The James Ham Show – Sasha Vezenkov And the Kings Moving On?

The James Ham Show – Sasha Vezenkov And the Kings Moving On?

our man James ham with us James ham of course of the Insiders James ham also of course of the Kings beat James what the hell happened over this weekend with Sasha venkov and um in fact that’s that’s a question that probably doesn’t even matter it it seems regardless of what report you’d believe and who broke up with who Sasha won’t be playing for the Sacramento Kings next year I don’t know uh we’re gonna have to wait and see how this all plays out like look I think anytime we deal with with reporting from overseas um it’s tough to trace right so if if everyone remembers two years ago like it was a done deal that s Sasha was coming over like five times and then he didn’t so I’ve always kind of like aired on the side of caution uh it wouldn’t like the Kings have no incentive to have a conversation with anyone about this at this point this is like their knee deep in and draft prep and free agency prep all this stuff is coming up in the couple in the next couple of weeks I just find it really interesting the two different reports and you know like I’ve had people tell me on on social media hey the the first report isn’t that guy’s not as reputable reputable as the second report and that that doesn’t change my thinking because one report comes out at like 4:00 in the morning here by the guy who’s allegedly not very uh reputable and then the next report comes out at like 5:15 so we’re talking about like an hour and 15 minutes later somebody who knows Sasha came out with a secondary report so I just think it’s it’s always strange when we’re we’re trying to decipher what is actually being said and what’s actually going to happen and we’ll have to wait and see uh that’s just kind of how I’m approaching this do you feel like there was like it there is a a disconnect between Sasha the the coaching staff the franchise what he thought he was getting into like is do you think that aspect of it all is true like regardless of who said what or where the the sources are coming from do you think there’s he’s not happy with his with with being here in Sacramento well I I spent a ton of time with Sasha all season long and look the guy just wants to play and and I get that he’s guy who is you know won an MVP overseas he’s a guy who is widely considered one of the better players in Europe and to have him like come to Sacramento and go from you know being a superstar overseas to a guy who averaged 12.2 minutes per game over 40 something games um I don’t think that that’s what he expected at all but I also you know he hadn’t really dealt with injuries before and um he he not only had like one major catastrophic like grade three ankle sprain but he had like two or three other ankle sprains including one earlier like in the same game on the opposite leg so he just went through it a bunch and uh he’s a guy who’s here on his own and probably was pretty lonely throughout the season um but at the end of the day like look he’s under contract and when you sign a three-year deal um you know like the Kings have his rights if he wants to go back to Europe I’m sure they’re more than willing to have a conversation with him and see what that would look like and and either void the final the this coming year’s salary or uh or work out some sort of buyout or something but uh like I don’t think we’ll know if this thing is going to head towards like the dark end until we get a little bit later in this into the offseason I mean again the Kings could trade him uh you know like between now and and you know July 6th and and it like everything could change we have no idea what’s goingon to happen in the situation again I think it’s way too early do you think Mike gave Sasha legitimate shot here in the League last year I think it’s it’s a hard question because I don’t think that like we talked about this coming into training camp right we talked about this like at the end of free agency that the Kings had had brought in they have four forwards and the four forwards don’t really like they don’t complement each other they’re they’re all like in one way or another they’re pretty similar you know really good shooting um not great Defenders the fact that you know Keegan Murray stepped up and became better than what he than what anyone expected on the defensive end I think that helps but at the same time like I don’t know what Mike’s supposed to do you have two starters you have your young guy that you’re bringing along right that you you’ve put a whole lot of eggs in that basket you bring a veteran back with a 17 18 And1 19 million deal over the next three years and then you bring Trey ly back at a two-year eight million deal and then oh yeah we have this other guy Sasha and again the problem that I saw was that these guys are all too similar they’re and where that comes into play is that they don’t complement each other there’s there wasn’t a player that Sasha could play with on that front line that could help sort of mask some of his deficiencies as a defensive player and that’s a problem so I just kind of felt like it was a a little bit of a bad mix but at the same time I mean I’m not sure what Mike Brown is supposed to do I mean he’s got Trey Lyles who was so good the year before and was one of his leaders on the team and then he’s got Keegan and Harrison Barnes so I’m not sure that there was really a an easy solution here especially since none of those guys are long athletic defensive players that can you know help the other guys help again mask the deficiencies of any of the other guys how how long was the time that Trey La was out he didn’t start this SE yeah because at the very end of the preseason he hurt his calf um and did that I guess I could have L but did did that coincide with like was Sasha getting those minutes while Trey was out or was he still kind of getting dmps or not getting a lot of tick while Trey LS was out yeah I’d have to go back and look the first 13 games of the season is where lyes got hurt and uh you know he got hurt the last the last couple of days of training camp and um and I mean I think that there was some opportunity for Sasha but also like you got to remember he’s a rookie he’s trying to acclimate to the NBA in the first 13 games of the season so I’m not even sure that’s really all that fair um I would have liked to have seen him get like some pretty substantial playing time along the way but it just never really popped up in that first uh like again the first 12 games of the season um he played an all but one and uh like he played quite a bit more he averaged 14 minutes a game um six points you know almost two rebounds a game um so yeah he he did get an opportunity early uh but you know again as the season went on I think he just kind of went back to what uh to what he knew what Mike knew and that is guys like uh guys like Trey guys like you know you needing to steal minutes for Kevin herder at the at the three so you could play Malik monk more minutes like I don’t think it’s just one thing that caused this to work out this way uh and I would again who knows what’s going to happen uh the Kings could make you know a couple of Trades here and guys like Trey ly or uh you know Harrison Barnes they could not be on the team you know in two weeks and then maybe Sasha does have a spot and and maybe this whole thing kind of works itself out I just think for right now it’s it’s kind of weird timing how you you you mentioned like potential trade like how big of a factor is this contract like is it like 6.9 like guaranteed this year I know there’s there’s something with the third year but that’s a pretty attractive number right to to add to another contract make salary work all those different types of things I just imagine it becomes more difficult if the guy’s like no I’m gonna go to Europe it’s cool um no actually I think that this this can actually work out out um I I think he makes right around 6.5 6.6 this year and remember we’ve talked about this earlier um under the new CBA guys like this can be traded for twice as much as their salary right so so if he’s making 6.5 million that’s basically like a$ 133 million uh trade value like you can go up to uh 13 million dollar in return and you can aggregate that with another player so I think my point would be if you take if you take Sasha VZ zenov and you take Chris DTE and you put them together that’s a $25 million dollar wor the salary that you could take back in return so I don’t believe that it matters all that much I I I think where it really would matter is if somebody is trading for for Sasha to trade for Sasha right as opposed to trading for Sasha to take on a $6.5 million expiring contract and and I’m not sure at this point that he’s proven that he’s more than a $6.5 million expiring contract and I would say the same with dwarte but you kind of it depends on who who’s trading for them and what their their motivation is I would even say like look if if you were to trade for Sasha V zenov and he goes to another team and then he decides to work out a buyout with that team that team could come away looking much better you could trade you know you could trade and take back up to 25 million bucks with a salary and then have the guy basically opt out of not only his final year which is a team option for the final year but also he could say hey I want to go back to Europe and I’m willing to like void the final year of my contract and so you could actually have it work out really well for you as another team who if you were looking him at him as a an expiring contract not a player okay it’s complicated right it always is it is it is I want I want to ask the questions though I want to ask the question we radio showing over here I want to ask the questions James arm Monty and Mike Brown on the same page as far as building this roster building this franchise it feels like they have two distinct different differences when it comes to the type of players they want to have on this roster and the style of play they want to play could be making something out of nothing but Monte all year has been talking about the offense needs to improve I remember you uh I think last week talking about how Mike Brown was kind of um alluding to things after that comment by Monty came out throughout you know in in his his press conference is talking about we’re working on offense we’re working on offense I don’t think they have beer issues or anything else like that and I think they they have the same direction they want to go in but are they on the same page as far as building out this roster you know I I think that they are um but I I also think that like coaches they get a certain allotment of players and that’s what they got right so you can’t sit there and complain and complain and complain that you don’t have enough players or you don’t your players aren’t good enough and then and then have a general manager add talent and say well I add a talent and it’s like okay you didn’t get me the right kind of I think that there could be a better like this is like fulfillment of a wish list but I don’t always think that like that there’s an ability to do that the kings were able to go out and basically you know they got Sasha Vena for for basically free right they got it as part of a a second round pick Swap and then all of a sudden he went from being like a solid European player to like a really really good European player to an MVP in Europe over like a two-year period um and so all of a sudden you know it’s a GM’s job to look under every rock turn over every stone and and try to find Talent wherever he can and I think at the end of the day that’s what they thought they were doing with Sasha and I just think that there’s there’s just a major problem with the the design of the players that you had like and you you might not know that until you get them on the court and and you see how they play you also might not know that you know a guy like javil McGee just is isn’t the shot blocker he once was isn’t the defensive presence he once was and so you could have gone into that offse come out of that offseason thinking okay well I can put you know javil and and Sasha on the court together one space is the floor and the other one has his back defensively and then you get into the season you’re like okay well that’s not what javil is anymore and that’s not going to help Sasha so there’s all these ingredients that you’re kind of testing out and as a coach you really you have to take you have to give some input and hope that they go out and get you the right types of players but then once you got those players you got to sit down and like do the best you can to coach what you have and it at some point you feel like you have redundancy with your players where you know one guy where where three guys do the same thing but you can only play two of them you have to make a difficult decision and so I don’t think like I wouldn’t say they’re not on the same path I I would just say that that they’re certainly some things that that could happen here that you know were more Mike Brown and there certainly some some pieces here that Monty could have more input on on on the basketball side uh but I don’t know I I I think they’re fine and I think that they’re gearing up for what’s like one of the most Su the most important offseasons that we’ve seen in Sacramento in a long time do you have a followup I feel like you’re you’re thinking about something you just had to look like a James ham is full of crap look on your face I just wanted to see if I no I’m just okay I just wanted to make sure just wanted to make sure because we were I mean it we we didn’t even get to this part we kind of had it like Monty Monty needs a win like I I don’t know what man Monty’s last win was like because you know you’ve got DTE I I guess Sasha that was kind of a collective um javel worked like it for what it was so so but here but here’s the deal and like I said we radio showing right now it feels to me it goes on Monty’s permanent record but it feels to me javelle and Chris were Mike Brown calls oh I I don’t know about dwarte I don’t guy to me yeah I don’t agree with like javil McGee was definitely a Mike Brown thing um but again a league minimum Contra was never gonna make her break no no no no no and I think with dwte like look when you’re trading for a player like that who you know had one season under his belt on a bad Indiana Pacers team and then the next season struggled with ankle injuries the whole year and barely played you don’t really know what you’re getting because he’s a third-year player but he’s also like a 27 year old third-year player he’s a top you know he’s a lottery pick I think he was the 13th pick in the draft so to get him for two second round picks or whatever it was that’s like a really really lowrisk proposition for for mon McNair and you know if if you’re Monty and you know that your coach would like a little bit more defense okay we’ll get you a guy who like at one point in his career was a good defensive player and we don’t know what he is but we’ll shake it out and see what happens you know we’ll bring him in and see what happens and he’s played with sabonis so he knows where to be and all that stuff I just think that for whatever reason like dwarte wasn’t able to pick up on the basic scheme of what was happening uh especially in the defensive end I I don’t think that like he struggled mightily on the defensive end and his like default setting was just a foul everybody especially early in the season I mean he couldn’t stay in a game early in the season and it just became more and more apparent that you had to stick with what what you knew and then maybe there would come another opportunity where Chris would slide back into the the rotation but then by that point he had to give Keon Ellis a look because you had some injury issues and he played extremely well and he kind of slid up above dwarte in the pecking order so I I I don’t think that that dwarte was was a uh was a Mike Brown I mean it could be that that uh Monty McNair was out looking for guys who he thought would be two-way players that would help Mike and then you just stumbled upon one that really really didn’t work out that well well you mentioned him I was going to say does that get classified as a Monty win now even though it happened a couple years ago and I was gonna say Keon Ellis because Keon Ellis became a revelation in the second half of the Season he’s not a new player he was drafted whatever but I mean that’s that’s Monty that’s Monty McNair right there you know and sure and he got his opportunity really through injury this past you know second half of the season so I I’ll ask you both a question then so let’s let’s let’s stick with that if if it wasn’t dwarte at the beginning of the year with Kevin herder and Mike Brown and it was Keon and let’s let’s like I know Chris got injured but let’s let’s go with Keon stays healthy does anyone think the season’s different if Keon ell if Keon Ellis is the guard that Mike goes with instead of Kevin herder at the beginning of the Season we was like oh I was just trying stuff out I don’t know why everyone’s all worked up having Chris to worth they start what if it wasn’t Chris Duarte though it was Keon Ellis he goes out there plays the way that he does and it’s like hey maybe we got something here yeah I mean based on the way he played absolutely I think the season you think the season’s different yeah absolutely James I think so too yeah I mean you got to remember like I know was that strange stat like Keon started his career like 0 and seven or I mean seven and0 or S8 and0 yeah as a starter um yeah I kind of feel like sure but I also so Keon was undrafted and not last summer but the summer before he’s only a secondy year player in this first year he spent on a two-way and then last year he was a two-way until the Midway point in the season um I think that’s a huge win for Monty McNair and I think Keegan Murray is a huge win for Monty McNair because you know what Keegan becomes like the the star player that they think he like what they think he’s going to be which has been since the day that they drafted him they’ve had him visions of you know really an All-Star level player but if he if even if he doesn’t reach that if he if he kind of TAPS out at like 17 18 points but you know a plus plus Defender and a solid rebounder and a great three-point shooter if that’s where he lands like there are a lot of players in the top of draft that don’t work out at all I mean I I don’t know if Jaden ivy can reach that that Pinnacle that I just talked about at all and he’s not the only one I don’t know Jabari Smith Jr will reach that like they that draft in particular is is one thing but like through the the course of history I mean we all REM remember dearen Fox was a number five pick in the draft but like Josh Jackson was number four so like yeah Monty McNair had a like at least a a really solid double with with Kean Murray and and maybe even a home run uh and we’re going to have to wait and see how he all works out how it works out in the end but um yeah I don’t think Monty has like he does need another win or two but I I also think that he’s had some really really nice solid additions to this roster yeah two things Jaden Ivy’s gonna be just fine he’s still going to be a very very good basketball player too I wasn’t trying to discard mon McNair’s entire tenure with Sacramento no your your question was perfectly fine you said when was the last one yeah I agree yeah in about a year yeah I I feel like you could you could you could Point all of those out and then if I was being a jerk which I’m not trying to be also point out like Glenn Robinson that was Monty McNair I’ll point out the great Hassan wh side that was Mony McNair also again was a bidding war there’s there wasn’t there was there’s context to that that’s extremely important and it was like m had been a general manager for like an hour and a half before he had to start steining guys and that’s you know who it wound up being but I’m I’m more looking like all right you know kind of you really like to let these trade deadlines come and go and you know free agency wasn’t Super Active last year so there’s you know you’ve got you’ve got fans looking around at the likes of Kyle kosma or or um uh Zack LaVine and whether that’s realistic or not I don’t know you know we’re all watching Malik Monk and there’s a lot there no I I think so too and I think you can uh like someone brings up Mitchell at number nine like look I don’t know that that that’s going to end up being well I mean it’s already hasn’t ended up being like a phenomenal pick like that he’s still on the roster he’s still in the rotation but he was in and out of the rotation this year and and he may or may not be part of the plan moving forward um you know and you can also look at sort of the mon D venzo situation and how that didn’t work out uh how that really just comes across weird at this point oh it was weird the whole thing with Dante is weird no it was it was but but the the and for doing because I understood your original question was like when was the last one he had right and you got to go back a little while but if we’re going to dissect the whole thing like what is Kevin herder is he considered a winner loss you know what I mean because what he did in that first year is a win by a landslide but now you look at where he’s at I I yeah it’s also what do you believe was Kevin herder is is Kevin herder last year you know minus the the injury of course is that Kevin hder or you know it’s old is that Dave Hepner or is that Dave Hepner is that Kevin herder last year or is Kevin herder the the the the Warriors playoff year is that Kevin herder like which one is it yeah I think and and I think that dictates whether you think it’s a win or a loss because either he got lucky and lightning in a bottle and this is who he is and this is who you’re stuck with or he had a down year and you expect him to be closer to what he was the year before I think it’s tough like with Kevin and Kevin was the first I give him a win for that too you I think it it’s it’s TBD to be honest he talked about it in his post his postseason like exit interview Kevin did that you know he had the best season of his career the year before and then he had like a substantial falloff he knew he wasn’t nearly as as efficient or anything else as he was a year before and he said he’s going to try to get back to being the player was before if he’s the player that comes in 14 15 points shoots 40% from three draws a bunch of attention I think he can totally rehab who he is and all that stuff but um I want to see number one do the kings keep them this offseason or do they they move on from him and what do you get in return I want to see to what happens with that draft pick and how badly does that hurts you um because that’s still up in the air we still don’t know what that is um it could either be next year or it could be the year after and and if you don’t make the playoffs in the next two years it dissolves into two second round picks so again that’s something where you’re you’re trying to gauge the value of what you got for that player so I I kind of want to give it more time before I say it’s a thumbs up or thumbs down if you would have asked me last season I would have thought it was like an easy win but you asked me after that after the season we just went through and I no I don’t think it is I mean he didn’t play up to the standard of a player that you traded a first round pick for and that’s so that’s tough but I’m still G to give him that little bit of time and I also I want to know if you’re able to go get something else this offseason using Kevin herder as a trade ship or if you don’t if he’s ble to rehab himself and come back and have a really strong season you know I think two years of one that was great and one that was not great um we kind of need a little bit more before we make that determination okay we’re fixing the Kings that’s what we do we’ll come back uh more with James ham here on D M casc brought to you by Sky River Casino and Sacramento sports leader ESPN [Music] 1320 that’s fun stuff hey did did did Ley get victored Ley got victored yeah we found we found Ley I found Victor oh man yeah we got we got Ley he’s safe Ley safe and sound what happened there La safe and sound I saw him get banned at one point yeah that that damn that damn that damn happy ass Ley oh no poor Le whoever the other jackass was in here going at Steven Brown and Aldren and everybody it’s like sir who are you is this your first day get your ass out of here fall back or fall back um but yeah old old Ley did you did you guys this isn’t funny because this isn’t this this would this would suck I don’t want this to happen did you see uh Buster only got hacked oh no oh is that what that was so Otani has been banned for life MLB in connection to charges with gambling his trial is on August 28th it is speculated he could get life in prison oh did you see yeah the New York bets are finalizing a deal that will send Francisco Lindor to the Oakland Athletics sources tell ESPN boy there’s a bunch does he work for yeah he does he does he does poor buster Jesus wow that’s funny I’m upset James didn’t go to Instagram to like my picture oh no did you see this oh that’s terrible what is that that’s not even any fun photoshop on Sean that’s what he looks like right now did you I I think that’s the oh man did I did you see the uh the the video with him and sexy red and well I saw that that’s hilarious but there was a a Facebook post that a girl I don’t know if this was old or what a Facebook post of a a lady who had a picture of Shawn from like the sunny days type era and was like why can’t I find a like this and then Shawn Michaels is like he responds he goes hey and she goes no he goes I’m literally the guy in the picture that’s funny that’s not awkward that’s hilarious I gotta go see bad boys man that’s getting a lot of love I don’t know when I’m goingon to go see that one I don’t know I don’t know if it’s going to happen James doesn’t even get on Instagram so he doesn’t know who we spent part of the weekend with nope no I don’t see oh the things you miss out on by not logging into James hamor NBA James who’s the oh who Matt Matt was like yeah I gotta get better with Instagram so I uh I tagged I I added Matt as a collaborator on that picture we took so me you Matt and Kevin and it’s like the night’s going by hey can I get in the Discord so I’m sending Matt I was like Matt open Instagram go to the messages you’ve got a message from me click the accept Button he’s like okay done I was like great now now now now now you’re added as a collaborator on the picture got to get Matt and James up on their social media game oh good there wild I believe in him I was told one time when I was at NBC by a social media specialist hey you’re really good at Twitter just stick with that and don’t worry about the other stuff it’s a good idea yeah he I’m better Instagram he’s like whatever you’re good at do do that and then if we can add some other stuff we will but don’t get too caught up in it all right yeah I completely understand that did you see some of the uh updates for the iPhone I haven’t I know that was uh that was today right yeah I just saw a couple I think a lot of it is AI isn’t it I don’t know I just saw what they were doing with the text messages know some cool stuff which is what like uh for instance the the quick response you know the double tap quick response mhm you can now use like any Emoji you want as opposed to the like five responses they have huh little stuff like that be a lot of middle fingers flying James ham I’m going to Cabo in July middle finger all you get is this that is the that is the the custom James response is the thumbs up yeah the yellow Simpsons thumbs up yep yep oh we’re coming back Amry that is very much uh for the radio audience a window into life texting James ham is the nine and a half times out of 10 you’re just going to get a thumbs up response and that’s going to be your entire interaction with James through text messages or emojis well like the videos no the little well you send some gifts yeah I do yeah and I’m usually on on point with those they’re good yeah you killed Kenny a couple of days ago I think in the [Laughter] gift that’s funny yeah lots of Thumbs Up from James that’s yeah that’s the C you put you could put thumbs up on Instagram comments well James sticks to Twitter I’m just saying like I’m I’m trying to get our gu James you know on his IG see IG can be for the personal this could be to get to know James ham you know the the other guy well that’s what I’ve used it for for the most part like on occasion I put King stuff up there but one of my favorite things ever was James post you know you’re going on a vacation post some pictures so James took like all of the pictures he took and made a collage and just posted one picture like here it is guys here’s my vacation picture Fedora ham out here on the cruise that’s right that’s right see I had a nice hat on this weekend James if you had Instagram if you looked at Instagram you would have seen it no I have to look well you look after the show I don’t want you to have a oh I can multitask go ahead I want you to have a random response oh boy oh yeah okay I got it see all right James is in on the bit now James I’m in on the bit now yeah um all right I feel like we’ worked through mo mo most of the Sasha stuff um we just kind of went back and forth on whether like he really had a chance here I was curious though James what a second season for Sasha venkov would have looked like uh for Sacramento what would looked like for him um I can’t say like I’m broken up if this news if this news turns out to be true and he winds up either playing elsewhere or just going back to to Europe but I was I was curious I wanted to see what it would look like yeah I don’t hate it either like first of all he’s such a smart basketball player and like the guy just magically shows up underneath the basket all alone all the time and people throw the ball to him for little layups um I thought he was a better rebounder than advertised I thought there are moments where he was a better Defender than what we thought um like I I was here for the Sasha experience plus I think he’s a good dude like I I hung out with him quite a few times I talked to him quite a few times he’s one of the few guys who are in the locker room all season long and I just think he’s a good guy that that realistically was in he he’s in a little over his head like he doesn’t have it it’s one thing to come over as like a 20year old from from Europe and you know maybe your parents come over maybe somebody comes with you right and and you’re learning the language and all that stuff but you’re acclimating and you’re around a bunch of 20-year olds it’s a whole other thing when you’re like a seasoned veteran who has had massive success and you come over and it’s almost like well like what are you here like because you’re not you’re not famous here you’re not that guy that that we saw playing in Europe you’re you’re here in our game now and you know I think the kings are like a welcoming group and I think he built friendships and stuff like that but the same time that’s a lonely world like you’re you you can build friendships when you’re on the road and when you’re at practice and all that stuff but once you go home from practice Like An Empty Apartment is an empty apartment and so I think it it got a little of that got to him and then the injuries once he got hurt I think he had never gone through that either and so when you mix already being homesick with homesick and you’re not able to play you’re not able to hang out you’re not able to you know do all the things that you you would typically do I think it wore on him pretty pretty heavily and so I don’t I would like to see what he looks like in a year or two but I wouldn’t like that with the same mix of players around him I don’t think it’s fair to him just like I tell you guys all the time like damont Sodus is is one of the most like dominant players in the NBA and people keep asking like why can’t he block shots better why can’t he be better at this or that it’s like how about you just get the players around him that that support those those areas like build the team around him that that you know get him a shop Locker or two that plays the three and the four um get him more spacing get him another Creator on the court those things can help him and I I feel the same way about you know again like the combination of herder and Barnes I think it worked for one year but in year two like I don’t think defensively they were able to hold up together as a combo and with Sasha like who is is he supposed to play with like if it’s him and Trey lyes on the front line together that’s not great if you slide him over to the small forward position I don’t think that worked I I think that he needed like if you had a Jeremy Grant and you can run him and Sasha together on a front line with sabonis or some other like athletic player at the five then maybe you’re on to something but just I think the mix of players and everything else it it’s going to be really difficult for him moving forward here if this is if it’s run it back 3.0 do you it’s a dreadful thought running back 3 I don’t love that idea I know I know how you I don’t love that yeah I don’t I don’t love it I know I know you don’t but a little more accepting of it than others if it happens um when you talk about like Sasha not want to be here and maybe he didn’t work with the Kings and all this other stuff I mean what are the the possibilities not just like salary cap wise but just you know realistically like all right you don’t want to be here you don’t have to retire like we’ll trade you we’ll put you in a trade like why why um why do you think some of the reports went to he’s just gonna go back like why why wasn’t it like maybe requested a trade or you know once the part weighs or something like that well I think both of them were both of the reports left the opportunity for him to stay in the NBA like up for abbs I I just like it’s not going to be easy like there aren’t a bunch of situations that are just going to be way better for him and that’s part of the problem you know you need to find the right situations for him and I think that goes with most players in the NBA but like specifically I mean he’s almost 29 years old like he’s kind of like getting this started really late and at the same time he’s kind of wasting his time like his his Prime on a NBA bench when he could be a star in Europe if you understand what I’m saying I’m not saying like this is just like a horrible idea for him and he shouldn’t have come over what I’m saying is that like if you’re sitting here and you’re Sasha and you’re like okay I like best case scenario I might be like an eighth or ninth man on some other team do I want that or do I want to go back to Europe and maybe as a 29-year-old 30y old 31y old have an opportunity to win an MVP again and if I’m him I wouldn’t want to waste more of my time with this experience if you don’t think it’s going to yield like something much better for you outside of monetary value because he gets paid way more here than he does in Europe um but I I definitely if I’m him I would like to get back and start my career up again where I found massive success as opposed to like wait this thing out but again I’m not saying he’s leaving I’m not saying that that like this thing is over and I’m not convinced that he won’t be on the Kings next year we don’t have enough information right now to say any of that stuff and so again I think like the tweets that we saw they’re pretty presumptive and they also didn’t capture the nuances of anything that is the NBA as far as salary cap and as far as like what this means for him if he if he tries to go back to Europe you know he needs compliance from the Kings to go back and play in Europe just like the Kings needed compliant from him and to get him out of his his contract in Europe to come over it’s kind of the same thing so I would like to I would like to see how this thing plays out a little bit further I’m just talking to Kenny James hang on a second you know what I think I think James got a text when those reports went out and said that’s all Bs don’t believe any of that like he’s talking with with such Authority on this subject I feel like James knows something I mean he’s connected I mean that’s why John and Connecticut listens to him that’s why he doesn’t text oo and KC he texts James H okay back with James ham James you could ignore all of that stuff don’t worry about it don’t wor that’s why he’s he’s not The Insider uh for no reason um and all fun of course do you depending on the report you believe whether you believe either of the reports you think the Kings have their eye on something else already like if if like hey you know work out something with Sasha do do you think they do you think they got something on the horizon I would hope so I would hope so because look I like I mentioned this before I I talked about it with Kyle earlier um you can’t sign a free agent you can’t start negotiating with a free agent of your own your own free agent until the day after the finals right the finals end whether it’s in four or whether I think that actually you can now you can start negotiating with your own free agent on day one the Kings from what I know like Malik monk knows that if he wants to come back to Sacramento it’s on a 4year $78 million deal and I’m sure there’s an option after a year or two like he knows exactly what he’s getting in Sacramento and like I have it on good authority like the Kings can’t negotiate with him right now but like there’s an understanding that he is going to get whatever the max they could pay him if he comes back right well the day after the finals end you can start negotiating that contract he can’t negotiate with anyone else just you and so you have this window the reason I bring this up is that doesn’t mean that right now today as we speak the Kings can’t be on the phone with every team in the league trying to trade people so they’re there’s always communication especially like right now you have players that are under contract you can go negotiate a a trade with a with another NBA team today like you they could have a deal already worked out for the number 13 pick and and the number the 2027 and 29 and 31 pick and salary filler for player X they can already have that deal worked out and then just when we get closer past the finals closer to the the NBA draft or closer to free agency that you announce a trade that you’ve already been working on so like that’s where I don’t think we know what exactly is transpired here because it’s possible that Sasha has already been told that like hey we’re working on a deal to send you somewhere else and that that’s totally possible and it’s feasible because I mean he’s he’s like for better lack of better terms he’s like their property as an NBA player at this point so they can like negotiate trades with him um and so maybe there is something Brewing maybe that’s what we’re kind of seeing is sort of this spill out in a different way uh but I don’t know like I don’t like contradictory reports an hour apart in Europe uh because I like my experiences that they don’t always prove out and and not only that but they also a lot of times they don’t understand the nuances of NBA CBA uh like contractual things um because European just for sake of arguments so you guys understand like European soccer if you’re a player on a team and you don’t want to play for that team anymore and you want to play for a different team that team can come to you and give you an offer and and work out like an entire salary for the next year a and then they have to go to your team and work out like a buyout so they can you know that’s a transfer fee that’s what you hear transfer fees in soccer so again like European Sports in general the way they handle contractual stuff is totally different than here so there’s possibilities that some that something here is already in place but there’s also a possibility that somebody’s a little Lost in Translation on what the NBA like salary cap looks like and what it means for a player like Sasha um I thought there was a pretty good question that I was trying to think through and I’m not sure hopefully you got the answer for um by in the Matthews mattress shatty house by Shortcake 182 who has in what circumstances can we not discuss trades talking about like the Kings like when they got in trouble regarding the bogey trade and I think I’m trying to figure that out like I don’t think they got in trouble I think the Bucks got in trouble that’s what wasn’t bogey that was a sign and trade and he was a free agent so isn’t that why that was like a tampering that was a tampering situation not discussing the trade right yeah it was a little different so if I’m not mistaken it’s before they inserted the rule that you could negotiate with your own free agent before like before the the free agency window opened so this whole thing where you can negotiate with your own free agent it’s only a couple years old um it just got put in and it might have even been last year where they put this in so what happened that in that situation is the Kings had Alle allegedly like had a conversation with bogdanovich about his salary demands and and again the Kings could have had that conversation before the season ended because you’re allowed to have those conversations during the season like hey what’s it going to take to keep you this summer right like let’s just talk let’s just put the number on the table the Kings actually had a right with him at that point to extend him they could have actually I’m gonna have to go back and remember that one fully but the problem with they had there is you can’t sign and trade a player for other players to another team when you’re not allowed to negotiate that contract already got me so so there there technically can’t be an AG an agreement in place for the Kings to sign bogdanovich at that point and and then to trade him because that contract would have to have been basically negotiated by the Bucks yeah that became like a really really weird situation and a lot of finger pointing and a lot of whose fault was this type deal um that that deal should have never leaked out it leaked out what two days before the draft and blew up the whole thing and then right at the last second the Kings had to redo everything like their their entire plan going forward and and then they end up losing bogdanovich uh in that uh when he gets the the Atlanta um like offer sheet he they end up declining the Bucks are the only team that got punished out of that right Sacramento didn’t get punished for that yeah because if I’m not mistaken because I um because WD donovic was a restricted free agent and still basically under the king’s umbrella they could actually negotiate with him the Bucks were not allowed to negotiate with him beforehand and they certainly weren’t able to work out a full-fledged trade beforehand although they could have they just didn’t need to have it be an Ed if that wouldn’t have got announced you mean leaking stuff to the media can prove detrimental to your ultimate goal yes wow who would have known yeah shout out Danley yeah there you go that got weird didn’t it yes that that that that absolutely got weird that is that is uh that is uh DeAndre Jordan levels of free agency weird like that was odd I agree I agree and now like so what happens when like JJ’s phone rings or like James bga’s phone rings and it’s it’s Rob in Los Angeles on the line you gonna hit him with the uh the big boy oh I know that ain’t who I think it is I know that a who I think it is calling me like I hope you calling to offer sixe $70 million that’s my first line if I be the one of those coaches the money out there I think it is six years $70 million like let me know if it’s me or if it’s you I’m JJ let me know if it’s it’s me or if it’s James verga because I’m ready to sign for six years $70 million because that’s the contract to be the Lakers head coach and then I would say where you’re to National chion yeah sir I went to Duke we don’t need national championships okay I guess about to offer you too y good luck finding a national championship coach to come here pal I don’t thank me don’t good luck me I’ll talk you later JJ whatever ho I’m calling the NBA finals I’m must see more NBA Finals over the rest of my career than you will rob wild our little role playing is is is evolved into like one of us one of us is gonna quit always within the second back and forth every time the real Kenny carway never escalates but if Kenny carway is playing a role man it goes south quick man I just love it when you call him a hoe that’s that’s where you I wasn’t calling Kenny hoe I was calling Rob Peno on behalf of JJ R that’s certainly what I would say I’m gonna see more NBA Finals than your ass is moving forward oh man but yeah price is gone up yeah price is gone up that’s that’s an awkward call to make hey guys well you know it’s very awkward well maybe not as awkward because be their first meeting well yeah it keeps getting worse man these this these the The Insider uh The Insider Wars are funny because right now it feels like everyone’s losing yeah even though W didn’t lose WJ was right but it was the second tweet uh today that was like wait a minute JJ hasn’t interviewed with the Lakers yet come on meanwhile Shams is reporting he’s he’s not only has he interviewed but he interviewed in person for a lengthy period of time so it’s like yo what the hell is this it’s wild all I like people are asking if I’ve been watching uh cliped you gota come on James I’ve watched I’ve watched about half of the first episode okay first of all the acting is ridiculous it’s amazing the not only that but the the choices that they made to like for actors is spectacular I mean watching the the Donald Sterling dragging uh Blake Griffin around by the hand thing is just weird yeah like the whole thing is weird I I don’t know what’s happening like why is he holding his hand why is he allowing him to hold his hand like did this really happen is this wow I’m Blake I’m like I’m suing everybody I’m like first of all that guy looks nothing like me well that’s where the suit comes from by the way what day thises Clip come on I think it’s today it’s Monday I think so isn’t CLI tonight I think CLI is tonight so come on man I need that I need that if it’s not tonight it’s tomorrow but I think it’s tonight well the fourth was a Tuesday so maybe it’s every Tuesday oh well that sucks it’s Tuesdays no well it could be 9 there go 91 there it is’s come on James you got time to catch up get you it’s just it’s just another episode oh it’s good James it’s good James it’s worth it uh we want a full recap tomorrow on the Insiders

Subscribe for the latest Sacramento sports news & videos!!

Listen live: https://www.audacy.com/espn1320/listen
Visit our website: https://www.audacy.com/espn1320
Subscribe on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/espn1320
Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/espn1320
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/espn1320
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/espn1320