be anything more than monopoly money. Sure you occasionally find a player who can help you there but it's the exception not the rule. The two best players Geoff Petrie drafted in the second round (IT and Whiteside) both ended up playing their best minutes for other teams. Most of these guys get cut, play in the G League or overseas, and if they do find their way back to the NBA it probably won't be on the team that drafted them.
If you are a good GM then you pick up a solid rotation player or 2 in the second round if you have 6 swings at it. Memphis for example has Brooks and Tillman in their rotation. Both of which they got in the 2nd round and ironically from Houston (Monte previous) and Sac (Monte currently).
In your opinion....
If you are a good GM then you pick up a solid rotation player or 2 in the second round if you have 6 swings at it. Memphis for example has Brooks and Tillman in their rotation. Both of which they got in the 2nd round and ironically from Houston (Monte previous) and Sac (Monte currently).
Source?
*Did it myself, went back to posts from 2017. Basically bashing Vlade the whole time. Your "recollection" must be a little fuzzy there.
What Vlade did was draft the wrong guy and sign a bunch of useless vets. That's not how things works. Grizzles, Hawks and now OKC is doing it right, but it is too late for us to do it over again.Yeah but you can't draft 6 guys in the second round. We already have to give a roster spot to this year's first round pick. At most you get to keep two additional second round guys, probably only one, and you have to make that decision in pre-season before they've played a single NBA game. Once you cut them any team can sign them. I reckon if you're good at talent evaluation you can do just as well (if not better) waiting to see how everyone plays in pre-season or the G-League and then scooping up talent that shakes loose on minimum contracts.
I suppose we could go full "Process" and fill the roster with only second round picks. Vlade kinda tried that already with first round picks and he ended up cutting most of them or trading them for other young players other teams didn't want and then letting their contracts expire. This idea that you can just cast a wide net and improve your odds is an internet fallacy. In MLB, sure. In the NBA? With a 15 man roster limit? It's never worked that way.
but he only did that after multiple years of turning three first round picks into De'Aaron Fox and a bunch of dudes who are no longer in the NBA or warming the bench for the Blazers despite them having major injury issues at the position he plays.What Vlade did was draft the wrong guy and sign a bunch of useless vets. That's not how things works. Grizzles, Hawks and now OKC is doing it right, but it is too late for us to do it over again.
So True, Just think of all the agony I could have avoided. Being a Kings fan is like a Bad marriage you just can’t get out of. :-(Someone's track record of giving up on the Kings and threatening to leave the board also going well.
Yeah but you can't draft 6 guys in the second round. We already have to give a roster spot to this year's first round pick. At most you get to keep two additional second round guys, probably only one, and you have to make that decision in pre-season before they've played a single NBA game. Once you cut them any team can sign them. I reckon if you're good at talent evaluation you can do just as well (if not better) waiting to see how everyone plays in pre-season or the G-League and then scooping up talent that shakes loose on minimum contracts.
I suppose we could go full "Process" and fill the roster with only second round picks. Vlade kinda tried that already with first round picks and he ended up cutting most of them or trading them for other young players other teams didn't want and then letting their contracts expire. This idea that you can just cast a wide net and improve your odds is an internet fallacy. In MLB, sure. In the NBA? With a 15 man roster limit? It's never worked that way.
I’d say it’s more like you’re living in a haunted mansion with a family of vampires in the attic and werewolves living in the shed in the backyard.So True, Just think of all the agony I could have avoided. Being a Kings fan is like a Bad marriage you just can’t get out of. :-(
So you prefer we keep our 2nd round picks and find the next TD and Wright?
Someone's track record of giving up on the Kings and threatening to leave the board also going well.