What If The Kings Run It Back?

What If The Kings Run It Back?

we are about three days into NBA free agency we are in the fourth day as of recording this and so far the Kings have not really made any moves obviously resigned players which is good they of course made a trade during the draft they have two open roster spots and everyone’s looking at the Kings to make a big move whether that’s for Brandon Ingram Kyle kosma Larry marinin Demar D rozan like there are plenty of names out there that the kings are rumored with but so far nothing has happened and now there is plenty of time for something to still happen we are months away from the start of the regular season lots of stuff happens right as fre agency starts but that doesn’t mean that it needs to happen at that time but I wanted to talk about what if the Kings don’t go and make that big move what if the Kings don’t add a star level player or a very high-end role player to their starting lineup before the season starts because it is definitely a possibility and I talked about it in my offseason preview podcast where I said I wouldn’t be surprised if Harrison Barnes is still the starting four on this team when it comes would I be disappointed of course I can’t imagine what King’s fans on social media are going to do if Harrison Barnes is still the starting four on this roster when the season comes around because Kings fans are already going a little crazy that we have haven’t made a move in the first 3 days of free agency so man if if Harrison Barnes is still here people are going to go crazy but I said in that preview don’t expect a big move because it is very possible that we run it back with the same starting lineup as last season because the Kings have this 2year window before the team gets expensive and so really what I think that means is you have this two-year window before the Keegan Murray extension before the dearn Fox extension so right now is the time where you have the most opportunity to have depth on the team I would say and so once your team becomes expensive you’re relying on minimum guys and you’re relying on your draft picks to be good those are the ways you have depth and so the Kings do need to take advantage of these Seasons I mean their star players are in their primes Fox is what 27 I think maybe 28 so bonus is 28 I think and so the Kings have to take advantage of these years but it’s definitely not out of the realm of possibility that the Kings do wait until the trade deadline to make a move but I think they have to take advantage of this season and so obviously I would want them to make the move before the season starts and I’ll be disappointed if it’s the same starting lineup out there as the past two seasons but if the Kings with the lineup that they have and with the roster that they have right now can keep their heads above water in the Western Conference until the trade deadline and then make a move at the trade deadline you’re still taking advantage of this season although you’re giving it the team less time to mesh but I think the Kings have to make a move sometime between now and the trade deadline I you can’t waste this season because in my opinion the the last two seasons of Keegan Murray’s rookie deal are the most important seasons for this team that’s not to say they can’t win after the team gets more expensive but I just think it’s going to be a lot harder and the Kings need to have a core in place before that happens no matter what the Kings do whether they make a trade or they don’t they need Wing depth and so if Wing depth isn’t coming in with a trade they still need to sign Wing uh at least one Wing if not two athletic wings but if they don’t make a trade then they definitely need wings and so Caleb Martin Haywood heith the two heat guys I think are the top two on my list for the Kings and could one of those guys start at some point it’s possible but I don’t think you want those guys to be starting but it definitely is possible but I think if you go into next season and you don’t make that big splash what Monty McNair would be banking on is a couple of things first of all you’d be relying on Keegan Murray a lot you’d be relying on him making a huge step forward and you’d also be giving him the space to do so because if you trade for a Brandon Ingram or a kosma he’s not going to get as much opportunity so that could be seen as one small positive of not making a move right away but he absolutely will have the room and opportunity to make a big step forward and so you want him to you want it to see him make a leap towards towards the 20 point per game mark But then you’re also relying on other guys playing well and keeping really their trade value up and so you’re relying on herder bouncing back from last season I think he’s still a positive asset but making himself even more of a positive asset Harrison Barnes playing like he did at the end of last season like is it crazy to think that Harrison Barnes could be better next season than he is last season I don’t really think it is because I mean I assume defense is going to be the exact same and then he’s always been consistent from three and then can he get back to attacking the rim at least a little bit it’s possible and then you’re looking at Kon Ellis uh maintain what he was doing last season in that smaller sample size uh can Devin Carter come in and make an impact right away and can Colby Jones if given not the opportunity play well and so if you have a majority of those guys playing well then you’re kind of building up your asset pool and if say Colby Jones is playing really well well then that could mean Keon Ellis is Expendable or if Devin Carter is playing really well then Keon is Expendable or Devin Carter himself is Expendable right and so you’re building up your asset pool to then make the trade that maybe wasn’t possible or isn’t possible right now during the off season and so you’d be relying on those guys playing well so that they have trade value or they make another player who has good value expendable and then you’re also just looking for teams to become more desperate so you look at the Pascal sakam situation where the Pacers really didn’t have to give up very much for him and so it’s not the same situation with the Pelicans right now could it become more like that situation it could I don’t really see it becoming more like that but it’s not just Brandon Ingram it’s other teams too what if teams become more desperate to make a move and so I think the Kings have the possibility of maintaining a good position in the west with the roster that they have right now because we saw it last season they were in the top six for a very long time and it was towards the end of the season injuries kicked in they didn’t have the depth the offensive depth to sustain when Malik Monk and Kevin herder both went out and so if things break the right way for the Kings and there aren’t injuries then they could absolutely maintain it a good position in the west up to the trade deadline and so like let’s go through where the West is right now look these teams could be anywhere but let’s just say I would say the teams that are kind of locked into the top six probably are the Thunder Timberwolves Mavericks nuggets although the Nuggets did get worse so that’s good and then you have kind of the other teams fighting for the top six the the Grizzlies Pelicans Suns and then maybe a little bit lower the Clippers Warriors Lakers rockets and so we’re hoping the Lakers and the Warriors and the Clippers are all kind of falling off and that the Rockets aren’t quite there yet and then you have the Jazz Spurs and Blazers at the bottom hopefully none of those teams you know make a surprise run and so where do the kings fit into that well I think they absolutely could be in the top six with just the roster that they have right now but that’s definitely not a guarantee and so that’s why it’s absolutely a risk and you want to make make the move before the season starts but at the same time you see it a lot where a team like the Mavericks they just kind of they treaded water until the trade deadline and then they made the moves and went on a run and so that it’s a risky game to play it absolutely is because the Mavericks they meshed right away and so I don’t think you can really rely on meshing right away like they did but at the end of the day this team just can’t miss the playoffs and so it’s a big risk to not make a move before the season starts because it would be an absolute disaster to not make the playoffs I think last season it wasn’t a disaster because it was the second season that this team was good and so you’re kind of seeing where certain guys are at you’re seeing what the flaws are of the team you’re seeing what was real from the first season what wasn’t and so it was fine to run it back and so now if you do that again and don’t make a big move before the season starts I think that is a massive massive risk and like I said you’re just relying a lot on Keegan Murray and some of those other players I listed to play well and also for guys to just not get injured But ultimately you just can’t waste this season and I like I said before the move in my opinion needs to come between now and this trade deadline I don’t think you can wait any longer than that I don’t think you can just wait another season Maybe I’ll be wrong and Keegan will take this massive leap and every player that we hope plays well does play well and then the kings are in the top six and they win a first round series and it’s all great and so in that scenario sure it would be okay to not make a move and then you can make a the big move the next off season but I just don’t think that’s likely in such a competitive Western Conference you know I think the West is it’s very competitive but it’s also very open and so so that’s I think another big reason why you need to make a move this season is because I don’t think anyone has locked down this Western Conference the Nuggets definitely haven’t Mavericks no I I don’t think they have I don’t think the Timberwolves have and then you have the Thunder the Thunder or the scary team and you want to win before they completely figure it out because it feels like the Thunder are just going to run this conference once they figure it out and maybe they will this next season but I do think this next season is a huge opportunity for the kings that they cannot waste but just a reminder again there’s still a lot of offseason left and so the Kings could totally make a move this is just talking about what if they don’t I think the Kings will be competitive no matter what even if they don’t make any moves and when I say don’t make any moves I mean big moves get the wing depth and that’s something like wings are going off the board there but there there are still some left but no matter what happens go just go get some Wing depth but anyways that is it for this episode of the r report I will be back either if a move is made or in a couple days I will be talking about what I’m looking for in certain guys that are going to play in Summer League so be sure to be on the lookout for that and I will see you guys later peace

Welcome to The Royal Report

In this episode of The Royal Report I discuss the possibility that the Kings don’t make a big move this offseason and go into the next season with almost entirely the same team.

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