Welcome Back, Domas

eleventy

G-League
the deadline has passed and you are still a King.

Good

A lot of posters on this site wanted to throw you under the bus for some magic draft beans - but some posters held their fire.

You are the best player we have and it seemed like crazy took over during the deadline, with suggestions that you should be traded for a player and a non-lotto pick.

Ivan Zubac was just traded to Indiana (with Kobe Brown) for (wait for it) two first round picks - one unprotected - and one with "odd protections" (for 2026), Dallas' second in 2028 AND Benedict Mathurin (and Isiah Jackson)

JJJ brought back three future #1's and i would take Sabonis over Jackson every day of the week.

Domas, YOU are NOT the "problem" - the problem is that fans (and possibly Scott Perry) do not value you.

We'll never know if your agents were pushing for a trade to Toronto acting on your behalf or their behalf, but thank goodness it didn't happen.

I must admit that I saw "agent involvement" so often that i thought it might be true.

I just thought a "Welcome Back" (and "thanks for all you have done - NO ONE works harder than you".) was appropriate at this juncture.

And perhaps a gentle scolding to those who jumped on the "dump him for picks - even just ONE first rounder" bandwagon.

As for Scott Perry, he hasn't shown me much yet - I think I heard him saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".
 
Zubac is another victim of the "pay me now - trade me soon after" scenario whereby teams PAY their own free agents (to avoid losing them for nothing) but immediately move on from them (at the new price).

He is another "find" (which we seem NEVER to "find") from the second round who gets good coaching and improves enough that they don't think they can afford him any more.
 
Yeah F the league. Figure it out with Domas and shut them up.

Zubac going for significantly more than Domas was rumored is flat out dumb. I'm not selling him that low and helping out another org as we bleed talent. If anything, this has made me a bigger Domas fan because of how utterly wrong I think the rest of the league is about his impact and talent. I want him to win more than anything. So in that sense, good on Perry for not making a horrible Domas trade.

But bad on Perry for only correcting his own mistake he brought to the team when he could have used Keon as an asset to get off one of the holdovers instead.

They can save this deadline with a buy-out of Russ, buy-out of DDR, and finding a phantom injury to Domas to keep him out the rest of the year. Or, keep him on the 24 MPG minute restriction.

Everything has to be done to get us into the top 5. a top 5 2026 FRP, Domas+Keegan+the rooks+hopefully Dev+85 mil in expirings heading into the off-season is not a bad place to be.
 
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Kings fans with every single one of their players ever.

Domas is 29 and has never proven to be more than a guy on a fringe playoff team. There isn’t going to be some magical switch that finally happens. Nor are the Kings going to magically grow enough talent everywhere else to make up for his shortcomings. We need to utterly rebuild, and he’s too good for that… but he isn’t good enough to fix whatever the hell the current Kings situation is. Idk… everything sucks.
 
View attachment 14766

Kings fans with every single one of their players ever.

Domas is 29 and has never proven to be more than a guy on a fringe playoff team. There isn’t going to be some magical switch that finally happens. Nor are the Kings going to magically grow enough talent everywhere else to make up for his shortcomings. We need to utterly rebuild, and he’s too good for that… but he isn’t good enough to fix whatever the hell the current Kings situation is. Idk… everything sucks.

Sorry, I'm not trading Domas for 20 cents on the dollar. I'm not helping these teams out anymore. Perry's failed quite a bit here over the last year, but this is not one of those times.
 
View attachment 14766

Kings fans with every single one of their players ever.

Domas is 29 and has never proven to be more than a guy on a fringe playoff team. There isn’t going to be some magical switch that finally happens. Nor are the Kings going to magically grow enough talent everywhere else to make up for his shortcomings. We need to utterly rebuild, and he’s too good for that… but he isn’t good enough to fix whatever the hell the current Kings situation is. Idk… everything sucks.
I'm not sure that you're out of touch.
You just might have absorbed a few too many Tsunamis and F-5s, though.
 
Sorry, I'm not trading Domas for 20 cents on the dollar. I'm not helping these teams out anymore. Perry's failed quite a bit here over the last year, but this is not one of those times.

On this point I'm inclined to agree. I wanted to see some combination of DeRozan, LaVine, Monk, Westbrook and/or Schroder shipped off for seconds. It's honestly surprising to me that the Kings couldn't get a single second round draft pick for any of those guys, but if that was the market, that was the market. Don't make it worse by taking the one guy who possesses value on this team outside of Keegan Murray and dump him for pennies.
 
Well, now that the trade deadline has come and go, and reading lots of kings related posts, I have just a few thoughts swirling around in my brain.
I’m actually glad Domas is staying. I’m also glad that Scott Perry didn’t just unload Domas for a box of donuts. Size and the length have in recent years, been one of our big shortcomings. With the addition of Maxime Reynaud and Dylan Cardwell those issues have been addressed and both are promising young players. They could learn a lot from Domas. Adding De’Andre Hunter to pair with Keegan adds more depth in the front court. I wouldn’t be upset if they re-sign Precious Achiuwa either. He brings some hustle and toughness that this team rearely displays. The two guard is locked up with Malik Monk and Zach Latrine and perhaps we’ll finally see what Devin Carter has to offer. Where we fall short is in the PG position. I know a lot of you give Fox a pass on his decision to strongarm the Kings organization into being traded to San Antonio but I never will. Perhaps it happened due to our weak GM Monty “Run it Back” McNair or the power of Fox’s agent but it is definitely something that will have to be addressed before next season. Bringing back these old timers to shore It up, has proven to not be the answer. We absolutely must make the right choice come draft time. Whether it is a point guard or not remains to be seen. I feel it was apparent how vital a PG is not just to this team but any team.
As for DeMar DeRozan, I hope in the off-season they trade him to a team that is in contention. I really like his commitment, class, and professionalism and he deserves to go out a winner.
As for Latrine, I truly hope they just let him stay home. There’s so much I could say about him as a player, but why bother? Everyone can see it for themselves. His play and lack of effort speaks for itself ability not withstanding. He has no heart.
As for Doug Christie, I just don’t know. I feel his strings are being pulled. Perhaps this was meant to be a lost year. Since the team has so little to bargain with, maybe it was just better to bite the bullet and take our lumps and try again next year. The only problem with that is that I think it’s gonna take the year after until we actually see some improvement. I like Doug, the player. As a coach, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt….for now, but with a short leash
I’ll still be watching the games if only to be watching the young guys. I’ll still root for the team. However, this year, I’ll be rooting for them to make sure they stay at or near the very bottom to ensure a high draft pick. I’ve been a fan since they came to Sacramento and thats not going to change. I grew up in Chicago and it was many many years before the Cubs ever won a championship. Kings fans are just like Cubby fans. Long suffering, but loyal. Go Kings!
 
Well, now that the trade deadline has come and go, and reading lots of kings related posts, I have just a few thoughts swirling around in my brain.
I’m actually glad Domas is staying. I’m also glad that Scott Perry didn’t just unload Domas for a box of donuts. Size and the length have in recent years, been one of our big shortcomings. With the addition of Maxime Reynaud and Dylan Cardwell those issues have been addressed and both are promising young players. They could learn a lot from Domas. Adding De’Andre Hunter to pair with Keegan adds more depth in the front court. I wouldn’t be upset if they re-sign Precious Achiuwa either. He brings some hustle and toughness that this team rearely displays. The two guard is locked up with Malik Monk and Zach Latrine and perhaps we’ll finally see what Devin Carter has to offer. Where we fall short is in the PG position. I know a lot of you give Fox a pass on his decision to strongarm the Kings organization into being traded to San Antonio but I never will. Perhaps it happened due to our weak GM Monty “Run it Back” McNair or the power of Fox’s agent but it is definitely something that will have to be addressed before next season. Bringing back these old timers to shore It up, has proven to not be the answer. We absolutely must make the right choice come draft time. Whether it is a point guard or not remains to be seen. I feel it was apparent how vital a PG is not just to this team but any team.
As for DeMar DeRozan, I hope in the off-season they trade him to a team that is in contention. I really like his commitment, class, and professionalism and he deserves to go out a winner.
As for Latrine, I truly hope they just let him stay home. There’s so much I could say about him as a player, but why bother? Everyone can see it for themselves. His play and lack of effort speaks for itself ability not withstanding. He has no heart.
As for Doug Christie, I just don’t know. I feel his strings are being pulled. Perhaps this was meant to be a lost year. Since the team has so little to bargain with, maybe it was just better to bite the bullet and take our lumps and try again next year. The only problem with that is that I think it’s gonna take the year after until we actually see some improvement. I like Doug, the player. As a coach, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt….for now, but with a short leash
I’ll still be watching the games if only to be watching the young guys. I’ll still root for the team. However, this year, I’ll be rooting for them to make sure they stay at or near the very bottom to ensure a high draft pick. I’ve been a fan since they came to Sacramento and thats not going to change. I grew up in Chicago and it was many many years before the Cubs ever won a championship. Kings fans are just like Cubby fans. Long suffering, but loyal. Go Kings!
Is Zach Latrine supposed to be Zach LaVine's evil twin brother or something like that???
 
As for DeMar DeRozan, I hope in the off-season they trade him to a team that is in contention. I really like his commitment, class, and professionalism and he deserves to go out a winner.
This seems very unlikely. The Kings as currently constructed are pushing the '26-'27 luxury tax - they have only $1.7M of space and that's for just 9 returning players (not counting Cardwell, who I expect to be signed to a multi-year NBA deal soon). And because the trade deadline is over and we can't trade players for expiring contracts anymore, it's almost certain that we will end up over the luxury tax (we know Vivek does not want that) unless we find a way of getting rid of salary.

The easiest way to cut salary is going to be to cut DeRozan outright in the offseason, and only pay his guaranteed money for next year, which saves us $22.3M (if we stretch his guaranteed money next year). It's possible that we could negotiate a buyout in the coming days that would save us even more, but I don't know that we can count on that.

Basically, we should expect to have about $24M worth of luxury tax space next year after cutting DeRozan. We will need to fill 4-6 roster spots and hopefully stay under that number. Cardwell will make about $2M. Our two second round picks this year (our own and Charlotte's) should be able to be signed for about $1.5M each, so that leaves about $19M breathing room under the tax for our 1st round pick and anybody else we sign. A top 4 pick will probably eat up $10M+.

Where can we get any other breathing room? I would not be surprised to see Zach get cut and stretched. That would generate $32.6M more space, by spreading his salary out for three years at $16.3M per. Of course, between Zach and DeRozan that would mean that we would have something like $19.6M of straight dead money on our books for three years - money that affects the salary cap but can in no way be avoided or traded - so we may prefer to take our lumps with Zach's contract and hold on to it all year next year. It's possible that it would come in useful as expiring salary match in a trade that could bring us other assets along with salary obligations down the road, so you never know.

But DeRozan? He'll be released either soon or in the summer. Doesn't look like there's any other path for the Kings on that one.
 
This seems very unlikely. The Kings as currently constructed are pushing the '26-'27 luxury tax - they have only $1.7M of space and that's for just 9 returning players (not counting Cardwell, who I expect to be signed to a multi-year NBA deal soon). And because the trade deadline is over and we can't trade players for expiring contracts anymore, it's almost certain that we will end up over the luxury tax (we know Vivek does not want that) unless we find a way of getting rid of salary.

The easiest way to cut salary is going to be to cut DeRozan outright in the offseason, and only pay his guaranteed money for next year, which saves us $22.3M (if we stretch his guaranteed money next year). It's possible that we could negotiate a buyout in the coming days that would save us even more, but I don't know that we can count on that.

Basically, we should expect to have about $24M worth of luxury tax space next year after cutting DeRozan. We will need to fill 4-6 roster spots and hopefully stay under that number. Cardwell will make about $2M. Our two second round picks this year (our own and Charlotte's) should be able to be signed for about $1.5M each, so that leaves about $19M breathing room under the tax for our 1st round pick and anybody else we sign. A top 4 pick will probably eat up $10M+.

Where can we get any other breathing room? I would not be surprised to see Zach get cut and stretched. That would generate $32.6M more space, by spreading his salary out for three years at $16.3M per. Of course, between Zach and DeRozan that would mean that we would have something like $19.6M of straight dead money on our books for three years - money that affects the salary cap but can in no way be avoided or traded - so we may prefer to take our lumps with Zach's contract and hold on to it all year next year. It's possible that it would come in useful as expiring salary match in a trade that could bring us other assets along with salary obligations down the road, so you never know.

But DeRozan? He'll be released either soon or in the summer. Doesn't look like there's any other path for the Kings on that one.

This is the likely call right now. Stretching Zach would suck but might be necessary. A lot of how bad it sucks depends on if Peterson comes walking through that door this summer.
 
Yeah F the league. Figure it out with Domas and shut them up.

Zubac going for significantly more than Domas was rumored is flat out dumb. I'm not selling him that low and helping out another org as we bleed talent. If anything, this has made me a bigger Domas fan because of how utterly wrong I think the rest of the league is about his impact and talent. I want him to win more than anything. So in that sense, good on Perry for not making a horrible Domas trade.

But bad on Perry for only correcting his own mistake he brought to the team when he could have used Keon as an asset to get off one of the holdovers instead.

They can save this deadline with a buy-out of Russ, buy-out of DDR, and finding a phantom injury to Domas to keep him out the rest of the year. Or, keep him on the 24 MPG minute restriction.

Everything has to be done to get us into the top 5. a top 5 2026 FRP, Domas+Keegan+the rooks+hopefully Dev+85 mil in expirings heading into the off-season is not a bad place to be.


Given how the man was clutching his back for most of the night against Memphis, I dunno how hard they’ll have to look
 
This is the likely call right now. Stretching Zach would suck but might be necessary. A lot of how bad it sucks depends on if Peterson comes walking through that door this summer.
It's probably fair to say that any Zach decision should be put off until after we know which rookie IS walking through that door this summer. Right now I think it's looking like the top 6 players in the draft are all potential game changers (regardless of how they may be tiered within that top 6). After that I think things get significantly more dicey.

But even if we do get a top-6 pick (yeah, we all HOPE so!) there's still a lot of variability in how those guys are going to contribute. There are two PGs, one SG, a point-forward, a ball-dominant PF, and a non-ball-dominant PF in that mix. How can you even think about planning that out yet? See how it falls, and move from there.
 
To me stretching Lavine would be a disaster. Perry traded a 15 million dollar player and a free agent for a 24 million dollar player. Vivek needs to pony up and pay the luxury tax for one year or they need to work on buy outs for Deebo/Lavine. If Deebo takes a 3 million dollar discount and Zach takes 5-10 million dollar discount they can make that money right back in the open market. Having 16 million dollars in dead money or having to attach draft assets to get off contracts is bad business imo.
 
I am afraid that because the Kings are so very, very bad this year, other front offices think that the individual players themselves are bad, and refuse to offer anything of value. DeMar DeRozan may be a wonderful player on the right team, but Sacramento is the wrong team, and no one will trade for him. And the list goes on...
 
now wasn't the time to trade him due to lack of first round picks in return so if I'm Perry, I'm giving Charlotte a call in the offseason and try to push Domas on them that he can get them their Playoff berth
 
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