2023 Off-season Thread

[OxAndFox]

Was good to hear Luke Loucks talk about what they're working on with Keegan. Getting some wiggle in his game. It will help him defend the top wings better and also expand his offensive game.

This is where I see the rotation. Not sure they go and get another 5. Len played well when given minutes so when you need the size put him in, otherwise go small.

On a regular night, I would think something like below: It's still a 10-man rotation which Brown went with much of the time last season.

Sabonis (34)/Lyles (14)/Len (0)
Barnes (20)/Vezenkov (22)/Keegan (4)/Lyles (2)/Edwards (0)
Keegan (26)/Barnes (6)/Duarte (12)/Huerter (4)
Huerter (26)/Monk (14)/Mitchell (4)Jones (0)
Fox (33)/Mitchell (15)/Dozier (0)

Monk getting 14 minutes would shock me. He got 22 last season, and I think proved his worth in the postseason. He will probably always be a 22-24mpg guy with us, He's the kind of guy when he's on he gets 30, and when he's off he gets 15.

My guess in the most simplistic way

Sabonis - 34
Barnes - 28
Keegan - 32
Lyles - 16
Sasha - 16
Huerter - 29
Monk - 24
Mitchell - 18
Fox - 33

Obviously this will change game to game, but this leaves 10 minutes. Those minutes will either go to Duarte or Len depending on the matchup. I think when we play Memphis, Lakers, Denver, (bigger teams) we will end up using Len. But if we play someone like OKC, Clippers, Mavericks, we will use Duarte.

Really a very similar distribution to last year, slight decrease for Barnes, slight increase for Keegan. Sasha taking all the random TD/Edwards minutes.

Oops. Mucked that one up. Could see Monk playing some PG.
Sabonis (34)/Lyles (14)/Len (0)
Barnes (20)/Vezenkov (22)/Keegan (4)/Lyles (2)/Edwards (0)
Keegan (26)/Barnes (6)/Duarte (6)/Huerter (10)
Huerter (20)/Monk (18)/Mitchell (6)/Duarte (4)/Jones (0)
Fox (32)/Mitchell (12)/Monk (4)/Dozier (0)

I don't believe Vezenkov is coming over for under 20mpg. Not saying they would have promised him that, but the discussions would have been around a significant role. Maybe they temper minutes at the start, but I can't see him being happy with 16mpg.
That is what Lyles played last season. He is a better player than him. He is more of a streaky shooter, but in terms of fitting with Sabonis, Monte got two absolutely PERFECT fits for this offense. Sasha and Duarte. The cutting is going to be sublime. With how quick Sasha's release is, it's going to open things up even more.
For Duarte, I will even say I wouldn't be surprised if he moved into the starting line-up by the end of the season if he can stay healthy.

[LightTheBeam]

Was good to hear Luke Loucks talk about what they're working on with Keegan. Getting some wiggle in his game. It will help him defend the top wings better and also expand his offensive game.

This is where I see the rotation. Not sure they go and get another 5. Len played well when given minutes so when you need the size put him in, otherwise go small.

On a regular night, I would think something like below: It's still a 10-man rotation which Brown went with much of the time last season.

Sabonis (34)/Lyles (14)/Len (0)
Barnes (20)/Vezenkov (22)/Keegan (4)/Lyles (2)/Edwards (0)
Keegan (26)/Barnes (6)/Duarte (12)/Huerter (4)
Huerter (26)/Monk (14)/Mitchell (4)Jones (0)
Fox (33)/Mitchell (15)/Dozier (0)

Monk getting 14 minutes would shock me. He got 22 last season, and I think proved his worth in the postseason. He will probably always be a 22-24mpg guy with us, He's the kind of guy when he's on he gets 30, and when he's off he gets 15.

My guess in the most simplistic way

Sabonis - 34
Barnes - 28
Keegan - 32
Lyles - 16
Sasha - 16
Huerter - 29
Monk - 24
Mitchell - 18
Fox - 33

Obviously this will change game to game, but this leaves 10 minutes. Those minutes will either go to Duarte or Len depending on the matchup. I think when we play Memphis, Lakers, Denver, (bigger teams) we will end up using Len. But if we play someone like OKC, Clippers, Mavericks, we will use Duarte.

Really a very similar distribution to last year, slight decrease for Barnes, slight increase for Keegan. Sasha taking all the random TD/Edwards minutes.

Oops. Mucked that one up. Could see Monk playing some PG.
Sabonis (34)/Lyles (14)/Len (0)
Barnes (20)/Vezenkov (22)/Keegan (4)/Lyles (2)/Edwards (0)
Keegan (26)/Barnes (6)/Duarte (6)/Huerter (10)
Huerter (20)/Monk (18)/Mitchell (6)/Duarte (4)/Jones (0)
Fox (32)/Mitchell (12)/Monk (4)/Dozier (0)

I don't believe Vezenkov is coming over for under 20mpg. Not saying they would have promised him that, but the discussions would have been around a significant role. Maybe they temper minutes at the start, but I can't see him being happy with 16mpg.
That is what Lyles played last season. He is a better player than him. He is more of a streaky shooter, but in terms of fitting with Sabonis, Monte got two absolutely PERFECT fits for this offense. Sasha and Duarte. The cutting is going to be sublime. With how quick Sasha's release is, it's going to open things up even more.
For Duarte, I will even say I wouldn't be surprised if he moved into the starting line-up by the end of the season if he can stay healthy.

I could see Sasha eating into Barnes minutes as the season goes on. And even slimming down to mainly a 9 man rotation in some games with mitchell-monk-sasha-lyles eating all the backup minutes. But it's a long season so everyone will get an opportunity.

[OxAndFox]

Monk getting 14 minutes would shock me. He got 22 last season, and I think proved his worth in the postseason. He will probably always be a 22-24mpg guy with us, He's the kind of guy when he's on he gets 30, and when he's off he gets 15.

My guess in the most simplistic way

Sabonis - 34
Barnes - 28
Keegan - 32
Lyles - 16
Sasha - 16
Huerter - 29
Monk - 24
Mitchell - 18
Fox - 33

Obviously this will change game to game, but this leaves 10 minutes. Those minutes will either go to Duarte or Len depending on the matchup. I think when we play Memphis, Lakers, Denver, (bigger teams) we will end up using Len. But if we play someone like OKC, Clippers, Mavericks, we will use Duarte.

Really a very similar distribution to last year, slight decrease for Barnes, slight increase for Keegan. Sasha taking all the random TD/Edwards minutes.

Oops. Mucked that one up. Could see Monk playing some PG.
Sabonis (34)/Lyles (14)/Len (0)
Barnes (20)/Vezenkov (22)/Keegan (4)/Lyles (2)/Edwards (0)
Keegan (26)/Barnes (6)/Duarte (6)/Huerter (10)
Huerter (20)/Monk (18)/Mitchell (6)/Duarte (4)/Jones (0)
Fox (32)/Mitchell (12)/Monk (4)/Dozier (0)

I don't believe Vezenkov is coming over for under 20mpg. Not saying they would have promised him that, but the discussions would have been around a significant role. Maybe they temper minutes at the start, but I can't see him being happy with 16mpg.
That is what Lyles played last season. He is a better player than him. He is more of a streaky shooter, but in terms of fitting with Sabonis, Monte got two absolutely PERFECT fits for this offense. Sasha and Duarte. The cutting is going to be sublime. With how quick Sasha's release is, it's going to open things up even more.
For Duarte, I will even say I wouldn't be surprised if he moved into the starting line-up by the end of the season if he can stay healthy.

I could see Sasha eating into Barnes minutes as the season goes on. And even slimming down to mainly a 9 man rotation in some games with mitchell-monk-sasha-lyles eating all the backup minutes. But it's a long season so everyone will get an opportunity.

Yeah, that's true. I'm sure coach Brown has the last quarter and a half dedicated to who makes the most sense for the given night, except 4th quarter Fox. He did that a little bit last season, going with who is playing well on the night.

[LewisnotMiller]

Matthew Dellavedova is back in Australia, he seemed ok here. But wondering if there is a vet minimum guy we may want to check out in a similar use case as well this year.

I saw a lot of Delly in Australia before you guys signed him. He's obviously a strong culture guy, etc, and suits the end of rotation, but he looked a bit cooked tbh.

Might be worth looking at a different Aussie pg...good size, 25, game has really matured the last 2 years.

Watch on YouTube

[OxAndFox]

Matthew Dellavedova is back in Australia, he seemed ok here. But wondering if there is a vet minimum guy we may want to check out in a similar use case as well this year.

I saw a lot of Delly in Australia before you guys signed him. He's obviously a strong culture guy, etc, and suits the end of rotation, but he looked a bit cooked tbh.

Might be worth looking at a different Aussie pg...good size, 25, game has really matured the last 2 years.

Watch on YouTube

I like WMW but not on this Kings team. Would rather them just sign Jordan Ford.

[City of Trees]

Jordan Ford on a two-way makes a lot of sense. He can be active on the roster for 50 games. If they are dealing with more than 50 games lost due to Fox/Davion injuries we have bigger problems. Also, keeping your 3rd PG on a two-way allows the Kings to go wing heavy. PG is a position of strength, it's a low risk gamble imo.

[OxAndFox]

Jordan Ford on a two-way makes a lot of sense. He can be active on the roster for 50 games. If they are dealing with more than 50 games lost due to Fox/Davion injuries we have bigger problems. Also, keeping your 3rd PG on a two-way allows the Kings to go wing heavy. PG is a position of strength, it's a low risk gamble imo.

Yeah can agree with that.
I will be interested in who comes onto the squad from here.
Monte has spoken about winning players. He obviously loves guys that have been part of winning teams.
Does that mean we can count out Wood, Oubre.
I do wonder if the Kings could get Iggy to go around again. Basically as another assistant coach that can still play in emergencies.

There really are some interesting players still out there. A couple of forwards around the age group the Kings are in, Anthony Lamb, DJJ, and a couple of bigs in Yurtseven and Reed.

[blind prophet]

Amick talks about the Kings off season

Watch on YouTube

[KF10]

Reflecting back to the Kings offseason, I think it's a good one. It's a safe and steady path that the Kings chose. Bringing back Barnes and locking up Sabonis brings the Kings that safety net. Adding Duarte & Sasha to the core provides them size and scoring. Re-signing Lyles was important, imo. The Kings are banking on Keegan's progression. If everything goes right for them, this is a playoff team for several years.

[OxAndFox]

Reflecting back to the Kings offseason, I think it's a good one. It's a safe and steady path that the Kings chose. Bringing back Barnes and locking up Sabonis brings the Kings that safety net. Adding Duarte & Sasha to the core provides them size and scoring. Re-signing Lyles was important, imo. The Kings are banking on Keegan's progression. If everything goes right for them, this is a playoff team for several years.

Absolutely.
I look at a team like Denver and the way they locked their guys up long term and how that has paid off. For sure they had some bumps along the way with injuries, but that core has been together for some time. I like the Kings' chances of making at least 1 run in the next few years.
Not suggesting the Kings are contenders to make the finals, however, you can see a similar archetype.

You have a center and PG as your main guys and then a shooter as #3.
Where the Nuggets are in front of the Kings is from here on in (other than having the best player in the NBA of course) with the pieces around them being capable defensively.
KCP/Gordon/Brown/Green/Braun vs Huerter/Barnes/Monk/Lyles/Davion
The Kings guys are better offensive players, but how much opportunity is there in a PO series for them when your top 3 should be scoring the ball?
As an example, outside of the top 3 for the Nuggets, the guys mentioned as the role player defenders shot the ball 32.2 times per game in the POs.

[City of Trees]

Is it safe to say McNair used Holmes cap space for Sasha + Duarte, and a small portion of Sabonis' renegotiation?

[codydaze]

Read on Twitter

So with PJ cut, I think the confirmed roster so far is:

Fox/Davion
Huerter/Monk/Jones
Barnes/Duarte/Kessler
Keegan/Vezenkov
Sabonis/Lyles/Len

Ford/Queta definitely in the conversation for those last two spots on the 15 man roster, I would probably lean towards Ford and adding a vet center like Biyombo. That would leave Ellis/Queta/Slawson as our two ways guys.

[codydaze]

Len/Queta might be enough depth at big man too so maybe go after a wing like Oubre? I've never been an Oubre fan at all but honestly on a vet minimum he might be a good option for us.

[OxAndFox]

I think this is a sign that Ford is getting a spot.
He is a true PG and when you look at how Davion performed with Fox out, you need someone that can control the floor.

[madskillz8]

So with PJ cut, I think the confirmed roster so far is:

Fox/Davion
Huerter/Monk/Jones
Barnes/Duarte/Kessler
Keegan/Vezenkov
Sabonis/Lyles/Len

Ford/Queta definitely in the conversation for those last two spots on the 15 man roster, I would probably lean towards Ford and adding a vet center like Biyombo. That would leave Ellis/Queta/Slawson as our two ways guys.

IMO, we still need quality depth additions. One mistake while we are making minute distributions over depth charts is, we're assuming everyone is gonna be available for 82 games, thus third stringers are not that important. In reality though, it is possible to have key players missing double digit games (knocking on the wood) and making third stringers getting rotational or even starting minutes. For example, assuming the number of games available by a player is 72, there would be approx. 55 minutes to be distributed.

Next year, there would be like 12 candidate teams for playoffs (except for POR & SA & HOU) so we have to find 8 & 9 contributing players every night. That's why I prefer adding vets that won't mind be in the rotation when everyone is healthy on one year contracts instead of filling the 15-man rotation with players that we could have as two-way contracts.

[OGSactownballer]

Len/Queta might be enough depth at big man too so maybe go after a wing like Oubre? I've never been an Oubre fan at all but honestly on a vet minimum he might be a good option for us.

The ONLY way I am good with this is if Oubre clearly understand that this is a 1+1 or straight two year super cheap deal to rehab his rep. Otherwise I am very leery of his attitude anywhere near a young team.

[OGSactownballer]

So with PJ cut, I think the confirmed roster so far is:

Fox/Davion
Huerter/Monk/Jones
Barnes/Duarte/Kessler
Keegan/Vezenkov
Sabonis/Lyles/Len

Ford/Queta definitely in the conversation for those last two spots on the 15 man roster, I would probably lean towards Ford and adding a vet center like Biyombo. That would leave Ellis/Queta/Slawson as our two ways guys.

IMO, we still need quality depth additions. One mistake while we are making minute distributions over depth charts is, we're assuming everyone is gonna be available for 82 games, thus third stringers are not that important. In reality though, it is possible to have key players missing double digit games (knocking on the wood) and making third stringers getting rotational or even starting minutes. For example, assuming the number of games available by a player is 72, there would be approx. 55 minutes to be distributed.

Next year, there would be like 12 candidate teams for playoffs (except for POR & SA & HOU) so we have to find 8 & 9 contributing players every night. That's why I prefer adding vets that won't mind be in the rotation when everyone is healthy on one year contracts instead of filling the 15-man rotation with players that we could have as two-way contracts.

Agreed.

Contention level teams may have one or two guys that are developmental level (late FRP to walk on/camp invite) that really look good and have usable skills that translate and just need some seasoning and coaching.

But generally spots 8/9 - 13 are going to be seasoned vets who understand their role/place and are willing to do what they are needed for and when to fight for that ring or a better deal in a couple of years.

[OxAndFox]

Len/Queta might be enough depth at big man too so maybe go after a wing like Oubre? I've never been an Oubre fan at all but honestly on a vet minimum he might be a good option for us.

The ONLY way I am good with this is if Oubre clearly understand that this is a 1+1 or straight two year super cheap deal to rehab his rep. Otherwise I am very leery of his attitude anywhere near a young team.

And with both Brown and Triano having experience with him, if they liked him he would be here. Think the attitude part disqualifies him.

[OxAndFox]

OK. So if the Kings are the team that is working out Harry Giles, how does that make everyone feel?

If you take away his injuries he is a terrific backup for Domas with his passing skills. However, you can't discount the injuries.
Would love to see him get another shot though.

[Kabaum]

OK. So if the Kings are the team that is working out Harry Giles, how does that make everyone feel?

If you take away his injuries he is a terrific backup for Domas with his passing skills. However, you can't discount the injuries.
Would love to see him get another shot though.

I would love it if we gave Giles his second shot. The injuries have sucked but he's competitor with high energy, great locker room guy and I think he could find a great role on the team without expecting him to do more than needed.