This Sacramento Kings Season is the Cocoon Before the Butterfly | Locked On Kings

This Sacramento Kings Season is the Cocoon Before the Butterfly | Locked On Kings

We’ve all heard that tired old saying you got to walk before you can run right and for impatient people like me who don’t like a slow grind to progress that can be frustrating but maybe this King season the struggles of this season the ups and downs the inconsistencies it’s

What the Sacramento Kings need to go through for Monty McNair and the King’s front office to make the necessary decisions to get this king’s team into that Championship Contender window Allan styles has a very interesting way of putting it it’s the Cocoon before the butterfly he explains that plus we talk

The goals for the Kings for the remainder of this season right here on the locked on Kings podcast you are locked on Kings your daily Sacramento Kings podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day and now ladies and gentlemen it is that time time for another episode

Of locked on Kings hello and welcome in to lockon Kings your podcast hub for Sacramento Kings coverage all season long my name is Matt George I have the privilege of being your host here I’m a Sacramento Sports Anchor and reporter for abc1 news formerly an employee of sack toown

Sports 1140 radio here in Sacramento of course the flagship radio station of the Sacramento Kings now I did not work there when my guest and friend Allen Styles work there Allen is relatively new he’s one of the hosts of styles and Watkins from 10 to 2 o’clock the midday

Show there at 11:40 uh highly recommend you check out that show listen to that show Chris Watkins has been a friend of mine for many many many years Allen Styles came from the Bay Area here too uh Sacramento recently has been there for a little while now hosts an

Excellent show over there and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know Allen especially over the course of this King season and now this is the second time that I’ll have him on the lock on Kings podcast but I wanted to bring him in because he has kind of a fresh and and

In many ways refreshing I think uh Outlook or or Viewpoint of where this king’s team is at versus where they have to go without too many strings attached like you might get from me or other kings media members who have been here and been invested for a while in in

Certain players of the king’s situation uh so Allan is a great guest here I really hope you enjoyed this conversation we want to hear from you as well what do you think the story of the king season has been to this point and what do you think the king’s main goal

Should be from here on out for the remainder of the Season let us know you can hit me up in the comment section down below if you’re watching on YouTube uh if you want to hit us up on Twitter you can reach me on Twitter Matt George

Sack or you can email me at anytime Matt George sports atgmailcom but for now please enjoy my conversation with Allan Styles another All-Star Weekend come and gone this one not featuring any Kings other than Keegan Murray in the rising stars Challenge and I don’t think dearen Fox and damont sabonis minded too much

Not being out in that freezing Indianapolis snowy atmosphere I don’t know Allan styles from from sack toown Sports 1140 joining me from Styles and Watkins in the middays Allan I don’t know what you thought of like the LED courts or anything like that it just felt like in classic Allstar Weekend

Fashion the NBA tried to do a lot while actually giving us very very little uh I’m glad the distraction is over let’s get back to actual NBA basketball and that’s how I feel too Mt thanks for having me on yeah I I get why people complain about the allstar game but I

Said this you know even when the game was going on to me you have 82 games of highlevel basketball and then you have the playoffs I don’t need to watch them or maybe I’ve just accepted the fact that it’s probably not going back to where it was and even back in the day

When guys were playing hard it’s different now man and even the money is a little bit different or a lot bit different and people don’t want to get injured I get all that I I don’t really understand the complaining we know what it is if you don’t like it you don’t

Have to watch they’re taking it as a break maybe one day they don’t I’m not really on the bandwagon of paying them more I don’t know if that’s a great look a lot of these guys already have incentives when they make the All-Star team so I don’t think you need to pay

Them once they get there but yeah I’m glad it’s over and we can do this push I know a lot of NBA players say it’s not the second half it’s really the last third so I’ve been trying to not say second half even though it’s much easier

Uh but I’m excited to see what happens with the Kings the best thing we saw from this weekend though was Steph versus Sabrina I do hope that around I think in incorporating the WNBA and their Shooters like the Three-Point Contest in the modern NBA should already

Be the main event the dunk contest just isn’t what it is was once was and we’ve seen it all before but Steph versus sabrino was pretty dope and I I hope that sticks around just get Kenny off of the call just it was a rough day and and Shaq

Said some things to during the during the allstar game but yeah besides the the com the comments and things like that I thought it was a great look for the league you know Steph is somebody who isn’t afraid and loves to be a showman I know people in Sacramento know

That very well so I think it was great and I hope they continue to do it and really just continue to just mix everything up if you’re GNA have dunkers from the G league and if you’re going to have g-league players even in the rising stars and things like that

Just open the whole thing up just open the whole thing up and just make the whole thing a spectacle but yeah it was musty TV as soon as Steph and Sabrina got it going all right so last season the story for the Sacramento Kings was pretty cut and dry it’s the the the

Return of the playoffs the dawn of the beam the reemergence of the Sacramento Kings that carried through the entire season in your mind Allan up to this point what has been the story of the Kings season in your mind well it’s been the West is a lot better right and the

Kings have been consistently inconsistent right as soon as you want to say hey maybe they’re heading in the right direction maybe they’re going to turn a corner maybe this is going to be the quote unquote run they’ve had many versions of that but even when they’ve

Gotten to that point where they’ve won a couple games we’ve waited for okay I I would I would go back to that Cavs game that Cavs game after they had a great road trip beat some teams that they were supposed to beat that Cavs game could

Have been a game to where it’s oh wow they’re really rolling now and instead they got rolled we leave saying okay they went 5- two whatever it was on the road trip really good but that’s the level of exactly where they are the difference between the top four teams

And the bottom four teams in the west teams that are able to win those types of games and teams that just basically beat the teams that you’re supposed to with a couple other good wins sprinkled in and that’s who the Kings have been to me th those two I agree with you

Completely except there’s a very big difference between those two that I I want to get into one is what the Kings can control versus what the Kings can’t control the Kings can’t control how the West is going the West is just absurd this year the reality is win percentage

Wise win Pace the kings are on a very similar Pace now to when they were last season when they won the third seed and we were all celebrating so there’s a very good chance the Kings could end up with the exact same what is it 48 wins

Yeah and it’ll be a play in spot or barely into the playoffs versus an actual third seed but the controlling what you can control the inconsistency that’s been something that Mike Brown has talked a lot about over these past two years so that’s kind of what I want

To hyperfocus on more because I feel like Allen if the West were the same this year as it was last year if the kings were still on the exact same win pace and they were sitting in the third or fourth spot right now instead of seventh or eighth I still feel like

Despite that we would still be frustrated with the inconsistencies of this Kings team and how every time they’ve taken two steps forward they’ve taken one massive step back and when they have struggled it felt it’s felt more self-inflicted to than what other teams are doing to them yeah yeah and

And I think the thing is even when you boil down okay move them up if it’s last year same record the bottom line is this ultimately did you think that they could win it all last year maybe you were more hopeful because you just didn’t know but

I think that is what is giving everybody cause to pause doesn’t really matter where they end up you know when they play these Elite teams in the e they get blasted there are a couple teams in the west that they really haven’t been able to kind of hang with

Right we’ll we’ll see they have the Clippers coming up in I think two games can you ever beat the Clippers can you beat the Pelicans as funny as it sounds and to me when you look at everything that the Kings have done so far yes it’s

Exciting but at the end of the day you want to know can they take the next step and if you look at all the teams that are in front of the Kings right now how confident do you feel that they could beat any of these teams in a in a in a

Playoff you know a playoff matchup I think that I feel pretty good about the thunder just because they’re young and they’ve and they’ve played well against the Thunder I don’t feel good against the Timberwolves I don’t feel good against the Clippers I don’t feel honestly at this point I don’t feel that

Good against the Suns even though they had the Suns number early that’s already four teams and then you get into teams like the Mavericks who all right which you probably wouldn’t see in the first round anyway but those top teams and I mean look I’ll give them this they are

Undefeated against the Nuggets so maybe that counts for something but I think that’s the issue regardless of whether they would be in the standings you don’t necessarily feel confident that they could get past the first round maybe make some noise get to the second but it would probably end there today’s episode

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More done in a less amount of time make a bigger impact at work with grammarly sign up and download for free at grammarly.com podcast that’s p r m m a r l.com podcast easier said done there’s a very big difference between a rebuilding year and a building

Year and that’s what I thought this year would be was would be a building towards the ultimate King’s goal which is developing into a legitimate Championship Contender and when you you put it in that simple of a term or just try and think about that simply I just

Don’t think the Kings have really built much they’ve made minor progress in certain areas is defensively we’ve seen Keegan develop into a really good individual Defender dear’s taken another step in terms of scoring although inconsistent damanda sabonis is having the best season of his career so individually there’s little areas where

The Kings have grown and then statistically as a team they’ve gotten better defensively the offense has dropped off massively which is concerning considering how good it was last year but it doesn’t feel like the kings are really building anywhere and I wonder maybe Allan if we’re going to

Look back on this season this this summer or even next year and go that’s what this season is supposed to be about it was taking kind of the the flurry of greatness of the year before and trying to find out what was real and what was

Just kind of a flash in the pan and weeding out the building blocks for Success versus the guys just just aren’t hanging it and then making a decision from that point on I really wonder if this season not that it’s a Lost season by any means the kings are still trying

To compete this year but I wonder if this year needs to happen for the Kings to find out which guys they actually need to roll with going forward and which ones they need to get rid of yeah I’ve been referring to really more specifically Keegan’s season as the

Cocoon season right you get the caterpillar you get into the Cocoon then you become the butterfly this has been the Cocoon season I’ve said specifically for Keegan Murray but honestly that’s just a microcosm of this whole team you know it kind of went in a different

Order to where they showed up on the scene last season and played well wow what could this be now like you said they’re taking a step back in a way but is this to cocoon season if that was the caterpillar this is the cocoon for next

Season to be that butterfly and it is a microcosm of you know just what we’ve seen and Keegan Murray specifically I think is a big part of that because I started saying that about Keegan and Keegan’s probably the most important piece to all this I said to stuff look I

Don’t know Matt if it was just me looking for Content before the allstar break but I said right now going into the offseason depending on how this thing ends you got one Untouchable maybe two Untouchables on this team if this thing doesn’t end the way that a lot of

People would hope and that’s get to a second round if it’s get to a second round then you have to retool right then you can retool if you get into the play in and don’t make it into the playoffs or even if you lose first round now

You’re talking rebuild and I know Kings fans are probably going to get on me for this Keegan thing honestly it it’s just it’s not a matter of wanting to move him it’s just a matter of I don’t think you can say that you can’t move him depending on how this

Ends depending on how this ends everybody’s hoping for the the kawhai Leonard type jump in in in season three very similar to Scotty Barnes maybe you get it but how this season ends is really going to dictate what you do next if you if you have to give him one more

Season sure right but I do think that if something comes along that makes sense you have to think about it if Keegan were back to the three-point shooting numbers last season but the defense wasn’t as good as it’s been this year do you think you and and and others would

Be feeling better about Keegan from this point and I I kind of as a example for the entire Kings team where the defense has gotten slightly better but the offense has gotten worse Mike Brown says he doesn’t want to be the offensive team that makes it to the playoffs every year

Then Flames out in the playoffs and he in indirectly is calling out like Mike dantony teams essentially in that case so but I I love Keegan’s development into a Defender but if Keegan’s knocking down threes at the rate that he’s shooting 20% this month he shot like 25%

Back in November if that carries into the playoffs this Kings team’s in trouble regardless of how good they’re playing on the defensive end and that’s why I think it matters so much how this season ends like I said if it’s the Cocoon season you can’t trade him and

Then he becomes I’m not I’m not gonna go there but you know Indiana you see you don’t want the butterfly to happen somewhere else and I think that because because of Tyrese halberton is a big reason why the Kings honestly can’t move Keegan Murray a lot of people don’t

Think it’s connected I I think perception matters and I don’t think that Keegan can get moves simply because of what’s going on there and you just hope that he ends up figuring it out to your point you know the defense has gotten better and we’ve seen things you

Know slip up I think offensively he’s a bit confused I sometimes he doesn’t take jump shots and he almost feels like he’s forcing himself to get to the Lane which I think is good sometimes but how about Keegan taking shots off the dribble how about Keegan taking more

Contested shots I know that in this flow offense most of the open shots or most of the shots do end up being open but it feels like it’s either an open three or Keegan’s pump faking and trying to get to the cup and they just skipped over

Hey how about a quicker release how about con contested Jays how about off the dribble Jays it just feels like they ski that chapter maybe they’ll go back next season so so we’ll see but it’s not just all about Keegan it’s just Keegan is just such a perfect example of what

This team is and he was so important to what they did last season but this is not about Keegan by himself at all well you said there Keegan appears confused at times and that’s something you could say for multiple players I think Kevin herder absolutely has looked confused at

Times the season Harrison Barnes has been just as confusing as he has probably been confused this season is that to you more on the players who are not able to keep up with Mike Brown who’s a proven winning coach what he believes needs to be done these players

Aren’t able to keep up so it’s on them or is that also kind of on Mike Brown for hey you’ve got these players here that you had something last year the roster’s the same I know you’re trying to make changes but these guys are being

Left in the dust a little bit now you’re not utilizing the talent on your roster yeah I think it depends on which player you’re talking about I think that Malik has flourished I think that sometimes there can be a little bit too much Malik going on towards the end games but I

Think Malik has flourished to to the point about Kevin hder I would put Harrison Barnes in a different category because we know what Harrison is he’s gonna make you scratch your head some games but you know that that’s the ship that the this the the kings are just

Going to hang on to Kevin herder for me I can’t really put that blame on Mike Brown if anything I blamed Mike Brown for playing him too much Kevin herder I just am not quite sure if we’re going to look at Kevin herder in three years and

He’s still a starter and I might end up like you Matt on freezing Cole takes if they get a hold of this this tape but I just have no clue I mean if you look everybody needs a shooter but it’s a difference between having a shooter on

Your team and being a starter and Kevin herder is I think 25 or 26 years old we don’t know who he is as a player and there’s no reason just based on if you look at the numbers this is his worst shooting year and last season was his

Best shooting year so hopefully you fall somewhere in the middle but depending on where you fall why is it that Kevin hder has to be a starter I think he’s a starter on this team but moving forward I don’t know if Kevin herder is a starting shooting guard on a

Championship team unless he’s just going to literally always do what he did last season which a lot of a lot of times when you get your career high you don’t go back right we don’t know where Kevin Herter’s ceiling is and I fear that we may have seen it last season the word

Championship contention was brought up a lot not by us not by Sacramento Kings fans although that of course is the ultimate goal but by Mike Brown by dearen Fox and I’m okay with guys saying that obviously because if you’re not going for a championship what are you

Even playing for in the first place and I firmly did believe that that Mike Brown wanted to build towards that and his goal is to build towards that and that’s been his goal this entire season that being said reality sets in well before this time of the year like we

Know this Kings team isn’t contending we that’s just where they’re at right now they hopefully want to get there and they can use still this time to get there but they’re not contending right now so what in your mind is the main goal for sacrament M for the rest of

This season and hopefully into the postseason yeah well to be honest with you Matt I think that the Kings could go on a run if they learned how to shoot free throws and unfortunately I don’t know if that’s going to be the case I think they could get hot they’re you

Know what 18th and defensive efficiency 13th in offensive efficiency so stranger things have happened but to me you can’t be one of the worst free throw shooting teams in the league and get it done so to that point they probably will not be having a parade in Sacramento at least

Not this season so I think moving forward you decide if you want to focus on how you’re going to get to the playoffs and getting to the playoffs getting in the playoffs what happens in the playoffs and then after that as far as getting to the playoffs you have to

Decide if this is still a training season do you want Keegan to just focus on shooting Threes And if the defensive efficiency drops a little bit so be it I don’t feel confident in Kevin herder or Harrison Barnes to pick up that offensive Slack and honestly I’d like to

See Keegan just get going a little bit I know that I’ve talked a lot about Keegan but I just think he’s really important to this team as far as everybody else you kind of know what you have you hope that dear and fox stays hot and or gets

Back hot and stays healthy with that shoulder that’s not a shoulder but he’s always touching the shoulder and sabonis has just been a dog so I’m not really worried about sabonis and his triple doubl so getting to the playoffs you kind of have what you have you didn’t

Make a move at the deadline fine it is what it is moving forward assuming they go out in the first or second round which I do think might make a big difference if they go out in the first round or D or or dare I say in the

Playin I think you have to start looking at everybody right and I don’t know and I’ve said this before I don’t know if you can just Sharpie in maybe pencil but Sharpie in dearn Fox as a legitimate 1A on a on a championship contending team I have more confidence if somebody asked

Me right now one of my buddies from the bay or wherever it is who’s the onea on the Kings I’d say sabonis I I would say domas I would say Damonte sabonis is the the onea guy right now and what that means is if you’re you’re big three

Going into next season you have sabonis who you know you can count on and that’s a lot of miles by the way I real quick here everybody that was talking about the and I know these guys are banged up coach Mike Brown talked about it before the All-Star break but that injury luck

Thing they’ve been pretty lucky again this season but hasn’t really mattered because they’ve just played inconsistently so you have you have domas who’s played basically the whole season dearon has missed a little bit how healthy it is I don’t I don’t know but he’s been playing so moving forward

Okay you’re looking at a big three of sabonis dearin and you’re hoping whatever Keegan is in my in my opinion you look at Keegan as the guy what type of leap do you really think he’s going to make moving into next season I know everybody wants to lock up

Malik I want to lock up Malik too but I’ve The more I’ve seen Malik and seen Malik in in these I guess heavier minutes and heavier loads of minutes the more I think you know Malik could start but I’m not really sure you want him to start on a championship contending team

You don’t want him to have to do too much I like Malik and spurts and I think he would be best served as that six man the difference is could he start for this roster yes I don’t think this roster is winning a championship so you

Can start him right now and I don’t know how that works I told a story Matt about back in the day many moons ago when I was playing college baseball and how I got moved to left field not because somebody beat me out but the coach said

Hey at the next level you’re GNA be a left fielder and at the next level I was a left fielder now he could have let me play center or he could have said hey you know I think you’re gonna maybe I’m wrong but I just want to make sure that

You feel comfortable so if you move Malik to the starting lineup then they lose in the first round second round whatever now you quote unquote get better and you pay Malik and you have him move back to the bench I just don’t know how that is I I don’t know how

Awkward that could be because they’re going to be teams that are going to tell Malik you can start for us those teams might not be better than the Kings but he’s going to get a bag and an opportunity to play so I think you need

To figure out do you truly have a big three because all the other teams in the west have some version of a big two a very elite big two or a big three do you think you have a big three and what you want to do with Malik as far as Kevin

Herder and Harrison Barnes you just leave them out there and and see if somebody buys as far as making another move because you can get a little bit younger with with Harrison and Kevin herder I just I don’t know how much he brings to the table compared to just

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Nissan Rogue Nissan Armada or Nissan Pathfinder and go find your next big adventure shop nissanusa.com I feel like the reason why you and and and a lot of others think that sabonis is and has been more of the onea on this Kings team compared to dearon Fox is the

Consistency especially with the ey test you watch and simonas brings it every single night and not been able to say that about dear Fox which yes is concerning to some extent but even the biggest sabona supporter in the world and that’s me here raising my hand almost to an obnoxious level on social

Media as you’ve seen Allen can recognize that the Sacramento Kings becoming contenders means that the best version of this king’s team is dearon Fox as the onea like and we saw that to some extent with the playoffs we saw that earlier on in this season and I think that’s what’s

Also kind of frustrating and confusing about this team is how much can we rely on the team to make the jumps and make the steps necessary to to consistently put themsel in a contender uh conversation or or or like a label if we are talking about and saying the same

Things and talking about inconsistencies with your star player and dearn now in my opinion assuming he stays healthy knock on wood like if the Kings get back to the postseason I think dear’s Gonna Shine again because when the stage matters when the the light is bright

Like dearn shows up and he plays hard we SE that time and time and time again what’s confusing and frustrating and maybe concerning depending upon how you look at it is how dearen has played through early to mid January and sprinkling a little bit into February

How he’s played in these Dog Days days of the Season or how he’s played in the matchups against teams that he doesn’t necessarily feel like he has to get up for the Pistons for example the Charlotte Hornets who the Kings have lost to it’s it’s dearen being the

Superstar all the time versus the Superstar sometimes and then just a really really really good basketball player the rest of the time the really really good basketball player dear Fox is great for a contract it’s not good for winning championships so that Superstar dearon Fox is what the Kings

Need to draw out or bring out and I think it’s fair to question if dearon is that guy like if he’s capable of giving it his all all the time to get to that point I don’t question it in the playoffs but I do question it to get the

Kings in a good position to make a championship run at this point I think that’s why there’s questions between Fox and sabonis I still think Fox needs to be the guy for the Kings to be at their best but sabonis is bringing it and sometimes Fox isn’t and I wonder if

That’s concerning no I think you make a great point because we’ve seen what this version of dearon gets the kings in a in a in a West that’s not really getting any older and it’s just getting more experienced and more talented that’s Gonna Leave You between the four seed and the eight seed

And I know the heat got all the way what was it you know last season but ultimately couldn’t get it done and going through the plan and things like that it’s just not a good recipe for success and dearen if you’re you can’t just turn it you can turn it on the

Playoffs but it’s not going to be enough and then Kings fans are going to say well you know they were a six seed they made noise they got to the second round whatever it was but eventually people are going to get tired of that because to me now you’re moving the conversation

From okay now now people like me and you on soci media battling about dear over Shay gild and dear over these other point guards now it starts to be a conversation of all right dearen is more like a Jamal Murray right more like a guy who is really good in the regular

Season he’s been healthier than Jamal Murray of course really good in the regular season and then can turn it on the playoffs which or or and and I know this guy you’d love to have this guy on your team almost a a lesser version of a Jimmy Butler who Jimmy Butler isn’t

Really good now you’d love that but Jimmy has had a lot of success but hasn’t won a championship either right and and I don’t think that de’arra is even that level of Jimmy it’s just those guys who all right we’re not really gonna bring it every single day but

We’re going to bring it in the playoffs and you know Butler is one of a kind and you have Jamaal Murray who’s playing with arguably the best player in the game in joic so those guys can get away with it dearen that’s just going to get

You earlyish exits in the playoffs if if you can’t take that next step that’s why you know next season it’s almost like this season and we kind we’re kind of coming full circle here it’s almost like this season is setting was was all about setting up next season because I don’t

Think anybody expected them I think a lot of people expected them when not when we take calls and text everybody says just get to the second round right just get to the second round if you don’t get to the second round you could be looked that as a step back but you

Know you look at some of these other teams Matt it doesn’t necessarily happen in order they’re teams that lose in the second round lose in the first round then win a championship there are teams that get to the Western Conference Finals lose then next season lose in the

First round so just because they don’t get to the second round this season that doesn’t mean that next season they can’t make another make another leap but yeah I I don’t know what they’re going to do as far as moves but if you do go out in

The second round or in the first round I can’t see you just running it back I I think that the whole 16-year drought that was this season and everyone’s going to give the Kings a mulligan and and just be happy to be in the playoffs again next season is not going to be

Like that well going back to the kind of the main goal question that I had this is where my expectations have kind of adjusted a little bit too because coming into this season I I was thinking very linear it’s like you were a first round knockout okay make it to the second

Round that that is the goal that constitutes success to me now looking at where the West is where the Sacramento Kings are I think I mean at the end of the All-Star break last season the kings came out of the All-Star break last year red hot the hottest team in basketball

And that helped them secure the third seed that’s great they’re gonna have to come out in that opinion RedHot in order to secure an actual playoff spot like I I just think they’re going that’s how tough the West is going to be and there’s other teams in the playin

Picture right now that are behind the kings that are interested in being playin teams they’re also going for it so the kings are battling to move up while also pushing people behind them back down so there’s not really the Kings have have earned their their bad

Loss cards many way too many times M times it’s done it’s like you cannot have the San Antonio Spurs coming up here at home you cannot lose that game right like they their their get out of jail free cards are done but I think my expectations have adjusted now to where

My goal Allen is if this Kings team plays hard plays well through the second half of the season and secures a top six seed let’s say it’s six or five it’s not even a homecourt Advantage I don’t care but they go right into the playoffs they

Get into the first round and they lose in the first round I don’t think I can call that a failure I think I’m just basing that off of the circumstances right now I’m saying okay I think they accomplished the goal which is ultimately taking this now playoff race

And coming out of it on the right side of things I feel good about that then you get the context of the postseason and even the context of this race and you make decisions this offseason that to me is the goal but my question is is

That lowering the bar too much for where we thought this team could go coming into this year no I don’t think so because I think when we look back on this Western Conference it might be one of the most loaded Western conferences in the history of the NBA I mean you saw

That you saw that video yesterday that picture yesterday with the Western Conference All Stars I mean that it’s insane it was insane and that’s not even including somebody who’s seventh in the MVP ladder actually he’s tied for six right now damont sabonis don’t get me started on that and dearn fox who you

Know he had a guy in in in Devin Booker kind of come to him you know as far as being a Kentucky guy and say hey we’re missing we’re missing dear and fox too the West is completely loaded so I think that in that regard if you do see that

Growth out of Keegan and you see dearen Fox legitimately finish that three-point that three-point stretch that he’s on and raise it as much as he has you can’t call that a failure not not in this West if the West Was the same as last season sure right but I will say this that’s

Why going into next season you have all these teams that we just talked about who aren’t going anywhere and then you have the Lakers who are going to retool you have the Warriors that are going to retool you have the Grizzlies who are really positioning themselves to try to

Do what the Warriors did they messed up because they took Jame James wisman and kaminga and all those guys but they’re they’re maneuvering to try to get a top pick here the Grizzlies the Grizzlies are going to be back right this is not going to get any easier so we can say

That it’s not a failure and we can call it in some ways a success but that does not mean you can stand Pat during this summer and I know it’s tough for for Sacramento to get free agents and things like that but the West is only going to

Get harder I don’t know about the the Blazers but yeah there’s going to be another year of wanyama he’s just gonna only get better right so the days off are and you know okay you’re looking forward to playing the Blazers and the Jazz and the Jazz are actually messing

Around right now for a play and so there Portland’s not bad either Portland’s not bad either they got good young the Kings have already lost to Portland right so you really can’t count anybody else so even though I agree with you we can say that it wasn’t a failure doesn’t really

Change how you should view the Kings going into the off season because it’s less about the Kings and more about the rest of the West and that’s what leads into the last question that I wanted to ask you rightfully so we’re asking questions about everybody and everything

We’re looking at Fox we’re looking at sabona herder Keegan Mike Brown even to some extent a lot lot of questions this offseason I think are going to be asked and answered about Monty McNair now Monty absolutely earned that second contract he’s the best general manager by far the Kings have had since Jeff

Petri it’s not close like he’s absolutely earned the right to be here and to get here and that doesn’t take away anything that he did he took a risk on the Tyrese halberton trade even if people see what Tyrese is doing and feel bad about it it was the right move for

Him it earned him a second contract it got this king’s team back to the playoffs he has earned everything to this point that being said last two Trad deadlines nothing this last offse nothing you decided to run it back and roll with it you’ve laid it out perfectly this offseason you’re going to

Get the context of hopefully another postseason and the rest of this season to to find out what you need and what you don’t need nobody feels bad for you if you don’t get another trade partner nobody feels bad for you if you can’t attract free agents it doesn’t matter

That’s the market you signed up for that’s the team that you’re you’re in charge of it’s reality like the Kings don’t have it as easy as the Lakers we all know this but you still have to be able to attract talent build talent and build a championship team or what the

Hell are we doing here so I feel like this summer and I feel like I go into every offseason saying this is a massive offseason for the Kings because in so many ways it is but I feel like this summer is going to be a we’re gonna find

Out just like finding out if dearon is a great or or I mean is a good or great player we’re gonna find out if Monty is a good general manager or a great general manager and it’s all going to rely on the the couple of months as soon

As the king season ends yeah I think that there are a couple ways to create a a true Contender right and right now maybe dearon isn’t to the level of a Luca or a or a shay guys like that depends on depend on who you ask we had

A Grizzlies guy on he said he would take dearn over johnar and he was from Memphis right so I think you can you have your two I don’t I just don’t know that you can trust Keegan it’s less about Keegan and again it’s more about

The West right a third a thirdy year guy that’s going to be your number three option and if it’s not him it’s going to be you’re G to start Malik monk I just and Malik has played really well don’t get me wrong but I think Monty McNair

Depending on how this thing ends is gonna have to make some tough decisions because you can find yourself in that Zebo grind Grindhouse Purgatory where you’re going to the playoffs every season but but nobody is really scared of you and I think that might be even

Worse right so we we’ve seen those seems like that and I don’t think that the Kings want to be there I think that the Kings fans want to take advantage of this and you can’t look at what sabonis is doing and just think yeah you know second round here first round there and

Everybody has got to be you know got to have some cability and and got to be held accountable including Mike Brown you know I I Mike Brown he he says a lot of oh well we’re you know we’re implementing things and and the guys got to do it during the trade during the

Trade or before before the trade deadline I didn’t know if those were shots at Monty McNair hey man I’m trying to make a meal here and what’s in the fridge it is what it is I can’t make a five course meal with you know some some some ingredients that aren’t five star

So I I think that I don’t think there were shots but it felt like is he talking to the team or is he talking to Monty McNair depending on how this thing ends I think if they truly believe in Mike Brown and his philosophy he’s probably going to sit there and say guys

What do you want me to do here you know we’re implementing game plans and they’re just not doing it I think sometimes actions speak a lot louder than words too and Mike Brown’s actions I think have been a message to Monty McNair in the king’s front office many

Many times especially with the pull the rabbit out of the Hat decisions with this rotation I know you’ve seen this Allen but guys that’ll all of a sudden be playing that haven’t been playing or guys that aren’t playing even though they were playing earlier in the season

I think that might go on I’m throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks because this is the roster that I have fix it so and I wonder if is here in that I mean Monty was known as the guy in Houston that bridged the gap

Between darl Mory and the the the Rockets coaching staff he was known as that guy that connected the two I hope he has a good connection with his coaching staff right now because they’re probably in his office telling him exactly what they need and what they’re

Lacking and I think all of us as fans can see it too we don’t have to be in those meetings we can look at this team and go yeah maybe they don’t need this guy but they probably need something like this I think it’s clear yeah even

Even going back a couple months here my guy from Oakland the town the JTA sighting you know I mean that that was clearly there’s nobody on this roster that’s giving us this and that’s why I thought you know people keep joking with me about the Marcus Morris thing I

Thought that it could have been a good fit you know I don’t think he was going to change everything but I thought that it could have been a good fit just that you know that spark plug but yeah I mean we’ll see what happens I think everybody

You know you do the blame pie or the success pie whatever it is I think everybody’s going to have to look in the mirror when the season is over maybe they get hot it’s possible I I think the one thing that would be scary is technically if they did go to

The second round would that allow Mani to then say hey we’re continuing to do better I don’t have to make a big move right I think that would be a problem but would he have any protection there because they went to the second round well Alan Before I Let You Go Styles and

Watkins 10 to two every single day what’s going on over there what can people expect and add it to their I mean they already they’re already such a a big rotation of Kings talk and Sports Talk period but Styles Watkins has to be a part of that rotation what’s going on

Over there that’s right that’s right yeah so yeah 10: am 2 pm Niners are done so we’re hyperfocused on the Kings as we always are anyway yeah go ahead come check us out we’re we’re doing our thing we’re really working to get more Kings Kings Personnel on the show towards the

End of the season so be sure to check us out we’re also working on something that we might do a little later in the evenings when the Kings don’t play so be on the lookout for that and yeah check us out sack toown Sports anywhere you

Get your podcast also on the radio tune in if you’re in a Tesla and you don’t have am check out the TuneIn app you can hear us there as well well uh and selfishly I will steal Allen and I will steal uh Chris every opportunity I can

To bring him on lock on Kings for no pay that’s right that’s right for you it matter this is pay enough just being able to talk Kings with you you got right I appreciate that my man thank you so much for coming on we’ll do it again

I’m sure as this race heats up we we’ll get back together hopefully right before uh we’re looking at at that point hopefully we can start looking at playoff matchups too it’ll be fun to start picking and choosing which teams you want to face in the first round

Which you don’t want to we were doing that earlier in the season can’t really can’t really do that right now so sounds good man thanks for having me

Matt George is joined by SacTown Sports 1140 radio host Allen Stiles to discuss the goals for the remainder of this Kings season and how identifying the inconsistencies of this team in order to correct them this offseason could be just what this year was meant for.

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