Potential Free agent/trade/sign tracker
- Thread starter iowamcnabb
- Start date
Alex Caruso/Patrick Williams
Aleksej Pokusevski
Jonathan Isaac
Josh Richardson/Zach Collins
Those were the types of players/packages I’ve been exploring with Mitchell being included. I could see CHI, OKC, ORL, and SAS all having interest in Davion while at the same time those teams have players that could help us/be a good fit.
I’d love to take a swing on Isaac. If the dude can stay relatively healthy, he’s the type of defender who could single-handedly transform our defense and elevate this teams ceiling that much further. His value is just so hard to gauge at this point but he’s looked great in these first few games thus far.
Poku is not quite the impact player Isaac is at this point but he has the tools to certainly get there. He’s shaping up to be as perfect of a player that you can find to put next to Sabonis: great size/length, solid rebounder, excellent shot blocker, is best guarding PFs, and can space the floor. Not sure if OKC would see Mitchell as someone they’d start next to SGA, but if they do, then maybe a Poku deal is possible.
Aleksej Pokusevski
Jonathan Isaac
Josh Richardson/Zach Collins
Those were the types of players/packages I’ve been exploring with Mitchell being included. I could see CHI, OKC, ORL, and SAS all having interest in Davion while at the same time those teams have players that could help us/be a good fit.
I’d love to take a swing on Isaac. If the dude can stay relatively healthy, he’s the type of defender who could single-handedly transform our defense and elevate this teams ceiling that much further. His value is just so hard to gauge at this point but he’s looked great in these first few games thus far.
Poku is not quite the impact player Isaac is at this point but he has the tools to certainly get there. He’s shaping up to be as perfect of a player that you can find to put next to Sabonis: great size/length, solid rebounder, excellent shot blocker, is best guarding PFs, and can space the floor. Not sure if OKC would see Mitchell as someone they’d start next to SGA, but if they do, then maybe a Poku deal is possible.
I've come full circle on this. Monk can play and run the 2nd unit (he has been anyway). The only difference is he'd dribble the ball past half court. That would allow him to get on the floor for 28+ MPG too, which is where he should be at.
I love Davion, but there's just no upside future with us. Huerter and Monk have quickly become core rotation players for the longterm and Fox is the franchise guy. If you can flip him to rebalance the roster, think you got to do it
I love Davion, but there's just no upside future with us. Huerter and Monk have quickly become core rotation players for the longterm and Fox is the franchise guy. If you can flip him to rebalance the roster, think you got to do it
I think holding onto Davion is a much better idea unless Monte does indeed see what a package involving Keegan/Davion/maybe Barnes/picks can net. If it's a Collins tier player, no thanks obviously. The better bet is wait until draft night and see what Keegan/Davion/2023 pick can net and/or Holmes/1st as a dump package can get him. If it can get Monte out from the Holmes deal fully, then holding onto Keegan/Davion and playing around in FA (hopefully with Barnes' cooperation) is the best bet. Then also look at being a 3rd wheel to pick up a salary dump type for basically nothing or see what Keegan/Davion can get in a sign and trade or dump. If Monte can get out from under the Holmes contract there is a slim possibility he can hold onto all 3 of Keegan/Davion/Barnes AND possibly get that much needed 3rd piece.
People questioned the Warriors going hard after Wiggins well since this team is a little like the Dubs in their build strategy they also need that extra scoring help that the Warriors also saw. The Warriors have Curry, Klay, Poole, and Wiggins. I don't think the Kings need 4 guys since Sabonis is a better scorer than Draymond but they clearly need a Poole/Wiggins level scorer to finish it out unless college Keegan shows up. As @Tetsujin has brought up before, Keegan is basically the stretch F version of Klay for this team now with way less shot attempts (partly do to Keegans lack of ball handling and G skills) and as the Warriors have shown, you are going to need better iso threats around that type of player. Like I brought up in another thread, having the kind of shot distribution (way too spread around, every shot Fox/Domas don't take even if a better shot is a less talented player taking it in the end) the Kings do isn't sustainable. Not likely unless they become an ELITE defensive team which considering the pieces the Kings have is super unlikely. Middle of the road on D and great on O is the way to go IMO but teams are obviously starting to force the Kings away from these system shots and it's why you see someone like Keegan or Huerter have one night of super stats and then disappear on other nights. Barnes is the only other guy capable of getting that needed production on his own but he's going to bounce around from Dallas iso 19 a night Barnes to Warriors Barnes of 19 some nights, system guy taking 8 shots on others.
People questioned the Warriors going hard after Wiggins well since this team is a little like the Dubs in their build strategy they also need that extra scoring help that the Warriors also saw. The Warriors have Curry, Klay, Poole, and Wiggins. I don't think the Kings need 4 guys since Sabonis is a better scorer than Draymond but they clearly need a Poole/Wiggins level scorer to finish it out unless college Keegan shows up. As @Tetsujin has brought up before, Keegan is basically the stretch F version of Klay for this team now with way less shot attempts (partly do to Keegans lack of ball handling and G skills) and as the Warriors have shown, you are going to need better iso threats around that type of player. Like I brought up in another thread, having the kind of shot distribution (way too spread around, every shot Fox/Domas don't take even if a better shot is a less talented player taking it in the end) the Kings do isn't sustainable. Not likely unless they become an ELITE defensive team which considering the pieces the Kings have is super unlikely. Middle of the road on D and great on O is the way to go IMO but teams are obviously starting to force the Kings away from these system shots and it's why you see someone like Keegan or Huerter have one night of super stats and then disappear on other nights. Barnes is the only other guy capable of getting that needed production on his own but he's going to bounce around from Dallas iso 19 a night Barnes to Warriors Barnes of 19 some nights, system guy taking 8 shots on others.
Like I said, I'd like to rearrange the bench with a focus on defensive effort by going for Thybulle and Vanderbilt using a combination of 2nds, Davion, Holmes. It's really unfortunate that Davion's a defensive specialist in the least important position and role, ie on-ball hounding of the other team's guards. Versatile, multi-position wing (Thybulle) and big (Vanderbilt) is just so much more important almost by default.
Im not trading keegan. He is exactly what we need right now and has a really bright future. We traded hali because we had two pg that didnt fit together and got us a premier big man from it. The players I would look to trade are davis, mitchell, len, holmes, and kz if you are going to move anyone. I really like what lyles has done this season and he is a great complimentary piece for what we are trying to do.
I think the on-ball defender is actually the most important, but you need all three so it's sortof a moot point. I hope we hold onto Davion -- his offensive weaknesses can be corrected and there's no way we're going to find another on-ball defender who can do what he does.
I like the idea of pursuing Thybulle in free agency but it depends how much he would cost. If we're going to trade for a defensive specialist big, the guy I want is still Usman Garuba on Houston. He defends both wings and bigs and he can catch and shoot from three point range. He's been racking up DNP-CDs lately so I can't imagine Houston values him that highly.
I like the idea of pursuing Thybulle in free agency but it depends how much he would cost. If we're going to trade for a defensive specialist big, the guy I want is still Usman Garuba on Houston. He defends both wings and bigs and he can catch and shoot from three point range. He's been racking up DNP-CDs lately so I can't imagine Houston values him that highly.
I guess my issue is are we fine with Davion just being a 10-15 MPG defensive specialist the next few years? Davion is far more valuable to winning basketball than Bagley is, but we're kind of in a similar issue where there's just guys ahead of him that I'm not sure he can overtake in the rotation. Bagley has to be a C and there was essentially no chance he could outplay Richaun for the starting gig. It's kind of hard to buy-in that he can overtake Huerter or Monk within the next few seasons.
This went into part of my evaluation between Murray and Ivey as well. While I had Murray as a slightly higher prospect on my board over Ivey, I think even if they were equal or maybe Ivey even slightly ahead, that you take positional value and just where your franchise building blocks currently play into account. Made Keegan the easy pick and it's turning out about as well as we could expect with him showing out to be a starting caliber player already and an high level contributor to a wining team.
I'm not trading Davion for nothing, but if we can leverage him into another 3+ year core rotation piece (thinking the guys we always talk about: Vandy/PJW/Grant Williams/Cam Johnson esq caliber) I'm absolutely in on it.
This went into part of my evaluation between Murray and Ivey as well. While I had Murray as a slightly higher prospect on my board over Ivey, I think even if they were equal or maybe Ivey even slightly ahead, that you take positional value and just where your franchise building blocks currently play into account. Made Keegan the easy pick and it's turning out about as well as we could expect with him showing out to be a starting caliber player already and an high level contributor to a wining team.
I'm not trading Davion for nothing, but if we can leverage him into another 3+ year core rotation piece (thinking the guys we always talk about: Vandy/PJW/Grant Williams/Cam Johnson esq caliber) I'm absolutely in on it.
Okay but counterpoint: Davion is clearly a better defender than Malik Monk and is currently outshooting him from the floor and from behind the three point arc. Add to that he's a professional and has willingly conceded his shots and most of his ball handling duties to Monk and Huerter without complaint.. He had a bad game, it happens. I still see him as a core rotation piece.
Bottom line for me guys is I am fine moving Davion in a deal where we clearly get something better - like fringe starter level player, 6th man of the year type. He would need to be packaged with money like Holmes in order to facilitate that. I don't know how realistic that is. But we'd probably need to get a serviceable reserve PG and then this high value player in return. I'd also probably consider if we got a true backup big and a backup guard, who slid into an 8/9 man playoff rotation with Monk and Lyles who right now aside from Davion are the only guys I think we can guarantee are going to see nightly action.
This also depends on if TD has interest because he's a guy who might be better off with more regularly scheduled minutes rather than fringe status. If we did ship Davion it would open minutes for TD. But honestly that's a guy I also think is out the door.
This also depends on if TD has interest because he's a guy who might be better off with more regularly scheduled minutes rather than fringe status. If we did ship Davion it would open minutes for TD. But honestly that's a guy I also think is out the door.
Shouldn’t be so short sighted with Davion. He’s been a donut offensively through much of the season.. but he is a second year player and has shown offensive ability at the NBA level.. We’re not thinking of just this season here. Fact is, most players don’t have it all figured out by their second season.
I don’t think it’s so much not fitting offensively rather than going from a non system that allows him free rein to explore his potential to having a clearly defined role and boundaries in an actual system. The “sophomore slump” wasn’t dubbed for nothing. Davion needs to be a 3 and D guy to make it in this league. If he’s not a fit in our system. He’s not a fit anywhere. His problem is the bricks. He’s getting good shots.
He’s certainly not to the point where I’m
ready to make him filler in a trade to bring in patchwork like Collins and Richardson, is what I’m saying. Other similarly aged, stalled players with similar potential at different positions of need..maybe..or add on in a bigger trade that brings in somebody major. Not for short term veteran rotation players that may or may not move the needle.
I don’t think it’s so much not fitting offensively rather than going from a non system that allows him free rein to explore his potential to having a clearly defined role and boundaries in an actual system. The “sophomore slump” wasn’t dubbed for nothing. Davion needs to be a 3 and D guy to make it in this league. If he’s not a fit in our system. He’s not a fit anywhere. His problem is the bricks. He’s getting good shots.
He’s certainly not to the point where I’m
ready to make him filler in a trade to bring in patchwork like Collins and Richardson, is what I’m saying. Other similarly aged, stalled players with similar potential at different positions of need..maybe..or add on in a bigger trade that brings in somebody major. Not for short term veteran rotation players that may or may not move the needle.
Last edited:
If he can turn into a competent 3 point shooter, that's great and exactly what we need. Of course, shooting is one of the easier skills to develop, but at this point there isn't really anything giving confidence or even hope that he can do so. But I wonder if Davion's elite quickness and change in pace ability can't be taken advantage of. He's so fricken fast that he should be able to create an offensive advantage on backdoor cuts, change in speed on/approaching DHOs, and in standard PnR. It's not the way he has played basketball his whole life, but that is the type of offense I have hope he can develop that would allow him to be an offensive contributor on this team.
I think he would play along side of Trey like a better version of Metu. And I think he has defensive versatility (3-5) to play alongside either Keegan or Barnes. So there is an upside play here as well. Basically, dunker spot, corner 3 and guard the best front court player.
But now that I hear that the Nets are likely moving on from Durant - I’m thinking Dorian Finney Smith might be gettable. That’s someone I would trade Davion for.
But now that I hear that the Nets are likely moving on from Durant - I’m thinking Dorian Finney Smith might be gettable. That’s someone I would trade Davion for.
Last edited:
I was not down with dealing Davion because he brings something we don’t have which is defense but offensively, it sure appears he doesn’t fit. I also wouldn’t trade him just to trade him. If we can get a more dynamic playmaking guard who is more balanced on both sides of the ball, we have to look at it. Or has been mentioned, another playmaker. With Fox out, we have been exposed for the lack of guys who can get their shot…..thus TD has shown his value to us.
