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What is up, fellow thermonuclear a
efforts. I am Dan Pavalley coming at

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you with another NBA team look ahead, We're onto these Sacramento Kings, and

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so that of course means that I
need to bring on the one, the

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only Greg Whissinger. You can follow
him and should follow him on Twitter at

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g whist that's at g w I
s s. He's an editor for The

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King's Herald. That's a fantastic website. There's a lot of great writing that

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comes up over there. Following Greg
for so long has put me onto a

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bunch of the good writers that are
there as well, so I've been able

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to follow them. They put out
immaculate King's content, just like the vibes

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that are coming out of King's training
camp at the moment. The most important

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question of the podcast though, Greg, how are you doing? Oh dupe

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great? I mean, it's it's
preseason that nothing can go wrong. Everything's

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gonna work. We're overhyping ourselves on
how deep the King's team looks, just

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like we do every single year before
they let us down. So this is

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the best time of the year for
us. I gotta say, I'm still

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thinking about the Mike Brown roar a
lot. That was one of my favorite

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things to come out of the early
part of training camps for the NBA.

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Absolutely, it's moments like that that
make me so happy we're getting back to

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like traditional scrums again as opposed to
just like sitting up at a podium.

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You know, it's like you don't
get those moments when a guys sitting at

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a table surrounded by like twenty reporters, Like, no, not at all.

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That's the stuff we've missed out on
the past. I guess two training

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was it two training camps or was
it I don't even something like that.

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Speaking of Mike Brown, though,
I think that might be the best place

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to start. What did you think
of the Mike Brown higher So, when

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the initial list of Kings coaching candidates
came out, it was originally like a

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list of seven or eight guys.
Mike Brown was kind of rating them.

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He wasn't the guy that excited me
the most. That would have been guys

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like Darvin Hamm or you know,
some of the younger guys you know,

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maybe not as known or proven,
but of the quote unquote retreads, Mike

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Brown was definitely one of the better
ones. And if they wanted to coach

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with experience. I think that they
did a good job. They got a

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guy who has a lot of experience, does a good job relating to players,

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comes from a lot of really successful
programs and coaching trees, and the

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players all seem to be responding to
him really well early on. Of course,

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things can always change once the season
starts. But yeah, I mean,

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at the time it was not the
most exciting, but when they got

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into the interviews, they also were
really kind of Their second round of interviews

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was all the tenured guys, guys
who had been around, and at that

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point I was a lot more excited
about Mike Brown than some of the other

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options that were on the table at
that point in time. So no,

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I mean, Mike Brown was not
my top choice, but I'm perfectly happy

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with him. Definitely better than some
King's coaching and searches have gone over the

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years, and it seems to be, like you said, good vibes at

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this point. So hopefully that continues
and he can kind of take some of

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those winning habits from other places and
apply them here. Yeah, were you

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surprised, Like you said, the
second round of interviews were all like the

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retreat guys, were you surprised of
it? They went this route of sort

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of the known coaches or been there, done that coaches rather than going with

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like a first time or someone who
has just deemed like off the beaten path.

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More not necessarily surprised because the Kings
have consistently for years now gone with

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what is the most win now,
you know, so they're not taking the

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upside swing the raw unproven guys.
I mean, you know, going from

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the draft to coaching to you know, all the way down the line,

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they've tried to win as quickly as
possible. And it's a reasonable thing to

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think that if you're wanting to win
now, you want a guy that you

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know can win at the NBA level. And so again wouldn't have been necessarily

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my top choice, But it also
makes sense through the frame of that the

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Kings are operating, which is something
is covering the Kings. I've had to

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kind of differentiate those two for a
lot of years, like how would I

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be approaching this versus does this make
sense in the context of what they're trying

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to do right now? I think
he makes sense for the team because he's

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going to give a damn about defense
and kind of the question here is I

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just want to know if you had
any like themes you notice from the off

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season or takeaways from the off season, thoughts from the off season. On

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an overarching level, they're sticking with
you leading into this year. Because Matt

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Moore of Action Network put it best
to me, he was like, Daron

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Fox Sabonis plus a fuck ton of
shooting does make a ton of sense,

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and so like that just sort of
the prevailing fee from the off seasons.

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That's the model that the Kings decided
to follow absolutely. I mean the biggest

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issue, especially as soon as they
made that trade. You know, when

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they traded for Sabonis, they got
rid of Haliburton and Buddy Hilled, which

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were their two best three point shooters, and was like, Okay, now

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we've got a speedy, fast guard
who wants to get in the lane.

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We've got a really talented center who
operates mostly kind of high posts. It's

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like, okay, you need to
have shooters around that, and the King's

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had none. I mean, they
were still not Those two players were still

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okay in the limited time they had
after the deadline, but yeah, the

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overall model needed shooting, and they
definitely went out and got that all around

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them. I mean, Keith and
Murray, Harrison, Barnes, Malik Monk,

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Kevin Hurder, like, all those
guys can shoot, open up space

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the floor a little bit. So
that seems very clear. And then just

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kind of going back to the coaching
search, all the guys that they went

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within the second round of interviews were
all the defense focused guys like Mike D'Antoni

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didn't make it to the second round
despite his past success, like which almost

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seemed a little counterintuitive because obviously they
are going so offense heavy with the way

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they built the roster, But I
think it does kind of make sense if

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you're like, Okay, we've got
a team that's going to be amazing on

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defense. We need someone to give
get them to give a damn about defense

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to keep us out of like the
bottom five, right, Like, you

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don't may not need to have the
best defense if you've got a really amazing

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offense, but it also still can't
be the absolute worst. Yeah, And

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I have more specific questions about that, but my gut reaction is if the

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Kings are like twenty second or higher
and points slot per possession, Mike Brown

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might belong in a Coach of the
Year discussion at that point. So I

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just look at this personnel and who
is there, Davion Mitchell, and then

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who's the second best defender on the
roster after that? Well, the problem

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is they have guys that are good
defenders, but guys that are so far

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down the roster. Were like,
will they make the training camp cuts,

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like they brought in a bunch of
extra defensive guys, but of guys that

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will actually be in the rotation.
Yeah, it's kind of hard to figure

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out who the second best defender is. It's like, is it Harrison Bards

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who's was terrible on defense last year? Is it Keith and Murray who's a

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rookie? Like, you know,
it's kind of hard to say who is

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the second best defensive player. So
I have to ask you. This is

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the first time we're like beaking not
over Twitter since the Demonta Sabonis trade or

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Tyre Talbert and trade, whatever you
want to call it. I was pretty

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critical of it. And the thing
I love about Kings fans and they might

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be my favorite fan base to interact
with on Twitter because you guys, I

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don't mean to lou beyond of the
rowd but it seems so self aware,

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at least the ones that are also
covering the team in addition of rooting for

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them. And you take criticism really
well, or when you disagree with me,

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you might say something and it's always
just very like positive even when we

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don't agree. So I appreciated the
reaction. I got to being down on

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it. But where do you land
on it now that we've had months upon

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months to sort of ruminate over it? And I'll preface it finally with this.

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The fit with Fox and Sabonis,
from what I watched after that was

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a lot smoother than I thought it
was going to be, and that was

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with a roster that did not have
anywhere near as much spacing as they do

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right now. Yeah, I mean, I think it's fair to question the

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move, and it go in and
goes back to that thing of am I

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evaluating what I would have done with
the Kings, or am I evaluating how

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they executed the strategy they're trying to
do? Like I probably wouldn't have been

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eager to give up on Tyris Halliburton
and the many many years of team control

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you have over him, right that's
kind of the biggest risk and downside is

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that Haliburton could grow into all these
different things that we've seen the potential for

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him to be. You have team
control for much longer than Sabonis, who

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doesn't have that much longer left than
his current contract, and because of CBA

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rules, it's difficult to really make
sense to extend him. It makes a

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lot more sense for him to hit
free agency. So there's a big risk

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there. But when we just look
at the trade as a talent for swap

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and you know, contract swaps and
all of that, like, I think

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the Kings got killed a little more
than they probably should have, because I

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think just in general, we all
tend to fall in love with the potential

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and what a guy could be and
the long term cap ramifications. Sometimes we

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kind of overlooked just the talent because
as much as I love Tyris Halibert,

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like right now, Sabonus is a
much better player and fits far better with

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Darren Fox. I mean, the
biggest problem was that Terris Haliburton and Darren

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Fox both put up far better numbers
when they weren't playing together, so you

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had to get rid of one,
and I think they probably would have preferred

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to get rid of Fox but the
market wasn't there the way it was for

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Haliburton. They could get much better
talent in and if you're trying to win

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now, as shortsighted as it may
be, that in that lens, that

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trade makes sense because they did get
better now and for the next couple of

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years. They also built you know, with the moves that followed, they

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built a team that makes a ton
of sense on paper, at least offensively

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as far as how they all fit
and the ages of all the guys Fox

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Sabonis, Haliburton, Murray Monk,
even David Mitchell, Like they're all within

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like two years of each other agewise. So it's a group that is still

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young enough to have room to grow, but cohesive enough and there's enough experience

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there where they should be able to
do some winning rate. Pap. I'm

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just I'm just still so perplexed that
it came down to they had to get

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rid of one of them. Is
there other stuff they could have done to

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have made that. Yeah, it's
not even worth rehashing, because you're right,

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like when you look at the on
off splits of them, like the

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Baby night and Day, I'm just
I look at Tyr's Haliburton's game, and

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I'm just a little bit surprised they
got to that point. I guess,

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well, and the problem was that, And I think that this is kind

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of a flaw that gets overlooked with
Haliburton is that he is very quick to

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defer, as talented as he is, if there's anyone else that he thinks

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he is kind of on his level
or better, he immediately defers. Like

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if you look at what happened with
the Pacers when I think it was Brodain

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came back from his injuries, suddenly, like Haliburton's stats dipped because he was

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deferring to Brogadin all the time.
That's why they got rid of Brogaden this

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summer, Like it's because it's just
because he's a nice guy, friendly guy,

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passed up guy. He's not looking
for his own game, even if

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the team's like, please look for
your own game a little bit more because

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you're really good. And so playing
him alongside had Fox, he wasn't going

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to be as aggressive as he needed
to be. Fox is going to struggle

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because he needed the ball in his
hands more and after the trade, in

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various interviews, Haliburton, Fox,
and Davian Mitchell all said something to the

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effect of, like, there were
three of us that all needed the ball

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in our hands, and we knew
one of us had to go. Like

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there was everyone in the locker room
knew it. Like it wasn't that they

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didn't get along, There was no
like in fighting. It was just that

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they all knew, like, our
games don't mesh well enough. So what

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did you make of the Sabonus Fox
fit through? Through what we did see

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for a few games last year.
I mean, it was some of the

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most fun I've had watching the Kings
and years. I'm really excited to see

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what it can be going forward.
I thought it was smart that when both

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him kind of had some minor injuries, they just shut him down and didn't

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try to, you know, run
it back. But I'm really excited to

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see how it goes this year,
just because Sabonis is by far the best

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player Fox has ever played with and
the guy it can help unlock different levels

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to his game, because you know, Fox can be ball dominant, but

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then he can still dump with the
ball off to Sabonis and then Sabonis will

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find him again. Yo, because
Sabonis is such a gifted passer, and

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rewards cutting and sees the angles and
all of that's where it can unlock that

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way that the Kings could use Fox
as speed where they really haven't been able

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to before. Yeah, that was
the one thing, or one of the

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things that I noticed during the games
they play together, is that Fox was

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like felt like he was moving more
and with just more spirit and purpose.

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And that's just not something I'd accounted
for when initially evaluating the trade, which

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I guess is why we play the
games. Huh First, A bonus though,

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So he's extension eligible right now,
they can't. I think the highest

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starting salary they could offer him an
extension is about like twenty four point eight

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million around there. Is that like, when you're looking at that money,

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I'm assuming it's money that you'd be
comfortable giving him if he would take it,

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just because it's with the cap going
up. But I think with the

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cap going up, and unless he
starts to play really poorly in Sacramento,

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this is probably a situation. Yeah, he might still resign with the Kings,

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but he's probably gonna become a free
agent. This isn't going to be

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an extension situation, right, that's
the assumption. Just because I mean the

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yeah, like you said, that
number is not that big, especially factoring

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in the cap will be going up. Like I don't think he's necessarily going

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to get a max contract in free
agency, but he's probably gonna get more

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than what the Kings could pay him
on an extension. Now, so even

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if he's happy there, and you
know, if the Kings are doing well,

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he might be happy to resign there. I mean, he doesn't seem

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like a guy who is seeking out
a big market or anything like that.

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And he wanted to be in Cali
in general, right there wasn't like the

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teams. He just wanted to be
in Cali exactly, So that would be

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me. I don't care which he
might go to just seventy Cali though,

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Like he bought a house in Napa, like his wife is from somewhere around

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there. So like there's all those
little things that we glomb onto his fans,

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like here's why he's gonna stay,
you know, But ultimately it's going

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to come to if the Kings are
good or not. If the Kings are

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good, he might stay, especially
if his family's happy. He's happy.

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You know, why wouldn't you because
at that point the Kings would be able

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to offer just as much as anyone
else, So it's just does it work.

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If it doesn't work, the risk
is you could lose him for nothing.

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Daron Fox did his usual thing last
year where he makes me question my

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unending belief in him, and then
he finishes the season so strong that I'm

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drunk on Daron Fox by the end
of it hit. After that trade,

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he was at like twenty nine and
seven thirty six percent from three fifty four

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percent or something ridiculous on two's just
sick efficiency. Was his year? The

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struggles overblown? I mean defensively,
No, I don't think they were overblown,

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but like, was the way his
season painted overblown? Was it properly

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00:14:48,279 --> 00:14:52,840
contextualize? And what are you looking
to see most out of him entering this

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is? This is year six for
him, which makes me feel really old

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for some reason, because I feels
like he was just a rookie. No,

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I don't think it was unfair at
all, because he really struggled to

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start the year. I mean,
he started off really poorly and we were

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trying to figure out why. Like
he came in with like a lot of

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headed bulk because like, okay,
did the bulk, throw off his form

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or slow him down. Is it
conditioning? Is he just not used to

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it because he wasn't getting the foul
calls he was used to, because they

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00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:22,799
were cracking down on some of the
whistle and the paint. So we were

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looking for all those reasons, and
by the end of the season it seemed

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like whatever it was, whether he
was in bad conditioning or in a funk

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00:15:30,399 --> 00:15:33,399
or whatever it was, he worked
himself out of it. But it was

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00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:35,399
too little, too late. But
the problem is we've seen that more than

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once, Like he's done that multiple
years, and it is really aggravating because

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Yeah, I mean, I think
a lot of Kings fans are at that

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same point where it's like this is
kind of a make or break year for

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00:15:46,519 --> 00:15:48,960
him, Like this team is built
to highlight him at this point, Like

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he's got shooters all around to create
space and have outlets to pass too,

248
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He's got a big man who can
pass and reward him off the ball,

249
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Like he's got everything in his disposal. It's really just can he show up

250
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and deliver from day one? And
he didn't even talked about it in the

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training camp earlier this week that the
key is not to get off to a

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00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:14,840
slow start to come out firing from
day one. And I do think the

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biggest thing for him, it's probably
become a cliche to mention, but it

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is still the jumper for me.
He was at thirty nine point one percent

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00:16:21,159 --> 00:16:23,279
on off the dribble threes after the
SA bonus trade, I think he was

256
00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:26,600
at and then he was at like
thirty seven plus percent on catching shoots.

257
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I'm not saying he needs to be
that high, but like that needs to

258
00:16:30,679 --> 00:16:33,799
become like he's always been able to. Like we've seen him go on runs

259
00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:36,799
where he hits these ridiculous step backs
and he's so comfortable working from the mid

260
00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:41,200
range, but there's always this topsy
turvy nous to it, or for me,

261
00:16:41,519 --> 00:16:45,759
this sense of fleeting where you know
it's not gonna stay like this and

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00:16:45,799 --> 00:16:48,159
it's gonna come and go. And
I think if you're gonna have him work

263
00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:52,399
off the ball as much like the
specifically like the set three, I think

264
00:16:52,519 --> 00:16:55,960
might actually be the just the biggest
thing I'm looking for from him. Is

265
00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,200
that? Is that wrong to view
it in that way? Well, it's

266
00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:02,600
funny because if you look at the
splits when he just does catch and shoot

267
00:17:02,639 --> 00:17:04,920
threes. He's actually a very good
shooter. It's just the problem is the

268
00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:08,200
majority of his threes historically have been
off the dribble, and he's terrible at

269
00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:14,079
those, and so it's like he
needs to flip which one he does the

270
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most the other thing is And this
is just something that I kind of attached

271
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myself to as an idea towards the
end of the last season, and I

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00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:26,920
think it was a big part of
where he found success. So much towards

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00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:30,279
the end of the year, he
wasn't hunting for threes as much as just

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occasionally he'd still take him, but
he was really working the mid range.

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And he's really good at the mid
range. And you know, when you

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00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:41,920
look at something one like you know, Demard Rose and what he did last

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00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:45,519
year, where it's like, you
know, the traditional logic was he'll never

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00:17:45,559 --> 00:17:48,519
be truly great because he's so reliant
on mid range and we don't do that

279
00:17:48,559 --> 00:17:52,119
anymore. And then he comes out
and just does it a lot. And

280
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I'm not saying Fox is gonna shoot
from the mid range like the rosen or

281
00:17:55,720 --> 00:18:00,160
anything crazy like that, but I
do wonder if maybe there's value in just

282
00:18:00,279 --> 00:18:03,240
him taking the shots he's better at
and more comfortable with, as opposed to

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00:18:03,319 --> 00:18:07,519
trying to force an element of his
game that he struggles with and always has.

284
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I will never give up on his
step back three, which he also

285
00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:12,880
hited a forty one percent clip to
close the year last season, so and

286
00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:15,640
the season before he was like hit
him in a ridiculous clip. So I

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00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:19,240
still believe. But I totally get
what you're saying there, Keegan Murray,

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00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:22,160
Well, go ahead. Oh,
I was just gonna say, I'm right

289
00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:25,799
there with you. I'd love to
see that become a consistent part of his

290
00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:29,200
game. I'm just kind of at
the point where I'm not holding out hope

291
00:18:29,279 --> 00:18:32,599
until I see it. He does
look comfortable taking it, like that's that.

292
00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:34,359
I guess there's been elements of always
forcing it, but it doesn't look

293
00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:38,519
like something he's necessarily trying to force
all the time. Maybe maybe more of

294
00:18:38,519 --> 00:18:42,119
that in between step backs than the
three point step backs. But I believe

295
00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:47,880
in it, Keegan Murray, I
painted the selection of him on the podcast,

296
00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:52,119
thus he was The Kings were trolled
for picking him over Jay Nivy,

297
00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:53,839
but had they picked Jay Navy,
they would have been trolled because they traded

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00:18:53,839 --> 00:18:57,319
Haliburton only to pick Ivy and still
have the Aaron Fox. There was never

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00:18:57,359 --> 00:19:00,759
gonna be just an accepted decision for
the Kings. After watching him in Summer

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00:19:00,799 --> 00:19:03,960
League, I fell in love just
because I don't know a ton about college

301
00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:08,440
prospects before Summer League. Any overarching
thoughts on his fit with this roster and

302
00:19:08,519 --> 00:19:11,480
just how much you expect from him
his rookie season. How much are they

303
00:19:11,519 --> 00:19:15,480
going to rely on him? Do
you view him as a starter from from

304
00:19:15,559 --> 00:19:18,279
day one? I think there's a
good chance he starts from day one.

305
00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:23,640
I think the most likely starting lineup
will be Sabonis, Murray, and then

306
00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:30,920
Harrison Burns at the three. If
he's not starting day one, I think

307
00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:34,400
he's definitely starting by the end of
the season. I think that what his

308
00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:38,279
game is is a perfect fit in
so many ways, especially next to a

309
00:19:38,319 --> 00:19:44,599
center like Sabonis. Just because Murray
can hit the three, he doesn't need

310
00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:48,559
to be the focal point of an
offense to be productive and get his numbers.

311
00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:52,480
I mean, even in some of
those huge Summer League games, it

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00:19:52,559 --> 00:19:56,400
was like, oh, that's a
quiet twenty seven points, Like, you

313
00:19:56,480 --> 00:20:00,119
know, as quiet as that kind
of a scoring outpit can be in I

314
00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:03,799
mean Kings fans, we are well
versed in Summer League. You know,

315
00:20:03,799 --> 00:20:08,039
we've won it twice. We made
the shirts for it, so Dynasty,

316
00:20:08,519 --> 00:20:14,319
yeah, exactly. So we know
that summer League isn't everything, but we

317
00:20:14,359 --> 00:20:17,799
also know like it's good if your
rookie doesn't struggle in summer league. C

318
00:20:17,839 --> 00:20:19,759
Like, that's the kiss of death. We've seen that too many times.

319
00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:22,799
So I think he'll be productive.
I don't think he's going to be,

320
00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:27,960
you know, the third best player
on the King's right away, but the

321
00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:33,279
hope is that he could be a
guy on a similar level to talent wise

322
00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:37,359
to Fox and Simonos within a year
or two. And if that's what you

323
00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:38,920
get out of the fourth pick,
like that's a huge win, especially when

324
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:44,160
he fits so well with what they
already have. I also wonder if his

325
00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:47,440
summer league can be more of a
harbing jer for success than maybe others,

326
00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:49,960
because it very much didn't feel like
he was in a role he wasn't going

327
00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:55,279
to see with the the adult Kings, and he was. They had him

328
00:20:55,279 --> 00:20:56,160
doing a lot of stuff off the
ball, and him, by the way,

329
00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:59,680
him moving off the ball is like
a hot knife through butter. Just

330
00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:03,200
watch that and so it feels like
that should translate really well. And I

331
00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:07,720
think that's what excites me, is
that is the fit between him Fox and

332
00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:12,119
Si Bonus and then Barnes just feels
like it should be seamless. Yeah,

333
00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:15,160
I mean the question mark is still
going to be defense, but kind of

334
00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:18,319
going to that point, like Jade
and Ivy wasn't fixing the defense either,

335
00:21:18,519 --> 00:21:22,559
like to your point about like there
was no win on kind of addressing the

336
00:21:22,599 --> 00:21:26,359
weaknesses on that fourth pick. So
I'm very happy with Kick and Murray.

337
00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:30,480
Like I was saying before the draft, like I would have probably picked Ivy

338
00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:33,640
just for the upside and all that, but it kind of goes back to

339
00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:37,200
the idea of what I would do
for long term building the Kings versus what

340
00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:38,720
they're trying to do with winning now, and if you're looking at a guy

341
00:21:38,759 --> 00:21:44,279
who gives you the most upside both
now and I think Murray's does still have

342
00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:48,960
plenty of upside in the long run. So I liked the pick and I

343
00:21:48,039 --> 00:21:52,720
really enjoyed Summer League, and I'm
excited to see what he can do with

344
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:56,240
the rest of the actual Kings around
him. What are your thoughts on the

345
00:21:56,319 --> 00:22:00,480
Kevin Hurder trade. I love that
trade. I was so excited when that

346
00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:07,279
happened. I mean, Kevin Hrder
is got legit size, great shooter,

347
00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:12,000
like a truly consistent volume shooter,
and like it makes perfect sense. I

348
00:22:12,039 --> 00:22:15,160
won't be surprised if he slides down
to the three for some lineups, like

349
00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:18,759
because he's got the size to do
that. And a lot of this might

350
00:22:18,799 --> 00:22:22,799
be skewed because I just remember multiple
games where he just completely wrecked the Kings,

351
00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:26,480
and so I've always probably held him
a little bit higher esteem. But

352
00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:30,680
no, I thought it was good. I thought it was good value.

353
00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:34,519
I mean the protections I think made
sense. That the big concern, and

354
00:22:34,559 --> 00:22:37,359
of course, as you're tying up
a pick potentially for a long time if

355
00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:41,559
the Kings don't get good and the
Kings have been on the bad end of

356
00:22:41,559 --> 00:22:45,640
that before, where they had picks
that didn't convey for a very long period

357
00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:48,720
of time and could never make other
moves because of it, that's the scary

358
00:22:48,759 --> 00:22:53,440
part. But at the same time, they added a really good player without

359
00:22:53,480 --> 00:23:00,480
giving up any key pieces. In
the moment, I disliked it at first

360
00:23:00,759 --> 00:23:03,119
looking at the protections on the pick, and then I started thinking about it,

361
00:23:03,279 --> 00:23:04,880
and it was like, well,
if the Kings are good and that

362
00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:08,359
conveys this year or next year,
like then you can start moving first round

363
00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:11,400
picks again. And you know what, if you're bad, you probably don't

364
00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:15,279
want the King's trading first round picks
anyway. So it's good that they theoretically

365
00:23:15,319 --> 00:23:18,839
can't promise first round picks. So
now then that when I started looking at

366
00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:22,720
it that way, I decided that
it was a it was a better move.

367
00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:23,839
Are they going to give him a
chance to like, he can do

368
00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:27,079
so much as a shooter, and
it's like functional shooting. It's like when

369
00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:30,559
we talk about Buddy Heal's functional shoot, Like Kevin Hurd is a lot of

370
00:23:30,599 --> 00:23:33,279
the same things and he's bigger.
Are they gonna give him a chance though,

371
00:23:33,319 --> 00:23:36,559
to like do stuff on the ball, because that was an element he

372
00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:40,279
brought to Atlanta where he could run
situational pick and rolls. It would be

373
00:23:40,319 --> 00:23:44,480
a little sloppy sometimes, but he
can hit like some pull ups too,

374
00:23:44,559 --> 00:23:47,000
And is that going to be something
they I don't think they need to ask

375
00:23:47,079 --> 00:23:48,839
him to do it when you look
at who's on this team, but give

376
00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:53,000
him a chance to do it.
I have no idea. I wish I

377
00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:57,079
could answer that question just because I
mean, with Mike Brown coming in,

378
00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:02,079
it's who knows that it's gonna look
like. It wouldn't surprise me at all

379
00:24:02,519 --> 00:24:06,440
just from what we've seen in the
past with how Mike Brown runs things and

380
00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:08,960
the things he's talked about, the
lessons he's pulled from the Warriors, like

381
00:24:10,319 --> 00:24:14,920
he's talked about not wanting to have
just a stagnant like pick and roll offense

382
00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:18,720
that is the same thing that everyone
else is running every time down the floor,

383
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:19,920
you know, where you run a
pick and roll and have your shooters

384
00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:22,680
out on the edge, like he
doesn't want to do that, you know,

385
00:24:23,079 --> 00:24:26,920
eighty percent of his possession. So
it wouldn't surprise me at all if

386
00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:30,920
he gets created with some different ways
to use guys like Hurder or Monk or

387
00:24:30,039 --> 00:24:33,440
because I mean, same sort of
thing like legit shooter, but has some

388
00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:38,160
ability to do things off with the
ball in hand as well. So I

389
00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:42,720
wouldn't be surprised at all to see
that. But I also wouldn't be surprised

390
00:24:42,759 --> 00:24:45,839
if we don't see it, just
because I mean, you've got Fox,

391
00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:49,960
You've got sa bonus Davian Mitchell,
like in all the lineups there's people that

392
00:24:51,039 --> 00:24:55,319
need the ball in hands a lot
more. What is Davy and Mitchell's role

393
00:24:55,359 --> 00:25:00,880
to this team now moving forward?
You know, it's kind of tricky because

394
00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:06,440
he's such a fun defender to watch, Like he's so good on point of

395
00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:11,119
attack the defense, and he has
moments where he looks like he could also

396
00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:15,279
be a really great offensive player.
Some of them off the dribble looks that

397
00:25:15,319 --> 00:25:19,079
he has hit are just like faith
in a singular possession. But then it

398
00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:23,680
yea, it invariably dissipates. Yeah, I mean in the aggregate. Like

399
00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:26,079
I looked at his numbers from the
like the end of the season, I

400
00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:29,359
was like, oh, those were
not as good as I thought they were,

401
00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:33,680
just given some of the moments I
saw, Like, so it's all

402
00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:37,720
about if he can find consistency.
But I mean, he improved every single

403
00:25:37,799 --> 00:25:41,480
year in college. It was normal
to expect a little bit of a step

404
00:25:41,519 --> 00:25:45,319
back from college numbers to NBA,
especially now in a backup role as opposed

405
00:25:45,359 --> 00:25:49,160
to a primary point guard, you
know, number one option on the team

406
00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:53,079
or number two option on the team. I think the challenge is going to

407
00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:56,680
be if he can figure out a
way to be productive when he's not the

408
00:25:56,680 --> 00:26:00,079
main guy to come in and do
it right off the back without having to

409
00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:03,440
play, you know, thirty thirty
five minutes a game, because at least

410
00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:07,279
on the current line, if I
don't see how that's happening, and it

411
00:26:07,319 --> 00:26:11,920
could be something where if he takes
that next step, maybe he makes steering

412
00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:15,960
Fox expendable, or if he takes
the next step, maybe they trade him

413
00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:18,200
for something else, right, I
mean, it could go either way,

414
00:26:18,319 --> 00:26:26,079
just kind of depending on what they
think that looks like. But it's going

415
00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:29,160
to be interesting to see how what
he does year two. I'm excited because

416
00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:32,839
it's just with his work ethic and
what we've seen already. I'm definitely not

417
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:36,559
counting him out up for anything.
I'm very excited about his potential, but

418
00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:40,839
it is hard to see exactly where
that's going to come from, given that

419
00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:44,799
he's going to be behind Fox most
of the time. When I look at

420
00:26:44,799 --> 00:26:48,200
the roster, it does feel like
they almost have to default to some Kevin

421
00:26:48,279 --> 00:26:51,400
Herder, if not a lot of
Kevin Hrder at the three because you have

422
00:26:51,519 --> 00:26:56,000
Monk and Fox and Herder and then
Mitchell and Okay, having five guards is

423
00:26:56,039 --> 00:26:59,640
fine, but like someone could end
up being squeezed if like, that's what

424
00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:03,799
you're committed to doing, and if
you're still you're clearly invested in Monk,

425
00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:07,200
that's why you signed him, and
you traded for Hurder and Davy how much

426
00:27:07,279 --> 00:27:08,359
was only going in year two,
So it does feel like they're gonna have

427
00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:11,920
to go with I guess it's not
smaller if Kevin Hurder's at the three,

428
00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:15,359
but maybe you know, Kevin Hurder
defending threes not probably something you want to

429
00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:17,519
see at time, but almost he's
like they have to play him there a

430
00:27:17,519 --> 00:27:19,799
bunch. Yeah, and he actually
played a fair bit of three for Atlanta,

431
00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:22,839
you know, when you look at
the lineup info and and I mean

432
00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:26,240
some of that, I don't put
a ton into that because sometimes it's just

433
00:27:26,279 --> 00:27:30,400
based on like height orders. Yeah, he was the three because he was

434
00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:34,359
the third tallest guy on the team. But I think there was a plenty

435
00:27:34,359 --> 00:27:37,240
of times when Atlanta did use him
that way and had him defending threes.

436
00:27:37,319 --> 00:27:41,359
And I think he's probably a little
bit better defender than his reputation is.

437
00:27:42,359 --> 00:27:45,839
You know, I don't think people
think of him as a good or standout

438
00:27:45,839 --> 00:27:49,480
defender, but I think he's pretty
solid, and you know, he's six

439
00:27:49,599 --> 00:27:56,400
seven, he's got good length,
good size, like he I think against

440
00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,359
some of the bigger threes, he
would really struggle just you know, because

441
00:27:59,359 --> 00:28:03,200
he doesn't have that wait. But
at the same time, like most teams

442
00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:07,480
struggle against the bigger, really talented
threes, like it doesn't matter who you

443
00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:11,559
have, Like there's only a handful
of guys leaguewide that can really lock those

444
00:28:11,599 --> 00:28:14,960
guys down, and the Kings don't
have that, and they'll have to figure

445
00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:18,279
out ways to work around that a
little bit. So I won't be surprised

446
00:28:18,319 --> 00:28:19,920
at all of Herder spends a good
amount of time at the three, and

447
00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:25,640
hopefully it won't be a disaster.
I would say, if you're gonna play

448
00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:27,920
him at the three, I guess
I'm not in love with the Daviyon Mitchell

449
00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:30,759
darn Fox fit, but you almost
want to have Davion Mitchell at the court

450
00:28:30,799 --> 00:28:34,279
in some form if you're gonna have
Kevin Hurder at the three. There's definitely

451
00:28:34,319 --> 00:28:40,279
a group of Kings fans that really
want Davion Mitchell playing like point guard with

452
00:28:40,319 --> 00:28:45,119
Fox essentially playing shooting guard in lineups
just to kind of I mean the catch

453
00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:48,680
and shoot numbers, but support that
theory. But and yeah, then you

454
00:28:48,759 --> 00:28:53,599
give you have a really good defensive
point guard. Yeah, the kind of

455
00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:56,960
cover of the fact that Fox definitely
has not been that up to this point.

456
00:28:57,599 --> 00:29:02,000
I'm less high on that idea,
but it's definitely an idea that some

457
00:29:02,079 --> 00:29:06,640
Kings fans are getting into. You
know how I feel about Rashaun Holmes the

458
00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:10,880
basketball player. Yes, he is
the backup five on this team, which

459
00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:15,079
is like the mother of all luxuries. Do you view him as part of

460
00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:19,039
like the longer term vision of this
team or should we expect him to be

461
00:29:19,079 --> 00:29:22,200
involved in trade rumors? Again,
please just tell me we won't ever see

462
00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:26,440
Sabonus and Holmes play together, or
that Holmes will be given the green light

463
00:29:26,519 --> 00:29:30,200
to just start chucking corner threes like
you had for a minute, I think

464
00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:33,680
in Philly or Phoenix, whatever it
was. The numbers say he was good

465
00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:37,400
at that. Yeah, but it
does feel like his future with the team

466
00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:44,519
has been complicated by the Sabonus addition. Yeah, and I would expect that

467
00:29:45,119 --> 00:29:48,839
as long as Holmes comes out and
plays well in the minutes that he has,

468
00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:52,000
Like, he really struggled for a
variety of reasons last year. He

469
00:29:52,039 --> 00:29:56,599
had a year from how like on
court, off court, weird injuries,

470
00:29:56,640 --> 00:30:00,559
all sorts of stuff going on.
If he can come back and look like

471
00:30:00,599 --> 00:30:03,279
for Shaun Holmes of old, I
think that he's most likely to be traded

472
00:30:03,599 --> 00:30:10,519
at the deadline just because having his
contract isn't a bad contract by any means.

473
00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:14,720
If he's your starting center, if
he's your backup center, that contract

474
00:30:14,799 --> 00:30:18,279
makes zero sense, especially when one
of the biggest contracts on your team is

475
00:30:18,279 --> 00:30:22,160
your starting center. Like it just
doesn't make sense from a roster billion standpoint,

476
00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:26,759
Like you can get backup center production
for a lot cheaper. I get,

477
00:30:26,839 --> 00:30:30,039
but like even with it, like
next year of this season or maybe

478
00:30:30,079 --> 00:30:32,799
next season, he's like eight percent
of the salary caps. Is that really

479
00:30:32,799 --> 00:30:37,079
that ridiculous for a backup five in
the new cap climate? I think it's

480
00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:40,079
ridiculous because to me, Rashaun Holmes
is a starting center in the NBA.

481
00:30:40,079 --> 00:30:41,880
I mean his push shot is porn
for me, so like yeah, and

482
00:30:42,119 --> 00:30:45,160
I've actually thought he's been underrated defensively, But I get, I get what

483
00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:48,039
you're saying if he's that good,
and I think I can't remember this is

484
00:30:48,079 --> 00:30:51,720
not me saying it. I was
either listening to a podcast or reading something

485
00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:55,000
where they said he ended up not
being happy with the contract he signed with

486
00:30:55,039 --> 00:30:57,759
the Kings, and that's either the
market for centers was just way more repressed

487
00:30:57,799 --> 00:31:00,880
than we all thought that summer,
or that's on your agent then, man,

488
00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:03,839
Like I think everyone thought he was
going to get more than just the

489
00:31:03,839 --> 00:31:07,440
early bird rights deal from them,
and I just I don't you know,

490
00:31:07,559 --> 00:31:11,559
you don't not trade for the bonus
because you have for Shawn Holmes. But

491
00:31:11,599 --> 00:31:15,160
I was sort of surprised that,
oh, okay, you kept for Shaun

492
00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:17,079
Holmes past the deadline. Everything that
was going on, I get it,

493
00:31:17,119 --> 00:31:18,440
but then he's still on your team
to finish the off season was a little

494
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:23,400
bit bizarre at me. So I
think that Holmes definitely got misled by his

495
00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:27,160
agent and that's why he fired his
agent right after he signed his new deal.

496
00:31:27,799 --> 00:31:30,319
Oh I didn't even realize that.
Yeah, I don't pay for someone

497
00:31:30,359 --> 00:31:34,039
who covers the NBA. I need
to pay more attention with who's on like

498
00:31:34,079 --> 00:31:37,680
whose agency and when players are firing
their agents. Because unless agents released a

499
00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:41,200
statement to Woas about how they tried
to talk sense into their client but he

500
00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:45,599
wasn't listening. I'm just not as
up on the agency ties around the NBA,

501
00:31:45,799 --> 00:31:51,079
and I mostly only pay attention to
the ones with Kings players. But

502
00:31:51,559 --> 00:31:53,599
yeah, the agent was like,
leading up to free agency, he was

503
00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:56,960
out there talking about how he was
going to get like these massive like twenty

504
00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:01,039
five million a year, thirty million
dollars feels, which everyone's like, if

505
00:32:01,039 --> 00:32:04,880
you can find someone like, go
for it, and the King's basically kind

506
00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:08,839
of called the bluff, like and
then the market dried up, and then

507
00:32:09,079 --> 00:32:15,079
the King's table deal with the early
bird rights was the best deal left on

508
00:32:15,119 --> 00:32:17,039
the table. And it's like,
I don't think Holmes was mad at the

509
00:32:17,119 --> 00:32:21,319
Kings. It was just more like
that was what the Kings could offer him

510
00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:23,799
and that was now the best deal. So I think he was a little

511
00:32:24,279 --> 00:32:28,640
unhappy that that was all he got
because his agent had kind of filled his

512
00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:34,000
head with the idea of getting a
lot more. But so I don't think

513
00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:37,960
he's upset about his contract at this
point, but I think he was in

514
00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:43,119
the moment disappointed that it That's all. It was just, I we need

515
00:32:43,119 --> 00:32:45,359
to make the Kelly breaking her for
Rashaun Holmes swap happened already, Like that's

516
00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:49,599
just the thing that I feel like
needs to go down. I'm all about

517
00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:54,119
it. Kings could use another three, or conversely, they could use a

518
00:32:54,240 --> 00:33:01,880
three, like I don't heard Murray
is at three. So is there any

519
00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:07,920
insight or inkling on how this team
will defend during its extended use of Sabonus

520
00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:12,839
at the five? Like, do
we expect more conservative approaches with Sabonus maybe

521
00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:15,039
dropping back. I've seen some people
mention that he's better suited to play that

522
00:33:15,079 --> 00:33:19,160
the Nuggets sometimes use Nicole Yok.
It's like, bring him up really high,

523
00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:21,400
let him be aggressive. But if
you do that, you kind of

524
00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:25,359
need to have like good help or
at least defensive playmakers behind him. I

525
00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:29,119
don't know, Like I definitely wouldn't
call Harrison Barns that at this point.

526
00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:31,559
I don't know if you' view Keegan
Murray. Is that just any sense for

527
00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:36,559
how this team will defend or what
they can do to maybe overachieved on the

528
00:33:36,599 --> 00:33:37,799
defensive end this year. I look
at the roster, I'm like, maybe

529
00:33:37,839 --> 00:33:42,119
it's just rebounding. Maybe they're like
one of the best defensive rebounding teams in

530
00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:45,240
the league, and that's just something
that's able to inflate their standing. But

531
00:33:45,279 --> 00:33:47,680
I don't even know if that's just
way off base. And I mean after

532
00:33:47,759 --> 00:33:52,440
the Bonus trade, they were one
of the best defensive rebounding teams in the

533
00:33:52,559 --> 00:33:53,920
league. I mean, Sabonis is
a game changer on that end, So

534
00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:59,880
I think that'll help some. But
that's the kind of the million dollar questions

535
00:34:00,119 --> 00:34:06,319
what they're going to do defensively.
One of our writers we the Kings Herald,

536
00:34:06,359 --> 00:34:08,480
every year we do a series in
September called thirty Q which is just

537
00:34:08,599 --> 00:34:13,280
thirty questions kind of previewing the upcoming
season. It's a good way to fill

538
00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:15,760
the dead time of September. One
of our writers, Omorgon, wrote a

539
00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:21,559
really good breakdown of kind of the
defensive schemes that the Warriors ran last year

540
00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:25,480
where Mike Brown was running that defense, and just kind of breaking down the

541
00:34:25,599 --> 00:34:30,800
different ways that they played it and
how that was different from what most teams

542
00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:34,960
are doing. And some of that
was just kind of you know, hardhaging

543
00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:37,679
and you know, kind of disrupting
passing lanes more than playing the individual.

544
00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:44,320
Sometimes it was conceding threes to protect
the paint more, which kind of goes

545
00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:49,679
against common wisdom but was very effective
for the Warriors. Now at the same

546
00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:52,920
time. The Warriors also have Draymond
Green, who is one of the best

547
00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:57,000
defenders of the past however many years. Right, So I'm not going to

548
00:34:57,079 --> 00:35:00,320
pretend that Mike Brown can step in
and turn the Kings into the Wors.

549
00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:04,719
But if our goal is like b
twentieth ranked defense instead of twenty nine,

550
00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:07,039
like, I think that some of
those schemes could help, right, Like,

551
00:35:07,039 --> 00:35:10,360
because you look at the Warriors,
like they didn't really rely on rim

552
00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:16,360
protection. That wasn't their scheme.
Like their best room protector was Kevin Looney,

553
00:35:17,039 --> 00:35:21,760
like who sometimes would play six minutes
a game. Like, so I

554
00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:27,320
think that we're hoping that Mike Brown
just kind of schematically can figure out a

555
00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:31,960
team defensive concept that kind of covers
the gaps makes things difficult. And again

556
00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:35,920
the bar is pretty low, Like
no one in sacrament is expecting the top

557
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:38,360
five defense, and it's like,
Okay, if we can have a really

558
00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:44,480
great offense and just not a bottom
bottom defense, we'll be okay, like

559
00:35:44,679 --> 00:35:47,880
for our modest goals of playing and
maybe the eight seed like that could be

560
00:35:49,039 --> 00:35:52,960
enough. Fair. I would love
to know if there is someone out there

561
00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:55,400
who expects the Kings to be a
top five defense. Maybe one of our

562
00:35:55,440 --> 00:36:00,199
YouTube commentors, because sometimes YouTube commenters
are always good for will be top seven

563
00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:06,559
defense easy or something. Yeah.
So after this SA bonus trade was made,

564
00:36:07,039 --> 00:36:09,599
I called Harrison Barnes mission critical to
making it all work because of the

565
00:36:09,639 --> 00:36:14,760
way he plays on offense. Now
that they have Murray Monk Kevin Herder,

566
00:36:15,559 --> 00:36:17,599
he is less so to making that
work on the offensive end, and he

567
00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:22,760
was I had to go back and
watch he was pretty bad defensively last year.

568
00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:27,159
He still had like some possessions where
I was just looked like, oh,

569
00:36:27,239 --> 00:36:30,400
Harrison Barnes is moving really quick and
it's like one on ones against higher

570
00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:32,320
profile dudes. Is he just getting
up for those? But he looked like

571
00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:36,559
you watch me more than I did. But it just he looked like stiff

572
00:36:37,199 --> 00:36:40,159
and like slow at a lot of
points. Is that something that you're concerned

573
00:36:40,159 --> 00:36:45,559
about moving forward? And is it
by extension more likely that he signs an

574
00:36:45,599 --> 00:36:49,159
extension or resigns with this team or
are we back to the cycle of Harrison

575
00:36:49,199 --> 00:36:51,199
Barnes is going to be in trade
rumors by the day end. Look,

576
00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:52,679
some of that definitely depends on whether
the Kings are good or not. If

577
00:36:52,679 --> 00:36:57,280
they like implode, of course,
but just looking at a team that's right

578
00:36:57,360 --> 00:37:01,679
now trying to be competitive in the
Western Conference, I offensive fit again divide,

579
00:37:01,719 --> 00:37:05,360
but like they kind of need him
to be, like he can't suck

580
00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:07,440
on defense or them, is my
point. No, I totally agree.

581
00:37:07,519 --> 00:37:14,079
And last year, it's funny I
wrote an article as part of that previous

582
00:37:14,119 --> 00:37:17,079
series, can Harrison Barnes bounce back? Which is funny because if you just

583
00:37:17,159 --> 00:37:21,079
look at his stat lines, like
he had a better year than the year

584
00:37:21,159 --> 00:37:25,360
before, but watching game after game, like he was checked out entirely on

585
00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:30,760
defense. And I don't know if
it was age or in you know,

586
00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:35,639
nagging injuries, or just stopped caring. My personal theories, I think he

587
00:37:35,679 --> 00:37:39,719
stopped caring because last season was a
law season in so many ways and just

588
00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:44,719
kind of a repeat of a cycle
that has kind of plagued the King's year

589
00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:49,079
every year every year. And I
think that we can attribute a decent amount

590
00:37:49,199 --> 00:37:54,480
of like Fox's performance and Barns and
guys who've kind of been through that ring

591
00:37:54,559 --> 00:37:58,719
or multiple times, like I'm hoping
that they were just checked out and I

592
00:37:58,719 --> 00:38:01,280
wouldn't blame them, Like we all
want NBA players to be like Gung Ho

593
00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:06,480
every night but the reality is their
people, and you know, you can

594
00:38:06,559 --> 00:38:10,719
only care about defense so long when
Buddy Healed is blowing it every third play,

595
00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:15,000
like even if you played your best. So I do think that there's

596
00:38:15,159 --> 00:38:20,119
probably a human element. He's probably
not as bad as he was last year.

597
00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:22,719
He is probably not as good as
he was at his peak, which

598
00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:28,519
was never exceptionally high. But I
do believe he can be better because I

599
00:38:28,599 --> 00:38:30,760
mean, he really looked re energized
in those games that Sabonis was there.

600
00:38:31,199 --> 00:38:35,480
I mean it was a short sample
size before Sabonus hurt his knee and was

601
00:38:35,519 --> 00:38:37,960
done for the year, but in
those games, Barnes look completely different.

602
00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:42,400
So I still have hope that we're
going to get some of the old Barns.

603
00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:45,400
I mean said, yeah, I
don't think if the Kings are doing

604
00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:49,800
well they're going to trade him.
I think that they will kind of keep

605
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:52,719
the ship moving forward. They're not
going to disrupt it and take away a

606
00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:57,920
key feader and like a locker room
guy and you reliable role player. But

607
00:38:58,039 --> 00:39:01,480
if they're struggling or just the right
opportunity comes along a guy who's not a

608
00:39:01,679 --> 00:39:07,480
huge downgrade but maybe has some more
upside A longer term. I could definitely

609
00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:10,519
see them still going for a move
to improve long term, as long as

610
00:39:10,519 --> 00:39:15,199
it wasn't a huge step down quality
wise for this season. Who do we

611
00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:19,880
trust more as sort of the primary
wing checker right now? Is that Harrison

612
00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:24,719
Barnes or Keegan Murray looking at that
projected starting five? Is that a stupid

613
00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:29,360
question? You can also answer it
in that way. It's just so hard

614
00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:35,599
to answer, just because we haven't
gotten to see Murray play defense against NBA

615
00:39:35,679 --> 00:39:39,480
guys outside of Summer League, like
he played really I thought, really admirable

616
00:39:39,559 --> 00:39:45,519
defense against Paula Benkaro in that really
good game between the Kings and Magic and

617
00:39:45,599 --> 00:39:49,239
Summer League. But it's still Summer
League. Like, I mean, those

618
00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:51,480
two guys were going at it.
It was a lot of fun to watch

619
00:39:51,559 --> 00:39:54,280
those two, and Murray I thought, did really well. I don't know

620
00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:59,480
if that's a good barometer for how
he can check an NBA wing, like,

621
00:39:59,599 --> 00:40:04,480
especially a better one. I have
no idea who their go to is

622
00:40:04,519 --> 00:40:07,000
gonna be. It could be one
of those you know, there's some guys

623
00:40:07,119 --> 00:40:10,199
they've got this kind of end the
bench, guys that aren't expected to be

624
00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:14,719
part of the main rotation. But
their defensive specialist, and maybe they just

625
00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:17,840
throw those guys out there in those
scenarios, you know, just go play

626
00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:21,239
defense, don't worry about anything else
where. You just want you to pes

627
00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:25,199
through this guy for ten minutes and
piss him off. Like I will say

628
00:40:25,239 --> 00:40:28,760
some I'd probably still pick Harrison Barnes. I'm just gonna fall to the veteran

629
00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:30,559
and some of the most defensive possessions
I saw from him last season went back

630
00:40:30,559 --> 00:40:34,519
and watch was when he was going
up against Andrew Wiggins, which was sort

631
00:40:34,519 --> 00:40:36,760
of like a I don't know if
that was a him, like, oh,

632
00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:38,239
like this is the this is the
new Harrison Barnes of the Warriors,

633
00:40:38,280 --> 00:40:40,039
Like I'm gonna get up for this
match us. I don't know if there's

634
00:40:40,039 --> 00:40:44,440
anything tied to that, but you
sort of touched upon this. What is

635
00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:47,320
his secondary front court rotation look like? If we're gonna go Barnes, Murray

636
00:40:47,719 --> 00:40:51,559
and Sabonis, I would say,
as of right now, where Shaun Holmes

637
00:40:51,599 --> 00:40:53,360
is gonna be locked into like that
pack up five spot, then how are

638
00:40:53,360 --> 00:40:59,039
you sort of you know, mixing
and matching with the three four spots on

639
00:40:59,159 --> 00:41:01,119
this team. We've already mentioned that, Hey, maybe Kevin Herder plays some

640
00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:05,440
three, but you still have,
you know, players who are under contract

641
00:41:05,519 --> 00:41:07,880
like a Trey Lyles, but then
you have like, oh, is Kent

642
00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:10,320
Baysmore gonna make this roster? So
how do you sort of see that shaking

643
00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:15,639
out that secondary front court rotation.
I think that I mean, based on

644
00:41:15,719 --> 00:41:19,400
the roster right now, I think
Trey Lyles will get the majority of the

645
00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:22,639
backup four minutes. He was actually
really solid after the trade deadline for the

646
00:41:22,760 --> 00:41:25,840
King's kind of like a nice surprise, like for his contract and for expectations,

647
00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:30,159
was like, oh, this is
a competent basketball player and as your

648
00:41:30,199 --> 00:41:34,280
backup for your ninth guy in the
rotation, Like, I think he's a

649
00:41:34,360 --> 00:41:37,039
pretty solid player. I think the
bigger question is the three and what they're

650
00:41:37,039 --> 00:41:39,760
going to do there. I don't
think there is a clear answer, and

651
00:41:39,840 --> 00:41:44,000
that's where I think that we're going
to see a lot of kind of creative

652
00:41:44,599 --> 00:41:49,960
lineup slides where you know, you
put in Lyles and slide Murray over to

653
00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:53,239
the three for a few minutes.
That one. I'll even there are basketball

654
00:41:53,280 --> 00:41:57,679
refers. Page goes Rose again,
but please continue by apologize. You know

655
00:41:58,280 --> 00:42:00,840
you put Lyles in his four slide
over is the three for a few minutes,

656
00:42:00,880 --> 00:42:04,880
and then you know next time out
you're bringing Hurder at the three to

657
00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:07,960
sit Murray. And I mean there's
ways you could kind of manage the minutes.

658
00:42:08,079 --> 00:42:13,719
It's definitely not ideal, or they
might just meant to is a three

659
00:42:13,840 --> 00:42:17,400
or something. I have no idea. Oh man, I mean it could

660
00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:21,440
be one of those guys that they
brought him for training camp. You know

661
00:42:21,599 --> 00:42:30,400
there's Casiopa, there's Moniche, there's
yeah Campay's Moore, like Darren's. Davis

662
00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:34,559
is still on this team. He
wouldn't surprise me if he played some backup

663
00:42:34,639 --> 00:42:38,599
three, Like I think he's a
little undersized for it, but there are

664
00:42:39,119 --> 00:42:45,880
probably worse options on the King's roster, Like, is is there a bigger

665
00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:52,320
concern for this roster than that sort
of wing rotation or is that just clearly

666
00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:54,599
the biggest issue for them leading into
the season. No, and that's the

667
00:42:54,639 --> 00:42:59,440
biggest thing, And I think that's
why you'll see a guy like Holmes be

668
00:43:00,199 --> 00:43:02,039
available. It's like, if there's
a team with an extra wing who needs

669
00:43:02,480 --> 00:43:08,039
an upgrade on their starting center,
you can downgrade your starting center and it's

670
00:43:08,079 --> 00:43:13,440
not going to be as big an
impact just because Sabonis is going to play

671
00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:15,639
a lot of minutes, Like,
it's not going to be as big an

672
00:43:15,639 --> 00:43:20,639
impact as if you bring in someone
who can play consistent rotation minutes at small

673
00:43:20,719 --> 00:43:24,400
forward. I do have I would
like, do you think they should be

674
00:43:24,440 --> 00:43:28,519
involved in the Jake Crowder sweep stakes? That are insofar as there are Jake

675
00:43:28,559 --> 00:43:34,280
Crowder sweep stakes, it's all about
cost. I would be very happy if

676
00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:37,119
they could add Jay Crowder without giving
up, Like I don't want to give

677
00:43:37,199 --> 00:43:42,880
up Harrison Barnes to get Jake Crowder. That doesn't matter. But like if

678
00:43:42,920 --> 00:43:45,119
you could give up some of like
kind of the like a you know,

679
00:43:45,159 --> 00:43:50,239
throw together a package of like Terrence
Davis and Alex lenn and you know something

680
00:43:50,320 --> 00:43:54,000
else, you know, and that
was enough for Phoenish, just a little

681
00:43:54,039 --> 00:43:59,920
extra depth, you know, I'd
totally do that. If they want to

682
00:44:00,079 --> 00:44:05,039
to figure out a framework of homes
for Crowder, I think homes a lot

683
00:44:05,079 --> 00:44:07,679
better player. But just positionally,
I think that that could even make sense.

684
00:44:07,880 --> 00:44:10,719
You get off the long term money, you create a little bit of

685
00:44:10,760 --> 00:44:15,840
future cap flexibility, you improve the
wing right away, Like I don't think

686
00:44:15,840 --> 00:44:20,119
that'd be the worst idea in the
world. It would probably get roasted,

687
00:44:20,480 --> 00:44:22,519
would probably backfire because it's the Kings. But yeah, I mean I think

688
00:44:22,559 --> 00:44:25,039
that it's one of those things.
They should be kicking the tires on,

689
00:44:25,119 --> 00:44:29,760
but they shouldn't be throwing the kitchen
sink at. I have some names actually

690
00:44:29,760 --> 00:44:34,000
circle for them that weren't Crowder that
I'm just wondering with this is that I

691
00:44:34,039 --> 00:44:37,840
think are cost effective for them.
Are gettable. Josh Richardson and san Antonio

692
00:44:37,960 --> 00:44:39,920
not necessarily at three, but he
would immediately become their best three if they

693
00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:44,480
created for him, and he was
quietly pretty good last year. Also,

694
00:44:44,519 --> 00:44:46,719
if Memphis is kind of done with
the Dylan Brooks experience, you don't need

695
00:44:46,800 --> 00:44:50,119
offense on this team, and you
might be able to keep a shot selection

696
00:44:50,159 --> 00:44:53,360
in check by virtue of having more
ball handlers, like a better ball handling

697
00:44:53,400 --> 00:44:57,440
packing order, or not ball handling
but usage packing order. When you look

698
00:44:57,440 --> 00:45:00,039
at sabonus, when you look at
Fox, I don't know what it would

699
00:45:00,039 --> 00:45:02,639
cost to get him, because Memphis
shouldn't want Holmes, but they should probably

700
00:45:02,679 --> 00:45:07,360
really want Barns, and so maybe
you expand that deal. I thought about

701
00:45:07,400 --> 00:45:09,599
Marcus Morris Senior a little bit because
I thought if you built something around Rashaun

702
00:45:09,639 --> 00:45:13,519
Holmes and salary, that's something that
could actually work. But that's when we

703
00:45:13,599 --> 00:45:15,920
get into the other issue of do
you really want like Marcus Morrison, Harrison,

704
00:45:15,920 --> 00:45:19,679
Barnes and Keith and Murray. Those
are three fours in my book when

705
00:45:19,679 --> 00:45:22,559
you really look at them. So
but I do think that they're built just

706
00:45:22,679 --> 00:45:25,119
having homes then even some of the
middle end contracts that they have. I'm

707
00:45:25,199 --> 00:45:29,119
not I don't want to be a
huge proponent of saying, well, this

708
00:45:29,159 --> 00:45:30,360
team needs to make a trade before
we go to the season, but I

709
00:45:30,440 --> 00:45:35,360
really want to see this team like
get some actual wing depth, because I

710
00:45:35,440 --> 00:45:38,880
think that's gonna be the pathway to
optimizing the team structure in general. But

711
00:45:39,320 --> 00:45:44,039
hey, like maybe we don't need
to get so wonky on defense or that's

712
00:45:44,119 --> 00:45:47,199
the best way to elevate their defense
at this point. No, absolutely,

713
00:45:47,239 --> 00:45:52,400
I mean it's definitely the biggest area
that could use an upgrade. And yeah,

714
00:45:52,400 --> 00:45:57,159
I mean, like if Phoenix was
willing to entertain you know, Barns.

715
00:45:57,280 --> 00:45:59,800
And this is where the Herder trade
gets tricky because you can't throw on

716
00:46:00,360 --> 00:46:04,480
right but something like Barnes and something
else, you know, in a package

717
00:46:04,519 --> 00:46:07,679
where you take on like to get
back like a guy like Cam Johnson.

718
00:46:07,719 --> 00:46:09,800
I would be thrilled. I don't
think Phoenix is going to do it,

719
00:46:09,920 --> 00:46:14,400
but I think that the framework makes
sense because the Kings want a young guy

720
00:46:14,440 --> 00:46:16,519
who they could build around. The
Suns are trying to win now a guy

721
00:46:16,599 --> 00:46:21,599
like Barnes helps that. Like,
again, I think that's something very unlikely,

722
00:46:21,679 --> 00:46:23,199
but those are the types of things
that I would be looking for if

723
00:46:23,239 --> 00:46:27,360
I was in the King's front office. They could also and I wouldn't be

724
00:46:27,400 --> 00:46:30,679
opposed to this, just like take
a flyer. And by that I mean,

725
00:46:30,800 --> 00:46:32,559
like, hey, the Nicks decided
to trade a first round pick for

726
00:46:32,639 --> 00:46:37,119
Cam Reddish and still don't plan to
pay him play him, So can you

727
00:46:37,199 --> 00:46:38,199
make a move like that? I
just want to see them like and maybe

728
00:46:38,519 --> 00:46:42,639
there are teams that could just implode
this season, like what happens if Portland

729
00:46:42,679 --> 00:46:46,159
doesn't pan out? Is Grant and
Heart available all over again? I'm still

730
00:46:46,480 --> 00:46:51,280
I'm not sold on Dallas after the
offseason they had. Does Reggie Bullock become

731
00:46:51,320 --> 00:46:54,840
available again? It's lower end solutions. Still, I really just want to

732
00:46:54,840 --> 00:46:59,320
see them get some extra wing depth
on this team. You kind of already

733
00:47:00,719 --> 00:47:02,760
you talked about the starting lineup already, and I love going through what the

734
00:47:02,880 --> 00:47:07,360
top ten man rotation would be for
every team before the season. The Kings

735
00:47:07,400 --> 00:47:10,400
were among the teams that made me
pull my hair out because they do have

736
00:47:10,719 --> 00:47:15,079
I think probably eight locks in the
rotation. When you look at Fox,

737
00:47:15,280 --> 00:47:19,760
Herder, Barnes, Murray Sabonis,
Monk, Holmes, and Mitchell like those,

738
00:47:20,000 --> 00:47:22,119
unless you think that any of those
guys are in jeopardy, you're dropping

739
00:47:22,159 --> 00:47:25,679
out but figuring out the final two
like you had mentioned Trey Lyles U.

740
00:47:27,159 --> 00:47:30,320
Yeah, so that's nine Mets who
has some really good moments for them last

741
00:47:30,400 --> 00:47:31,880
year, but all of a sudden, like we've just decided, oh,

742
00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:37,119
we're not going to have any wings
in this rotation. Then, like as

743
00:47:37,239 --> 00:47:40,039
Terrence Davis belonging there is do you
expect Kemp, Baysmore or Kola to make

744
00:47:40,079 --> 00:47:43,800
the roster? And I guess that's
also part of this equation not to lose

745
00:47:43,840 --> 00:47:47,280
so many questions together, like do
you have any predictions for like how those

746
00:47:47,360 --> 00:47:52,559
final roster spots are gonna shake out
because they have all these fringe guys just

747
00:47:52,599 --> 00:47:57,280
sort of floating around out there.
Yeah, it's it's tricky I mean they've

748
00:47:57,519 --> 00:48:00,039
they've really got kind of two different
areas for the camp battle piece, and

749
00:48:00,599 --> 00:48:05,000
I think that that kind of ties
in because sadly, the guys involved in

750
00:48:05,079 --> 00:48:08,679
the end of Rotation camp battles could
also see a few minutes at the three.

751
00:48:09,519 --> 00:48:15,880
Uh yeah, you mentioned Kesey.
I think those guys, I wouldn't

752
00:48:15,880 --> 00:48:19,079
be surprised all off one or both
of them make the final roster, because

753
00:48:19,679 --> 00:48:22,639
those are guys that have some ties
to Mike Brown, their defensive minded guys,

754
00:48:24,639 --> 00:48:30,000
you know, And it wouldn't surprise
me at all if the backup three

755
00:48:30,280 --> 00:48:34,039
was someone who's not giving you anything
on defense or i'm sorry, on offense,

756
00:48:34,440 --> 00:48:37,679
who was strictly a defense of specialist
going out there to disrupt the wings.

757
00:48:37,760 --> 00:48:44,039
So whether that's Opoloica, Ocapola or
Montica, I don't know which one,

758
00:48:44,400 --> 00:48:46,840
but because I really don't know a
ton about either player, there's not

759
00:48:47,679 --> 00:48:52,599
a million hours of film on either
one, but neither one would surprise me.

760
00:48:52,719 --> 00:48:55,559
And then kind of the backup point
guard Camp Battles, there's Delavadosa trying

761
00:48:55,559 --> 00:49:00,800
to make his NBA returns. Yeah, and so it's kind of like,

762
00:49:01,039 --> 00:49:05,960
all right, Delevandov is your backup
three. Maybe that makes the most sense.

763
00:49:07,119 --> 00:49:12,000
I mean for the Kings, it's
like, do you want to do

764
00:49:12,079 --> 00:49:15,400
you want a third stream point guard
who could come in and play a lot

765
00:49:15,440 --> 00:49:17,880
of minutes potentially, or are you're
more worried about kind of the locker room

766
00:49:19,000 --> 00:49:22,000
and kind of coach on the floor, Like that'd be more what Delevandova is

767
00:49:22,039 --> 00:49:24,760
at this point, Like a guy
with a lot of Mike Brown tenure knows

768
00:49:24,840 --> 00:49:29,719
the system, could coach guys up, help them kind of veteran leader or

769
00:49:29,760 --> 00:49:34,760
as Quinn Cook not exactly young,
guess some veteran leadership capability, I suppose,

770
00:49:35,599 --> 00:49:39,079
but yeah, he would probably be
more productive in an NBA game today.

771
00:49:39,400 --> 00:49:45,440
You know, right, what's the
gonna be the go to crunch time

772
00:49:45,519 --> 00:49:47,199
unit for this team? Is it
just the starting lineup that you out later?

773
00:49:47,320 --> 00:49:52,280
Could you see some tinkering with any
of those spots? It depends on

774
00:49:52,400 --> 00:49:54,639
if the Kings are winning or losing. Well, they're trying to win a

775
00:49:54,719 --> 00:49:59,039
game, Oh you think, like
just like in the game if they're down

776
00:49:59,119 --> 00:50:02,719
by versus if you're up, Like
I think those I thought you meant like

777
00:50:02,880 --> 00:50:06,159
whether they're trying to win games or
tank. And I was like, why

778
00:50:06,239 --> 00:50:07,840
are we? Why are we in
this scenario? How did we get here?

779
00:50:08,199 --> 00:50:15,880
We're back to taking no I mean
I think that, I mean,

780
00:50:15,880 --> 00:50:19,360
I think the starting lineup as the
default probably makes most sense. But like,

781
00:50:19,440 --> 00:50:22,239
for example, if if it's a
really tight game, it wouldn't surprise

782
00:50:22,239 --> 00:50:27,480
me at all if you saw,
you know, saw either Murray or Barnes

783
00:50:27,559 --> 00:50:32,000
come out herd or slide down to
the three and play Fox and Mitchell,

784
00:50:32,199 --> 00:50:36,559
you know, for Mitchell's defense,
especially in a late game situation, that

785
00:50:36,559 --> 00:50:40,119
wouldn't surprise me at all. I
think that it's really hard to predict,

786
00:50:40,159 --> 00:50:45,920
just because we don't know what Mike
Brown thinks of this roster and who's going

787
00:50:45,960 --> 00:50:49,039
to be his favorites and what his
rotations are going to look like at this

788
00:50:49,119 --> 00:50:52,440
point. That's the biggest question mark
because there is a lot of talent on

789
00:50:52,480 --> 00:50:55,400
the roster, but it's definitely not
perfectly lined up, and so how he

790
00:50:55,559 --> 00:50:59,360
makes that work, how he shifts
those lineups, that's kind of the underlying

791
00:50:59,480 --> 00:51:04,880
question behind at all. Is there
a weirdo, quirky, bonkers lineup that

792
00:51:05,079 --> 00:51:10,280
you want Mike Brown to try this
season that I want or that Kings fans

793
00:51:10,360 --> 00:51:15,000
want? Both give me both.
I love. This is my this is

794
00:51:15,079 --> 00:51:17,559
honestly, this is my single favorite
question. I know it is. I

795
00:51:17,679 --> 00:51:22,199
know it is. And we've done
this before and ended up seeing those crazy

796
00:51:22,280 --> 00:51:24,719
lineups on the Kings, so so
we can we can speak them into existence

797
00:51:24,800 --> 00:51:30,039
right now. So choose carefully.
So the big one that there is a

798
00:51:30,239 --> 00:51:36,480
definitely a contingent of Kings fans that
want to see Sabonis and Holmes play together,

799
00:51:37,360 --> 00:51:45,800
which I mean they're Kings fans,
so they're not the one I would

800
00:51:45,880 --> 00:51:47,239
like to see that I think would
be just kind of a fun, weird,

801
00:51:47,320 --> 00:51:52,360
crazy lineup is you know, something
like and it's probably like a benching

802
00:51:52,360 --> 00:51:54,719
and so it's probably Homes instead of
Sabonis, but like, yeah, you

803
00:51:54,840 --> 00:52:00,440
got your Sabonis or or Holmes either
one and then go like crazy small do

804
00:52:00,639 --> 00:52:08,320
like hurder and then like Terrence Davis
and Terrence Davis like Monk and Fox or

805
00:52:08,719 --> 00:52:14,440
Davean or something, you know,
just something like essentially what really on paper

806
00:52:14,559 --> 00:52:17,840
is four shooting guards, you know, all at once, just going nuts,

807
00:52:19,079 --> 00:52:22,760
like I'd be with it. You're
gonna be surprised because I know,

808
00:52:22,840 --> 00:52:27,639
you know that I skew micro in
this area and in many others. Is

809
00:52:28,480 --> 00:52:31,280
I want to go big. I
want to see met with the bonus Keegan

810
00:52:31,320 --> 00:52:35,639
Murray, Harrison Barnes. I'm willing
to have the Aaron Fox round it out,

811
00:52:35,639 --> 00:52:37,840
but I prefer it to be Kevin
Hurder. In that situation, there's

812
00:52:37,920 --> 00:52:42,840
no point guard there, there's no
like outside in ball handle or you're going

813
00:52:42,880 --> 00:52:45,480
to trust, which is why Fox
would probably makes sense with just let's call

814
00:52:45,519 --> 00:52:49,320
him four bigs around him. Fox
plus four bigs is what I want to

815
00:52:49,400 --> 00:52:52,000
see, and I'm just like,
just see what happens. It's like,

816
00:52:52,159 --> 00:52:54,760
it can't be any worse defense Like, if it can't be any worse defensively,

817
00:52:55,119 --> 00:52:59,239
then you're gonna probably end up being
because what is the I try to

818
00:52:59,239 --> 00:53:01,039
go through, Like what's the best
defensive line up this team looked like?

819
00:53:01,639 --> 00:53:05,199
And I think a lot of that
just gonna depend on what if Fox is

820
00:53:05,280 --> 00:53:08,239
like trying or not as stiff himself
defensively. That could change a lot of

821
00:53:08,280 --> 00:53:12,320
things for the Kings. But so
let's just go Fox plus four bigs or

822
00:53:12,400 --> 00:53:15,320
Herder plus four bigs. That's what
That's what I want to see because Herder

823
00:53:15,400 --> 00:53:19,920
six seven and he'd be the smallest
player in that lineup by outline. The

824
00:53:20,039 --> 00:53:22,239
problem with that is Thatmez Metto would
take the most shots out of anyone in

825
00:53:22,320 --> 00:53:24,920
that lineup while they were on the
floor together. You know what, he

826
00:53:25,119 --> 00:53:29,400
was shot like fifty percent on long
tubes. It was like fourteen to thirty

827
00:53:29,440 --> 00:53:34,199
one or something like that. Last
season he is Caplock floor spacer. Dude.

828
00:53:35,159 --> 00:53:37,679
Shemez Mettu. When he's having a
good game, he has a lot

829
00:53:37,719 --> 00:53:40,320
of fun and I like the guy. He's a fun success story, like

830
00:53:40,360 --> 00:53:45,920
guy came up from a two way
contract, you know. Like, but

831
00:53:45,119 --> 00:53:51,159
man, the Kings get really frustrating
when he has to play a live minutes

832
00:53:51,199 --> 00:53:53,119
because he he does not care if
he's having a good night or not.

833
00:53:53,239 --> 00:53:57,280
He is gonna shoot like it's a
good night every time. That just seems

834
00:53:57,280 --> 00:54:00,000
aspirational to me. I want to
have that much, that much confide.

835
00:54:00,360 --> 00:54:05,480
As we record this, the Sacramento
Kings over under is at thirty three point

836
00:54:05,559 --> 00:54:07,679
five. So as of now,
are you smashing the over of the under

837
00:54:07,880 --> 00:54:12,039
and where do you see them lining
up relative to the west of the Western

838
00:54:12,119 --> 00:54:17,199
Conference this season? Yeah, and
I feel very comfortable going over just based

839
00:54:17,400 --> 00:54:21,039
on again, I mean, it
was a small sample. I know that,

840
00:54:22,280 --> 00:54:25,719
But the way that the King's played
following the Sabonus trade, before Sabonis

841
00:54:25,760 --> 00:54:30,480
and Box went out, they were
really good. They were really bad for

842
00:54:30,599 --> 00:54:35,519
most the year before that. Once
those two went out, they were really

843
00:54:35,599 --> 00:54:39,639
bad again. They still won thirty
games, like a three and a half

844
00:54:39,719 --> 00:54:44,639
win improvement with a full season of
Sabonis, with all these shooters, all

845
00:54:45,760 --> 00:54:50,840
with a coach who's not Luke Walton, like I think, maybe I think

846
00:54:50,880 --> 00:54:54,039
it's a no brainer that they're gonna
win an extra three and a half games.

847
00:54:55,519 --> 00:54:58,719
That being said, I was a
lot more happy when I placed my

848
00:54:58,800 --> 00:55:00,159
bet when it was like thirty one
one and a half, so there's like

849
00:55:01,000 --> 00:55:05,159
easy money. I'm good. I'm
happy with that. But I think it's

850
00:55:05,440 --> 00:55:08,000
going to be one of those few
times I tell people that the over is

851
00:55:08,039 --> 00:55:13,239
a good idea for the Kings.
I'm leaning the over myself as well,

852
00:55:13,360 --> 00:55:15,880
which is ridiculous because I don't think
I've ever picked the over for the Kings.

853
00:55:15,920 --> 00:55:17,960
I should go back and look at
what we picked last year. But

854
00:55:19,719 --> 00:55:22,280
I think they've hit the over like
one year out of the last ten.

855
00:55:22,119 --> 00:55:25,199
Right. And the other thing is
just when you put trying to get sent

856
00:55:25,280 --> 00:55:29,960
to their pecking order in the West. It gets difficult when you're really getting

857
00:55:30,000 --> 00:55:32,880
into the playoff talk. But there
are four teams that right now are going

858
00:55:32,960 --> 00:55:37,760
to probably be trying to be worse
than the Kings, and maybe Houston won't

859
00:55:37,800 --> 00:55:40,239
be trying, but they should still
be worse. You have Utah and San

860
00:55:40,280 --> 00:55:45,559
Antonio. They're actively trying to suck, and then whom Oklahoma City without chests

861
00:55:45,719 --> 00:55:49,760
is just like, so it sucks. Now all of a sudden, you're

862
00:55:49,760 --> 00:55:52,039
like, okay, well you're already
ahead of four teams. And so the

863
00:55:52,119 --> 00:55:54,639
fifth worst record in the West last
year was the Lakers and they won thirty

864
00:55:54,679 --> 00:55:59,519
three, so thirty four there is. I'm leaning towards the over. I

865
00:55:59,599 --> 00:56:01,639
picked way too many overs through these
look aheads though, And that's what's concerning

866
00:56:01,679 --> 00:56:06,559
to me, is this, Where
do you see them lining up in the

867
00:56:06,599 --> 00:56:09,079
West? Are they top ten for
sure? Do you have questions about them

868
00:56:09,119 --> 00:56:13,760
even making the play in tournament?
Do you expect them should the expectation be

869
00:56:13,960 --> 00:56:16,119
that they even make the playoffs,
whether it's by way of getting through the

870
00:56:16,199 --> 00:56:20,599
play in tournament or just being one
of the top six teams. I will

871
00:56:20,679 --> 00:56:22,719
say, and I don't want to
like shit all over the Kings. But

872
00:56:22,800 --> 00:56:25,880
if they're in the top six in
the Western Conference, here, Mike Brown

873
00:56:25,960 --> 00:56:30,159
better be coach of the year because
you start looking at those the teams that

874
00:56:30,239 --> 00:56:34,719
are just Phoenix, Golden State,
Denver, the Clippers, the Pelicans,

875
00:56:35,360 --> 00:56:37,639
like those teams aren't going anywhere.
The Mavericks should still not suck. The

876
00:56:37,719 --> 00:56:40,559
Grizzlies are good. We're up to
seven teams, right, so if they're

877
00:56:40,559 --> 00:56:43,880
in the top six, I didn't
name the Lakers, but I'm not going

878
00:56:43,920 --> 00:56:47,360
to name the Lakers, So so
yeah, I agreed. If they are

879
00:56:47,480 --> 00:56:52,119
top six, like I'm hanging a
banner, I'm building a statue, like

880
00:56:52,119 --> 00:56:55,440
I'll fund it myself. Like well, we're doing a parade down k Street,

881
00:56:55,559 --> 00:57:02,519
Like I don't care, Like like
that'd be an unreal exceeding of expectations,

882
00:57:02,679 --> 00:57:09,480
Like I don't expect that. I
think that the Kings are pretty comfortably

883
00:57:09,639 --> 00:57:14,280
somewhere in the eight to eleven range. Now where in that range they are,

884
00:57:14,559 --> 00:57:19,400
that's the big question mark. But
the thing that we do every years,

885
00:57:19,480 --> 00:57:22,440
we kind of run through that mental
checklist at the start of the year

886
00:57:22,480 --> 00:57:24,320
and we say, well, they're
in They're in there. And every year

887
00:57:24,760 --> 00:57:30,239
at least two teams completely bottom out
for reasons we didn't see coming. Yeah,

888
00:57:30,360 --> 00:57:31,599
I don't know which teams is going
to be. I can't tell you

889
00:57:31,719 --> 00:57:37,599
which teams the Kings are going to
pass, but most likely as long as

890
00:57:37,639 --> 00:57:39,280
the Kings aren't one of those teams
that has something to blow up, which

891
00:57:39,840 --> 00:57:44,599
plenty of times they have been,
Like, there's reason to believe, Like,

892
00:57:44,880 --> 00:57:47,559
Okay, if right now on paper
they're the eleventh best team or tenth

893
00:57:47,639 --> 00:57:52,400
best team, there's reason to suspect
they could finish ninth, like because one

894
00:57:52,480 --> 00:57:58,039
or two of those teams has an
unexpected slip or you know, things go

895
00:57:58,199 --> 00:58:00,760
bad early, they blow it up
like whatever it might be. These things

896
00:58:00,840 --> 00:58:05,599
happen every single year. The hard
part is when we're predicting that the start

897
00:58:05,639 --> 00:58:07,559
of the season, we don't know
which team's going to be, Like,

898
00:58:07,760 --> 00:58:15,599
injuries are unpredictable, locker room stripes
unpredictable most of the time. Phoenix exactly.

899
00:58:16,079 --> 00:58:22,519
They are the opposite of Sacramentals vibes
and training camp like the what I

900
00:58:22,599 --> 00:58:23,400
do. Look at the West though, and you're right, like the injuries

901
00:58:23,440 --> 00:58:27,760
could definitely impact this. I'm not
sold on Dallas or Memphis as short things

902
00:58:27,840 --> 00:58:30,599
right now, I think most people
are when you're just taking a step back

903
00:58:30,639 --> 00:58:34,599
now, I think it's they have
to pass. Like one team is basically

904
00:58:34,639 --> 00:58:37,079
what I'm looking at when you count
out the other four, I think they're

905
00:58:37,119 --> 00:58:40,119
best bets at the moment. Are
probably a Portland or the Lakers. Those

906
00:58:40,159 --> 00:58:45,239
would be the most likely candidates.
I mean, I never want to wish

907
00:58:45,320 --> 00:58:47,639
injury on it, but there's a
couple of teams in the West that are

908
00:58:47,920 --> 00:58:53,320
very reliant on one star right that
one big injury at the wrong time,

909
00:58:53,440 --> 00:58:58,440
you know, early in the season
could completely change their truejectory, and hopefully

910
00:58:58,480 --> 00:59:00,400
that does. Dallas would be absolutely
fucked if anything happens. Luke, I'm

911
00:59:00,440 --> 00:59:02,440
not wishing that. Lucas one of
the best basketball players in league. I

912
00:59:02,480 --> 00:59:06,000
love watching him, but I love
Luca. I wasn't gonna say the name,

913
00:59:06,199 --> 00:59:08,320
like, but I'm just there's a
lot of like even the Lakers,

914
00:59:08,559 --> 00:59:12,079
they have two stars, but what
do you look at their roster that makes

915
00:59:12,159 --> 00:59:15,320
no With all the stuff coming out
about Russ, their roster increasingly makes no

916
00:59:15,400 --> 00:59:17,760
fucking sense. Right now, Let's
fload up on guards, one way players,

917
00:59:17,840 --> 00:59:22,880
whatever, So one injury there screws
them. So oh, I mean,

918
00:59:22,960 --> 00:59:28,440
who on the Lakers ever gets injured. I'm still laughing at the Kirk

919
00:59:28,480 --> 00:59:34,039
Henderson tweet poured Anthony Davis out four
to six weeks one shoulder. Yeah,

920
00:59:34,440 --> 00:59:37,119
I mean, but yeah, I
mean, it's just one of those things.

921
00:59:37,159 --> 00:59:40,960
I mean, the Clippers have a
couple of key players that miss a

922
00:59:40,960 --> 00:59:44,880
lot of games to injury or have
over the last couple of years. Doesn't

923
00:59:44,880 --> 00:59:50,559
mean they will this year. But
injuries happen, especially on these star heavy,

924
00:59:50,679 --> 00:59:53,440
older teams, and you know that
can really throw a wrench and things

925
00:59:53,519 --> 00:59:58,039
early on, and sometimes if it
happens early enough, teams just tank it

926
00:59:58,119 --> 01:00:00,840
away. And yeah, I mean
we saw it with Portland last year.

927
01:00:00,920 --> 01:00:05,079
No one was protecting them to be
outside the top eight last year, and

928
01:00:06,000 --> 01:00:09,280
you know, I mean, it
happens. Plenty of teams will take that

929
01:00:09,480 --> 01:00:15,480
opportunity to do a quick reset and
kind of steer into the slide, if

930
01:00:15,519 --> 01:00:19,360
you will. So it wouldn't surpreas
me at all if that happen. But

931
01:00:20,400 --> 01:00:22,800
it's also not a great place as
a Kings fan where you're like, all

932
01:00:22,840 --> 01:00:25,559
we need is a couple of key
injuries and we're in the play, and

933
01:00:27,719 --> 01:00:30,320
I just want them to be organically
better than expected. I can't if you

934
01:00:30,360 --> 01:00:32,480
ask me to pick. If you
asked me to say, do I think

935
01:00:32,480 --> 01:00:35,679
they're gonna be a top ten team
right now in the West, I might

936
01:00:35,800 --> 01:00:38,079
skew no, but stuff happens throughout
the year, and I really just want

937
01:00:38,159 --> 01:00:43,960
the Kings fans deserve it. I
cannot stand elements upon elements of the organization.

938
01:00:44,159 --> 01:00:49,559
Imagine beating down a fan base so
much emotionally that they're chanting for forty

939
01:00:49,599 --> 01:00:52,800
wins outside of a Summer League game. I respect Kings fans for doing that

940
01:00:52,920 --> 01:00:55,599
because that's an accomplishment, but like, imagine that being like the standard for

941
01:00:55,679 --> 01:00:59,559
success now. I want them to
be good. Kings fans deserve it.

942
01:00:59,760 --> 01:01:04,039
There's roster should be fun on offense. Did I not ask you about anyone

943
01:01:04,159 --> 01:01:07,000
or anything related to this roster that
you think needs to be discussed for you

944
01:01:07,039 --> 01:01:09,199
get out of here? No.
I mean I think we've kind of covered

945
01:01:09,199 --> 01:01:13,320
all the bases. I mean it's
really going to come down to, you

946
01:01:13,440 --> 01:01:16,079
know, can they figure out a
rotation that makes sense and kind of covers

947
01:01:16,159 --> 01:01:21,239
the holes in the roster. Can
Mike Brown figure out a scheme that makes

948
01:01:21,280 --> 01:01:28,800
the defense not be bottom five dumpster
fire? How's Harrison Barnes look, you

949
01:01:28,840 --> 01:01:31,079
know, I mean the questions are
kind of clear. It's just we are

950
01:01:31,199 --> 01:01:35,480
gonna have to just wait and see
how it goes and hope for the best.

951
01:01:35,559 --> 01:01:39,639
But it's the most optimism and excitement
that we've had in Sacramento for quite

952
01:01:39,639 --> 01:01:45,800
a number of years. And it's
fun like it should be a fun team.

953
01:01:45,920 --> 01:01:52,719
And I've watched enough bad teams that
if you're fun but bad, that's

954
01:01:53,039 --> 01:01:57,079
still a lot better. Like for
sure, I've watched a lot of really

955
01:01:57,119 --> 01:02:01,639
bad teams that were no fun to
watch, So the the incoherently bad teams

956
01:02:01,639 --> 01:02:06,639
are the ones that are toughest to
watch. Uh, Greg, this was

957
01:02:06,679 --> 01:02:08,559
great as normal. I appreciate you, like always giving me so much of

958
01:02:08,599 --> 01:02:13,119
your time for anyone who skipped the
intro, though, Are you able to

959
01:02:13,159 --> 01:02:15,239
tell our listeners where they can find
you and all the great work that you

960
01:02:15,679 --> 01:02:20,440
you do or help do however you
want to frame that? Yeah, absolutely

961
01:02:20,480 --> 01:02:24,360
so. I'm managing editor for Kings
Harold's at kings Harold dot com and then

962
01:02:24,480 --> 01:02:30,960
you can find me on Twitter at
g Whiz Gwiss, and there I mostly

963
01:02:30,039 --> 01:02:35,079
just tweet jokes about stuff. Fantastic
Twitter follow so I highly recommend following Greg.

964
01:02:35,760 --> 01:02:37,559
Thank you so much once again,
and as you know, I will

965
01:02:37,599 --> 01:02:39,280
be pasturing you again in the future. That sounds good.