Game 68: Kings (34-33) vs Cavaliers (56-12)

[codydaze]

The number one team in the East makes its way over to Sacramento on the second night of a b2b after a loss to the red hot Warriors in San Francisco. In addition to it being the second half of a b2b for the Cavs, Darius Garland will also be out for rest tonight so the Kings should be looking to take advantage of some fortunate circumstances in this one. The bad news for the Kings is that Domas is out and will be out at least 10 days with the ankle injury he sustained the other night against Memphis so we will be shorthanded up front against a Cleveland team with probably the best front court in the league.

It would be huge to end this homestand over .500 at 37-36 with the rough schedule plus being without Domas so we need to find a way to get three of these next six games.

[codydaze]

Lavine has been added to the inactive list and is OUT for tonight due to personal reasons.

[OxAndFox]

Domas & Lavine out. That makes it hard, and most likely an even harder watch too.

Hopefully it just means Keon is allowed to go into his bag a little more. Same with Keegan. Please, please don't let this be a Monk and Deebo taking it in turns night.
Spread the floor, kick the ball around and trust the shooters on open shots, no off balance crap and no last second grenade passes.

[codydaze]

Jake out tonight as well.

[LightTheBeam]

What an awful start. Team forgot how to shoot the basketball and can't get anything going inside.

[LightTheBeam]

Holy crap this camera angle is a disaster who the hell signed off on this lol

[codydaze]

Watching this Carter/Keon/Keegan lineup cook is *chef's kiss*.

[codydaze]

Great win!

[LightTheBeam]

Carter has absolutely turned the corner! Having him and Keon has done wonders for the defense!

And the rule holds true. Only 2 of monk, derozan, lavine are needed. Having 3 makes all of them worse. Kings have some decisions to make this summer.

Amazing win.

Lyles was spectacular
Carter was game changing
Monk is back
Keon shot great and played good defense
Keegan with massive 3s
Fultz with good minutes
Team effort tonight!

[OxAndFox]

How about that bench yet again!
They're really igniting the team with the D. Great W. Didn't give them a shot without Domas and Lavine TBH.

Wasn't the greatest of starts, but I'm glad to eat crow on the not going to be fun to watch. They were fantastic. And Devin Carter has arrived ladies and gentlemen.
When he, Keon and Keegan are on the floor together and get after it, the Kings actually have a decent defensive team. Get Keegan some inside help on D and things will look good.
Don't forget too, Monk was out there for some of those minutes so they were really small.
When Monk hits 3s its a completely different team.

And Lyles just stuffing the stat sheet along with some important defensive efforts. 13/7/5.

Let's see if these guys can back it up tomorrow.

[BoogieTime]

Malik is the X factor..... play like this, playoff team while the west ages for the next many years..and of course ellis starting.. DDR can age off the bench

[BoogieTime]

Devin was always a good pick.... since picked... and im a monte truther

[BoogieTime]

but credit where it is due, the sun shined even on a dog's booty (lyles) today

[BoogieTime]

and the monk/keon lineup remains the best lineup we've seen all year from the kings.... its what I thought we would see post trade, and for whatever reason(zach at sf), monk plays with Keon. but its the lineup that put +13 on @gsw Mia @Bos @min when fox injured, not adds to its good opponents it has beaten

[LightTheBeam]

How about that bench yet again!
They're really igniting the team with the D. Great W. Didn't give them a shot without Domas and Lavine TBH.

Wasn't the greatest of starts, but I'm glad to eat crow on the not going to be fun to watch. They were fantastic. And Devin Carter has arrived ladies and gentlemen.
When he, Keon and Keegan are on the floor together and get after it, the Kings actually have a decent defensive team. Get Keegan some inside help on D and things will look good.
Don't forget too, Monk was out there for some of those minutes so they were really small.
When Monk hits 3s its a completely different team.

And Lyles just stuffing the stat sheet along with some important defensive efforts. 13/7/5.

Let's see if these guys can back it up tomorrow.

Long post incoming

I liked Carter at the draft, not us taking another guard, but clear as a player he was going to be a day 1 impact guy.
It was hard to see the vision when he came back. He was so rusty he just looked terrible, and that shot yuck lol. But he's rounding into form, he's a pest on defense, he's extremely athletic, he super smart. He definitely has derrick white written all over him.

I really think with some minor changes to the lineups we could be decent?

Someone laid out the rules, but I'll expand on what my rules would be.

1 of sabonis or JV (obviously lyles for now)
1 or both of Keegan and/or laravia at all times
1 or both Keon and/or Carter at all times
1 or 2 of lavine, monk, demar, never all 3.
Few examples

Keon - Monk- derozan - Keegan- sabonis

Carter- lavine - Derozan - laravia - jv
Or go big
Monk - Keon - Keegan- laravia - sabonis

Just never again Monk- lavine - Derozan. Not even for a single minute. Someone goes to the bench, the coldest one sits in crunch time, hell sometimes two do.
To simplify
Sabonis/jv
Keegan/laravia
Lavine/demar
Monk/demar
Keon/carter

I think the problem is that deebo is clutch. Lavine isn't. And the monk-keon/carter-demar lineup is the answer to close with. But vivek admitting the lsvine addition was a mistake and benching his 45 million dollar prize to close games would look terrible. But that is the answer to producing more wins.

[LightTheBeam]

and the monk/keon lineup remains the best lineup we've seen all year from the kings.... its what I thought we would see post trade, and for whatever reason(zach at sf), monk plays with Keon. but its the lineup that put +13 on @gsw Mia @Bos @min when fox injured, not adds to its good opponents it has beaten

Here's something we agree on. And to go a step further it's been the
Monk-ellis-demar-keegan-sabonis lineup that's been the best all year. It's a balanced lineup in every aspect.

I think the right move would have been to hold on for the Spurs to take Huerter, and give us keldon and skip the lavine deal all together. I truly wonder where this team would be.

Sabonis/JV/Zach Collins
Keegan/Laravia/Lyles
Demar/keldon
Keon/Carter
Monk/Tre Jones/Fultz

You'd have another forward who can play, monk/derozan/sabonis would have been better off. You'd have Collins expiring and keldons contract to deal down the line for a better fitting piece, and you'd have an extra protected Chicago 1st to play with. Maybe we even get them to give us our 31 swap back instead of the Chicago pick.

[BoogieTime]

and the monk/keon lineup remains the best lineup we've seen all year from the kings.... its what I thought we would see post trade, and for whatever reason(zach at sf), monk plays with Keon. but its the lineup that put +13 on @gsw Mia @Bos @min when fox injured, not adds to its good opponents it has beaten

Here's something we agree on. And to go a step further it's been the
Monk-ellis-demar-keegan-sabonis lineup that's been the best all year. It's a balanced lineup in every aspect.

I think the right move would have been to hold on for the Spurs to take Huerter, and give us keldon and skip the lavine deal all together. I truly wonder where this team would be.

Sabonis/JV/Zach Collins
Keegan/Laravia/Lyles
Demar/keldon
Keon/Carter
Monk/Tre Jones/Fultz

You'd have another forward who can play, monk/derozan/sabonis would have been better off. You'd have Collins expiring and keldons contract to deal down the line for a better fitting piece, and you'd have an extra protected Chicago 1st to play with. Maybe we even get them to give us our 31 swap back instead of the Chicago pick.

Zach will be fine at SF imo. Nothing wrong with someone putting up 20+ of very good spacing/efficiency at SF, certainly offensively but he has played a lot at forward recently defensively and might be better suited there than dealing with speed at sg. Demar will eventually age off the bench

[OxAndFox]

Long post incoming

I liked Carter at the draft, not us taking another guard, but clear as a player he was going to be a day 1 impact guy.
It was hard to see the vision when he came back. He was so rusty he just looked terrible, and that shot yuck lol. But he's rounding into form, he's a pest on defense, he's extremely athletic, he super smart. He definitely has derrick white written all over him.

I really think with some minor changes to the lineups we could be decent?

Someone laid out the rules, but I'll expand on what my rules would be.

1 of sabonis or JV (obviously lyles for now)
1 or both of Keegan and/or laravia at all times
1 or both Keon and/or Carter at all times
1 or 2 of lavine, monk, demar, never all 3.
Few examples

Keon - Monk- derozan - Keegan- sabonis

Carter- lavine - Derozan - laravia - jv
Or go big
Monk - Keon - Keegan- laravia - sabonis

Just never again Monk- lavine - Derozan. Not even for a single minute. Someone goes to the bench, the coldest one sits in crunch time, hell sometimes two do.
To simplify
Sabonis/jv
Keegan/laravia
Lavine/demar
Monk/demar
Keon/carter

I think the problem is that deebo is clutch. Lavine isn't. And the monk-keon/carter-demar lineup is the answer to close with. But vivek admitting the lsvine addition was a mistake and benching his 45 million dollar prize to close games would look terrible. But that is the answer to producing more wins.

Even longer post incoming.

That is all something the franchise should know about.
I'm still a Lavine instead of Deebo, but you are spot on that the problem is Lavine isn't clutch. I think he can be more of a team clutch guy though. Not a take over guy. Monk can be that guy down the stretch too, but is still arms and legs flailing all over the place.
Keon has produced in the clutch, so has Keegan. They might not be as consistent, but IMO the team won't be in that many of these situations if the defensive pressure was applied earlier in games and then go into manage mode. So IMO we still require at least another big that is a bull defensively and potentially a starting PG depending on how many of these guards are here still.
The problem is going to be Monk, Keon, Lavine, Starter, Carter. That's too many guys. Fultz would also be a great one to bring back as a 3rd string PG in case of injury.
I know I sound like a broken record with it, but Keegan needs to drop back to the 3. Keon needs to start.
So if it were me you have 1 starting spot left to fill and it's up to Lavine, Monk, Carter, Off Season Move.
I would be starting Lavine and playing through Sabonis for the most part, Keon can handle it enough too, with Monk doing the handling during his 28mpg.
Something like
Keon/Monk/Fultz
Lavine/Carter/FA
Keegan/Draft 2nd Round-FA
"Portis Type"/LaRavia/Lyles
Sabonis/JV/Draft 2nd Round-FA

"Portis Type" - Naz Redi (one can wish)/PJ Washington/Toppin/Portis himself if he opts in etc

[LightTheBeam]

and the monk/keon lineup remains the best lineup we've seen all year from the kings.... its what I thought we would see post trade, and for whatever reason(zach at sf), monk plays with Keon. but its the lineup that put +13 on @gsw Mia @Bos @min when fox injured, not adds to its good opponents it has beaten

Here's something we agree on. And to go a step further it's been the
Monk-ellis-demar-keegan-sabonis lineup that's been the best all year. It's a balanced lineup in every aspect.

I think the right move would have been to hold on for the Spurs to take Huerter, and give us keldon and skip the lavine deal all together. I truly wonder where this team would be.

Sabonis/JV/Zach Collins
Keegan/Laravia/Lyles
Demar/keldon
Keon/Carter
Monk/Tre Jones/Fultz

You'd have another forward who can play, monk/derozan/sabonis would have been better off. You'd have Collins expiring and keldons contract to deal down the line for a better fitting piece, and you'd have an extra protected Chicago 1st to play with. Maybe we even get them to give us our 31 swap back instead of the Chicago pick.

Zach will be fine at SF imo. Nothing wrong with someone putting up 20+ of very good spacing/efficiency at SF, certainly offensively but he has played a lot at forward recently defensively and might be better suited there than dealing with speed at sg. Demar will eventually age off the bench

No matter how you slice it, lavine really isn't the guy to want. He makes top tier max #1 money, and sure he's efficient but he lacks the innate motor to take over nightly. You'd talk about Fox having those issues, and he did for 3 quarters but he owned the 4th. Seems there's games lavine doesn't show up the whole game, add in his bad defense.

If lavine was making 18-22 million a year, I could understand his value. Making 45-50? He's in the running for worse contract in the league. He doesn't do enough outside individual scoring to justify that contract.

[LightTheBeam]

Long post incoming

I liked Carter at the draft, not us taking another guard, but clear as a player he was going to be a day 1 impact guy.
It was hard to see the vision when he came back. He was so rusty he just looked terrible, and that shot yuck lol. But he's rounding into form, he's a pest on defense, he's extremely athletic, he super smart. He definitely has derrick white written all over him.

I really think with some minor changes to the lineups we could be decent?

Someone laid out the rules, but I'll expand on what my rules would be.

1 of sabonis or JV (obviously lyles for now)
1 or both of Keegan and/or laravia at all times
1 or both Keon and/or Carter at all times
1 or 2 of lavine, monk, demar, never all 3.
Few examples

Keon - Monk- derozan - Keegan- sabonis

Carter- lavine - Derozan - laravia - jv
Or go big
Monk - Keon - Keegan- laravia - sabonis

Just never again Monk- lavine - Derozan. Not even for a single minute. Someone goes to the bench, the coldest one sits in crunch time, hell sometimes two do.
To simplify
Sabonis/jv
Keegan/laravia
Lavine/demar
Monk/demar
Keon/carter

I think the problem is that deebo is clutch. Lavine isn't. And the monk-keon/carter-demar lineup is the answer to close with. But vivek admitting the lsvine addition was a mistake and benching his 45 million dollar prize to close games would look terrible. But that is the answer to producing more wins.

Even longer post incoming.

That is all something the franchise should know about.
I'm still a Lavine instead of Deebo, but you are spot on that the problem is Lavine isn't clutch. I think he can be more of a team clutch guy though. Not a take over guy. Monk can be that guy down the stretch too, but is still arms and legs flailing all over the place.
Keon has produced in the clutch, so has Keegan. They might not be as consistent, but IMO the team won't be in that many of these situations if the defensive pressure was applied earlier in games and then go into manage mode. So IMO we still require at least another big that is a bull defensively and potentially a starting PG depending on how many of these guards are here still.
The problem is going to be Monk, Keon, Lavine, Starter, Carter. That's too many guys. Fultz would also be a great one to bring back as a 3rd string PG in case of injury.
I know I sound like a broken record with it, but Keegan needs to drop back to the 3. Keon needs to start.
So if it were me you have 1 starting spot left to fill and it's up to Lavine, Monk, Carter, Off Season Move.
I would be starting Lavine and playing through Sabonis for the most part, Keon can handle it enough too, with Monk doing the handling during his 28mpg.
Something like
Keon/Monk/Fultz
Lavine/Carter/FA
Keegan/Draft 2nd Round-FA
"Portis Type"/LaRavia/Lyles
Sabonis/JV/Draft 2nd Round-FA

"Portis Type" - Naz Redi (one can wish)/PJ Washington/Toppin/Portis himself if he opts in etc

Long term i agree with you. I'm just operating on what we are now. And I have some hopes that carter/keon continue to develop the on ball game.

One of my favorite targets this summer is actually naji Marshall. Hes been tasked to be on ball in Dallas with all the injuries, and he's been really good doing it lately. Dallas maybe interested in a guy like demar to hold the fort while kyrie is out. I think adding a SF/PF who can handle, alleviates the need for a more traditional point guard.

Keon - Lavine - Keegan - Naji - sabonis
Carter - Monk - LaRavia - JV

So the starting lineup you've got 4 guys who can all handle and to a degree play make. You've got 3 excellent defenders. Then off the bench, 2 more defenders, 2 more playmakers.

Im trying to operate in what I think is likely. I'm almost certain nobody will take lavine, and monk is the heart of the team. So that as always leaves demar as the expendable one.