What Does This Team Need Most?

[Joshyjosh31]

So we’re out on Zion and Trae Young is there any star you guys would want lol

Yes Playoff proven. He averages 26/9 in the Playoffs and has had some clutch monents, he doesn’t fade in the Playoffs like how some modern stars (Sabonis being an example, until he proves otherwise).

Also, how many times over the years have we argued guys like Cousins and Fox should not have poor team-building held against them? Trae carries his team to the Playoffs regularly. Even if it’s a weaker conference, that’s not an easy feat. Context matters, he hasn’t had any serious help to make the Hawks a legitimate contender. And the one year they had a deep squad to compensate for lack of starpower they made a nice run. .

To be fair to Sabonis he’s not a star

 

[twslam07]

So we’re out on Zion and Trae Young is there any star you guys would want lol

Do we have to trade for a “star” this offseason?

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

Do we have to trade for a “star” this offseason?

 

[Insomniacal Fan]

Sure, and I responded how I think a combo of Young and Sabonis would be atrocious on defense. You have arguably the worst defender in the NBA at PG while your C (usually your most important defensive position) is limited defensively.

Young has had a C rotation of Capela and Okongwu for the past 5 seasons. That’s very good defense from the C spot. The previous 2 seasons when they had a much worse defensive C rotation? The Hawks had the 3rd worst defense in the league. Now that’s not all Young and the C rotation. There are other variables at play here but we need to at least be okay on defense if we want to be a full on playoff team and I have a really hard time seeing how that’s possible with that duo on the floor.

Now setting that aside for a second, the post I replied to that you referenced steered the convo to Young being a good playoff performer. Looking at what I posted above, I obviously disagree with that statement.

Sure, my point is only that playoff performance is not necessarily a relevant criteria, when the goal is simply to make it to the playoffs.

 

[Joshyjosh31]

Do we have to trade for a “star” this offseason?

No we can run it back and gun for the 11th seed missing the playoffs and a good pick

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

No we can run it back and gun for the 11th seed missing the playoffs and a good pick

We were the 9th seed this season...We're not gunning for 11th next season. We're gunning for 8th or higher.

 

[Joshyjosh31]

We were the 9th seed this season...We're not gunning for 11th next season. We're gunning for 8th or higher.

Ya and Dallas won’t have 80% of the team out and Spurs will get a healthy Wemby/KD. There’s ten teams clearly better than us with Portland having good assets for a trade

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

Ya and Dallas won’t have 80% of the team out and Spurs will get a healthy Wemby/KD. There’s ten teams clearly better than us with Portland having good assets for a trade

Do you know someone who works for the NBA that's telling you crazy stuff like KD will definitely be joining the Spurs??? And that Portland will definitely land a superstar using all of their assets??? And that Dallas will actually be a better team heading into next season without Luka???

 

[Tetsujin]

Ya and Dallas won’t have 80% of the team out and Spurs will get a healthy Wemby/KD. There’s ten teams clearly better than us with Portland having good assets for a trade

Kyrie is potentially missing the entire season with his torn ACL and they’re less than a million dollars under the first apron.

Blazers also don’t actually have many draft assets that teams would want aside from the Bucks pick swaps but those aren’t for another three and five seasons and thanks to them already moving their 2026 first round pick for Deni, the Blazers can’t actually move a first round pick in a deal until 2028.

 

[TheMobb]

Ya and Dallas won’t have 80% of the team out and Spurs will get a healthy Wemby/KD. There’s ten teams clearly better than us with Portland having good assets for a trade

Sports are unpredictable and things can change quickly. We don’t know what a quality PG and PF can do for this roster, plus other moves around the edges, internal growth from Keegan, Keon, Carter and others will look like, even guys like Monk and Sabonis have room for growth. Obviously Domas should keep working on his outside shot, but maybe work on being more dynamic offensively and focus on ballhandling and adding a push shot like Zubac did.

 

[TheMobb]

Also it should be noted that with the new CBA teams will be handicapped and more motivated to shed salary. We don’t know what other teams will look like by the time the season starts, so concluding there are X number of teams better than the Kings or any other team is premature.

 

[Caccia]

Zion Williamson is definitely a gamble. But let me point out that he will turn 25 in July. He is just about to enter his prime years. In his best two seasons, out of five, he played 61 and 70 games, respectively. With a proper physical regimen, and maybe Ozempic, he could stay on the court for at least 60 games for the Kings. According to a January report, "he is in the best shape of his career." In other words, he worked hard in the off-season to get in shape and keep his weight down, which before had been a major question.

His season was ended by a hard fall in March. That could happen to anyone. So let me say I am receptive to the idea. Perhaps Scott Perry is, too.

https://www.si.com/nba/pelicans/new...date-on-zion-williamson-s-health-01jjdg19850x

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

Dear Mr. Perry,

Please don't cave in to some Kings fans' desire for you to sign Zion Williamson and bring him to Sacramento. Trust me when I say this - you WILL regret it if you do You can do much better than Zion.

Best Wishes,
QWERTYLICIOUS

 

[twslam07]

No we can run it back and gun for the 11th seed missing the playoffs and a good pick

Are we allowed to both 1.) not trade for a “star” this offseason and 2.) not run it back? Or are you saying those are the only 2 options?

 

[The_Jamal]

To fully invest in Keon Ellis and Keegan Murray.

Keon starting in the back-court with LaVine. Trusting Keegan to take the next step into a 17+ PPG scorer and the third option on offense.

Establish a defensive culture around LaVine/Domas. Are they good enough of a duo to really compete? Likely not, but we know Vivek isn't stripping this team down. So the best chance for them to succeed is as many kinds of players like a Devin Carter/Keon Ellis/Keegan Murray as we can get our hands on.

Would love to retain LaRavia. Especially if we could sell him on a bigger role next season, etc, I think he's a long-term great fit with what we need to be successful.

 

[iowamcnabb]

To fully invest in Keon Ellis and Keegan Murray.

Keon starting in the back-court with LaVine. Trusting Keegan to take the next step into a 17+ PPG scorer and the third option on offense.

Establish a defensive culture around LaVine/Domas. Are they good enough of a duo to really compete? Likely not, but we know Vivek isn't stripping this team down. So the best chance for them to succeed is as many kinds of players like a Devin Carter/Keon Ellis/Keegan Murray as we can get our hands on.

Would love to retain LaRavia. Especially if we could sell him on a bigger role next season, etc, I think he's a long-term great fit with what we need to be successful.

Plus if you build a team that is a star away from competing you might be able to throw a bunch of picks at a team if you build it out like you said

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Let’s be honest. The real answer here is a sudden change in ownership.

In this owner's mind, Zach Lavine is a superstar. The ever present problem

 

[Bosnian Diehard]

Why do you think there there is “no shot” to make the playoffs if LaVine is on the roster? LaVine has technically made the playoffs before as a 6th seed (with DeRozan also on that team). I’m struggling to see how you have arrived at that conclusion.

I don’t think a team with Sabonis and LaVine as its’ best players gas a shot at the Playoffs in the West, maybe they could in the East. LaVine is the biggest example of a good stats bad team guy that I can remember. Plays well against bad teams and is often invisible against the great teams. Sabonis is a star level guy but you need someone slightly better than him to get to the Playoffs.

 

[Bosnian Diehard]

I think you’re overrating his playoff pedigree.

Young was in the playoffs for the 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 seasons. Let’s compare his playoff per 36 min stats to his regular season stats for that year…

Regular Season
.589 TS%
27.9 PTS
10.2 AST
4.3 TO

Playoffs
.533 TS%
25.2 PTS
8.6 AST
4.2 TO

So his efficiency and assists decrease significantly in the playoffs, but the more interesting thing is his On/Off stats in the playoffs compared to the regular season for those 3 seasons…

Regular Season
Off On/Off = +7.7
Def On/Off = +4.1
Tot On/Off = +3.7

Playoffs
Off On/Off = -0.1
Def On/Off = +2.7
Tot On/Off = -2.8

So during the regular season, his team is actually better with him on the floor (although they are much worse defensively but at least his offense makes up for it). However, his team has actually been better with him off the floor in the playoffs.

Again, I don’t think he’s the playoffs performer you think he is. What I remember is a guy who is easily exploitable in the playoffs and the numbers appear to back that up.

That’s fair, maybe that’s true but I would also argue he is the focal point of every defense in the Playoffs to a very high degree. If he had a guy like Sabonis or another star alongside him, I think that would help take the pressure off him a bit in those series where teams get to really key in on him.