Neemias Back

dude12

Hall of Famer
#3
Well then. If signed, that is a lot of centers on the roster and I’m wonder if Lyles won’t be playing as much center as anticipated
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
#5
Curious if "standard NBA contract" means anything w/r/t G-league time vs the big club
Any player on a standard contract who has 0, 1, or 2 years of service can be sent to the G-League at will, for as many games as the team wants. So we can send Queta to the G-League at will this season. The question I'm not sure of the answer to is how many years of service does Queta have - that is, do his two years as a two-way count as years of service, or not? Either way, he has either 0 or 2 years of service, so we can assign him as we please.

Edit: It appears that there is no exception for Two-Way players in accumulating years of service. Queta should have two years of service, so this would be the last year he can be sent down to the G-League without consent.
 
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#7
Interesting....I guess we are willing to pay to keep him another year. Training camp battle with Noel or just stash in Stockton for rehab? He didn't show a lot in Summer League.
 
#12
No idea why one-quarter of the roster now consists of centers. I sincerely hope the coaches are not going to try to play Sabonis at power forward.
 
#15
No idea why one-quarter of the roster now consists of centers. I sincerely hope the coaches are not going to try to play Sabonis at power forward.
What if I told you Domas has been in Napa putting up 2000 three point shots a day with Steph Curry's shooting coach Brandon Payne and has rumored to have at one point made 47 in a row?

What if I told you I just made that up?

What if I told you that even if I made it up, it could still be happening?

A 35% Domas three point shooter would be quite a weapon. 17 ft at least?
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#16
The Kings should have cut their losses with Queta already. Hard to believe they can't find a more talented player to fill his spot.
 
#17
The Kings should have cut their losses with Queta already. Hard to believe they can't find a more talented player to fill his spot.
We get it, You don't like him.

Anyways Queta signed the same contract as Noel, non-guaranteed til opening day, so this is a contract to see who gets 2/3rd Center slot, the other one will get cut, so you still might get your wish.
 
#19
Well then. If signed, that is a lot of centers on the roster and I’m wonder if Lyles won’t be playing as much center as anticipated
Eh, I still don't think so. None of Noel/Len/Queta are actual reliable rotational back-ups. And a lot of people on twitter are speculating that Noel vs Queta is a camp battle and whoever wins gets the 3rd C slot. It seems still extremely likely that the plan is for Lyles to take the primary back-up 5 spot. I just don't understand how he and Vezenkov get on the floor for enough minutes otherwise.
 
#20
Never know. He may be the answer to Jokic during a playoff run. I like him better on jokic more than any other center we have.
Highly unlikely anyone ever stops the legend. Just wishful thinking.
 

funkykingston

Super Moderator
Staff member
#22
Noel won't last forever. Maybe he can teach Neemias a thing or two.
I think it would have to be during training camp. As others have mentioned, I think this is essentially a battle between Noel and Queta for one roster spot. As it stands today, here's who's under contract with the Kings:

C Sabonis/Len/Noel/Queta
PF Barnes/Lyles/Vezenkov
SF Murray/Edwards
SG Huerter/Monk/Duarte/Jones
PG Fox/Monk

Plus Keon Ellis and Jalen Slawson on two way deals (one two way slot still available) and Jake Stephens on and Exhibit 10 deal.

It could be possible that McNair really values depth at center after it was a weakness last season (and especially after Sabonis' avuncular fracture and playoff injuries) and that he expects Duarte or Jones (or Huerter at times) to flex to a forward spot while Monk acts as the 3rd string PG.

But I just don't see it. Even if they sign Ford to the 3rd two way, the roster just isn't balanced. To get minutes for both Lyles and Sasha I think Trey needs to play some smallball 5. And McNair has shown that (1) he likes having some roster flexibility and (2) likes to use that flexibility to take low risk gambles on long, athletic wings.

I hope Queta flashes in training camp and solidifies his spot. But if he doesn't, I think he'll be cut (I don't know if he can then be signed to the last two way spot or not - or if it even makes sense to do so) and Noel will be the 3rd string center this season. Either way, unless Len struggles and/or they don't use a Lyles/Vezenkov frontcourt, whichever guy survives camp will likely only play due to injury or to occasionally give a different look behind Sabonis.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#25
Good, this is a prove it year for Neemi.
I think it's more of a proving training camp and pre-season for Neemi! This comes down to a simple battle between Neemi and Noel. The winner gets the spot, barring a new face jumping into the fray. Neemi has proven to be a good 4th quarter player! Unfortunately, you don't have the luxury of working your way into the game when you're backup. He has to play like that 4th quarter player from the moment he hits the court.
 
#27
Interesting....I guess we are willing to pay to keep him another year. Training camp battle with Noel or just stash in Stockton for rehab? He didn't show a lot in Summer League.
Hey I mean, the way the refs call the ticky-tack fouls during the regular season, and with injuries in mind, I'll be happy to have 4-5 bigs in rotation.

(EDIT: Plus, HoopsHype's Michael Scotto reported Thursday that Queta received a two-year, $4.2 million deal, but the first year is only partially guaranteed and the second year is non-guaranteed. So he still gotta prove it. Hopefully, he'll actually get some real game minutes with the A team instead of spending all his time at Stockton like he used to...)
 
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