I’ll believe that if he brings one of these vets off the bench so we can get more defense on the floor.
Kings training camp 2025 open thread
- Thread starter Tetsujin
- Start date
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
You could tell in college Devin Carter is strong as heck.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
I think your hope has a high likelihood of coming to fruition. This team doesn't have the toughness or the belief to withstand a losing streak, imo. I think it could get very political and nasty very soon. If most fans don't believe in this team, I think it's a fairly safe assumption most of the players don't believe either, which doesn't bode well for this season.
Caccia
Starter
The available men to fill in for Murray at power forward, apart from DeMar DeRozan, are Reynaud, Jones, Eubanks, Cardwell, and Dario Šarić. They only have two games to figure this one out. Raynaud shot 37.5% but pulled in a team-high 11 rebounds in 24 minutes. Isaac Jones shot only 25% with 3 rebounds in 15 minutes. Eubanks played 29 minutes, shot 50%, and pulled in 7 rebounds. He is the only player apart from Murray and Sabonis to have more than one block (three). Cardwell shot 75% with 6 rebounds in 19 minutes, but has a range of three feet. Šarić only played 14 minutes in one game. He managed to shoot 80% with no rebounds.
The point is, these are tiny samples due to the nature of pre-season basketball, comparable to serial auditions for a role in a Hollywood movie. None of them stands out, and only Cardwell can hold a candle to Murray when it comes to defense.
It's really hard to believe when the Kings fans have been screaming for help since the start of the 2023-24 season.
The point is, these are tiny samples due to the nature of pre-season basketball, comparable to serial auditions for a role in a Hollywood movie. None of them stands out, and only Cardwell can hold a candle to Murray when it comes to defense.
It's really hard to believe when the Kings fans have been screaming for help since the start of the 2023-24 season.
ockingsfan
Starter
If Doug really want teams to "feel" the Kings when they play them, Cardwell would be the surprise pick for DC to start in Keegan's place.
The spacing may be an issue, but if Lavine, DDR, Schroder, Domas can take more 3s ad hit the 3 consistently, Cardwell can lay the lumber on opposing teams. Plus, he would get a lot of rebounds and put backs off the glass and can block some shots.
The spacing may be an issue, but if Lavine, DDR, Schroder, Domas can take more 3s ad hit the 3 consistently, Cardwell can lay the lumber on opposing teams. Plus, he would get a lot of rebounds and put backs off the glass and can block some shots.
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Caccia
Starter
The main problem is that Cardwell is a rookie. On the other hand, he played for five years at Auburn, reaching the highest number of games played in school history. That means he has had a lot of training in fundamentals. He shot at or near 70% every season, but only scored five points per game his last two years. Maxime has far higher stats across the board (pun intended).
I don't think people fully grasp how bad Cardwell is on offense. There's absolutely defensive potential there, but he needs to be playing in the dunker spot.
IJ and Maxime are both excellent candidates to maybe be able to fill that 4 slot. Just got to hope they get the chance and not Saric.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
Maybe, but with the way the offense is probably going to be iso/pick and roll through the big 3 of Schroder, LaVine, and DeMar with Domas handling more up top then having a player down there by the rim could be needed. I think it's inevitable that this is going to be a team where a big part of the offense is going to be shooting over the defense in the middle of the floor anyway.
Caccia
Starter
DeMar DeRozan is also listed as a "game-time decision," so he may be ill, as well.
We'll see. That's probably the default setting of this squad, but the ball movement in our half court sets has honestly been pretty good. Been unselfish across the board and been generating good looks. That 1H vs the Blazers i counted like 5 or 6 really great shots off excellent ball movement that ee clanked. Got to hit those, but the process to getting to those open shots is intriguing to me. That's what Doug has been preaching and it sounds like he's trying to instill golden era kings level passing with this team.
As we've said many times, he has to back up his word with action though. Will he bench DDR if he goes back to hog-the-ball-ISO mode with no passes on a half court set?
Padrino
All-Star
The only way to .500 or better ball this season is with an incredibly creative offensive approach. This team's defense is going to be bad. I don't care what the training camp emphasis has been, nor do I care about "culture" and "94 feet" and whatever else the coaching staff may be preaching. Your roster is your roster, and with big minutes going to the likes of Schroder, LaVine, DeRozan, Sabonis, and Monk, and with spot minutes likely going to guys like Raynaud and Eubanks and McDermott (who is barely hanging on as an NBA player in 2025) and Saric (who is frankly not an NBA player in 2025), and with Keegan out for the first few weeks of the season or longer... the defense is just going to be bad.
Ellis will try his damndest in his minutes, of course, and Nique and Carter will play hard on defense in any court time they might get, and hopefully Keegan returns from injury as the team's Swiss Army Knife on that end, but it's not going to be enough to offset the defensive futility everywhere else on the roster, especially since I don't see Christie benching his "stars" for poor defensive effort/skill. So offense is where they'll have to hang their hat if they want to win games. And on top of my skepticism that the coaching staff will hold their starters accountable for playing bad defense, I also don't really trust this coaching staff to trot out an innovative, modern offensive system that somehow leverages all of these ill-fitting players.
That said, I have not watched any preseason action, so I don't know if there's a path to a top-5 offense hiding somewhere on this roster and within this gameplan. Maybe my skepticism of Christie and co. is poorly founded. Maybe they'll figure out how to recapture some of that Beam Team magic with Sabonis orchestrating a masterclass in offensive efficiency, and maybe they'll somehow hover in the bad-but-not-as-bad-as-I-thought range of 16th-18th worst defense in the league, and maybe together that'll be enough to finish with 42 wins... but man, in this insanely competitive version of the Western Conference, with Keegan out for an indeterminate amount of time to start the season, I just don't see it.
I genuinely hope that Scott Perry recognizes when to pull the ejection handle on this season. There will be plenty of nights when the team looks competitive out there, because they're not without talent, but I honestly think this season will be far more of a struggle than many (myself included) thought it might be as we headed into the off-season. "Gap year" or not, there is so little about this roster that makes any kind of sense, and there's not a lot of hope for the future, given the knowables of today. I remain astonished that Perry didn't try to move off of DeRozan in any meaningful way this summer, and I remain utterly nonplussed at the Schroder acquisition (and the necessity of the Valanciunas trade in order to make it happen), as well as the front office's apparent interest in Russell Westbrook.
Bad signs, all of this, but hopefully the trade deadline next year will offer a bit of relief and clarity of vision. I'm not optimistic, but I'm going to give Perry his "gap year" and see what he does in the next 10 months. I understand training camp and pre-season are the time when fans tend to get excited about all of the "what ifs", wondering if their team might just get lucky and prove the doubters wrong, but it's pretty difficult for me to have any faith as a Kings fan right now. At present, I don't have confidence in either the coaching staff nor the front office, and that's before we even broach the subject of ownership, and whether or not Vivek would ever sign off on a legitimate rebuild if things do, indeed, go south as quickly as I think they might with this roster. Somebody needs to prove me wrong. Preferably all of them.
Edit: Holy sh*t. And right after I post this, the front office decides to really stick it to me and announce that they have, indeed, signed Russell Westbrook. It just... I don't even have the words. The mind reels.
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SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
The Kings might need spacing in the end, but the idea that you need to play 5 out was really more a Fox thing probably. There really isn't anyone on this current roster that you want prioritizing getting into the teeth of the D off pick and roll and creating kick opportunities. I would experiment trying to draw defenders off the perimeter rather than trying to draw defenders out of the paint. Might work, might not. Who knows with this odd roster.
The only way to .500 or better ball this season is with an incredibly creative offensive approach. This team's defense is going to be bad. I don't care what the training camp emphasis has been, nor do I care about "culture" and "94 feet" and whatever else the coaching staff may be preaching. Your roster is your roster, and with big minutes going to the likes of Schroder, LaVine, DeRozan, Sabonis, and Monk, and with spot minutes likely going to guys like Raynaud and Eubanks and McDermott (who is barely hanging on as an NBA player in 2025) and Saric (who is frankly not an NBA player in 2025), and with Keegan out for the first few weeks of the season or longer... the defense is just going to be bad.
Ellis will try his damndest in his minutes, of course, and Nique and Carter will play hard on defense in any court time they might get, and hopefully Keegan returns from injury as the team's Swiss Army Knife on that end, but it's not going to be enough to offset the defensive futility everywhere else on the roster, especially since I don't see Christie benching his "stars" for poor defensive effort/skill. So offense is where they'll have to hang their hat if they want to win games. And on top of my skepticism that the coaching staff will hold their starters accountable for playing bad defense, I also don't really trust this coaching staff to trot out an innovative, modern offensive system that somehow leverages all of these ill-fitting players.
That said, I have not watched any preseason action, so I don't know if there's a path to a top-5 offense hiding somewhere on this roster and within this gameplan. Maybe my skepticism of Christie and co. is poorly founded. Maybe they'll figure out how to recapture some of that Beam Team magic with Sabonis orchestrating a masterclass in offensive efficiency, and maybe they'll somehow hover in the bad-but-not-as-bad-as-I-thought range of 16th-18th worst defense in the league, and maybe together that'll be enough to finish with 42 wins... but man, in this insanely competitive version of the Western Conference, with Keegan out for an indeterminate amount of time to start the season, I just don't see it.
I genuinely hope that Scott Perry recognizes when to pull the ejection handle on this season. There will be plenty of nights when the team looks competitive out there, because they're not without talent, but I honestly think this season will be far more of a struggle than many (myself included) thought it might be as we headed into the off-season. "Gap year" or not, there is so little about this roster that makes any kind of sense, and there's not a lot of hope for the future, given the knowables of today. I remain astonished that Perry didn't try to move off of DeRozan in any meaningful way this summer, and I remain utterly nonplussed at the Schroder acquisition (and the necessity of the Valanciunas trade in order to make it happen), as well as the front office's apparent interest in Russell Westbrook.
Bad signs, all of this, but hopefully the trade deadline next year will offer a bit of relief and clarity of vision. I'm not optimistic, but I'm going to give Perry his "gap year" and see what he does in the next 10 months. I understand training camp and pre-season are the time when fans tend to get excited about all of the "what ifs", wondering if their team might just get lucky and prove the doubters wrong, but it's pretty difficult for me to have any faith as a Kings fan right now. At present, I don't have confidence in either the coaching staff nor the front office, and that's before we even broach the subject of ownership, and whether or not Vivek would ever sign off on a legitimate rebuild if things do, indeed, go south as quickly as I think they might with this roster. Somebody needs to prove me wrong. Preferably all of them.
Edit: Holy sh*t. And right after I post this, the front office decides to really stick it to me and announce that they have, indeed, signed Russell Westbrook. It just... I don't even have the words. The mind reels.
I believe we can also bid goodbye to the brief "other teams don't know what the Kings front office is up to" era as all of these moves were telegraphed months in advance by the Agent-Media consortium now dominating the social media'o'sphere. There were still leaks under McNair -- as should be expected with agents negotiating for their clients through an increasingly scoop-obsessed and factcheck-indifferent media -- but those at least felt like leaks rather than seed sowing and mutual back scratching.
Caccia
Starter
With Murray out for a significant period during the toughest part of the schedule, I doubt that the Kings will win 30 games this season. After three preseason games, they look just awful: no cohesion, precision, or shooting, no innovative strategies.
I have been thoroughly unimpressed with Schröder so far. The coaches never even gave Malik Monk a chance at the backup point guard position, even though he averaged 5.6 assists per game last season. Now the team brings in Russell Westbrook to take over. I sure hope it works; he might be a better choice for starter than Schröder, once the season gets going.
Most of you know I am usually an optimist, but I cannot deny what my eyes are telling me.
I have been thoroughly unimpressed with Schröder so far. The coaches never even gave Malik Monk a chance at the backup point guard position, even though he averaged 5.6 assists per game last season. Now the team brings in Russell Westbrook to take over. I sure hope it works; he might be a better choice for starter than Schröder, once the season gets going.
Most of you know I am usually an optimist, but I cannot deny what my eyes are telling me.
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Joshyjosh31
Starter
If he gets the same treatment from Doug during the regular season that he's gotten so far in preseason, he's either going to have to be traded away for pennies on the dollar or lost for nothing.
I guarantee the 3 players we are getting asked about right now are Keegan, Keon and Carter. And assuming Nique continues hia strong play, him in a year or so too.
They're hoping for a Vlade-level flub to poach one of our young guys. Which might have already happened with Keon since we nixed his RFA rights
Joshyjosh31
Starter
Keon won’t be here next year
Joshyjosh31
Starter
The **** does that say power foward this why you don’t get input from players
SLAB
Hall of Famer
Westbrook at the 4 all season long please!!!
Yeah, if he plays well enough, maybe we think of moving Keegan to more of a bench role when he's back healthy
Caccia
Starter
Sabonis traveled with the team to LA and is currently listed as a "game-time decison." He had an MRI on his hamstring.
I doubt he or Malik Monk will play tomorrow night, but it does not sound like the injury will be long-term in the case of Sabonis.
Monk was very positive about the addition of Westbrook: "Another dog. Another me." He expects Russ to fill in for Murray, believe it or not, saying that he has played that "undersized four" position for the past few years. He has told the young guys, "Don't hang your head. It's preseason." But admitted they have a lot of work to do.
If that were to happen, the starting lineup would look like this:
Sabonis, Westbrook, DeRozan, LaVine, Schröder. Domantas would be the "youngster" at 29.
I doubt he or Malik Monk will play tomorrow night, but it does not sound like the injury will be long-term in the case of Sabonis.
Monk was very positive about the addition of Westbrook: "Another dog. Another me." He expects Russ to fill in for Murray, believe it or not, saying that he has played that "undersized four" position for the past few years. He has told the young guys, "Don't hang your head. It's preseason." But admitted they have a lot of work to do.
If that were to happen, the starting lineup would look like this:
Sabonis, Westbrook, DeRozan, LaVine, Schröder. Domantas would be the "youngster" at 29.
Joshyjosh31
Starter
Saying it’s 1-3 week injury
We might start 0-15 if we lose the first two games get that damn tank going
Hamstrings are something that can linger and reoccur so Id hope they go conservative. If Sabonis and Keegan are both out extended periods that’s an easy decision on the direction of the season.
Exactly the 4 players who we should be trying to build around, not trading away. With some franchises this would be an automatic no, but I wouldn't put it past our wonderful front office to shop these guys for some more "veteran help".
