The James Ham Show – What Is This Sacramento Kings Team?
Let’s bring in James ham here hammer what’s happening man H not a lot it’s been a long time since we’ve talked to you on the stream yeah it’s been a little while yeah we’ll see how many times I freeze before I get angry and like switch no emails I switch uh Wi-Fi
Yeah what’s going on uh man let’s um real quick I think he took it down oh yeah he was trying to make a joke and it’s like bro I don’t know how I feel about with all this man RG3 is not the one I really you get to
All on those shows he’s like really trying for the pause moments too um you’re listening to DLo and Casey on kfm West Sacramento 98.5 FM KX qd2 Sacramento ESPN 1320 always live in unedited on the free Odyssey app uh same true for 1320 TV here on Twitch YouTube
And Twitter uh James let’s let’s let’s do the opposite of how we started the show let’s go back to Friday before before we dive into the debacle of last night going back to the SE yakum stuff uh by the way Kings got a great win against Toronto that was all but
Completely erased from everything but the record book last night um got a great win against Toronto uh but the conversation certainly was how sham shiria said as we were wrapping things up on Friday hey it looks like the Sacramento Kings and the Toronto Raptors are fully engaged in talks surrounding
Pascal cakam and then about an hour later Kings in the Raptors have ended conversations and then sham shiria talking this morning uh about I shouldn’t have laughed I apologize the deal centering around Harrison Barnes and so we’ve got all that James and as we’ve learned here during the show we’ve
Passed along to the audience I’m sure you’re you’re aware of this as well uh at least part of the reason this all fell apart was SE yakum told Sacramento he would not sign here and that is a big reason why this all fell apart in addition to while Shams used the term
Centered around Harrison Barnes we learned that like maybe Harrison was involved but he wasn’t actually the centerpiece of the deal yeah that’s a lot so I haven’t uh been up to speed on everything as far as like what’s in the deal what’s not but I certainly I mean there were some murmur
Last night while I was uh at the arena that it’s possible that Malik Monk’s name had come up in conversations in in this potential trade but I haven’t heard that specifically myself I it’s it’s something that had been brought up as someone else had heard that and it it’s
Not my source so I’m not you know gonna run with that as much as I would say you know that’s very possible um it’s it’s plausible because you know the the package that includes Kevin herder and you know Harrison Barnes and Davon Mitchell that’s not that enticing right
Now for a lot of teams especially for a team that’s trying to reset their roster at like 21 22 23 uh that that’s just not something that like jumps at you and says okay I got to make this deal and that’s not to disrespect Kevin herder or you know
Harrison Barnes or uh or Davon it’s just their market value isn’t isn’t enough to go get a two-time Allstar even if he is on expiring contract and so um you know that’s where draft Capital comes in that’s where you know all the other negotiations that come in at this point
Like what are the Kings trading for how long can they keep him a player like cakam um how much does he want as an extension these are all questions that have to be answered before you really want to jump into a massive deal like this because I I think I explained to
You guys last week if you do make this deal there’s there’s no way to recover if he leaves via free agency you don’t have the the cap space to go do something to even replace players like Barnes or or herder or Davon you don’t you might be able to replace one or two
Of them but certainly not the group and it would really put you in a weird cap space um so yeah I don’t know I I think you know maybe it’s better the king’s do just move on if he if he’s not interested in signing here the conversation’s over that’s just the way
It it goes James we had talked about that um hypothetical earlier and I said I wouldn’t hesitate to do it if even if he said I’m not interesting to sign and one of the reasons and I we just have a conversation about it I think those
Pieces that you’d be giving up I think they are replaceable you know worst case I’ve already mentioned Trey L should be starting at the four so you’re not losing a uh starting four he’d still be here I’m saying if SE yakum was gone and I think I said Barnes and Davon I didn’t
Put herder in there but Barnes is already being replaced and move to the bench um so you’re not missing a whole lot there in my opinion Davon is a guy that a lot of people feel shouldn’t be in the rotation right now because uh so
Like SE yakum left what are you what are you really losing well I I get what you’re saying but there’s a difference between having Harrison Barnes and Kevin herder and Davon Mitchell on your roster and not having them because no matter what you do have to replace them you have to replace them
With something and you know we’re talking about you know 15 to 18819 million do players two of them like those guys are valuable pieces whether they’re playing right now they’re playing well right now in the king’s rotation or not you know that’s that’s a whole another discussion um and whether
Trey Lyles is is you know good enough to displace uh Harrison Baron starting lineup I mean that’s your opinion um I’m not sure that that’s an opinion shared by by Mike Brown and so yeah I mean I I get what you’re saying and I and I do
Think that there are you know different ways to build fill those voids but just salary cap Wise It’s very very difficult you know remember we we got to was it last uh it was leading up to free agency right the Kings didn’t have anyone they could actually trade leading up to free
Agency they had like there literally was outside of Malik Monk and keam Murray and deonis sabonis and dearen fox they didn’t H oh and of course Kevin herder they didn’t really have people under contract to go actually trade for somebody and that was a huge issue
If you were to give away these players you’d kind of be in the same spot where you don’t have any cap space with them gone and then you don’t actually have any trade ships to actually move whether again they’re viewed as expiring contracts or only a year and a half left
On their deal type contracts you know you get to next year’s trade deadline and you’ve filled up your roster with a bunch of league minimum players and maybe one mid-level exception player and if you can get uh Malik monk to come back on the early bird then you’ve got
Him but that’s a that’s a big risk to take even if it’s just looking them at these players as like salary to use in a trade so again I get what you’re saying do do me a favor James because you you have a better understanding of how this
Works to me why wouldn’t you have cap space because you freed up the Barnes contract in the Davon contract you brought back se yakum he didn’t sign so where does that money now go like shouldn’t you have those contracts that are no longer on your books available to
For some type of cap space whether you’re taking back contract or getting I don’t know mid-level guy or something like that like what why wouldn’t they have cap space in that situation yeah so the way the cap works is the Kings have like the cap is going to rise to like
144 maybe 145 million next year right and if you take away the players we’re talking about and the players who are free agents on the Kings roster right now the Alex lens or or javil McGee the guys who signed one-year deals all those guys if you just look at the core
Without Davon without uh Harrison barn and without Kevin herder the Kings would drop down to like 115 million so on paper it looks like you have 30 million bucks roughly to spend but automatically you have a cap hold for um for Malik monk so and that’s like $ 122.8 million
So there goes you got to back that money out of out of your cap space and then the midlevel exception is at about 12 million bucks that also is a cap hold that you have to back out so now that’s 24 of the 30 million and then on top of
That for every open roster spot you have which in this scenario would be like four or five maybe even six or seven it you have to put a a league minimum capital hold of 1.1 million bucks so if you have seven open roster spots that’s like 7.7 million bucks so now your 30
Million is zero but you’re actually in the negative already and that’s just with being able to retain Malik monk sign a mid-level exception player and then fill the rest of your roster out so that’s why I mean when you have a player like deonas sabonis and you have a
Player like dearon Fox who make you know both of them are going to make upwards of you know 3540 million next year um and then you have Rising contracts like Keegan Murray and and some of the other contracts that the Kings have on their roster uh it eats up that cap space
Pretty quick even you know a guy like Chris dwte I think is on the hook for six million bucks next year now that’s not to say that the Kings couldn’t like start trading other pieces and clear up some more cap space or resend their their uh mid-level exception and pick up
That 12 million bucks and all of a sudden you might be able to get up to like 18 to 20 million bucks in cap space but it’s not that simple uh you know and and we’re talking about realistically we’re talking about two rotational players like whether they’re playing
That well right now or not I mean those guys combined for over 60 Minutes a game last season and even this season they’re still well over 50 minutes a game like that’s a lot to replace and then Davon on top of that so yeah like there are
Ways to to build out a roster in in this scenario but you also are running the risk of taking a tremendous step back and not even having pieces that you can go out and make trades with and that’s that’s tough mon needs to call the Dodgers yeah figure out how they work
That out yeah it’s a little different in baseball maybe a million dollars defer it defer yeah defer defer all of his payments until 2030 um James fans understandably have reactions to games like last night where man I hope this I hope this wakes Monty make wakes Monty up I hope I hope Monty
Knows he has to do something after a performance like this at the golden one Center um I’m pretty sure Monty is of the belief uh he needs to do something um or should do something for this team to you know get into that category of of being a contender but until that’s done
This is what we have what is this team James I would like to like tell you that I know like I’ve covered a lot of teams over the years uh most of them bad and I don’t even remember really really bad teams having this type of erratic play
And and not only that not just erratic play like I’ve covered a team that you know lost backtack games that were just like holy cow they got smoked and I’ve lot I’ve covered teams that a seven or eight or nine in a row multiple times in
A season but this team like there’s no way to put your finger on what’s Happening like how do you go behind how do you drop down 50 points behind your opponent on your home floor I mean I felt so bad for people who paid money to watch that yesterday I don’t even know
How you know like I I have a buddy who I I mentioned this on the Insiders earlier who text me that he spent 700 bucks bucks on tickets for him and his family to sit by I assume lower bowl maybe they brought a couple of friends whatever but
700 bucks just in tickets and no Zion Williamson which that was like one big thing that wasn’t who one big player who wasn’t who didn’t play but then for the Kings to just not show up at all you know it’s embarrassing and this is a trend that has happened so many times
This season we’re looking at 10 losses by double figures and a whole lot more than that by by 152 20 points that’s just again I don’t know how to put a finger on the erratic play that that are the kings and here’s a weird fact they’re still considerably ahead of
Where they were last year I don’t know considerably anymore but like they didn’t get to five games over 500 until January 15th last year and that’s so right now they’re at seven you know if they take care of business against two really bad teams that are coming up that
Puts them nine games over 500 and we’re still January don’t start Pro I agree it’s just bizarre that you can’t like there is no way to to know who’s gonna show up from one night to the next they got a back toback with Detroit and Charlotte
Yeah I don’t know if the Orlando game was a no was the Orlando game the second night of a back toback yeah because they they got blown out by Charlotte or beat up by Charlotte in the first one I don’t know I mean so because because of and here’s what we
We’ve tried to figure out throughout the whole day because they’re erratic doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad right it means they Pro probably aren’t like a contender or nothing like that but I think we get frustrated because we don’t know what team’s going to show up and that is frustrating like you can’t hang
Your hat on something but would you agree James this isn’t a bad team it’s just a inconsistency there’s a difference in my opinion no I totally agree I totally agree and the other thing I I keep bringing up is it’s not like they take like one step forward two
Steps back it’s always like two steps forward one step back like again the wins over Orlando and who’s the other team they beat last week oh and Toronto those are really good wins like they are I mean they’re not like the cream of the crop but those are long athletic young teams
That play hard are physical those were good wins but for as much as those were good wins a loss to Charlotte missing one of the worst teams in the league missing four starters it’s just you can’t do that especially at home I mean that’s again that’s
Inexcusable and then you know to lose to new uh to New Orleans okay they’ve got your number I get that but at least make it competitive and I don’t know I I haven’t seen something like this at all like again a team that loses you know
Nine in a row it’s just flat out bad we can all agree and I covered so many of those those teams that were just they’re just not talented enough this team has plenty of talent they show up against really good teams and then other games they just there’s nothing there they’re
A shell of themselves and everything looks out of sorts and so yeah I don’t know I don’t know how to like piece it together because it doesn’t make sense to me as someone who’s watched a tremendous amount of basketball over the last you know 145 years Ham’s analogy of
Uh two steps forward one step back is how they inched their way to seven games over 500 yeah like that’s how you get the seven games over like if it was one step forward one step back they’d be like two or three games but they’ll do it for
Like two games and then have Charlotte loss and they do that enough and instead of being three games over you’re seven games over yeah I’d like to I’d like to tell you there’s some Rhyme or Reason to what’s happening here but there just isn’t and until they figure out sort of
That identity crisis that they’re under then I really I you know it’s hard to say how good this team can be or you know what their their ceiling is or anything else because clearly they can beat anybody outside of like Boston I don’t think they can be Boston um and
We’ll see Philly and Milwaukee on this trip and you may say the same thing but yeah I’m gonna need to see it to believe it yeah this season they they’ve beat Denver they’ve beat uh they’ve beat Dallas uh at their home Oklahoma City they beat a couple of times Phoenix they beat a
Couple of times the Lakers they’ve beat a lot of playoff teams so it’s not just this you know and it can just be matchups but I don’t know I it it’s it’s definitely alarming at this point and I honestly at this point there’s a lot of
Guys in that locker room that are just you can sense that they know that there is trade talk going on that they may be part of it they also know that like the kings are looking to make a move now they’re not they’re not looking to wait
Around um even like the the deadline being February February 8th like if they could make a move tomorrow they probably would like this is a a group that wants to not only make a move but make a move to gets them that solidifies who they are right now and helps them move
Forward for the final 40 plus games of the Season 50 games of the Season they’re not waiting around and uh and so that also it puts a different stress in the locker room because a lot of guys in there are looking around wondering you know how many more games they have left
With that group and it’s not a you know I covered Marcus Marcus sorton was he’s the example that I always give but like I I swear that Marcus sorton like his hair would start to fall out during trade deadline time he couldn’t play at all he was so like the it was anxiety
And just stress and he wasn’t even mentioned most of the time in trades it’s just that whole season it can get to some of these players and other people just handle it like all right well this is the way it is like I know it’s a business and if I’m here I’m here
And if I’m not I’m not um but you know I think we’re seeing that it’s affecting some of the players in different ways will it continue to um particularly with guys like Kevin herder who you just desperately want to to get going again for guys like Harrison Barnes whose name from now until
Eternity will be referenced in trade talks like for the rest of his career his name is going to be referenced in trade talks just because and and and I know that doesn’t feel like a a compliment but he’s a guy who can fit on so many teams he’s a guy who can help
Contenders he’s a vet who can help young guys like he’s a he’s a player who can do so many different things particularly at this stage of his career but you know Casey and I were talking about like it feels like that that that Allin thing boy it was prevalent last year and now
It feels like maybe maybe we got a foot in maybe maybe we’re dipping our toe in the water February 9th we’re all in right now we just going to dip a little toe in the water it’s just the you know the Vibes are off and can guys like herder Barnes
Guys who have kind of been up and down already this season can they recover because there’s a James the trade deadline’s a freaking month away there’s a it’s not like it’s next Thursday like there are a ton of games long road trips tough games at home tough teams there’s
A lot still here in front of them before this deadline gets here yeah you can’t take your foot off the gas and I mean like we always hear like 82 games is a marathon it it’s very true it’s a it’s such a long brutal stretch and things like this things like trade deadlines
Trade things like rumors it really does unsettle what’s happening inside a locker room you know and so it’s it’s their job to be pros and to push push the outside noise out and to move forward as a group I I think a five-game road trip is probably what this team
Needed right now uh it’s one of those things where you go out on the road and you try to get yourself like back together as as a as a team try to have you know dinners together and and go do things together as a group and hopefully
That leads to you know some camaraderie on the court uh and just kind of holding together while this thinging you know like sometimes it feels like it’s falling apart but I’d even say like look this team is still seven games over fight 500 like any other year outside of
Last year Kings fans would beg for this to be the problem you know to to be in this situation that you’re in right now where you you’re a legitimate playoff team everyone in the league knows your legitimate playoff team now can you add another piece or two to get yourself
Over the hump and that’s why I always I hate using like we get into these conversations all the time about uh you know like the the trans actions that could happen the the trade rumors all these things and there are to there are human lives on the other end of all of
These things and it doesn’t feel good to these guys you know like right now like if anyone out there thinks Kevin herder wants to miss shots you’re just wrong like the guy wants to succeed he would love to be part of this team for a long
Time and he would love to figure out why he’s he’s you know he can’t find the bottom of the basket but you know this stuff like this like all these rumors and stuff they impact impact that and you know it doesn’t help that you’re already feeling a little off now you’re
You’re off and you’re looking over your shoulder the whole time and not wondering whether the coach is going to pull you but you’re wondering whether you’re getting pulled into the GM’s office at any time and again it’s just a it’s an awkward thing that I don’t think there aren’t many businesses like this
In the world where you know your boss can just walk in the door and say hey sorry but you’re not even going to a a different city you’re going to a different country we’ve sent you to Canada good luck up there uh playing for the Raptors and that’s it’s just a
Reality of of the NBA and the difficulty of what these guys go through Stacy tried to trade me to Kansas City earlier and they demanded I’d come with Bennett’s fries that’s right that was that was the really they really wanted the fries uh let’s come back I I I could
See a thought on you hold that thought for one second Cu uh I know you and James like to cook so we’ll come back we’ll talk much more with James ham about Kings basketball we’ll talk yes about that game yesterday and more importantly uh the road trip ahead and
What these next couple of weeks look like for Sacramento while we’re here go Blue yeah the uh Michigan Wolverines if you’d like to hear the Michigan Wolverines win their first national championship since 1997 tune in here the ESPN 1320s I fully expect them to beat Washington by a minimum of three and a
Half scores sure that’s coming up here uh at the top of the 4:00 hour we’re back with more with James Hamil Sacramento sports leader ESPN 1320 that’s going to be like 70% Michigan Jesus poor Washington Road game James you ever been a fan of college football no no um when I was young I was but you know it’s only so many times that you can you know I think
I was more of a casual fan that like to bet college football and like how do you bet a 45 point spread take the team that’s um favored by 45 yeah there for a reason but I I think the point though is like who wants to watch that who
Wants to be part of that who wants to go to that I mean that’s not fun that means that you know that’d be the equivalent of like the king playing a g-league team every third week or something where you’re just going to crush somebody so I
Like the NFL um you know the college game is I don’t know I like the speed and the the quickness of it and like how uh you know the running clock and how you can well the killer the killer about the college game that I just do not like and
I don’t know why they don’t fix it they act like the NFL is not right in front of them like there is no way to fix it the games are entirely too long enti too long they’ve tried to work on that a little bit because they used to stop the
Clock on every first down I think it was every first down in the goddamn game they’ stopped the clock and I don’t think they do it as I think they had some uh time don’t do it as much but the the two semifinal games they started at
Two two o’clock they didn’t end till 9:30 just two games it’s like seven and a half hours for two games that’s that’s entirely too much where you look at the NFL they get two games done in six hours that hour means something that means something so that’s the one thing I
Don’t like about college football but you never like aside from like betting and stuff like that just growing up you never like oh I like Cal or no I I like Notre Dame when I was young because Notre Dame was on TV all the time because NBC had the the television
Rights to Notre Dame the whole time to like the Holz era so I watched a lot of Notre Dame and you know I I enjoyed watching it um but it was more of like just to wet your appetite for Sunday for watching the NFL so yeah I don’t know I um it’s college
Basketball I love too but I I like to watch later in the year where it’s a little better refined poor csb I had a conversation with myself about this last night said I’m going to spend this week watching some college basketball because I have not paid much attention
To it at all and I love college basketball but it’s it’s suffering the most with all this uh realignment transfer portal stuff in my opinion it’s yeah it’s to keep up with who’s who’s who who’s supposed to be good who’s not good all this other stuff well
That and I mean when we’ve seen the same things years and years and years I mean you start to know exactly where um sorry my brain went sideways there um if you gota tweet something tweet it James what we got what we got Kyle kma no yeah oh the transfer Port portal
Thing is just wild and it just like you also there’s so many teams that are system teams that the players will never be good in the pros like they they just aren’t gonna doesn’t matter how good they are you know they’re not gonna the game’s not going to
Translate for as much as I complain about college basketball you probably even say the same thing about college or excuse me college football you can say the same thing about college basketball the national championship is still pretty dope like I love National Championship Monday on both sides football and
Basketball and the semi-final the B season was garbage the semi-finals for these first national champions is still top of the line so maybe the maybe the playoff will be a little better than than I’m thinking it might be yeah I had a a great time going to the final four
Was it last year year before New Orleans yeah New Orleans yeah that was that was super fun to be there for like their festivities you know watching the the lower bowl broken up into four you know different schools and switching out the student section after every game that was a lot of
Fun okay was the last one right or we’re going to have to get out early okay and we’re going right at the top of the hour Kade Cunningham has avoided Serious injury to his left knee but won’t play oh yeah he’s out for few games yeah I didn’t see the injury
Oh boy they will be in Las Vegas next year we’re doing the show live yeah we’re doing the show live from Vegas D KC let’s go we broken them down guys we worn him down let’s go before he used to say yeah without me I like we just got to see whose
Residency is there that at that time that’s it tell him Vegas Barling now d That’s it baring put it on a shirt Vegas Barling got a little had to got this little table that is like when you when you sit in the in the in this table like
The The Fountains are right behind you the bagio fountains hyped hyped sounds Rich you have to pay extra for the oh shut up I wish I was like damn you guys are I do too man it’s just it’s a different lifestyle man it really is I don’t care where I stay in
Vegas James you need a third guy on the Insiders because I’ve about had it with these two I don’t even know if I’m rich enough make enough money to be in this room right now to be fact that’s why I sit in the producers room I’m I’m still
Doing the show in there guys are ridiculous another mic for you Casey thank you the producers room oh boy we’re close we’re close to getting Kyle in the main room that’s what I I keep hearing it’s like we’re almost there where Kyle’s gonna join me in in
Studio what is it Studio two Studio yeah who’s who Studio who’s sitting in Studio One this is running itself no they’re they’re making it so he can run the show from the board right in front of you oh very good very good yeah that’s that’s
The plan I like it so I’ll switch over I’ll be there in in uh Casey’s seat okay and he’ll be in and then we won’t have all those adjustments to make at the the we’ll see though yeah oh man the evolution of the Insiders love to see it love to see it
Love to see it uh James uh a lot of Kings talk here today trade deadline a month away we had the seaka rumors from last week like let’s say hypothetically that that is just a a a a a a call that mon McNair is not willing to answer
Anymore like we’ve been down this road with Toronto I think we got enough Intel to believe they’ve been down this road with Toronto a couple of times uh let’s just move on from dealing with Messiah Jerry where do you James ham the general manager turn your attention to
Next yeah I mean there’s going to be deals out there that we don’t know right they’re players there are going to be players that that we we aren’t looking at that we haven’t like centered on that uh that could become available right um I also I think that the kings are
Probably going to go back to the uh the Kyle kosma discussion and see if there’s any way to get him out of Washington you know we’ve heard that there’s potential for him to be available uh although the asking price of two second round picks I mean two first- round picks seems a
Little high um but he’s still a player who makes sense and the way that if I’m the Kings and I’m looking at that as a potential move um I don’t think he’s as good as Pascal sakam uh but I do think he’s a year and a half younger uh he’s
Under contract for another three years after this year on a declining scale deal that pays him like 23 and a half 21 and a half 19 and a half million so so basically he’s half the price of any deal that you would have to that you
Would have to pay SE yakum and so all of these things like I I think there’s also an added bonus that if you were to somehow make that trade that you could potentially make it without Harrison Barnes being attached and next thing you know you’ve got Harrison Barnes as like
Your third or fourth forward in a in a mixture with Keegan Murray and Trey ly and you know so all of these things to me make a lot of sense um now whether the Kings can get that done or not I don’t know um you know again they they
Had a deal for him once before where they’re trading buddy Hill uh to the Lakers for him and amont TR herrold they talked to his people during the offseason for what I know and like had worked on a deal potential deal for him to come to Sacramento before he chose to
Go back to Washington but um he’s type of you know long athletic uh 3 four that can rebound that can score that can play some some defense can shoot the ball a little bit and he would make a lot of sense as like a long-term pairing with what you already have without disrupting
Everything and uh and he’s also a player that if it wasn’t working out a year in or two years in it’s not like you couldn’t go move him his contract a declining skill contract for a guy who can average between like 18 and 23 points a game is really really solid he
Basically has the buddy heeld or Harrison Barnes contracts that the king signed during the Ken catanella uh era where it’s declining each year by two million what do you think the what you think the percentages are that nothing gets done I think they’re pretty high that
Something gets done um I don’t know what that something is I mean I I hope that they don’t do something silly like trade for a second round pick yeah I don’t think we’re gonna see like The Kessler Edwards thing right that’s that’s it there there there
It is there there it is J The Kessler Edwards deal that’s that’s that’s what I that’s what I’m feeling I don’t even think we’re gonna see like what was the year before where they traded for Delon Wright and Mo harkless and Terence Davis uh maybe that was three years ago I
Don’t see that like small of a deal I think that they’re actually going to try to to add like a rotational piece and preferably a starter someone who makes your team much better and you know I think that that there are options to do that at both the shooting guard
Position and one of your forward spots uh especially with Keegan Murray’s ability to play the three or the four yeah I’m leaning towards minimal not not because unless and this is this is the important part mean starter no okay well no at the rate that
That two position is going may I don’t I don’t know I don’t know but for me no I I uh I don’t think it I don’t think a starter I don’t think the kings are getting acquiring a starter um I but but to what James just said there’s something out
There we’re not talking about like it’s always the the loud deals that I’m like I don’t know but there’s something out there that we’re not talking about something that’s maybe off our radar maybe it’s on a wish list but we feel like it’s far F maybe that maybe that’s
Out there but I have no clue who it is yeah it’s tough too because you’re always looking for the other partner like right it’s not just what do you have to offer it’s you know do your thoughts align with another team and that’s not usually easy to do you know
You really have to you have to mine the entire NBA for a team that might need a starting shooting guard or might need shooting more than they need a defensive player and so you’ve got this and this to offer and they have this and this you
Know you got to find a team that’s you know in the case of like if you’re going to move Harrison Barnes it’d have to be a team that is already good and wants to and needs a fifth starter to help maybe get them over the hump and you know and
They they’re willing to to move player X and and Y because they don’t fit in the rotation or something like there’s there’s always like motivations and contracts and play Styles and all that stuff and you got to find just the right partner and so I I don’t think it’s as
Easy as people think and it’s certainly not as easy as just throwing a bunch of names into a trade machine and seeing if it works financially it’s it’s usually a lot more complex yeah yeah it’s it is a lot of who says no like it’s complex um and you also
Have to remember that part of that calculous is who the player is on and off the court you know it’s it’s what they mean to the team already um it’s some of the the players that you have on your roster might go to management and say hey we would prefer this player
Doesn’t get traded you know and so these are all things that you know like I I don’t think the Kings will entertain trading Malik monk I don’t think that that’s even a possibility maybe I’m wrong I don’t think I’d make him as quote unquote Untouchable because he is
On a a you know contract that’s expiring at the end of the year and you could lose him without the ability to go out there and retain and and resign him but um you know those are things where you got to look around and say Hey how do we
How do we keep this thing together how do we build on what we already have you know what Monty said maintain and um I can’t remember what is maintain right and improve yeah yeah so they they’ve got to find I think right now they’re maintaining it doesn’t feel good
But maintaining nonetheless they need to find a way to improve and that’s not always easy you want to talk about yesterday I don’t know if you want to talk about yesterday not really but it’s okay you don’t want to talk about yesterday let me I’ll ask you a broader question
Dearen Fox hit the first three he hit this first points for the Sacramento Kings yesterday and that was it that was it it wasn’t dearen didn’t make another field goal Darren didn’t score again yeah he didn’t even get to the foul line what you know we we we just had
The I’m sorry what game was he Orlando the the game where he was really bad and Malik Orlando took it home um yeah because he hit the out all that Daren hit the gamewinner or what what turned out to be the gamewinner so you just kind of had that game or gonna have
Another one of those he had but not only the worst game in the season this had to be his worst game in as a pro since his rookie season yeah this was bad um what the hell that’s the question James what the hell what is this is is
Is you know when stuff like this happens there’s speculation dear’s hurt is he tired he didn’t get to the foul line is it the Pelicans was it the flow of the game like what was less about Sacramento and more about dearon what what was dearon yesterday yeah I mean I think we
Saw it all three games here of the three games and four nights he didn’t look like himself on Tuesday Wednesday he really didn’t look like himself well let me think my my days are all me messed up charlot Orlando yeah yeah yeah yeah so like there were those games where yeah he
Didn’t look like himself at all and he is beat up like he he came to the podium one night and it took him you know an extra two seconds to get up the stairs so you can tell right now he’s walking a little straight-legged um which he tends
To do when he’s hurting uh I don’t know you know like just overall he’s beat up and that’s to be expected I mean the guy’s been basically averaging 30 points a game until you know early this week and now he’s down to like 28.3 because he’s had a couple of stinkers but like
He’s been carrying the weight of this team for the entire season and it’s while they’ve been waiting for like Harrison Barnes or you know Kevin herder or Davon or name that player you know Trey ly’s missing the first 13 games of the Season didn’t help like while he
Doesn’t play dearon Fox’s position he can take the pressure off of a player like Fox because if that second unit can stay out there a little bit longer and can carry can carry a little bit further that allows Mike Brown to not go back to
Dearn Fox all the time and so look look I I think we all know that there’s G to come a point where he was gonna have to take a few games off or where he he was gonna slow down a little bit but then he’ll surge again and he’ll be right
Back up to where he was I just think that this is a stretch where he’s gotten he’s taken some hits and it’s really tough to maintain your body for 82 games when you’re the guy who has to take on so much of everything that’s happening it’s also why I think Mike Brown has
Been using Malik monk a lot more to try to shoulder some of that weight while they’ve been playing together more and why he’s been taking over as like a lead guard um and I also think it’s why dearen fox has sat back and shot more threes especially recently because I
Think he’s just like it’s been probably two weeks of him being a little sore a little beat up and not really wanting to run inside and get uh knocked to the ground again and again so you hope that it’s just a momentary thing where he bounces right back and gets his legs
Under him um but a five-game road trip that starts off with a backto back it’s really not an easy way to do it and again they play tomorrow right they played yesterday they play tomorrow they play the next day they play on Wednesday that means that he’s going to be he’s in
The middle of three games and four nights again and sometimes you get caught in the middle of the in the schedule and these little groups of three games and four nights they kind of hide and they don’t go away so you can have a game on Sunday a game on Tuesday
And Wednesday and then a game on Friday and that means that you had you know again two sets of three games and four nights hidden inside of that and so it takes his toll it takes his toll on everybody and uh you know you hope that
He he busts through the wall here and his body just kind of finds a way to heal up um but you never know I mean this could be a thing where he does need to sit for a game or two and catch his breath and and let his body heal that’s
What I was going to ask you James I mean do you do you think he should sit game um you think he will sit a game I don’t think he will I’m not exactly sure he should either but what do you think about that yeah I mean I think if you’re
Looking at the the long schedule of the season right it like sometimes you do have to air on the side of caution with a player like this who who again carries so much of the weight um if he thinks he can go I usually let him go but I also
I’ve talked to you guys about this before they the king’s track everything right they’ll pull players in and they’ve got like a a you know like a a meter that can sh that can check the flexibility of of their knees and of their ankles like they do tests to make
Sure that there isn’t weird swelling going on that people aren’t seeing or or that uh you know they they do the jump tests before and after they warm up before every game and so they’re tracking to see what his body looks like just the mechanics of it but there is no
Like true predictor for for injuries you have no idea when a player is GNA just like accidentally roll his ankle like what happened Trey lyes um the other the other day or you know he missed last game because he rolled an ankle on just wasn’t he just backpedaling down the
Court yeah and just like took a bad step and and rolled his ankle like there’s no way to predict those things um or like Alex Len where a player rolled up on him and and uh he had a high ankle spring so what you’re hoping for is that you can
See when a body is starting to like need more rest it’s going to be in Decline and you need to figure out a way to to help him so whether it’s like more stretching whether it’s taking a day or two off of practice and and having him
Just sort of watch whether it’s more ice tub or you know whatever it is you got to figure out a way to to like bandage these guys up and hold them together with glue at some point and and hopefully get them through a tough stretch until their body just magically
Finds a way to heal up which does happen and so it’s tough but you know this is this is part of basketball does this team soft um I would like to say yes right away but then there are some nights where they’re just not at all right yeah so so
I would like yeah I don’t think so I mean like if if anyone ever wants to call deonis sabonis soft like no I mean that’s a lunch pill dude who who gets hit more than any player I’ve ever seen on an NBA court so I’m I’m gonna say
They have some players who that are playing soft or that might be mentally soft or who are showing that they might be soft but they also have some guys that are just Flatout Ballers you know that that will go in there and and mix it up a onst the trees whether that’s
Dear whether that’s you know uh Malik monk like these guys are are out there playing really hard and again like Chris dwte there’s you can’t call Chris DTE soft yeah he’ll fou you for calling him soft like just it’s WHY games like yesterday stand out a little bit more
Than the others not just the you know the 30o loss and the 50o deficit but the fact that like it didn’t feel like Darren was doing the stuff he normally like de you talk about get in there mix it in there with the trees didn’t feel like dearon was doing that um didn’t
Feel like Malik was doing that like I can remember distinctively a couple of guy a couple of times guys Davon Mitchell specifically Kevin herder specifically tried to get to the rack they just kind of like lost the ball you know they’d kind of go fumbling around
With it and I didn’t know if that was just the day was off it was just a bad day for everybody or if that’s the Pelicans the Pelicans had them shook up and they saw something and it’s just nothing worked for them yesterday and they were trying to shoot them where
That shoot themselves back into a game that went from a 20o deficit to a 40-point deficit in a span of two minutes yeah and that’s their default setting is to try to shoot their way back into it from the perimeter and when you don’t have your legs that’s the
Worst thing you can do so yeah I I don’t think they are like again you go toet totoe against Toronto and find a way to get through that team that team’s not soft at all I and you could say the same thing about a lot of the teams that they’re
Playing like the Pelicans are just a bad matchup and I don’t know why they’re such a bad matchup um but you know like even the valent chunis sabonis matchup uh like they’re really close because they both play for the Lithuanian national team and like yonas valent chunis like he’s excited to play against
Sabonis he wants to go in there and battle sabonis and he he’ll have a big game against sabonis so are the Kings as tough as the Pelicans no but like there’s a lot of like varying degrees of toughness that that are that is in the
NBA and I think they just have to find consistency more than anything else and not worry about that
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