[Game] Kings vs. Warriors, 4/3/2022 6pm Pacific 9pm Eastern
- Thread starter Tetsujin
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iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
Kuminga really landed in the right spot. He looked pretty bad in preseason but he has really matured as this season has gone along.
Yeah, he's developing really nicely as a 4. I don't think there's any wing ability there like some thought in the draft process, but being a super athletic 4 that can hedge the perimeter on defense can be super valuable too. Surprisingly takes really good shots and stays within his role on the offense.
If he can find a jumper, Warriors found a long-term starter.
Krunker
Northernmost Kings Fan
Needs some work passing to the cutter though...
Will be nice if we ever don't suck again and we can get excited about 20th overall picks becoming guys worth a second contract like the good old days.
Decent of the Kings to not make this too close, and lose in time for me to switch over to HBO to watch Game Theory.
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
The wing comparisons were off but now he’s essentially rookie season Blake Griffin.
EIM86
Starter
Boogie and Green were called the Tech Bros when he was on the dubs
just curious are you just totally checked out of Mania or planning to watch it later?
miltonap
Starter
I'm pretty sure that was it. Kings are officially out of the play-in (I believe)
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
Yeh, I generally am borderline anti tank (at least on the level of OKC and Portland) until it gets this far into the season. Then I jump on the tank. I said last year I was going to root for wins every game but here I am yet again. I also am leaning towards trading the pick if we aren't in the top 2 if the right player is available.
miltonap
Starter
I think if the draft pick isn't that great, then the only recourse for the Kings would be to trade Dearron Fox for a good wing.
Otherwise the Kings simply aren't talented enough, using Davion to backup Dearron.
It's kind of like the Haliburton thing which to me was a maximization of assets.
If you use Davion to backup Dearron and have a mediocre draft pick, the team simply isn't good enough to be a playoff contender.
You have to hope Davion improves what he needs to improve this off-season, role with him as the starting point, and hope that that + good wing + draft pick + Sabonis is good enough to make the playoffs.
Good coach is obviously important too.
at least lose all the road games .. I am anti-Process but when you are functionally eliminated from contention you can't be picking up meaningless wins.
That said there are all kinds of fixes the NBA could make and they won't. I think perhaps the best solution is penalizing teams that have blatantly tanked with wins in the final lottery standings. I don't know what a suitable methodology would be for doing so, but not starting players or making "futures" trades at the deadline could do so.
QWERTYLICIOUS
Starter
Yes, we are, once again, officially eliminated from playoff contention.
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
I am sure Monte is going to want to see what Sabonis/Fox can do for a half a season before making a Fox trade. If they can get John Collins for draft pics you might have the talent needed to make the playoffs.
Fox DDV
Mitchell Davis
Barnes Free agent
Collins Free agent
Sabonis Dame
That lineup would at least be worth a look. If Barnes had to be part of the trade then you need a C Martin type to maybe fill his role.
miltonap
Starter
One of the factors in my post was simply time.
I think if Fox Sabonis do not work out, that seat is going to be HOT.
I think there's been enough to judge how the pairing could work.
I do agree if they are able to immediately get someone like a Collins before the start of next season that they could do that as well.
I was just assuming they wouldn't be able to get a big time free agent though.
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
They only played 13 games together, which I don't think is quite enough to judge how things could work, especially when Alvin Gentry spent almost all of those games making some absolutely bonkers coaching decisions like refusing to start DiVincenzo or refusing to keep at least one of Sabonis, Fox, or Barnes on the court at all times despite repeatedly saying he need to do it in postgame pressers. They went 5-7 in those games but one of those losses was the Bucks game where Fox played most of the second half with one hand and two games where bad reffing literally lost the game for them (Denver/Dallas) and every single team they faced was a playoff team aside from OKC, who they summarily blew out, the Wizards, who they coasted to victory against, and the Knicks, who had Julius Randle shooting so hot I'm pretty sure he melted a hole in the hardwood.
I'm sure there are arguments to be made about small sample sizes in either direction but I'm going to personally veer towards the "I need to see this team with a coach who doesn't stick with starting Justin Holiday for 25 games despite him having some of the worst shooting splits in the league." side.
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Uhh what? No off-season, no training camp, playing with a interim head coach basing his system off a bottom 3 head coach in Luka Walton? I think we largely exceeded my expectations when everyone was playing together. Basically pure talent overcoming all the coaching/lineup usage deficiencies.
Fox-Sabonis gets one year to figure it out before any sweeping changes are made. And by figure it out, I mean at least a 7-8 seed. Can't miss the playoffs next year with Sabonis on the shot clock headed to his UFA.
The good news is we're seeing our depth is likely a lot better than most here thought. I've been on team DDV since the beginning and he's gotten back to his Bucks starter days over the last few weeks. Davion is developing as a quality shot creator/playmaker that should be to handle the secondary-creation role next season. Lyles/Jones should be an excellent back-up big man duo next year with some spot start ability. Metu is about as good as you can hope for from a 5th big. TD healthy is your microwave scorer off the bench.
Fox || DDV || 3rd PG ball-handler
Mitchell || TD
Barnes || ??
??? || Lyles || Metu
Sabonis || Jones || Queta
Barnes interchangeable at the 3/4 and a potential trade asset. Holmes is your main asset and Len/Harkless/Holiday as expirings that a team could want for cheap depth. Just start Davion, let him take the tougher defensive guard assignment and find a coach that understands basic lineup management that can stagger him and Fox. Obviously more than fine to start DDV too.
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
There is a lot of potential and just as many questions regarding our guard rotation going into next season. Are we getting beginning of the season Fox or Supernova? TD right before the injury or early season? Catch and shoot/ tough rebounding/defending DDV or 3 feet short on floaters Donte? Late season Off night or 30 percent from the field guy. If all 4 of those guys played consistent and closer to their best than their worst you would have a nice mix of shooting, defense, scoring and creating and all 4 could fit well together imo.
It's so weird that Monte traded for DDV twice and he is a RFA and people say "hope to see him stick around" ... ummm, is re-signing him not the biggest no-brainer of the offseason?
yeah, he absolutely tipped his hand. Assuming the RFA offers are within the realm of reason (like 8-12 mil), he's going to be a long-term core piece. If he had any worry about his long-term form, he wouldn't have traded for him when he probably was on a career worst streak in terms of play during those 17 Bucks games. And one real positive about the last few weeks is DDV showing he still has that elite role player juice left in the tank that had him as a starter and 4th or 5th best player on a title team.
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
Yeah like obviously he won't bring him back if Donte gets a 20 million dollar a year offer or something crazy like that but it's clear he's in this team's plans going forward.
serbiangoat
Starter
I predict it will be another gross overpay which will set the Kings back overall.
sactowndog
All-Star
we of all people should know the danger of judging people in the last 15-20 games when 1/3 of the league is literally trying to lose. That doesn’t mean Dante isn’t in the plan going forward but I’m not jumping to conclusions based on the end of the year.
we will literally pay market value.
Sure. But Donte is a proven elite role player in this league that needed to show he can get back to his pre-form injury. Nothing he's doing is out of line in terms of what he's done the last few years for the Bucks:
Sac:
21 games
26.6 MPG
10.0 PPG
3.7 APG
4.5 RPG
37.3% 3pt (5.6 Attempts/game)
53.3% TS
Bucks 20/21:
27.5 MPG
10.4 PPG
5.8 RPG
3.1 APG
37.9% 3pt (5.2 Attempts/game)
54.2% TS
Of course his Bucks stint this year was bad, but considering the turn in play with Sac, I think it's more than fair to chalk that up to rehabbing back into game shape.
In terms of shooting, he took 346 3's last year and 118 3s so far with the Kings at 37%. The C&S numbers have been outstanding with us. His Bucks stint this year (working back from injury) where he shot 28% was 74 attempts. Considering these samples, I think he's showing more than enough that he can be an adequate starting caliber spacer. Especially with the defense, energy, rebounding and secondary creation he brings with it. I can't wait to see him get more run with Sabonis and really take advantage of his off-ball movement too.
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