[Game] Kings vs Clippers, 10/15/2025 7PM Pacific 10PM Eastern (Pre-Season)

[Spike]

Eh, that's really not what they're doing here. It may be the end result of what they're doing, but it's certainly not their intention. No team that brings in aging veterans is actively trying to tank. Collectively, your over-30 guys will win you games by virtue of their experience alone, regardless of how faded their talent may be. The Kings are not likely to be good this season, but they will win enough to avoid truly bottoming out. All we can do is thank the league office for flattening the lottery odds so that this franchise has a shot at a top pick in spite of itself.

A true "tank" prioritizes youth, because no matter how skilled that youth may be, veteran teams make the playoffs. Young teams mostly end up in the lottery until they're veteran enough to understand what it takes to win.

That said, the trade deadline this season will tell us much about this front office's long-term intentions. Will they move off one or more of their extraneous veterans? And what will they seek in return? More middling vets, or some combination of youth/draft compensation?

I mean, I agree to a point. I think there's a rotation on this squad that is pretty decent. That rotation probably won't get the bulk of the minutes. In my opinion, this looks like a roster that was built to "look" competitive, but ultimately not be. I think you can actively tank by playing ill-fitting parts and players as well as moving to a youthful roster for the bulk of the minutes. That's how I'm interpreting this "gap year."

 

[Caccia]

Way to go Vivek and Scott Perry you made Mo cry,

No kidding.

 

[MizzouKing]

At least he has a chance to be better than Jon brockman or Quincy acy

But we loved those guys!
Interviewer - "What about the broctopus'?
JB - "I don't want any part of that in my nickname..."

 

[hrdboild]

Has Doug addressed the team not defending 94’ still?

How does Doug make all these statements about defending 94’ and playing defense will be a requirement for playing time type comments in camp and yet only a couple of players are ever doing it?

Such is the life of an NBA head coach. You can say it and they might listen to you for a little while but ultimately the guys with the biggest pay check get to set the tone and that's rarely the head coach.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Such is the life of an NBA head coach. You can say it and they might listen to you for a little while but ultimately the guys with the biggest pay check get to set the tone and that's rarely the head coach.

Apparently Drew Eubanks is making about a million more than Doug Christie this season

 

[Srzly]

Such is the life of an NBA head coach. You can say it and they might listen to you for a little while but ultimately the guys with the biggest pay check get to set the tone and that's rarely the head coach.

I guess I would just hope the vets would help encourage it but I suppose you’re right, our two most influential vets are the two guys that don’t seem very interested in defense.

 

[ESP47]

I get what you're saying but Schroder is better than Collison, maybe not much though. As for the Kings history of retreads he's neck and neck near the top with Darren so there's that, haha. Looking at Schroders last season tells the possible story. With the Nets when he had the offense to himself he was putting up good numbers, with the Warriors and Pistons that efficiency dipped as the shots went down. Defensively he's decent but stylistically the fit isn't there. Schroder is more of a physical type, not a chase guys around and play the open floor type.

In the end, let the vets sink or swim. Go all in then if it fails the Kings better go all out sooner than later.

Just a simple look at some stats and Schroder has a career vorp of 3.0 while Collison has 13.4. Almost 30 players last year had a single season vorp that's better than Schroder's entire career. I would take Collison's steady play and elite shooting over whatever it is that Schroder supposedly brings to the table. Hell, singing Westbrook instead of Schroder would have made a lot more sense if the Kings really thought a new PG would lead to Ws.

His efficiency should have gone up when his shots went down, but it was the opposite. Schroder leading your team's offense is a sure fire way to tank. If tanking is the goal, they could have tanked for way less money, all while developing the young players and keeping things at least somewhat interesting for the fans. I think Vivek is going to see real quick that Kings fans have no interest in watching a bunch of 30-35 year olds get knocked around every night with no hope for the future.

 

[Srzly]

Just a simple look at some stats and Schroder has a career vorp of 3.0 while Collison has 13.4. Almost 30 players last year had a single season vorp that's better than Schroder's entire career. I would take Collison's steady play and elite shooting over whatever it is that Schroder supposedly brings to the table. Hell, singing Westbrook instead of Schroder would have made a lot more sense if the Kings really thought a new PG would lead to Ws.

His efficiency should have gone up when his shots went down, but it was the opposite. Schroder leading your team's offense is a sure fire way to tank. If tanking is the goal, they could have tanked for way less money, all while developing the young players and keeping things at least somewhat interesting for the fans. I think Vivek is going to see real quick that Kings fans have no interest in watching a bunch of 30-35 year olds get knocked around every night with no hope for the future.

Yeah I’ve been really unimpressed with him.

Granted, it’s only been a few preseason games but based on the hype of him this summer I was expecting to see something from him.

In 3 preseason games:

5 assists
5/19 FGs
0/8 3PT

Really hasn’t stood out on defense either and so far hasn’t really run the offense well.

Just feels like maybe it would have been better to just sign Russ from the beginning if we were going to do that anyway and spend the Dennis money elsewhere.

 

[ESP47]

Yeah I’ve been really unimpressed with him.

Granted, it’s only been a few preseason games but based on the hype of him this summer I was expecting to see something from him.

In 3 preseason games:

5 assists
5/19 FGs
0/8 3PT

Really hasn’t stood out on defense either and so far hasn’t really run the offense well.

Just feels like maybe it would have been better to just sign Russ from the beginning if we were going to do that anyway and spend the Dennis money elsewhere.

Agreed. I mean he's clearly a better player than what he's shown in the first few preseason games but we have a decade of tape on this guy. No fan ever got worried because their PG had to line up across from Schroder in a game.

Crazy that they went in on a 3 year contract for a below average PG whose career is clearly winding down. It's like Perry had whiskey glasses and thought he was courting the prom queen this offseason. Not only does this acquisition block our young players from seeing the floor but it also hamstrings us a bit on signing players for the next couple years.

 

[SacTownKid]

Just a simple look at some stats and Schroder has a career vorp of 3.0 while Collison has 13.4. Almost 30 players last year had a single season vorp that's better than Schroder's entire career. I would take Collison's steady play and elite shooting over whatever it is that Schroder supposedly brings to the table. Hell, singing Westbrook instead of Schroder would have made a lot more sense if the Kings really thought a new PG would lead to Ws.

His efficiency should have gone up when his shots went down, but it was the opposite. Schroder leading your team's offense is a sure fire way to tank. If tanking is the goal, they could have tanked for way less money, all while developing the young players and keeping things at least somewhat interesting for the fans. I think Vivek is going to see real quick that Kings fans have no interest in watching a bunch of 30-35 year olds get knocked around every night with no hope for the future.

No doubt, there are areas where Darren had the advantage, they are two different players. Darren was never really a teams top 3 option. The usage in Schroders "better" years was near star level so it's hard to compare. VORP is a partly a subjective stat but the truth is Schroder has never popped in advanced stats for sure.

I agree, just sign Westbrook and save the $$$. Schroder will play better once Christie inevitably shortens the rotation but there is more to this story. This is a story of playing favorites and always has been. I mean, LaVine is a good player but his agent pretty much told the Kings hey, Fox is going here and you're taking my other guy. Now this is likely the same stuff. Who is the master here? The Kings might be being directed more by outside forces than anyone at this point.

 

[NewArena]

I think Bill Simmons is correct, this team is going to become toxic in a hurry. I can see the players quitting very early in the season. I wouldn't doubt it if they're already beginning to not care after getting dominated in 3 straight games.

Pretending like the defense can not only improve, but become good when you have Sabonis, DDR, Lavine and Schroder starting is and always has been laughable. Kayte saying that it's a work in progress and won't happen overnight is also laughable. Sabonis is 29 and these guys are all 30+. The hell you mean it takes time? These guys have been playing for over a decade. There's nothing special or secret about how to play NBA defense. You are either good at it or you're not. Players don't normally go from defensive sieves to good defenders after a decade in the league. Even Thibs wouldn't change that.

Where did this weird narrative start that Schroder is a good player? Dude has never been a good defender, has always been inefficient and inconsistent and has never even been at the level of a Darren Collison. Yet Perry courted him like Vlade courted Luke Walton as if he was some coveted gem that he needed to scoop up before anyone else did. This dude played for 3 teams last year and shot 37% for two of them. The hell are they thinking?

Not to mention Keon looks really bad and is being placed in the doghouse. Carter can't seem to get out of the doghouse and probably never will. I really don't understand what they're attempting to do. 3rd oldest roster in the NBA and they look absolutely awful with no current or future hope.

I don’t think veteran players care about blowouts in preseason. I’d love to see more fight but the vets have either had leads or kept the games very close before these jumbled lineups come out there sporadically that we’ll never see in regular games. If anyone is losing confidence because of games that don’t count, we have a much bigger issue here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m hoping to see a more normal rotation in the final preseason game and some semblance of something that makes sense, effort and all - but, now Sabonis is out. Yay

 

[NewArena]

Just a simple look at some stats and Schroder has a career vorp of 3.0 while Collison has 13.4. Almost 30 players last year had a single season vorp that's better than Schroder's entire career. I would take Collison's steady play and elite shooting over whatever it is that Schroder supposedly brings to the table. Hell, singing Westbrook instead of Schroder would have made a lot more sense if the Kings really thought a new PG would lead to Ws.

His efficiency should have gone up when his shots went down, but it was the opposite. Schroder leading your team's offense is a sure fire way to tank. If tanking is the goal, they could have tanked for way less money, all while developing the young players and keeping things at least somewhat interesting for the fans. I think Vivek is going to see real quick that Kings fans have no interest in watching a bunch of 30-35 year olds get knocked around every night with no hope for the future.

You may very well be right but Schroeder is a lot better than whatever we’ve seen in 3 preseason games. Let’s at least be fair here. The Kings might be trash or mediocre trash, but i feel like just as homers can overdo it with the optimism, you’re being extremely harsh on the other end of the spectrum here.

 

[hrdboild]

Agreed. I mean he's clearly a better player than what he's shown in the first few preseason games but we have a decade of tape on this guy. No fan ever got worried because their PG had to line up across from Schroder in a game.

Crazy that they went in on a 3 year contract for a below average PG whose career is clearly winding down. It's like Perry had whiskey glasses and thought he was courting the prom queen this offseason. Not only does this acquisition block our young players from seeing the floor but it also hamstrings us a bit on signing players for the next couple years.

We also lost Valanciunas to make that Dennis Schröder deal happen and he was really the only defensive big in the rotation. I don't particularly mind losing a vet on a one-year deal if the goal is to commit to developing the younger players but then why did we go out and get Russell Westbrook for one year? If we're still trying to compete, we'd have been better off keeping the one player who managed to consistently produce a positive Net Rating while sharing the floor with Zach LaVine.

 

[dude12]

You may very well be right but Schroeder is a lot better than whatever we’ve seen in 3 preseason games. Let’s at least be fair here. The Kings might be trash or mediocre trash, but i feel like just as homers can overdo it with the optimism, you’re being extremely harsh on the other end of the spectrum here.

To be completely honest, I actually think all the criticism is warranted right now. This season may be very very bad. Time will tell