Have the Sacramento Kings Really Gotten Any Better This Season? | Locked On Kings

Have the Sacramento Kings Really Gotten Any Better This Season? | Locked On Kings

What better time to check on the progression of the Sacramento Kings than during the allstar break it’s like the progress report time of the school year have the Kings really progressed this season or completely different question have the Kings gotten closer to where head coach Mike Brown wants them to be

To address both those questions plus dearen Fox Damon sabonis and so much more Damen Barling the DLo and DLo and case on ESPN 1320 joins me right here on locked on Kings 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 into 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 and our city of Sacramento is blessed to have one of the best radio shows not just of course in the city not just in the state in the entire country DLo and KC on Monday through Friday noon to 4 they do an amazing job talking Kings

Basketball do an amazing job talking 49ers football all professional and local sports they cover it they’re two great friends of mine and I’m thankful enough happy enough to have one of them Damen Barling who not only is a friend but has been a mentor of mine for many

Many years here in this industry uh and in this city anytime that I can have DLo on it’s a real treat we talk about a lot of stuff here including like I mentioned there in the intro and including what you’re seeing on the side of the screen everything from the progression of the

Sacramento Kings to uh handling the the good and the bad of of dearon fox deont sabonis not getting the respect that he deserves around the NBA the ultimate race for the uh the playoffs here in the Western Conference that’s only going to heat up when we get out of the All-Star

Break so much that we discuss so please sit back relax and enjoy my conversation with ESPN 1320s Damen Barling I have a feeling we all needed this Allstar break as much as the Sacramento Kings did Damen Barling from ESPN 1320s DLo and KC joining me back here on the lockon Kings

Podcast the blessing in the curse of this time DLo is there’s no Kings basketball so we can all get a breather but there’s no Kings basketball so what the hell do we talk about type thing especially here on a Kings dedicated podcast it’s like a mini off season but

An offseason I feel that this Kings team desperately desperately needs not necessarily Just For the Rest element although that is important but also just kind of a a recharge and a gather up for what I expect is going to be an A A just a chaotic race for the playoffs in the

West Western Conference just with the way that this conference is is shaping up ultimately this is a position that you want this king’s team to be in talk about testing themselves like here is the ultimate test well before the playoff begins which of course is the

Ultimate goal I’m G to start with this where is your confidence level at right now with this team’s ability to not just make the playoffs I’m talking about secure a top six seed because that felt like it wasn’t a question a month and a half ago now there’s a good chance that

This team is a playing team and has to earn that spot the hard way yeah um Wednesday afternoon my confidence was trash for some reason I was really really frustrated by the Phoenix loss um I know that they played well they played really well I think I was so dejected at

The thought that three guys scored like 90 something points and they couldn’t win like you scored a so you had you I think it was 40 30 and 20 something right from Malik domas deer like that’s 90 you scored 125 you couldn’t win that game like you couldn’t close that game

Out and you lost Bradley Beal you know they lost Bradley Beal to it for some reason more than the Pistons game more than Hornets games more than the Blazers more than some of these frustrating losses that the Kings have had this year for some reason that Phoenix one really

Really upset me and my confidence was gone I was like this team’s probably a playing team and I think part of it was I still have a lot of questions about them but Dallas is playing really well right now and they made some moves at the trade deadline to get better now

Whether that works in the long term remains to be seen the Lakers are playing well the Warriors are playing really really well right now uh you got Phoenix who’s just kind of been in the same position most of the year and then New Orleans which to me is one of the

More baffling teams in the Western Conference I I I just kind of felt like the king sunk like the Kings just kind of sunk below those teams then they beat Denver and I felt a little bit better and I and I and I spent all of Wednesday saying it doesn’t

Matter what happens tonight like I it it it’s not gonna it’s not gonna you know set some Grand picture of what the future looks like or what the second part of the Season looks like it’s just if they beat Denver it’s pretty crazy if they beat Denver a third straight time

But then they did it and I changed my mind and I was really excited they beat Denver part of the reason was because that night could have been really really bad the Lakers won that night Phoenix won that night all of those teams that we just listed Dallas New Orleans they all

Won every single one of them so the Kings they could have been entering this break half a game up on the Lakers and maybe a game and a half given that they won a thriller last night over the Warriors had they not beat Denver

So I feel a little bit better than I did uh on Wednesday afternoon but I still have I still have a lot of questions about what this team can do moving forward your frustration after the Suns game reminds me of the frustration that I had after the the Memphis game now

You’re a little more Justified because yours was a loss mine was a win and a lot of Kings fans couldn’t get on board with why I was so frustrated after that game but I think every single Kings fan who’s been following this team regularly and even media members you listen to

James ham he listen to Kyle Madson Kenny caroway every who watches this team regularly there’s been at least one game this season where we’ve all wanted to just pull our hair out in frustration it’s it’s just we know this team is better than this but I’m curious where

You think this this kind of universal frustration comes from is it maybe we had too high of expectations for this team coming into this year or is it just because we’re all kind of in this new territory of this Kings team is good we know they’re good we’ve been told it’s

Hard to get to great but even sustaining good at this point in the Western Conference doesn’t feel like it’s going to be good enough where do you feel like the the frustration for Kings fans with the the inconsistencies of this Kings teams or just where this Kings team is

At still eight games above 500 they’re a good basketball team yeah but the frustrations this year have sometimes felt worse than some of the years of the playoff drought yeah I think I think you the the words you use the expectations like I I I think we collectively whether it be media fans

Or Mike Brown dearen Fox I think we we we used words we shouldn’t have I think we all believed this team was good and maybe we believed if things really hit on Sasha uh Keegan really got that development we were hoping for they would be even better than they were last

Year and that’s perfectly Fair it’s a perfectly Fair thought but we started using the word Contender and how could this team be a contender this team could be a contender if they did this this and this that’s probably a stretch and it’s a little easier to recognize that in

Hindsight than it is in the moment when all of a sudden the entire region of Sacramento became Euroleague basketball experts as Sasha venkov uh was going on this run over there that had you know Kings fans really excited the other thing is the standings look different MH and

You know we had we were having a discussion a pretty spirited discussion a couple of days ago with I think it was our show and James was on it and we were talking about like measurements of the season and a regression and you know if they they’re on Pace to win 46 wins

That’s a clear regression like well no it’s not like it’s it’s two games worse and we can make all of the excuses we want to for the final three games of the Season about how they had everything locked up and they mailed it in we could do that and that’s perfectly Fair it’s

Part of the story of last year’s season where they were at 48 wins they didn’t need to win another game they were secure there in the third spot and they kind of chose a certain direction the final week of the season and that got them three more

Losses but the fact is a 48 to 46 isn’t that big of a deal what people are looking at is the fact that they’re on Pace to win just about as many games as they did last year but they’re not the three seed they’re the eigh seed and it

Looked like at least in the moment Minnesota’s like passed you right like Minnesota has finally now there were people who would say last year Minnesota was supposed to be better than you it’s taken Minnesota forever to get to this point for some reason they’ve gotten no heat for that but it’s taken them

Forever to get to this point but the salute to them they’re playing great basketball they finally have the jarring one is Oklahoma City right everybody knew Oklahoma City was going to be better I’ll speak for myself when I say I didn’t know they were going to be this

Good and they’re legit like they’re they’re real this isn’t a fluke this isn’t they’re legit like they’re a really really good basketball team and my thoughts of where they were would be wasn’t two or one like it wasn’t up there below 20 losses uh before the All-Star break uh you’ve got the

Clippers rolling which is always kind of a question as to whether that’s going to happen you don’t really know what Phoenix is but they’re up there right now Dallas is constantly trying to make moves and get better and then you got New Orleans New Orleans is another team

Like Minnesota who people have been saying for years this is the one this is the one this is the one this is the one where they’re finally kind of stringing it together though it’s probably not exactly what what Pelicans fans hoped for um so all of those things put

Together with the fact that the Kings didn’t get better so if you make the argument Oklahoma City got better okay you can make an argument I guess that Dallas got better they’re certainly playing better right now that’s fine La is the Clippers they’re just in a that team’s loaded like they’ve always been

Good they’ve just been a little you know stuff happens with them always sure but now it’s like coming together where it’s like holy crap this might be the most dangerous team in the entire league all of those things combined and it looks and then you don’t make moves you know at the trade

Deadline and you don’t really have an impact in free agency and Kings fans look around like wait did everybody get better except for us and I think that I think I think what we’re seeing now or what we’ve seen developed through the first part of this season is kind of a manifestation of

Frustrations that started in free agency when we got really hyped up about potential free agents targets who would fit when ultimately uh Monty and Mike and and the rest of that crew decided Harrison would fit and they kind of went from there today’s episode of the lockon

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That’s not an exaggeration go to hunger root.com lockon get 40% off of your first delivery and your free veggies that’s hungryroot.com lockon don’t forget to use our link so they know that we sent you while you were saying something there something dawned on me that I hadn’t thought about before and I think

You and I dor are kind wired the same to where I think both of us really get frustrated when we’re not progressing at least with us personally right we look at progression as like the expectation we expect to continuously get better and learn from our mistakes and improve in

Our own lives and our careers and things like that and I I I look at the Sacramento Kings and and kind of apply that in the same way like I want to see this team continuously improve so the two steps forward one step back or or or two small steps forward one gigantic

Step back that’s been like infuriating at times this season so let me ask you this because I agree with you that I don’t think the Kings have massively regressed by any means and we discussed yesterday on DLo and KC if the kings make it into the playoffs if they they

They come out of this race in a top six spot even though they’ve dropped from a third seed to the six seed I’m not calling that a failure this season based off of the circumstances that being said simply put like do you think the Kings have progressed do you think the Kings

Gotten better or or maybe better is the wrong word with what Mike is trying to accomplish and what Mike and the kings are trying to build here have they taken steps towards that this season you think that’s a good one um I feel like you inadvertently asked two very

Different questions did the Kings get better and did the Kings take steps to get to where Mike Brown wants so let’s start with did the Kings get better I don’t the answer is no domas is better yeah like and that’s amazing because he was really really good last year Dom’s

Season Allstar or not is phenomenal dear’s UPS he doesn’t really have ups and downs he had a up up up and then like a down and now he’s kind of trending back up so I don’t want to frame it like this this it’s this roller

Coaster it was like up now it’s down now it’s now it’s trending back up headed into the break but overall it feels like dearen has gotten better a component to Keegan M Keegan Murray overall has gotten better his defense has gotten incredible right dearen has gotten incredible so on the

Defensive end he’s gotten much better on the defensive end so the answer to the question did the Kings get better I think is no because it feels like herder’s been all over the place Harrison has been all over the place Shasha Sasha hasn’t really panned out I really like the minutes we’ve gotten

From Davon over the last month or so but we didn’t see Davon for the first couple of months of the season for whatever reason so in that regard no the Kings didn’t get better did they get closer to where Mike Brown wants them to be the answer to that might be yes because

Because of what we just talked about with the development of Keegan Murray on the defensive end the the development of dearon Fox on the offensive end and the fact that I think for Mike if you can get through this season I really really believe and I hope I’m not

Putting too much on this that the a a a a playoff spot is important like a series uh is important if they’re able to secure that whatever happens you lose in the first round to whoever so be it you’ve got work to do this offseason a

Lot of work to do this offseason to get closer to you know being a contender and being a team that makes a Deep Run in the playoffs but right now I feel like they they are just kind of they’re relying on they’re relying on their offense and they’re relying on

Guys clicking together and that hasn’t outside of dear and domas there that hasn’t really happened a lot it’s happened with Malik but you still you got to have something from Harrison you got to have a little something from Kevin herder or Keegan Murray and two often you haven’t like I was frustrated

That I think Harrison and Keegan combin line for 14 points against Phoenix and not that Harrison wasn’t working out there like he was not that K Keegan wasn’t doing stuff on the defensive end he he was but you know the the you had a limited number of shots because of the

Way dearen domas and Malik were playing you really had to find a way to take advantage of those against a team like Phoenix and they couldn’t um but I I I I I I don’t think they got better this year but I think when Mike is able to

Remove himself from the season when the season’s over he might feel a little bit better about what he has moving forward assuming of course he could make uh him his front office can make some moves for him let’s talk about dearon Fox specifically and I want to revisit what

You just said about the the front office moves too we we we’ll get back to that because I think that’s really important but with dearin we’ve we’ve seen the greatness right we saw at the start of the Season we saw on the playoff stage who knows

How much better it would have been and how it would have continued had he not injured his uh his hand the way that he did in the playoffs right so we’ve seen we’ve seen close to if not the top of the mountain of what dearon fox can be

In this league are we at the point now where we kind of have to accept that the top of that mountain also comes with the climb to get there and the climb to get there is the nights like late January early February where where dearen just is not whether it’s physically at 100%

Or 100% mentally invested into the game or willing to get downhill as much like I think the the evolution of dear’s three-point shot has been amazing to watch and in some ways it’s also become kind of a crutch for him and I don’t blame him the amount of times that he

Went down into the paint and got banged up and whacked around and locked on the floor now he’s like I got a three-point shot I don’t got to do that 82 times a year I’m not going to do it 82 times a year I’m going to sustain myself

Maintain myself and avoid that contact as much as I possibly can Plus he probably feels he’s still not getting the foul calls that he deserves for his status in the league that being said like I I just the amount of years that we’ve seen dear we watched his entire

Career here in Sacramento we know how great he can possibly be we also know that his competitiveness comes out in the floor when he Jaws at people and he kind of has his fun he usually does it with a smile on his face he will not

Step to the podium and call guys out you’re not going to see him the Huddle scream at anybody that’s just not who dearn Fox is that fire comes out in a different way way from de’arra and it typically comes out on bigger stages than in the middle of a regular season

Type thing is that just who dearen is and who Kings fans kind of have to accept the dearin is is maybe never going to be the 35 points per game scorer throughout the course of a regular season because he’s gonna have those gaps in the season where he’s just

Not giving his all or he’s just not 100% invested like he was early in the season or is that not fair um no I don’t think Kings fans have to accept that because I actually I I think dearen and and I think this is something that we forget sometimes when

We cover this game is that it like it’s you know to be a 30 point per game score which dearn was the first like 31 games of the Season or something that’s a that’s a that’s a that’s a high level of output right like night after night after night after

Night we don’t pay attention to it because it’s it I haven’t I’m I’m going to Workshop this right here on the lock on Kings podcast because I was I I’m I’m trying to think of an analogy and and and I think Kenny would appreciate this analogy it’s the burden of not winning

Right we talked about this all week with Kyle Shanahan you were in Las Vegas you watch Kyle Shanahan lose in the Super Bowl again there is no world in my mind in this this is my opinion where you can make an argument that Kyle Shanahan

Isn’t a great coach like he’s a he’s a phenomenal coach one of the best in the entire league he’s an incredible offensive mind he took a a quarterback and Jimmy Garoppolo to the Super Bowl Jimmy Garoppolo is on the verge of being out of the league that’s the shoot you

Saw the news with the Raiders today he’s on the verge of like he’s looking for a home right he took the final pick of the draft and took him to the Super Bowl now Brock I believe is a very good quarterback and we’ve seen signs of that

Over the course of the last year and some change but Kyle carries the burden of not winning dearen carries the burden of Sacramento he carries the burden of this franchise not winning so when he has you know when he’s averaging 30 points per game you know and his average

Drops it it becomes a you know a a Kevin o what’s his face from the ringer tweeting hey what’s wrong with dearon Fox there’s plenty of times where Dame Lillard through the course of his career you could check the box score on a couple of nights or you could watch a

Portland Trailblazers game see Dame L and go man Dame had 12 tonight it’s weird Dame must have had an off night oh he had 15 tonight that’s weird it’s a off night for Dame he average is 27 that’s that’s strange but dearen does it and it becomes oh my God what’s

Wrong now his his his scoring like dipped his his scoring average when you break the two segments of the Season up went from like 30 points per game to 22 points per game and there was a a slight you know shift in the in the in the winning percentage over those games as

Well I don’t have an issue though with dear’s scoring going up and down I have an issue and I think it was the Detroit game where it just looked like dearon was not engaged that I have a problem with and I think a lot of times we look at whether

He’s attacking the basket or or or the you know the output in which he’s scoring with I think we look at that sometimes as an engagement that’s probably not necessarily Fair we don’t know what he’s seeing on the floor we don’t know what he’s seeing defensively and maybe we’re not paying attention to

What’s going on in the offense around him but Detroit he looked like man I don’t want to be here I don’t want to play this game this team stinks let’s I think it was the night before the trade deadline if I’m not mistaken let’s just get this over with and he looks so

Disconnected that’s the only time where I can say I got a problem with that like you you can’t do that and I’ll give him credit this king’s team the Nuggets team and the officials they were disconnected on that game on Wednesday got that right nobody wanted the All-Star break to get

Here more than those three crews but the difference in the game was Denver was hitting shots at the beginning and Sacramento wasn’t then Sacramento started hitting shots and Denver didn’t and then dearen sat back like okay got it and when it was time to take the game

Over he took it over and made sure Sacramento got out of there with a win I need that from him on a night toight basis it’s a tall ask but he is the only player on the team capable of doing that on a night to night basis Malik can do

It I don’t think Malik can do it every night and Malik has bailed dearen out in in in a couple of games where where he’s had a rough night I bailed out is a strong term but like Malik has had a re you know a really you know big night on

Nights that dear has had some bad ones Malik was off that night domas was cooking but still in the end dearon is the one who can take the basketball in his hands and take complete control of the game and he did that on Wednesday which I appreciate and I think Kings

Fans if you want to be excited about something or feel positive about something headed in to the second part of the season it’s if you get something like that for more rather than you know if you if if you get them for a high percentage of

These final 28 games of the season I think the Kings really do have a good shot of securing that six spot because along the way you’re going to have to beat Dallas right you’re gonna you got a couple of games against Dallas you got a couple of games in Los Angeles like

March is a huge month they got two versus LA they got two versus Dallas you you you don’t really have control over New Orleans anymore so you got to take control of those two teams and you don’t play Phoenix for the last time until the final game of the season so that could

Mean everything and it could mean nothing like there’s no way to tell right now but Dallas and La you’ve got a you’ve got a you got to take care of business in March and if this is the version of dearon fox you’re getting you should feel pretty confident about their

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Keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com eligible items only exclusions apply eBay guaranteed fit only available to us customers you ask anybody who watches the Kings you ask anybody who covers the Kings or who pays even a little bit of attention to the Kings you ask the Kings

Themselves it’s dearon Fox’s team dearon Fox is the guy dearon Fox is a superstar but if you ask people who have been consistently watching the Kings like you and I think we would all say that when it comes to consistent output and consistently bringing it damont sabonis

Has been that guy this season sabonis has had the best season of his career and it’s not even close and this is going to be the season that he’s not an All-Star compared to three seasons that he’s made it when he’s been worse believe it or not which is just even

Crazy to say like uh you you asked me a question yesterday on lockon Kings and it was kind of tongue and cheek and you had to reiterate it so the audience didn’t take it and run with it you said like why does why does uh Mike Brown hate Kevin hurder and it was

It was like a silly question had to do with Kevin herder’s rotation We’re not gonna have time to talk about that on uh today’s podcast but definitely a conversation for for a later day but you said it tongue and cheat because obviously Mike Brown doesn’t actually hate Kevin herter there’s a question on

The side of the screen right now why does the NBA hate Damonte sabonis initially I would have thought thought okay that’s also kind of a tongue and TW cheat question the NBA doesn’t hate damont sabonis it’s it’s the fans it’s the Kevin oconor and the ringers and and

People that put these tier lists out and stuff and just they just do not respect or understand what sabonis is doing simply because they said that the trade from the or with the Indiana Pacers was a bad one for the Kings and they can’t just admit that they were wrong and then

You have NBA coaches not voting demanda sabonis in for having the best season of his career not putting him in above Anthony Davis not putting him in above Carl Anthony towns two guys that he’s literally not lost against so far this season so the question I think stands

Like why does the n ba hate Damon sabonis what is it that sabonis is doing or not doing that doesn’t make the NBA want to showcase that to the world I’m glad they picked him for this Netflix documentary thing that they’re doing and hopefully that helps him gain some fans

And gain some respect around the league when they see how great of a person he is in addition to how damn good of a basketball player he is but sabonis is putting up the numbers having the games on an exciting team in the Western Conference he checks in my opinion all

The criteria for showcase this man he has the European ties as well why does the NBA it feel like not want to showcase or draw attention to what sabonis is doing the only reason the only the only thing that I can think of is the fact that there’s already a guy who does

It right you pick you have you have uh you have Shay he’s long he’s lengthy he he he is incredible on the defensive end he can get to the basket in two steps got strong Kevin Durant Vibes right young Kevin Durant it’s like oh all

Right so we we still got KD KD playing at a high level you know we got we got this we got this Shay at this guard position he can move oh it’s beautiful okay we got we got something there you start to look around Luca is really

Unique and you know you Luca is just a you know an absurd scorer right and they’ve wanted Luca Luca is great the league has wanted him to be great for for very very long time with with Joel and joic two really different players at the same position right very very

Different type of players with joic and sabonis you have guys who do the same exact thing for their teams score rebound facilitate the floor jic does it at an MVP level domas does it at an all proo level and I think the NBA looks at it like well we already got one of

Those let’s find something else it’s like if you’re clothes shopping oh there’s this purple Kings hoodie and there’s this purple Kings hoodie it’s a different logo I already got a purple Kings hoodie and I’m gonna go get a black one or a white one or a gray one or I’m gonna go

Get a jersey I’m gonna go get something else the only thing I can think of is that he’s so close to what nicolea yic does they’re just like well we already have a nicoa yic why do we have to Showcase a guy who does what he does at

A slightly lower level it’s the only thing I can think of and if they were winning 60 games it would be different but they’re not they’re a good basketball team but they’re not winning at a clip that forces you to pay attention to them that’s the only thing I can think of

Because you they drool over jic I don’t know like why aren’t you drooling over domas this dude is phenomenal it’s it’s it’s funny I always make the joke everybody knows how much I love Russell Westbrook like y’all love triple doubles until someone you don’t like is getting

Them y’all loved when Luca got triple doubles or Lebron got triple doubles Russell Westbrook did it for Four Seasons and y’all just stopped caring y’all love triple doubles when Nicole yic does it but domas does it you know what the highest clip of of of of anyone in the League this season yeah

I don’t care you only like triple doubles when a guy that you’re pushing does it and that dri that drives me nuts it drives me nuts man if the NBA ain’t like the WWE in that sense too every once in a while but oh 100% yeah absolutely absolutely they they they

They you know they book they book their favorites at the top you know they just just Triple H in the early 2000s right now that’s what Nicole yic is just running rough shot through everybody well Sacramento’s got to get danda sabonis that Daniel Bryan Lov so he gets

The attention at the at the end when it’s all said and done well finish the story domas finish the story we we could take this on a completely different curve how much I would love to spend the next 30 yeah really oh man there’s so much going on especially with the rock being

Back I want to host a WWE podcast so bad but I’ll wrap this Kings podcast on WWE question mark I would be I’m pitching it I’m pitching it now like gave away I just gave away a million dooll idea today you did you really did and over the cash

Pal we’re gonna host it you and I are GNA host it we’re GNA make sure we’ll wrap up the lock on Kings podcast with this DLo you brought up the off season you brought up the front office a little bit earlier like it would not surprise

Me and I’m I’m hoping I’m I’m thinking like two years from now the kings are firmly established top of the Western Conference playoff team hoping to be competing for a championship or maybe they are competing for a championship at that time and we’re breaking each season

Down like a rung on the ladder similar to the late 90s early 2000s and that climb to the prominence of that team the first year was the like the dawning of the beam and this team’s returned to relevancy and a lot a lot of fun and

They T caught the World by storm they finally got back and they they realized they had something this season was separating the real from the fake this season was you brought that group back you found out what what could actually get you there and what was just

Along for the ride right and I think that all depends upon this off season this upcoming offseason I’ve said a lot this season that I I felt that the Kings weren’t going to do anything at the trade deadline I said that on your show back in like November I just felt like the

Way the roster was and the way things were shaken out the Kings weren’t really going to do anything because they wanted to get another playoff series hopefully of context or the very least a regular season of context and then make decisions so you’ve gone through an offseason of very minor moves mainly

Bringing the team back two trade deadlines of very minor moves to no moves at all now you’re going into an offseason where I still think the top of the list is keeping a guy here in Malik monk I still think that’s priority number one going into this off season

But Kevin herder Harrison Barnes Davon Mitchell everything else around that fox sabonis monk Murray core that you hopefully can sustain or maintain that’s going to be question I guess the the last thing that I have to ask you is is there a scenario in your mind that you

Feel that the Kings won’t be really making some big decisions and making some big moves I feel like this is an off season that might like you talk about the trade the damont sabonis trade like determining Monty in his career and that did to some extent that earned him

The second contract this is GNA determine whether or not he’s going to be a good GM or a great GM just like the kings are going to be a good or great team this upcoming off season is where I feel like like all right Monty this is

Where you you you want to build a champion this is where it’s going to have to happen uh you asked if there’s a scenario where I see that that doesn’t happen the only scenario I see is if they can’t find a trade partner um does he get a pass for that

Though I mean I know it takes two to tangle but you gotta initiate something it it I I I I’m of the like this deadline if there was a move you wanted to make and it wasn’t there I’m perfectly okay that you didn’t make that move because you have kind of minimal

Bargaining chips at this point and you know an under discussed you know James brings it up a lot we didn’t discuss it today an under disuss component to them making the playoffs is the the the draft pick goes to to Atlanta the slates wipe clean you can trade you know any and

Everything that you want to moving forward they don’t make the playoffs that becomes a whole different headache so you have a you have assets you have draft Capital at your disposal uh and you have um attractive contracts with with with decent ball players at your

Disposal I I try to stall these guys out and that like I don’t believe Mon’s not trying right but the only scenario would be like if he just can’t if he just can’t get someone to engage with him there ‘s probably a point and it’s probably this off season

Though to your to your point Matt where he’s got to get aggressive and if he puts a trade proposal on the table for a player that he would if there’s a player that Monty and Wes and Mike really believe is going to improve this team and you put an

Offer out there and that team goes not quite what we were looking for you’ve got to go find what they’re looking for what is it that you want did you want another draft pick okay here you got take it here here’s the other draft pick let’s go did you want a a

Couple of second round like what did you want a role player like tell me what you want because we’ve if that player exists and I don’t know who that is but if that player exists they have to be aggressive in in going to get that player uh

Because you’re right like this is this will be the next defining moment for Mony McNair in this front office because we saw we saw the you know the the the run it back we we seen that now I don’t think anyone wants to see this anymore

You know we want to see it through the season we want it to to to go well but let’s let’s start thinking about what’s next right and we’re all thinking about that one step at a time though what’s next is a really really competitive playoff race here in the Western

Conference of course throughout that race in addition to lock on Kings DLo and Casey Monday through Friday uh noon to 4 o’l every single weekday they’ll have you covered throughout entire race and then some over there so check that show out if you’re not already uh DLo appreciate you making the time before

Going and hopping on for four hours of DLo and KC you just extended your workday by 30 to 45 minutes for me and I appreciate that my man so thanks for doing that uh have a great great show thanks for coming on and we’ll uh we’ll

Do it again soon we’ll have you back on probably before this race is done with oh man I love that I appreciate you thanks Matt

Matt George is joined by Damien Barling from ESPN 1320 radio in Sacramento to discuss the Kings’ progression this season. Plus, the peaks and valleys of De’Aaron Fox, the race for the playoffs in the West, and why the NBA hates Domantas Sabonis.

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