[Game] Kings @ Thunder, 2/28/2022 5pm Pacific 8pm Eastern

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I'm ready to see:

Fox
DDV
Barnes
Lyles
Sabonis.

Still leaves you with:

Mitchell
Holiday
Lamb
Jones

off the bench. Harkless/Metu/Len as your flex options. McNair went and got DDV for a reason 2 years later; he clearly sees him as a core piece. Let's start integrating him more with the top 3 core. And as Lyles showed tonight, he certainly can have a super strong impact as a complimentary piece. Getting a deeper look if he's someone you keep next season and potentially as a budget starting option if things go well with him as a starter.
 
Misgivings about his ability to actually coach aside, Alvin Gentry seems like an absolutely great person who the players seem to like playing for, which is pretty much more than you could say about all of the coaches we've had since Mike Malone lol
Gentry deserved to have a shot last season when he could have had an offseason to prepare.
 
Well, I guess some things are indeed visual. The 5 man stats are super sketchy obviously since post trade there isn't enough game time together but indeed, with at least 10 minutes played the best 5 man net rating unit post trade is Fox/Davion/Lamb/Barnes/Sabonis. Followed by Donte in for Davion. Fox/Holiday/Harkless/Barnes/Sabonis is way down at a -16.2.

https://www.nba.com/stats/lineups/advanced/?Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular Season&TeamID=1610612758&sort=NET_RATING&dir=1&Month=5&CF=MIN*G*10
Lines up with the eye test. The Holiday-Harkless duo just hasn't been working the last 5 games. Team has gotten better pretty much every time once they go to the bench.
 
I'm ready to see:

Fox
DDV
Barnes
Lyles
Sabonis.

Still leaves you with:

Mitchell
Holiday
Lamb
Jones

off the bench. Harkless/Metu/Len as your flex options. McNair went and got DDV for a reason 2 years later; he clearly sees him as a core piece. Let's start integrating him more with the top 3 core. And as Lyles showed tonight, he certainly can have a super strong impact as a complimentary piece. Getting a deeper look if he's someone you keep next season and potentially as a budget starting option if things go well with him as a starter.
We'll see next game but the Kings dug a major hole with Barnes/Lyles/Domas. The key to this team is still apparently Barnes at PF. The only big lineup that registered with 10 minutes was Metu/sabonis at a -35.7. Holy cow.
 
We lost games after the trade but i remember when we traded for Artest and immediately lost our first two games, falling 8 games below .500. The chemistry is growing and the confidence has remained. Really good signs, even with the tough schedule we’ve had.
And tack on no Davis so that means literally the team is without 3 guys that were their top 3 SG's to start the year. Monte has positioned himself well, now, if he can kick Holmes' deal off the books in 2 years he can max out someone in FA. The chess moves are in place if he gets lucky and is paying attention.
 

hrdboild

Hall of Famer
I'm ready to see:

Fox
DDV
Barnes
Lyles
Sabonis.

Still leaves you with:

Mitchell
Holiday
Lamb
Jones

off the bench. Harkless/Metu/Len as your flex options. McNair went and got DDV for a reason 2 years later; he clearly sees him as a core piece. Let's start integrating him more with the top 3 core. And as Lyles showed tonight, he certainly can have a super strong impact as a complimentary piece. Getting a deeper look if he's someone you keep next season and potentially as a budget starting option if things go well with him as a starter.
Yeah, I also feel like DDV should be the starter the rest of the season. His shooting is erratic but you know you're getting good effort from him defensively every night and his playmaking works well next to Fox and Barnes who are both excellent finishers when they catch the ball with space to work. I think this is the template for next season too with a new roster addition sliding into that second forward spot next to Barnes -- perhaps via the draft. I don't know if Lamb will be coming back but Mitchell, Davis, and Holiday is a pretty solid bench unit in the backcourt.

With all these early start road games I haven't been able to watch Lyles play yet. His rebounding and shooting splits worry me as far as long-term potential goes, but it's hard to complain about having another decent big on the roster for just 2.6 million next year. I think Monte will look to move Holmes in the off-season since he's basically been pushed out of the rotation at this point and you just hope that his overall body of work counts more than his recent performance in determining his trade value.
 
Yeah, I also feel like DDV should be the starter the rest of the season. His shooting is erratic but you know you're getting good effort from him defensively every night and his playmaking works well next to Fox and Barnes who are both excellent finishers when they catch the ball with space to work. I think this is the template for next season too with a new roster addition sliding into that second forward spot next to Barnes -- perhaps via the draft. I don't know if Lamb will be coming back but Mitchell, Davis, and Holiday is a pretty solid bench unit in the backcourt.

With all these early start road games I haven't been able to watch Lyles play yet. His rebounding and shooting splits worry me as far as long-term potential goes, but it's hard to complain about having another decent big on the roster for just 2.6 million next year. I think Monte will look to move Holmes in the off-season since he's basically been pushed out of the rotation at this point and you just hope that his overall body of work counts more than his recent performance in determining his trade value.
He also adds the similar off-ball play that Holiday does as a hard/aggressive cutter. Just no downside right now if Holiday is going to be an every other game spacer.
 
Fox at the 1 and Sabonis at the 5 are for real. The two hardest positions to find.
Barnes as he ages is a tweener a 3/4.
DDV and Mitchell are pretty good at the 2.
The team has a bench and plenty of role players.
If the Kings can draft a 4 they might be a .500 ballclub for a change.
 
Sabonis 5 PF, 8 TO's, but still manages 14-16-7 on 8 shots in only 30 minutes. And what a freaking joke he didn't shoot at FT, how is that even possible with how physical he is in the post? Still, we need him to stay more aggressive with the offense and look for his shot. It's almost always going to be the best/most efficient option.

Lyles certainly earned himself a lot more playing time. He's limited and we can't expect anything close to this scoring output on a normal basis, but he's always been a really smart role player that understands how to fit in.

-Awesome seeing the DDV break-out game. This is the dude he was on a regular basis last season with Mil; just impactful on both ends. 4-6 3pt shooting obviously won't happen every game, but if he can find the 35-37% stroke, he's a starter.

-The inconsistency with Holiday is getting old. He's better on defense and plays well within an offense, but if he's not going to be a consistent spacer, then there's no point leaving him in the lineup. I'd rather get DDV's defense/rebounding/secondary-playmaking in the LU.

-Fox 40 minutes, took over with Sabonis struggling. Super efficient night; 29 pts on 20 shots, 10-1 Ast/TO ratio. We need more defensive consistency, but he's basically just been the old Fox since he came back from injury; an all-star caliber offensive player.
DDV is interesting to me because I don't quite know if he is actually a winning player or not. I can honestly see him either being a core piece or never being much more than a mid bench player for the rest of his career. Everything he does on offense is really shaky. He's out there looking to play the right way and he's a pass first player but there's nothing he does on offense that doesn't make me nervous. It's like his career is sort of teetering on this weird edge to where it's hard to tell if he's a high level roleplayer or an inconsistent bench player. Either way I'm glad Monte is taking the chance on him and I'd definitely give him a contract to find out which it is.

Holiday is like a low usage Buddy. He's either shooting 1-6 or 4-6 from beyond the arc. He's going to be 33 in a month so he doesn't have much tread left. He's definitely playing below his level the last 3 years but he could very well be an unfortunate Sacramento casualty where they come here and their career dies in an instant.

I can squint and see the playoffs if they can hit on the draft and get a consistent outside shooter who isn't a total failure on defense.
 
Fox at the 1 and Sabonis at the 5 are for real. The two hardest positions to find.
Barnes as he ages is a tweener a 3/4.
DDV and Mitchell are pretty good at the 2.
The team has a bench and plenty of role players.
If the Kings can draft a 4 they might be a .500 ballclub for a change.
if they can draft or trade for a 4 that can run the PnR with Sabonis this team will be making noise
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
Fox at the 1 and Sabonis at the 5 are for real. The two hardest positions to find.
Barnes as he ages is a tweener a 3/4.
DDV and Mitchell are pretty good at the 2.
The team has a bench and plenty of role players.
If the Kings can draft a 4 they might be a .500 ballclub for a change.
Not a believer in Lyles, huh?
 
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