[Rumor] Kings looking to ‘move up’ in the draft
- Thread starter Tetsujin
- Start date
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
Unless it’s a pick swap for Demar or something. Like say our second rounder and Deebo for a pick in the late teens and salary or something.
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
Deebo and the second rounder for Isaac, Cole Anthony, and pick 16?
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
Hmm, interesting but do you think Deebo works with the way Orlando operates offensively? Seems like they would need more of a shooter/spacer
Still. That would be more of an indicator towards a rebuild rather than a retool. I expected us to flip DDR for a win now piece, not a rookie
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
I guess I was thinking something like a Wiggins or Jrue or some veteran piece similar where the other team attaches the swap as a sweetener since we are sending out the greater talent or better contract.
Joshyjosh31
Starter
Orlando desperately needs shooting they’ll take that offer to Portland for Simons I don’t see why they’d have any interest in demar
Saw another mock trade of them adding kcp and another protected FRP for LaVine.
Not a bad idea
Joshyjosh31
Starter
Not a bad idea but we’ve been told Vivek won’t entertain a rebuild trading Lavine for a pick and KCp is rebuilding
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
Not really a draft you want to "aggressively" move up in to me. I guess it depends on where they want to get up to. Unless it's higher up in the 2nd round or via buying a late first.
KCP/Isaac/Cole Anthony are all "win-now" players though, including the potential skeleton key player in Isaac to plug next to Domas. So you add 3 plug and play good rotation players and even more assets to the warchest.
My guess is we wouldn't get 2 FRP, but probably 15+ the above 3 for LaVine. Pretty reasonable trade on both sides.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
It really does seem like when you add up all the options for Sacramento and everyone of them makes almost as little sense as it does make sense it's pretty obvious it's going to be hard for the Kings to know as of now that they can trade their way into anything. They are stuck either adding talent and sacrificing the supposed vision, or stacking need and sacrificing talent to do it. If this is the case Perry will eventually see it if he hasn't already. The smart play is what was reported, DeMar is on the chopping block, anything else better make a heck of a lot more sense than 99% of the realistic trade options.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
Exactly. It's not as if they are overflowing in redundant talent at a position so they trade for another position to balance the team. More than anything, it's a zero sum game - losing in one area to gain in another. The best case I can make is that by trading someone like DDR they can (hopefully) get something back that is more synergistic with the rest of the team and therefore have somewhat of a net gain, but it's hardly going to be transformational.
Padrino
All-Star
Well, between LaVine/Monk/Ellis/Carter, I'd say the Kings are pretty well overflowing with SG/combo guard talent. It's why so many were upset with trading Fox for LaVine. Setting aside questions about whether or not LaVine is a winning player, they traded a scoring PG (but a PG nonetheless) in Fox for yet another guy who's primarily going to eat minutes at the SG spot. Monk and Carter are, at the moment, secondary playmakers who can log time at PG, but neither are poised to step into the starting PG position and own it. And in another life, DeMar DeRozan was primarily a SG, as well! In the modern NBA, he can pass for a SF, but he doesn't provide the length/defense/switchability required of that position in 2025.
Joshyjosh31
Starter
They’re nice player but we’d have zero players that can creat there own shot if Lavine isn’t on the team assuming Derozan is gone as well. I have no idea how we’d stay in games with our best perimeter guy being Monk and relying on DHO that won’t scare anyone
If the Kings can retool with a couple trades of DDR/Monk/Lavine where they get a usable player back plus a pick, that sets them up to win now and rebuild. As we've seen the bad bad teams aren't getting top 4 picks. Maybe one of the bottom 4 gets a top 4 every season now. So the goal should be mass acquiring FRP like OKC did, they only had two down years. One big lotto win, but great don't miss talent evaluation. I don't know if the Kings can manage the latter.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
Well good thing that has actual value now. Look at the Thunder, SGA, Wallace, Caruso, Dort, Joe, etc. Combo guards as long as they all aren't a tweener who can defend isn't a problem. LaVine and Monk are really the only two on that list that in theory get in eachothers way and have money and value sunk into them. That said it's not like they can't share the floor either. Keon and Carter can impact a game without needing to munch shots. DeMar hasn't been a SG for years and years mainly because his defense is atrocious against quicker players and teams are just fine letting him get his on the other end anyway. The SF spot has decreased in size overall over time with G/F's becoming quite valuable and to be a legit wing you need to be able to handle the rock. That's a pretty big part of it.
Padrino
All-Star
Indeed. "Who can defend". LaVine and Monk can theoretically share the floor, but the Kings can't keep trotting out a rotation that gets absolutely shredded on defense. And Murray can't be the only plus-defender in the starting lineup. I'm not sure I've hated the synergy of a unit more than Monk/LaVine/DDR/Murray/Sabonis. It was bad from the jump and everybody knew it and it never made sense to stick with it as long as DC did.
At bare minimum, the Kings need to ship out DDR, and I'm among those who think it would be wise to leverage Monk as a trade asset, as well. Keon and Carter just need to see the court more frequently. Those two guys represent the Kings' pathway to mimicking the model you're describing, and they're not going to impact winning if they're glued to the bench because of ego and sunk cost fallacy.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
Probably. If he's not starting for this squad at PG then either he's doomed or the Kings are because yeah that means defensive needs at PG/SG are out the window. LaVine and Monk isn't Fox and Monk either because Fox was a lead ball handler more than either of them. If Monk is a 6th man making 20 million a season and they're still not going anywhere there's literally no reason not to send him to a contender or to a team where he can start.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
I guess you could make a case for Ellis and Carter being similar, but Carter is unproven and so far too injured in his career to be much value on the open market. I'd love to trade Lavine (I don't like his game), but his contract makes him of questionable market value. And then there's Monk, who is unique on this team with his 6th man ability. So it's a lot of odds and ends, none of which I am confident in being redundant in their future role. I don't view DDR as a SG because his is woefully incapable of guarding the position. However, he is probably the best candidate for a trade because his offense could suit an elite team if he came off the bench. Frankly, due to to one thing or another none of the aforementioned SGs is probably going to command much in trade value. Maybe Ellis could yield something nice, but like I said Carter is still an unknown quantity, so you could end up trading your best backcourt defender and be left with nothing on the shelf if Carter doesn't work out.
And Indy: Hali, McConnell, Nembhard, Nesmith, Shepphard all getting significant minutes defending and shooting 3s.
Joshyjosh31
Starter
We should be nowhere near this list smh
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
But what if it’s just because his salary is there to help work out a Lavine for Bilal deal???
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
Hopefully it's that because using anything of value to move into that range is useless unless someone drops or unless the mocks get upended. Right now a lot of the meh bigs are in the 20's but if they end up in the 2nd round that means some of these legit defensive guards and F's moved up. This is a year where when doing research on who the Kings did workout there's a ton of options that fit. Trey Galloway has the makings of being a legit true PG not just some draw and kick specialist. Defenders on the wing with some good offensive potential in RJ Luis Jr and at guard with Alijah Martin. Big wings like Alex Toohey. Physical beasts with upside like Brooks Barnhizer. Some of the centers they've worked out don't seem too far off the ones in the 20's on most mocks either from what I've seen.
I hope its not for Carter
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