2024-25 General Thread

[FarBeyondDriven]

I am one of Monte's biggest critics. Here's what I'll say about this.

My gripe about the pick initially was partially his position, partially that we didnt use the pick to upgrade. Well, we went and got DeRozan without having to sacrifice the pick. And it's pretty clear with Mitchell/Duarte gone, and Huerter next, Carter has a significant role on this team moving forward.

Looking at the picks that went after, there's an argument that Dalton Knecht could have been an immediate contributor, but reality is that he's a massive defensive liability and projects as a cheaper Huerter if things go well.

Carter can change the point of attack defense with Keon and Keegan.

Carter could be back by Xmas, or maybe mid January. Giving him 2.5 months to gear up for the playoffs. We will see. In the meantime we can build up Huerters value by the deadline, or if he's traded now we can use JMac and Colby in those minutes.

I've truly fallen in love with the idea of Devin Carter as a player. I didn't see a single analyst who watches college that didn't love him and his ability. Between Carter/Keon I feel really good we will find a long term starting two and a backup. I think of those 2 for us as what Denver had with KCP/Bruce Brown.

We already had a long-term starting two (Fox/Monk) and backups (Mitchell/Ellis). It wasn't a need. I would have approached this in a way that would have addressed our needs while also adding a few good young prospects to our stable so our SL team wasn't an embarrassment. After you all see how good this draft really is and all the players we could have had you'll understand why I'm pessimistic. I won't enjoy saying I told you so after the season.

Mitchell was trash. I saw 3 years of that guy, he had 3 decent months. Pass on him good riddance.

So our SL team wasn't an embarrassment? Really? Who cares what our summer league team looks like lmao.

Can you share a few names of who were the prospects you wanted?

SL rosters are indicative of how well your organization is run. If you're trotting out garbage it means your talent evaluation and asset management sucks. And we legit have one of, if not the worst, SL roster.

I just would never have drafted Carter. Not because he isn't a good prospect but because since he's damaged good, the point of taking him, the older prospect, is nullified. If PG was on the table I would have taken the guys higher on my board (Carrington, Collier or McCain). Or if instead, since we already had depth at guard, we could have actually address a need and taken Ware? Or we could have traded back, picking up an extra first or 2nd and taken George and Bona/Dunn? And still had our 2nd rounder to take Christie given us more depth and shooting.

To come away from the draft with likely nothing, or very little, for 2024 is atrocious. And btw, we'd still have assets to trade for an upgrade if necessary at the deadline. I just fundamentally disagree with the direction McNair has chosen.

[Lost in LA]

We already had a long-term starting two (Fox/Monk) and backups (Mitchell/Ellis). It wasn't a need. I would have approached this in a way that would have addressed our needs while also adding a few good young prospects to our stable so our SL team wasn't an embarrassment. After you all see how good this draft really is and all the players we could have had you'll understand why I'm pessimistic. I won't enjoy saying I told you so after the season.

Mitchell was trash. I saw 3 years of that guy, he had 3 decent months. Pass on him good riddance.

So our SL team wasn't an embarrassment? Really? Who cares what our summer league team looks like lmao.

Can you share a few names of who were the prospects you wanted?

SL rosters are indicative of how well your organization is run. If you're trotting out garbage it means your talent evaluation and asset management sucks. And we legit have one of, if not the worst, SL roster.

I just would never have drafted Carter. Not because he isn't a good prospect but because since he's damaged good, the point of taking him, the older prospect, is nullified. If PG was on the table I would have taken the guys higher on my board (Carrington, Collier or McCain). Or if instead, since we already had depth at guard, we could have actually address a need and taken Ware? Or we could have traded back, picking up an extra first or 2nd and taken George and Bona/Dunn? And still had our 2nd rounder to take Christie given us more depth and shooting.

To come away from the draft with likely nothing, or very little, for 2024 is atrocious. And btw, we'd still have assets to trade for an upgrade if necessary at the deadline. I just fundamentally disagree with the direction McNair has chosen.

Too soon to say, as we have not seen Carter play for the Kings yet. I really liked the pick and he should be ready to play fairly quickly once healthy and still have upside. The early games will be used to settle in both DeRozan and the new 4 which I believe we will sign. This team was almost good enough to get to the play offs last yer as originally configured, and the real challenge will be to prepare a better team for the play offs, where match ups are far more important.

[LightTheBeam]

We already had a long-term starting two (Fox/Monk) and backups (Mitchell/Ellis). It wasn't a need. I would have approached this in a way that would have addressed our needs while also adding a few good young prospects to our stable so our SL team wasn't an embarrassment. After you all see how good this draft really is and all the players we could have had you'll understand why I'm pessimistic. I won't enjoy saying I told you so after the season.

Mitchell was trash. I saw 3 years of that guy, he had 3 decent months. Pass on him good riddance.

So our SL team wasn't an embarrassment? Really? Who cares what our summer league team looks like lmao.

Can you share a few names of who were the prospects you wanted?

SL rosters are indicative of how well your organization is run. If you're trotting out garbage it means your talent evaluation and asset management sucks. And we legit have one of, if not the worst, SL roster.

I just would never have drafted Carter. Not because he isn't a good prospect but because since he's damaged good, the point of taking him, the older prospect, is nullified. If PG was on the table I would have taken the guys higher on my board (Carrington, Collier or McCain). Or if instead, since we already had depth at guard, we could have actually address a need and taken Ware? Or we could have traded back, picking up an extra first or 2nd and taken George and Bona/Dunn? And still had our 2nd rounder to take Christie given us more depth and shooting.

To come away from the draft with likely nothing, or very little, for 2024 is atrocious. And btw, we'd still have assets to trade for an upgrade if necessary at the deadline. I just fundamentally disagree with the direction McNair has chosen.

TBH I can't even acknowledge the summer league thing because it's so wild to me. IF you've really spent those hours digesting each summer league roster and looking into 95% of these scrubs who will never make the league, well congrats. But I could personally care less about that. I remember when we won the summer league title in 2021 behind Louis King, Ramsey, Matt Coleman and Davion. A bunch of scrubs who never did anything.

I'm going to wait and see what comes of the pick when he plays. So far last year our biggest problem was too slow and a few weak links that didn't belong on the floor (Mitchell, Huerter, Barnes).. We jetted two of them out of here, and added a 6'2 super freak athletic guard with a 6'9 reach and breaking speed records and insane verts. The kid projects to be a Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Bruce Brown, meaning he might be short but he doesn't play that way and can guard up 1-2 positions easily. Then we replaced our slowest, flat footed offensive player for a 24-5-4 6 time all star, uber athletic, get his own bucket, clutch player of the year contender.

Fox/Monk/Carter/Keon covers our backcourt, plus with the added length we can play some 3 guard lineups.
DeRozan/Murray/Lyles covers a fair amount of a forward rotation.
Sabonis at the center spot.

Need to turn Huerter into a 3/4 or 4/5 and we will be in great shape. Clear need for Carter once Huerter is gone.

[FarBeyondDriven]

Mitchell was trash. I saw 3 years of that guy, he had 3 decent months. Pass on him good riddance.

So our SL team wasn't an embarrassment? Really? Who cares what our summer league team looks like lmao.

Can you share a few names of who were the prospects you wanted?

SL rosters are indicative of how well your organization is run. If you're trotting out garbage it means your talent evaluation and asset management sucks. And we legit have one of, if not the worst, SL roster.

I just would never have drafted Carter. Not because he isn't a good prospect but because since he's damaged good, the point of taking him, the older prospect, is nullified. If PG was on the table I would have taken the guys higher on my board (Carrington, Collier or McCain). Or if instead, since we already had depth at guard, we could have actually address a need and taken Ware? Or we could have traded back, picking up an extra first or 2nd and taken George and Bona/Dunn? And still had our 2nd rounder to take Christie given us more depth and shooting.

To come away from the draft with likely nothing, or very little, for 2024 is atrocious. And btw, we'd still have assets to trade for an upgrade if necessary at the deadline. I just fundamentally disagree with the direction McNair has chosen.

TBH I can't even acknowledge the summer league thing because it's so wild to me. IF you've really spent those hours digesting each summer league roster and looking into 95% of these scrubs who will never make the league, well congrats. But I could personally care less about that. I remember when we won the summer league title in 2021 behind Louis King, Ramsey, Matt Coleman and Davion. A bunch of scrubs who never did anything.

I'm going to wait and see what comes of the pick when he plays. So far last year our biggest problem was too slow and a few weak links that didn't belong on the floor (Mitchell, Huerter, Barnes).. We jetted two of them out of here, and added a 6'2 super freak athletic guard with a 6'9 reach and breaking speed records and insane verts. The kid projects to be a Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Bruce Brown, meaning he might be short but he doesn't play that way and can guard up 1-2 positions easily. Then we replaced our slowest, flat footed offensive player for a 24-5-4 6 time all star, uber athletic, get his own bucket, clutch player of the year contender.

Fox/Monk/Carter/Keon covers our backcourt, plus with the added length we can play some 3 guard lineups.
DeRozan/Murray/Lyles covers a fair amount of a forward rotation.
Sabonis at the center spot.

Need to turn Huerter into a 3/4 or 4/5 and we will be in great shape. Clear need for Carter once Huerter is gone.

I have, which is why I, unlike others, can speak intelligently about SL rosters and prospects making it kinda pointless talking about it with someone who admittedly doesn't. McNair chose the older Carter over younger prospects or trading back and acquiring more picks, because he was seemingly ready to contribute day 1. The fact that he did so despite knowing Carter was damaged goods negates the need to draft him since at best, he won't contribute to winning a single game the first 1/2 of the season. You have to really stretch to defend this but you and others are doing your best. I respect the optimism but this organization doesn't deserve getting the benefit of the doubt imo.

Losing Barnes isn't a big deal provided his defense and role was replaced but it wasn't. DeRozan is 35 y/o and all the positives he provides are just extensions of what Fox already does. He won't compliment the rest of the starting five. His half-court ISO game will be replacing Fox' half-court game. While one is doing his thing the other will be standing around watching not providing any spacing. It might fly in the regular season but it will be exposed if we make the playoffs. Since we haven't improved spacing it means clogged paints for Sabonis and clogged driving lanes for Fox. So more of the same. At the end of the day, as mid as Barnes is, he at least complimented others and helped on defense. This makes DeRozan's addition a wash overall. It will be nice to have another guy that can get a basket at the end of games but if his defense and overall detrimental effect on the team gets us less opportunities for that to have an impact then it means little.

We still don't have the shot-blocking we entered the off-season needing. We still don't have improved depth like we needed. We lost the opportunity to add more young talent than we ultimately did. It's just a whole lot of flash with little substance. When we fail to win a or multiple playoff series we'll be risking losing Fox. Whether he leaves or not, I predict it'll be pointless watching King's games for the foreseeable future if wanting to watch a championship caliber team making deep playoff runs is your goal. If that isn't important to you, and it sometimes doesn't seem so by reading posts from fans of this team on social media, enjoy. I'll still watch but I'll know it's fruitless and that takes away a lot of the enjoyment. There is nothing worse than being too good to add franchise altering talent via the draft but not good enough to truly compete when you're a small market team. Yes this would be an improvement over 75% of our history but we have to start having higher expectations as fans than that.

[OxAndFox]

SL rosters are indicative of how well your organization is run. If you're trotting out garbage it means your talent evaluation and asset management sucks. And we legit have one of, if not the worst, SL roster.

I just would never have drafted Carter. Not because he isn't a good prospect but because since he's damaged good, the point of taking him, the older prospect, is nullified. If PG was on the table I would have taken the guys higher on my board (Carrington, Collier or McCain). Or if instead, since we already had depth at guard, we could have actually address a need and taken Ware? Or we could have traded back, picking up an extra first or 2nd and taken George and Bona/Dunn? And still had our 2nd rounder to take Christie given us more depth and shooting.

To come away from the draft with likely nothing, or very little, for 2024 is atrocious. And btw, we'd still have assets to trade for an upgrade if necessary at the deadline. I just fundamentally disagree with the direction McNair has chosen.

TBH I can't even acknowledge the summer league thing because it's so wild to me. IF you've really spent those hours digesting each summer league roster and looking into 95% of these scrubs who will never make the league, well congrats. But I could personally care less about that. I remember when we won the summer league title in 2021 behind Louis King, Ramsey, Matt Coleman and Davion. A bunch of scrubs who never did anything.

I'm going to wait and see what comes of the pick when he plays. So far last year our biggest problem was too slow and a few weak links that didn't belong on the floor (Mitchell, Huerter, Barnes).. We jetted two of them out of here, and added a 6'2 super freak athletic guard with a 6'9 reach and breaking speed records and insane verts. The kid projects to be a Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Bruce Brown, meaning he might be short but he doesn't play that way and can guard up 1-2 positions easily. Then we replaced our slowest, flat footed offensive player for a 24-5-4 6 time all star, uber athletic, get his own bucket, clutch player of the year contender.

Fox/Monk/Carter/Keon covers our backcourt, plus with the added length we can play some 3 guard lineups.
DeRozan/Murray/Lyles covers a fair amount of a forward rotation.
Sabonis at the center spot.

Need to turn Huerter into a 3/4 or 4/5 and we will be in great shape. Clear need for Carter once Huerter is gone.

I have, which is why I, unlike others, can speak intelligently about SL rosters and prospects making it kinda pointless talking about it with someone who admittedly doesn't. McNair chose the older Carter over younger prospects or trading back and acquiring more picks, because he was seemingly ready to contribute day 1. The fact that he did so despite knowing Carter was damaged goods negates the need to draft him since at best, he won't contribute to winning a single game the first 1/2 of the season. You have to really stretch to defend this but you and others are doing your best. I respect the optimism but this organization doesn't deserve getting the benefit of the doubt imo.

Losing Barnes isn't a big deal provided his defense and role was replaced but it wasn't. DeRozan is 35 y/o and all the positives he provides are just extensions of what Fox already does. He won't compliment the rest of the starting five. His half-court ISO game will be replacing Fox' half-court game. While one is doing his thing the other will be standing around watching not providing any spacing. It might fly in the regular season but it will be exposed if we make the playoffs. Since we haven't improved spacing it means clogged paints for Sabonis and clogged driving lanes for Fox. So more of the same. At the end of the day, as mid as Barnes is, he at least complimented others and helped on defense. This makes DeRozan's addition a wash overall. It will be nice to have another guy that can get a basket at the end of games but if his defense and overall detrimental effect on the team gets us less opportunities for that to have an impact then it means little.

We still don't have the shot-blocking we entered the off-season needing. We still don't have improved depth like we needed. We lost the opportunity to add more young talent than we ultimately did. It's just a whole lot of flash with little substance. When we fail to win a or multiple playoff series we'll be risking losing Fox. Whether he leaves or not, I predict it'll be pointless watching King's games for the foreseeable future if wanting to watch a championship caliber team making deep playoff runs is your goal. If that isn't important to you, and it sometimes doesn't seem so by reading posts from fans of this team on social media, enjoy. I'll still watch but I'll know it's fruitless and that takes away a lot of the enjoyment. There is nothing worse than being too good to add franchise altering talent via the draft but not good enough to truly compete when you're a small market team. Yes this would be an improvement over 75% of our history but we have to start having higher expectations as fans than that.

I agree with some of what you're saying here, however Monte didn't draft Carter JUST for this season. It was obvious he felt he was BPA and fell.
I don't think you're representing him fairly in regard to that.

[LightTheBeam]

SL rosters are indicative of how well your organization is run. If you're trotting out garbage it means your talent evaluation and asset management sucks. And we legit have one of, if not the worst, SL roster.

I just would never have drafted Carter. Not because he isn't a good prospect but because since he's damaged good, the point of taking him, the older prospect, is nullified. If PG was on the table I would have taken the guys higher on my board (Carrington, Collier or McCain). Or if instead, since we already had depth at guard, we could have actually address a need and taken Ware? Or we could have traded back, picking up an extra first or 2nd and taken George and Bona/Dunn? And still had our 2nd rounder to take Christie given us more depth and shooting.

To come away from the draft with likely nothing, or very little, for 2024 is atrocious. And btw, we'd still have assets to trade for an upgrade if necessary at the deadline. I just fundamentally disagree with the direction McNair has chosen.

TBH I can't even acknowledge the summer league thing because it's so wild to me. IF you've really spent those hours digesting each summer league roster and looking into 95% of these scrubs who will never make the league, well congrats. But I could personally care less about that. I remember when we won the summer league title in 2021 behind Louis King, Ramsey, Matt Coleman and Davion. A bunch of scrubs who never did anything.

I'm going to wait and see what comes of the pick when he plays. So far last year our biggest problem was too slow and a few weak links that didn't belong on the floor (Mitchell, Huerter, Barnes).. We jetted two of them out of here, and added a 6'2 super freak athletic guard with a 6'9 reach and breaking speed records and insane verts. The kid projects to be a Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Bruce Brown, meaning he might be short but he doesn't play that way and can guard up 1-2 positions easily. Then we replaced our slowest, flat footed offensive player for a 24-5-4 6 time all star, uber athletic, get his own bucket, clutch player of the year contender.

Fox/Monk/Carter/Keon covers our backcourt, plus with the added length we can play some 3 guard lineups.
DeRozan/Murray/Lyles covers a fair amount of a forward rotation.
Sabonis at the center spot.

Need to turn Huerter into a 3/4 or 4/5 and we will be in great shape. Clear need for Carter once Huerter is gone.

I have, which is why I, unlike others, can speak intelligently about SL rosters and prospects making it kinda pointless talking about it with someone who admittedly doesn't. McNair chose the older Carter over younger prospects or trading back and acquiring more picks, because he was seemingly ready to contribute day 1. The fact that he did so despite knowing Carter was damaged goods negates the need to draft him since at best, he won't contribute to winning a single game the first 1/2 of the season. You have to really stretch to defend this but you and others are doing your best. I respect the optimism but this organization doesn't deserve getting the benefit of the doubt imo.

Losing Barnes isn't a big deal provided his defense and role was replaced but it wasn't. DeRozan is 35 y/o and all the positives he provides are just extensions of what Fox already does. He won't compliment the rest of the starting five. His half-court ISO game will be replacing Fox' half-court game. While one is doing his thing the other will be standing around watching not providing any spacing. It might fly in the regular season but it will be exposed if we make the playoffs. Since we haven't improved spacing it means clogged paints for Sabonis and clogged driving lanes for Fox. So more of the same. At the end of the day, as mid as Barnes is, he at least complimented others and helped on defense. This makes DeRozan's addition a wash overall. It will be nice to have another guy that can get a basket at the end of games but if his defense and overall detrimental effect on the team gets us less opportunities for that to have an impact then it means little.

We still don't have the shot-blocking we entered the off-season needing. We still don't have improved depth like we needed. We lost the opportunity to add more young talent than we ultimately did. It's just a whole lot of flash with little substance. When we fail to win a or multiple playoff series we'll be risking losing Fox. Whether he leaves or not, I predict it'll be pointless watching King's games for the foreseeable future if wanting to watch a championship caliber team making deep playoff runs is your goal. If that isn't important to you, and it sometimes doesn't seem so by reading posts from fans of this team on social media, enjoy. I'll still watch but I'll know it's fruitless and that takes away a lot of the enjoyment. There is nothing worse than being too good to add franchise altering talent via the draft but not good enough to truly compete when you're a small market team. Yes this would be an improvement over 75% of our history but we have to start having higher expectations as fans than that.

Dude.. We just went through the "he took an older guy what an idiot" 2 years ago with Keegan Murray. Yes, he did... And it wasn't just for "immediate impact" as you are suggesting. Sometimes drafting a guy 2-3 years older is the right decision. Don't think immediate impact, think we know what we are going to get and that guy is a stud. This draft in particular was such a sh** show. Throw something at the wall and hope it sticks. Not for Sac, we got a guy whose game will translate right to the NBA (just like Keegan).. This reminds me of the Ivey vs Keegan debate Kings fans had. Monte was right, all the Kings fans who wanted Ivey (briefly myself before I got to learn about Keegan) were wrong. And now you are doing the same thing except with a prospect not even close to Ivey's level, Jared Freaking Mccain, Isaiah Collier who fell to the end of the first because question marks. Give me a break here.

Losing Barnes doesn't hurt one bit. Stop living in 2020, Barnes defense was downright pitiful. He killed us on the court last year. 3 rebounds from your pf, gross. Getting blown by with zero resistance. You can talk about fit and playoff spacing all you want. Let me repeat WE MISSED THE PLAYOFFS LAST YEAR. You cannot build "whats best in the playoffs" if you cannot even get there. and While the rest of the west is loading up, running it back with Barnes would have been the most foolish thing possible. So yes if it gets exposed in the playoffs we will see, but at least we will get there. I trust Brown, Fox, Domas, DeRozan to figure it out. Talent always wins. Pelicans just went and got Dejounte who isn't the best fit with CJ, Ingram, Zion, Herb, but talent wins out and that's why they owned us last year.

If you want shotblocking, then you have to be okay with moving Sabonis. Adding a shotblocker off the bench won't change anything, and shotblocking 4s are unicorns in modern NBA. Depth? We definitely improved our depth. Last year we had 6 playable players, this year we have 8.

As for winning a title. You are correct. But that means selling Domas and Fox for picks, letting Monk walk and then bottoming out again for what 5 years? 10 years? Last time it lasted 17... Kings fans need a break from being terrible. So yes, I'm going to enjoy consistent playoffs the next 2-3 years. I'm going to enjoy an outside chance of a WCF or Finals appearance but watching the team light the beam 50+ times next year. It's definitely a lot better than watching them win 26 games and get shafted in the lottery or drafting the next Marvin Bagley...

[KF10]

If you take McNair's comments recently at face value, the Kings' offseason is basically done.

This is the group they will bring to training camp. It feels like we are running it back again + DeMar DeRozan. The Kings are banking on the idea that DD will provide +++ impact with this current core.

They are also banking on the internal improvements of Keegan & Keon.

Expecting Huerter to return back to 22-23 version of himself. Expecting Fox to return to his 3rd ALL-NBA version of himself or better. Expecting Sabonis to be Sabonis.

I get it. It is hard to make deals and trades in the NBA. Monte can only do so much.

It's just...watching this core again will likely be frustrating to follow next year. I really hope I'm wrong. I hope the insertion of DD will serve to elevate this team for the better. The expected internal improvements of players on this team should provide a good bump for them.

[typedrat]

I don't think that you should take the comments at face value at all, at least if you're interpreting the "core" he's talking about as being bigger than Fox/DeRozan/Keegan/Sabonis/Monk.

[OxAndFox]

Count me as someone that wouldn't be unhappy to start the season as is.

Training camp and pre season should dictate whether Huerter is back. If he is then he gets the starting job and rehabs value to the point we might just be able to upgrade the starting PF position and some.

[LightTheBeam]

If you take McNair's comments recently at face value, the Kings' offseason is basically done.

This is the group they will bring to training camp. It feels like we are running it back again + DeMar DeRozan. The Kings are banking on the idea that DD will provide +++ impact with this current core.

They are also banking on the internal improvements of Keegan & Keon.

Expecting Huerter to return back to 22-23 version of himself. Expecting Fox to return to his 3rd ALL-NBA version of himself or better. Expecting Sabonis to be Sabonis.

I get it. It is hard to make deals and trades in the NBA. Monte can only do so much.

It's just...watching this core again will likely be frustrating to follow next year. I really hope I'm wrong. I hope the insertion of DD will serve to elevate this team for the better. The expected internal improvements of players on this team should provide a good bump for them.

Is it though?

Barnes ---> Derozan
Huerter ---> Keon
Duarte ---> Huerter
Mitchell ---> Carter/Mclaughlin

Seems like 4 pretty big rotation spot upgrades from last year.

I'd love us to still sign some forward depth. Not sure what's there.

Is Robert covington completely cooked? I'd be pretty happy giving him a 1 year deal.

[OxAndFox]

If you take McNair's comments recently at face value, the Kings' offseason is basically done.

This is the group they will bring to training camp. It feels like we are running it back again + DeMar DeRozan. The Kings are banking on the idea that DD will provide +++ impact with this current core.

They are also banking on the internal improvements of Keegan & Keon.

Expecting Huerter to return back to 22-23 version of himself. Expecting Fox to return to his 3rd ALL-NBA version of himself or better. Expecting Sabonis to be Sabonis.

I get it. It is hard to make deals and trades in the NBA. Monte can only do so much.

It's just...watching this core again will likely be frustrating to follow next year. I really hope I'm wrong. I hope the insertion of DD will serve to elevate this team for the better. The expected internal improvements of players on this team should provide a good bump for them.

Is it though?

Barnes ---> Derozan
Huerter ---> Keon
Duarte ---> Huerter
Mitchell ---> Carter/Mclaughlin

Seems like 4 pretty big rotation spot upgrades from last year.

I'd love us to still sign some forward depth. Not sure what's there.

Is Robert covington completely cooked? I'd be pretty happy giving him a 1 year deal.

Agree with the upgrades.
I would prefer to go with a Gordon Hayward and trade Huerter near the deadline for forward depth.
Think Hayward can handle 18-20mpg as the backup 3 and maybe even small ball 4. Maybe you can trade him at the deadline too.

Before TDL
Fox/Huerter/DDR/Keegan/Sabonis
Monk/Keon/Hayward/Lyles/Len

After TDL
Fox/DDR/Keegan/PF Upgrade/Sabonis
Monk/Keon/Carter/Hayward/Lyles/Len

OR
After TDL
Fox/Keon/DDR/Keegan/Sabonis
Monk/Carter/Hayward/combo F upgrade/Lyles/Len

I know people won't like Huerter starting again, but this is thinking long term. I don't want Brown to BS this pre-season. If Huerter's shoulder is good and he is FIT (this is another issue I have with a few of the players) then just come out and let everyone know this is his spot. That's the way to raise his trade value.

[LightTheBeam]

If you take McNair's comments recently at face value, the Kings' offseason is basically done.

This is the group they will bring to training camp. It feels like we are running it back again + DeMar DeRozan. The Kings are banking on the idea that DD will provide +++ impact with this current core.

They are also banking on the internal improvements of Keegan & Keon.

Expecting Huerter to return back to 22-23 version of himself. Expecting Fox to return to his 3rd ALL-NBA version of himself or better. Expecting Sabonis to be Sabonis.

I get it. It is hard to make deals and trades in the NBA. Monte can only do so much.

It's just...watching this core again will likely be frustrating to follow next year. I really hope I'm wrong. I hope the insertion of DD will serve to elevate this team for the better. The expected internal improvements of players on this team should provide a good bump for them.

Is it though?

Barnes ---> Derozan
Huerter ---> Keon
Duarte ---> Huerter
Mitchell ---> Carter/Mclaughlin

Seems like 4 pretty big rotation spot upgrades from last year.

I'd love us to still sign some forward depth. Not sure what's there.

Is Robert covington completely cooked? I'd be pretty happy giving him a 1 year deal.

Agree with the upgrades.
I would prefer to go with a Gordon Hayward and trade Huerter near the deadline for forward depth.
Think Hayward can handle 18-20mpg as the backup 3 and maybe even small ball 4. Maybe you can trade him at the deadline too.

Before TDL
Fox/Huerter/DDR/Keegan/Sabonis
Monk/Keon/Hayward/Lyles/Len

After TDL
Fox/DDR/Keegan/PF Upgrade/Sabonis
Monk/Keon/Carter/Hayward/Lyles/Len

OR
After TDL
Fox/Keon/DDR/Keegan/Sabonis
Monk/Carter/Hayward/combo F upgrade/Lyles/Len

I know people won't like Huerter starting again, but this is thinking long term. I don't want Brown to BS this pre-season. If Huerter's shoulder is good and he is FIT (this is another issue I have with a few of the players) then just come out and let everyone know this is his spot. That's the way to raise his trade value.

I don't think the team can afford to start Huerter to try and raise trade value. End of the day, most important are W/L. Keon took us from a bottom 10 defense to a top 10 defense. He makes everyone's life easier in the starting lineup. Everyone hyper focuses on blocks, fox/Keon create a ton of extra possessions with steals and deflections.

If huerter is right, he will prove that in 20mpg off the bench. If his shooting is there, some team will want him.

As for Hayward I'm Meh about him. He looked bad in okc, and he provides no defense. His game was always about being another facilitator. I don't think we need that but that's just my opinion. Monk/Huerter is the scoring off the bench.

Another interesting name to me is Chuma Okeke. He's probably a nothing, but he got buried in Orlando and always played good defense. Could be worth looking at. Have a nesmith type breakout on another team.

[KF10]

If you take McNair's comments recently at face value, the Kings' offseason is basically done.

This is the group they will bring to training camp. It feels like we are running it back again + DeMar DeRozan. The Kings are banking on the idea that DD will provide +++ impact with this current core.

They are also banking on the internal improvements of Keegan & Keon.

Expecting Huerter to return back to 22-23 version of himself. Expecting Fox to return to his 3rd ALL-NBA version of himself or better. Expecting Sabonis to be Sabonis.

I get it. It is hard to make deals and trades in the NBA. Monte can only do so much.

It's just...watching this core again will likely be frustrating to follow next year. I really hope I'm wrong. I hope the insertion of DD will serve to elevate this team for the better. The expected internal improvements of players on this team should provide a good bump for them.

Is it though?

Barnes ---> Derozan
Huerter ---> Keon
Duarte ---> Huerter
Mitchell ---> Carter/Mclaughlin

Seems like 4 pretty big rotation spot upgrades from last year.

I'd love us to still sign some forward depth. Not sure what's there.

Is Robert covington completely cooked? I'd be pretty happy giving him a 1 year deal.

I liked the stretch of games where Brown started Keon and the Kings defense improved.

But I can’t get rid of the games in my head when Huerter was shooting blanks, Fox regression after his amazing start of the season…just overall massively inconsistent as a collective all season long.

Don’t get me wrong. On paper, it was still a “good” team. But there were many frustrating elements to them last season. The team blowing leads game in and game out. Missed FTs/lowest FT%. There were questions about this team’s mentality and their toughness.

I haven’t forgot about all of that.

Okay. What did the Kings do to address those frustrating elements listed above? Adding DD? Okay, cool. That should help out with this team’s “vibe” and possibly less choking of games.

Barnes is an addition by subtraction. Glad he is off the team.

But Huerter is still on the team. Don’t want him starting at all. Don’t want to see that storyline about him again this season where he is shooting blanks and his confidence is at a zero. Whenever he is brought off the bench, his number are bad.

Too bad Carter will miss time. Keeping Huerter is simply an insurance at this point.

Lost Michell and Duarte. Those players were non factors but Mitchell had a good ending to the season and played a part of the elevated team’s defense at the end of the season. But overall, both players are non-factors to this team.

Lost Sasha and McGee. Sad about Sasha but other than that, meh. Having Len over McGee is a plus, I guess.

Re-signed Monk. A positive for sure. But now he wants to start. I don’t want that for this team. He still needs to be the sixth man for this team. I think he is a good dude and will continue to accept the sixth man role ultimately. But we will see.

Jalen McDaniels suck. Dude can be waived. Toronto fans were happy as hell that he is off their roster. One of the worst players in the NBA. By some miracle, if he plays decent for us, it is a plus lol.

And lastly, they signed a couple of 2-way players. Meh.

A lot of hoping that this team will turn the corner with the addition of DD and relying on internal improvements.

Like I said before, I hope I’m wrong. I hope we break the 50-win mark but I’m not sure lol.

[LightTheBeam]

If you take McNair's comments recently at face value, the Kings' offseason is basically done.

This is the group they will bring to training camp. It feels like we are running it back again + DeMar DeRozan. The Kings are banking on the idea that DD will provide +++ impact with this current core.

They are also banking on the internal improvements of Keegan & Keon.

Expecting Huerter to return back to 22-23 version of himself. Expecting Fox to return to his 3rd ALL-NBA version of himself or better. Expecting Sabonis to be Sabonis.

I get it. It is hard to make deals and trades in the NBA. Monte can only do so much.

It's just...watching this core again will likely be frustrating to follow next year. I really hope I'm wrong. I hope the insertion of DD will serve to elevate this team for the better. The expected internal improvements of players on this team should provide a good bump for them.

Is it though?

Barnes ---> Derozan
Huerter ---> Keon
Duarte ---> Huerter
Mitchell ---> Carter/Mclaughlin

Seems like 4 pretty big rotation spot upgrades from last year.

I'd love us to still sign some forward depth. Not sure what's there.

Is Robert covington completely cooked? I'd be pretty happy giving him a 1 year deal.

I liked the stretch of games where Brown started Keon and the Kings defense improved.

But I can’t get rid of the games in my head when Huerter was shooting blanks, Fox regression after his amazing start of the season…just overall massively inconsistent as a collective all season long.

Don’t get me wrong. On paper, it was still a “good” team. But there were many frustrating elements to them last season. The team blowing leads game in and game out. Missed FTs/lowest FT%. There were questions about this team’s mentality and their toughness.

I haven’t forgot about all of that.

Okay. What did the Kings do to address those frustrating elements listed above? Adding DD? Okay, cool. That should help out with this team’s “vibe” and possibly less choking of games.

Barnes is an addition by subtraction. Glad he is off the team.

But Huerter is still on the team. Don’t want him starting at all. Don’t want to see that storyline about him again this season where he is shooting blanks and his confidence is at a zero. Whenever he is brought off the bench, his number are bad.

Too bad Carter will miss time. Keeping Huerter is simply an insurance at this point.

Lost Michell and Duarte. Those players were non factors but Mitchell had a good ending to the season and played a part of the elevated team’s defense at the end of the season. But overall, both players are non-factors to this team.

Lost Sasha and McGee. Sad about Sasha but other than that, meh. Having Len over McGee is a plus, I guess.

Re-signed Monk. A positive for sure. But now he wants to start. I don’t want that for this team. He still needs to be the sixth man for this team. I think he is a good dude and will continue to accept the sixth man role ultimately. But we will see.

Jalen McDaniels suck. Dude can be waived. Toronto fans were happy as hell that he is off their roster. One of the worst players in the NBA. By some miracle, if he plays decent for us, it is a plus lol.

And lastly, they signed a couple of 2-way players. Meh.

A lot of hoping that this team will turn the corner with the addition of DD and relying on internal improvements.

Like I said before, I hope I’m wrong. I hope we break the 50-win mark but I’m not sure lol.

As for choking the games away and Fox's mid-season struggles, I think DeRozan is literally the exact answer to those problems. The first 3 months Fox was putting the team on his back and carrying hard averaging 30+. Monk didn't really pick it up until Feb-March. DeRozan solves that issue and should keep Fox fresh for the entire year, and his vet presence is a lot more stable as a leader to ensure those games aren't blown.

Between FT's and blown games we are already talking about 50+ wins potentially (obviously other factors can occur).

Then Keon starting an entire year. This team with an improved offense + a top 15 defense for an entire year is scary.

I'm with you on Huerter, I cannot stand him as a player and historically he's been bad off the bench.Brown needs to get this settled ASAP. Keon you are our starting 2G, there is no competition, you earned the spot congrats. Monk you are our 6th man we love you there. Huerter you are our 7th guy shooter off the bench, we are going to play you the most in minutes with Sabonis/Monk, feast on wide open 3s and your 2 man game with Sabonis.

I'm bummed about Carter also, but TBH Jmac seems like a veteran more consistent version of Mitchell. If you look at the stats hes even better than Davion defensively. I think he can eat those Davion minutes without any issues while we wait for Carter to get healthy. I'm also intrigued by Colby Jones, I liked him a lot last year and I really hope he actually takes those minutes. Great size, good defense, slasher, has potential as a shooter. There will be growing pains but I see him with 3 position versatility.

But again we can't overlook what DeMar is to this team. You said it yourself, Barnes is addition by subtraction. And in his place we added a multi tool all star who is one of the best closers in the league. Look at Derozans win shares the last few years. 9.2, 8.5, 8.8 etc... Barnes was a 4.7 ws last year, thats a 4.5 game difference. And I truly thing adding a player of Derozans caliber will account for 4-5 wins.

I'm hyped. I'm not settled. More moves are needed. Even if Huerter starts the year as a King, he should not finish as one. I want Monte active at the deadline. Make those moves that good teams often do. Find a Rui, a PJ Washington, a Gafford. Hopefully prices will be cheaper at the deadline.

[codydaze]

Cedi Osman is a guy I would like to get a look to fill out this roster. Think he would be a great addition as the backup forward.

[LightTheBeam]

Like I said before, I hope I’m wrong. I hope we break the 50-win mark but I’m not sure lol.

I want to add to my post above.

Going into last year the NBA landscape was also much different.

Thunder were going to significantly improve, and we still expect them to this year.
Timberwolves were going to see progression from Ant, and more meshing from the whole team.
Nuggets were coming off a title and still have the best player in the world.
Clippers had added Harden to an already existing 50 win team.
Mavs were going to get a full year from Kyrie, added Grant Williams, DJJ, and Lively.
Suns were getting the first year of the "big 3" plus Nurkic and Grayson Allen.
Pelicans were getting older, more experienced and Zion was finally healthy
Rockets made some huge moves to rebuild the entire roster
Warriors still had their top 4, internal improvement from the kids, and better culture with Poole gone/CP3 in.
Grizzlies had added some kids + Marcus Smart. (Injuries/suspensions obviously de-railed)

This was the west landscape going into last year. Almost every team in the top 11 was expecting pretty massive improvement. The Kings had come off the healthiest year and a 1st round exit and decided to run it back.

Fast forward a year.

Thunder/Wolves/Mavs will all still be better than us. Denver as well, but they did just lose KCP.

Clippers lost PG13 and are attempting to replace with DJJ. Kawhi can't stay healthy.
Suns flamed out, could still be good, but the depth sucks and the 2 old vets can't stay healthy.
Warriors lost Klay and are replacing with Buddy Hield lol.
Lakers are a year older and coming off the healthiest season in forever.
Rockets didn't do anything and are just expecting internal improvement. NO new FVV/Brooks, etc..

Yes we should expect Grizzlies to be healthy. That team is a defensive juggernaut, but outside of Ja who can create offense? They still have some question marks.

Pelicans probably got better overall adding Dejounte, although I think we match up better now as they have no real center, lost a ton of length (Val, Nance, Dyson) and we no longer need to see JVal body Sabonis. I still would bet Ingram gets moved for a center, not sure how different that team will be.

Spurs baring Wemby becoming the best player in the league year 2 are probably still a few years away. Jazz/Portland are still not real threats.

Meanwhile the Kings may have had the single biggest offseason upgrade in the entire west (arguable, but its in the top 3).

Long post, but to say this year feels different, the west didn't get significantly better like the year before. I have us in the playoff tier with Memphis/Pelicans fighting for 5/6 (on paper, injuries happen).

Suns, Clippers, Warriors, Lakers are all comfortable healthy cruising in the regular season and fighting it out in the play-in.

[LightTheBeam]

Cedi Osman is a guy I would like to get a look to fill out this roster. Think he would be a great addition as the backup forward.

He would be a really good fit. Wonder why we haven't heard much about him? Think he's holding out for a Naji Marshall/DJJ type deal.

I'd give him 3/20 type deal pretty happily.

[KF10]

As for choking the games away and Fox's mid-season struggles, I think DeRozan is literally the exact answer to those problems. The first 3 months Fox was putting the team on his back and carrying hard averaging 30+. Monk didn't really pick it up until Feb-March. DeRozan solves that issue and should keep Fox fresh for the entire year, and his vet presence is a lot more stable as a leader to ensure those games aren't blown.

Between FT's and blown games we are already talking about 50+ wins potentially (obviously other factors can occur).

Then Keon starting an entire year. This team with an improved offense + a top 15 defense for an entire year is scary.

I'm with you on Huerter, I cannot stand him as a player and historically he's been bad off the bench.Brown needs to get this settled ASAP. Keon you are our starting 2G, there is no competition, you earned the spot congrats. Monk you are our 6th man we love you there. Huerter you are our 7th guy shooter off the bench, we are going to play you the most in minutes with Sabonis/Monk, feast on wide open 3s and your 2 man game with Sabonis.

I'm bummed about Carter also, but TBH Jmac seems like a veteran more consistent version of Mitchell. If you look at the stats hes even better than Davion defensively. I think he can eat those Davion minutes without any issues while we wait for Carter to get healthy. I'm also intrigued by Colby Jones, I liked him a lot last year and I really hope he actually takes those minutes. Great size, good defense, slasher, has potential as a shooter. There will be growing pains but I see him with 3 position versatility.

But again we can't overlook what DeMar is to this team. You said it yourself, Barnes is addition by subtraction. And in his place we added a multi tool all star who is one of the best closers in the league. Look at Derozans win shares the last few years. 9.2, 8.5, 8.8 etc... Barnes was a 4.7 ws last year, thats a 4.5 game difference. And I truly thing adding a player of Derozans caliber will account for 4-5 wins.

I'm hyped. I'm not settled. More moves are needed. Even if Huerter starts the year as a King, he should not finish as one. I want Monte active at the deadline. Make those moves that good teams often do. Find a Rui, a PJ Washington, a Gafford. Hopefully prices will be cheaper at the deadline.

I'm cautiously optimistic at this time.

I always liked DD for a while now. This guy has been averaging at least 20 PPG for the last 10 years consecutively. He is one of the few legit iron men in the NBA too! He is a serious upgrade over Barnes. I agree with what you said 100%.

I think there will be growing pains on how he fits with Fox & Sabonis but I think they will manage to figure it out eventually, imo.

Also to note: DD has been a starter for 1098 out of 1110 games played. The only time he came off the bench was during his rookie year (09-10 season). He view himself as a starter for sure. I'm sure he intends to continue to view himself as a starter.

I have zero hope for Jmac. You have more faith in him than me. If he becomes anywhere useful for us, I'll take it! lol

Colby Jones....I think he is still pretty raw. He is an interesting player. I don't mind seeing him out there...just to get his feet wet and learn. But I don't expect a ton from him.

If Fox returns back to his 3rd NBA team level again (or better), that would be awesome for this team. We need that version of Fox. I don't want to see last season's version of Fox again.

Don't forget about Keegan too. I think it will be an interesting year for him. I think adding DD into the mix may be cut into Keegan's shot attempts/offensive opportunities. This probably will firmly put Keegan into the 3&D trajectory path.

It is going to be interesting to see how all of this works.

What do you think the starting 5 will look like?

You have to think Keon is the starting 2 guard next Fox, right? DD is an auto starter as well:

Fox
Keon
DD
Keegan
Sabonis


Both Keon and Keegan will take on the toughest defensive assignments. Hit their shots as needed.

Fox, DD & Sabonis tandem will do the rest of the scoring and lift up the offensive work load.

Not bad.

[KF10]

I want to add to my post above.

Going into last year the NBA landscape was also much different.

Thunder were going to significantly improve, and we still expect them to this year.
Timberwolves were going to see progression from Ant, and more meshing from the whole team.
Nuggets were coming off a title and still have the best player in the world.
Clippers had added Harden to an already existing 50 win team.
Mavs were going to get a full year from Kyrie, added Grant Williams, DJJ, and Lively.
Suns were getting the first year of the "big 3" plus Nurkic and Grayson Allen.
Pelicans were getting older, more experienced and Zion was finally healthy
Rockets made some huge moves to rebuild the entire roster
Warriors still had their top 4, internal improvement from the kids, and better culture with Poole gone/CP3 in.
Grizzlies had added some kids + Marcus Smart. (Injuries/suspensions obviously de-railed)

This was the west landscape going into last year. Almost every team in the top 11 was expecting pretty massive improvement. The Kings had come off the healthiest year and a 1st round exit and decided to run it back.

Fast forward a year.

Thunder/Wolves/Mavs will all still be better than us. Denver as well, but they did just lose KCP.

Clippers lost PG13 and are attempting to replace with DJJ. Kawhi can't stay healthy.
Suns flamed out, could still be good, but the depth sucks and the 2 old vets can't stay healthy.
Warriors lost Klay and are replacing with Buddy Hield lol.
Lakers are a year older and coming off the healthiest season in forever.
Rockets didn't do anything and are just expecting internal improvement. NO new FVV/Brooks, etc..

Yes we should expect Grizzlies to be healthy. That team is a defensive juggernaut, but outside of Ja who can create offense? They still have some question marks.

Pelicans probably got better overall adding Dejounte, although I think we match up better now as they have no real center, lost a ton of length (Val, Nance, Dyson) and we no longer need to see JVal body Sabonis. I still would bet Ingram gets moved for a center, not sure how different that team will be.

Spurs baring Wemby becoming the best player in the league year 2 are probably still a few years away. Jazz/Portland are still not real threats.

Meanwhile the Kings may have had the single biggest offseason upgrade in the entire west (arguable, but its in the top 3).

Long post, but to say this year feels different, the west didn't get significantly better like the year before. I have us in the playoff tier with Memphis/Pelicans fighting for 5/6 (on paper, injuries happen).

Suns, Clippers, Warriors, Lakers are all comfortable healthy cruising in the regular season and fighting it out in the play-in.

We will see!

I think the Kings gotten better but I remember we all said that this team was a top-6 lock last season. Auto-playoff team we said! lol

The Kings fallen from 3rd to 9th (tied with Warriors at 46 wins). If I had to guess for this season, I think they are at least a play-in team for sure. More towards the upper half of the play-in team level (7th/8th) rather than last season's (9th/10th). This doesn't mean they can't be fighting for the 5/6 seeds (just like you wrote in your post) but I have to see this team in action before believing in that.

[LightTheBeam]

As for choking the games away and Fox's mid-season struggles, I think DeRozan is literally the exact answer to those problems. The first 3 months Fox was putting the team on his back and carrying hard averaging 30+. Monk didn't really pick it up until Feb-March. DeRozan solves that issue and should keep Fox fresh for the entire year, and his vet presence is a lot more stable as a leader to ensure those games aren't blown.

Between FT's and blown games we are already talking about 50+ wins potentially (obviously other factors can occur).

Then Keon starting an entire year. This team with an improved offense + a top 15 defense for an entire year is scary.

I'm with you on Huerter, I cannot stand him as a player and historically he's been bad off the bench.Brown needs to get this settled ASAP. Keon you are our starting 2G, there is no competition, you earned the spot congrats. Monk you are our 6th man we love you there. Huerter you are our 7th guy shooter off the bench, we are going to play you the most in minutes with Sabonis/Monk, feast on wide open 3s and your 2 man game with Sabonis.

I'm bummed about Carter also, but TBH Jmac seems like a veteran more consistent version of Mitchell. If you look at the stats hes even better than Davion defensively. I think he can eat those Davion minutes without any issues while we wait for Carter to get healthy. I'm also intrigued by Colby Jones, I liked him a lot last year and I really hope he actually takes those minutes. Great size, good defense, slasher, has potential as a shooter. There will be growing pains but I see him with 3 position versatility.

But again we can't overlook what DeMar is to this team. You said it yourself, Barnes is addition by subtraction. And in his place we added a multi tool all star who is one of the best closers in the league. Look at Derozans win shares the last few years. 9.2, 8.5, 8.8 etc... Barnes was a 4.7 ws last year, thats a 4.5 game difference. And I truly thing adding a player of Derozans caliber will account for 4-5 wins.

I'm hyped. I'm not settled. More moves are needed. Even if Huerter starts the year as a King, he should not finish as one. I want Monte active at the deadline. Make those moves that good teams often do. Find a Rui, a PJ Washington, a Gafford. Hopefully prices will be cheaper at the deadline.

I'm cautiously optimistic at this time.

I always liked DD for a while now. This guy has been averaging at least 20 PPG for the last 10 years consecutively. He is one of the few legit iron men in the NBA too! He is a serious upgrade over Barnes. I agree with what you said 100%.

I think there will be growing pains on how he fits with Fox & Sabonis but I think they will manage to figure it out eventually, imo.

Also to note: DD has been a starter for 1098 out of 1110 games played. The only time he came off the bench was during his rookie year (09-10 season). He view himself as a starter for sure. I'm sure he intends to continue to view himself as a starter.

I have zero hope for Jmac. You have more faith in him than me. If he becomes anywhere useful for us, I'll take it! lol

Colby Jones....I think he is still pretty raw. He is an interesting player. I don't mind seeing him out there...just to get his feet wet and learn. But I don't expect a ton from him.

If Fox returns back to his 3rd NBA team level again (or better), that would be awesome for this team. We need that version of Fox. I don't want to see last season's version of Fox again.

Don't forget about Keegan too. I think it will be an interesting year for him. I think adding DD into the mix may be cut into Keegan's shot attempts/offensive opportunities. This probably will firmly put Keegan into the 3&D trajectory path.

It is going to be interesting to see how all of this works.

What do you think the starting 5 will look like?

You have to think Keon is the starting 2 guard next Fox, right? DD is an auto starter as well:

Fox
Keon
DD
Keegan
Sabonis


Both Keon and Keegan will take on the toughest defensive assignments. Hit their shots as needed.

Fox, DD & Sabonis tandem will do the rest of the scoring and lift up the offensive work load.

Not bad.

As for JMac I'm not thinking he's anything special, but I think he's a servicable guy off the bench for 10mpg. Right now I'd like to see Fox/Monk/Keon eating up about 90 minutes a night in the backcourt. He shouldn't be playing a whole lot, but while we wait for either Colby to take a step or Carter to get healthy he won't kill us.

IMO we are about to see Fox's best season ever. The pressure is off to consistently close, he can turn up the flames early. We've often criticized him for waiting until the 4th to get going, I've always thought that was by design. IMO this is the year Fox takes over early and he and DeMar can share the closing depending who is on.

Regarding Keegan, I don't share the same opinions as others. I think he can still elevate. It's likely DeRozan scoring falls slightly, Sabonis/Monk fall slightly. There's a path IMO for Keegan to still be the 3rd scorer, Sabonis being 4th and Monk being 5th. But night in and night out it will change with 5 guys capable of going for 20+.

I really want to see Sabonis average something like 15-15-10. Would be so cool to see.

I agree with your starting 5. And Keon will guard the hardest guard matchup, while Keegan takes the best forward.