IST Quarterfinals: New Orleans Pelicans at Sacramento Kings, 12/4/2023, 7pm Pacific 10pm Eastern (TNT)

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It's hard to say. A lot of people are mad that they aren't curb stomping every team they play but we're talking about a nearly two decade playoff drought, followed by a first round game 7 exit. Maybe our expectations are a little too high right now? The Kings in the glory days got bounced in the first round the first two years of their run as well.

In order of importance, I think their improvements need to come from:

1. Keegan getting back to his rookie form on offense. I don't even need him to take a step this year. Just copy what he did last year and the Kings are much better.
2. Little more consistency from Sabonis. Put up a mild stinker every 8-10 games or so last year and it's more like every 5 this year.
3. Brown getting Barnes some more touches. He's inconsistent from game to game but his TS% is remarkably consistent from year to year. Need his FTs.
4. Lyles getting his shooting touch back. His numbers are worse than Keegan's right now. Small sample size.
5. One of either Duarte or Davion stepping up and playing better.

Fox and Monk have improved. Huerter and McGee are where you'd expect them. I'm not expecting much more from Vezenkov but it would be nice to see him get to 40% from 3. Everyone else, Mateen.
1 for me is Kessler Edwards. Trading for a good 3 and D forward is damn near impossible. We have to pray we can make him comfortable and improve his shot.
 
Remember when Boston had interest for a long while. Could have picked up someone like Nesmith, who has been looking like a solid rotational player for the Pacers
I remember. We would have gotten Nesmith and a first. We also likely would have lost 1 more game without Barnes which would have netted us Franz Wagner instead of Davion.

Hard to decide which is Monte’s worse move to date:
1) not trading Barnes
2) drafting Davion at 9 when you had Fox and Hali
3) not signing an impact forward this summer in free agency.
 
I remember. We would have gotten Nesmith and a first. We also likely would have lost 1 more game without Barnes which would have netted us Franz Wagner instead of Davion.

Hard to decide which is Monte’s worse move to date:
1) not trading Barnes
2) drafting Davion at 9 when you had Fox and Hali
3) not signing an impact forward this summer in free agency.
You're 3 worst things are two things he didn't do, LOL

C'mon man.
 
I remember. We would have gotten Nesmith and a first. We also likely would have lost 1 more game without Barnes which would have netted us Franz Wagner instead of Davion.

Hard to decide which is Monte’s worse move to date:
1) not trading Barnes
2) drafting Davion at 9 when you had Fox and Hali
3) not signing an impact forward this summer in free agency.
Yeah the exec of the year really has been doing a poor job. Agreed
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
This may be part of the reason that coach Brown keeps HB in the starting lineup.

Trading a starting forward on a playoff team will get you back more in return than trading a non-starting forward.

Ultimately, I'm thinking Monte is looking to package some combination of HB, Huerter, Mitchell and draft picks to pick up a star to pair with Fox, Domas, Keegan and Monk (our "Core" going forward).
There is probably some truth to that. No point in having Barnes come of the bench, anyway. Whether he comes off the bench or plays as a starter, a rose is a rose.
 

SLAB

Hall of Famer
I think Barnes has value to rebuilding teams that need a good vet. We might be able to get a decent player that doesn’t fit the rebuild timeline and doesn’t want to be on a loser for the rest of their contract.
Trade him to Detroit for Marvin Bagley. I’ve heard he has lots of potential.

(Yes this actually works in the trade checker)
 
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so apparently being Exec of the year means he is perfect. Gotcha
Don't strawman me lol. I never said he was perfect.

But when you're voted the best at your job in the best league in the world.... he doesn't deserve fake criticism for not trading for Aaron freaking Nesmith .

This also totally discounts the value HB has brought since. He's been bad this year, but he's been a starting wing for basically all his kings tenure.
 
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gunks

Hall of Famer
I remember. We would have gotten Nesmith and a first. We also likely would have lost 1 more game without Barnes which would have netted us Franz Wagner instead of Davion.

Hard to decide which is Monte’s worse move to date:
1) not trading Barnes
2) drafting Davion at 9 when you had Fox and Hali
3) not signing an impact forward this summer in free agency.
I agree with the Barnes take as I don't think he has much, if any, trade value anymore, especially after last seasons total disappearing act in the post season. Davion is looking like a bad pick too.

I still think we're damn lucky to have Monte when you compare his "worst moves" to all the good he's done, much less the complete disaster era that was Vlade.
 

SLAB

Hall of Famer
I agree with the Barnes take as I don't think he has much, if any, trade value anymore, especially after last seasons total disappearing act in the post season. Davion is looking like a bad pick too.

I still think we're damn lucky to have Monte when you compare his "worst moves" to all the good he's done, much less the complete disaster era that was Vlade.
1: Not trading Barnes … THEN RE-SIGNING HIM

Make that #1.
 
Don't strawman me lol. I never said he was perfect.

But when you're voted the best at your job in the best league in the world.... he doesn't deserve fake criticism for not trading for Aaron freaking Nesmith .

This also totally discounts the value HB has brought since. He's been bad this year, but he's been a starting wing for basically all his kings tenure.
sure but the best GM’s trade a year early versus a year late. So why don’t you list what you think were his worst moves since you claim he isn’t perfect.
 
I agree with the Barnes take as I don't think he has much, if any, trade value anymore, especially after last seasons total disappearing act in the post season. Davion is looking like a bad pick too.

I still think we're damn lucky to have Monte when you compare his "worst moves" to all the good he's done, much less the complete disaster era that was Vlade.
I don’t disagree. Though Vlade is a bit of a low bar. Might be among the worst GM’s in history just based on the 2017 and 2018 draft alone.

We had the 10th pick with the following players on the board
10- Zach Collins
11 - Malik Monk
13 - Donovan Mitchell
14 - Bam Adebayo
19 - John Collins
22 - Jerrat Allen
23 - OG Anunoby
27 - Kyle Kuzma
29 - Derrick White
30 - Josh Hart

we came out with
15 Justin Jackson
20 Harry Giles
 
sure but the best GM’s trade a year early versus a year late. So why don’t you list what you think were his worst moves since you claim he isn’t perfect.
1. Deleon Wright trade. Giving up 2 2nd round picks for Wright, who was awesome for us, only to flip him for TT in thr summer. I don't mind the cost of acquiring Wright, but became a tremendous waste when we flipped him for TT

2. Trading Jaden Hardy pick for 2 future 2nds. Would rather have had Hardy.


That's about it in terms of blatant missteps. Other things I can slightly disagree on, but don't think are overtly damaging
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
I don’t disagree. Though Vlade is a bit of a low bar. Might be among the worst GM’s in history just based on the 2017 and 2018 draft alone.

We had the 10th pick with the following players on the board
10- Zach Collins
11 - Malik Monk
13 - Donovan Mitchell
14 - Bam Adebayo
19 - John Collins
22 - Jerrat Allen
23 - OG Anunoby
27 - Kyle Kuzma
29 - Derrick White
30 - Josh Hart

we came out with
15 Justin Jackson
20 Harry Giles
That same year Steve Mills (and/or Scott Perry) came into the same draft with the 8th pick and all of those players on the board and came away with Frank Ntilikina.
That same year Donnie Nelson came into the same draft with the 9th pick and all of those players on the board and came away with Dennis Smith Jr.
That same game can be played over and over, but nobody ever plays it except when they have to a specific point they want to make. I don't find that sort of cherry picking a very compelling argument. "Didn't work out for us, we're the WORST! Didn't work out for other teams...ehhhh...don't really want to think about that..."
 
I don’t get all the Negativity/Nitpicking.
Just remember less than 2 years ago we had a very unbalanced roster with players that didn’t fit. The team was going no where and we always looked forward to the next draft come Jan/Feb.
Now we have a team that looks like a perennial playoff team.
Got Huerter for the scraps left over from the Sabonis trade and a likely late 1st rounder.
Signed Monk on a super cheap deal because of Fox ( I doubt he signs here if we had Halliburton instead of Fox).
Picked Keegan over Jaden Ivey. I was on the pick Ivey team and i bet everyone now feels that Keegan was the right pick.
Signed the right coach for this team.
Are super deep now with cheap additions of Lyles, Vezenkov, Duarte, Mcgee
Fox is now a fringe MVP candidate and still can be better
We needed to sign a wing defender and after 1 offseason Murray has turned into a ++wing defender
We have most of our picks and good contracts to trade if need be.

A lot of people here over react after a loss calling for this guy/that guys head. It could be a lot worse we could be 6-13 and already looking towards the next draft. I am enjoying this team and i doubt this is the finished product
Management has done a GREAT job.
 
I would have taken Moses Moody or Jalen Johnson before Davion but the 4 guys that got drafted after Davion haven't played very well either. It's not like there were a bunch of no brainers there.
Yeah good point here. I think Moody was the pretty clear pick and it's looking like a pretty big misstep on not grabbing him Johnson or Sengun with how Davions development is shaking out.

I didn't even look at Davion tape because I just never thought he'd be on our radar with Hali and Fox and I believe still had Bogi RFA rights. Just never saw a path where he could become a huge minute player
 
Yeah good point here. I think Moody was the pretty clear pick and it's looking like a pretty big misstep on not grabbing him Johnson or Sengun with how Davions development is shaking out.

I didn't even look at Davion tape because I just never thought he'd be on our radar with Hali and Fox and I believe still had Bogi RFA rights. Just never saw a path where he could become a huge minute player
I don't recall many having him as the best player available, so not sure what the thought process was
 
I don’t get all the Negativity/Nitpicking.
Just remember less than 2 years ago we had a very unbalanced roster with players that didn’t fit. The team was going no where and we always looked forward to the next draft come Jan/Feb.
Now we have a team that looks like a perennial playoff team.
Got Huerter for the scraps left over from the Sabonis trade and a likely late 1st rounder.
Signed Monk on a super cheap deal because of Fox ( I doubt he signs here if we had Halliburton instead of Fox).
Picked Keegan over Jaden Ivey. I was on the pick Ivey team and i bet everyone now feels that Keegan was the right pick.
Signed the right coach for this team.
Are super deep now with cheap additions of Lyles, Vezenkov, Duarte, Mcgee
Fox is now a fringe MVP candidate and still can be better
We needed to sign a wing defender and after 1 offseason Murray has turned into a ++wing defender
We have most of our picks and good contracts to trade if need be.

A lot of people here over react after a loss calling for this guy/that guys head. It could be a lot worse we could be 6-13 and already looking towards the next draft. I am enjoying this team and i doubt this is the finished product
Management has done a GREAT job.
Brain storming, criticism, and re-evaluation is a lot of the discussion that goes on in all team forums
 

SLAB

Hall of Famer
Yeah good point here. I think Moody was the pretty clear pick and it's looking like a pretty big misstep on not grabbing him Johnson or Sengun with how Davions development is shaking out.

I didn't even look at Davion tape because I just never thought he'd be on our radar with Hali and Fox and I believe still had Bogi RFA rights. Just never saw a path where he could become a huge minute player
I’m proud to admit I was a Sengun guy. Man he’s good. I didn’t ever think we were a good landing spot for a player with Davion’s game. Didn’t like it then, like it less now.
 
I don't recall many having him as the best player available, so not sure what the thought process was
He was mocked around 7 for a lot of that season, so I don't think it was too crazy in terms of BPA.

But the justification I came around to is Monte should be following his BPA, not what everyone else thinks he should be doing. We all operate with significantly less information than he does as the head of a billion dollar organization designed to scout basketball talent. If Davion was there highest rated player, then that was the "right" pick at the time.

The result has just been very very disappointing. Especially with how perfect Johnson or Moody would be with this current core right now.
 
He was mocked around 7 for a lot of that season, so I don't think it was too crazy in terms of BPA.

But the justification I came around to is Monte should be following his BPA, not what everyone else thinks he should be doing. We all operate with significantly less information than he does as the head of a billion dollar organization designed to scout basketball talent. If Davion was there highest rated player, then that was the "right" pick at the time.

The result has just been very very disappointing. Especially with how perfect Johnson or Moody would be with this current core right now.
Yeah, I just don't get it, when he already had two talented lead guards...and Mitchell wasn't really a shooting guard. Sometimes it makes the most sense to pick the next guy who could actually fit with your core group.

Picking Haliburton when he already had Fox was the right pick for best player available, but to then pick yet another point guard who isn't a combo, if for nothing else then because of a lack of length,... hard to figure
 
Guys don’t forget that this Monte guy worked this far having a team which didn’t reach playoffs for pretty good time …. I am sure stars weren’t jumping on the front line for coming over to Kings …
So I think is ok to say that he did really good job , now we are talking even for title …. We have to respect him for that :)
 
That same year Steve Mills (and/or Scott Perry) came into the same draft with the 8th pick and all of those players on the board and came away with Frank Ntilikina.
That same year Donnie Nelson came into the same draft with the 9th pick and all of those players on the board and came away with Dennis Smith Jr.
That same game can be played over and over, but nobody ever plays it except when they have to a specific point they want to make. I don't find that sort of cherry picking a very compelling argument. "Didn't work out for us, we're the WORST! Didn't work out for other teams...ehhhh...don't really want to think about that..."
right but none of those guys also drafted Bagley with the 2nd pick overall.
 
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