Russell Westbrook

[Joshyjosh31]

If tonight’s performance is what were largely going to see all season (not necessarily the production, but the energy, hustle and leadership) — then I have no issue admitting that I was 100% wrong in not wanting any part of him.

I’ll be that guy! If this is what we get from Westbrook and he and the other 30 year olds lead is to the best case scenario of the 10th seed and we get beat by 20+ again in the play-in how does that help us in any way? I see some are now preaching that bull crap that Nique would learn and pick up his intensity. Ok cool Nique will never be a first or second option on a good team big deal he learns that while we miss on a prime draft pick in a good draft

 

[Joshyjosh31]

Joshy must be elated!

Man

 

[TheMobb]

I’ll be that guy! If this is what we get from Westbrook and he and the other 30 year olds lead is to the best case scenario of the 10th seed and we get beat by 20+ again in the play-in how does that help us in any way? I see some are now preaching that bull crap that Nique would learn and pick up his intensity. Ok cool Nique will never be a first or second option on a good team big deal he learns that while we miss on a prime draft pick in a good draft

You have slightly better odds being one of the worst teams vs being the 10th seed. It’s not much difference and literally a crapshoot. If the draft odds actually went in order by record, then tanking would make way more sense.

 

[SLAB]

We should have just given Shroeder’s contract to him. There’s one guy I have no idea why he exists on this roster.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

He now leads the team in VORP. I don't know if that's pretty cool or sad.

It just means that he’s a former superstar MVP with a little juice left. So it’s definitely cool.

How much juice remains to be seen.

 

[Padrino]

Any questions? Yes, plenty. Like, for example, what are we doing here? This is pretty much what I feared when the Kings announced the signing. Russ gets big minutes, gets to dominate the ball, gets his numbers, helps the Kings eke out wins against lesser and injury-depleted teams, and all at the expense of the team's younger and longer-term talent (Ellis w/ 17 mins, Carter w/ 5). I'm not particularly thrilled to watch the Kings milk the last ounce of basketball Westbrook's got left just to keep their sad, middling play-in dreams alive.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

We should have just given Shroeder’s contract to him. There’s one guy I have no idea why he exists on this roster.

How is Westbrook going to "guard the 4", if they don't have a veteran point guard that they are willing to play? Somebody has to guard the 1.

 

[macadocious]

We should have just given Shroeder’s contract to him. There’s one guy I have no idea why he exists on this roster.

I was thinking this before we even did the Schroeder deal. If we felt we need a "real PG" why not just bring in Russ for the minimum, save money, and not add another bloated unlovable contract.

 

[The_Jamal]

Any questions? Yes, plenty. Like, for example, what are we doing here? This is pretty much what I feared when the Kings announced the signing. Russ gets big minutes, gets to dominate the ball, gets his numbers, helps the Kings eke out wins against lesser and injury-depleted teams, and all at the expense of the team's younger and longer-term talent (Ellis w/ 17 mins, Carter w/ 5). I'm not particularly thrilled to watch the Kings milk the last ounce of basketball Westbrook's got left just to keep their sad, middling play-in dreams alive.

Yeah. Russ-ball right now is him pushing everyone else aside while he's currently on pace for his career best efficiency (lol), so the shooting is certainly unsustainable.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

Yeah. Russ-ball right now is him pushing everyone else aside while he's currently on pace for his career best efficiency (lol), so the shooting is certainly unsustainable.

I don’t know what you and Padrino were watching last night, but I didn’t see a guy pushing anyone aside. Not only did he lead the team in assists and make the extra pass to open teammates numerous times — he took the ball off the rim 16 times himself, including hustle tip outs to teammates.

I fully understand Russ’ history. But based solely upon his play last night, I think you guys are overreacting and being a bit harsh here.

This coming from someone who was fully opposed to bringing in who I’d always referred to as Westbrick.

I also will never cry Argentina, like Padrino, when the team tries to compete and win games. That’s what they’re supposed to do. This tanking mentality, which often involves “playing all the young guys” heavy minutes even though they aren’t better than the vets in front of them lacks honor and integrity. I’m glad this franchise hasn’t stooped to that level yet. Especially with the prices they charge to attend games. They’d better be putting the best product they can on the floor, otherwise just let everyone in for free and heavily discount the concessions until they finally draft their superstar team. SMH.

I’d like to see a breakdown of how many KINGS fans in favor of playing the youth the vast majority of the minutes — which they also hope will result in 60+ losses — are also the ones owning season tickets or at the very least shelling out a ton of cash to watch the tankathon in person every night. I’d be willing to bet that the vast majority of them are largely, if not always, watching from home.

 

[Joshyjosh31]

Any questions? Yes, plenty. Like, for example, what are we doing here? This is pretty much what I feared when the Kings announced the signing. Russ gets big minutes, gets to dominate the ball, gets his numbers, helps the Kings eke out wins against lesser and injury-depleted teams, and all at the expense of the team's younger and longer-term talent (Ellis w/ 17 mins, Carter w/ 5). I'm not particularly thrilled to watch the Kings milk the last ounce of basketball Westbrook's got left just to keep their sad, middling play-in dreams alive.

All this while the top 3 in the draft look amazing smh can’t believe people in here are excited that Russ and the 30 year olds got us a win vs a GLeague lineup

 

[Joshyjosh31]

I don’t know what you and Padrino were watching last night, but I didn’t see a guy pushing anyone aside. Not only did he lead the team in assists and make the extra pass to open teammates numerous times — he took the ball off the rim 16 times himself, including hustle tip outs to teammates.

I fully understand Russ’ history. But based solely upon his play last night, I think you guys are overreacting and being a bit harsh here.

This coming from someone who was fully opposed to bringing in who I’d always referred to as Westbrick.

I also will never cry Argentina, like Padrino, when the team tries to compete and win games. That’s what they’re supposed to do. This tanking mentality, which often involves “playing all the young guys” heavy minutes even though they aren’t better than the vets in front of them lacks honor and integrity. I’m glad this franchise hasn’t stooped to that level yet. Especially with the prices they charge to attend games. They’d better be putting the best product they can on the floor, otherwise just let everyone in for free and heavily discount the concessions until they finally draft their superstar team. SMH.

I’d like to see a breakdown of how many KINGS fans in favor of playing the youth the vast majority of the minutes — which they also hope will result in 60+ losses — are also the ones owning season tickets or at the very least shelling out a ton of cash to watch the tankathon in person every night. I’d be willing to bet that the vast majority of them are largely, if not always, watching from home.

Gives a **** about honor and respect did that get San Antonio Wemby let’s be honorable and never make a real playoff run because we can’t get talent. Meanwhile Indiana is in the process of possibly getting a top 3 pick in there gap year the team that was in the finals didn’t go out and sign 35 year old players when they play in a weaker conference

 

[Padrino]

I don’t know what you and Padrino were watching last night, but I didn’t see a guy pushing anyone aside. Not only did he lead the team in assists and make the extra pass to open teammates numerous times — he took the ball off the rim 16 times himself, including hustle tip outs to teammates.

I fully understand Russ’ history. But based solely upon his play last night, I think you guys are overreacting and being a bit harsh here.

This coming from someone who was fully opposed to bringing in who I’d always referred to as Westbrick.

I also will never cry Argentina, like Padrino, when the team tries to compete and win games. That’s what they’re supposed to do. This tanking mentality, which often involves “playing all the young guys” heavy minutes even though they aren’t better than the vets in front of them lacks honor and integrity. I’m glad this franchise hasn’t stooped to that level yet. Especially with the prices they charge to attend games. They’d better be putting the best product they can on the floor, otherwise just let everyone in for free and heavily discount the concessions until they finally draft their superstar team. SMH.

I’d like to see a breakdown of how many KINGS fans in favor of playing the youth the vast majority of the minutes — which they also hope will result in 60+ losses — are also the ones owning season tickets or at the very least shelling out a ton of cash to watch the tankathon in person every night. I’d be willing to bet that the vast majority of them are largely, if not always, watching from home.

Mediocrity is the easiest state to achieve in professional sports. It is an unserious and lazy franchise that pays bottom dollar for other teams' cast-offs in order to put a product on the floor that makes absolutely no long-term sense, but has an outside shot at a .400 record.

The Kings have the 25th ranked defense in the NBA currently. They have the 18th ranked offense. This is not an organization that's looking out for paying customers. This is a franchise that's desperately hoping ticket holders don't notice that their team has become a league-wide laughingstock.

 

[sactowndog]

All this while the top 3 in the draft look amazing smh can’t believe people in here are excited that Russ and the 30 year olds got us a win vs a GLeague lineup

Yep perpetual 10th seed. I used to watch every game but have hardly seen any games this year. Only in Sacramento would a fan base put up with perpetual play-in team.

 

[sactowndog]

Mediocrity is the easiest state to achieve in professional sports. It is an unserious and lazy franchise that pays bottom dollar for other teams' cast-offs in order to put a product on the floor that makes absolutely no long-term sense, but has an outside shot at a .400 record.

The Kings have the 25th ranked defense in the NBA currently. They have the 18th ranked offense. This is not an organization that's looking out for paying customers. This is a franchise that's desperately hoping ticket holders don't notice that their team has become a league-wide laughingstock.

You are not joking. Other front offices are literally laughing at us.

 

[Joshyjosh31]

Yep perpetual 10th seed. I used to watch every game but have hardly seen any games this year. Only in Sacramento would a fan base put up with perpetual play-in team.

Dallas, NO, Memphis, and the clippers being this bad is really gonna make us a 10th seed ****ing unreal. Carter for sure will be traded for get help at the deadline too guess we just gotta hope the guy coming in is over 6’5 but then again the Fo got people on here believing in Westbrook at PF

 

[Padrino]

Yep perpetual 10th seed. I used to watch every game but have hardly seen any games this year. Only in Sacramento would a fan base put up with perpetual play-in team.

I'm mostly confused by a great many Kings fans. Is it a short-term memory issue? We very recently came off a 16-year playoff drought (an NBA record, for those who have forgotten) that was the direct result of perpetually chasing mediocrity. If you really care about season ticket holders, maybe build a sustainable winner that makes the playoffs more than a single time in nearly two decades. Nobody is going to be well-served by another extended playoff drought because the Kings refuse to do the hard thing. Playoff teams don't just materialize out of thin air. You can't just buy a bunch of mismatched over-the-hill former all-stars and expect to rack up wins, especially in the Western Conference. There are no shortcuts to that level of success. You have to build something.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

You are not joking. Other front offices are literally laughing at us.

Oh no! We definitely need to change so that we can be more popular with the mean girls.

 

[Tetsujin]

Oh no! We definitely need to change so that we can be more popular with the mean girls.

If we don’t have Danny Ainge’s respect, we don’t have anything!

 

[Padrino]

Oh no! We definitely need to change so that we can be more popular with the mean girls.

There are serious NBA franchises and there are unserious NBA franchises, and the Kings are risking a rapid descent back into NBA irrelevancy because of how unserious they seem to be about building a sustainable winner. That is why they need to change. We'll see if Perry has any vision whatsoever as the trade deadline nears next year.

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

There are serious NBA franchises and there are unserious NBA franchises, and the Kings are risking a rapid descent back into NBA irrelevancy because of how unserious they seem to be about building a sustainable winner. That is why they need to change. We'll see if Perry has any vision whatsoever as the trade deadline nears next year.

How exactly can one risk going back into something (or going back to somewhere) when, in all honesty (as difficult as it is to admit), they've kinda already been there for quite a while now???

 

[pdxKingsFan]

We are unserious because we don't lose.

Meanwhile unserious Dallas trades Luka, finishes the dreaded 10th and gets rewarded with Cooper Flagg. The lotto's either rigged and we aren't winning it, or it just doesn't matter as much as it used to - there's no way to secure a top 3 pick this year, period.

 

[SLAB]

If we don’t have Danny Ainge’s respect, we don’t have anything!

I mean, we probably don’t have anyone’s respect tbh.

 

[Padrino]

We are unserious because we don't lose.

Meanwhile unserious Dallas trades Luka, finishes the dreaded 10th and gets rewarded with Cooper Flagg. The lotto's either rigged and we aren't winning it, or it just doesn't matter as much as it used to - there's no way to secure a top 3 pick this year, period.

Well, I suppose you can adopt that kind of fatalism as a fan, but the problem with this franchise (and often, the problem with its fans), is that they can't look past the next game, the next acquisition, the next draft pick. Would the Kings be guaranteed to win a top-3 pick if they finish in the bottom-5 this season? No, of course not. But that's not the goal. The goal is bigger than one draft. The goal is to build a team using the available assets at your disposal.

The Kings have very few assets, so for them, this means losing enough games to effectively leverage the draft across multiple seasons to stock their roster with young, inexpensive talent. This means dumping veteran talent in pursuit of further draft compensation, which can be utilized to continue stocking their roster with young, inexpensive talent, or packaging some number of draft picks together in a trade to fill a positional gap. This could also mean being willing to take on other team's bad contracts in order to get even further draft compensation back, once again for the purposes of drafting and developing that talent or packaging some combination of the assets they've managed to acquire in a future trade.

Yes, the Mavericks got lucky in this year's draft, and that happens. But luck is not a model. It's not a vision. It's not a path forward. As always, look to the Thunder. They're a properly serious, smartly-run small market franchise that has drafted really, really well. Coming off a 57-win season in 2024, they took Ajay Mitchell with the 38th pick in the draft (which they acquired from the Knicks). He's exploding in his sophomore season, as if that team needed even more weapons. As a franchise, the Thunder are never shy about rolling the dice on young, talented players with upside. They get them on the court. Now they'll be competing for championships for a decade or more. Do we imagine their season ticket holders are happy??

I just absolutely cannot stand the thought of the Kings running off another 10-15 year stretch of futility because they're an unserious, bedwetting franchise that's too afraid to do the hard thing. Would it be nice if the Kings won a top-3 pick in a stacked 2026 draft class, regardless of if they finish worst or 10th worst in the conference? Absolutely! But again, that's not the goal. It's the hope, but it's not the goal. A franchise must be committed to building a sustainable winner no matter what the lottery luck determines about their future.

 

[TheMobb]

Well, I suppose you can adopt that kind of fatalism as a fan, but the problem with this franchise (and often, the problem with its fans), is that they can't look past the next game, the next acquisition, the next draft pick. Would the Kings be guaranteed to win a top-3 pick if they finish in the bottom-5 this season? No, of course not. But that's not the goal. The goal is bigger than one draft. The goal is to build a team using the available assets at your disposal.

The Kings have very few assets, so for them, this means losing enough games to effectively leverage the draft across multiple seasons to stock their roster with young, inexpensive talent. This means dumping veteran talent in pursuit of further draft compensation, which can be utilized to continue stocking their roster with young, inexpensive talent, or packaging some number of draft picks together in a trade to fill a positional gap. This could also mean being willing to take on other team's bad contracts in order to get even further draft compensation back, once again for the purposes of drafting and developing that talent or packaging some combination of the assets they've managed to acquire in a future trade.

Yes, the Mavericks got lucky in this year's draft, and that happens. But luck is not a model. It's not a vision. It's not a path forward. As always, look to the Thunder. They're a properly serious, smartly-run small market franchise that has drafted really, really well. Coming off a 57-win season in 2024, they took Ajay Mitchell with the 38th pick in the draft (which they acquired from the Knicks). He's exploding in his sophomore season, as if that team needed even more weapons. As a franchise, the Thunder are never shy about rolling the dice on young, talented players with upside. They get them on the court. Now they'll be competing for championships for a decade or more. Do we imagine their season ticket holders are happy??

I just absolutely cannot stand the thought of the Kings running off another 10-15 year stretch of futility because they're an unserious, bedwetting franchise that's too afraid to do the hard thing. Would it be nice if the Kings won a top-3 pick in a stacked 2026 draft class, regardless of if they finish worst or 10th worst in the conference? Absolutely! But again, that's not the goal. It's the hope, but it's not the goal. A franchise must be committed to building a sustainable winner no matter what the lottery luck determines about their future.

I hear you, and you make valid points. But here’s the thing - we don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes. Perry may have very well attempted to dump the vets this offseason, and if the response he got was the market telling him he wouldn’t get any draft compensation back, or even had to lose draft compensation to dump them, what is he supposed to do at that point?

 

[Padrino]

I hear you, and you make valid points. But here’s the thing - we don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes. Perry may have very well attempted to dump the vets this offseason, and if the response he got was the market telling him he wouldn’t get any draft compensation back, or even had to lose draft compensation to dump them, what is he supposed to do at that point?

To be clear, and I've said this multiple times, I'm giving Perry until the trade deadline to start dumping these vets. It will tell me a lot about whether or not this franchise possesses anything resembling a forward-thinking outlook. Personally, I would have had no problem whatsoever with the Kings dumping DDR for second rounders in the offseason, but if Perry wants to hold out and see if he can squeeze another small asset or two out of a team that thinks any of the Kings' assorted vets are their missing piece at the deadline, then go for it. I'll 100% support it.

What I've not been encouraged by is Perry's and Christie's approach to this supposed "gap year" of Kings basketball. The Kings were under no pressure whatsoever to sign aging vets like Dennis Schroder or Russell Westbrook. They're not a playoff team. They're not one or even two pieces away. Yet huge minutes are currently going to players who aren't long-term pieces, including Perry's Schroder and Westbrook acquisitions. Few minutes are going to Keon Ellis. Even fewer are going to Devin Carter. This does not communicate to me that the franchise is serious about using its "gap year" to evaluate its long-term outlook. We already know everything we could possibly want to know about Westbrook, DeRozan, LaVine, and Schroder. There's nothing to learn. There's no takeaways to discover. Short-sighted, this all is.

So, as a result of the bulk of available minutes going to known quantities who are age 30 and over, the Kings are signaling to me that they're gunning for the play-in, and that they don't care, at present, about developing their younger talent, nor do they seem to care if alienating Keon Ellis results in his decision to walk via free agency. GMs and coaches in the NBA communicate what they value through their decision-making more than their public-facing words. And just about every decision since Perry took over and Christie had the interim tag removed screams play-in or bust.

But again, we'll see. If Perry summons a quick pivot toward a rebuild come February, I and many others will be pleased. GMs around the league expect the Kings to be sellers at the trade deadline, because that's what they should be at the trade deadline. But the Kings have given me no reason to believe that they won't try and "rescue" this first iteration of Perry's roster for short-term gain and play-in glory.

 

[sactowndog]

Oh no! We definitely need to change so that we can be more popular with the mean girls.

Haha. Not sure I would call the people I know as mean girls.

 

[The_Jamal]

I'm mostly confused by a great many Kings fans. Is it a short-term memory issue? We very recently came off a 16-year playoff drought (an NBA record, for those who have forgotten) that was the direct result of perpetually chasing mediocrity. If you really care about season ticket holders, maybe build a sustainable winner that makes the playoffs more than a single time in nearly two decades. Nobody is going to be well-served by another extended playoff drought because the Kings refuse to do the hard thing. Playoff teams don't just materialize out of thin air. You can't just buy a bunch of mismatched over-the-hill former all-stars and expect to rack up wins, especially in the Western Conference. There are no shortcuts to that level of success. You have to build something.

Let's talk through BEST case scenario. Russ somehow continues to turn back the clock, has an all star season and we win 46 games off him leading the offense. We're the 7 seed, win the play in for the right to play a team like OKC or Hou or LAL in a playoff series where we will be heavy underdogs

What then? What's next season look like? Or we really trying to build a couple seasons around Russ? And if he turns into a pumpkin next year? Because on our current trajectory, we're not developing any of the 25 and unders while the few minutes they do get, will be gone once Keegan is back. And speaking of Keegan, a growth in his offensive role seems unlikely since we've added Russ as a lead option taking control of the offense.

And thats the best case scenario if everything breaks in our favor. I just don't understand how we are being so short-sighted with our future.

It's not even about tanking either. Its about getting a solid understanding of the guys who can actually be on this team in 2 years and if they're potential core players or not

 

[Padrino]

Let's talk through BEST case scenario. Russ somehow continues to turn back the clock, has an all star season and we win 46 games off him leading the offense. We're the 7 seed, win the play in for the right to play a team like OKC or Hou or LAL in a playoff series where we will be heavy underdogs

What then? What's next season look like? Or we really trying to build a couple seasons around Russ? And if he turns into a pumpkin next year? Because on our current trajectory, we're not developing any of the 25 and unders while the few minutes they do get, will be gone once Keegan is back. And speaking of Keegan, a growth in his offensive role seems unlikely since we've added Russ as a lead option taking control of the offense.

And thats the best case scenario if everything breaks in our favor. I just don't understand how we are being so short-sighted with our future.

It's not even about tanking either. Its about getting a solid understanding of the guys who can actually be on this team in 2 years and if they're potential core players or not

I don't even see that as the best case scenario. If Russ turns back the clock like he did in Wednesday's game, the Kings will be able to notch some stray wins against the true basement-dwellers of the NBA, as well as the injured and the load-managed. But I still don't see them topping out above .500 with a first-time head coach and a bottom-5 defense.

Regardless, I think your larger point is your strongest, that this isn't about "tanking" or "honor" or whatever other abstract notion somebody might want to project onto an NBA franchise's intentions. It's about information-gathering. Scott Perry is the Kings' new GM, for better or worse. So he and his front office should be determining which of the Kings' younger players are worth investing in for the long haul. The problem is, it sure looks to me like Perry cares less about doing his diligence, and more about "bringing in his guys". And "his guys" are over-the-hill and past their sell-by date. That does not augur well for this franchise.

 

[Joshyjosh31]

Let's talk through BEST case scenario. Russ somehow continues to turn back the clock, has an all star season and we win 46 games off him leading the offense. We're the 7 seed, win the play in for the right to play a team like OKC or Hou or LAL in a playoff series where we will be heavy underdogs

What then? What's next season look like? Or we really trying to build a couple seasons around Russ? And if he turns into a pumpkin next year? Because on our current trajectory, we're not developing any of the 25 and unders while the few minutes they do get, will be gone once Keegan is back. And speaking of Keegan, a growth in his offensive role seems unlikely since we've added Russ as a lead option taking control of the offense.

And thats the best case scenario if everything breaks in our favor. I just don't understand how we are being so short-sighted with our future.

It's not even about tanking either. Its about getting a solid understanding of the guys who can actually be on this team in 2 years and if they're potential core players or not

This best case doesn’t even work out… does anyone really think we have a chance in the playoffs in game vs Minnesota or even the clippers. We’re throwing Schroeder, Lavine, and Westbrook at harden/Kawhi we’re getting blown out by either team. Losing in the playoffs-in again while Carter and Keon get no minutes