2023 Off-season Thread

[Kabaum]

I wanted the Kings to get Noel at the trade deadline last season. He's a good rim protector who can run the floor, hopefully it works out.

[OxAndFox]

Good signing, but don't think this means too much in the RS. Noel has played 42 games total the past two seasons. Not going to come in and grab anything more than 5-6mpg at most. More situational I would think. The situation will be between he and Lyles.
Don't be surprised to see some Keegan at the 2 either for small patches. I know people will have their doubts, but the Kings still have the ability to play a huge line up with Keegan/Barnes/Sasha/Lyles all on the court at the same time. Don't think it will be in the regular rotation, however, it should be something the staff explores.

[BoogieTime]

Len is a capable backup, Noel is fine over Queta

[donkeylips]

i think the rotation is solidified, i think the kings should use the 15th spot on a veteran for the locker room. someone like dragic, george hill, augustin, jta, danny green or wesley matthews.

[blind prophet]

There were some rumors about Noel to the Kings last year.

https://sactownsports.com/sacramento-kings-kyle-kuzma-nerlens-noel-trade-rumors/

Some street credit for Eric Pincus

[blind prophet]

All I know is Queta isn't ready right now.

Thought we needed to get coach some other options at center.

[OxAndFox]

i think the rotation is solidified, i think the kings should use the 15th spot on a veteran for the locker room. someone like dragic, george hill, augustin, jta, danny green or wesley matthews.

Dragic would be great.
At this point though I'm leaning towards Ford as 2-way and I would go for Danny Green.
Ford comes in if needed and Green gives the team some championship experience.

[KF10]

i think the rotation is solidified, i think the kings should use the 15th spot on a veteran for the locker room. someone like dragic, george hill, augustin, jta, danny green or wesley matthews.

Dragic was great in the bubble playoffs before he got injured in the finals in 2020. He would be a good depth at PG.

I like Ford as 2-way too but I think Dragic can provide a nice stable, vet presence at the PG position. More so than Delly did last year.

Wouldn't mind either options.

[OxAndFox]

I apologize for the long post but please bear with me. I have been thinking about this a lot lately and Monte's recent Athletic interview I think justifies what a lot of people here, myself included, believe his plan is. Flexibility to bring in another star player.
Now, I think Keegan is going to be here long term, he's (Monte) THAT high on him. So if he is not trading Keegan (maybe he has to, who knows?), Fox, Sabonis and it's a superstar, then how is he getting it done, particularly cap wise? It has to be when Keegan is on his rookie deal.

Now I believe with Barnes/Vezenkov/Lyles/Huerter/Davion/Duarte/Jones he has enough team-friendly/flexible contracts along with 26/28/30 draft picks. I will say, at THIS point it would be a superstar asking out and wanting to play in Sacramento. I know, shock right? But it could be a thing if the Kings have another good season.
SO, who is the superstar Monte WOULD or COULD chase if they ask out that a) fits the Kings' style and b) is under 27yo?

Below are a few of the quotes from his Athletic interview a couple of days ago, which I'm sure most have read from Anthony Slater and Sam Amick. Comment what you think.
https://theathletic.com/4701945/2023/07/19/kings-free-agency-monte-mcnair-interview/

“I think sometimes, you don’t want to be too complacent, and we know the West is going to be tough,” McNair explained. “On the other hand, Harrison’s our oldest rotation player. He just turned 31. … Everybody else is pre-prime or just beginning their prime – 27 or younger. So it’s not like, ‘Oh, we’re gonna bring it together and there’s no real chance of improvement.”

McNair referenced the previous trade deadline as informative context. The Kings looked into theoretical upgrades, checking in on O.G. Anunoby and Pascal Siakam. They did so again this summer, exploring the Anunoby option again and kicking the tires on Kuzma, among others.

“At the time, (the league) had (Kevin Durant) going to Phoenix, (Russell) Westbrook going to the Clippers, Kyrie (Irving to Dallas) and all this stuff. We kind of stood pat…” McNair said. “We didn’t do anything major, and we were kind of relying on the continuity of what we’d built and our chemistry. We certainly got lucky. We had some injuries on other teams that helped us out coming out of the break. But I do think you see (that) trying to assimilate new players and new coaches and things like that on the fly can work, but it also carries risk.”

But there’s belief in the internal growth of one particular young player, plus the arrival of a new international ingredient.

On Sasha - Euroleague MVP Sasha Vezenkov, one of Sacramento Kings' free agency signings, scored 275 POINTS in just 26 DRIBBLES last year
“A lot of people hear ‘international’ and they don’t know them, and then they come over and all of a sudden it’s (Nikola) Mirotic or it’s the Bogdanovics (Bogdan and Bojan) or (Nemanja) Bjelica,” McNair said. “Or you can obviously go back to the Pejas and Turkoglus (former Kings Peja Stojakovic and Hedo Turkoglu). And once they’re over here, then people get excited about them. But I think people will be surprised, just because they don’t know him very well and what he can do.”

“Colin Montague, who’s our Director of Analytics, has been probably the first one I remember (who was) on Sasha,” McNair said. “He’s got a great eye for finding a lot of intriguing international players, both in the draft and potential free agency or trade targets. This was a couple of years ago, when Sasha was a guy that (Montague) had flagged.

“Per our process, we have some international consultants that have seen him, but our domestic scouts, on up to (Kings vice president of player personnel) Phil Jabour and (assistant general manager) Wes Wilcox, who do a lot of our personnel from the more traditional scouting side, started watching him more and were like, ‘Yeah, this guy is really good.’ So that was a multi-month, if not a couple of years (process), in the lead-up to just trading for him (in 2022). At the time, we didn’t know if he’d come over.”

The Keegan leap
“We know we need Keegan to take another step,” McNair said. “And one of the ways he can do that is to be more of a second or third option as opposed to a fourth or fifth option. And it’s hard to do that when you have two all-NBA guys, right? Then you have Kevin Huerter and Harrison Barnes. So you know, it may take some time for him to do that within the natural flow.”

The future
“I think people always focus on this year,” McNair said. “But for us this summer was as much about setting up the next three, four or five years as it was just how good we’ll be this year.”

The Nugget
“If we’re good enough as is, fantastic,” McNair said. “We’ve got all but Malik and Alex (Len) of our vets signed for at least two years. Many of these guys are signed for three. So we have a runway. On the other hand, if we’re not quite good enough and need to improve, we feel flexible. We have the one lottery protected pick out to Atlanta (in the Huerter trade). We have all our other (first-round) picks. We have basically the full stable of seconds. We’ve got young guys. We’ve got tradeable contracts. So I think we’re in a spot where if there is an aggressive play out there, we’ll be one of the teams that can knock on that door.”

[OxAndFox]

Well. The Kings have signed Queta. Would like to see what the contract details are, but I love this move for the Kings.
Hopefully, it's a contract where we can keep his bird rights in the future. Not sure how it works with going from 2-way contracts etc.

For the Kings to make a leap they need 1-2 guys that spring out of nowhere and become either significant impact players or the team can build trade value and package some young players. I know this won't be a long-term contract, but I would have liked it to be 4 years with some options thrown in.
Don't forget he is only 1 year older than the 2 rookies and big guys, especially big, big guys lol, take a lot longer to develop. He won't be hitting peak years for a few more so why not keep the development going?
And adding to that, the Kings, prior to coach Brown taking over have been dreadful at developing players so there is that.

https://www.nba.com/kings/news/sacramento-kings-sign-neemias-queta

[donkeylips]

i didnt even think he would get a two way.

[OxAndFox]

i didnt even think he would get a two way.

To me it signals that either another team was on the verge of signing him. Maybe a Europe offer, but I think he would make just as much in the G League though. Probably depending on tax situations.

He isn't ready to contribute right now, but he is just 24. He is also a lot better than some of the centers that have received opportunities and pushed themselves into a reserve role on teams.

I'm not sure what this does for Noel, but perhaps one of the back up plays was Len and Noel fighting it out for the back up big spot during training camp.

[Pokuokic]

i didnt even think he would get a two way.

To me it signals that either another team was on the verge of signing him. Maybe a Europe offer, but I think he would make just as much in the G League though. Probably depending on tax situations.

He isn't ready to contribute right now, but he is just 24. He is also a lot better than some of the centers that have received opportunities and pushed themselves into a reserve role on teams.

I'm not sure what this does for Noel, but perhaps one of the back up plays was Len and Noel fighting it out for the back up big spot during training camp.

He had serious offers from Partizan in the Euroleague but they signed PJ Dozier when Queta pulled out

[OxAndFox]

With the news Skal is back on board (for training camp I guess) I have to think it's a big thank you for being a part of bringing us Sasha Vazenkov. Why you might ask?
Sacramento Kings Traded rights to Marquese Chriss to Suns for rights to Bogdan Bogdanovic/rights to Georgios Papagiannis/rights to Skal Labissiere/2020 second round pick (#35-Xavier Tillman)

Sacramento Kings trade rights to #35 overall Xavier Tillman for #40 overall Robert Woodard II and a 2022 second round pick (#49 Isaiah Mobley)

Traded 2022 2nd round pick #49 overall Isaiah Mobley to Cavs for rights to Sasha Vezenkov/cash considerations.

[codydaze]

Alex Len, Nerlens Noel and Javale McGee will apparently be fighting for that backup C spot in camp. I think all three are solid options and can each bring a little something different.

[OxAndFox]

McGee is a solid gamble.
I'm nearly taking the leap that Kidd isn't too good of a coach and someone like McGee, who has a track record of being a decent defender, couldn't fit in Kidd's "system".
If it doesn't mess with chemistry bring it on.

[Lost in LA]

The GSW series highlighted 2 things to me for improvement:

1. We ran out of gas in game 7, the starters were exhausted, the bench was really struggling towards the end.
2. interior defense was poor and Sabonis got little or no effective help. This wore him down and it affected the rest of his game.

This season, we need to rely less on the starting five in the regular season, and need more from the bench, with Sasha hopefully a solid contributor over time. Putting less strain on Sabonis defensively will allow him to be more fresh on the court which I believe will help the team. I am not a big Len fan, but McGee and Noel should improve this facet of our play.

Injury cover looks better than last year also.

[Hal14]

I apologize for the long post but please bear with me. I have been thinking about this a lot lately and Monte's recent Athletic interview I think justifies what a lot of people here, myself included, believe his plan is. Flexibility to bring in another star player.
Now, I think Keegan is going to be here long term, he's (Monte) THAT high on him. So if he is not trading Keegan (maybe he has to, who knows?), Fox, Sabonis and it's a superstar, then how is he getting it done, particularly cap wise? It has to be when Keegan is on his rookie deal.

Now I believe with Barnes/Vezenkov/Lyles/Huerter/Davion/Duarte/Jones he has enough team-friendly/flexible contracts along with 26/28/30 draft picks. I will say, at THIS point it would be a superstar asking out and wanting to play in Sacramento. I know, shock right? But it could be a thing if the Kings have another good season.
SO, who is the superstar Monte WOULD or COULD chase if they ask out that a) fits the Kings' style and b) is under 27yo?

Nobody is trading a superstar for those role players and late 1st round picks.

[Hal14]

All I know is Queta isn't ready right now.

Thought we needed to get coach some other options at center.

He isn't ready to contribute right now

What makes you guys think that?

I'm not a Kings fan, but it seems to me that he just wasn't give the chance to play. Only had ONE game all of last season where he played more than 5 minutes. And I watched some film of that game (december 21 vs lakers) and he looked solid. He also was a candidate for MVP in the g league and I watched some film of the first 2 kings summer league games this year and he looked good then too.

From the film I've seen, I don't really see any reason why he could get some minutes here and there off the bench - even for a playoff team.

He's a rock solid 7'0", moves pretty well for his size. Soft touch around the rim, even soft touch in the mid range. Solid passer, DHO guy, screener, really good lob threat. Good rim protector, holds his own decently well when switching out on the perimeter. Plays hard, good motor. Might need to clean some stuff up with defending PnR but I see upside for him to continue to get better over the next couple of years..

[Joao Saraiva]

All I know is Queta isn't ready right now.

Thought we needed to get coach some other options at center.

He isn't ready to contribute right now

What makes you guys think that?

I'm not a Kings fan, but it seems to me that he just wasn't give the chance to play. Only had ONE game all of last season where he played more than 5 minutes. And I watched some film of that game (december 21 vs lakers) and he looked solid. He also was a candidate for MVP in the g league and I watched some film of the first 2 kings summer league games this year and he looked good then too.

From the film I've seen, I don't really see any reason why he could get some minutes here and there off the bench - even for a playoff team.

He's a rock solid 7'0", moves pretty well for his size. Soft touch around the rim, even soft touch in the mid range. Solid passer, DHO guy, screener, really good lob threat. Good rim protector, holds his own decently well when switching out on the perimeter. Plays hard, good motor. Might need to clean some stuff up with defending PnR but I see upside for him to continue to get better over the next couple of years..

Well I don't see Queta not being ready either. But maybe he'll find a team that wants him and has some bench minutes. I think Dallas might be a good choice, and I think he'd be OK with that. They need defense and defense he'll provide for sure.

He's a very solid rim protector and if you put him in PnR action on offense he'll score as long as you feed him (with Luka that won't be a problem). He can't create offense, at least not on NBA level, but that's the least Dallas needs right now.

Would love to see him on a team that needs a defensive C with an elite playmaker.

The biggest issue I see is him being injury prone, but on a minimum contract he's a solid bet.