Who gets the last two roster slots when Camp ends?

Which Players Will Get The Final 3 Roster Spots?

  • Kent Bazemore

    Votes: 24 53.3%

  • Quinn Cook

    Votes: 16 35.6%

  • Matthew Dellavedova

    Votes: 17 37.8%

  • Sam Merrill

    Votes: 4 8.9%

  • Chima Moneke

    Votes: 25 55.6%

  • KZ Okpala

    Votes: 26 57.8%
  • Total voters
    45
  • Poll closed .
Jkbiker

Jkbiker

Starter
So after Okpala 2 year contract (sounds like its a guar contract), and assuming there are no trades, we have 13 Guar contracts:

PG Fox, Mitchell
SG Huerter, Monk, Davis
SF Barnes, Okpala
PF Murray, Lyles, Metu
C Sabonis, Holmes, Len

Of the remaining 5 camp players Who do you want to take the last two spots?

PG Cook, Dellovedova
SG Merrill
Forwards Bazemore, Moneke

My two picks are Cook and Moneke, Lets get young hungry guys
 
QWERTYLICIOUS said:
Delly and Bazemore. Bring some veteran presence to the team, and have them mentor the young guys.
Click to expand...

what young PG is Delly going to Mentor? Fox and Mitchell? sorry just no mentoring needed there

I suppose Bazemore could help mentor Okpala, and maybe Ellis
But not sure loosing Moneke is worth it
 
Jkbiker said:
what young PG is Delly going to Mentor? Fox and Mitchell? sorry just no mentoring needed there

I suppose Bazemore could help mentor Okpala, and maybe Ellis
But not sure loosing Moneke is worth it
Click to expand...
Delly doesn't have to necessarily mentor ONLY the point guards. He can mentor any young guy on the roster. Same with Bazemore. Why restrict his mentorship to only Okpala and Ellis?
 
This definitely deserves a poll!

That said, the Bee article (https://www.sacbee.com/sports/nba/sacramento-kings/article265834306.html) suggests that Okpala is still fighting for a roster spot, so that contract is probably not fully guaranteed. Info is a bit sketchy right now, but I suspect that the following players are unguaranteed:

Dellavedova
Cook
Bazemore
Okpala
Moneke
Merrill

I'll put up a poll where you can select 3 of the 6 for three roster spots.
 
Also Davis, Barnes, Lyles, Metu, Len could all be gone next year

We need cheap young talent like Cook and Moneke to develop so when we spend our Cap space
next year on a SF starter, we have enough young cheap players for depth
 
This is tough. Right now I'd say it would be Moneke and Baze with the best shot simply because this team isn't stacked with a ton of 2/3's right now. I think if Dellavedova is getting another shot at the NBA level and actually wants it he's going to bring it.
 
I think Baze and Okpala make the cut. They are both scrappy hustle guys who will put forth effort on the defensive end.
 
Apologies for the digression, but I keep seeing Barnes listed as an SF in multiple posts. His best play has usually come at the PF position. I understand that folks want to see Keegan there, but it might be a tad early. Plus, if there are any plans of trading Barnes, playing him at his most natural position is good for him and us.

Yes, that leaves the wing position thin, and reduces the role for our prized rookie. So, there might be times when both are on the court and Barnes is playing SF. My guess though is that he will likely play the majority of his minutes at 4.
 
kingsfan101 said:
Apologies for the digression, but I keep seeing Barnes listed as an SF in multiple posts. His best play has usually come at the PF position. I understand that folks want to see Keegan there, but it might be a tad early. Plus, if there are any plans of trading Barnes, playing him at his most natural position is good for him and us.

Yes, that leaves the wing position thin, and reduces the role for our prized rookie. So, there might be times when both are on the court and Barnes is playing SF. My guess though is that he will likely play the majority of his minutes at 4.
Click to expand...

My guess is that the initial starting lineup is Fox, Huerter, Murray, Barnes and Sabonis. I think both Barnes and Murray are really 4/3s so it's not ideal, especially against quick or explosive wings but I can't see Barnes coming off the bench and Murray looks to be too polished and effective to not give him a ton of minutes early, especially without a true SF on the roster who is good enough to start.

Jerry Reynolds thought the Kings should start Fox and Mitchell in the backcourt, and I can see some rationale for that, but now you're very dependent on either Quin Cook or Dellavadova off the bench. I think a more reasonable move might be to start Fox and Monk in the backcourt and shift Huerter to the 3 with Sabonis and either Barnes or Murray. If Barnes is flipped at the deadline, that's absolutely the lineup I'd expect to see.
 
Cook and Dellavedova are a notch below what I want from a 3rd PG, so my preference would be to get something a little better. Whoever makes it to the opener without getting hurt is my vote. Dellavedova has been the better player, but with his age and style would be useless if he's not available.

I went with Okpala and Bazemore because Merrill and Moneke have better odds of hanging around in Stockton.
 
I’m hoping at least one of Okpala or Moneke stands out. I think its time we strike riches with a real nice lesser known type.
I saw the other day mention of Kennith Farried working out for the Kings, not sure and perhaps its been mentioned somewhere amongst all these threads.
I was surprised he’s only 32, i’d be curious.
 
I'm surprised that no one has any love for Sam Merrill. I really like the kid coming out of Utah St where he was a combo guard, and his teammate was Queta. One can say he hasn't done anything of merit in the NBA the last two years, but he also hasn't been able to get on the floor. He's a lights out shooter from three, shooting 45.1% on 3.4 attempts as a Freshman, 46.4% on 6.2 attempts as a Sophomore, 37.6% on 6.5 attempts as a Junior, and 41.0% on 6.8 attempts as a Senior. He was also a good defender in college posting a ORtg - 129.7 and a DRtg - 96.3.

He's still young and fits the timeline the Kings seem to be on. A player like Basemore who is 33 years old isn't in the future plans of the team, but a player like Merrill might become part of the rotation going forward. He's a very good passer and brought the ball up for Utah St a good percentage of the time. He has an almost effortless 3 pt shot, he can hit the midrange with pullups and floaters, and he can score at the basket. I think the first team to give him a legit chance might find themselves a gem.


 
I hope Okpala excels. He's a guy I can see eventually replacing Barnes in the starting lineup if he plays well this season -- not as a go-to scorer but as a versatile defender and spot-up shooter. If we're talking end of the bench guys, all we need to be looking at are defensive role-players and shooters so that also bodes well for Sam Merrill's chances with his proven shooting ability and quick release.

That leaves one more spot and it probably will go to a backup PG but I don't think we actually need one with Fox and Mitchell expected to get all the minutes at the position. Also, I think you can safely cut guys like Cook or Dellavedova and pick them up again later (during the season) if PG depth becomes an issue. Having them run through training camp with the team anyway is a good idea to get them somewhat acquainted with the playbook just in case.

If that last spot is going to be either Bazemore or Moneke -- well they're probably not going to play much outside of garbage time anyway so you might as well go with upside (Moneke) over the 33 year old Bazemore, but he has to outplay the veteran first to prove he belongs. And that's mostly just a shrug from me. Who our last guard/wing off the bench is doesn't matter that much compared to finding out which of our random bigs is going to give us a reliable defensive presence off the bench to offset Sabonis' athletic limitations.
 
And the answer is Okpala, Dellavedova, and Moneke!

I'm going to call this a near-crowdsourcing win. Sure, we had Bazemore third, but we all knew we were going to keep a 3rd string PG, and Delly was in front of Cook in the poll.
 
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