What an abysmal offseason.

chief bromden · Jul 2, 2023

OMax hasn't even played a summer league game yet and you are in all these threads bemoaning the fact that the Kings failed by trading away his draft rights. Why is it such a guarantee that he would contribute to a winning team in his first year? Why isn't Slawson just as good of a prospect as OMax for the 3 position, and why are we just glossing over Kessler like he can't improve?

Tetsujin · Jul 2, 2023

chief bromden said:

Let the man grieve. He was driving the "the Kings trading a second round pick for the rights to Sasha Vezenkov was nothing but a blatant cash grab by money goblin Vivek!" bus. He's gotta find a new doom-and-gloom narrative to latch onto.

The_Jamal · Jul 2, 2023

Tetsujin said:

Also "WE SOLD A FRP SO VIVEK COULD BE CHEAP" when he just spent $217 mil on a Domas extension.

And technically the 2nd round pick we "sold" last year turned into a 7.5mil contract for Vezenkov. The Mavs pick we got in the Hardy deal was used to trade up for Jones this year.

Essentially, we said Duarte+Domas extension year early over an 18ish mil player. I think that's conversation here, not Vivek is cheap.

sactowndog · Jul 2, 2023

Tetsujin said:

wasn’t fired but thanks for playing. Nor did I or he say Brooks was a 25-30M guy as he lacks the wingspan and 3%.

Tetsujin · Jul 2, 2023

https://twitter.com/statuses/1675525910999732224

Man, people really gotta stop believing that trading for James Harden is going to make a team better. The Clippers are involved in Harden talks out of sheer desperation. Both of their stars are getting older, on expiring contracts, and probably most importantly walking injury risks (plus we don't even know if Kawhi is even going to play next season).
The Warriors depth is pretty much down to Chris Paul and a bunch of young guys that they already hate having on their roster. They're also really freaking old at this point.
Grizzlies traded for Smart but at the same time the Ja situation is still terrible and going to cause him to miss the first quarter of the season. They also lost draft assets and cap space this summer and Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke (and for all the complaining Kings fans are doing about our wing depth, the Grizzlies are probably thinner there than us, considering their glut of chubby undersized 4s and short armed shooting guards).
The Suns have improved on paper obviously. At the same time, they're incredibly top heavy and built around three guys who've had trouble staying on the floor over the last couple of seasons and a flaming idiot at the center position who alternates between being good and completely invisible. Yuta Watanabe is a nice end of rotation pick-up for them but he's not going to look great starting 50 games for them next season because two of KD, Booker, and Beal are missing a game at the same time. They're also banking on Cam Payne being able to support their entire point guard load (he was also injured a lot last year).
The only team that the guy mentions that probably had an undeniably good offseason was the Lakers but even then they're built around a 39-year-old guy who just had to have major surgery on his foot for the first time in his career and AD, who pretty much had his first semi-healthy season since he was in New Orleans. They're also randomly thin at center, where Jaxson Hayes and Wenyen Gabriel are going to be duking it out for the privilege to start the 40 games AD misses next season.

If every single thing pans out for all these other teams, yeah we might be in trouble. But that's banking on way more good injury luck for them than the injury luck the Kings had last season (which of course ran out in the postseason when both of our stars wound up getting too injured to dribble the ball).

Plus, our core is locked up longterm and younger, while all of these teams aside from the Grizzlies are pretty much trying desperation hailmarys to extend their window of contention. The teams I'd be more concerned about are the ones who were out of the playoff picture last season.

sactowndog · Jul 2, 2023

chief bromden said:

OMax wasn’t a guarantee but he had a shot if he could shoot the 3 better.

OMax is a significantly better athlete than Slawson and a tad longer.

https://www.nba.com/stats/draft/combine-strength-agility?dir=D&sort=STANDING_VERTICAL_LEAP

no we aren’t. Right now we have all our apples in the Kessler basket so we better hope he improves. I would say Kessler’s improvement will be the biggest driver to our success or lack there of.

macadocious · Jul 2, 2023

Why are we overlooking that they see Keegan as a 3 and he actually defended pretty well in the playoffs once he got through his first couple games.

Jc121 · Jul 2, 2023

A lot of folks here are saying we got lucky some of the teams below us had injury problems. Well yeah I would say the Lakers and clippers stars are getting older and more injury prone and thats not changing this next season.
So their stars are going to be getting more reduced minutes and its a safe bet a lot of missed games do to injury. They are not getting really better after 3 or 4 players deep with the rest just filler on the roster.

No matter what happens you are going to have a few folks who preach doom and gloom and the subject just changes to fit their reason to complain.

I was looking forward to a big trade to help shore up some weak points we had. Well I think that will still happen but it may be at the trade deadline and I am okay with that.

with our contracts and the 2 additional players (not our 2nd round picks this year) we have improved our strengths and that’s not a bad thing.

dude12 · Jul 2, 2023

Mike Brown and Monte McNair. >>> a certain forum member’s fired front office buddy

PorchSurfin · Jul 2, 2023

dude12 said:

A troll job I can approve.

PorchSurfin · Jul 2, 2023

sactowndog said:

Maybe you can get Brooklyn on the phone so you and your bud can revisit the Fox for Simmons trade.

HndsmCelt · Jul 2, 2023

Logical inconsistency:
Assuming that the GM and Coach you thought were coach of the year and GM of the year in 2022 are suddenly inept in 2023. But somehow players from 2022 will be the same guys in 2023.

TaxMan · Jul 2, 2023

Tetsujin said:

https://twitter.com/statuses/1675525910999732224

Man, people really gotta stop believing that trading for James Harden is going to make a team better. The Clippers are involved in Harden talks out of sheer desperation. Both of their stars are getting older, on expiring contracts, and probably most importantly walking injury risks (plus we don't even know if Kawhi is even going to play next season).
The Warriors depth is pretty much down to Chris Paul and a bunch of young guys that they already hate having on their roster. They're also really freaking old at this point.
Grizzlies traded for Smart but at the same time the Ja situation is still terrible and going to cause him to miss the first quarter of the season. They also lost draft assets and cap space this summer and Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke (and for all the complaining Kings fans are doing about our wing depth, the Grizzlies are probably thinner there than us, considering their glut of chubby undersized 4s and short armed shooting guards).
The Suns have improved on paper obviously. At the same time, they're incredibly top heavy and built around three guys who've had trouble staying on the floor over the last couple of seasons and a flaming idiot at the center position who alternates between being good and completely invisible. Yuta Watanabe is a nice end of rotation pick-up for them but he's not going to look great starting 50 games for them next season because two of KD, Booker, and Beal are missing a game at the same time. They're also banking on Cam Payne being able to support their entire point guard load (he was also injured a lot last year).
The only team that the guy mentions that probably had an undeniably good offseason was the Lakers but even then they're built around a 39-year-old guy who just had to have major surgery on his foot for the first time in his career and AD, who pretty much had his first semi-healthy season since he was in New Orleans. They're also randomly thin at center, where Jaxson Hayes and Wenyen Gabriel are going to be duking it out for the privilege to start the 40 games AD misses next season.

If every single thing pans out for all these other teams, yeah we might be in trouble. But that's banking on way more good injury luck for them than the injury luck the Kings had last season (which of course ran out in the postseason when both of our stars wound up getting too injured to dribble the ball).

Plus, our core is locked up longterm and younger, while all of these teams aside from the Grizzlies are pretty much trying desperation hailmarys to extend their window of contention. The teams I'd be more concerned about are the ones who were out of the playoff picture last season.

I would be surprised if we are the third seed again this year. I could easily envision winning 50 games and ending up the 5th seed. And you know what? That is OK. Key is to get on a long sustained run in the playoffs and then see where we go from there. Outside of the truly dominant dynasties, there is always a tremendous amount of luck ultimately involved in playoff success.

Jc121 · Jul 2, 2023

TaxMan said:

I would be surprised if we are the third seed again this year. I could easily envision winning 50 games and ending up the 5th seed. And you know what? That is OK. Key is to get on a long sustained run in the playoffs and then see where we go from there. Outside of the truly dominant dynasties, there is always a tremendous amount of luck ultimately involved in playoff success.

Can not disagree but hopefully it will be a 4th seed or better.

Supreme · Jul 2, 2023

I really hope we don’t make the trade for Harden:

“The Sacramento Kings are interested in trading for Philadelphia 76ers star guard James Harden, according to Evan Massey of NBA Analysis Network.”

SLAB · Jul 2, 2023

Supreme said:

Im guessing this was the report from a few days ago when we had room. Don’t think it applies anymore.

Supreme · Jul 2, 2023

SLAB said:

Thank God

sactowndog · Jul 2, 2023

TaxMan said:

Given the overall strength of the west and number of teams likely not tanking the 5th seed winning 50 games no matter whom it is seems unlikely.

miltonap · Jul 2, 2023

Ozymandias said:

We need a wing.

I see it as a gaping hole in the roster.

With that wing I will feel confident but right now I think it's a major issue.

And when I say wing I envision someone that can guard out in the perimeter and rebound.

Someone that can guard 3-4 and ideally provide toughness to the team.

I don't think it should be THAT hard to find this person I bet that person could even be found in the G-league but this person needs to be added.

Beyond that I think the roster is fine but we need to fill this void imo

Albatros · Jul 2, 2023

Did anyone on the planet actually expect us to be a 3 seed again. I expect us to make the playoffs. That's it.

This team is good enough to do that barring a disaster.

The FA market this season wasn't exactly a gold mine.

miltonap · Jul 2, 2023

Albatros said:

Right now we're a 2nd round team I think

Hoovtrain · Jul 2, 2023

Would hardly call it abysmal. That said I don’t think they’ve don’t anything to make themselves a true contender, but still have pretty solid, deep team

SLAB · Jul 2, 2023

Hoovtrain said:

This is the answer. We can’t make an unreasonable trade just to do it. Then as much as Harrison doesn’t move any needles, 3/54 is infinitely better than 4/100 or 5/160 for the alternatives. And in the end we extended the main guy we needed to keep, and hopefully the pieces fall into place in the future.

notoriousBEN3 · Jul 2, 2023

miltonap said:

I’m with you on this for sure, but I’d also say we need some rebounding. We were embarrassed by Looney in the playoffs, and I really thought we’d try to address this gap in free agency.

I’m not too concerned about bringing back most of the same roster b/c the team was pretty damn good last season, but I don’t think we fully addressed the 2 big holes in the roster, which is a defensive wing and a defensive/rebounding big. Hope there’s something that can be done via trade at some point.

miltonap · Jul 2, 2023

notoriousBEN3 said:

I think Len resolves the defensive rebounding big enough but I did mention rebounding for that wing we need.

I agree with you

SacTownKid · Jul 2, 2023

Tetsujin said:

https://twitter.com/statuses/1675525910999732224

Man, people really gotta stop believing that trading for James Harden is going to make a team better. The Clippers are involved in Harden talks out of sheer desperation. Both of their stars are getting older, on expiring contracts, and probably most importantly walking injury risks (plus we don't even know if Kawhi is even going to play next season).
The Warriors depth is pretty much down to Chris Paul and a bunch of young guys that they already hate having on their roster. They're also really freaking old at this point.
Grizzlies traded for Smart but at the same time the Ja situation is still terrible and going to cause him to miss the first quarter of the season. They also lost draft assets and cap space this summer and Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke (and for all the complaining Kings fans are doing about our wing depth, the Grizzlies are probably thinner there than us, considering their glut of chubby undersized 4s and short armed shooting guards).
The Suns have improved on paper obviously. At the same time, they're incredibly top heavy and built around three guys who've had trouble staying on the floor over the last couple of seasons and a flaming idiot at the center position who alternates between being good and completely invisible. Yuta Watanabe is a nice end of rotation pick-up for them but he's not going to look great starting 50 games for them next season because two of KD, Booker, and Beal are missing a game at the same time. They're also banking on Cam Payne being able to support their entire point guard load (he was also injured a lot last year).
The only team that the guy mentions that probably had an undeniably good offseason was the Lakers but even then they're built around a 39-year-old guy who just had to have major surgery on his foot for the first time in his career and AD, who pretty much had his first semi-healthy season since he was in New Orleans. They're also randomly thin at center, where Jaxson Hayes and Wenyen Gabriel are going to be duking it out for the privilege to start the 40 games AD misses next season.

If every single thing pans out for all these other teams, yeah we might be in trouble. But that's banking on way more good injury luck for them than the injury luck the Kings had last season (which of course ran out in the postseason when both of our stars wound up getting too injured to dribble the ball).

Plus, our core is locked up longterm and younger, while all of these teams aside from the Grizzlies are pretty much trying desperation hailmarys to extend their window of contention. The teams I'd be more concerned about are the ones who were out of the playoff picture last season.

Chemistry can win out, but the playoffs might have been the proof of turning point. Kings fans should be excited, but don't meltdown if the Suns are for real. If they are, it's what it is. The good news is hopefully some of these teams only have like a 2-3 year window.

SacTownKid · Jul 2, 2023

miltonap said:

Only if the DHO doesn't dip again. At least on the surface the team didn't really strengthen the things they had to rely on once the playoffs started. Sasha and what he can do at the NBA level is the biggest hand the Kings will be playing this season. If he's for real, it's a steal, if he's a PF version of Huerter then the Kings are better, but how much if teams turn off that DHO again? If Keegan and Sasha can become threats once the hand offs are made via change of direction with the ball or via a post up then it will go a loooong way to putting teams in the blender and taking pressure off of Fox to go 1 on whole teams when it matters.

SLAB · Jul 2, 2023

SacTownKid said:

It all depends on health. The Suns and Lakers have killed it. The Warriors are still the Warriors. And the Clippers have all the talent to beat anyone. We’ll see what the injury game throws at these teams, but nearly our whole division is about to be a bloodbath … and hopefully we’re lucky enough to have two straight seasons without major injuries taking time away.

Supreme · Jul 2, 2023

There’s no answer for prime joker and the nuggets.

Vinny Basketballerino · Jul 2, 2023

sactowndog said:

Duarte is an excellent 2-3 defender. Sasha has been in the works for a while. We have 8M in cap space to shore up interior D. At the least, can you acknowledge that Len did a great job at that late in the season when he was finally given minutes?

What an abysmal offseason.

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