Kings stumble against Hornets, rally for double overtime win over Orlando Magic
Welcome to the Kings beat podcast I am James hamy Kings and sat for ESPN 1320 and the Kings beat we have course are a bluewire prod podcast brought to you by the good folks prize picks joining me today Fox 40 Sean Cunningham Sean how are you I was doing great till Brennan
Put that stupid Braves hat on his head um that literally went on like 30 seconds ago one of the teams I despise the most at fortunately it’s not a Dodgers fan but Brendan is known for wearing baseball hats with upside down logos not sure why that one’s not upside
Down but who knew who know I just I said recently I don’t care what baseball hat I wear anymore as long as it’s not the Dodgers and I went out and I wanted one that was the dark blue with the red bill it was this or the Indians were really
My options and I like the guardians Guardians sorry sorry sorry don’t mean to offend anybody don’t mean to offend anybody you guys were both quick with that one um you know so I didn’t even think about it until I went to post a picture and I
Was like oh I’m G to get a lot of crap for this and I was like oh God this is one of the team Sean said he hates so I gotta wear it today I hate him God there it is okay and of course that is Brendan
Nunes from the Kings PS podcast Brendan how are you doing well doing well um I got a new candle over Christmas oh yeah watermelon lemonade apparently that sounds like it would taste good yeah flavors for are or for candles are interesting yeah buddy it smells good smells good uh burning through Tree Farm
Still ume I ended up with a d I’m gonna tell you I’ve got a lot of candles going on uh and and it’s uh I’ve got staring me in the face I’ve got into the night perfect Christmas T the season uh let’s put this down a little bit mahogany
Balsam pumpkin apple and then of course sassy which uh brenon was so happy to provide for me got a couple going on here too got a few look at you guys you’re ridiculous so great it’s like Jan from the office dropped by with all of her candles and you guys said okay I’ll
Take some I got a little aroma therapy thing I guess you would call this that you know it’s pretty cool smells going on in here it was a gift I know you do yeah okay Sean seems like uh you guys are getting all fancy I I’m I’m a
Married man so we don’t have like candles everywhere I don’t need candles to freshen up the room all the time I live buddy yeah oh okay I’m highly successful at my game Sean I’ll turn 25 years married in July Shan sure sure I bet if you had that conversation she’d appreciate some
Candle some candles here we go we have candles in the house we have candles in the house uh what’s going on everybody uh thanks for tuning in to the kingsby podcast uh sorry we are wandering through the first three minutes of the Pod it’s typical we Meander we uh
Sometimes go on a walk about here in the first few minutes as we settle in uh I have a lot of topics we can hit on I mean have you seen what people are doing for these Stanley Cups like what the hell man these tumblers we have like three four or five
Why is this such a thing it’s like cab kids all over again yeah this is wild like I I you know I’ve got I’ve got a Tumblr to I have the I forget what name of it is but but these Stanley ones like Stanley as in like the the Stanley Tools
Like the tape measur yeah I guess they’re like super popular us Stanley thermoses like the coffee thermos right um it’s pretty cool I mean it keeps stuff cold longer than like your uh your Costco uh variety of the big Tumblr like the big Chrome ones so I don’t know but
I’m not gonna go get in a fight at the Target over a red and pink one I just think it’s weird it used to be like Hydro flasks a couple years ago right like not even long ago is this the same genre of yes we’re talking about except
For the hydro the problem with the hydro is it it’s not easy to get into the hydro flat like it’s you either have the big wide mouth which I I don’t know who sits there and drinks out of the Widemouth one or mouths you got to grab the like
The the top with the the straw I don’t know they became too much of a problem to get in and out of I we have those two at the house you know my boys have them with like stickers all over them from like all the places that you go or like
Fast food spots um here we are Meandering spons by Stanley Cups yeah I don’t know why we’re Meandering uh but uh I got plenty of topics there’s a lot of Sean just keeps throwing stuff out there um you look I just I was a little
Bit of a bait and you took it who knew that all your kids had stickers all over theirs and Sean ridiculous uh if you’re watching here on YouTube uh and you don’t mind give us give us a thumbs up uh subscribe to the channel if you aren’t already a
Subscriber um outside of that jump on board with the Kings be go to the kings.com become a premium subscriber so you get invitations to everything that we do here at the Kings beat uh we are of course a prize pick sponsored podcast so uh give prize picks a try um you can
Go to I think it’s price picks.com ksbe I think the password is Kings beat all one word uh to jump on board with prize picks I played last night and I was looking so incredibly good I actually had it lined up I I had I had chosen damono simonis with more than 13
Rebounds check I chose uh Keegan Murray with more than 0 five dunks which is actually a really sneaky good one to play lately and that dude just keeps dunking the ball all over the place uh I had dearon Fox under 36 and a half minutes played which I was sitting perfectly
Fine because the game looked like it would end regulation and then I had poo banero at uh less than 26 and a half points which was spectacular when he went out of the game in the third quarter and it was like is he gonna come back is he not
Going to come back uh yeah I I lost um Pao ends up with what 43 uh dearen Fox just keeps playing minutes because they keep playing basketball uh so either way uh I’m having a good time playing pricee picks if you’re out there and you want
To to give it a shot there’s a link in the description down below they’ve got all kinds of things like they match up to 100 bucks if it’s your first time doing prize picks uh you can bet uh you can you know choose between football basketball baseball whatever sport you
Want uh so you can mix a match good stuff uh give prize picks a a look if you are so inclined um let’s get to the basketball um Sacramento Kings uh are about as erratic a team as you can possibly find and we’re going to dive
Into these two games that they just had on Tuesday and Wednesday uh on Tuesday night of course the Sacramento Kings stumble against a horrific Charlotte Hornets team that had lost 11 consecutive games we’re playing on the second night of a back-to-back we’re missing four starters I don’t know where you guys at
With this team when it comes to losing to bad teams beating semi good teams or good teams and then finding ways to just disappoint you with losses like the one we saw on Tuesday to Charlotte I mean it’s it’s tough there’s really it’s hard to find a logic you
Know like obviously you can look at each individual game you look at that Charlotte game and 21 turnovers is just going to do it um it says 20 on ESPN I’m pretty sure the official count was 21 at least on the box scores that we got um
That tied their season High and that also got tied in that game against the magic which was a double overtime but the other game that also had 21 was that overtime win that they snuck away from the Portland Trailblazers at home early in the year so this is the most they’ve
Had in regulation by a good bit the next was 17 there and that’s an easy way to kind of shoot yourself in the foot you know it was a lot of self-inflicted issues when it came to the kings in that game what they would call like the controllables and that’s
Turnovers that’s missing seven free throws in a game game that you lost by that much obviously their 30th in the league in free throw attempts like there’s just some games where the discipline with those controllables don’t quite seem to be there that the execution is just not being handled the
Right way and I still go back to the big wins that they have over every team above them in the Western Conference probably outweighs the bad losses in my mind since you’re still sitting here at 20 and 13 that’s a great record in my mind relative to expectations coming
Into the year but I don’t know it’s really hard to to figure out a potential logic here yeah Sean you know we talk about the turnovers and like it’s hard to like beat on D Manis sabonis like he’s been so good so spectacular this season so consistent 11 turnovers in that game is
Just outlandish I don’t think we’ll ever see another game where he has 11 although he did back it up with six turnovers and say he got pretty close last night yeah the win over Orlando but some of the turnovers in that game I think he had it’s either I think he had
Four offensive fouls which are turnovers and I think the what Brennan’s talking about and Mike Brown even mentioned it he’s like it’s not like somebody like went to make a cut and then stopped the cut and somebody threw a ball and it bounced out of bounds he’s like it
Wasn’t even those turnovers you know or you know a skip pass and gets picked off or something he was like it was just almost like foolish turnovers I I don’t even know what to make of it I mean when Orlando I mean uh Charlotte had eight
Steals in a game where the Kings had 13 turnovers and most of these were just given away and unforced turnover unforced errors do you think it is a mental thing do you think it was like a mental lapse game coming off a long road trip I don’t like to use that as an
Excuse at all um but and it wasn’t even that long of a road trip but where are you at with what happened in that game uh it was yeah it was just a bad just a bad game I thought they were they came out completely overlooking their opponent probably thought they could
Sleepwalk through it probably thought that somebody was going to just rise to the occasion and start carrying them kind of like you’ve grown accustomed to someone like Damas sabonis or dearn fox or even Malik monk to be able to do but there was just a lazy approach I felt to
That game um Mike Brown called it out uh you know you saw a lot of um a lot of criticism from Mike Brown in a very in a in a variety of different areas I think the most alarming of them and I think he agreed was that there was no sense of
Urgency uh down the stretch of that game you know despite how bad they played against a very very bad team um it was there for the taking and then when they went okay nut cutting time time to you know time to turn it on and close these
Guys out they made so many blunders uh along the way and it came from about five different people so it wasn’t really like you could hang it on any one person certainly the the turnovers from deonis sabonis stick out like a sore thumb and I I mean I don’t think you’ll
Ever see that again from him I I was I was completely surprised at the at the 11 turnovers um but I also feel and this was something that was alluding to after talking to some people it’s like NE no one really took the bait except for
Really domas which was they rely on him for so much that whether he’s throwing the ball off the rim and and trying to you know trying to follow that up uh the ball squirting through his hands like it did on several occasions or certainly as James as you mentioned the offensive
Fouls I think honestly he took them out of their normal Rhythm and it kind of created some confusion throughout what they were trying to do offensively now that that might be a little bit of an overreaction but certainly I think it played a role down the stretch when other guys were
Trying to do other things and then you have like again four or five players make different players make a sort of blunder that ultimately you know kind of cost him the game but again it’s one of those games and that probably Segways nice into what happened last night
Because uh I felt like last night had a very ho hum type of start against a team that’s really good but if you really analyze the Orlando Magic it’s like man they’re down some of their big players and then they’re also losing some of their big players you know fron Vagner
Goes out Gary Harris goes out and then you’re playing against a guy a bunch of guys that you didn’t really have in The Scouting Report and that can be dangerous for a team like the Kings yeah I mean I want to stick with the Charlotte game for one more minute
Because uh there is the the incident that happens in the middle of the Charlotte game and that is that um Malik monk gets yanked after five minutes in the second quarter and or maybe it five minutes combined between the first and second quarter and he appeared to come in with like the same
Lackluster like vibe that the rest of the team did and Mike Brown sort of took exception to it uh there was a play where he underhands a ball like when sabonis isn’t even looking and like hits him in the chest sabonis gets tagged for a turnover um there were like a number
Of just like laxidasical plays Mike pulls him off the floor sits him which I think surprised everybody and that of course like teas us because we’re like okay Malik monk played five minutes that’s not normal then we’re watching the third quarter play out early third quarter mon goes in the game hits a
Couple of Threes may have said something to Mike Brown as he runs by uh Kings take it timeout right after that Mike Brown comes over and starts to have a loud conversation with Malik goes to you know cooler heads prevail goes to walk away Malik says something back to him next
Thing you know Mike turns around and he’s sharping back at Malik and this is playing out in front of everybody um and then we have you know sort of the I know what happens afterwards like you know the Kings don’t respond that well uh Malik and is asked
About it asked about it um what were your takeaways on this because Sean I know like right away we both saw it playing out on the on the court because you could going into the timeout you could see that Mike Brown was stewing he walked out onto the court he started
Like pacing around in the key on their end of the court and then as soon as Malik sits down he goes over and we have like this you know these things happen but a little bit of a a weird moment but you were recording the whole time yeah
Well I want wanted to see who mainly who he was talking to I didn’t know right away that that that comment or look was made for Mike after he hit the three and figured when they went back to the bench he would you know probably have a jovial
Moment with somebody because this team loves to talk to each other and it’s it’s it’s a healthy environment there um and then yeah certainly it became something that again I don’t think it was a huge deal uh this is for what part for the course for what
Mike Brown does for a lot of his players and holding them accountable and uh him and Malik and and Mike have a very real relationship and it’s a it’s one where you can see someone you know cuss the other one out and they’ll be they’ll be
Just fine that’s what again I like to say it’s what coaching looks like and uh the good news is is is you know you see Malik monk kind of Pat him right on the back right after everything was done I mean it was all it’s all fine it’s not
Like this is a huge moment of friction in between in with chemistry issues or anything like that that it’s a it isn’t it isn’t anything like that and the best part about it is um it if say what you will I mean it inspired Malik to kind of
Bring that team to life a little bit certainly he did that against Orlando but the the thing the thing that really sticks out from that is hearing Mike Brown talk about it after the the win over Orlando which is that they talked about it they had a you know an an
Office meeting they sat down and they talked about not only that issue but he apologized for him with the way that you know things had been handled in that game and didn’t apologize necessarily for benching him but for just ultimately the way Mike coached him and handled him
And you know I would just I would push back a little bit on that I mean I think Mike Brown’s looking at you know his team and looking at the overall big picture and I think we talked about it a little bit James in the previous podcast
But you know let’s say you lost to Atlanta still give you the win in Memphis but this thing could look a hell of a lot different you know very easily and you’re looking at a team that could have very well lost upwards of seven
Eight games out of 10 in the LA you know of their last 10 had things gone a certain way and I think he’s trying to you know really kind of shake them out of some habits I think he he knows that he’s got you know what is it four home
Games here in six nights uh the Hornets are terrible you should you should be able to sweep you know Sleepwalk through that game and still win knowing that you’ve got a game the next night against the magic as well um these are the sometimes where you
Find moments in the season to have some coachable teachable moments and try to get a message across or whatever it is I don’t think benching Malik monk of all people uh in that first few minutes was the right move Mike didn’t apologize for that move specifically he thought that
That was the right move because he was not playing up to his standards but I think there’s a lot of um Evolution going on with this king’s rotation right now certainly by virtue of seeing Chris dwarte in the starting rotation Kevin herder now coming off the bench and
You’re seeing Davon Mitchell back in the mix as well so you’re not really seeing anybody’s minutes from the guard rotation like you’re adding more guards to it you’re not really seeing this um okay we’re sitting you necessarily other than really Keon Ellis right but um to
Me I think there’s a lot of figuring out that they’re having to do and trying to find the right energy and I think Mike Brown mentioned this before the Orlando game saying that in doing so with Chris dwarte and I think even he was asked about Sasha vezenov obviously a
Forward that he can make he obviously he’s the head coach he’s going to make moves at any point he can do so but nobody has separated themselves that drastically from the pack of players that aren’t playing to the ones that now are and you just don’t have that
Separation so you know we saw jav McGee come in again the other night after after not seeing him for a while and think Alex Len gets a dnp after a guy who’s really been playing kind of well over the his stretches since coming back from that injury so I think that even
Saw a little bit of surpris surprising stuff there so um Mike Brown just really kind of going through it and but to your question James about like that moment I don’t think it’s much I think they just have a very uh good relationship that way to where they can have these honest
Conversations they can jump each other’s they can get in the face of each other uh and look it was just a few games ago where Mike Brown is talking about Malik monk as being a leader on this team telling his coaching staff not to talk to the officials really trying
To rally the troops you know you seen that Orlando game where it ends up being a flagrant foul he goes over to Anthony black just to have a conversation and the coaches are running off the bench trying to thinking they’re going to break up an altercation and he’s like no
Calm down it’s nothing like that so it’s uh Malik monk is a polarizing dude and you can and the camera finds him and uh I think he’s easily he’s he’s quickly quickly becoming a fan favorite I think it seemed like a healthy convers ation you know like coach complimented
Postgame after that Orlando won talking about the sort of I guess incident that happened in the Charlotte matchup that he was really complimentary of his relationship with Malik and how real and honest that Malik is and coach takes a lot of pride in doing the same and I
Think that they both obviously have the same goal here and that’s a good formula for a solid coach player relationship but like Malik did play really bad I thought in that first stretch like the starters were 18 to8 at the beginning there he checks in and this isn’t all
His fault but by the time he checks out that is down to 22 to 21 with a Charlotte lead you know so the bench did come in and I I thought had a pretty tough I believe it was mik Trey and Davon that check into the game pretty
Early there and they didn’t have a good stretch like James mentioned that underhand pass to domos that was super lazy and he wasn’t the only one to make a lazy underhand pass throughout the course of the the game but Mike mentioned those sort of passes postgame
He took a crazy shot with like 20 seconds left on the shot clock caught it in the corner with his back turned and just pivoted and threw up a crazy shot and he also had a really bad defensive play where his guy was cutting and he
Sort of let him walk to the rim fairly freely and fouled him and gave up an n one and put his hand in the air afterwards knowing that it was his fault so I understand the frustration with how Malik was playing in that stretch um but
Coach did explain like it was just how I communicated that rather than the actual sitting hym that he viewed as the issue or what he should have done better but I did think that was a pretty tough stretch from Malik and it looked like Sacramento might be able to take care of
That game pretty early and Rite a lead but when that bench unit came in in that first quarter their early 10-point lead evaporated super quick and by the end of the first year you’re tra by four and it became like a close game pretty much the
Whole time yeah and I I would say the only thing that I didn’t like I’m fine with Mike going and apologizing and and and having a a sit down in in the room with with Malik um and and I get what Mike’s saying that he should have
Coached him in that moment that he shouldn’t have just sat him and and you know like pulled him and then sat him the rest of the the rest of the half but at the same time like with a player like Malik he’s got a ton of energy and he’s
Got sass to him right he’s got a big personality and I think we all know that the only way the only thing you can really do to Malik the only way to really I think get to him is to take away his minutes like he’s one of those
Guys he’s just a mad Hooper that’s all he wants to do all he wants to do is play basketball and a lot of those guys the only way to get through to them is not to sit there and have like a a quiet conversation on the sidelines or like to
Pull a guy like Terrence Davis out on the floor and show what he’s doing wrong I think sometimes the only way to to reach a guy like Malik is to take away what he loves and that is playing time and so I didn’t have any issue with what
Mike was doing I got what he was doing and I don’t think he needed to apologize does him and Malik have to get back on the same page sure do they apologize to each other for handling a situation a little strangely I’m sure they did so
I’m okay with how the outcome is I I would just say like I don’t think he needed to really apologize like you’re the coach a player came in and wasn’t ready to play and it was against his former team and you sent a message that was probably embarrassing because of
Course Malik wants to do nothing but like stomp that team that drafted him and then kind of squandered his talent for three years but if you’re not ready and you’re not coming out with the right mentality and and it it hurts the team the overall like product then okay like
You got to do what you got to do as a coach so um you brought up a couple of thing like we we’ve got all kinds of things to throw in here we have the Kevin herder uh Chris wte situation which you know I think unfortunately for Chris like one
Game looks brilliant the next game is just complete dud and he’s going to need time to kind of grow in to what he’s doing but we also have this situation with herder where herder might be one of your better trade chips and he’s playing so poorly that you don’t know how to
Like clear up that situation and get him in the right frame of mind and I’m just wondering like we’ll discuss it but when you guys look at and at the two players it makes sense that because dearon Fox is now averaging 30 points a game that you can
Try something different at the shooting guard spot you can go away from a a natural scorer in Kevin herder and go to a more defensive minded jack of all trades player and Chris DTE I don’t have any problem problems with the move at all early in the season when Deen Fox
Was you know averaging you know when he was the player he was the previous year when you you’re coming into the year and you’re like 25 points a game but he he shoots 32% from three you need the floor spacer next to him type deal but that’s
No longer number one who Kevin herder is and it’s also dearen Fox is a different player and I think it allows you to mix and match in different ways do you guys see what I’m talking about it does that make sense that like maybe at a certain point Chris dwarte is
More like Doug Christie than he is Mike bbby and it’s okay to have a Doug Christy player when you have a guy who’s averaging 30 points a game next to him I mean this is kind of kakala Mo harkless all over again no just at a different
Position I just think that Chris D is a much better player a much better offensive player no and I agree but like you’re putting a guy out there that is kind of a defensive focused player to try to bolster that part of your starting lineup and really your team in
General they’re sitting at 17th in defensive rating which is a decent improvement from where they were at last year but they had some recent Duds defensively like obviously that game against Portland is probably the worst of them when you’re on the road and just totally blow that game against a team
That really had been struggling I know scoot’s been playing well recently but there’s no reason to lose that game the way you did G up 71 points in the first half in Atlanta is a really bad look even if it was you know made up for in
That second half and you still come away with a look but it just feels like you need that more defense out there and to your point James when dear’s playing the way he is and you have all the other guys out there in my mind are offensive first weapons not saying that they’re
All horrible defensively or anything like that but their primary production in my mind comes on the offensive end of the floor then except maybe Keegan Murray throughout the course of this year then it makes sense to slot a defensive guy in there like this team
Needs to be better on that end of the floor specifically when it comes to consistency and I think it’s a lot easier to give a guy like chriso Arte minutes alongside for other starters am I still here yeah he’s good you’re good James Rose gotcha um I think it’s a lot easier
To give a guy like Christo Arte that isn’t the best offensive player minutes to Sur survive on that end of the floor when he’s around four other starters and you could try to bolster that lineup a little bit in that way well to that point yeah I mean to that point it’s
Like if you had to pick somebody in the line in the rotation who’s been inconsistent I know a lot of people point the finger at Harrison Barnes but I hope the game last night uh against Orlando kind of showed some of the value that Mike Brown sees and Harrison Barnes
Because believe it or not Harrison Barnes was fantastic in that game and he didn’t nearly get the credit that uh he deserved and it had nothing it had absolutely nothing to do with the scoring the points that he put on the board and had everything to do with what
They were doing to try to uh change what they were doing defensively because uh everything that they had going on in that game was to take away was to take away the paint and the blitzing that they started to do um was was you know Harrison Barnes was really
Really good in that in that department so um but to the point of Kevin hder who has shown the ability to rebound the basketball of late especially this season in in the face of a lot of struggles offensively I think the over the overarching believe there is belief
There is that if Kevin hder isn’t hitting shots then he’s no good to you and if you can supplant one person to bring come in for defense that’s the one to do it it also gives Kevin herder the opportunity in theory to get it done to to just let it Let It Fly
Find your shot you know go out there against some lesser opponents uh as opposed to what starting rotations look like and try to get try to find any reason to just find your shot again so I don’t think it’s a complete Abandoned Ship of you know you won’t see Kevin
Harter Kevin herder as a starter going forward but at least for the foreseeable future Mike Brown seems to be very much in the camp of let’s reward Chris DTE and see how this fits let’s give this a 10 game sample size you know or more and pointing out Al albeit that he only
Played 10 minutes uh he was out of the rotation very very quickly last night against Orlando and James bam has returned yeah I have returned yeah I would say to that point um the real like the real starting shooting guard on this team the guy who plays the most minutes
It’s not Kevin herder it’s not Chris warte it’s not Keon Ellis it’s it’s Malik Monk and so like realistically you’re looking for the guy that can start the game and can end that can start the second half but Malik monk might be the guy who’s gonna play the
Entire fourth quarter and I think by going to a guy like dwarte you are kind of making a statement like look we are going to a more defensive-minded look and and I think it’s great because the the problem that I’ve had lately is the inline drives attacking deont sabonis
Again where sabonis gives up you know what did Rudy goar had like 21 points and and 17 rebounds or whatever most of Rudy goar’s points came on rotations where deont sabonis had to go rotate over to stop an inline drive and leave goar for a wide open dunk and that was
On the guards that wasn’t on domas it was on the players that are on the front line not on the backline and he’s just the one who looks bad in the situation like Gober didn’t have post-ups against Deon sabonis like so I get why why Mike’s doing this and and again I don’t
Disagree I I I think it’s uh a moment where you know again dearon Fox becomes a different player and allows you to do something slightly different with your backt um I also think that Kevin herder has an opportunity to get more shots with the second unit that he would with
The first but like what we’re seeing from herder right now is problem like he can’t hit shots in warm-ups uh like he has a hitch in his in his shot and it’s clearly mental and I I don’t know what’s happening there but it started with preseason and the
Way Mike kind of handled that situation may have even started it in the playoffs where he just completely started in the Three-Point Shootout it might have started in the Three-Point Shootout but you know what he bounced back after the Three-Point Shootout but those are moments where you’re starting to look at
Kevin in a different way and it’s unfortunate but like this team needs to move forward defensively they’ve got enough scores you know and if if dearen Fox is going to go out there and average 8.9 three-point attempts per game and he’s gonna shoot 40% on his threes okay you don’t need you don’t
Need a guy another guy next to him is gonna average 7 threes a game you can use a guy that can do a bunch of different things that you know in his first game he goes out and grabs seven rebounds to dwarte he grabs seven rebounds and then three of those he put
Back for offensive putbacks so he had six points of that he created for himself that you’re just not getting you’re not getting it from Harrison Barnes you’re not getting it from Kevin herter like you want more shots you want more points to go on your on your Ledger
Then go get them and I think Chris Dart just showed you like it’s just sitting there why is no one else doing this and like to be be honest with you like again I’m all for it like if if you can find a different look without giving away so
Much of on the offensive end it makes sense to me yeah and the one thing I’ll add just to Kevin’s credit is even though he’s just under 34% from the year like he’s still G to get defended like he’s a 40% three-point shooter like when he’s out
There he’s spacing the floor you know what I mean it’s not like teams are just going to be happy with him taking open threes he’s still getting top locked he’s still cutting back Dory he’s still sprinting his ass off pretty much every single possession I feel like in the
Half court or in the open court and eventually I think these shots are going to go down again he’s too good of a shooter for it to stay this way he’s a career 38 you go through the years like 34 this year 40 last year 38.9 there is
A 36.3 in there 38 38.5 like he’s a good shooter and he still gets defended that way and that does a lot for the other guys when he’s out there just to his credit still yeah physically there’s nothing wrong with Kevin herder like I mean he’s out there from his hand he’s
He’s got a leftand problem but yeah that’s about it I don’t know how bad the left-hand problem is though I mean it was like no he’s able to play for sure yeah yeah so like but I mean physically I mean he’s running he’s he’s hustling he’s it’s that’s not the problem and
Like Sean you brought up the rebounding thing he was really good early in the season like going out and helping in other ways he stopped doing that too like him and Harrison bar Barnes are like dueling for Coke machine status on each and every night I Harrison Barnes
Has to answer for it too like what in the world how how is it that like in a double overtime game you found a way to get to three rebounds Kagan Murray had 12 Keegan Murray not only did Keegan Murray have 12 Keegan Murray had six rebounds in the double overtime session
And sometimes it’s about like hey the effort needs to change like whatever it is that you’re doing like I don’t know maybe watch what Chris dwarte did for a game and go out there and find some rebounds that that weren’t there before so um yeah I don’t know either way I
Think that Mike Brown is uh he has to Tinker because his team is odd does that like this team the way that they win big games the way that they lose easy games the way that they lose by 20 uh and win by 25 like none of it makes a whole lot
Of sense right now and I I think it’s because when you’re comparing teams you’re usually comparing him to either previous versions of themselves or to some other team and like the kings were really good last year at being resilient and not getting blown out in games and
Not having bad losses and the bad losses this season have accumulated so quickly where you’re at like six games where you’re like that’s a bad loss and and I don’t know how like to compare them to other to something other than who they were last year and then you look and
They have a better record than last year but it doesn’t feel as good does it well I mean look and that’s the part where perspective comes in because again it you could at the end of the day whether it’s a 20po win a 20po loss it’s a win
Or a loss it doesn’t it can change the feel but it shouldn’t you know it’s like it’s it’s at the end of they come into 24 just like they did with 23 with the same amount of win total at the time which was 19 so yeah but that I mean
Just on that point Sean they’re way further ahead they they had 19 wins last year but they’ve played the games are different so they were not six games over 500 or seven games over 500 going to yeah you have you also have the inseason tournament you have the I mean
Scheduling is a little wonky like there’s certainly there’s there’s things you’re dealing with there’s you know injuries have been part of a storyline this year whereas last year it wasn’t really a it wasn’t really a storyline you know availability was was key for the Kings they didn’t have um you know
Have they didn’t have this kind of what I would call identity crisis like they have this year you know they have one year one night they might look like the team that that can go out there and and be the top scoring team in NBA history
Or or or even in the league and then next night it’s like why are you running in mud where has this come from so um I feel like you know there there’s just such a hyperfocus from game to game that it takes away from kind of the big
Picture but the reality is that this team is very much still what they are like their their their shortcomings are still the same shortcomings they had last year the stuff they do well are the things that they still do well um I I would say that their shooting you know you could probably
Talk about there could probably be a discussion that maybe it’s not as good as once believed and and certainly you can kind of look at Kevin herder and Harrison Barnes and certain guys that have struggled to Keegan Murray for sure in his start um that hasn’t been like those three players in themselves
Started the season last year very very well I mean through January we’re all shooting at very high levels and all that stuff but you’re obviously focusing more on the defensive end as well so I there are discussions to be had there but to me the overarching theme is this
Team is what they are exactly what they were last year and they they excel at certain things and that they they have certain holes in problems and they have positions within their rotation that need to be upgraded and they’re hoping that that happens by Evolution that certain players step into their own and
Become better some have I think Daren fox has shown that he’s been able to become something that a lot of people didn’t think he’d become which is this 30o scorer or hovering around 30o scorer I don’t know that that’s the best recipe for King’s success though so like I
Think that kind of enters the the chat is c as the calculus is this trade deadline nears is like do you really want Deen Fox to be this guy who’s out there having to score 30 points in effort to make your team successful for the long run and I don’t know that
That’s in in the best interest for Fox I don’t know that that’s in the best interest for the Kings it’s certainly fun to watch but right now there’s just some dis some dis disoriented kind of rotational things that are happening and they want this team to to get better on
Its own you know defensively they want them to move up you know from dead last to possibly top 20 um things like that can they can they make strides on their own before they really go in there and start really dissecting and and making changes so um this this next month
Should be pretty interesting I think and you made a lot of your money last year on the offensive end of the floor obviously this year you’re not catching anybody off guard like teams are ready for you when you come in and obviously the shooting plays a factor I really
Look at Keegan and Kevin 34% just under for Kevin and 35 and a half perc for Keegan two guys that were 40% throughout the course of last year two guys that were Elite last year really just among the entire league when it came to threes so that plays a part but you’re also
Just not catching anybody off guard people know what you want to run and they’re not you’re Mike likes to say that they’re the hunted rather than the hunters and I don’t know that I necessarily think they’re being hunted but I understand the logic there you know that they are not being totally
Looked over when teams are seeing them on their schedule so your offense was bound to fall a little bit throughout the course of this process but it is funny how you know we could sit here and have all these questions and they’re on Pace for 49 and a half wins right yeah
And I would say this though like to kick back a little bit like the Kings last year I think they’re they set the the record with 18.6 right um offensive rating that it was the highest offensive rating in the history of the game that would be seventh this season like the
Pacers the Celtics the Bucks the 76ers the Thunder the Hawks are all well above that at this point like even those last two teams they’re a full point uh above where the Kings finished last year like offense is become the game this season and everyone is just blowing up and the
Defensive ratings are trash like I know the Kings went from like 22nd to 16th in one game the other day because everyone is bulked up like they’re all like around each other like 115.2 11 15.3 115 point4 either way that’s bad it’s a horrible defensive rating and like the Kings have moved up
To the top of that Heap and they’re right around 156 right now that’s fine but their offensive rating is like 112 and so while I think that yeah maybe the league has figured out the Kings a little bit I don’t think really because they haven’t figured out any of these other
Teams I I think at the end of the day the Kings aren’t playing well like and I would like to tell you that you know it’s just that they’re a very similar team I but they’re not if you ask me what their identity is right now I would
Tell you I don’t know what their identity was is and last year I knew exactly what their identity was it was a crazy off offensive team that was resilient as hell they didn’t lose four games in a row after the first four games of the Season every time that you
Thought that they might slip up and lose a game they punched somebody in the face they had countless games where they went into the alleged Trap game and ran over somebody they didn’t have bad losses at least not to this point in the season that’s not who this team is it’s not the
Same team it’s not a resilient team it’s a team that’s laid down 10 times this season it’s a team that’s lost at home to Charlotte missing who had lost 11 in a row on the second night of a back-to-back missing four starters that is some Next Level under Alvin Gentry losing to the
Philadelphia 76ers bad shitty Kings that’s what that is and so like these are things where I would point to and say hey look this isn’t the same team they might be trying to Tinker and stuff and trying to change some things but they got to figure out who they are
Because the record be damned this team’s bounced in the first round if they’re facing anyone with any size and athleticism and physicality they face the Clippers in the first round they’re done they face the Pelicans in the first round they’re done so I I that’s where
I’m looking and saying hey you guys can say that they’re the same team they’re not the same team they’re not nearly as good and consistent they might be a better like overall group the talent might be better better but who they are as a team is not better and I think that
Would be my bigger concern I don’t know I kind of I kind of there there are things in there I agree with but I kind of push back because um like you said like no they’ve only lost they their biggest losing streak is three in a row
They lost yeah they’ve lost two in a row two times I mean they right they they I think I think it’s the way they’ve lost and I think that’s what Ling that resonates the most and again if you if you’re if you’re just if you’re going in
There and and just take it for what it is you know they’re they I think that like last night I think they overcame a lot of adversity you know Orlando certainly overcame some adversity for some of the players that were dropping like flies but you don’t have points go
Your you don’t have some calls go your way um you don’t you’re you’re having to make adjustments on the Fly you’re I mean there’s there’s there’s two ways you can look at it like it’s it’s a glass half full glass half empty right the reality
Is it’s still half you know in my my opinion I think they play right now in a way that is similar because they’re losing look the way they’re losing games certainly you can talk about as you just laid out but like winning in the first round they didn’t win in the first round
Last year James no but they took a team like a championship team the champions from the year before to seven games like and again like Sean I get what you’re saying but like there is no resiliency in these losses there is nothing in these losses yeah but there is the next
Game you know what I mean they don’t like hold on to it necessarily exactly it’s mentality yeah it’s good to be a goldfish I get you but you’re still a goldfish because that’s what they look like I have no idea what that means gold okay so a goldfish doesn’t have a a
Goldfish doesn’t have a like a shortterm are you talking about short-term memory okay short ter at all right it’s that’s fine but if you turn around and every single time you you oh we don’t have a short-term memory it’s like well maybe you should maybe you should remember
That you lost to a bad team last night maybe that’s what you should do because because here’s what I would say like you said they faced some adversity in the game yesterday the adversity they faced is a team that’s bad at shooting threes just caught fire and I I get it and they
Fought through the adversity name another time where they fought through adversity this season because every other time I remember them facing adversity outside of Atlanta and then what early in the season the Warriors that like nine out of their 13 losses they lay down they lay down and
Go oh we just got thumped yeah but okay so to that point though last year okay it’s it’s again they took advantage of their early schedule right like this again the whole you’re not catching anybody the whole hunted Hunter I agree with you Brenan that’s not like a thing
But teams aren’t sleeping on the Kings anymore and I think we can all agree that when you when you play Sacramento you’re one you have to have your track shoes ready teams don’t want to they don’t they don’t all the time want to play that way and they’re coming into
The into Sacramento and they’re preparing for the Kings as a way where it it’s a team that matters it’s a team that you have to be ready for you can’t take lightly and like it or not there are teams that you can take lightly the Charlotte Hornets are one of
Them it’s and the kings are getting a lot of teams on the second nights of back-to-backs like both of their back toback that they had with the Hornets and the magic this season or just this week alone both teams were on the second nights of backto backs point being is I
Agree with you there are certainly flaws within this king’s team but by and large they play like a 500 basketball team at various points of the season and they’re in one of their stretches right now where one night they can look great and the other night they can look bad but at
Again just the if you take it from a A View From 50,000 feet or however long you want to look at like the over thing when you look at it record wise this team is very similar and again their problems and their strengths are very very similar to last year that’s that’s
All I mean is is no I get what you’re saying I would just say I would even kick back a little bit and say like look this isn’t even a particularly fast team they’re 10th in the league in Pace we watched them Mike Brown tell us that
They were going to run and then they walk the ball up the court like half the time yeah yeah the Kings I would group The King like I said in the last podcast I would group the kings in a very similar situation as some of these other
Teams in the west right now that they haven’t figured it out like they they’re a lot of these teams are 500 right now and and and they’re you don’t know whether they’re players or not right the Kings for the for even for them looking like the the tough spots at various
Places they’re still fifth in the west yeah they’re fifth in the west but that’s precariously I mean you’re you’re like two games out is yeah no I I get what you’re saying I’m just saying that last season we didn’t see a bunch of bad losses and this season man there’s too
Many but you also won a lot of games that you probably shouldn’t they probably had no business winning and and they were able to capitalize on that early season success okay but again day yeah no I’m saying at the end of the day they are what they are you know like
Record-wise you’re going to be what you are and if you can like that’s why I said beginning of the Season okay you could lose you could win fewer games and still be better positioned to make a playoff run but I’m not sitting here telling you today on January 4th happy
New Year by the way I’m not sitting here telling anybody that this team is position to make this great playoff run no but I’m also outside of a few teams I don’t know what the hell the West is right now I mean the Minnesota freaking Timberwolves aren’t going anywhere and
They’re top they’re the top team in the west that’s crazy right now I don’t think anyone who would have predicted that um you’ve got just so much disjointedness throughout the entire conference that you’re looking at Phoenix going what are you doing all of a sudden here’s the Clippers on the rise
Again does any do anyone believe in that they probably should but based off of their history I don’t know that anyone is the Warriors are out of the play in tournament at the moment they’re about to get Draymond Green back like there’s just so much question marks throughout
The Western Conference I just think that the kings are part of that but at the end of the day if you look at the overarching season the first half of the season so far a lot of the problems that they have remain the same and a lot of
Their strengths that they have are the same however they win or lose like doesn’t matter how it feels at the end of the day you’re still fifth in the west like you’re still positioning yourself for a nice playoff positioning which is what they need to do how do you
Go about doing it how do you answer some of the the shortcomings that you have at the deadline to see if you can bolster yourself yeah I mean it’s interesting because I again you you know you’re not fifth in the west if you if you don’t just tank
Two games against Bad teams in the same week and that’s just again it’s not who this team was last year and and I know you can’t hold on to what it was last year right but at this point that’s what your comparison piece is it’s what they
Were last year and right now it’s like okay you are a middleof the- pack team right now just about every single thing and like it it could only be a matter of time before the teams that are 9 10 11 which you know again are like the Suns
The Lakers and the Warriors figure it out and and aren’t 910 11 anymore and yeah you know and again if you want to get to the end of the season and the difference between you being in the playing game or you having home field advantage was lost because you laid down
Against a bad Charlotte Hornets team in January or you know or a bad Portland Trailblazers team in late December it’s a little tough you know and that’s that’s where I would look at so I’ll just add that I think like long term that there’s been two really big
Positive developments for the team this year and that’s obviously dear and fox just all of a sudden becoming an elite three-point shooter like I don’t know that Elite will stick or it deserves to be like labeled as a he’s just for sure Elite he’s currently Elite 39% from
Three 8.7 a game his confidence is through the roof obviously there was a game I think it’s the Atlanta game he took 16 of his 20 shots from Beyond The Arc and made half of them 15 threes made in a combined two games right there it’s ridiculous and I feel great about them
Every time they go up personally like he he’s knocking them down at a great rate and one of the biggest things that you need as a team that’s trying to build your way towards Championship contention eventually is a guy that’s good enough to be the best player on that team and
If you feel like dear is becoming that guy that’s a huge development for this team and then the other one I’d point out is Keegan Murray like offensively struggling a bit from three specifically again said it earlier 35 and a half perc on just under seven attempts a game from
Beyond The Arc but his defense he’s probably been the best defender it’s probably not even really close on the Kings throughout the course of this season he’s in twos while you’re out there if you know if you wanted to go with a big lineup say we’re just
Throwing out a hypothetical here say you traded for Lori marketing you could start Keegan at the two and Harrison and Lori and domas like Keegan is guarding twos why not you know like he’s giving you so much flexibility I think that that development for what it means for
The future of the team when it comes to Fox and and Keegan is really big for long-term roster construction no I totally agree I would say the even the erratic play by Keegan Murray it’s because he’s a second-year player like that’s totally fine for a second-year
Player to be all over the board it’s typical for him to have 28 one night and then have a stretch where he’s averaging eight points a game for the last five games or whatever it was um it’s the other guys that the erratic play has got to stop it’s the Harrison Barnes It’s
The Kevin herders um it’s that group of players that you’re just looking at going man like there are certain nights where you know you play yourself off the court in the first five minutes of the game and you’re too solid of a veteran to to have that be the you know the dip
For that to be the the issue and and uh so like I agree with you there are some really exciting things to point to I’d even say that like sabonis is quietly stringing together like one of the strongest like 10 game 15 game stretches that we’ve ever seen from a Kings player
I mean the dude’s got what five triple doubles in the last nine games he’s the lead leager uh the league leader in rebounds uh he’s had 15 boards or more in the last three games like what he’s doing statistically is off the charts so we’re starting to see him and then throw
Malik monk in there you got four guys that you can write in with pen what you’re going to get almost every night except for Kean who’s a little erratic and that again goes to being a young player now you need to find the other pieces you need to figure out what it is
That you’re going to get from these other guys because as of right now it’s not enough like like yeah and three years ago Denver starting Will Barton or um Gary Harris and Paul Milsap and those guys sound like current Kevin herder and Harris bars to me you know it’s just a
Slow process and if you have your core in place then you feel like you can build around that like you’re I I think this team’s in an okay spot if we like zooming way out for roster construction and like years down the line and where you go from here I totally agree I
Totally agree um let’s talk about that uh we’ll do the the business of basketball we are we’re like a month away like from the NBA trade trade deadline um like there the rumors about Zack LaVine wanting to come to Sacramento yeah whatever that’s fine he
Can want to go whever he wants like I’m not sure that that’s an answer uh but are there any answers out there I mean I think we’re all looking at this team and kind of going okay I think I know who they are at this point or maybe you
Don’t because of the erratic play Sean and I discussed this last week what what did we discuss it was Sean it was what are the types of players you don’t want right and your answer was Zack LaVine my answer is Zack Zack LaVine I don’t want a bloated $50 million year player that
Yeah that doesn’t play defense and just the Cave the caveat there was yeah if it’s the only move you’re making I don’t see how that helps Kings win games oh but yeah if if you know there are multiple moves that can be made at the before the break you were talking about
Like $90 million a move so there’s no way to make like $90 million moves Sean right like that dude makes 42 million bucks you can’t add Pascal yakum and that now we’re at 80 million it’s like but go ahead but if there was a a poor man’s version of there or more bargain
Hunting in and he ended up being one of several moves that were made or if this team looks dramatically different for you know all for all intents and purposes but at the at the trade deadline then I can Envision success with Zack LaVine but it would have to
Mean that there are you know that this team looks dramatically different so I’m not willing to necessarily throw that idea completely out the window but the reality of seeing that happen is is very if I disappear it’s throwing it out the window it’s me chucking it out said window right now
Like like if that’s a move they make I’m shaking my head and I also if that’s the move they make I don’t think Monty McNair is making the decisions and that would be even worse so well so so my what I what I did say though was I said
I don’t want to see this team as much as I do feel that they need to add you know I’ve always been on the wing position like a guy who can get you a bucket but also have a defensive minded presence um or at least not be a shield defensively
But somebody who’s capable of just you can get the ball to and he can get you a bucket you know um I just don’t want to see a bulk shooter I don’t want to see a guy who goes out there to you know Chuck
20 points to get or 20 shots to get 20 points those types of things with this the way this offense is or designed to be playing through sabonis um giving Fox some health off help offensively I think is the right mindset but I don’t feel that bringing somebody in that’s just
Going to be a chucker is what the Kings need okay I think there’s like a handful of interesting names that I’ve looked at throughout the last we got a list I could rattle off some um I’m a big Dorian finny Smith guy I love Dori and finy Smith I I think
That him and Keegan as your three four would be great for this team he knocks down threes um talked about as a great locker room guy like Dallas loved having him there you could even look at Royce O’Neal on that roster if if you want to look in Chicago everybody loves Alex
Caruso for a damn good reason there’s also Tory Craig right there that I think would be helpful for this team um matis thel we just saw in Portland and know I will say there is some conversations recently about dejonte Murray that are somewhat interesting to me I don’t think
That does it for me but like I think there’s it’s it’s somewhat interesting he hits threes his defense hasn’t been the same it has been in years past throughout the course of the season um but just like rattling off a handful of names there’s different guys out there
There’s still going to be the Pascal SE AUM conversations or Lori marinan if people want to go in that direction and consider that you talk about PJ Washington we just saw coming into town you know like there’s a lot of potential options as there is every year and I
Think if you’re really looking at like okay we have our core three how do we go get our Aaron Gordon kcp that there’s a decent amount of those guys around the league I think okay so I think the better question might be do any of those players I I I mean
Clearly SE yakum right like he he changes who you are as a team but does anyone that you mention like whether it’s Tory Craig or it’s um Dorian fny Smith um like do they change really the outcome of this season like I think last year we looked at some of these like
Potential improvements right you and I I kept pushing same like everyone hates hearing it like uh plumbley and matis cyel if you could added those two pieces number one I don’t think you would have got dominated on the offensive glass like you did against the the Golden State Warriors and like having matis
Styel as another option to go defend Steph Curry would have helped you in the playoffs so I would say that that’s kind of where you were but this year it kind of feels like you’ve moved on from like the tertiary move like the little move that will help you solidify yourself as
A 50- win team you’re kind of playing in a different talent pool if that makes sense so I agree some of those players make sense but those are like I need three of those moves and if I was going to do one of those moves or I need a
Seaka move or I need something like that and I like I don’t think Glory market and going to come available and and even if they did like I’m not sure the Kings would mortgage like three first round picks and two pick swaps to go get Lori
Market in um and I don’t think Pascal SE yakum is gonna cost the same thing uh so yeah I would be all in on Pascal cakam like Sean has been the whole time um so I I think the question more is like what level of player do you guys think the
Kings need as of right now because I think the level of player they need is pretty high I don’t agree the seist yeah go ahead I agree but I will say the of the ones that he mentioned I mean certainly mark would be amazing I just don’t think it’s
Realistic I don’t think Deonte Murray is realistic although why do I feel like he’s going to be a Laker I I just dude they’re open for business like I I’ve had conversations like Atlanta’s like okay yeah what do we got like who who you know who wants in but but of all the
Ones that that were in there and I don’t know that it’s even realistic in this way either uh but kuso makes so much sense uh I just if if you’re Chicago I just don’t I don’t know why you would he’s such a he’s at such a great
Contract um you know even if Chicago completely blows it up which I get like but I don’t think he’s the he’s he’s not the one you necessarily throw out with the wash so um but he move a needle the ones yeah I think so I really do I think
Caruso does move the needle because I think he brings an elite Defender to the to this team he can get you a bucket at times he’s a Handler I think it’s adds some size to the to the back court I think that’s a I think that’s a huge
Move for the Sacramento Kings but um the reality of them being able to get him I think would be that’s that’s another thing I don’t know that they can get him and I also will add that like maybe some of them don’t move the needle that much
This year but it doesn’t have to be all about this year you know if you do like you mentioned maybe you need three of those to really feel good do that over the course of two years you know what I mean and then down the line like going back to the Denver comparison
You know it was offseason they got Aaron Gordon Jamal Murray’s out the whole year they kind of steep back or midseason and then next offseason they go and get kcp you know so like I I think it could happen over time sort of thing and I
Don’t really know I I more so recently thought of maybe they do just want to roll with this and increase those complimentary pieces and was trying to look at it from that angle but certainly getting a another bigger caliber player I mean it’s not gonna
Hurt I’m gonna I’m gonna say the the bad name then because I don’t know how it hasn’t come up do it if I hear if I hear sadique Bay one more goddamn time I’m gonna hang up this pot okay thank God no I mean that I mean no no because that’s
Not not the level that’s not the level of player that I’m talking about I I’m not a huge fan of his game although I like the idea of of his game better than him in in actuality but I went through and looked at Kyle kma’s contract and it’s 25.5 this year it’s
23.5 next year it’s 21.5 the year after that and it’s 19.5 the year after that it’s basically the Buddy heeled Harrison Barnes contracts that Ken Katella signed and he’s 28 years old he fits everything that you need except for he might not be as good a three-point shooter or as good
A Defender as like some of these other options which don’t exist like but I I don’t I hate talking myself into Kyle kma but the Kings traded okay the kings were trading for Kyle kma when Monty McNair traded was like two seconds away a trade call almost happens and they
Almost landed him for Buddy hee they kicked the tires on of this off season they they had negotiated some contract talks with Harrison Barnes then they stopped contract negotiations with Harrison Barnes they went and looked at a couple other players including Kyle kusma they came back to Harrison Barnes
If you can here is the question I would I would ask if there’s a way to get Kyle kosma without giving up Harrison Barnes would you guys be like all in on that or no because I mean I could make a like a TR just the numbers wise if you were to do
Some they want multiple first- round picks I don’t think they’re getting multiple first- round picks for kyba if you were to offer Kevin herder Davon Mitchell a first round pick that’s protected and a second or two seconds that might be enough to get kyak kusma and that would mean that Harrison Barnes
Now becomes your third forward yes or no it’s an easy yes for me I it’s nuts but you figure that part out you figure the rotation and all that kind of stuff you figure that out I mean you’re certainly going to still need to upgrade other areas you’re still going to need to
Figure out some depth but yeah adding Kyle kosma is not a problem for the Sacramento Kings that’s that’s something that you would do and I don’t know I don’t know if I agree if that’s what it takes to get that done but um if so yeah yeah
Absolutely I I may be holding on to this too much but if you go back to that bubbles final he was so good defensively like there is a good Defender within Kyle kma and I personally believe in that’s like saying that there’s good in Darth Vader that’s Darth Vader by the
Way Darth Vader by the way was St Star Wars he is Luke Skywalker his real name is Anakin Skywalker he goes I still feel there’s good in him okay okay okay the only thing that makes kusma like and I get what you’re saying but it look he let’s
Make no mistake he is an offensive weapon okay but he’s 69 he’s got great size uh he he’s quick um he can take up space and he rebounds really well so I know yeah I mean like if the one-on-one defensive stuff isn’t great but team defense I can see
It okay I just fig like I hate asking but like but he gets you a bucket man like that yeah sorry James no it seems like he’s a guy that like maybe not be a true second scorer but could be really close to that and the fact that he averages like I like
Kyle kozma his first year in Washington 17.9 points 8.5 rebounds 0.9 blocks like that’s the guy that I would Circle and say how do you find that Kyle kusma can you can you pull that player back out of him I don’t like that he’s really really
Into the lifestyle I don’t like that he chose to go back to well I mean he just like like he I needwe he wore did you the pink one was crazy well no I need to make sure that he’s a serious player and it’s like still like because he plays for a not
Serious team probably the most unserious team that we’ve ever seen in the NBA with a bunch of dudes who just go around like like chucking up shots and doing whatever they want but also like he decided to go back there he had opportunities for very similar money
That was sitting there uh that he could have gone other places and he chose to go back to so he could score a bunch of points like I need to make sure that that he learned his lesson from that decision and like get me out of here because this Washington situation has
Turned bad like really quickly and if he can be a player that understands that then sure but if he still if he thinks he’s going to come into Sacramento and go put up the numbers that he’s putting up in Washington and not worry about winning then that’s not who I want on my
Team and as a guy I know I told him said a minute ago you know I don’t want to add a chucker to the team he has to play that role for Washington you know he he has to be that guy that puts up 19 20
Shots a game to to average 24 I that’s not who he is and that’s not who he would be with the Kings you know he can CH to be that guy he chose well he went for the money he he went for the money
He had I mean I don’t F King had $25 million to offer they did look you go you go you’re gonna play You’re GNA be the guy you know he went to get his money and he controlled his own destiny and he could be the guy you know it
Hasn’t worked but but he also that’s what I’m talking about does well but to that point James a year later he could be on a different team you know what I mean so that this is he still gave it the Run he still gave like he used that
To improve his situation if he ends up on a better team great so be it I I’m with you is he all about winning probably not but he’s also experienced a little bit of that so and I he also experienced the other side right I think it’s also betting on your culture and
Coaching staff to get the best out of a guy which I feel pretty good about right now Mike BR the best out of somebody and this team culture like somebody fitting into it and that pulling the best out of someone well and what I mean too is like
I don’t want people to just I was hinted but yeah championship in 2020 so like the fact that he’s already experienced what it’s like to win and now he had to go try to you know make the best of it get the best money you can get put
Yourself to be a top scoring option like I don’t I don’t begrudge him at all for that you know even if it means look he knew he was going to Washington they’re not going to be good what’s it look like in two three years like he’s still young enough to
Where he could be a centerpiece you know that’s how he’s looking at it but again the league changes quickly he could be on a different team in six month you know 10 months later so yeah all right well to wrap that one up um so he’s available to trade on January
15th uh that is 11 days from now so all of us are that a thumbs up look at that I made I can’t even do that how do you make that happen that’s probably just a superpower you have over there I think it’s because I’m really cool I don’t
Know I don’t know how the audio listeners James puts his finger his his thumbs up and then he gets a little digital little like little animation that comes up little got animated I I don’t know how that happened but I’m okay with it bubble ring you guys just
Keep trying down keep trying I do of course you’d try that I don’t I don’t know why it was so so yes everyone is a thumbs up yeah I mean yes I there there are play I would there are players I would like probably better but yeah if that
Was the especially if the with the the offer that you had put out on the table I think that would go over pretty well for sure is that an offer you think is is reasonable I don’t think that gets it done yeah I don’t think that offer gets
It done like you’re Wasington you just signed him go ahead and outlay it say say what the offer was again in your mind how what it gets done I just don’t see it being herder Mitchell uh a first and a future SEC and a second yeah I don’t think it does
It it’s not that far off though don’t think so either yeah I mean how far is the first we’re talking about and what sort of protection I guess like James James not no offense buddy but that was the equivalent of what you see on message boards so often where it’s like let me
Find all the that isn’t working with the Kings throw it out there with a first round pick and I’m going to get somebody who is thought of as a like a like a a b talent in the league that’s G you like I just don’t to me I don’t see
Why Washington would do that yeah but like I’m not I’m not saying hey throw Harrison Barn’s a a 31 year old guy I mean Kevin herder’s 25 years old and get it but he’s also you’re talking about two guys who aren’t a part of your rotation really you know what I mean
That are lower level rotation at this point I’d also add in that no matter what you’re gonna have to match salaries for a guy like kozma so you’re not in my opinion you’re not trading kozma in this situation for the players you’re getting so that’s not what I’m doing there like you’re trading
Kozma to move off the money and to get pics but if with respect if if I’m Washington I’m hanging up the phone that’s not value well yeah that’s not value to trade a guy right right yeah I think look I mean look at just look at at recent trades like I think
It’s going to take multiple first round picks without swaps without you know that’s just that’s just how you can want in one hand and you know what else and the other and see what happens first but I’ll say I think that they’re gonna they’re going to want something for kzo
They’re going to want a return that’s going to be more substantial than what you’re you’re I mean kind of they’re literally I mean like the word on the street is they asking for to they’re asking for multiple first round picks like two first round picks yeah but like
A lot of teams ask for two first round picks like a lot of times two first round picks is a first and two seconds uh or a you know maybe a first and a second like I don’t know that you’re getting two first round picks for kyak kusma the perspective where like the
Players you’re throwing in are just not great or like Great Value you know like I think that Kevin herder fine Harrison Mars is fine I don’t think those guys are necessarily negative value on their deals or anything like that but like you look at the OG trade it’s players that
Are the main return there obviously and it’s like any deal that the kings make their players that are included are gonna just kind of be whatever you know so it has to be picks and you have Team control with kozma as opposed to somebody like OG who was about to enter
Free agency or is but at at the same time like every team that you’re deal de with has their own motivation for trading a player Washington has to start over Toronto is not starting over Toronto’s trying to match a timeline with a A young star in Scotty Barnes and
That’s why they wanted a 23 year old and a 24y old and uh and RJ Barrett and and Emanuel quickley that’s not the case with every team they like so yeah the value of what you’re getting like would Washington maybe prefer expiring contracts maybe but I don’t know like Kevin herder’s deal really
Isn’t that bad it’s two more years at 35 million bucks you have to pay somebody Davon Mitchell has one more year left on your on his deal like Washington’s not a like a free agent like Hub where you can go get all kinds of players like herder
Would play valuable minutes for them for the next two years after this year well I mean Washington not only is they’re they’re in they’re already starting over like they’re already they’ve got a bunch of young players they have hardly any veterans they don’t have a single young
Player that you just circle and say okay I’m building around none you’re not building around would agree with that no I would you’re building around a Jordan pool you’re financially maybe building around Jordan pool but like I don’t know I I I think it’s interesting because again like
Every team that you’re going to trade with they they have their own motivations for why they’re trading the king’s motivation is to take the next step the rapt motivation was to get younger um a lot of teams motivation is to get draft picks so yeah and that’s
Where Washington if I’m you know they’re going to be looking at draft picks if they could get expiring contracts that might make sense to them but even that I don’t know if that makes sense so all right uh what do we got for final thoughts let’s start with Brendan
Brendon what do you got the Lakers are a show and it’s great it’s great it’s great it sounds like darham is is uh pretty likely on the way out and I can’t find I’m trying to find the uh quote in here yeah okay there’s currently this is
From sham Shania Yovan bhha the athletic right there’s currently a deepening disconnect between darham and the Lakers locker room six sources with direct knowledge of the situation say have you guys ever seen six that’s ridiculous I’ve seen multiple usually you just say m i want see is crazy who are the six
Because if it’s like Christian Wood Jackson Hayes uh no no no no it’s LeBron James it’s LeBron Rich Paul Maverick Carter yeah Jimmy Spencer’s one it just throw him in there Jimmy Spencer can can say no we need to make a change yeah go
Ahead well I mean I I would just say a yeah I mean if okay then what you know what I mean like the Laker like they gassed out you know they put all their eggs into the end tournament basket it seems and in season tournament
And uh they partied like as if it was a championship which good for them but yeah they were uh they’ve been bad and you know Gabe Vincent who was one of the players they went after this past off season and landed him and he hasn’t played all year you know he’s been hurt
And he’s going to be out for a a little while longer um my my question is okay great you fired dark ham then what I mean the reality is is like LeBron James and the Lakers need to have a divorce like the Lakers need to they they just
Need to separate it in my opinion like you’re Anthony Davis is your guy it’s always been that way uh for the past two years especially but after they won like doing what the like you’re just trying to appease LeBron at this point and you’re just not positioned well to do it
And you know so what Sean is saying is some Barnes Kevin Davon Mitchell and a first righta LeBron you know what’s wild that I feel like isn’t being talked about is that LeBron is a player option for next year and this is the year that bronnie is supposed to get drafted and
He’s publicly declared that he wants to play with Brony right yeah is that gonna be a thing or what and the King’s traded away their first rounder of course the king can’t be a king oh they can acquire one yeah and I guess I mean there’s a
There’s a really good chance that if it wasn’t for that fact that that Brony slides to the second round like I mean we’re talking about a kid who unfortunately has a heart problem and and not only that but doesn’t he is not a Surefire first round pick at all so I
Think he’s been better as of late but yeah more to prove for sure yeah I I think it’s interesting that the Lakers built a team around LeBron James and thought that bringing in like D’Angelo Russell cam reddish ruy hachimura Christian Wood Jared vanderbel Jackson Hayes they didn’t bring in
Winners they didn’t go out and find a bunch of dudes who can help you get over the hump R these guys just fell off their couch heing that well no I mean no I mean it’s you’re in salary cap yeah I I guess but I mean you trade and I’m not
Saying he’s a bad player but like I think Ry help Kings there’s enough out there on a lot of these players to tell you that they’re not guys who make winning basketball plays I mean ruy was in Washington for long enough to you know to get a little bit of of that
Stink on him so I don’t know and the Lakers traded away Westbrook for DLo and some other guys but Mike Conley’s in that deal as well and Mike Conley looks real damn good in Minnesota right now and probably would be a way better fit in LA than DLo just saying
They they absolutely love him up there absolutely love him yeah I mean there’s a lot that goes into what’s happened to that Lakers Squad and you saw like the the Doc Rivers rumors right they’re like oh maybe doc will take over like okay he gonna call their game the night before
And then suit up on the second night of a back toback yeah he’ll be super generous about what he’s saying the entire game and then like why is he being so nice why is he saying how good Christian Wood is and how how LeBron James still has so much in the tank and
Then next day you’re like the other name the other name to monitor there and I don’t know that it would happen but Mark Jackson would be the other name that just sounds wonderful I know it does I am all for this yeah the one the one that the one that has the most
Chaos to it is actually Doc Rivers because I just for some reason have a hard time picturing Doc Rivers and LeBron James who are other what like Terry STS like who are other guys out there that didn’t get jobs James Bargo like I don’t even know yeah well you remember David
Fizdale was a hot commodity for so long um I don’t know there’s I don’t know that he still is like I mean d let’s be honest a lot of these guys don’t want to pick up midseason and and likely wouldn’t pick up midseason and so at that point what are you doing because
Now you’re just wasting another year of LeBron so yeah no it’s chaos man it’s a tough part of being in the Lakers because you expect greatness all the time you’ve got the you know arguably the generation the generation’s biggest talent on your uh on your team in his
Later years father time has certainly caught up with him even though he’s still putting up incredible numbers he’ll be on another All-Star team mainly for fan votes but I mean you can see it you can see that just the just the usage on him and then when they were talking about
Earlier in the season how they were going to try and keep his minutes down it’s it’s tough he’s still averaging 25 7.4 assists and 7.3 rebounds in 34.3 minutes per game that’s pretty is playing some of his best basketball too and it’s not LeBron shooting 39.5% from
Three yeah like I know father time is is like like CLA at him there but he might be father time he he slayed that Beast for way longer than anyone thought so yeah he gave father time time run for his money he gave him two black eyes that’s
For sure yeah he dunked on him a couple of times yeah um okay uh Sean do you have any final thoughts uh brenon just got a Sidetrack there yeah he did those are those are nice I didn’t I forgot we were in final thoughts uh just hey people don’t kill
Each other over Stanley Cups um especially the pink one or the red one or whatever the hell it was that’s crazy I think hocky every time I hear that I don’t Bron you weren’t you weren’t here the last time uh in our last podcast and I said that I
Had seen the movie uh poor things which is one of the trippiest movies I’ve seen in a long time I don’t even know if I like it but I hadn’t stopped being able to think about it and as you not being real movie guy I want you to watch it
And then and then report back to me because I think me recommending it to you you’ll watch it you’ll come and look at me like I have three heads on my shoulders you’re gonna go what was that and I wonder if you’ll like it seriously
I me I I did realize the other day I had like a a little road trip and you know we pulled up just random road trip questions and one of them it was great and one of them was what’s your favorite scary movie and I realized I could list
A decent amount of scary movies so apparently just over the years that’s what I’ve seen more than anything but what was the one you recommended poor things with Emma Stone William defo Mark Ruffalo Jared Carmichael has an appearance in there sure um my favorite scary movie is
Glitter glitter don’t know it I think I know that it’s it’s it’s horrific it’s with Mariah Carey that’s not a scary movie right it’s just depend on who you ask that’s why I was thinking I’m like is that the Mariah Carey movie it’s I will say it wasn’t intended to be scary
But it scared the out of me that movie like wow that was made yeah um okay final thoughts um I don’t know we got to get through this week window this is like like uh I don’t know about you guys I’ve had a long week of like the backto backs at
Home Friday uh we got a game on Sunday I don’t know I don’t know what to expect from this team night in night out um but I don’t know o overall it’s been a fun season because they’re not I mean they’re interesting they’re like a like a weird science exper experiment to
Watch play out so I don’t really have a whole lot else go going on besides that I’m just tired I’m very tired um yeah okay uh let’s see that’s going to do it for this edition of the kingsby podcast um if you’re still watching somehow give
Us a thumbs up I don’t know let’s see if we can do it again I think you’re too pixelated yes oh there it is what the hell I don’t know you can try it again BR I’m gonna bring real bubbles next episode you’re gonna bring real bubbles and oh wow
Bubbles and candles you would you would have all kinds of weird ass going on um okay uh yeah um jump on board with prize picks uh jump on board with the Kings be go to the Kings beat.com and become a premium subscriber uh we’ll have a happy
Hour I it’s just been my schedule’s been chaos and and just finding time for us to get a podcast together has been extremely difficult for all three of us so we’ll do the best we can to get one as soon as possible and uh we’ll find a guest uh cool so
For box 40 Sean Cunningham and Brendan unz from the Kings pul podcast I am James ham Kings and sat for ESPN 1320 and the Kings beat see you soon
Fox 40’s Sean Cunningham, Brenden Nunes from the Kings Pulse Podcast and The Kings Beat’s James Ham join forces for coverage of the exciting Sacramento Kings.
Topics include the Kings’ inexcusable loss to the Charlotte Hornets, a bounce back double overtime victory over the Magic, Kevin Huerter loses starting job to Chris Duarte, erratic play continues, as well as another edition of The Business of Basketball centered around more trade options.
Thanks for joining us on this adventure! Big shoutout to Paul Jinkerson (@paulitition) for creating a new intro and outro for the podcast and to Brenden for creating our new overlay for the podcast.
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10 Comments
I have this feeling we are going to trade Monk and it’s going to upset me greatly if I’m right
Ham says the Kings didn’t have bad losses by this time last year. I remember two bad losses to the Wizards and, yes, the Hornets. And Kings media was probably hyperventilating at those losses this time last year.
Throw in another 2 round kevin Davion 1Round and 2 Seconds they will do that
I feel the Kings are a few moves away from being a really good team, but they don't have the assets that anyone wants that they are willing to give up. Malik is their best asset, and there is NO WAY the Kings should let him run in free agency. They should do everything in their power to keep Fox and Monk together. They are lethal when they are both on, esp with Sabonis. They need one more player who can bring more consistency on both the defensive and offensive ends.
Malik Monk expert here … to help you guys out.
First: James, booooo.
Malik played 4 (not 3) painful years in Charlotte. What made them painful? He always played with a very short leash. When he was yanked, it was the silent treatment from his coach- very little communication. His minutes vanished often, and DNP-CD were common. Borrego tried to develop Malik with "tough love" and by "keeping him hungry," but mostly by not communicating anything meaningful to him.; and, he often went back on his word and made empty promises.
Fast forward to Monk's time with the Kings. I told Deuce Mason the day before this game exactly this: "Malik will make a couple of mistakes and MB will take his minutes away." How did I know this? Because it's a pattern of behavior by MB when Malik plays CHA. Malik gets sooooo excited to play against the Hornets (and the Hornets get super excited to play against Malik, hence partly why they keep beating the Kings). It might look like he's being lackadaisical, but it's actually Malik playing with an air of confidence and excitement … he knows he can beat the Hornets and do it with a little cocky flair. So, yes, he pirouettes in the corner and shoots a quick 3. And, yes, he under hands a pass to Domas like it's an all-star game. He hadn't settled his nerves yet and he his excitement was getting the best of him.
The end of the 1st quarter was a rough stretch for the team. Malik had 3 mistakes in that stretch. However, if you look at everyone else in that stretch, Malik was far from the worst offender. Fox bricked three after three after three. Sabonis had multiple turnovers. Huerter smacked the backboard with a horrendous three pointer. Having Len out there didn't help (part of the reason he didn't play the next night). That was a giant mess from all the guys. I went through each possession in that segment and Malik actually graded out the best of anyone — Sabonis and Fox the worst.
So MB benches Malik and only Malik. And he gives him the silent treatment. And, now, against the very team that gives Malik PTSD — the team where he was terribly "coached" by Borrego and very regularly had his minutes chopped — Brown does exactly what Borrego used to do. And this isn't the first time he's done this to Malik against CHA!!!
Brown should not have benched Malik. Coach him on the spot, sit him for a bit, and then get him back in there. He wasn't playing any worse than anyone else, you needed him, and you a triggering his PTSD by acting like dumb Borrego. That's what a coach is supposed to do — talk to your players, give them the critical feedback, pump them up, help them succeed. It's just like Sabonis with his turnovers and inability to hold onto the ball — coach him and help him, don't just sit bench his ass without explanation.
No, James, taking Monk's minutes isn't the only way to get through to him. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard from you. Don't portray Monk as that "type" of player. As MB and Malik explained and then exemplified, that's not how it should have been handled.
They shoot like 40+ 3s on like 99 possessions a night. There's the reasons why they either blow out or get blow out.
Every team in the NBA has had blowout losses. Multiple of them. Even the best teams have been blown out a few times. Just a weird season this year
Yess, right after a nice win gents. Gritty performance last night against the Magic!
32:45 FACTS
Frozen ham… always a great time😂😂😂