Preseason Thread

[BoogieTime]

compounding the fact that Davion doesn't look like his career may pan out is that a number of these other guys look ready to take his slot - like jones and ellis popped, not sure the local kid Jordan is even worse at this juncture

[OxAndFox]

compounding the fact that Davion doesn't look like his career may pan out is that a number of these other guys look ready to take his slot - like jones and ellis popped, not sure the local kid Jordan is even worse at this juncture

While I agree to a certain extent, Davion is elite at the other end. That can't be left out. I'm willing to give Davion some more time this season. He looked terrible against the Warriors though.

My question would be is Davion being elite on the defensive end and playing 18mpg a big enough factor at making the Kings a better team?
Like does his elite defense make enough of a difference when there aren't enough like minded players. Put OG in there and I think it would. Currently, though the guy playing the same position is the Kings' second best defensive player.

[BoogieTime]

compounding the fact that Davion doesn't look like his career may pan out is that a number of these other guys look ready to take his slot - like jones and ellis popped, not sure the local kid Jordan is even worse at this juncture

While I agree to a certain extent, Davion is elite at the other end. That can't be left out. I'm willing to give Davion some more time this season. He looked terrible against the Warriors though.

My question would be is Davion being elite on the defensive end and playing 18mpg a big enough factor at making the Kings a better team?
Like does his elite defense make enough of a difference when there aren't enough like minded players. Put OG in there and I think it would. Currently, though the guy playing the same position is the Kings' second best defensive player.

Davion doesn’t even grade out that tremendous on defense in terms of general catch all advanced stats, and those stats on both O/D still make him look not too good. I think Ellis is better defensively now for instance.

If he continues his substandard O, and he is 25 now, he’s just a negative.

Ellis and Jones looked very good, will be interesting to see if Brown gives them run temporarily over Davion in the remaining preseason

[OxAndFox]

compounding the fact that Davion doesn't look like his career may pan out is that a number of these other guys look ready to take his slot - like jones and ellis popped, not sure the local kid Jordan is even worse at this juncture

While I agree to a certain extent, Davion is elite at the other end. That can't be left out. I'm willing to give Davion some more time this season. He looked terrible against the Warriors though.

My question would be is Davion being elite on the defensive end and playing 18mpg a big enough factor at making the Kings a better team?
Like does his elite defense make enough of a difference when there aren't enough like minded players. Put OG in there and I think it would. Currently, though the guy playing the same position is the Kings' second best defensive player.

Davion doesn’t even grade out that tremendous on defense in terms of general catch all advanced stats, and those stats on both O/D still make him look not too good. I think Ellis is better defensively now for instance.

If he continues his substandard O, and he is 25 now, he’s just a negative.

Ellis and Jones looked very good, will be interesting to see if Brown gives them run temporarily over Davion in the remaining preseason

Ellis is okay, but he doesn't have the strength to stay in front of guys at this level. Jones can definitely take some minutes from Davion and might just make him expendable. He does have the same shooting problem though, can't hit the 3. He is already a far better playmaker and distributor though.
Honestly, I wouldn't mind putting the backup PG position to a combination of Monk/Jones.

[BoogieTime]

I have a feeling Brown is going to annoy me playing an inferior backup c to Len for a good part of another year, but he seems to want a specific lob threat, particularly with monk. Still, I'd prefer Len

[blind prophet]

Can we have a decent game finally tonight?

[OxAndFox]

Can we have a decent game finally tonight?

Agreed. Just want to see continual improvement and give different rotations a go. I'm here for giving Jones time with the starters, maybe in the third quarter.

With the team holding back some of their best offensive sets this pre season it's going to be epic what we see on that end. I hope people are ready for it.

Let's see if players not named Fox or Mitchell can do anything positive on the defensive end.

[BoogieTime]

Keegan looks much improved so far

[BoogieTime]

Jones pushing himself in the rotation already, but for Lyles?

Great draft pick and contract McNair

[OxAndFox]

Lyles was obviously held out due to either some soreness or coaches wanting to see more of McGee/Sasha. While the latter hasn't looked good the Kings need to be careful with him. He isn't going to be a defender. Lean into his strengths. You can clearly see it's starting to effect him and is doubting himself in almost every situation.

Colby's stock continues to grow, Davion shot the ball well and Keegan is looking more like the #2 option already.

Get the feeling the Kings are holding back a few things here in the pre season though. Sure they wanted to win this one and I think Brown is putting forward a good pre season campaign overall.

[BoogieTime]

And as long as Huerter continues his garbage offensive consistency from the latter half of last year til now, he needs to be earning spot bench minutes. I’d prefer Duarte/Jones starting opening night

[Lost in LA]

Barnes not much of a factor again.

[BoogieTime]

Huerter is a dead man walking, who I certainly hope is earning whatever spot minutes he can get off the bench. There is loyalty and then there is hurting the team with continuing to go to him.

What if Mitchell never gets it offensively? Inconsistency still there. Don’t know. Don’t feel good about him.

Sasha looks a bit better, about the only positive tonight so far

[BoogieTime]

Colby. He is definitely playing 20+ minutes off the bat. He’s already better than Davion and monk if Duarte starts

[OxAndFox]

Huerter is a dead man walking, who I certainly hope is earning whatever spot minutes he can get off the bench. There is loyalty and then there is hurting the team with continuing to go to him.

What if Mitchell never gets it offensively? Inconsistency still there. Don’t know. Don’t feel good about him.

Sasha looks a bit better, about the only positive tonight so far

The Kings need to give Huerter some time. His shot will come around. I have been wondering with the word that there is a player(s) that are upset that coach has taken out some offensive plays in pre season and it's their favourite plays. I'm willing to put it out there that Kevin is the one. Not sure on the play, but the only 1-2 players that I can think of would be Huerter/Monk.

The question on Mitchell is fair. Again, need to give him some time in the RS and see how it pans out. If he isn't playing lock down D, what else does he really give you?

Sasha's shooting is escaping him at the moment. He needs to get comfortable with the NBA game. I thought it would be a little easier for him, however, he seems to be struggling with determining when to be physical and when not to.

[OxAndFox]

Colby. He is definitely playing 20+ minutes off the bat. He’s already better than Davion and monk if Duarte starts

Not sure that he is better than Monk. He sure is more reliable in not making dumb mistakes than Monk does sometimes, or most players on the team for that matter. He is a better all round player than Davion, particularly if he can hit the 3 at around 35-36%.

One thing I am ready to get on board with what you've been saying is Len.
Alex Len does need more time. I'm high on McGee, but again, he is a player that will make boneheaded mistakes a bit, and my only concern is, how many can you have playing larger minutes?
That isn't to say McGee was bad or has been bad, just that I think Len has been the guy Brown has been looking for all along. Doesn't have to be every night, Lyles can take small ball 5 minutes too.
At the end of the day the backup 5 spot is in good shape.

[BoogieTime]

Huerter is a dead man walking, who I certainly hope is earning whatever spot minutes he can get off the bench. There is loyalty and then there is hurting the team with continuing to go to him.

What if Mitchell never gets it offensively? Inconsistency still there. Don’t know. Don’t feel good about him.

Sasha looks a bit better, about the only positive tonight so far

The Kings need to give Huerter some time. His shot will come around. I have been wondering with the word that there is a player(s) that are upset that coach has taken out some offensive plays in pre season and it's their favourite plays. I'm willing to put it out there that Kevin is the one. Not sure on the play, but the only 1-2 players that I can think of would be Huerter/Monk.

The question on Mitchell is fair. Again, need to give him some time in the RS and see how it pans out. If he isn't playing lock down D, what else does he really give you?

Sasha's shooting is escaping him at the moment. He needs to get comfortable with the NBA game. I thought it would be a little easier for him, however, he seems to be struggling with determining when to be physical and when not to.

There are a number of issues with Huerter

First he doesn't strike me as someone who you can give rope to fix his own stuff. He showed remarkable inconsistency last year, showed very shallow depths in the playoffs, and his confidence has seemingly gotten worse as the preseason has went on.. I'd question his resiliency to just snap to

But aside from him not being hot, the team needs to get better defensively, and he, along with Sabonis rim protection, is the weakness. His advanced stats paint him better at SF, he defends that position better, and Brown has spoken of the teams pitiful pick and roll D which Huerter features in. Duarte provides a presence on both sides.

I personally will be disappointed if he is starting the regular season but we will see where Brown goes, I think its 50/50 what he does

[OxAndFox]

Huerter is a dead man walking, who I certainly hope is earning whatever spot minutes he can get off the bench. There is loyalty and then there is hurting the team with continuing to go to him.

What if Mitchell never gets it offensively? Inconsistency still there. Don’t know. Don’t feel good about him.

Sasha looks a bit better, about the only positive tonight so far

The Kings need to give Huerter some time. His shot will come around. I have been wondering with the word that there is a player(s) that are upset that coach has taken out some offensive plays in pre season and it's their favourite plays. I'm willing to put it out there that Kevin is the one. Not sure on the play, but the only 1-2 players that I can think of would be Huerter/Monk.

The question on Mitchell is fair. Again, need to give him some time in the RS and see how it pans out. If he isn't playing lock down D, what else does he really give you?

Sasha's shooting is escaping him at the moment. He needs to get comfortable with the NBA game. I thought it would be a little easier for him, however, he seems to be struggling with determining when to be physical and when not to.

There are a number of issues with Huerter

First he doesn't strike me as someone who you can give rope to fix his own stuff. He showed remarkable inconsistency last year, showed very shallow depths in the playoffs, and his confidence has seemingly gotten worse as the preseason has went on.. I'd question his resiliency to just snap to

But aside from him not being hot, the team needs to get better defensively, and he, along with Sabonis rim protection, is the weakness. His advanced stats paint him better at SF, he defends that position better, and Brown has spoken of the teams pitiful pick and roll D which Huerter features in. Duarte provides a presence on both sides.

I personally will be disappointed if he is starting the regular season but we will see where Brown goes, I think its 50/50 what he does

I think all of that is fair. At the tail of it, this team needs a defensive upgrade on the perimeter if Brown wants to keep pushing D. Keegan can handle his own although isn't a lockdown guy or anything and Fox is good, that's it. Is Duarte that SG the Kings need? I doubt it. If you're talking inconsistency I can see Duarte going from a favorite to a villain in quick time. His D doesn't move the needle for this team IMO and his offense isn't close to Huerters.

Out of left field IF Davion can be more consistent (Yes a BIG IF) from the perimeter he could come into the starting line-up and be a defacto SG that is a POA defender which would give Fox the opportunity to guard the secondary guy. I don't think that will happen, but something definitely needs to IF Brown is going to keep pushing the defensive theme. You can't just put these guys on the bench because they will get yanked straight away when a 16-point lead gets dwindled to nothing.

There needs to be a time when the team build needs to fall into line with what Brown is doing. Right now Huerter, Monk, Sabonis, and Sasha aren't up to it defensively. All of these guys aren't going to improve enough to where Brown is satisfied. They all should be in the rotation and playing at least 20mpg.

In the meantime, I believe they should sit with the status quo as when the starters have played it seems like they are getting off to good starts more times than not.

[Lost in LA]

I see the over/under for wins is 44.5. Seems about right given the improvement in other Western Conference teams. I think it likely there may be a trade for a defensive wing if the first 15-20 games show the shortcomings listed above in this thread, and nobody steps up to that role.

[OxAndFox]

I see the over/under for wins is 44.5. Seems about right given the improvement in other Western Conference teams. I think it likely there may be a trade for a defensive wing if the first 15-20 games show the shortcomings listed above in this thread, and nobody steps up to that role.

I would be pretty disappointed if this team doesn't win 50+ games. If they're winning 44 that's going to be playin territory. It's going to be tight for sure and anything could happen.

A defensive wing would be great. It's hard seeing where the Kings can get something done for a true upgrade.
The wish list would be Tre Murphy and then OG.
More realistic might just be Melton or O'Neale.