The James Ham Show – What’s the Right Move For the Kings?

The James Ham Show – What’s the Right Move For the Kings?

out Kenny out here hating on giraffes well I mean we have the buzzer sounded we’re talking to uh Tyrese and and Miles Turner and sorry that’s all the time we have let’s go to zebras and giraffes here on uh ABC it happens it happens uh James Hamm insiders here with us oh James where do we start well let’s start with your boy defend Michael Malone oh he lost his cool for sure um like look I I get it Heat of the Moment uh you got to be better than that but Heat of the Moment I can understand um getting frustrated with with questions uh you know I said this earlier and I say this quite often I personally do believe that there are stupid questions and I believe that there are stupid people who ask questions and sometimes you have stupid people who ask stupid questions um and it get it can get really frustrating for players and for coaches and everyone else but in that situation you have to understand that all cameras are rolling and that everybody is watching and and you need to be a gracious loser and that’s not easy for anyone uh and I just think Michael got a little got a little frustrated lost his cool uh not a good look well the thing that I I and I like Michael Malone um but the thing that I I’m not going to let him doing this situation is uh you’ve had a lot to say for the last year you know what I mean when you were a chance when you were the big dog and you know and you had a lot to say about the Lakers you had a lot to say about you know your team and rightfully so you’re the you’re the winners it’s all good in those situations it ain’t no next question it ain’t no oh that was a stupid ass question like no you sit up there and you answer the question with the same uh fever that you answered the the the questions when things were going good and yeah I I can’t not saying anybody is but I’m not gonna give him a pass on that because you’ve had a lot to say for the last year when you was on top and when and what I thought was a valid question about you blowing a 20-point lead at home in a game seven ain’t no next uh next question no comment on that one no speak up speak up yeah I don’t necessarily like I I said what I said about stupid questions and stupid people and all that stuff but I I actually didn’t think it was a horrible question um in in the moment I it just you know I think Michael took it as more of a jab um and you know like you’re asking about a feel like how do you feel and that’s more than asking about you know you blew a 20o loss uh 20-point lead um so sometimes you do get someone’s personal feelings and and clearly Malone wasn’t happy with it and and you know you’re right he should bring the same energy when he’s winning and when he’s losing but I would actually say he kind of is you know that is who he is he’s he’s always that way um he doesn’t mind throwing Jabs when he is winning and clearly he doesn’t mind throwing Jabs when he’s lost so I just but would continue to say it just wasn’t a good look it it just didn’t look like I mean to be honest that’s that’s Chris Finch’s moment it’s the Minnesota timber wolves moment and you took something away from it by making it about you and losing your cool in a press conference um do you you think the Timberwolves could win this whole thing do I think the Timberwolves can win the whole thing yeah I mean why not because at this point I don’t think any of us would have chosen like we would have chosen one of these four teams like to to be here at this moment like at the beginning of the playoffs or like during the season but I don’t think anyone would have chosen all four of these like you couldn’t guessed all four of them you would have guessed the Celtics would be there but uh at this point like it’s anybody’s game and like look the Pacers keep kind of moving along in in a way that like there’s nothing to say that the Boston Celtics won’t have a couple of catastrophic injuries and they won’t just be in the finals and so they they they’re kind of proving the point that you never know what’s going to happen and you have to play the games and that’s why I I think at this point I would you know if I were a betting man I would put money on the Celtics to win it all because they’re they’ve proven to be the best team over the last couple of years but nothing is for sure in this year’s playoffs injuries have played a huge role uh young teams figuring out how to play has been tremendous young players young individual players figuring out how to how to win and how to be you know superstars on the biggest stage like Anthony Edwards and you can say Carl Anthony towns you can say luk donic uh even you know Tyrese Halton has had some hiccups but he’s showing that he can learn to be a star and and before he was bounced from the playoffs Jaylen Brunson like this has been a good playoff it’s been a a good turnover uh sort of turnover year for the league where a lot of fresh blood a lot of new things are happening that we didn’t really expect and I think it’s good because you know the NBA out of all the leagues feels like when teams get good they stick around for a long time as good teams you know they usually have five to eighty year windows and you can’t say that about you know the NB the NFL you can’t say that about Major League Baseball like teams come and go and uh so I think it’s certainly like an interesting year for turnover do you um we were asked a question earlier about who has the most at stake um talking about the superstars um Tatum Ant-Man Luca and Tyrese halberton who has the most to gain and the most to lose in this situation is it the same person that has the most to gain that has the most to lose or you know it could be two different people to to fit those answers but in your opinion who has the most at stake with the most to the gain and the most to lose in this in the four Superstars left yeah I mean I certainly think that Jason Tatum and and the Celtics have the most to lose I mean this is their Championship to take and they’re overdue right they’re they’re not just due for a championship they’re overdue they should have probably been able to win one before now over the last couple of years so I don’t know if we’re going to tie Legacy to players and and that you know championships mean so much when we’re talking about Legacy and all that sure that’s going to be the team outside of that like Anthony Edwards has a long time to to be good and and Luca donic has a long time to be great and um I think this could be a moment where Luca becomes like a multi-time MVP if he were to somehow get break through here and then win a championship um so maybe he does have a lot to lose here uh but also like a lot to gain you know it wasn’t until jokic won two MVPs but when he won the when he won the championship that kind of cemented him in a lot of people’s minds as you know a certain amount of greatness and I know Luca’s always had sort of that cache but it doesn’t really mean anything if you’re not winning in the playoffs you know and so this is a moment where I think he could put himself like he could really put himself into the next two to three four MVP conversations if he were to win this yeah I feel like jic winning his first championship put him in line to win his third MVP yeah the conversation this year might have been a little different if Denver hadn’t won that Championship I don’t necessarily agree with that by the way but I do think it is the way I’ll be interested to see what direction voters go moving forward if joic and Luca for example are having phenomenal Seasons next year do they lean on joic like they did Joel like they did on joic after giannis’s years before Giannis had won the championship I’ll be curious to see if they treat if they keep that same energy as they say for Nicole yic having fallen short in the playoffs this year in a playoffs that virtually of them said was Denver’s to lose and they lost it so I’m curious how you cover this dude next year no I am too and you know I I think there is something to what jic said following the game like that Minnesota Timberwolves team is very specifically built to beat them like just like for some reason the New Orleans Pelicans is built to beat the Sacramento Kings like whatever the reason is the matchups seem to like side on with Minnesota and I think a lot of it is that you’re not you’re not able to play goar off the court right so that’s sort of been the issue over the last I don’t know whatever five or six years goar has been a pretty dominant defensive player and a big man um he’s teams can play him off the court in the playoffs with no problem and Denver can’t do that because their star is a gigantic Center as well and so who you know he can shoot the three but when he shoots the three is about as methodical as you’ve ever seen so it’s not like he’s he’s gonna like shoot a couple of Threes And goar’s gonna come out and he’s gonna Race by goar and go to the rim I mean he does that on occasion but I think that that team is really built you know really it’s built by the same guy both teams are built by the same guy and sort of mirror images of each other ways that you can combat the one team with the other and so I don’t know how that will Faire in the next round and the round after that we’ll have to wait and see what that means for Minnesota long term but yeah um I think certainly yic I think his time is like we’ll see what the voters do next year but there’s a good possibility that they’re kind of like okay we’re kind of over this now and then move on to the next guy because that’s the way the league kind of goes way voting kind of goes so James one of the things that everything that I’ve taken away from everything that’s going on in these playoffs and seeing these four teams looking at Minnesota looking at Indiana looking at Dallas and the moves that they made to get to this point or help them get to this point is when you equated to the sa Sacramento Kings I feel like it’s time to make a move you the the phrase I used earlier was scared money don’t make no money and I do understand the idea and um the thought behind standing Pat last summer and even at this trade deadline but that time is come and gone at this point and you have to take a chance if you want to get to the next level and it may or may not work I don’t I don’t know but you can’t just play it safe it feels like you can’t just play it safe and think that you’re going to elevate this team this is the time to maybe take a a chance on somebody that isn’t perfect money isn’t perfect may have to give up more draft picks than you want or whatever the case may be but I think all three of those teams gave up a lot with the hopes of possibly getting to this point and they got it done and I think that’s the the point the kings are at and Monty McNair is at what you think about that yeah I mean I think these teams too are are kind of proving this weird point that I think is missed um draft picks matter right they matter a lot but they matter less and less the better you get and you know a team like Denver you know just keeps cooking keeps playing keeps moving along a team like Minnesota finishes third in the Western Conference well we all bag on them for giving up all these first round picks for gobear and now here they are they’re here at like The Pinacle and like look their draft picks mean nothing like nobody wants to I mean the Kings may have trouble finding a taker for the 13th pick in the 2024 draft I Minnesota like the fact that they may not have their draft pick this year because of the gobear trade I don’t know if this is one of the odd years or the even years but either way the point is that like if you’re going to be a good team you’re going to be 25 to 30 in the draft it doesn’t matter how many of those you give up they’re really not worth that much so we we build up draft Capital to mean so much because it can mean Victor whama but it can also mean you know maxon’s what is it uh Prosper uh like ohx who the Kings drafted last year who again that’s the 24th pick in the draft you don’t know what you’re going to get he spent the whole year in the G league and this not to say he’s no good it’s just say he’s like really far out because he’s a 24th pick in the draft and he’s a 24th pick in the draft the Kings traded that pick because like it just didn’t have the value to them as a franchise at that point because you’re already a team that you think is better than than that sort of range of player so look I think the gauntlet has been laid you know that OKC is going to be a Powerhouse for years you can see that Minnesota has you know a good five fiveyear window with maybe not with goar for a full five years but with cat and with Ant-Man and then Ant-Man will have his own like era alone on that team but you can also see that Luca is going to be there and you can see that like there are a lot of teams around you in the standings that are going to be good for the next couple of years and the Kings have a window and they need to take advantage of that window or they need to start over and look at a different window and that’s not what I would propose to them at all uh but that’s kind of the reality right you get to these moments where it’s like you either push your your chips in or get ready for the chaos that ensues what happens what happens is you could not make the playoffs again or you could be a a seven seed up against one of these teams that again have taken this huge leap and you haven’t and you could get thumped in the first round and be out again like there has to be a point where you have to get to where they are and you’re not that far away we saw it last season but all of a sudden you are you’re on the outside looking in while they just keep going and they keep getting more experience and better and so yeah man I I do think that this is a point where you do have to blank or get off the pot like like e either this is a team you’re riding with and you’re okay with being uh a team that you know is On The Fringe of making the playoffs or you need to start over or you need to go all in and and try to make your team better and you’re doing that because the other teams are better than you and you need to find some way to compete with them okay two things we’re projecting again and we’re assuming assuming nothing ever goes wrong with any of these teams uh that had good Seasons this year be at Dallas be at Minnesota be at Oklahoma City and I get it that’s fine that’s what we do in sports it’s just fascinating that there’s only one team in history that it didn’t happen with and it was last year Sacramento Kings No One thought that team was on the upswing at least those who were outside of Sacramento didn’t the other thing is Hammer you know this as as well as we do and maybe even a little bit better we could talk about the Kings making a move making a move making a move and you know as Kenny and I were talking earlier it it’s not like they didn’t try like they tried to acquire ogn and Obi who went to the New York Knicks and just got eliminated they tried to acquire Pascal cakam who’s still playing with the with the Indiana Pacers I don’t know what other deals have you know attempted to be orchestrated behind the scenes but we knew that those were too bitty to two pretty big Trad Market names that they that they went after I think Monty’s trying I don’t I don’t know what’s preventing him from getting to the Finish Line I think I can guess given the situation uh with those two players and they upcoming like they are both free agents they can both sign wherever they want to now we all have feelings about where they’re going to sign but it’s a fact they can sign wherever they want to uh and I think that may have given you know man C the point James is it’s not like Monty’s not trying and so I wonder if he has to do something and maybe this is what Kenny alluding to he has to do something borderline Reckless just to make something happen and hope that it pays off is that fair I don’t want to put words in your mouth but he’s got to get over he’s gotta he’s at the table he’s got to get you know the figurative ink to paper the James real quick the the analogy the situation that I talked about earlier like I said I’ll keep names out of this but I think you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about there there was we all know there was a discussion about a player and in the Kings circles or in the front office or whatever one side was like I don’t know about that I’m not really sure about it and maybe another side was like n n we need to do this and the side that was like I’m not not sure about that they end up winning out and I understand why they said I don’t know about all that but to Damian’s point you may you may have to get over that and make a move and try to figure out how to make that move work as opposed to just keep passing on opportunities that may be in front of you because they’re not the right situation for you yeah I mean I think I know the name that you’re talking about um you know and sometimes basketball people have to win right like a bad decision is a bad decision no matter what but goar was probably looked at as a bad decision you know like all the things was looked at as possibly looked at as a bad decision goar wasn’t looked at a bad decision the um what they gave up to get goar was looked at the bad decision like like goar as a player isn’t I mean he again he’s a multi-time defensive player of the year when he goes to Minnesota um so I mean I don’t think that’s the problem the problem is that you gave up like four first and then pick swaps and then players right like you gave up a ton I mean think even Kessler Walker is part of that right but in Walker kler Walker Kessler there we go in um in in Minnesota’s defense though our our our argument is the or my argument is the thing went along was if they think he’s the guy do it like if you believe this is the difference between us winning a championship and us being a first round exit do it and clearly they believe something about Rudy gobear and they did it yeah no I get that I’m just trying to think of the trade that Kenny’s thinking of and and I’m pretty sure I know who you’re talking about the the trade text it to you for goodness sake James does it rhyme with Dak Prine oh for goodness sake like like okay look at some point at some point the basketball people have to make basketball decisions James is removing like all James is removing like all witness protection things from this from this conversation now to be clear since James is just thrown this all out there James ham said there were there were Rumblings there were two separate camps in the Kings regarding Zack LaVine James is removing all uh mystery about what those two camps were and look look since we’re already here we’ll say it there was a camp that was like nah I’m not sure about it there was another camp that said no get him here and he’s not here so I’ll let I’ll let everybody else do the do the math on that one but sometimes maybe and then and then James said you gota listen to the basketball yeah that right so you can decipher who said get them [Laughter] here maybe maybe now also we don’t know like it’s I don’t know that like Chicago was on the phone right right if nothing else the conversation was being had like look again sometimes like there are ideas that are that are out there and and someone can fall in love with something but at the same time like that’s how like not to be mean but that’s how Justin Jackson happens you know that’s how that’s how bad trades happen because you have to let basketball people do bad basketball things and you have to like again not to like just be ruthless to Zack LaVine but like Mike Brown can’t ask for defensive players and you deliver him Zack LaVine like that’s if you’re gonna do that stop asking for defensive players well no but I mean if that’s what you’re gonna do just in all honesty then you might as well just like move on from him and say okay we don’t care about that anymore where’s Mike de Anton I don’t care how old he is let’s get him on in here and let’s just run you know know like three seconds or left less offense like like if you want to win you have to play Minnesota just showed you what it takes you play defense in the playoffs and you win you advance unless you’re Indiana who does and they’re advancing too which the which is crazy as well because that kind of flies in the face of what everybody say if you shoot well enough just shoot 80% at the half and you’ll be fine if you if you look if you stay committed to a certain identity do kind of believe in this a little bit obviously no surprise offense and stuff but Indiana never wavered we all around here were like y’all can’t do that in the playoffs they’ve done it in the playf now they ain’t gonna go 12 and0 but their their offensive their offensive pressure is is a real thing a really real it helped that they did it against six New York Knicks and no Dame and no Giannis yeah I mean that’s that’s what I would say it’s like you guys remember the uh Nancy carrian story where Jeff galui was by Tanya Harding right was sent her she sent her boyfriend to club uh Nancy Harding Nancy car right yeah why why right we all remember right that’s like basically the equivalent as to what’s happened with the Indiana Pacers like there’s just a Jeff Kuli walking around smacking people with clubs and knocking them out for the playoffs I I don’t know how it’s happening but it’s like they they just have this magical thing that keeps happening where oh look your best two players Giannis anti tumbo a two-time MVP and Dame L one of the great scorers of this generation oh they’re done for the series and then you get to the next one and it’s just like one player after another after another and we can blame Tibido we can blame whatever we want on what happens but even in game seven like a guy who is been the best player in the playoffs I think Baran in in uh Jaylen Brunson breaks his breaks his hand in the in game seven and he’s done so again it’s just like the randomness to what’s happened here for the Indiana Pacers yes they’ve beat them they’ve won they’ve won the games I’m not taking that away from them but you you can’t ignore the fact that that these other teams have been just missing everybody and it’s it’s difficult so so so here’s real quick what I would say about that and I do believe you need to be able to defend in the playoffs because the game does change a little bit but and work with me here if everybody in the playoffs is defending at a high level doesn’t that mean you need guys that can score like doesn’t that isn’t that what that mean like because so so for instance and we saw this with the Kings like no disrespect to these but Keon um I not excuse me not Keon Davon uh Harrison Kevin herder we’re fine in the regular season but when everyone’s defense picks up you need guys that can you know break that wall down and if you don’t you’re not gonna win so yes you need defense but you need guys that you need a Jaden McDaniel’s plays defense but he got 23 last night you need somebody that can can penetrate his other team’s defense because everybody’s raising their level of defense and if you just have defensive guys and and you think you’re going to win a rock fight I don’t think that’s going to work either you need some guys that can that the stars that can go above and beyond that playoff type defense and and scoring it does that make any sense well I’ll tell you the reason why one of the reasons why LCA donic is in the Western Conference Finals where he hadn’t been before is because they went out and got defensive players to put around him and PJ Washington has been not only has he been good defensively Ian offensively but he’s been great defensively uh Daniel gafford’s been great defensively Derrik Jones has been great defensively that’s why they’re hanging tough because they’ve been really good offensively though yeah but but this is this isn’t a lot different than the team that didn’t make the playoffs last year except for the players who have stepped on the court and played defense so yeah you have to you have to play defense to win you take his you take his you take PJ playing the same defense and he don’t average like 25 a night and they still winning that series well I don’t know like you have to score you have you have high level you have to if he plays the same defense but averages 11 are they winning that Series yeah but I mean look at the offensive rating of like the Denver Nuggets coming into that Series against Min Minnesota and they lost well yeah because they got shut down by a defensive team I mean that that would be my point like you have to play defense and it doesn’t just have to be all offensive players I’m not saying that because you still have I’m still like I would love to see dearon Fox and Deon sabonis and keam Murray and Malik mon part of any team that moves forward with this this group right but three of those guys are known for their offense and one of them out of nowhere decided to become a defensive genius and I don’t know how that happened but it did so I’m I’m not going to ask twice I’m just going to acknowledge that it happened and say good on you Keegan Murray for doing something that that we didn’t expect but the other three guys are straight up offensive weapons and fox can play some defense and Malik can play a little bit of defense and sabonis isn’t as bad uh like position Defenders people act like he is but the job at hand now is to put the other players around them the Derek Jones the Daniel gaffords the PJ Washington types um and you can you know the the McDaniels of the world the go Bears like that’s what you have to do at a certain point you have to like put the support staff around those guys to support them in the right way and to bring out the best that you can in their offensive game but also allow them to at least be competent on the defensive end and have other players who can take up some of that slack clearly we’re fixing everything um world peace up next we’ll continue to do that when thank you if I told Rory that VC ronad was responsible for the Bay Bridge collapse in 1989 he’d believed me yes told Rory that VC ronad started covid because he thought it would be funny he’d believe me yes he was making B Guana like smoothies somewhere and spread the co [Laughter] yeah yeah I just you know Kenny I get what you’re saying but like basketball decision have to be made by basketball people and if you’re going to make somebody’s Legacy whether or not if you’re going to hire and fire somebody because again the owner can’t be hired and fired if you’re gonna make somebody’s Legacy on the fact that they’re the one that traded for Zach Randolph’s contract I mean Zach lavine’s contract then if you’re GM right there it’s better for you to step aside and say you go ahead and make that move I I’ll be on the unemployment line and I’ll take my final paycheck so I ask you this though the kings are in the Western Conference finals next year are do we care does anybody in Sacramento care if what if the kings make the Western Conference finals next year like because Dallas don’t have no draft picks to the first they don’t have no money no nothing like they went and signed Grant Williams He pivoted off of that was able to do a whole bunch of other stuff they’re in the Western Conference Final nobody cares about their draft picks or their cap situation they’re in the Western Conference Finals if the kings were to trade for Zack LaVine and get to the Western Conference finals next year nobody would care oh okay but it’s about it’s the point is it’s about winning and and if you if they think if they think if they think getting Zack LaVine can help them win once again like I said earlier nobody’s privy to the results if you know the results then obviously it’s easier to make the move nobody’s privy to the results you have to kind of say like all right do I think this guy help me out do I want to take that chance it’s all about taking a chance like all this stuff drafting a player signing a free agent making a trade it’s all about taking a chance on somebody and if you take that chance and be like well what’s the upside of this the upside is we can go to the Western Conference Finals what’s the downside he doesn’t play because he’s injured we missed the playoffs and maybe I get fired can I live with the possible downside for a chance at the upside okay okay like look if you’re if you switch out the names and you say Pascal sakam instead of Zach Randolph and you start talking about getting to the Western Conference finals and and throwing all caution to the win and you don’t know if you’re going to be able to retain him but you’re GNA have to give up a bunch to get him that’s one discussion because Pascal seum has been there and he’s done that and and he’s an Allstar and he’s a guy that can do that and and he typically plays quite a few games Zack Randalls have NE Zack LaVine has never won anything yeah that’s fine neither is PJ Washington and we’re talking about he’s swinging this thing to get Dallas to the Western Conference Finals like but but PJ Washington makes 15 million bucks and cost you a first round pick Zack LaVine is an injury-prone dude on a $50 million a year contract that wipes out any flexibility you have for the next three years you’re not even using the flexibility you’re not even using you’ve got all this flexibility and in for 12 months you haven’t used it once yeah so like what what like so the other thing is are we just going to hold on to all these these assets and his flexibility until the contract runs out and then they’re just like a first round team are you gonna try the whole point is all three of these teams went and tried to get it done no there was no guarantee uh Minnesota got bounced in the first round it was the but of jokes last year right like it didn’t work out immediately they were looking foolish at the end of last year and but they made the move they stayed with it and it worked will the Zack LaVine thing work I have no idea once again if we knew the results then yeah we’ we’d be able to make a lot of different decisions I don’t know but I don’t think you can sit around and just well no we don’t want to yeah I don’t know if we want to you know put ourselves in that financial situation you know moving forward man okay so my logical step I say this all the time you don’t time out time out time out okay we’re coming back all right I just we solved nothing because Kenny and James just continued to argue during the commercial break and I just sat here looking at the uh wide range of bring your ass shirts that are available put it on a shirt they’re available in Minnesota that was that was some good stuff bring ass it’s available it’s I guess Minnesota has their own uh 209 Dave Garcia that they go to for stuff like this oh hey if de’arra said bring your ass come on man that’d be the hottest selling hoodie we ever had um if y’all want to continue you can I mean there’s a argument about offense versus defense you’re looking at the teams that are in the Conference Finals right now and how each of them hell we haven’t even referenced it lezy brought it up earlier Boston made a move like Boston you know part of the reason the Boston that looks so solidified is because how well the christops porzingis trade has worked out out for them now the concern with Chris tops porzingis is manifesting itself right now there was always a fear of him getting injured he got injured and they’re they’re hoping you know he’s not going to be around for game one tomorrow we already know that there’s there’s you know reports that he’s he’s you know hopeful to be available as the series progressives I’m not going to Discount Indiana they are not as good as Boston but you have to be better than Boston four times if you could shoot 70% four times again yep you’re probably going to beat the Boston Celtics can Envision them doing that but like you said a minute ago that’s the way that they play porzingis is vital to them winning a championship though Rudy goar in Minnesota um SE yakum in Indiana Kyrie Irving in in Dallas and and and all of the the you know the exceptional players that they picked up at the at the trade deadline forget who Kyrie was when the when the Mavericks went and got him absolutely like you forgot the biggest one for the Celtics is Drew holiday they went out and got absolutely yeah I did forget that one and I focused on porzingis but you’re 100 100% right like yeah all of these teams went out and made massive moves to get them into the position that they are and and the one that you just said at the end may be closest to what I’m talking about and mind you I don’t think we’ve I don’t think we’ve given Dallas enough credit today for what they did like Oklahoma city was the darling everyone loved them well and and Dallas took them out and and and mind you I’m not necessarily saying like if I had a list of deals I’d be trying to do trying to get Zack LaVine might not even be top three right like it’s it’s not at the top of my list or whatever but it’s all like it’s all cute right now and like this is this is great like look Luca and Kyrie like this is a great situation did we forget who Kyrie was when they traded for him or who he was perceived to be that that is pretty close to what people are talking about this guy in Chicago without all the the extra baggage Kyrie was probably worse in a lot of people baggage baggage yeah baggage injury history he didn’t make as much money but he was gonna need another contract when he came back all this other stuff like that’s pretty close to and Dallas went and did it they went and did it yeah I’m still the point I was going to make before is I never say make a move to make a move I say make a move because you’re not good enough make a move to take a step to get better that’s what I I think you do I think no matter what as long as Kyrie Irving steps on the on the court the Dallas Mavericks are better I just can’t say that about Zack LaVine throughout his career that the teams that he steps on the court for get better when he gets there or get better when or or are substantially worse when he’s injured um he just is what he is he’s a a like a volume scorer that gets hurt all the time and makes a lot of money um so so I I get what you’re saying but I think some of these other players like again I would put Zach in in the porzingis category porzingis you know when healthy has flamed out in multiple spots in New York and Dallas like he’s flamed out and wasn’t didn’t help get a team over the hump so for him to be part of something that’s going really well okay you surrounded him with like a great Supporting Cast and he’s not one a he’s not one B he’s not even really one C he’s somewhere in that list but you know he’s he’s pretty far down as far as like the level of importance for a team when you have you know even guys like you know Al Horford to back him up but also Derek white and Drew holiday to go with your two superstars so I don’t know like I agree the Kings need to make moves and I I I’ve been saying it the whole time like if you can’t see that this thing isn’t going the right way then like you need to like clean your glasses or something because it’s it got to a point where you could see them plateau and it wasn’t at the end of last season last season was great but you saw it super quick this year where you’re like uhoh not this is not the same team this does not look the same things are going wrong by the time you get to December you should know who your team is is by the time you get to January you should be mapping out how you’re going to make your team better or take a step back and by February whatever 8th like you got to have deals done if if you’re looking to make your team better and compete and that’s what these other teams did and that’s where the kings in my opinion like they came up short like you need to make your team better at all times you should be looking at all times for ways to make your team better and the Kings didn’t make some they didn’t even make a marginal move at the deadline they didn’t do anything I mean what in season the only thing they did was like they traded for Philip petrusev does anyone remember that like outside of that you signed ju Tano Anderson there for the two 10day contracts and then and then the uh the Jones kid you brought in and you gave him a couple of 10-day contracts but there wasn’t a lot else so the other thing about this to um James that that I I feel should play a factor now I may not be dealing with reality in this one but once again like I was saying during the break we’re not privy to the results of any deal any signing any draft pick if we knew the results we’d all be great at this and so would it be ax we don’t everything is a is a chance is an educated guest right when you do that you look at to me you look at the process of getting there and like making the decision if Monty say for inance well just because that’s the guy we keep talking about Monty went and trade for Zack LaVine and it didn’t work that’s not a firable offense to me we’re in a situation where we’re seeing other teams who went after it go after it you took your chance to get after it and make a move and number one one I’m not going to necessarily fire you because of that because that’s what I asked you to do I asked you to do something to be aggressive you were aggressive it didn’t work that’s not a fireable thing the other thing about it is I feel like Monty has uh a lot of cache and a lot of builtup equity with what he’s done as a general manager with this team he’s drafted at a high high level he’s traded at a high high level and when you talk about Malik monk he is is sign free agents at a high level for the most part I think if anybody has the room to be able to withstand a a m trade it would be Monty McNair right now that’s the way I look at it they may not be reality though okay so I’m going to clear up a little bit of that um number one uh mty if if he would have traded for Zack LaVine and Zack LaVine would have broke his hand like or whatever it was that happened no no he went in for ankle surgery right if he would have gone in and done that and and the Kings wouldn’t have had him all season they would have got to the roster first of all he would have got fired at the end of the year and secondly he would have got fired for a trade that he didn’t want and that’s where my biggest point would be I agree with you Monty should have the cache to go make the big deal he should have the cache to go trade tyres Helman for demonus sabonis he should be able to do that trade again if he needs to if it’s Keegan Murray to get a a star player whatever it is is that mty he should have the cach a to do that and he should have the allowance to do it and if he makes a mistake he should get fired but if you go out and you make a deal that’s not your deal and doesn’t feel right to you and you keep saying no to because you don’t think it’s a good basketball decision you can’t fire the owner and he’s gonna fire you and he’s not going to take the blame for what just happened he’s going to like act like nothing haen well I had he made a mistake I had to go do what was right for the franchise that’s what’s going to happen in that situation there’s not going to be an accountability a after the fact that that makes sense to anybody or is it like give some sort of punitive damage to the guy who actually wanted the deal to happen and made the mistake himself it would be all on the guy who actually has the title to make that decision and not the guy who is pushing the buttons and saying make that move does that make sense it does make sense all I absolutely makes sense but if you stand Pat and you keep waiting and waiting and waiting for this basketball move that you’re waiting to manifest itself and they miss the they they’re a playing team again next year you’re probably getting fired for that too probably yeah but I would rather if I’m a general manager I would rather go down swinging with a resume that doesn’t [ __ ] a franchise once I’m gone than one that does but that ain’t going down swinging that’s going down looking no because you can make moves that are your moves but you you do have to make moves that’s that would be my point like you have to make moves like if if they do the same thing again you just throw your hands up and say okay what are we doing here because again we talked about this last week like like the Mike Brown situation needs to be taken care of like now because this is the exact same situation we saw with Michael Malone where a guy like Rudy Gay says yes I’ll sign an extension on like November 18th and on December 12th or December 14th whatever it was you fire Michael Malone the coach that he signed up to play for and then you you end up with basketball hell where everyone feels like betrayed and confused and not wanting to be there anymore like this is a Moment Like This is if we’re gonna run it back and we’re going to preach continuity and we’re gonna do all these things then then actually put your money where your mouth is and do what you say you’re going to do and don’t just make it lip speak and then you know and then why is everybody talking about Michael Malone again well because we we see it we we we’ve already done it once we like the blueprint is there the blueprint for success is always out there you can always look at the Denver Nuggets or the Minnesota timber wolves or the Dallas Mavericks in their trades and say oh that’s the blueprint for success but the blueprint for failure is also all around you especially 10 years ago okay Michael Malone was fired by the Sacramento Kings or VC ronad however you want to friend 10 years ago we you think V is still the same owner he was 10 years ago like like if if we’re if we’re being shout out TC if we’re being real with ourselves right now we think there’s a likelihood that VC ronad repeats that mistake and by the way was that VC Rad’s mistake correct my correct me if I’m wrong about say he was listening to basketball people then oh basketball people were making the decision who was the basketball people making the decision that was your boy Pete but who’s who always carries the brunt of that hey butet car the no what I’m saying is we we we either got a pick basketball people are making basketball decisions or VCA is just this heinous individual who hasn’t learned anything over the last 10 years we got to decide which one it is because we’re talking out both sides our ass right now what are we doing no because you what are we doing this was 10 years ago yeah but the same exact thing is presenting itself again how you have a coach who has the ear of the team a coach who’s actually w and made it to the playoffs and and a coach who’s about to enter into a lame duck season like it’s and Ronnie said we we we got to get this addressed no question about that this has to get addressed yeah all right I’m just saying swear God Michael Malone’s name never ever comes up on this show again I’ll be thrilled or on this radio in this city if Michael Malone’s name never comes up as anything other than the head coach of the Denver Nuggets I’d be perfectly happy it’s 10 years ago December 15 2014 and we talk about it like it was yesterday now everybody just sit here in silence hey basketball basketball people uh drafted bagle over Luca well well you know who fault that was hey but look but look no uh basketball uh basketball people wanted Jay Navy over Keegan allegedly that’s what I heard that’s the basketball people want to Jade Ivy who’s actually a fine player he is a fine player I like Jade I [Music] um just like I hate to point this out but who hired these basketball people just just wondering just asking for a friend who who hired who hired Pete dandro who hired v d That’s not like well who hir mcir well are we not in the onion peeling mode here no which which bring it all the way I’m sorry didn’t Pete still have a job this is Monday how do we do this on no no doesn’t Pete have a job Pete has a job in the National Basketball Association somewhere so he sabotaged this stuff here and no one cared they were just like a that’s cool high be he’s a good dude that’s H over here it’s all good which this is James to bring it all the way around is I would listen to my myself if if we gonna peel the onion all the way back I I’ve listened to these guys long enough right where’s that got me I’m still in trouble I’m still getting blamed for everything 10 years later I might as well go with my gut yeah the one that I got right they don’t even give me credit for I said Keegan Murray in a room of Jay iies allegedly allegedly allegedly it’s just wild how that always works let’s just go completely against what fan sentiment is and make sure we attach VC’s name to it man dear VC there are people working against you my goodness man uh I had a very uh intelligent question for James Hammond I don’t remember what it was oh I do we’re talking about Zack LaVine just because you know James wanted to reveal you know who Oz was but is your ideal swing for it is that Ingram is that Brandon Ingram or do no we know OG sakam those are all gone yeah I mean Brandon he’s on a list like it just depends like basketball’s circumstantial like we have no idea what’s going to happen in the next like four to five weeks like who’s going to become available what’s going to be the name who’s going to say hey I’m not super keen on being here or hey I’m not super happy about the way the playoffs went and I want player X Y and Z take this painkiller shot in your ribs so rer right yeah so I think that we get to a point where you do kind of look at this and say um what is your list and and who becomes available from that list and like how many how many different trade scenarios do you have how do you get to a deal that makes sense for everybody how do you do it like very quickly how do you not get skipped over this time how do you close the deal and make sure it happens like it’s not easy and that’s the thing that I would point out I don’t think that Monty and Wes have sat around doing nothing absolutely not and we we tried to outline that earlier like I don’t they had a shot at OG they had a shot at cakam like they’re that they’re not sitting around doing nothing yeah and I I feel like those types of those guys like I think the not to go back to Zack LaVine but he has years on his contract and I think finding a guy who’s not who doesn’t have the leverage of free agency ahead of them will help it’s the r Rudy gobear had years on his deal getting acquired by Minnesota they had obviously you want it to work quick but but it’s not like if it failed after the first half season it was like oh God do we keep Rudy or not do we have to sign him to $200 million what do we have to do they knew what they were getting into and they were willing to take that risk it might be easier if that player exists to have a guy that doesn’t have that looming which I know takes out bi well look and then then I’ll stall out um Monty a little bit as well because we don’t we’re not privy to these conversations so this is a possibility as well where maybe the basketball people are like all right man you want Zack LaVine fine fine we’ll do it live we’ll do it live all right this is what it’s gonna cost you to have him and then like oh oh I didn’t know to Rory East Point I didn’t know I have to go into luxury tax for all this I don’t know if I want to do this anymore it could be as simple as that it could simp as maybe to to your original point the the the man who signs the checks doesn’t want to pay that amount even though he likes the player he may not want to pay that type of money for that type of guy yeah well yeah but I think Kenny that’s the point that I would make and it’s it’s one of the reasons why I keep telling people like look VC is willing to pay he it’s it’s not that he’s not willing to pay because he he was willing to pay for LaVine like straight up like he wanted that deal I’m just saying you can say what you guys want I’ll say what I want like he was willing to pay and there’s there’s been other situations where he’s been willing to pay like but there are other situations that are not basketball fully fully basketball related uh or on the court player related where he hasn’t been able to well he he hasn’t been willing to pay and that’s you know sometimes as big a problem as anything else yeah MO harkless is not luxury tax Worthy nor is shano p magic shooting guard that’d be great come on Orlando let’s do it go get that buddy healed he’d be great for you um all right cool four hours and we accomplish nothing well we that we know what a front runner is we do know what a front runner is whether people like it or not we definitely know what that is and there’s probably more of those in the league than there aren’t um but I’m excited for the Conference Finals to get underway tomorrow um and I guess we’ll try to fix everything again tomorrow so it’s all I can tell you that’s it tune in uh the Insiders beginning at 10: a.m. we

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