Off season targets

[The_Jamal]

Porzingis could be in play for us. Seems like the type of calculated risk I could see us taking…

1. Shouldn’t cost too much to acquire (due to his contract size)
2. Young enough to age with our core (25 years old)
3. Has all star upside/potential
4. He complements Fox fairly well with his size, shooting, and defense.

Maybe a trade like the one below gets it done…

Buddy Hield
Marvin Bagley
Delon Wright

for

Kristaps Porzingis
Dwight Powell
Trey Burke
Josh Green

Dallas frees up a lot of cap space to potentially lure a true Robin to Doncic’s Batman via free agency. Not to mention they get an elite floor spacer in Hield to stretch the floor even more for Doncic. They take a flyer on Bagley (otherwise he turns into cap space) and Wright gives them a solid, 3&D PG to bolster the guard rotation.

Kings get Porzingis in hopes that he can live up to his potential (and stay healthy). They also get Green who’s an athletic 3&D SG with some ball handling/playmaking potential to take a shot on. Assuming we could resign Holmes to a reasonable amount, the roster would be:

PG - Fox / Burke
SG - Haliburton / Green / Ramsey
SF - Barnes / James
PF - Porzingis / Woodard
C - Holmes / Powell / Metu / Jones
Picks -#9 & #39

Dare I say this trade could make this team better today while also improving the young core/assets for the future?

I think a Buddy-Bagley base for KP actually makes a ton of sense for both teams. Luka gets 2 lights-out shooters next to him in THJ and Buddy and a big who theoretically can rim run for him in the PnR. Kings take the big injury risk, but potentially massive buy-low on KP (who btw, actually still put up a great year, but of course the injury stuff is still massively lingers) since he seems to be wearing out his welcome in Dallas.

Luka
Buddy
THJ || DFS
Kleber || DFS
WCS || Bagley || Powell

It's truly all in on Luka's creation, but those are some pretty desirable skill-sets to have around a dominant creator. Would help maximize him for sure.

I don't know if I try to include Wright, but leveraging a young player like Green is pretty interesting, meaning we essentially turn CoJo and 2 bad 2nds for a former 1st round pick. Not bad.

 

[The_Jamal]

Porzingis has looked like a scrub when I've seen him.

I'd take bags who can give you 20/10 also and doesn't have all the actual legit injury issues that porzingis has had

Lol what? Dude has been more injured than Kristaps and has yet to come close to his offensive production, much less Kristaps rim protection and defense.

 

[miltonap]

Lol what? Dude has been more injured than Kristaps and has yet to come close to his offensive production, much less Kristaps rim protection and defense.

Kristaps has torn ACLs it's completely different. Yes they've both been injured but for very different reasons.

And to the other poster, yes I meant per36 basically.

The advanced stats is a good point though I wasn't aware of those.

But tbh kristapd has looked like a scrub when I've seen him. Missing outside shots and just getting pushed around.

If he didn't have actually bad injuries I might be down

 

[ESP47]

Kristaps has torn ACLs it's completely different. Yes they've both been injured but for very different reasons.

And to the other poster, yes I meant per36 basically.

The advanced stats is a good point though I wasn't aware of those.

But tbh kristapd has looked like a scrub when I've seen him. Missing outside shots and just getting pushed around.

If he didn't have actually bad injuries I might be down

I was in the same boat as you. I've probably seen about 8 Mavs games all year, including the games against the Kings and he's looked like hot garbage nearly every time I've watched. The only time I've ever noticed him is when he's bricking outside shots. Then I looked up his regular stats and was surprised at how solid they looked. Then his advanced stats surprised me even more.

 

[miltonap]

I was in the same boat as you. I've probably seen about 8 Mavs games all year, including the games against the Kings and he's looked like hot garbage nearly every time I've watched. The only time I've ever noticed him is when he's bricking outside shots. Then I looked up his regular stats and was surprised at how solid they looked. Then his advanced stats surprised me even more.

So are our eyes deceiving us lol. I wonder how much of those good stats are influenced by playing with the goat luka. Didn't the mavs have like the best offense of all time last year?

 

[Woot!]

Ben Simmons - a month shy of 25; phenomenal defender and playmaker; can't shoot; signed a 5-year $167 million max extension in the summer of 2019; definitely might be available when the 6ers' season ends.

He and Fox alone would take up most of the cap and seem like a bad pairing offensively (both ball dominant; mediocre/poor shooters, including from the line). But, defensively and on the boards - arguably, the Kings' too biggest weaknesses - he'd be a huge help.

Doesn't happen often that a young All-Star becomes available, so ya gotta ask: any interest? What would you give up?

 

[Iced Espresso]

Ben Simmons - a month shy of 25; phenomenal defender and playmaker; can't shoot; signed a 5-year $167 million max extension in the summer of 2019; definitely might be available when the 6ers' season ends.

He and Fox alone would take up most of the cap and seem like a bad pairing offensively (both ball dominant; mediocre/poor shooters, including from the line). But, defensively and on the boards - arguably, the Kings' too biggest weaknesses - he'd be a huge help.

Doesn't happen often that a young All-Star becomes available, so ya gotta ask: any interest? What would you give up?

Wouldn't they ask for Fox at a minimum?

 

[The_Jamal]

Ben Simmons - a month shy of 25; phenomenal defender and playmaker; can't shoot; signed a 5-year $167 million max extension in the summer of 2019; definitely might be available when the 6ers' season ends.

He and Fox alone would take up most of the cap and seem like a bad pairing offensively (both ball dominant; mediocre/poor shooters, including from the line). But, defensively and on the boards - arguably, the Kings' too biggest weaknesses - he'd be a huge help.

Doesn't happen often that a young All-Star becomes available, so ya gotta ask: any interest? What would you give up?

It'd have to be in a super buy-low type scenario: 2 of 3 (Buddy, Barnes, Bagley), and 2 first round picks if Philly wanted an opportunity to reload young talent while going all-in on a core around Embiid. Curry-Buddy-Barnes is just filthy spacing around him.

 

[SacTownKid]

Personally I'm not a fan of unloading half of the teams wing core to get a player like Simmons. Yeah, I'm all about drafting someone like Scottie Barnes but Barnes has potential to be a fit next to Fox still while on a cheaper rookie deal, Simmons and Fox is two guys on MAX deals that you don't even know how they'll work. You can take the ball out of rookies hands and tell him to go D up, Simmons doing that is getting nowhere close to the value you're paying him.

 

[Woot!]

Wouldn't they ask for Fox at a minimum?

They might, but I doubt the Kings would make that trade straight up, much less pair Fox with additional assets. Fox can legit carry a team offensively for stretches. Right now, Doc can't even leave Simmons on the floor in tight 4th quarters. If he falters again tonight...

OTOH, while Simmons is superior to Buddy in almost every way that matters, Buddy's one big strength - shooting, from 3's to free throws - is Simmons' (arguably) crippling playoffs weakness.

Buddy, Tyrese, and Simmons as the trade principals + whatever else to make it work? Obviously a lot for the Kings to give up.

Philly gets a much-needed, proven 3-pt marksman in Buddy plus a cheap, young stud in Haliburton who can replace some of Simmons' table-setting responsibilities AND bring 40%+ shooting from 3. AND both are 85%+ from the line. Buddy, Tyrese, Curry, Harris, and Embid down the stretch for the Sixers? My goodness.

Simmons brings big defense, rebounding, playmaking... but, honestly, the trade looks much less promising for the Kings to me. The Fox-Simmons fit is ugly offensively - and who spaces the floor besides HB? Simmons operates best out of the post, what do we do w/Bags/Holmes (if they're still around)?

 

[Woot!]

At the half of what could be the Sixers' last game of the season, Simmons has a 4/2/1 line in 9 min w/3 fouls. Sixers down 4.

Ugly.

 

[Tetsujin]

At the half of what could be the Sixers' last game of the season, Simmons has a 4/2/1 line in 9 min w/3 fouls. Sixers down 4.

Ugly.

At this point, I'm half convinced we could get Simmons for Buddy Hield and a Walmart gift card given how terrible he's been offensively in the postseason.

 

[Woot!]

At this point, I'm half convinced we could get Simmons for Buddy Hield and a Walmart gift card given how terrible he's been offensively in the postseason.

He's now 4/8/5 in 23 min w/5 fouls. Sixers up 5.

Not a good look for a $30 million/yr man.

 

[dude12]

76ers need to trade Simmons or Simmons needs to make FTs. Can’t have a max contract guy being forced off the floor because he’s a liability from the line.

 

[cwebb2002]

Simmons, a max player, CANT be on the court in clutch moments because he is crippling to the team's offense because he cant shoot. Forget the fact that he doesn't/cant shoot 3s. He is dreadful from the line. In the 4th quarter teams hack him to get him to the line so you have to pull your star player from the court. And the problem is this is not new. He has been criticized for this very significantly over the last few seasons, but instead of putting work in on his game, he leaned into it, doubling down saying he is going to play his game and doesn't need to shoot. He is a stellar passer and defender, but unless he is willing to play 3 or 4 on this team, i wouldn't trade a bag of skittles for him. Id rather go for Tobias Harris.

 

[miltonap]

No to Simmons. Can't shoot at all

 

[cwebb2002]

No to Simmons. Can't shoot at all

Can't shoot, wont shoot, and more then anything REFUSES to work on his shot. To me he seems to have an entitled and bad attitude with his approach to the game.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

While you guys are correctly pointing out all the warts Simmons has, he’s exactly the type of elite level talent the KINGS should take a risk on. If the price is right, of course.

Remember when the KINGS landed Chris Webber? At the time it was considered a risk. Webber had some off the court issues going on and also was considered an underachieving player and was a poor FT shooter.

But he really worked on his shot and improved.

Simmons doing the same just may be worth taking a risk on.

If nothing else, I’d really like the passing/creative abilities of Hali, Swipa and Simmons offensively and Simmons brings a lot defensively that the team desperately need.

Despite the unimpressive stat line, did you see the block he had on Young beyond the 3pt line late in the game when it mattered most?

Those types of plays often mean as much as scoring the ball. And he rebounds. And he’s a gifted passer. And he’s another very good ball handler. All super important things to combat the things he doesn’t do well.

 

[macadocious]

Can't shoot, wont shoot.

 

[The_Jamal]

While you guys are correctly pointing out all the warts Simmons has, he’s exactly the type of elite level talent the KINGS should take a risk on. If the price is right, of course.

Remember when the KINGS landed Chris Webber? At the time it was considered a risk. Webber had some off the court issues going on and also was considered an underachieving player and was a poor FT shooter.

But he really worked on his shot and improved.

Simmons doing the same just may be worth taking a risk on.

If nothing else, I’d really like the passing/creative abilities of Hali, Swipa and Simmons offensively and Simmons brings a lot defensively that the team desperately need.

Despite the unimpressive stat line, did you see the block he had on Young beyond the 3pt line late in the game when it mattered most?

Those types of plays often mean as much as scoring the ball. And he rebounds. And he’s a gifted passer. And he’s another very good ball handler. All super important things to combat the things he doesn’t do well.

yeah it really doesn't make sense to me how much people are willing to bash Simmons. Dude is a clear top 15 player and has been a DPOY candidate level defender the last few years that can legit defend the 1-5. If only we were to be so lucky to have the problem of working through how to maximize a Simmons-level talent.

 

[Section 101]

While you guys are correctly pointing out all the warts Simmons has, he’s exactly the type of elite level talent the KINGS should take a risk on. If the price is right, of course.

Remember when the KINGS landed Chris Webber? At the time it was considered a risk. Webber had some off the court issues going on and also was considered an underachieving player and was a poor FT shooter.

But he really worked on his shot and improved.

Simmons doing the same just may be worth taking a risk on.

If nothing else, I’d really like the passing/creative abilities of Hali, Swipa and Simmons offensively and Simmons brings a lot defensively that the team desperately need.

Despite the unimpressive stat line, did you see the block he had on Young beyond the 3pt line late in the game when it mattered most?

Those types of plays often mean as much as scoring the ball. And he rebounds. And he’s a gifted passer. And he’s another very good ball handler. All super important things to combat the things he doesn’t do well.

two completely different situations. Webbers on the court performance was fine, he was traded because of the off court issues.

 

[steelevt]

two completely different situations. Webbers on the court performance was fine, he was traded because of the off court issues.

Either way, we aren’t gonna get the perfect player in a trade. Our best bet is a very good player with a flaw ( on the court or off) otherwise the other team wouldn’t be looking to trade them. Hopefully it’s a fixable flaw but one that is noticeable enough that it won’t cost us a core player. I wouldn’t mind an all star caliber player having a down year or 2 or doesn’t fit in his current team.

 

[The_Jamal]

Bruce Brown would be another awesome wing to throw the MLE at this summer. Multi-positional defender that can go down to the 4 in some scenarios that absolutely works his butt off on every possession. Top 5 rebounding guard/wing in the league. And while he didn't do it with BKN this year for obvious reasons, he actually has on-ball creation abilities that most guys in his vein don't have. Fits the timeline as well turning 25 by the start of next season. Advanced stats show he was super impactful too on the defensive end.

BKN will obviously want to keep him, but man, I'm not so sure they really can:

Harden- 44.3 mil
KD- 42 mil
Kyrie- 35.4 mil
Harris- 17.3 mil
Jordan- 9.8 mil
Shamet- 3.7 mil
Claxton- 1.7 mil

So that'd already 154.2 mil in guaranteed contracts, with no assets really to dump off the Jordan or Harris deal. And they have to work on funding a bench with Dinwiddie reportedly looking to decline his player option and Blake, Green, Chiozza, Alize Johnson, Tyler Johnson, Mike James all headed for UFA/RFA as well.

 

[SacTownKid]

two completely different situations. Webbers on the court performance was fine, he was traded because of the off court issues.

And Webber was close to or at the level of a franchise offensive player. Simmons plays good D but my goodness, he's still a 15, 6, and 6 type in an era of inflated numbers. If the Kings could add him for a Buddy/9 package, heck yeah, maybe you think about it but he's not someone you take large chunks of your team apart for unless he's going to run your offense full time.

 

[SacTownKid]

Bruce Brown would be another awesome wing to throw the MLE at this summer. Multi-positional defender that can go down to the 4 in some scenarios that absolutely works his butt off on every possession. Top 5 rebounding guard/wing in the league. And while he didn't do it with BKN this year for obvious reasons, he actually has on-ball creation abilities that most guys in his vein don't have. Fits the timeline as well turning 25 by the start of next season. Advanced stats show he was super impactful too on the defensive end.

I doubt they let him go anytime soon and he's unfortunately too small for the Kings needs. He plays bigger than he is but you saw what happened when he was getting shot over by the likes of Middleton and looking at Giannis' belly button. The Kings have a team chalk full of those guys already. No more 4 guard lineups. They need to be looking at PJ Tucker types because they don't have anyone to guard those big wing teams other than Harrison. I still like the idea of getting someone like Baze on a cheap deal.

 

[The_Jamal]

I doubt they let him go anytime soon and he's unfortunately too small for the Kings needs. He plays bigger than he is but you saw what happened when he was getting shot over by the likes of Middleton and looking at Giannis' belly button. The Kings have a team chalk full of those guys already. No more 4 guard lineups. They need to be looking at PJ Tucker types because they don't have anyone to guard those big wing teams other than Harrison. I still like the idea of getting someone like Baze on a cheap deal.

Eh, Middleton and Jrue were both really rough in this series, so if we're using Middletong "shooting over" him as a negative, it was mostly bricking shots. And Brown has a massive 6'9 wing span while only being 6'4, which has why he's been so successful this year defending all over the floor. I'd have absolutely no problem with him matching up against 95% of wings/guards in the league.

Maybe we work some 2nd round pick(s) type equity for him in a S&T so the Nets can get some draft capital back to fill their bench. Kings severely lack players in his vein that take pride in being a strong defender/rebounder while actually having success.

 

[SacTownKid]

Eh, Middleton and Jrue were both really rough in this series, so if we're using Middletong "shooting over" him as a negative, it was mostly bricking shots. And Brown has a massive 6'9 wing span while only being 6'4, which has why he's been so successful this year defending all over the floor. I'd have absolutely no problem with him matching up against 95% of wings/guards in the league.

Maybe we work some 2nd round pick(s) type equity for him in a S&T so the Nets can get some draft capital back to fill their bench. Kings severely lack players in his vein that take pride in being a strong defender/rebounder while actually having success.

Yeah, until it mattered, the last 3 games he woke up. And those measurements are basically around Buddy, but Buddy probably has him by 20 pounds and yes, he held his own well against big wings this year too but it's adding on top of things you already have in terms of size basically. It's not just height/length it's weight. The Kings need some of the bulk you see on the teams making it deep. If you're backcourt is Fox/Haliburton I don't think there is an option size wise on the wing. You either need beasts like Tucker or players with exceptional length in that 6'7"-6-8" range. The bar is Clippers/Lakers/Suns/Nuggets/Jazz. The Kings have major ground to make up on the wing against those teams. If they could get someone like Brown without the MLE then of course you do it, but I don't think you can look at someone like him as a priority if it means bogging down the cap of your team further considering the circumstances and the players you have with a similar physical profile already. Vlade should have saved his cap 2 years in a row and he didn't in the 2nd year which cost him. I think the Kings need to shelve the MLE, or save some of it this season or use it on pieces they can break down and ship off much more easily in a worst case. Maybe the Kings perform very well next year and someone of note gets bought out, that saved MLE could come in handy.

 

[Tetsujin]

We already have a Bruce Brown on our roster and his name is Terence Davis

 

[SacTownKid]

We already have a Bruce Brown on our roster and his name is Terence Davis

6'4"-6'5" 200-210 pound guards is this teams specialty haha! That said I would trade Davis for Brown but either at a MLE type of deal, nah, not wise if your backcourt of the future is 190-200 pounds of thunder.

 

[The_Jamal]

We already have a Bruce Brown on our roster and his name is Terence Davis

Davis is like the offensive version of Brown. And as much as I like Davis the player, he didn't come close in impact stats to Brown.