What is krack alakin hardware Nos listeners, I am Damp Valley coming at you
once more without my fantabulous co host Adam frommel our team look Ahead Train rolls
Onward. We're up to the Sacramento Kings. Greg Whissinger from The King's Herald
was kind enough to join me. He is the managing editor there follow the
Kings Harold, which does great work at the King's Herald. He's also a
freelancer for the Sacramento b and you can follow Greg on Twitter at g whiss
at gwi ss fantastic follow on Twitter. I highly recommend it. Before we
get started, the usual housekeeping notes, Please, please, pretty please continue
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Let's get to some great and in depth Sacramento Kings talk. A truly
fascinating team by the way, the Kings are heading into this season. But
let's talk some Kings now with Greg Whistlinger from The King's Herald. Greg,
thank you so much for coming back on the hardwo Knox podcast for our Sacramento
Kings look Ahead. This is the third consecutive year that you've done it,
so, as you mentioned before the podcast, you're officially at glutton for punishment.
I appreciate it. Before we dive into Sacramento Kings basketball, though,
first and foremost, how are you doing. I'm doing pretty good. Yeah,
it was a long day, but I have a podcast to do,
so you know that's always highlight because I get to talk basketball and get to
talk about the Kings and look at the season ahead and thinks haven't gone off
the rails for the Kings yet, so it's an exciting time. Their offseason
was like super low key. The thing that stood out to me is I
guess one that it was so low key, and then two, I didn't
think I was banging the Rashawn Holme drums all year that he was gonna probably
price himself out of Sacramento. And I was just shocked that they were able
to keep him on the early bird deal. Just what were you before we
sort of dig into the nitty gritty stuff on them. Do you have any
just general thoughts or impressions or takeaways from the off season that you're kind of
harping on as we head into the regular season, you know, I mean
keeping homes was a huge win for the Kings that they couldn't really afford to
lose him because they didn't have any money if he left. I mean,
they resigned him with bird rights. If he was on, they wouldn't have
been able to replace him. I mean, they would have been kind of
scrapping the bargain been a free agency and so being able to keep him at
what I feel is a below value contract for what he does for the team
was huge. King's got really lucky because we spent most of the year thinking,
Okay, they're gonna be kind of priced out of this. We thought,
you know, maybe they should have made some trades at the deadline to
kind of open up some of that offseason cap spaces that they could have gone
over those early bird rights. But it worked out really well, and I'm
glad that the gamble paid off because he's so important to what they are trying
to accomplish this year. Luke Walton had to be kidding when he said that,
like the Tristan Thompson at center starting lineup was a legitimate possibility, right,
Like, dude, I would call for him to be fired on the
spot. If they actually rolled that out in the regular season, I'd be
very shocked. To me. That's more of a you know, if Holmes
is banged up or needs a night off or something like that. I mean,
you never really know with Luke Walton, and he's done some crazy things
with lineups, and you know, there's plenty of people in Sacramento that to
be calling for him to be fired even without that lineup change. But yeah,
I don't see a scenario where there's a healthy for Shawn Holmes and Tristan
Thompson is starting. That being said, I mean, I'm sorry. Yeah.
So that being said, Holmes got the starting job as a guy who
came in as like the third string center or the second string center, and
just the starter played like crap. It was it was Twain deadman and so
well. It has been always willing to just play whoever's playing best. I
mean, I think that is one thing we can give him credit for because
he's the reason Holmes was given that bigger shot to prove himself and is now
established as a starting level center in the league. Is he gonna shoot one
trillion percent on push shots again? Oh? Yeah, I mean that's automatic.
I mean, it's the most reliable shot in the NBA. Just so
just so good at it. I'm not beginning to ask this before we actually
talk about the Kings, and which is why the Kings were left so long
until the end of the Kings and the Timberwolves. I just wasn't sure it
was going to happen. With the Ben Simmons stub stuff with regard to them,
how do you feel about Simmons's potential fit in Sacramento. And just as
you know, if you're Monty McNair, what would you actually what would be
a realistic package you'd actually be willing to give up for him. That's not
you know, like Buddy Healed and Lewis King, Like you're not getting Ben
Simmins ver Buddy Heild and Lewis King, right, I mean the go to
package among Kings fans is like Buddy Hilled, Marvin Bagley and two first And
I'm just like, if that was getting the job done, it would have
happened, like like, the Kings are not like you grasping holding on to
that. And I mean even with the kind of crazy expectations that Maury's flipped
out there, I don't see it never get into that being the best offer
that Philly can get. To me, the package that always made a lot
of sense was something involving Harrison Barnes. I think Harrison Barnes would be a
really nice fit in Philly. The Cat mechanics, and I haven't checked it
recently. I don't know if it changes it all with the season actually starting,
but at least in the offseason, the Cat mechanics worked where Philly could
send out Simmons and take back both Buddy Hilda and Harrison Barton's contracts. I
think that would be more than the Kings would ideally want to give up.
And then you've got some spacing concerns, you know, because you know Barnes
and Buddy Hild are two of their more reliable three point threats. Is for
a space in the floor. But something like that, I mean after the
preseason, and I'm sure we'll get into this, but you could even fit
Mitchell into that deal under the cap. That's a nice combination that you know,
maybe a pick or two. That's a nice combination of win now players
some future assets with Davian and the picks. I mean, that to me
seemed like the best sacrament I could offer. I don't know if it makes
sense to them. And the since I get right now is that the Kings
are happy to try what they have now, and their offer may change a
little bit if they kind of stumble out the gate and you know, maybe
the good vibes go away and you know, the regular season reality sets in
that this isn't going to work. That's where I can see the offers really
shifting. And I think that's what Philly is counting on too. The Kingdom
the Spurs seemed like the two teams where Philly settles and is willing to go
to non star star out. They have like the nice blend of players who
fit. They can probably include a young player and then it picks. So
it just feels like they would those two teams have the best balancing out packages.
Do you like the idea of de aon Fox and Ben simm Is playing
on the same team though, yeah, I mean so, the kind of
the line in the sand, at least based on current reporting, is that
the Kings won't even entertain the package that involves Daron Fox or Tyres Alibert,
and I don't think they should. I mean, Benzions, I think would
be a great addition if you can put him next to those two guys,
because almost any path going out of Sacramento for Simmons is probably going to include
Buddy Heal just because the Sixers are gonna want that shooting around and Bead you've
got salary matching. But then now you've got Fox who has not been a
good three point shooter, and you've got Simmons who is a non existent three
point shooter, and you've lost your volume three point shooter. That space is
your floor, So there are definitely some fit concerns. Haliburton showed some nice
touch from three Harrison Barnes. Like I mentioned before, If you still have
him, I think there's things you can do with spacing. To me,
though, for all the concerns that there would be about roster fit and all
those different dynamics, I'm still in favor of it. If you're keeping Fox
and Haliburton, I mean Fox, Haliburton, Simmons. That's a really nice
young trio of players who for whatever they can't do, they can do a
lot of other things really well. And I'd be excited to see how would
work. I think it's a gamble worth taking for a team that's been bad
for as long as the Kings have been, I'd probably be with you.
I'd also be shocked Philly did a deal that didn't include I don't think they
should includ Fox at all. Maybe if the d damage of the season changed
a little bit, they move off of Alibert. But I love Haliburton and
I'd actually be more intrigued with Like Simmons and Haliburton playing together defensively would be
one of the things I'd love to see Darren Fox coming off a monster year,
what's the next front tier for him? That's the question I ask you
every single time you're on this podcast. I feel like, well, and
what's been fun is every single year Darren Fox has made a steady leap forward.
And this year, I don't know, you know, if you were
your listeners have seen the pictures. But Darren Fox came into camp just like
Jacked. I mean, for compared to the skinny kid he came into the
league, as he has put on a ton of muscle. I mean,
he's still skinny when he stands next to like any other normal human. But
for Darren Fox standards like and when I say normal human, I'm not talking
to you or I am talking about NBA players, right, I'm assaulted.
But kay, but he has a ton of muscle, which Darren Fox was
already near the top of the league as far as drawing fouls and getting in
the lane and creating contact, get into the line. So really, I
mean the next steps for him are making more free throws. He's not been
a good free throw shooter. Despite getting to the league at a top ten
rate, he has not been a good three point shooter. That could be
a big step forward. If he develops a three point shot to go along
with his speed, I think that could really open up some things, you
know, just for the Kings as a whole, not just for his game,
but really the big thing for him is defense. He's quick enough,
he's capable of being a good defender. We just haven't seen the consistent engagement
on that side of the ball. And for a team that was the worst
defensive team in the NBA last year and the second worst defensive team in NBA
history last year, having your star point guard give a damn on defense,
it would be a step forward that I'd like to see. There's you know,
there's there's literally nowhere for them to go but up defensively. What's the
path to them just being measurably better? Aside, you have Davion Mitchell now,
which is huge, And then if you're saying if Deanon FoST gets better
on that end, you do have Tyrese Halibert, who is just ubiquitous in
the passing lays. That dude is fun to watch, But like, what
is there like a can they get materially better with the personnel that they have.
I guess you brought back Harkless and Thompson could be okay, and Rashaun
Holmes is not the worst defensive center by by a long shot you do look
at on paper. I wouldn't expect it to be a good defensive team,
but I feel like they should not be historically bad. Completely agree. I
mean, talent wise, they have players capable of playing defense. I mean
Marvin Bagley is not good at defense, Buddy Hilled is really bad at defense.
And I think a big part of the issue last year was the King
spent so many minutes playing both of them at the same time. And when
you have two really bad defenders on the floor at once, combined with the
scheme the Kings ran last year where they switched everything and never varied from that
at all, it was the easiest thing in the world for opponents to just
run screens and get switches and then just exploit two terrible defenders. I think
staggering those two minutes. I think just having a scheme that isn't one switch
everything all the time, because the personnel is good enough to be a not
a great defense, but not, like you said, historically bad. If
you just have a scheme that doesn't put your players in terrible positions all the
time. I think that will helpen And they did get rid of their quote
unquote defensive coordinator. The defensive expert that they brought in last year was Rex
claiming he's now in Detroit and they brought in like I haven't had to pronounce
his name out loud, I've written it Briango, I think is his last
name. But defensive guy who's been in the league for a long time,
has been on some really good defensive teams and has also been some not great
teams. So we'll see if his scheme maybe works out a little bit better.
But there have been promising signs in preseason and even going back to the
California Classic that they do in Sacramento, just that led by Mitchell, there's
a little bit more of an emphasis of there's players around who actually do care
about playing defense, and that's a nice step forward. My last out on
the Aaron Fox since that was the defensive thing that you should call my attention.
I think people probably focus too much on players like the jumpers are definitely
swing skills, but we get to a point where, like, you know,
he's in year was this year six for him? That was a year
five year six, year five year five. So like, maybe maybe he's
just never and above avers three point shooter. That said, do you know
what he shot on step back threes last year? On step back threes,
he was twenty three of fifty six, which is a very small sample,
but it's still over forty percent. Is that like? And I was watching
them and it kind of feels like those could be a thing. Forty one
point one percent is really high. The fact that he's even making that shot
though, just feels like an additional way that he's putting pressure on defense.
If that thing is even falling at like thirty three or thirty four percent clip,
I don't know if he's improving his foul shooting and you're saying he's he's
stronger and he already shot like seventy percent at the rim last year, IS's
gonna shoot like seventy five percent at the rim? I'm just so this might
be the season in which I'm most intrigued to watch him since he was a
rookie. So there's a very real path to him being an average or above
average three point shooter. I mean, he is really good on just catching
shoots. He's really good at threes from the corner. The biggest thing that
drags down his percentages. He takes a lot of off the dribble, like
pull up threes at the top of the key, which makes a lot of
sense for point guards, right, I mean, that's where they're naturally at
a lot of time they have the ball in the hand, theyre dribbling.
But he's terrible at those, or at least was last year. So if
he can improve that or at least make those a smaller part of his overall
number of attempts, it could shift that overall average quite a bit to where
when he is taking three's, opponents are paying a little bit more attention to
it. Tyrese Haliburton, I feel like people have already written him off,
and is this guy who can't become like an all star in the league.
Is there a pathway to him becoming an All star in the league? Am
I am? I sipping too much Tyrese Haliburton kool aid? Like? What
would be the pathway to him kind of having a even a fringe star breakouts?
Just people just assumed he's like this glue guy. He was just so
good as a rookie and did so much. I'm like, do we really
need to put like that low of a ceiling on him right now? He
hasn't even started year two. Yeah, it's kind of funny that people are
putting this like this lid on the guy who was like a top three rookie
yea and contributed in every facet of the game. I mean, like you
mentioned earlier, crazy, desruptive and passing lanes. He's not the best on
ball defender, but I'm a great team defenser. An opportunistic defender contributes in
a lot of different ways on offense, I mean, brilliant passing, his
court visions, fantastic, good three point shooter. I mean, the really
big thing is probably going to be just kind of Yeah, he was very
opportunistic with his scoring and didn't shoot a lot. I mean, he's not
a volume score at this point, or at least as a rookie, so
it's probably more breaking guys down off the dribble, which he has the handles
to be able to do. It's just not a big part of his game
so far. And then get into the rim and get into the line.
I mean, he obviously he's another guy similar to Fox where he's on the
skin there side. So he's coming with a little bit more muscle this year,
and you know, as the years go on, we would expect most
NBA players do add muscle over time and you know, get to the rim
more, draw more fouls. I mean, that's kind of that where that
progression comes from. I don't think it's fair to put any sort of limit
on what he can do given what we saw his rookie year. He is
just such a smart, intuitive basketball player where he his understanding the game is
not like most rookies, and that's the part you can't teach. He's got
the athletic ability as well, So it's really just a matter of what does
he add at the game, how does it come together. It's not to
say he's ever going to be a superstar necessarily, but I think he can
be a lot more than just a basic blue guy. That is, you
know, you're you're forever seventh man on a championship team, which is kind
of the narrative that sometimes was out there last season. How did you feel
initially about the Navy on Mitchell pick? Were you more open minded to it
than NBA Twitter at large, and then just based off what you've seen in
some league, and you know, since the making a pick, how do
you like his fit with this team now? So I was completely thrown off
when the pick was made. It's been kind of funny that we you know,
we do a lot of pre draft coverage at King's Herald, and he
was a guy that we just didn't really pay much attention to, just because
it seemed like such an unlikely pick that you know, an older rookie,
you know, to where there's not viewed as having as much upside, you
know, fairly or unfairly, And just the positional duality with the backcourt for
the Kings was set. You've got Fox, You've got Halliburton, Like why
would the Kings be looking at the point guard? But then you know,
you see what he does in the California Classic and now in preseason and the
reports out of training camp, and it's easy to see what the Kings saw
him. I mean, the defensive mindset, the tough noe, you know,
the just how driven he is on defense. It's fun to watch.
I mean, not many guys get highlight packages in Summer League from their defense,
and he absolutely did I mean, he is so much fun to watch
play defense, which even if you're a basketball nerd, there's not a lot
of guys that are really fun to watch play defense, and he's one of
those guys. And then he does have an offense as well, like he's
not a complete disaster on the offensive side of the ball like most offensive specialists.
Of having him and you know, the idea of running the three guard
lineup, we'll see how it works. I have my concerns, but I'm
excited to see how it goes. And I do believe in him as an
NBA player, And it's easy to see how he could end up being viewed
as kind of a steal for how far down he was taken. What's great
about watching and played defense that you don't need to understand how NBA defense is
actually supposed to work, to appreciate just what he's doing. Like he is
that James Book night game in Summer League. He just like wore that dude
skin his decoration. It was just absolutely incredible to watch. You did say
that you think the three guard line up, you're worried about how it's going
to fair. I am of the mind of fuck it roll. That out.
I want it to be a staple. Do you think that it's going
to be a staple. Is it going to get a real chance to see
if it works, or are they gonna stagger those three a little bit more
than perhaps I would like them too. This is my vanity question. I
think you're going to see a lot of three guard line up in Sacramental because
if you look at the way that roster's constructed, they don't have a lot
of choice. They have two and a half guys that are considered actual NBA
small forwards, like Harrison Barnes, who has spent most of his time playing
power forward the past two years and just had one of the best years of
his career, you know, top to bottom at the power of primarily at
the power forward position, so he is primarily a four at this point in
his career, and in the modern NBA Mo Harkless kind of goes between three
and four, but he's probably I don't know if he excels as like a
traditional three necessarily he can slide back and forth. And then you've got Lewis
King, who is on a two way contract and has some upside and potential,
but he's still a guy on a two way contract. That's it.
That's our options for small forwards. There's no one else, and they have
a bunch of guys that can all play in different combos and three guard line
up. See I mean Mitchell Fox, Haliburton, Buddy Healed and then Terrence
Davis and Luke Walton has said kind of the gauntlet that he threw down for
his guards is like, hey, this is the way you guys all get
playing time, but only so as long as you guys are getting stops and
getting rebounds, which I think is the right way to approach that. Like,
if you can get some stops and get rebounds and it's not as the
complete disaster on that end, why not run three guards. It's not going
to hurt you because the offense will be great. So it's really just going
to come down to the defensive side of the ball, and if it hurts
the kings too much there, that's the only thing that's going to derail it.
But there's a decent chance that does derail it. Is that perhaps a
reason this is not necessarily to three guard line up. But you're mentioning like
the dearth of pure wings, is that why it seems like Kings fans have
become so high on Lewis King just because like the idea of him is like
an actual wing and I know he's just on a two way contract, but
you just look at their depth chart, buddy, heel's gonna have to play
like a lot of small forward at this point. It looks like and as
you already mentioned with Harrison Barnes, I'm not crazy with like even he or
harcle is having a log three like that's not ideal? Or is there actually
something to Lewis King, Like I haven't watched full Lewis King games. I'm
just call it right up, like watching film of him, like it seems
like he's really feisty on defense. But is he someone that you view that
could actually again two way contract aside, could actually help this team. Or
is this just you know, we like Lewis King better than Robert Woodard and
that doesn't really say anything in the grand scheme of things. Yeah, so
I think some of it comes from he had like a twenty four point game
in like the last two games of last season, you know, that kind
of garbage point of the season. The Kings were eliminated from playing nothing mattered.
They weren't playing guys, and it's it's kind of a tradition in Sacramento
that towards the end of our season nothing matters, and they play some guy
who's at the end of the bench. He puts some twenty points, and
then we spend the whole offseason thinking he's good to be great. Lewis King
then came into Summer League and had a really solid Summer League showing overall he
was a big part of And again it seems silly to get worked up over
it, but the King's winning Summer League, Like King Sans had fun with
that because what else do we have to be excited about it. It's the
only way we win championships is Summer League. But he was a big part
of that team as well, and you know he can. He has a
little bit of everything. Like I don't know what his one definable NBA skill
is that makes him stick and stand out, but he does a little bit
of everything, which is not bad from a bench wing player. I think
he's a fantastic value on a two way contract. I wouldn't be entirely surprised
if he ended up earning a full roster spot at some point. And I
never want to rule out a guy just because he starts on a two way
contract. Obviously guys can turn that into a legit NBA career. But I
do think some of it is just its off season and working fansom. We
get hyped about guys with potential and you guys who do a few things well,
and then we get excited and we buy into him and they become our
large adult sons. Preseason. There's nothing like trading camp and preseason optimism.
There's just there's nothing like it. So where do you land on the completely
shifting gears here? Where do you land on the Marvin Bagley hope meter?
And does is there a hope meter for him in Sacramento a long term?
I would still be very surprised if he is with the King's long ter.
I mean they've been not so quietly shopping him since you know, the trade
deadline last year. I think he actually ended up getting hurt like a week
before the trade deadline, and I think if he wasn't hurt, there's probably
a decent chance he would have been traded. But when he's hurt again,
the value was even lower than before, and the Kings ultimately do want to
try to get something back for him. They aren't just trying to unload him
because there is potential there. I'm not really high on his long term prospects.
I think he could find NBA success, but if he does, it's
probably not in Sacramento, just because there's so many expectations, so much history.
There are things he does well, I just don't know if they're ever
going to be enough to kind of live up to that standard of success that's
going to be there in Sacramento, just given where he was picked, who
he was picked ahead of, there's a lot of baggage there. And there's
also the question of Kenny stay healthy, if he ever stays healthy for a
full season. He's always been a solid contributor. And I mentioned it before.
He's not a good defender by any means. He's very very bad defender.
He can score, he can do some rebounds. I mean he has
not done either of those at an exceptional level. But he's shown flashes where
I could see where someone could still buy into him. I understand why some
people still have hope. I just think if he's successful, it's probably not
going to be here. Are they gonna you know, and I know starting
lineups don't necessarily mean as much, but is he gonna it seems like it
should be Barns, Haliburton, Fox, and Homes in the starting lineup,
and that fifth spot is sort of up for grabs. Do you think that's
just gonna go to him as sort of a ceremonial start, or is someone
else gonna get that final slot? I'm I even wrong on the four locks
of the starting five. No, I think those four locks. I don't
think that there's any question there. I think that he's in competition for it.
I don't know that we've really seen anything that stands out to suggest he
should be the one to end up with that, at least not at the
start of the season. I would put my money on Buddy Hill, but
I think that I think that that's probably the likely starter. Mean, he
played a fair amount of small forward in small ball lineups last year, and
especially at offense. Those lineups were very good. I mean, again,
they had defensive issues, but I think that that's probably the most likely starting
lineup. I'm just curious. I guess if you go that route, it
feels like you're really I know, they can stagger minutes. But it feels
like Buddy Hill should be like really important off the bench when you're looking at
the rest of the players that are be coming off the bench, like they
could be hard up for floor spacing in those second unit heavy lineups, And
I think some of that will come down to staggering. Some of it is
just that the King's obviously are also shopping Buddy Hill, and I mean,
he was two seconds away from being a Laker until suddenly Westbrook's available in the
Lakers shift years. I think they're still trying to move him when they can.
I'd be surprised if he's with him at the end of the year.
And the big thing with Buddies, he is a guy who cares deeply about
whether he's the starter or not, and it would if he could accept that
bench role as being the guy who goes out and scores buckets against second units,
he would probably have a much better view of his value around the league
and contract and all those different things. He just is a guy who's not
happy in that situation and tends to be pretty vocal about it, and so
I think at least at the start there, they're gonna probably roll him out
just from that combination of we know he can do it, we know that
that can work in its own way, and then you kind of stagger lineups
from there. But I also wouldn't be surprised if we see Walton tinker with
that fifth starter a fair bit, especially early on in theater. It does
feel like they have a pretty clear hierarchy of seven guys who will play a
bunch when you look at you know, the four locks at starters and Fox,
Halibert and Barnes and Holmes, Tristan Thompson by virtue of being a backup
center, Davion Mitchell, and then Buddy Healed. How do you see sort
of the back end of that rotation, Like if you had to pick the
final three players, if they let's just assume they're going with the top ten
rotation, who are the three players that you would expect to round the rest
of that out. I think the biggest one is gonna be Heartless. I
think he's going to play a lot just can positional versatility can play that small
ball four, he can play three, so they can do different things there.
I do think baglelill still be a heavy part of the rotation as long
as he's there, and then the other two guys kind of for that tenth
spot are going to be a combination, probably Terrence Davis and Alex Lynn.
I'm not a fan of Terren Davis as a person, but I think he
would be a better fit for the rotation than Dennon Alex Lynn, who is
catching strays from Karl Anthony Towns. Yeah, I mean off court issues.
It's so tough with Terrence Davis because there's a lot of concerning things off court.
If we just look at him on court, he is talented but streaky.
I mean, he has moments where he looks really awful and there's times
when he looks amazing, and he has kind of that weird factor when you
watch him, it's just like that guy just looks like he's doing good things
on a basketball court. Sometimes he's not actually doing good things, but he
just got is that guy that looks like he belonged to on the floor more.
Yeah, absolutely, Alex Lynn. I think I think that really where
that's going to come in is just matchup space because Tristan Thompson for Sean Holmes,
you know, barns Back, none of those guys can handle the truly
larger bigs in the league, and that's why they probably alex Linn back because
they missed having that size, that presence inside and he had a great year
or a great stretch the last time he was in sacrament and losing him,
they really did miss that big presence when the matchups dictated. We might have
already jumped on this, but whether it's a specific position or just skill set
or just functional void that this team is missing, what do you view as
their biggest weakness heading into this season? It really is that more traditional wing
and specifically, yeah, not from an offensive standpoint, and it's more from
the defensive side of things, right, And there's a lot of really talented,
you know, large wing players in the league, and that's kind of
goes back that Ben simmons idea. Is part of the reason why that's appealing
is because that solves that issue. You know, even if you want to
still call him a point guard and call it a three guard lineup, he
solves that defensive issue. As far as the larger wings in the league,
that the ball dominant scoring, I mean, that's where the Kings have struggled
in recent years. And when Harrison Barnes is a solid enough team defend.
Everybody's not a lockdown guy. Mohrkless is more valuable for his defense than his
offense, but he's not a lockdown guy. I mean, they don't have
anyone who can really lock down an opponent wing star at this point, and
that's a big problem with ss NBA. So when you look at his roster
as of now anyway, and things can change clearly as the season rolls on,
who would be the player that you deem most likely to get trade before
the deadline. I still think it has to be Buddy Healed. I mean,
I think they're going to still try to move Bagley, but I think
that the difference between Bagley and Buddy is that Buddy has a very definable,
valuable skill in the NBA, and we just saw where with how close it
was to that Lakers trade, there's going to be a team who sees that
shooting and sees the declining contract year every year that Buddy's valuable, especially if
you have other pieces you know that are more defensive oriented that can cover up
for some of this weaknesses. I've always thought he made a ton of sense
for the Sixers, whether it ends up being part of a Simmons trader or
not. I mean, he's exactly what the Sixers need because they've got defensive
players who could cover his weaknesses, who could cover up for his mistakes and
his shooting, his scoring just I mean, he's truly an elite volume shooter
in the NBA. It's just kind of hidden away in sac amount and no
one really thinks about it. But when you just look at the raw numbers,
I mean, he never misses games, he makes a ton of threes,
he does it at pretty solid efficiency. There's going to be someone that
sees value in that at some point, and the Kings are I think we'll
find the deal. When you look at the Kings, and we talked about
it with regard to Ben Simmons, they do seem like they're kind of built
for a consolidation trade just in the makeup of their roster and sort of the
I don't want to say the urgency of their timeline. But you've paid Daron
Fox, you have some good NBA players. There is that that nudge to
go and get maybe a star or a quasi star. But is this also
a team that could emerge as like one of the bigger sellers at the deadline,
just because the crux of their core, if you look at it as
Haliburton Fox and Davion Mitchell, really is still so young. If this season
goes off the rails to start, which I would just arguing in the Western
Conference is eminently possible. Do they look at moving like sort of committing to
the bigger picture direction where anyone is gettable except for one of those three normal
distaste on your face is palpable right now? Normally, yes, that would
make perfect sense. The reason I don't see that happening at all is because
that strategy made perfect sense at last year's trade deadline, and instead the Kings
made moves that were more like whin Now taken on salary limiting cap flexibility.
Like you know, they brought into Lune right who ended up getting and flip
this offseason, but that was the move that took away their cash space to
have more flexibility to bring back homes like they they were set up like.
It was pretty clear to anyone paying attention that the Kings were probably not going
to be a playoff team last year, and they brought in Vets and brought
in whin Now guys instead of like selling pieces and kind of bottoming out for
the lottery. And this year's squad is even more built for when now than
what they started with last season, when the Kings are seemed very much built
on trying to end the playoff drout you for better for worse, And we've
seen this before with the Kings, where you know, damn the future,
we're gonna make the playoffs, We're going to be the eight seed. And
that's part of the cycle of why we're at year fifteen on the playoff drout.
I don't see that changing. And some of that also is just because
you look at Monty McNair and where he came from. It came from the
Rockets, and that Rockets tree was always screw draft picks, will trade everything
we can to get stars, and it seems very much like since he got
here, McNair's strategy has been to build and an asset base that could then
be turned into a star via trade. I think I don't like oversimplifying timelines
to this where it's championship or bus because it's definitely more nuanced than that,
and I don't I don't have a problem that that's their stance. I think
I'm almost at the point though, where it's go out and do it.
And I know that it's dependent on who's actually available, but like it's time
to make that move, if that's what you're going to set up for,
because I do think, and we'll get into this and very shortly, that
they are in danger of kind of just falling into like that eleventh twelfth spot
of no man's land in the West and like, you know, that's not
great, Like you're like you said, you're fifteen of a playoff droute,
and so I would rather it doesn't. I don't want to think they don't
have a discernible direction. I would like them to very clearly be leaning one
way or the other. And it feels like they're just too entrenched in that
like obscure area of the Western Conference for sure. And I mean the Western
Conference is brutal in that regard, right, I mean this team, if
they were in the East, we'd be like, yeah, they can be
INNO made seven like no, like right, I mean the playoff rout would
have been over several times over the past fifteen years. It's just the nature
of the Western Conference. But yeah, I mean if the King's missed the
playoffs this year, they will own the longest playoff drought in NBA history,
longer than at that point than the longest drout the Clippers ever had, which
dated back to their time in Buffalo to their time in LA And I don't
think the Kings want that. I don't think that the ownership wants that.
I don't think the GM wants to be the one who couldn't and that I
mean, there's nothing there that suggests that they're going to be okay if they
miss it again, and right now, they're not really built that way,
and you are somewhat at the mercy of who becomes available and what you're willing
to give up. But you can only say patients so long to a fan
base that has gone this along without any success. This question is matchup dependent
to some ex then, but what do you think should be their most used
or will be their most effective crunch time unit? Oh, it is tough
because there's not the clear cutt answer. I think it will be very matchup
depend on me. I would not be surprised at all if I mean,
it depends how much they're down. But but I wouldn't be surprised at all,
if we saw crunch Time minutes with Davijan Mitchell, Darren Fox, Haliburton,
Holmes and Barnes, do you think those like four the we've I've outlined
as lots of starters or those four like probably also a lot, Like is
there a situation where you're taking Barns off the court and crunch time or Holmes,
Like I just don't see a reason to feel like four slots are pretty
much sewn up. Then yeah, I mean Holmes and Barns are both excellent
two way players. I mean, neither of them are superstars or anything like
that, but what they do they do extremely well, and they don't have
a glare weakness in their game. And there were times down the stretch where
they might pull homes for like spacing or you know, specific defensive matchups.
You know, all matchup dependent, but generally speaking, I think that those
four are probably locks for the crunch Time line up as well. Is there
a wonky, weird, out of left field, unconventional whatever lineup that you're
hoping they try, even if it's going to end up being disastrous, I
wouldn't hate to see them at least give like that crazy try to some insane
for guard line up just given their guards, right, like like do Mitchell
and Fox and Haliburton and Buddy and then like Alex lend just for like size
to like protect the rim, right, like just do something crazy, right,
Like I don't think it gonna work, but it'd be fun to watch.
That was almost mine to a tea, except I throughout the pretensive size
and said, put Harrison Barnes or Irma Harkless there and just go see what
happens. I will say that some of the better preseason minutes we've seen,
for like Buddy hild and Marvin Bagley both came with Alex lenn on the floor
because all those issues. He is a large person who stands in the middle
and can deter guys who are getting in lane. So I do think that
he'll have a role there. And if you're looking at an all GIRLD lineup
that's just going to basically be a funnel to the middle. You do need
a big guy who you're not worried about picking up a couple of quick volts.
They Luke wont can play whoever the hell he wants is the fifth guy.
If those on the court at the same time stackermetto and Portland and there's
another team I can't remember which. There's like three teams. I need to
see the four guard lineups from in Portland with like Simons and CJ and Dame
and Powell, but so I can't remember what the other team is off my
head as we record this. Man, the people who do these lines are
really good. The King's win total has set at thirty five point five.
Are you taking the over the under on that? And where do you see
them stacking up? And just the larger Western Conference picture. So as a
general rule, I would never recommend anyone, So anyone listening, I would
never recommend betting the over on a King's line. It's a very easy way
to lose money. They have done it once or twice during this drought.
Personally, if I had to make a bet on it, I would take
the over. And I actually did go ahead and place a bet on the
King's making the playoffs this year. I bet a whole dollar. I don't
bet big, so I'm just gonna put that in context. I bet a
dollar to win fourteen dollars. That bet is more around the idea of there's
going to be a trade that changes the look of this roster, Like it
just feels like that has to happen this season. But I've also said that
like the last year and a half, So take that for what it's worth.
I'm almost inclined to go with the under unless you can tell me that
that trade is going to happen. I was of it felt very much theoretical
and nothing that was actually necessarily being discussed to a real extent. But I
was a big fan of the Pascal Siakam to Sacramento ideas, and Simmons obviously
elevate you're sealing in a different way, but I actually love Siakam's fit with
the overarching roster if you're keeping Haliburt and Fox as part of that scenario as
well. No, I totally agree. Obviously there's some health concerns he had.
He had obviously a very down year, but I think it's a decent
risk for a team trying to break out of kind of a rut. When
I'm last season when he was healthy and you know everything else that was going
on last year. I mean, he just an incredible player, and the
fact that he was even maybe on the market was a nice opportunity. So
there was a lot of talk, you know, over the summer amongst our
readers around do they go for Simons Ago for Sea. I would be in
favor of going for either one, as long as, like you said,
you're keeping Fox or our Fox and Haliburton. It's kind of the difficult part
is the two players that everyone wants in those trades or the two you're trying
to hold on due to pair with the guy you're working in. It's yeah.
With Fox, it's like, I feel like you need to keep him
in any star trade because the whole idea would be pairing two stars together.
And Haliburton is like that needs to be consensus. Bradley Beale's coming and is
saying he's going to resign terat like that type of a player exactly. I
mean, the only way you're giving up the only way they're giving up Baliberton.
It is truly one of those absolute superstar is available. You know,
he's going to be their long term. Which the debate then is does Simmons
qualifies that level of superstar, which I understand why people don't write. I
mean, there's obviously the lack of the offensive firepower, the shooting all of
those different pieces and for better worse, defense just isn't value the same way
in the modern NBA. Just what the rules are and everything else. So
are you ready to get into Kyrie to Sacramento trade packages? Just kidding?
Is there anything I'm driving through a tunnel? Is there anything I didn't ask
you about this team or anyone I didn't ask you about that you think needs
to be touched upon? I mean, you haven't asked the obvious question of
does Luke Walton make it through the season. I'm just that guy has like
teflon on him. He's still there. It's you're mentioning the defensive coordinator has
gone, and yet Luke Walton's tenure indoors fantastic awesome. Yeah, And like
are we going to be complaining or am I going to be complaining mid season
about why are the King's not playing fast enough? Like that just seems like
a rite of passage at some point in the season they slow things down for
some reason. Yeah. And I mean the natural successor if you look at
their bench, is that Alvin Gentry would probably take over as the interim And
I don't know if that's necessarily better, it would just kind of be something
different. So yeah, I was very surprised when Monta mcnaric came out and
basically gave a stamp of approval after after the King's completely shit the bed down
the stretch and blew their chance at even making the play and if they make
the playoffs, he's probably getting a contract extension or something. It's probably something
that I'm just saying. If you had to choose to this to me,
now, what you have to hope is that if the King's making the playoffs,
they then view this as the Okay, now's the time to make our
Mark Jackson to Steve kerswind Right like like we got to the playoffs and now
we get a better coach. Like I guess I could unfold that way,
my guests would be after ending that long playoff drout, it wouldn't unfold well,
probably not. I mean that's not I can't have nice things. I'm
a Kings fans. If you had to guess, would do you think that
if they missed the playoffs, do you think he's gone? I think so.
And part of the reason I think that is that, as far as
I'm aware, McNair doesn't have a super long contract. I think that next
not this season, but next season would be the final year of his contract.
So it's kind of like the fire in the coach is kind of that
Bolton mcgun to keep the pressure off him, you know. And obviously we've
got an owner who you know, grows impatient with with people who don't succeed
right away. So I don't think Bolton could survive another bad season. Yeah,
I'm like rooting against making the playoffs, Like, what are you doing
to me here? You're the one that brought up I almost like, I
think the podcast without even asking you about his future, but we can't.
It's so inexplicably tied to what the Kings are going to do and how good
they can be that there's very little in his entire coaching history to suggest that
Luke Walton can maximize the players on these rosters. He's just and I don't
consider myself just like this tactical savant, but he is just so frustrating with
how he's coached this team. And that obviously says nothing of the off court
stuff with him too. Just the Kings in general just like never feel like
they they're playing the way that they should be. And I don't even do
you even have like a like the single most frustrating thing about him, or
is it just like this mortgage board of bullshit? The most frustrating thing is
that, And I think it's a big part of why I think players like
playing for him is that it just doesn't feel like and to his credit,
maybe this is all just happening behind the scenes and oun see it, but
it doesn't ever feel like there's accountability when players are just checked out. It
doesn't feel like there's accountability when players are doing really dumb things on the floor,
Like there's never an adjustment, like this guy just got you know,
Buddy Hill just got yanked because he pulled up on the thirty foot or instead
of running the seplay, like it just doesn't seem to ever happen. And
players do love playing for him, like that has been made very clear through
like everything we've heard, that the players really do enjoy playing for him.
But like then we see like a halftime speech when the Kings are like trying
to make the play, it's just like the most dull thing I've ever seen,
Like no one seems engaged or to care or anything like that. It's
like, what is happening here? Are players just happy because they're collecting checks
and no one's yelling at them or what's happening. It says a lot about
the expectation of the organization too, that you've had Buddy Healed, like he
liked a tweet that I sent about him being stuck in Sacramento last year from
a brand account, and that was just business as usual. He almost gets
traded through the Lakers, and I just feel like it's not talked about enough
that now they're trying to bring back someone who's been obviously disgruntled before he was
even semi officially traded. Is that like a like? Is that like a
behind the scenes concerned at this point? So I don't. I mean again,
Sacramento is not the place that gets kind of the big media spotlight,
but Buddy Heals Media Day was the most hilariously passive aggressive thing I've ever seen.
Like he's talking about like, Yeah, they love me in Sacramento.
That's why I'm still here, Like, and he's not saying it in anyway
where anyone can like spin it as him being mad, but it's clearly like
I did not think I'd still be here, man, Like, what am
I doing here? Like he's like talking about like, yeah, I'm everyone's
for That's why I'm buddy, you know, I get along with everyone.
Whatever then he would do is fine, like me, Like you could tell
like he was looking at like all right, I'm gonna be playing in LA
next to Lebron and a D And now it's like it's not that he necessarily
dislikes anyone on the team, but to go from having that yanked out from
under you to just being back in Sacramento, like it's obviously draft another guard,
Like it's like, hey, we draft a guy who plays defense,
I like you would be I think I guess it's the King. So I
shouldn't say it'd be super surprised, but I'd be modestly surprised if he finishes
the season in Sacramento this year. He's clearly the player most likely be traded,
just as you mentioned, because he has value. I think at this
point you don't settle for anything just to move him. But just like everything
that's happened, it's almost just a wonder that he's still on this team.
Yeah, I mean, it's why. And some of it has been that
McNair as not wanted to just sell low. He hasn't just been looking to
get rid of guys for the sake of getting rid of guys and taking a
crap return, Like he's held out for a decent return, and if he
doesn't like the offer, he's not going to make the deal. He's been
patient enough that he's willing to have the team play through some ackward situations or
some bad fits or whatever it might be. And you look at what was
the room and return, I mean, Kyle Kuzma, Montras, Harel and
maybe a first round pick compared to what we were talking about the King's dumping
buddy for the trade deadline, that seemed like a really great return. I
mean, I'm not the biggest Kuzma fan, and Harold obviously has his issues,
but if you added those guys to the roster instead of what they currently
have, like the roster bounce makes a lot more sense, Like suddenly Kuzma
is like slotted in that you've got homes and Barnes, Kuzma, Haliburton,
Fox, like that starting five makes a lot more sense than what they could
only have. Like so that's where I kind of see that trade going.
Is not necessarily that they're getting something amazing in return, but something that just
kind of balances the roster in a way that makes some sort of sense.
And maybe even just breaking him up into two players, like two digestible contracts
at this point. That was the other thing. I mean Kuzma, for
whatever faults he has, I mean, he probably would have gotten more of
a scoring role than what he had in LA. I mean there was a
chance that the Kings were buying a little low. He could have boosted his
value become a trade chip. Harold expiring contract, I mean player who again
has limitations, but also has some value and does some things well. I
mean he's a year removed from six man of the years I mean two.
Turning Buddy Hills contract into two smaller contracts for productive rotation level players wouldn't have
been a bad move overall. And if the Kings could get something similar to
that, I could see that's where the deal happens. Again. I've I
like have trouble finding good buddy He'll fits where. It's like he fits everywhere.
I'm just not sure who would be giving up value to get him.
And then the teams where I could see them doing that. It's like with
Philly, their contract situation is so weird when you're looking at sending out matching
players, they're not are they trading Danny Green in that scenario, because like
the Kings don't want to buy his Harris unless it's part of a bigger trade.
You're not getting Ben Simmons. So it's just it's so complicated. But
I do think he's a very valuable player. I hope his post game I'm
mad that I missed that those Media day comments, So I don't mean to
root against you, but I could. I could stand to see some awkward
postgame press conferences this season, so maybe I'll be entertained by that. I
mean, I would go to look at it. He didn't talk to the
media very long, and it's very funny, like especially just kind of knowing
the context to he was almost gone and now he's back. It's just very
very funny because he's clearly just kind of throwing out stuff that he's kind of
messing with people. But I mean it's not like an angry, like I'm
going to ruin the locker room vibe. It's just kind of like the hey
guys, I'm still here, like yeah, like and none of us expected
this and maybe like his you know, rebellion will be a little bit subtle
where it's like averaging a career high of pull up thirty footers per game,
just like taking one of those every night. They're just so ill advisors something
I don't know, but now I'm gonna be watching more closely than ever after
hearing that he was a little passive aggressive in his media day. That's great.
Yeah, Greg, are you able to tell our listeners where they can
find you on social media and the work that you do. Yeah, so
I'm on Twitter at g as g w I SSU can also find me at
Kings Harold dot com. That's our website. We're independent website that covers the
secondment of Kings and you can follow the website at the Kings herold. Kings
Harold's fantastic, My go to for for Kings coverage. Follow him on again
echo follow Greg on Twitter at you with that's at g w I s S.
He will police your tweets if you say that you are working and then
end up tweeting, he will. He will be in your DMS. But
great, This is fantastic. As always, thank you for giving me so
much of your time of course in