[Rumor] Siegel: Sabonis not being dangled in trade talks at this time

[iowamcnabb]

I get that, but the management still needs motivation to build a franchise that can go deep into the playoffs.
If they are cool with being a play in team, then there is no difference between that and mailing it in.
With the reports of vivek saying that he expects a similar performance, it makes sense to keep domas, as that will guarantee us being a play in team/first round playoff exit

I don’t think they are happy being a play in team. I think they want to make the playoffs and then see what happens. Almost no one expected the Pacers to be in the finals and the 50 win Rockets got eliminated in the first round. My idea is build a team that looks like it’s a number one option away from being a real threat (add defense, athleticism, shooting to what we already have) and then swing for a star down the road if things are looking good. We could package 5 or 6 first rounders in a deal for the right guy if things materialize. I view next season as a building and data collecting year. Trade Demar, sign a Pg, play Keegan, Devin, Keon big minutes, see what chemistry Lavine and Sabonis have and then re-evaluate in the following off season. If the ship sinks, you walk into a top 12 pick in a loaded draft and the ability to pivot away from Lavine/Sabonis if need be.

 

[iowamcnabb]

Yeah, teams don't do that by any standard, but they also don't go overboard on value to build a team clearly not making noise like the Kings have done in the past. That's the issue and the issue with or without Domas. The Kings have used draft capital to get players like Huerter, a 36 year old DeMar DeRozan, create cap space that never materialized into anything, etc. They almost used more draft capital to placate Fox last minute as well. Look at the Thunder, they didn't even really touch their stockpile of picks and kicked that off by trading their star in Paul George at the time. They took low cost swings, kept their valuable draft picks, developed from within, and made peripheral moves that didn't cost much when it made sense. The Kings lost a first to get Huerter, lost a first to dump Holmes just to basically run it back anyway, and potentially could be losing a higher value pick in '31 for a player that was never even going to be on the team by that point in DeMar. That's enough throwing crap at the wall now. This comes down to what Domas means by clarity and seeing what the team is after a preseason to work in a system. Fox "needed" wings, Domas "needs" a PG, lol. It's not hard to draw some similarities even if they aren't really there.

That doesn’t sound too far away from what I’m suggesting. I’m talking trade Deebo, grab a PG if you want, find defense somewhere. Use the trade exception if need be or us the tax payer mid level. I’m not giving up any firsts unless it’s for an all star level player, at least not with the current state of the team.

 

[sactowndog]

Yeh I mean with players playing longer, analytics driving better team building and an influx of talent we are reaching the point of having very few if any bad teams. The West has one team that can’t talk themselves into a playoff run (Jazz, and even they will try to compete after next year with 70 mill in cap space and a bajillion picks to trade for stars.) Every other team probably has their sights on the post season. So it’s either try to be competitive and hope a few things break your way or pull the plug/ accumulate assets and wait for teams to fall off which may or may not happen.

The west really has two teams that can’t talk themselves into a play-off run but one of them is completely delusional.

 

[Joshyjosh31]

The west has two teams that can’t talk themselves into a play-off run but one of them is completely delusional.

Apparently some of there fans are just as delusional as the owner

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

The point is not everything is about championships, at least not to me. If that’s the only point, the whole league outside of about 4 teams should just mail it in.

If everything were all about championships, everyone would be Celtics or Lakers fans.

 

[Warhawk]

I mean, I'm not saying he can't be a #2 on a playoff caliber team, I just agree with Joshyjosh that he's likely a 3rd option on a true contender.

But like I said, I'd be happy if we make it to the second round a few times! Beam team had me psyched, even immediately after our first round exit. Domas can be a part of that with some GM magic.

If we retool, I don't think the problem is Domas (at least in the regular season). I think the problem is that we went from our #1 being Fox to Zach *if I'm not dropping 40+ on insane efficiency I'm hurting your team* Lavine, and now Perry has to somehow salvage that downgrade and make us competitive in a West that's just nasty with talent.

Yeah, I never said he *should* be our #1, but people are treating him like a bench-level player around here. It's just stupid.

I think the biggest problem is we never built properly around him (or we didn't play the correct lineups) after the Beam Team success. That isn't on him. He's shown he is a very high-level player and can be successful.

 

[Insomniacal Fan]

Sabonis is prominent enough that he's not gonna a throw-in for a deal. If another GM values his game at all and wants him, they'll ask for him specifically.

If not, then we weren't going to get value from him anyway

 

[gunks]

Yeah, I never said he *should* be our #1, but people are treating him like a bench-level player around here. It's just stupid.

I think the biggest problem is we never built properly around him (or we didn't play the correct lineups) after the Beam Team success. That isn't on him. He's shown he is a very high-level player and can be successful.

I agree. I suppose I just value him more as a trade piece than a core piece because I'd prefer a rebuild.

But if (probably when) Perry/Vivek goes the retool route, I don't have to squint too hard to see how we can be back in the mix* with Domas as a key player.

A starting caliber PG (Chris Paul?!!) and PF would go a long way if Perry can get em.


*mix as in playoff but not contender tier, which is fine by me.

 

[SacTownKid]

That doesn’t sound too far away from what I’m suggesting. I’m talking trade Deebo, grab a PG if you want, find defense somewhere. Use the trade exception if need be or us the tax payer mid level. I’m not giving up any firsts unless it’s for an all star level player, at least not with the current state of the team.

At this point unless they are getting great value using any major portion of the MLE would be a mistake if it's longer than 2 seasons. Busting the MLE into non needle moving chunks is another issue the Kings have had. They should have just learned that lesson with Lyles who had little to no trade value in the end simply because his role and fit was what it was most of his tenure. He'd find his way in and out of things because at some point the realization came that the Kings weren't a Trey Lyles away from anything.

 

[SacTownKid]

Sabonis is prominent enough that he's not gonna a throw-in for a deal. If another GM values his game at all and wants him, they'll ask for him specifically.

If not, then we weren't going to get value from him anyway

Yep, and the reports right now are basically saying just that. Domas could be a nice plan B for a team this summer if they whiff on the big get though. That's why Perry should at least be open to listening. I wouldn't be surprised if a team is out there and interested that Perry hasn't already gotten a decent read on Domas' worth from them. But yeah, scouring the league to get max value on someone like Domas isn't much different than scouring the league for Fox or LaVine or any other player that isn't in the very top rungs of NBA stardom. 29 teams aren't beating doors down for those types. A handful maybe.