I’d want to pair Brown with Sabonis, and would the Celtics even want Sabonis if they’re looking to cut cap?
Monk/DeRozan/Carter/3 1sts
Potential Free agent/trade/sign tracker
- Thread starter iowamcnabb
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I’d want to pair Brown with Sabonis, and would the Celtics even want Sabonis if they’re looking to cut cap?
Monk/DeRozan/Carter/3 1sts
Joshyjosh31
Starter
Damn ya only saves 5 million
I don’t think they trade brown for guys that won’t start for them
I wouldn't even give up three 1sts alone for Brown. His VORP was 0 this year and only .7 last year. He's a high usage player who has a low impact on winning.
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
Haven’t you heard? Advanced stats are irrelevant now!
I'm forever basing my analysis on missed games due to injury and the level of aura a guy has when healthy on the floor. Nothing else matters
Kingster
Hall of Famer
Depends what your expectations were to begin with. To me he's a Jose Alvarado type player. He's valuable as a good defender, but not as an upper tier starting point guard.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
I WISH! LOL
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
I'm not sure if the Kings have the tools to trade for someone like Brown at this point. Is he a 5 pick player? Certainly not with where the Kings are at in the pecking order. Especially if you're moving Domas in the deal. Domas/recent lottery pick/1st's? The Kings are probably just moving deck chairs at that point. You obviously would have to start with Keegan in a package but then the question is what value does he currently have? He, partly through usage, is starting to appear tapped out and has to be re-signed long term. If the Kings don't extend him I'm interested to see what he does in a contract year situation. That could very well light a fire under him.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
Could end up that way, but again, and I get Kings fans are so used to not having elite athletes, especially ones that mostly use it on the defensive end of the floor, but Carter literally broke combine records. That's the upside with someone like him. This is the one rare time where the Kings didn't pick a Justin Jackson over an OG Anunoby. Take the upside guy with a pulse and the physical prowess and see what happens. If it flames out, it flames out. If he pans out? Gold.
This is a big summer for Carter so we might have a good idea where his desire to get better is at. He's got the tools now he's got to put in the work. In watching where the league is heading, legit physical defense is going to be coming back big time. This "deflections" era started by the Warriors is slowly dying. Real defense is going to matter. The play in was indeed a prelude when it comes to handsy defenders. The refs aren't going to let that happen every game. Sitting down in posture, sticking to your man, and flat out making players either not even take shots against you or see their FG%'s decline when they do is coming back around.
Honestly, why I really don't like the Jrue Holiday idea from TWslam. Not that Holiday couldn't help us, but the Kings way out of the middle is you see a massive leap from at least one of Carter/Keon/Keegan. Keon and Keegan are both excellent players, but can they take another leap to being a foundational/franchise level? Both guys are pretty rare defensive talents at the guard and wing, but how much further can the offense progress? I think Keon's upside on defense is good enough for him not to really need to get much better on O, but if he found a way to have a Derrick White sort of progression offensively... man.
And we've been in lock-step with Carter from day 1. Dude is a freak athlete with freak measurables that plays incredibly hard and already impacts the defensive end of the floor. Go look at every single good team right now; they all have some version of a Devin Carter on the squad. It's a necessity at this point. I'd be very confident he'd be an excellent-elite defender next season with a regular role. But how does the offense progress? Does he stay stuck as like a Alex Caruso/Marcus Smart-esq offensive talent or can the first step and explosiveness unlock a true offensive ceiling?
Joshyjosh31
Starter
What do you think his upside is offensively?
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
If Devins pnr game translates from college I can see most of his college level production translating. If he's a full time PG more assists since those are somewhat subjective these days. He's already proven to be fairly productive in his minutes. If he played legit starter minutes I can see 15-18 out of him a night easily maybe even more if he can get to the line the way he might be able to. Kevin Martin spammed FT's on his way to being a 25 ppg scorer so if the calls are there that's points. Carter has to hit them though, haha. This is where his shooting form might hamper some of that since while a high arcing 3 ball is fine, from the line the basket will not be kind. It either goes straight through or bounces off.
On ball Carter is built for draw and kick. If you watched Davion in the playoffs that's literally all he was doing. Carter has a better first step and size whereas Davion has a slick hesitation move, more than one way gets the job done. Neither are true PG's but when you look around the league most PG's are actually combo guards, sorry Domas. The issue that tends to stick out right now is the defense. Players at G that are all production who just give it back and more on the other end are starting to lose value. Take note Luka, lol. Offensively the position is all about the ability to break the plane of the perimeter defense and create rotation from that. There aren't very many genius passers and probably the best one is Jokic right now.
The player I think Carter can compare to in most ways is Avery Bradley. If Carter can't carve out a similar path that would mean he's a spot role playing defender which he can probably still stick around on a team but would be far below his potential. The good signs are the big games Carter had this season in retrospect. The Celtics on the road, the Cavs at home, and the play in where Carter was the only player in the + that actually played real in game minutes. The moment wasn't too big for him which can't be said for about almost any of his teammates. Now he's got to find a balance and how he toes the line between the chaos of a Monk type of player and the solid if even unspectacular play of a Holiday, White, or Marcus Smart. He should be somewhere in there and then that's when it comes down to the pure raw athletic ability. That can take a player to the next level. However, if he relies solely on that it can also hinder him. This is the part where the Kings have always failed in the past. DEVELOPMENT is key whether they run it back or rebuild. Without that it doesn't matter how well you scout, it's all for nothing. As we've seen time and time again. I personally feel like the job being done in Stockton is top notch and now if Bobby Jackson is back that should only moreso solidify the Kings ability to not completely fail any young players.
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
Donovan Mitchell without his jumper. Now, the jumper is what makes Donovan’s game work but in terms of exploiting creases and getting downhill, I think that’s how good Devin can be.
Joshyjosh31
Starter
I liked his assertiveness he wasn’t scared to take shots and score
Does he have the handles of a Mitchell I agree with the way he gets downhill
They don’t play him zero chance he goes back there
Whoops I made a mistake there. I don't know whos page I was looking at but it wasn't Brown's.
He actually had a 1.1 VORP this year and a 1.6 last year. Better impact but definitely not 3 first rounder impact IMO. Also had the worst defensive box plus/minus on the team.
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
I think I would be more than happy with a Brown/Sabonis/Lavine big three regardless of what the advanced numbers say about Brown but yeah I also wouldn’t be “trade all our assets at once!” Eager to bring him on.
Joshyjosh31
Starter
His defense turns up on the playoffs he was one of the better Luka defenders and can defend 1-4
We probably can’t get him without Sabonis he’d be in demand despite the contract. A Monk/Lavine backcourt is startable with Keegan and brown on the wing and a defensive center starting preferably Gafford
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
This is where the development kicks in. Yeah, Carter's shown good handles but he's also shown pretty sloppy ones. Is he a full time lead ball handler? Probably not, it's not really his game but these days very few players are going full Rondo at PG. 15 years ago 3 PG's were averaging 10+ assists. Now it's all pretty much the style Perry and Christie have already described with the ball moving around. It's funny, I looked up lead PG's of the past and it's no wonder that the league has gone away from it, out of the top 3 PG passers in 2010 Rondo is the only one to win a ring and the year he did he only averaged 5.7 assists. This year the only non score first player in the top 10 is Haliburton.
As for handles the trick is Carter's shown them. And fairly consistently. His role changed later in the season but earlier he was averaging solid per 36 assist/to ratios and was like I think the 3rd best assist getter when on the floor at one point. Carter is more of a connective passer but what the team ends up being stylistically is probably going to determine where the productivity lies. As a 5 out modern team he'd be perfect as that pnr scorer that can get the ball to the wings or corners off penetration. Whether he's playing next to someone like Keon, LaVine, or Monk it shouldn't matter since even on the kick outs from others that's just driving in off the catch and keeping the defense moving. Summer league will be big for him, hopefully they really let him work on all of that. It's there, it's just unrefined. It's the players where it's not really there to begin with that you kind of have to worry about. If those aspects don't come together then development starts heading to being a utility guy. We shall see.
Joshyjosh31
Starter
Summer league and this summer in general should be huge for Carter he looked good this year with no offseason that’s a major positive
Noble
Bench
Bol Bol is the most ideal pairing with Sabonis i can think of that wouldn't cost much. 7'8 wingspan, 7'3, runs the floor, shoots 3s, can attack the basket, lob threat. Then try to trade for Marcus Smart.. Smart, Lavine, Murray, Bol, Sabonis would be a pretty interesting lineup.
Here's a trade I did with Washington and Miami to get Smart and not disrespect DeRozan.
Kings' Perspective
Why It Works
Marcus Smart plugs in as your starting PG: elite defender, playoff-tested, stabilizes half-court sets.
Kyle Anderson gives you a low-usage, switchable 4 who fits next to Bol or off the bench behind Murray.
Cap neutral and preserves Monk/Carter/LaRavia depth.
Starting Lineup Post-Trade
PG: Marcus Smart
SG: Zach LaVine
SF: Keegan Murray
PF: Bol Bol
C: Domantas Sabonis
Bench Unit
Malik Monk / Devin Carter
Kyle Anderson / Jake LaRavia
Jonas Valančiūnas
+1–2 open rotation slots to fill (likely vet-min shooters or backup PG)
---
Concerns to Address
Roster Compliance: Sacramento drops to 11 standard contracts. You'll need to add 3 players to meet minimum roster size—easy to do via vet-min or rookies.
Offensive Creation: Losing DeRozan slightly drops isolation scoring, but Smart’s fit in terms of defense, passing, and leadership more than offsets it when surrounded by LaVine, Monk, Sabonis.
Here's a trade I did with Washington and Miami to get Smart and not disrespect DeRozan.
Kings' Perspective
Why It Works
Marcus Smart plugs in as your starting PG: elite defender, playoff-tested, stabilizes half-court sets.
Kyle Anderson gives you a low-usage, switchable 4 who fits next to Bol or off the bench behind Murray.
Cap neutral and preserves Monk/Carter/LaRavia depth.
Starting Lineup Post-Trade
PG: Marcus Smart
SG: Zach LaVine
SF: Keegan Murray
PF: Bol Bol
C: Domantas Sabonis
Bench Unit
Malik Monk / Devin Carter
Kyle Anderson / Jake LaRavia
Jonas Valančiūnas
+1–2 open rotation slots to fill (likely vet-min shooters or backup PG)
---
Concerns to Address
Roster Compliance: Sacramento drops to 11 standard contracts. You'll need to add 3 players to meet minimum roster size—easy to do via vet-min or rookies.
Offensive Creation: Losing DeRozan slightly drops isolation scoring, but Smart’s fit in terms of defense, passing, and leadership more than offsets it when surrounded by LaVine, Monk, Sabonis.
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