Greg, Welcome back to the Hardware Knots podcast, which you came out on
short notice because possibly it didn't look at the King's schedule and they had like
a jam pack schedule coming up, so it was tough to find an off
night that they had. So one, I appreciate you coming on two,
And most importantly, how the heck are you doing? I'm doing great.
I mean, the best King season in forever, nothing to complain about.
Yeah, they've been we both and you were higher on them than I was,
but we both hit the over. I don't know that there was there
anyone that just predicted that they were going to be like this fifty win team
contending for a top two spot in the West. And I think the twofold
question here is one how surprised are you looking back to where you were leading
into the preseason, versus like, how long did it take you to just
accept like, Okay, this is happening and this is for real and it's
not going to be ripped away from me or us. I still haven't fully
accepted that. I'm still scared like all the time right now. Just I
mean, like a sixteen year playoff drought will make you believe that any sort
of collapse is still possible. But no, I mean, this season has
succeeded my every expectation, right. I actually went back and listened to the
preview that you and I did but before the season started, and like,
yeah, I was talking about like, yeah, I don't think they're gonna
be like a top top six team or anything, but they're definitely like good
enough for playing. Like that was my prevailing thought too. It was just
there over under was like it would really low. It was like thirty five
or thirty seven or something. So it made that it was like thirty three
that was even lower than that, and so it made it really easy to
pick, knowing all the iterations of this team that you've lived through and now
like you're walking the season. It's not just the winning, but it's the
the Mike Brown press conferences, the Keegan Murray chance to light the beam,
of course, and then just the experience I imagine on King's Twitter, like
being following a bunch of you guys, like I can see how happy and
fun and how much levity there is, like how entertaining, how much fun
has it been to actually cover them? This seasons a route for them this
season, just knowing all the the shit that you've gone through over the past
decade and a half, and I feel like that's not something that's necessarily getting
Yeah, everyone was talking about, Wow, the Kings are good, Like
the fan base really deserves this after all that they've had to just slog through
for the past, you know, fifteen plus years. Yeah, it's been
just a crazy season because you know, none of us really expected to get
this good this fast. They also made just a huge leap. It wasn't
like there was a like gradual stepping stone into being a good team. So
I mean just the fact that they have been the two seed or yeah,
I think as we're recording this, I think right now they're third. But
I mean it's just incredible, like that we're looking at hosting not just breaking
the playoff route, but hosting the first round playoff series. It's insane and
like none of us really know what to do with ourselves or the dog that
caught the car And now I was like all right, now, like yeah,
and I mean there's just like there's actual separation. But you know,
we could talk about, oh, like yeah they could stay in third,
could they be in second? And we can talk about the thin margins in
the West, but like there's actual separation between them and like the middle class
right now. And I know you're talking about a sun See didn't have Kevin
Durant for most of the year, it doesn't have them right now, but
like they're just locked in too. Unless there's like a collapse of epic proportions.
They're four losses in front of fourth place, and so like there's actual
separation there is. It's also just like you know, they're they're the only
team in the Western Conference with a winning away record right now. Denver's like
I think now below five hundred, have the lost the Raptors or at five
hundred or whatever. There's just so much that I could not have seen with
this team. And it's you know, some people have pointed to we'll look
at their record against winning opponents, Like look at everyone's record versus winning opponents
this year, and they're they're beating the teams that they're supposed to. I
just there, I did not see this level of success, like even kind
of sort of coming. I just didn't. I didn't see it coming.
Definitely not. I mean, in my wildest dreams, I never could have
predicted this season. It's it's funny just because you know, I mentioned going
back and listen to that premans, like all the things that we talked about,
like this is what it would look like if it went well, Like
all of those things worked, and it's just so rare that you know,
you're looking at Okay, the plan for a successful season is X, Y,
and Z happening and then all of those things actually fall into place,
because usually something goes wrong, something doesn't work out quite the way you expected
it, and they're just really hasn't been that. I mean not to say
they've had a perfect season. They've got you know, flaws in the roster,
they've got issues. That defense still isn't great, But I mean,
for the most part, everything has gone to the best possible version of what
Kings fans had hoped for the season. What did we I went back and
tried to like read about the genesis of light the beam, and I know
whose brain child it was, and I know like how obsessed with it that
that renadeve was. But do we know that this was going to be a
thing, because we didn't thought about on our preview, do we know this
was gonna be a thing leading in to the actual season. The Kings didn't
announce it until we were like a couple of games into the season, which
was really weird just as far as the timing, but also like the Kings
started off with like an oh and four like record and then they're announcing this
thing, and it was one of those things we've We've talked about this a
lot on our Kings Harold the Slack Channel, just that like there's all these
things about the season that if this had gone poorly, would have been just
the biggest punchlines, like the beam could have been the dumbest thing. But
because it actually coincided with the King's getting good, it's been such a fun
thing that the city loves and has embraced and all of that. But yeah,
just kind of came out of nowhere, like a couple of games into
the year and suddenly they're shining this purple laser into the sky after everyone.
I don't even know if they announced it before they did it the first time.
It felt like it just happened out of nowhere, and I was like,
no, you catually just missed something, but I didn't know what it
started. And like after the season it began. I do think it helps.
And this is probably an offshoot of Winning two. Like the players seem
to love it as well, Like it's not just this weird fan thing where
like fan like nicknames, and then the players don't necessarily like like the players
genuinely seemed to love this when they get to push the button, like it's
just super cool. Yeah, the big fake button that doesn't actually do anything,
but it's still a fun show and all that. And you know,
it's kind of like, you know, the team's kind of come up with
different honors, so one person gets chosen to light the beam, and then
you know, after wins, they give out like a defensive player of the
game chain. It's huge, like gaudy chain that's full of jewels of it's
awesome. It looks like and I could ever remember his name who used to
wear it? He has on like dating show, My god flavor flav Yeah,
that's what That's what it reminds me of. I also, I am
a very big fan of the Keegan Murray chant when Yes, I don't remember
when the first time I hear it. My most memorable experience with it was
seeing Deer and Fox do it one of the nights, like during the starting
introductions, like really being into it. When did that? When did that
whole thing start? Yeah, that was one of the things that snuck up
on me too. I don't know exactly where the genesis of that was,
but it's so much fun. You know, just hits a big shot and
Scott Moke with the PA announcer just goes key, and then the whole arena
just follows up with Murray and I don't know how they came up with it
or kind of you know, the call and response things are kind of hard
to have happened organically, but it worked and it's awesome. So they have
the best offense in the NBA. It's just a blur drunk on the handoffs
just sustainably scorching hots you because we are like eighty five percent away through the
season. It's sustainably from just about anywhere. Is there any element contributor defining
factor from it that stands out to you or surprises you? Like, not
even just okay, we know their first in offensive and points core pro possession,
but just like something about this offense that is really sticking with you from
this season. Well, I mean, obviously the kind of the key that
makes everything run for the majority of the game is Sabonus. You know,
he's usually operating you know, kind of high post or even beyond the arc,
doing dribble handoff, setting screens and the space he gives shooters with his
screens. He's very physical with them and it really seems to piss off other
teams his passing, and then you know, if the defense SAgs off too
much, he is able to just take it and score on his own.
So just that versatility with the offense running through him. And then kind of
the counterpart to that is that when it comes time to just hey, we
don't need to do anything fancy, we just need to get a bucket.
Then that's where Fox comes in, and you know just kind of has taken
that game to another level and can get his shot at any time, you
know, mid range, at the room, whatever the case might be.
And when he just gets on those runs, it's just special to watch what
he's able to do. Kind Of between the two of them, it's really
been the key. And then you know, surrounding them with so many shooters
and guys who were just all bought in and willing to make the extra pass
and willing to move, and you know, guys get rewarded from moving off
ball, so everyone moves off ball all the time, and it's just like
ideal beautiful basketball. Did you you know we had talked a lot about Sabonus's
onset fit from last year and they didn't have the level of shooting around him
and Fox to close that season that they do now. But did you see
like this coming at all? Like this is something that happens to make a
seed your expectations. But did you even see like the skeleton of him having
this not just this type of individual season, but the impact that he's having
on just everybody else around him at this point to an extent, yes,
but definitely not to this level. I mean, the idea of it was
there, right, You get you have a skilled passing big who you know
is a really good rebound or before the Subonus trade rebounding, the King's always
just got destroyed on rebounding. So he really helped short up that weakness,
you know, the way he creates space, the way he can find the
open shooter, and had you know that idea of Okay, you've got Fox,
you've got Sabonis around him with shooters. You know, going back to
the preseason, we were even talking about, like that's a good model for
an offense. The question was, you know, is there going to be
any defense? And that's all kind of played out exactly how we thought it
might be, that it would just be this like scorching hot offense and a
very a very lacking defense most of the time. Yeah, and you would
mentioned Fox just having like he's just it feels like he's had closing stretches that
he's had like this season we've seen maybe in miniature to close the season,
but this is just the entire year of it, just absolutely on fire from
mid range, shooting in an absurd clip at the rim. This year,
his crunch time splits are just you referenced them before, but they're ridiculous.
I'm assuming he'll probably win the Clutch Player of the Year award, and this
is obviously not the end all be all. He has made sixty five shots
in crunch time this year. In second place is Jalen Brunson with forty four.
It's just not even close. What has stood out to you the most
though about his growth this year is it really just a matter of bohay,
they decided to surround him with actual spacing for a change, or there's something
that's just more deep rooted there about his decision making and execution. I think
it's a combination of actors. Definitely having multiple shooters on the floor at all
times around him to keep the defense from packing the paint has helped. He's
also just kind of taken it to another level as far as you think about
when Fox was in like his first second year, and he was just a
constant, right, he was always turbo button on. With time and experience,
he's really figured out how to kind of use his speed, when to
slowdown, when to speed up, how to manipulate the defense, and it's
really hard for anyone to stay in front of him. But I'd say probably
the biggest thing is, you know, Mike Brown has really held him accountable
and he's done it for the whole team. And Fox has spoken in interviews
about how much he appreciated being held accountable, like he was looking for that
from a coach, and and not just on the offensive end. I mean,
he's, you know, still never going to be considered an elite defender,
but he's putten so much better on the defensive end this year as well.
So he's just been fully engaged on both ends of the floor just throughout
the year. And like you said, there's definitely been stretches before where he
would have you know, like you know, a couple of thirty point games
from row and it was really looking good, but it was at the end
of a waste another wasted season, and we're like, Okay, hopefully he
does it next year, and then he wouldn't. This year, the difference
has been that it's just been a constant, with really the only dips or
lolls being you know, stretches of games where he's fighting through like a nagging
injury or illness. His numbers have dipped a little bit, but he's been
playing through those stretches and still been playing well. His like capacity to go
from zero to one hundred and then back to zero now is just absolutely don't
watching it. I feel like my ACL just rips from its body because it
can we can we not put that in the university? Can we not?
My al It's I've never seen him do it like it maybe just you know,
we've seen it, I'm sure before, and like maybe smaller does if
I've never seen him do it like this before, and it just has the
defenses on just like this perpetual tilt and already on perpetual tilt because you have
this other creator ins a bonus there who I mean, even just looking at
their most recent loss to the Bucks, watching that game, you felt it
like the separation that like just the bonus his shoulders that he can create around
the basket. When he said he like it looks like it hurts. I
would not have to want to guard the bonus over the course of the playoff
series. Yeah, And I mean it's games like that that really make me
feel like this is real because I mean, obviously the Bucks are an amazing
team, and I mean the Kings played them really close to the majority of
that game. The Bucks kind of put it away at the end, but
they're one of the top like title contenders this year. So it's like,
okay, that's okay if you lose that game, like you put up a
good show, you put up a good fight. Like Yeah, it's funny
because we're kind of re evaluating expectations for the Kings to the point where now
it's like, oh, dang, they know now they've only gone like eight
and two since they all start break and the thing. One of the knocks
against the Kings at least are on the season was look at the Fox without
the bonus minutes weren't great. Those are actually like a net even now,
which I think is a big deal. Are you noticing anything different about them?
Were they always kind of? Was it maybe overstated the struggles there?
Was it always a function of, well do you see who he's on the
court with during that time when you look at their backup center and wing rotation,
and I know in theory those minutes should be fewer and further between once
they get to the playoffs, like entire series can be lost without one of
your two best players on the court. We've seen it with Philly a bunch
of times. They've seen it with Denver a few times too, And so
if they're able, you know, if he's able to just keep the Kings
afloat when Sabonus is off the court. And we've seen the Sabonus without foxmanut
it's been not annihilatory, but they've been good this year. That's like something
that other teams don't necessarily have. Or you can trust your two best players
to tread water without the other. And a big difference I think is the
season has gone on because obviously they didn't make any big changes at the trade
deadline or anything like that future Superstar. Well aside from acquiring you know,
the best wing in the NBA, you know, Kissler Edwards. Aside from
that, they didn't make any big moves. But I think really the difference
has been that at the beginning of the year, they were kind of trying
to do the same thing no matter who was on the floor, kind of
trying to run everything the same, and the King's backup centers just couldn't do
that, Like they're not Sabonus and it's not really fair to ask him to
be. And now when Sabonis is off the floor, the Kings have kind
of adjusted a little bit and they go a little bit more small, Like
Temes Mettus kind of cemented himself normally as the main backup center at this point,
and he just gives the team a different look and a different versatility.
He's a a little bit more of like a vertical lab thread, and you
know, they're not trying to run the offense through him though the way that
they run it through Sabonis. They kind of pass that over to Fox at
that point and let him operate. So where now really the worst minutes are
the few and far between minutes where Fox and Sabonis are both out. Those
are still really brutal, but that's kind of to be expected. But they've
definitely adjusted as the year has gone along and kind of adjusted the offense for
those bench units when Sabonis is out. And I'm wondering how much it helps
that you can bench the bone and in theory, you're just not super small
after that because you can go with me two lyles and bars the les.
It's been like I'd always had, like some hot and cold streets, but
he's been a breath of fresh air for them. He's unsung hero. I'm
not trying to have to talk about it too much because I don't want other
teams to notice because he's a free agent this summer. But yeah, he's
been phenomenal for the Kings. Off the bench, I mean, just you
know, another stretch big, he can hit threes, he can muscle down
low. He's you know, just one of those you know guys who will
just get in there and do the hard work and seems to always come up
with the big play at the right moment, and he's been awesome. He's
been a huge part of the bench. I mean, when when the Kings
win, it's a lot of times because they've gotten really good contributions from the
bench minutes and you know, it's usually him Monk. You know, those
are the two most common bench guys that are really stepping up and having a
good showing. He and Murray seemed a little bit overmatched recently defensively, but
what are just your early or you know, almost first full year in impressions
of him so far. The best thing for me about watching King and is
it's nice for Kings fans for once to have a rookie who is really good
but isn't expected to save everything. He just gets to be part of the
team in the offense. And he's been a consistent contributor as a starter on
a top three team in the West. Like that's a fantastic thing for a
rookie. We've also seen as the year has progressed, Mike Brown has challenged
him to do more kind of each step of the way. So start of
the season, he was basically just there to space the floor and shoot threes,
and then Mike Brown start challenging him like, hey, if you're not
making threes, you've got to be helping us some other way, like let's,
you know, step about the rebounding, let's you know. And then
after that it was let's step up creating off the dribble. And he's showing
more and more of his game, and I mean some of it. I
think that he is almost hesitant to like do too much, Like he doesn't
want to be the comes in and steps on toes or anything, because he's,
you know, kind of a bit more reserved personality. He but you
know, his teammates are all you see him out there like trying to hide
him up and get him excited, trying to get him to show a facial
expression, you know when he hits a big shot. But I've been very
happy with this development. Like defense, I think is probably going to be
the part that takes a little bit longer to figure out, you know,
just figuring out how to defend you know, elite NBA athletes. And part
of the problem also is that the Kings don't have a lot of great wing
defense options, so he often gets stuck on guys who he probably wouldn't be
your first choice to be guarding him, but he's got the size, and
so you're like, let's see what he can do, you know, go
for a kid, and some of it's going to be learning pains, but
I think with time, he's going to be a fine defender. Yeah,
I mean they I was looking before this, and he has basically had spent
a ton of time against the second highest and third highest usually players on the
other team this year. That's a lot to ask of a rookie. I
am, however, and I don't don't see it too much, like we
see glimpses of it when he's gonna you know, the handoffs with Sabonus.
But I'm sold on what his floor game will eventually be. I know a
lot of people don't like to project forward for some of these older rookies,
but I'm just I'm just there. I see it, and I'm like,
this is so smooth, it's so fluid. This is someone who is infinitely
scalable for his shooting and the way he moves off the ball. But I
think there's going to be and it could be on the iteration of this team,
especially as like you know, you're looking at some of you have.
Fox and Sabonus will be around long term, but as you sort of move
the pieces around them, they will be openings for him to probably do more
offensively gain on the line. And I'm just sold on his ability to actually,
like, yo, I don't think he's gonna like bring the ball up
in these super slow half court sets and you know, run a bunch of
pick and rolls, let's say, but as someone who can make quick fire
decisions off the dribble or have plays really run for him, that feels like
that's not even close to an unrealistic ceiling for him based off what we've seen
at this point now, and he definitely has shown flashes of that ability to
create off the dribble or you kind of break down a defender, and it's
exciting to kind of see those glimpse and be like, Okay, like another
year or two, this could be really something special to still be alongside Fox
and Sabonis. Is you're more of a big three as opposed to a big
two at that point. I'm not just saying this because you're on the podcast.
I really do believe that Malik Monk deserves more. Six men of the
Year consideration, and I'm actually surprised that he's not getting it. I would
expect him to finish in the top three, especially if people factor in some
people like the factor in team winning from this. What has been your favorite
part, most unexpected part of the Malik Monk experience. Is it just the
downhill stuff, the passing? But what is it? Uh? Yeah,
the creation has really been the most fun surprise because I mean we we've always
known he can kind of score in bunches, but he has really developed a
nice chemistry with Sabonish, you know, where they kind of work and pick
and roll and we'll find each other and you know, so for some of
those non fox mentes, a lot of times it ends up being Monk is
kind of the primary creator if it's not going through Sabonas. I think probably
the biggest sason we're not seeing more buzz for him a six man the year
is just because he's been inconsistent. I mean, it's kind of it's feast
or famine with him. But for your scoring guard off the bench, like
that's not uncommon for a six man type of guard, right, Like,
there's plenty of guys who've made really long careers out of being a guy who
is either going to get you like thirty points or two on any given night.
But I think the inconsistency has really been the biggest thing, because I
mean, when he has his four points like this, this is the peaks
and valleys with him. The I've never seen him pass quite like this,
and there is every time I'm watching him, it feels like he's just making
like nice reads off of his drives. So I did, look, he
isn't assist rate of eighteen point three percent on drives that rings first in the
league among one hundred and seventy two players averaging at these four drives a game,
and I kept bringing that total down. I started at nine seven,
eight, six, five four, So when all the way it's like kind
of cherry pick. But that's still and he's nine drives per game, so
like he's driving a bunch. That's just not something that I've ever seen from
him. That feels like an aspect of his game that has been consistent is
his ability to keep you know, defense is sort of in disarray when he's
getting downhill. And just like you had mentioned the connection with him and Sabonus
and it just it works like both ways too. Has just been an absolute
joy to watch developed this season. Yeah, I mean he's averaging a career
high an assist right now, by a full assist over his previous best season,
and an assistant a half more than his career average. And for a
guy who early in his career was being played as a point guard as opposed
to a scoring guard, Like, it's pretty crazy that he's like setting these
marks as far as like career highs for assist now as a backup guard as
opposed to a starter or anything like that. But yeah, his passing has
been awesome. We went almost twenty five minutes without talking specifically about the defense.
I feel like, I don't know if that's good or bad. They're
twenty fifth and points laut per possession twenty seven since the trade deadline. But
you do dig into it, and there are things that they actually do well.
You've mentioned their rebounding already. They don't flat on. They've done a
really good job of making offenses go deep into their shot clock. Twenty percent
of opponent shot attempts are coming with seven seconds or fewer left on the clock.
I think only the heat have a larger share of their opponent's shot attempts
coming during that time they keep them. I know, Chris herring It wrote
about this too. They keep offenses in their half court sets, which is
not that's atypical for a team that gets out and transition themselves so much and
likes to play super fast. Do they have the outline of being because you
look at you know, they're do a good job of contesting jump shots too.
That's the other thing. Teams are just shot really well from three against
them, The points really really really well from mid range. Is there some
sort of like is there the crux of oh, this this team, this
court could be significantly better than bottom five and defensive efficiency or is that just
where we need to just be prepared for them to settle into. I mean,
I think this season, I don't. I think they're going to make
a big movement in as far as the defensive rankings at this point. Going
forward, there's definitely a potential. I mean, when you kind of dig
into the stats you've kind of mentioned like they're very good at transition defense.
They don't get scored on in transition a lot, despite how much transition they
play themselves in fourth quarters in particular, their defensive rating is actually a lot
better, Like they do tend to lock in better when it comes down to
the end of games. So the question is, are they just not capable
of doing that for a full game? Is it, you know, an
effort a focus thing like I definitely think they know, especially like in a
playoff series. I'm interested to see how that would go because I'm still not
expecting them to be elite lockdown defenders, but I think that in a higher
stakes sea and you know, more on the line, I'm curious to see
if the team's a whole can can play a little bit better. But I
mean, overall, the effort has been there. The biggest thing I see
kind of night in and night out is that they've really struggle to stop anyone
from blowing past them and getting into the paint, and so then they do
a nice job of rotating and helping and kind of stopping the easy initial basket,
but then eventually it finds an open shooter. And I think that that's
a big part of why we're seeing teams consistently shoot above average against the Kings,
even though they're kind of putting in the effort and all that there's just
too much scramble and recovering. Eventually someone's got an open shot. Now you
still expect at some point that that number will go down how many of those
open shots opponents are hitting, But it's been steady this far, So at
a certain point you just got to chalk it up to maybe it's the case
like as opposed to you know, just blind luck happening against them every night.
And I don't like this type of team where it's super fun to sort
of live in their actual moment and appreciate what you're watching. So I don't
like a scale too far ahead. But is that something when you're looking at
specifically the wing defense, or if it's coming back to the backup secondary big
defense, or that maybe the defense of the front core partner who's directly beside
Sabonis for most of the game. Is that or those aspects you would expect
them to aggressively pursue upgrading over the off season or might there be a reticence
to do anything too wholesale with a group that was just this good for so
long. I mean, I definitely think we'll see the team continue to evolve
as we move forward. The nice thing about the surprise of this season is
it wasn't like the Kings pushed all in and this is their one year with
a championship window. Right, Like their core outside of like Harrison Barnes,
everyone else on the team's like twenty four to twenty six years old. Yeah,
they're all young. They all can continue to grow and develop together.
They also have they've got the rights to Sasha Zenkov, who is current EuroLeague
MVP again, who they'll probably try to bring over this summer. They try
to get him last summer, but he stayed for another year. Wouldn't be
surprised at all if they are able to bring him over next year. And
really, I think the biggest thing that they could do is, and this
goes back to some we talked about even in preseason, just find a good
wing defender and then a backup center who can maybe protect the room a little
bit. Like those two things go a long way, especially in kind of
critical moments, Like you know, it's kind of tough to figure out exactly
what those moves look like or how you make it all work with the money
and all that, right, but Mannam mcmier has done a good job of
kind of identifying what he wants to find and what he needs to get,
and then he doesn't go crazy or overpay for anything. He kind of sets
his value and if he doesn't get it, he doesn't get it. So
I think they will try to improve those areas. But I also don't think
they're gonna suddenly push the chips all in and be like we had a good
year and now was our champion. You know, like they'll kind of take
the opportunities where they're there. In the backup big stuff shouldn't be too hard
to find. There's every year there's like, oh Bismock on most mind for
the minimum and like he provides you rim protection. Uh you know, you
mentioned how they didn't have to mortgage really any part of their future to get
here over the offseason, and we don't need to. We've talked about the
Halibert and trade shot the end of that one male a cope I do need
to offer though, is I was not super high on the Kevin Hurder trade.
I kind of looked at as like it was a twenty twenty four pick
and protected for so long, and since then, not only has Kevin Hurder
just been on absolute fire, been great for this team, and out of
the king has been good enough to wear like, Okay, well that's going
to convey in twenty twenty four. The stuff that I have read and watched
in the twenty and twenty four draft class makes me think that Sacramental absolutely sole
Kevin Hurder from Atlanta at this point. So that's the main cope I have
to offer. I don't I can't remember how you felt about the trade of
the moment, but I was not down on it, but I was indifferent
to just sort of like, men, why are you doing this? And
that was just a complete miss on my end. Well, I really liked
the trade at the time. I thought it was great because, you know,
they didn't have to give up any of their kind of core rotation guys
at the time to bring him in. You know, they got a starter
for nothing immediate, right, And really what that helped do was kind of
push everyone else down the pecking order one slot where they all kind of made
a little bit more sense, you know, like suddenly Harrison Barnes is your
fourth or fifth option instead of your third option on offense. Suddenly Malik Monk
is your you know, dynamite you score off the bench instead of a core
part of your starting unit, right Like it just kind of has that trickle
down effect where you add a good starter without giving up a core piece.
Suddenly your depth is just so much better across the board. And when we
talked to the Priestason, I know one of your questions was, will they
let Kevin Hurd a kind of freestyle a little bit more as opposed to just
being a guy who stands and off to the you know, outside the arc
and shoots catch and shoot threes like how at Landing used him. And and
they have. You know, they've given him a lot more freedom to work
off the dribble. You know he'll get into the mid range. He and
sabone Us have phenomenal chemistry as far as the dribble handoff game, so he's
really been able to open up some elements of his game. We didn't see
her that I didn't know we're going to necessarily be there. So I like
the trade at the time, but I think it's an absolute win at this
point. It's one of McNair's best moves. I think even as we record
this, with the Kings contending for a top two spot in the West,
there very much seems to be a push among teams that are behind them,
where their fan bases are saying, well, if we can just get the
six of the seventh seed and face the Kings. And is it fair to
sort of dismiss the Kings like that at this point or what is it that
people from other fan bases or the national media is still missing about this team?
So I understand why people are still dismissive. I mean, the Kings
have been a punching bag and a punchline for so long. I mean,
I said at the start of this, right, like, I'm still worried
about this all falling apart, right, So I get why, you know,
when you've associated day team as being just the definition of a bad franchise
for so long, I understand why it's hard to buy it into it.
But it's some of it, I think is just the fact that people haven't
seen it happen before. You know, the King's best players haven't had a
lot of opportunity to shine or prove anything in the playoffs. I mean,
like Fox has not been in the playoffs if he does what he's done throughout
the season, you know, with kind of the clutch time scoring and getting
in the paint. In a playoff series with a national audience, that mindset
can begin to shift, you know. I was kind of looking at where
the Kings ended up. You know, last season they finished with thirty wins.
They were like a couple games better than the Blazers. If the Blazers
were having the season, you know, no one would want to mess with
them as a two or three seed because we've all seen Lillard do it time
and time again. Like, so there's some of that. You have to
go and actually prove that you can do it in the playoffs, and I
get that. I think that's really the kind of the big question mark is
just you know, people weren't expecting this, especially not to this degree.
I think a lot of people were really entrenched in their takes on the Sabonis
trade and I have had a hard time coming around on that. And then
part of it also just the Kings aren't on TV. They've had two TNT
games, zero ESPN games, Like, they aren't getting put on broadcast like
because they're the Kings, right, So you know, I also understand for
people who aren't like League past junkies, that you may not have seen what's
going on, like you see the standings, but it's harder to believe if
you haven't seen it on a consistent basis. I am team if I'm a
lower seed and need to want an upper seed in the early rounds. I
think Memphis. This pre dates all the John Ramp business is like the biggest
frauds in the league as a contender that they looked at themselves, saw their
biggest problems and said, we're gonna fucking trade for Lukenard and that's what we're
gonna do with the deadline. So who is it? An actual good fit
but doesn't address their biggest area of void? So I am team I probably
yeah. If you asked me whether I face the Nuggets or the Kings,
like, yes, I'm going to pick the Kings of lower seat, but
I think Memphis is the by far the team that you would want to pull.
I'm giving you the option though, and we're talking Kings playoff basketball right
now because it's happening like that is that is going to happen. We can't
change that. I'm the power to pick the King's first round opponent if you
if you could have the ideal matchup for them, who do you think it
is? In the first round. And it's tough because kind of going back
to that whole like institutional memory thing, right, Like, I just think
of all these teams as being better than than where they're at right now.
Like I think if I had to pick one though, right now, and
I mean right now, they would have a hard path to be matched up
against the Kings, but I'd probably go with like the Mavericks. Speaking of
frauds, please, I mean just and it's not that I'm super excited to
have to play like a off series against Luca because we know how good he
is and how much he's going to wear you down and all that. And
Kyrie's phenomenal too, I mean when he's playing and when he's on, he's
phenomenal. But I think that that team still lacks depth. I think they
obviously have some issues with coaching, and I like the coaching matchup of Mike
Brown versus Jason Kidd very well, even the vibes of that matchups where it's
just like Mike Brown is just so likable and Jason Kidd just just sucks.
He's salty, he's way too online like. And also their defense is like
statistically just as bad as the King since they made they have no they have
less rim protection than Sacramento at this point. But I mean, I think
really a lot of the teams in that range, I think there's a lot
of different outcomes that would be really entertaining series that would be a hell of
a lot, a lot fun to watch, like four or five games of
you know, six seven, whatever it goes. But I mean like Dallas,
Timberwolves, Clippers, Wars, like these are all teams that have issues.
You know, sometimes they give up a lot of points, but they
can score a lot, like Yeah, they all have guys that can go
off. Like I think, no matter what the matchup is, I think
the series would be incredible in the first round. I don't know who.
I think the MAVs are a good one. I'd thought about the Lakers,
but I don't know how much it matters. Darn Fox was four when the
two thousand and two Western Conference Finals took place. But there's something poetic about
if the Kings also have the chance to excise the Demons from two twenty two
in the same year they break their playoff drout against a team and fan base
that seems I have no way of proving this, but seems like they were
the first ones to say, well, if we just get the six or
seven seed and get to face the Kings, it feels like that would be
poetic. But the more rational part of me, it's just like, if
Lebron James is back, the Lakers defense is a lot better, Anthony Davis
is healthy, they have Delo now and Jared Vanderbilt, who's someone I wanted
the Kings actually trying yet I thought he would be a great too. I
think I probably want to see you if you told me Lebron wasn't. It's
different, But like if we're doming health, I think I would go with
I'm with you with the matters. I also thought about Minnesota a little bit
because they're gonna be integrating Karnathy Towns into this, and the idea of them
playing two bigs against this offense just feels like it would be an absolute night.
Yeah, that'd be fun. And yeah, I didn't pick the Timberwolves,
mostly because when we've played them this year, it's been really good games.
But the Timberwolves have kind of given the Kings of rough time, Like
they the Kings one I think one and Timbers one the other. Two or
three. I mean that it's been good games, but it's been really entertaining.
But I think the Timberwolves are actually pretty bad matchup. We've definitely talked
about the Lakers thing as well, like how fun it would be to,
like, you know, in the drought, be the Lakers in the playoffs
move on. But for me, there's kind of that, like I don't
really want to deal with the officiating of a King's Lakers series on my first
trip back to the playoffs. So if you gotta pick an opponent that you
would like to avoid through at least the first round, who is that?
It's probably either Minnesota or Golden State. I mean they face Minnesota. I
can't remember with Pounds and Gobert. I don't think they have right, I
don't think so. It's just been it's been without Towns and to your point,
like if Towns is back and being reintegrated, like yeah, that could
throw some things off. And definitely that kind of Twin Towers matchup would be
interesting to kind of see which team adjust or kind of how they would both
handle that. They'd be like Kyle Anderson's and God, we're gonna go one
big with Kyle Anderson. I would guess it would be them, but yeah,
but it's still I don't know. It just kind of got instinct.
I think that the Timberwolves are better than their record, better than their standing.
I and Anthony Edwards is unreal, Like he's just so good, he's
so and the Kings have no one the kind of going back to that wing
defense issue, like the Kings don't really have anyone who can really guard him
really well at this point. The matchup that I want to see it can't
take place in the first round. I think that's why I'm so intrigued by
it would be a King's Nuggets Western Conference Finals, just because of all the
kind of crow the you know, a Gensters would have to have. If
oh can't contend with Yokich as your best player, Oh, the Kings aren't
for real. Also, any ratings jokes that people could get off where would
be a nightmare That it's Denver's acromento in the but also just stylistically, Denver's
defense has been better. But like they these are two of the worst teams
at protecting the rim in the NBA, and they're also the two best offensive
teams in the NBA. They are built around two of the most talented big
men in the NBA. They have. Jamal mur has been up and down
this year and nowhere near as good as Fox, But like the Fox versus
Murray subplot, there would be super interesting that I would There's so many elements
that go into wire root for it, but even just purely I'm a basketball
perspective, I wish we could see it and if that has to happen the
conference finals, because it does have happen the conference finals, sign me all
the way up for because that would have to be one of the least expected
conference finals matchups that maybe of all time that I could just because I mean,
the King's being the Kings, anybody in the Conference finals at this point
would probably qualify. I guess right, And well, I mean I'm a
Kings fan, but I live in Colorado. I would absolutely love that because
then I could go see it came up in Denver, you know, I
mean, it'd be phenomenal. But yeah, I'm game for whatever scenario you
want to come up with that puts us in the conference finals that that works
just fine for me. Is there anything else that I haven't asked you about?
Anyone else? I haven't asked you about that you think needs to be
touched upon. Let's see the year. That's like a format that's fad to
complete, right, there's I don't even know. I've even trying to go
through who might be able to challenge him, and I can't really come up
with a great name that anyone should put him from one of him. I
mean, I don't know how you can look at anyone other than Mike Brown
for Coach of the Year. I think McNair should be getting heavy consideration for
Executive of the Year. It seems like though, that a war tends to
always lag a year or two, so I'm not really counting on that one.
But yeah, I mean, I think we've covered all the bases at
this point. It's just been such a fun season. Mike Brown has been
my Coach of ye ever since he was leg up on the podium posing that.
That was the moment I knew that he was not going to lose Coach
of the Year. Greg This was great as always. Are you able to
tell everyone where they can find you? The Kings, Harold, all the
great work that you do. Yeah, So I'm on Twitter at Jewish so
at gwiss I write, I'm managing an editor and a writer at the Kings
Harold Kings Harold dot com and you can follow the Kings Harold on Twitter at
the King's Harold. I also would like to echo great work they do there.
And also I think the best piece that you've ever written was, and
I think it was you that wrote it, it should the King's Trade for
Kyrie Irving deserve their fuel there. I think that was my favorite. That
was that was one of mine. I do those every now and then.
That's the kind of a running bit that goes back a few years. Greg,
as you nobody I'll be pastoring you again in the future. But thank
you. Coming off with this midseason and pampfire talk about the leagues, definitely
most entertaining and definitely most surprivate teams this year anytime. Thanks for him