What would you do?

[Insomniacal Fan]

In recent discussion, it seems that some folks are thinking about the near term future of the Kings from the perspective of what they consider ideal, and some are thinking about it from the position of what they think is realistic based on the imputed desires of external stakeholders (Vivek, STHs, etc.) Sometimes it's unclear where people are coming from.

The goal of this poll is to try and filter those questions out. If you're the King of the Sacramento Kings, and aren't concerned by business or other external factors, and only want to make the team achieve your own goals, what would you do with the team going forward

 

[Warhawk]

In recent discussion, it seems that some folks are thinking about the near term future of the Kings from the perspective of what they consider ideal, and some are thinking about it from the position of what they think is realistic based on the imputed desires of external stakeholders (Vivek, STHs, etc.) Sometimes it's unclear where people are coming from.

The goal of this poll is to try and filter those questions out. If you're the King of the Sacramento Kings, and aren't concerned by business or other external factors, and only want to make the team achieve your own goals, what would you do with the team going forward

I have a hard time answering this.

While theoretically tanking for a rebuild sounds like a good way to do it, you are asking for a good half decade or more of suckiness with no guarantees of getting a top 4 pick. We could get a couple of top 4 picks and still end up with Bagley and Oden. Either way, you could go through all that time and still be no better than we are today. If you aren't "concerned by business", does that mean you don't care if fans aren't coming? I mean, really, you don't care? Like "building 25-50% full for 5-10 years" don't care? Because that will likely happen. We'll also go through two more GMs and three more coaches during that time.

Augmenting the current roster is also likely problematic, given the difficulties of free agency here in Sacramento and assumed tradability of some of our larger contracts unless we attach a pick or a good young player we should be building around.

I'll let you guys argue both points. I think probably somewhere in the middle. Swap out one or two of our bigger names for better fitting pieces and hopefully some picks. Thread the needle, so to speak. Both extremes are full of potholes to navigate.

 

[Insomniacal Fan]

I have a hard time answering this.

While theoretically tanking for a rebuild sounds like a good way to do it, you are asking for a good half decade or more of suckiness with no guarantees of getting a top 4 pick. We could get a couple of top 4 picks and still end up with Bagley and Oden. Either way, you could go through all that time and still be no better than we are today. If you aren't "concerned by business", does that mean you don't care if fans aren't coming? I mean, really, you don't care? Like "building 25-50% full for 5-10 years" don't care? Because that will likely happen. We'll also go through two more GMs and three more coaches during that time.

Yes, the point of the question is about what you as a fan want to see, and what risk you're willing to take on, assuming you're playing with funny money. It's hard to get lemonade stand level data on how an NBA franchise works financially, so I think it's a fair ignore those sorts of questions.

Sounds like you're an "Other"

 

[gunks]

I believe we are set up well for a potential rebuild. Deebo and Domas are both tradable assets, get what you can for them. Deebo we probably trade as a favor either way, so I'm not expecting a huge return, but I think we could get a decent return for Domas if a few teams are interested.

Build around the guys that actually play hard: Carter, Keon, Keegan (maybe Laravia if he returns) + tank commander Zach would be a team gunning for a top 5 pick next season, and the following.

We'd be back at "hope for a star" in the next two drafts, but if Perry can hit on a potential franchise guy, Keon, Keegan, and Carter would be a good two-way group to have around said player.

Perry will also have Zach as an ender when he opts-in (highly likely), so there's another tradable asset.

I don't think we're set up as well for a retool. Maybe Perry could improve the roster at PG or the on the wing, but that'll probably cost us our future picks for a brief window of chasing 10th in the brutal West.

 

[The_Jamal]

Easy, I'd reset. You fired your COY, you traded your long-term franchise player, etc. Whatever momentum we had from Beam team 1 is obviously gone and this is an entirely new team. I love Domas, but the window is probably closed here.

Head into next season with massive minutes for Carter/Keon/Keegan, convince LaRavia he'd be a starter here and get him to re-up. Give someone like Isaac Jones a 20+ MPG role and see what he can do with it. Go be bad next year and start next summer from the assets you get from Domas/Monk/DDR/Jval/LaVine and a top 5 pick.

Funnily enough, i think the "retool" scenario is pretty similar where their still needs to be massive minutes for Carter/Keon/Keegan in order for a LaVine/Domas lead squad to be successful.

 

[MizzouKing]

I'm threading the needle like Warhawk. I hold no illusions that this will make us championship contenders, but if we can be moving in the right direction this season then being competitive is a heckuva lot more fun than years of suckitude. I'm not a Championship Or Bust kind of fan. I do want to be a lot better than we currently are.

Mizzou King

 

[Noble]

Reload. Find the complement to Sabonis and a PG.

 

[iowamcnabb]

If “rebuild” means purposely lose for a couple years, count me out. I think it’s ok in certain circumstances, but as rule I don’t like it. Now if it’s a “data collection” year where you give big roles to Keegan, Keon and Devin and you lose more than you win then that’s fine. Draft, develop and trade well and give us a team that is fun to watch and root for.

 

[Joshyjosh31]

Guys we all agree and all our media member agree it’s perfect time to rebuild but our idiot owner won’t be having any of it. We were set up perfectly to rebuild if we got a single young player for Fox instead of Lavine and now with Sabonis and DD possibly wanting out.

Amazing draft coming up too smh

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

If “rebuild” means purposely lose for a couple years, count me out. I think it’s ok in certain circumstances, but as rule I don’t like it. Now if it’s a “data collection” year where you give big roles to Keegan, Keon and Devin and you lose more than you win then that’s fine. Draft, develop and trade well and give us a team that is fun to watch and root for.

You can definitely rebuild and not purposely lose for a couple of years...

 

[Joshyjosh31]

If “rebuild” means purposely lose for a couple years, count me out. I think it’s ok in certain circumstances, but as rule I don’t like it. Now if it’s a “data collection” year where you give big roles to Keegan, Keon and Devin and you lose more than you win then that’s fine. Draft, develop and trade well and give us a team that is fun to watch and root for.

That’s basically what it is tho get rid of Sabonis, Lavine, and Derozan for picks and upside players play the hell out of our young guys. If we make the playoffs with them fine but it’s more likely they develop while we get a top 8 pick top 4 since we’re in the west. That’s technically not losing in purpose but it it in a sense

 

[Insomniacal Fan]

Guys we all agree and all our media member agree it’s perfect time to rebuild but our idiot owner won’t be having any of it. We were set up perfectly to rebuild if we got a single young player for Fox instead of Lavine and now with Sabonis and DD possibly wanting out.

Amazing draft coming up too smh

Apparently we don't all agree, hence this thread.

 

[Warhawk]

Build around the guys that actually play hard: Carter, Keon, Keegan (maybe Laravia if he returns) + tank commander Zach would be a team gunning for a top 5 pick next season, and the following.

We'd be back at "hope for a star" in the next two drafts, but if Perry can hit on a potential franchise guy, Keon, Keegan, and Carter would be a good two-way group to have around said player.

Head into next season with massive minutes for Carter/Keon/Keegan, convince LaRavia he'd be a starter here and get him to re-up. Give someone like Isaac Jones a 20+ MPG role and see what he can do with it. Go be bad next year and start next summer from the assets you get from Domas/Monk/DDR/Jval/LaVine and a top 5 pick.

Amazing draft coming up too smh

Yeah, see, these pie in the sky dreams about a top pick just don't fly for me. We've been down this road for the vast majority of 40 years now in Sacramento and I laid it out in another thread in more detail, but - we've had what, one #1 and one #2 pick with Pervis and Bagley to show for it in all that time. And with the lousy odds of getting a high pick I can't bank on that. Our "franchise level picks" were junk. It would be our luck to get high picks in horrible draft years or something.

Yes, we've done better with some slightly higher picks (Fox, Keegan, Hali, etc.), but two of those three are no longer with us (although Hali did get us Sabonis, which a lot of folks keep discounting).

I'm not saying don't do the best you can with your picks, but you can't count on them to save your franchise, either.

 

[Insomniacal Fan]

If “rebuild” means purposely lose for a couple years, count me out. I think it’s ok in certain circumstances, but as rule I don’t like it. Now if it’s a “data collection” year where you give big roles to Keegan, Keon and Devin and you lose more than you win then that’s fine. Draft, develop and trade well and give us a team that is fun to watch and root for.

I should have foreseen that there are some versions of "rebuild" that people would find objectionable, (and some versions of "reload" that people would similarly find objectionable) Both "The Process" style intentional losing, and a youth movement would fall under "rebuild" for me.

If I could put it another way; Should the Kings prioritize future potential, or prioritize maximizing the effectiveness of the current roster?

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

I'm threading the needle like Warhawk. I hold no illusions that this will make us championship contenders, but if we can be moving in the right direction this season then being competitive is a heckuva lot more fun than years of suckitude. I'm not a Championship Or Bust kind of fan. I do want to be a lot better than we currently are.

Mizzou King

I'm in the camp of....realistic chance to advance in the playoffs or bust. Just hoping to get through the play-in and into a series isn't good enough and has become uninteresting and uninspiring at this point in the game.

Either put full interest in developing your assets with a 2+ year plan to become a dangerous playoff team....or what's the point again? Otherwise it's like the owner's little game of whack a mole....and he's not very good at it.

 

[Joshyjosh31]

Yeah, see, these pie in the sky dreams about a top pick just don't fly for me. We've been down this road for the vast majority of 40 years now in Sacramento and I laid it out in another thread in more detail, but - we've had what, one #1 and one #2 pick with Pervis and Bagley to show for it in all that time. And with the lousy odds of getting a high pick I can't bank on that. Our "franchise level picks" were junk. It would be our luck to get high picks in horrible draft years or something.

Yes, we've done better with some slightly higher picks (Fox, Keegan, Hali, etc.), but two of those three are no longer with us (although Hali did get us Sabonis, which a lot of folks keep discounting).

I'm not saying don't do the best you can with your picks, but you can't count on them to save your franchise, either.

My thing is we’re not making the playoffs anyways I’d rather watch the team lose and grow with Carter, ellis, and Keegan leading the way. Which in turn gets us a good pick top get a franchise player to play with them.

Apparently we don't all agree, hence this thread.

My bad most agree! And the few I saw disagreeing had a plan which is basically tanking anyways

 

[gunks]

Yeah, see, these pie in the sky dreams about a top pick just don't fly for me. We've been down this road for the vast majority of 40 years now in Sacramento and I laid it out in another thread in more detail, but - we've had what, one #1 and one #2 pick with Pervis and Bagley to show for it in all that time. And with the lousy odds of getting a high pick I can't bank on that. Our "franchise level picks" were junk. It would be our luck to get high picks in horrible draft years or something.

Yes, we've done better with some slightly higher picks (Fox, Keegan, Hali, etc.), but two of those three are no longer with us (although Hali did get us Sabonis, which a lot of folks keep discounting).

I'm not saying don't do the best you can with your picks, but you can't count on them to save your franchise, either.

I mean, picking high in the lotto wasn't the problem, having people like late era Petrie (deferred to Maloofs), Pete D'Alessandro (deferred to Vivek), and Vlade Divac (total moron) making the pick was the problem.

 

[datamanwes]

I think we reload, I have been a fan since 1985. I am not a young guy anymore and most likely dont have another 16 years to wait for this team to get good enough . I would rather see a couple of moves like trading DDR for a defensive wing. drafting or during free agency getting a real PG and then make further changes to see what we need at mid season. Keep Keegan, Keon and Carter and LaRavia if we can and see how the coaching staff of Doug does with a training camp does.

 

[Warhawk]

I mean, picking high in the lotto wasn't the problem, having people like late era Petrie (deferred to Maloofs), Pete D'Alessandro (deferred to Vivek), and Vlade Divac (total moron) making the pick was the problem.

Agreed (and that was part of my point), but if we are another GM and coach or two deep into a half dozen years of sucking just to try to get a good pick, who is to say how good they would be at picking the "right" player?

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

I should have foreseen that there are some versions of "rebuild" that people would find objectionable, (and some versions of "reload" that people would similarly find objectionable) Both "The Process" style intentional losing, and a youth movement would fall under "rebuild" for me.

If I could put it another way; Should the Kings prioritize future potential, or prioritize maximizing the effectiveness of the current roster?

Future potential.

 

[gunks]

Agreed (and that was part of my point), but if we are another GM and coach or two deep into a half dozen years of sucking just to try to get a good pick, who is to say how good they would be at picking the "right" player?

Also a fair point, I guess I'm just in the camp that's willing to roll the dice.

I see a team built around a core of Domas and Lavine maaaybe peaking at a 2nd round exit. Honestly, even one playoff series win would have me feeling like we won a championship, so I'm not going to tear my hair out if Perry decides to retool and stay "competitive".

A few more seasons of playing for 10th and a play-in exit would have me more tuned out than a rebuild though, but that's just me!

 

[Warhawk]

Also a fair point, I guess I'm just in the camp that's willing to roll the dice.

I see a team built around a core of Domas and Lavine maaaybe peaking at a 2nd round exit. Honestly, even one playoff series win would have me feeling like we won a championship, so I'm not going to tear my hair out if Perry decides to retool and stay "competitive".

A few more seasons of playing for 10th and a play-in exit would have me more tuned out than a rebuild though, but that's just me!

I get it. I do. In general, I would just rather go after established players than roll the dice on some overhyped college freshman, but you still run into things like Red Velvet where the return isn't guaranteed over time or the mix just isn't right with certain players.

We need more scrappy hustle guys like LaRavia, Keon, and Murray. I don't consider that to be a rebuild, though. That's more of a roster refinement issue than a "scrap it all and start over" issue to me.

 

[Jdbraver137]

In recent discussion, it seems that some folks are thinking about the near term future of the Kings from the perspective of what they consider ideal, and some are thinking about it from the position of what they think is realistic based on the imputed desires of external stakeholders (Vivek, STHs, etc.) Sometimes it's unclear where people are coming from.

The goal of this poll is to try and filter those questions out. If you're the King of the Sacramento Kings, and aren't concerned by business or other external factors, and only want to make the team achieve your own goals, what would you do with the team going forward

Trade for Zion in hopes of improving the roster or commit to tanking.

 

[iowamcnabb]

I should have foreseen that there are some versions of "rebuild" that people would find objectionable, (and some versions of "reload" that people would similarly find objectionable) Both "The Process" style intentional losing, and a youth movement would fall under "rebuild" for me.

If I could put it another way; Should the Kings prioritize future potential, or prioritize maximizing the effectiveness of the current roster?

I’d probably thread the needle under those parameters. Not selling off Sabonis type players for picks but not trading a first for a Cam Johnson type players either. I’d move parts that don’t fit (Deebo and maybe Monk, ouch that one hurts) for pieces that do. Be competent, develop your young guys, establish your culture and don’t sacrifice your future assets unless the right star becomes available. If things look bad at the trade deadline, pulling the plug would be on the table and you have a loaded ‘26 draft to look forward to.

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

My preference is not to trade for Zion and fully commit to a rebuild in hopes of improving the roster.

 

[LT-Sac-Town]

At this point you need to give the Lavine/Sabonis duo a shot. Surround them with 3 and D players, and a guard that can help facilitate. Would be very interesting if we went into the year with a Carter/Lavine/Laravia/Murray/Sabonis starting 5. I would love to get Ellis in the starting 5, but Lavine prevents that, so he's there for the bench/injury insurance. In a perfect world we can turn DD into some kind of starting 4 or a key bench piece.

 

[sactowndog]

I have a hard time answering this.

While theoretically tanking for a rebuild sounds like a good way to do it, you are asking for a good half decade or more of suckiness with no guarantees of getting a top 4 pick. We could get a couple of top 4 picks and still end up with Bagley and Oden. Either way, you could go through all that time and still be no better than we are today. If you aren't "concerned by business", does that mean you don't care if fans aren't coming? I mean, really, you don't care? Like "building 25-50% full for 5-10 years" don't care? Because that will likely happen. We'll also go through two more GMs and three more coaches during that time.

Augmenting the current roster is also likely problematic, given the difficulties of free agency here in Sacramento and assumed tradability of some of our larger contracts unless we attach a pick or a good young player we should be building around.

I'll let you guys argue both points. I think probably somewhere in the middle. Swap out one or two of our bigger names for better fitting pieces and hopefully some picks. Thread the needle, so to speak. Both extremes are full of potholes to navigate.

Sounds like Monte speaking.

You have to pick a direction and commit to it or you are a perpetual play-in team.

 

[The_Jamal]

I’d probably thread the needle under those parameters. Not selling off Sabonis type players for picks but not trading a first for a Cam Johnson type players either. I’d move parts that don’t fit (Deebo and maybe Monk, ouch that one hurts) for pieces that do. Be competent, develop your young guys, establish your culture and don’t sacrifice your future assets unless the right star becomes available. If things look bad at the trade deadline, pulling the plug would be on the table and you have a loaded ‘26 draft to look forward to.

There's certainly levels to a rebuild. There's "Hey, lets move forward with Carter/Keon/Keegan, see what they develop into and add a great pick to them. And then there's "Tear the team down to Beno Udrih is the best player on the team levels and just really really suck for 3 years until the we get premium assets to return on value down the line".

I think most Kings fans would have a blast watching the young guys go out and just play hard. Probably wouldn't be very good and would lose a lot of games, but Sacramento appreciates effort and hustle and just "trying" on the defensive end more than anything.

 

[Warhawk]

Sounds like Monte speaking.

You have to pick a direction and commit to it or you are a perpetual play-in team.

Or you could commit to a total tear-down and rebuild, not get any draft pick positioning luck (as we typically don't), draft poorly (as we have with our only two "top 2" picks we've ever had in our 40 years here), and be a perpetual lottery team with no hope of even sniffing the playoffs for a decade (we already did that for what, 16 years already - a decade would be a blessing in that respect). Also, the team would be hemorrhaging money with few fans in the building.

See, I can play that game, too.

Any option you choose has dangers and pitfalls.

We, as fans, can have opinions but that doesn't make them correct no matter how well-intentioned they are. It's all hypothetical and out of our control.

 

[kingsboi]

I'd start by trading Sabonis in the offseason before he either asks for a trade or his value continues to decline and acquire youth and draft picks. I then would follow that by trading DeMar for cap space and/or a few early second rounders, unless you can attain a first rounder, then so be it. Zach might be harder to move right now with the contract so I'd keep him for the season and then trade his huge expiring deal. Keep Murray, Ellis & Carter around and see if any of them are in the long term plans and just be patient with their development process.