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funkykingston

Super Moderator
Staff member
Okay, now I'm extra angry that we dealt #45 since not only was Jamal Shead available, but he was taken with that pick.

He's a perfect low- cost Davion replacement as a ready-to-contribute and defensive minded 3rd PG
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
Neither do I haha. I don't think anyone does to be honest. All we know now is that yes, Monte did not want to be over the tax after keeping that pick.
With Devin falling to us, Monte’s options wound up being trade the pick for a vet and be over the apron and have to deal with all the nonsense that entails or avoiding the stern viewing of a gift horse, taking Devin, finding a way to get completely below the apron and finding a way to add a vet with the full MLE in a season where most of the league doesn’t have access to it. Monte chose the second option.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
Okay, now I'm extra angry that we dealt #45 since not only was Jamal Shead available, but he was taken with that pick.

He's a perfect low- cost Davion replacement as a ready-to-contribute and defensive minded 3rd PG
I’m pretty sure the city of Sacramento would have exploded if Monte took another guard without having done this trade lol
 
With Devin falling to us, Monte’s options wound up being trade the pick for a vet and be over the apron and have to deal with all the nonsense that entails or avoiding the stern viewing of a gift horse, taking Devin, finding a way to get completely below the apron and finding a way to add a vet with the full MLE in a season where most of the league doesn’t have access to it. Monte chose the second option.
And make trades. Not sure how the hard cap thing works though. I watched a clip of Marks after the Knicks moves and while others were saying the Knicks were capped at the 1st apron, he said the 2nd. That's kind of a big difference. Not sure what the OG deal was exactly but I'm guessing Marks was right? lol.

Yeah, I think Monte was fully expecting the expected salary of that first pick to not be on his books and be in the form of a Kuzma, Johnson/DFS, Caruso/Lavine, whatever. The look on Montes face on draft night was definitely a look of surprise, haha. Maybe it's a good thing Monte was stuck into making a pick before he could trade one otherwise it might have been gone already.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
So I guess the easiest/simplest way to break this down/try to figure out what Monte is doing is to break things down like this:
Option A:
A “win-now” vet (Kuzma/DFS/Cam Johnson) +Whoever we took at 45+whatever c-level vet we could get for the taxpayer MLE (assuming the vet didn’t have a contract so big it pushed us past the second apron)

Or Option B:
Devin Carter + a win now vet who might not quite be at the level of the guy in option A but is still worthy of the full MLE (Naji/Caleb Martin/etc) + still having Barnes and Huerter for depth because we didn’t have to include them in a deal for a win now vet contract.
 
Rudy Gay was a good trade at the time
Yes he was. Saw an interview with him recently and the guys that were talking to him asked him how it was on The Kings. I forget exactly what he said but it was something to the effect of….“It’s what you didn’t see behind the scenes that made it so bad”. He didn’t really elaborate other than to say it was very disfunctional, which we all knew at the time.
 
So I guess the easiest/simplest way to break this down/try to figure out what Monte is doing is to break things down like this:
Option A:
A “win-now” vet (Kuzma/DFS/Cam Johnson) +Whoever we took at 45+whatever c-level vet we could get for the taxpayer MLE (assuming the vet didn’t have a contract so big it pushed us past the second apron)

Or Option B:
Devin Carter + a win now vet who might not quite be at the level of the guy in option A but is still worthy of the full MLE (Naji/Caleb Martin/etc) + still having Barnes and Huerter for depth because we didn’t have to include them in a deal for a win now vet contract.
God option B sucks so bad. I want nothing to do with Barnes on this team again.
 
So I guess the easiest/simplest way to break this down/try to figure out what Monte is doing is to break things down like this:
Option A:
A “win-now” vet (Kuzma/DFS/Cam Johnson) +Whoever we took at 45+whatever c-level vet we could get for the taxpayer MLE (assuming the vet didn’t have a contract so big it pushed us past the second apron)

Or Option B:
Devin Carter + a win now vet who might not quite be at the level of the guy in option A but is still worthy of the full MLE (Naji/Caleb Martin/etc) + still having Barnes and Huerter for depth because we didn’t have to include them in a deal for a win now vet contract.
I still think moving Huerter at least is mandatory. With Huerter back Davion wasn't likely playing much at that point anyway. With Carter here, Keons rise, Monks re-signing, with what Brown likes, it's potentially inevitable Huerter is Montes new Richaun Holmes. Said it about Holmes after the Domas trade, saying it again, GET HIM OFF YOUR BOOKS. haha.
 
Yes he was. Saw an interview with him recently and the guys that were talking to him asked him how it was on The Kings. I forget exactly what he said but it was something to the effect of….“It’s what you didn’t see behind the scenes that made it so bad”. He didn’t really elaborate other than to say it was very disfunctional, which we all knew at the time.
Of course....and Cousins was part of his answer
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
I still think moving Huerter at least is mandatory. With Huerter back Davion wasn't likely playing much at that point anyway. With Carter here, Keons rise, Monks re-signing, with what Brown likes, it's potentially inevitable Huerter is Montes new Richaun Holmes. Said it about Holmes after the Domas trade, saying it again, GET HIM OFF YOUR BOOKS. haha.
Thing about Huerter is that small forward is probably his best position defensively and he no longer has to worry about constantly guarding elite guards at the POA like he had to for the first 1.5 seasons he was here thanks to Keon and Devin being studs. I’d much rather keep him than just move him for the sake of moving him.
 
I still think moving Huerter at least is mandatory. With Huerter back Davion wasn't likely playing much at that point anyway. With Carter here, Keons rise, Monks re-signing, with what Brown likes, it's potentially inevitable Huerter is Montes new Richaun Holmes. Said it about Holmes after the Domas trade, saying it again, GET HIM OFF YOUR BOOKS. haha.
Unless Brown can figure a way to make Huerter effective at the 3 position. Someone has to back up Murray
 
If you set aside our “core” I would rank our assets as follows:

1)2)3)future first round picks (3)
4)Kev - young and cost controlled young player
5)Portland’s second rounder in great draft
6) HB - better than kings fan think but only has value to playoff teams
7) Colby

We gave up our 5th best asset to get rid of low salary players. That really seems insane. There were 6 other teams with cap space, none would take them for free? There were no teams that would trade us a lower salary player like say a 2 mil dollar deal? We traded a pick that will likely grade out as a first rounder in a draft like this. Two “first round graded” salary dumps in two years is really bad.

I won’t rant on this any further but dang.
 
Thing about Huerter is that small forward is probably his best position defensively and he no longer has to worry about constantly guarding elite guards at the POA like he had to for the first 1.5 seasons he was here thanks to Keon and Devin being studs. I’d much rather keep him than just move him for the sake of moving him.
Well, if Monte has him factored in there, he better check with coach Brown. The reality is for that to still make sense he'd have to play starters minutes there. If that's the case, move Barnes. You don't want both. You see the cost of dumping money the last two seasons once a team smells desperation or you tank a players value. 1st round picks or actual talent on fair contracts. Don't let this become Holmes part 2, there is no need for that.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
Well, if Monte has him factored in there, he better check with coach Brown. The reality is for that to still make sense he'd have to play starters minutes there. If that's the case, move Barnes. You don't want both. You see the cost of dumping money the last two seasons once a team smells desperation or you tank a players value. 1st round picks or actual talent on fair contracts. Don't let this become Holmes part 2, there is no need for that.
Huerter’s only making like MLE level money now. Really not too costly even if he’s down to a 20-25 minute rotation role.
 
Unless Brown can figure a way to make Huerter effective at the 3 position. Someone has to back up Murray
Monte has to be looking to add someone here though. Also, even for the new 4 man guard crew to maximize it's value, likely Carter and Keon are going to get minutes with G units at SF. The Kings will already potentially be paying a 6th man in Monk a bunch, you don't want to tie up lottery pick talent and that much money in your bench right now. Bad move.
 
Huerter’s only making like MLE level money now. Really not too costly even if he’s down to a 20-25 minute rotation role.
Man, just to let you know, I'll end it here, but this is literally the 3rd time I've had this conversation on this board about something like this. The first time was Jason Thompson prior to re-signing him. The 2nd was Holmes being a great backup C. Could be off the mark here, but fool me once, fool me twice, nope. haha.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
Huerter’s only making like MLE level money now. Really not too costly even if he’s down to a 20-25 minute rotation role.
I think Kev’s actually got value around the league but we had to secure Monk before making a deal. With Davion out we can play him 2/3 without worrying about Carter’s time. As long as he accepts that role for now we’ll have an exciting second unit and his value will increase.
 
Man, just to let you know, I'll end it here, but this is literally the 3rd time I've had this conversation on this board about something like this. The first time was Jason Thompson prior to re-signing him. The 2nd was Holmes being a great backup C. Could be off the mark here, but fool me once, fool me twice, nope. haha.
the third time starts to become the definition of insanity?
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
Man, just to let you know, I'll end it here, but this is literally the 3rd time I've had this conversation on this board about something like this. The first time was Jason Thompson prior to re-signing him. The 2nd was Holmes being a great backup C. Could be off the mark here, but fool me once, fool me twice, nope. haha.
But we didn’t just re-sign Huerter to an over the market deal to retain Sacramento talent.
 
Monte has to be looking to add someone here though. Also, even for the new 4 man guard crew to maximize it's value, likely Carter and Keon are going to get minutes with G units at SF. The Kings will already potentially be paying a 6th man in Monk a bunch, you don't want to tie up lottery pick talent and that much money in your bench right now. Bad move.
In my mind, he's looking to add someone to play the 4 and keep Murray at the 3. For which at the time being, they still need someone to back up Murray
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
Man, just to let you know, I'll end it here, but this is literally the 3rd time I've had this conversation on this board about something like this. The first time was Jason Thompson prior to re-signing him. The 2nd was Holmes being a great backup C. Could be off the mark here, but fool me once, fool me twice, nope. haha.
Difference here is that Huerter is already under contract. This isn’t a “should we offer him a contract?” Situation but a “do we really need to unload him at the very first opportunity?” Situation.