2023 Off-season Thread

[BeiBeau]

He is pretty mobile, Mobile Holmes!

But he can switch fairly well on the perimeter. I'd say that is his strength. Decent help shot blocker from the weak side.

Otherwise I'd say he is generally meh.

Sounds like not negative?

Kidd loves a switchable 5

He has to get back into form from like 2-3 years ago. So I hope he is still good at the things I mentioned, I'd assume he would be. He's not old or getting over a bad injury.

Decent rebounder.

But not a negative defensive player at all. When he started here a few years ago the team defense was terrible too.

That’s good. I’m sure he will see plenty of court time cause Luka will use him really well on the PnR.

[LightTheBeam]

If I'm the Kings I make an offer to PJ Washington the Hornets can't match. He fits the timeline and appears to have the traits Monte is looking for.

I've wanted him since I can remember. The one thing I noticed about Washington is how physical and big he played against us.

Hes 25, gets about a block a game, plays with physicality, and can hit the 3pt shot.

Going to be interesting to see how the new Charlotte ownership operates. Bridges likely comes back, they still are paying Cody Martin and Hayward. They just drafted Brandon Miller. I don't know a lot about Miller, but my understanding is he projects as a SF. Can they justify paying PJ 15+ a year along with Hayward 30+ this year to come off the bench of Bridges/Miller?

Ideal for me is PJ + Hart. Would happily take PJ + Brown also.

[City of Trees]

If I'm the Kings I make an offer to PJ Washington the Hornets can't match. He fits the timeline and appears to have the traits Monte is looking for.

I've wanted him since I can remember. The one thing I noticed about Washington is how physical and big he played against us.

Hes 25, gets about a block a game, plays with physicality, and can hit the 3pt shot.

Going to be interesting to see how the new Charlotte ownership operates. Bridges likely comes back, they still are paying Cody Martin and Hayward. They just drafted Brandon Miller. I don't know a lot about Miller, but my understanding is he projects as a SF. Can they justify paying PJ 15+ a year along with Hayward 30+ this year to come off the bench of Bridges/Miller?

Ideal for me is PJ + Hart. Would happily take PJ + Brown also.

PJ is 24, same age as Huerter. Actually PJ is only four days older than Kevin lol.

[City of Trees]

PJ and Hart is an amazing haul

[OxAndFox]

Naz Reid back to the Wolves for 3 years, $42 million so there that idea goes.

That was one of the more interesting options for me, if he could play with Domas. Now I guess most options are smaller wings

Spending big on a SF, keeping Keegan at 4, and doing little with one of the league’s worst interior defenses may improve the team moderately depending on who we get. But I think helping Domas in the paint is a higher priority than improving on whatever Barnes was doing

But it looks like that may be the direction, so need Keegan to improve sizably on his toughness if he’s staying at that position

Here is something you and I agree on.

I don’t know what playoff series everyone else was watching this spring, but I watched our j my viable big and team key player get abused by two bugs with no other physical presence to help free him up and should we the burden.

We ended up abused by an undersized team physically. And everyone is getting bigger - even the “wings”.

I am sick and tired of hearing how we need to chase a bunch of 6’5” - 6’7” super guards only to find that when it comes playoff time, big long teams still dominate.

We need a starting caliber PF with size and the ability to shoot to compliment Domas and cover our deficiencies defensively in the paint. Then the perimeter can be either improved organically with the growing young guys we have or be addressed through signings.

But the interior is the priority right now.

Generally, I think these are good points.
I will say though if the shooters (Barnes/Huerter mainly) made their 3s in the GS series we might be having a completely different discussion. It's not just on Sabonis, he still had a decent series, but without help, he was left on an island and forced to do something that's not natural far too often.

[OxAndFox]

PJ and Hart is an amazing haul

I don't know a whole lot about PJ Washington. But correct me if I'm wrong that he is a terrible rebounder.
At 4.9 in 32mpg isn't great and he was ranked 6th on the team last season. Doesn't seem like he has improved in that area either.

[OxAndFox]

Sorry for the long post regarding these lists. But below are rebounding and 3pt shooting per 36 stats for PF/C. Just as a discussion point. These are the top 12 leaders in the NBA.

Per 36 Stats - Organised by 3pt made (down to min 2.2 3pt made & more than 6 rebounds)
Lauri Markkanen
3pt - 3.2
3pt% - 0.391
Reb - 9

Mike Muscala
3pt - 3.1
3pt% - 0.391
Reb - 7.7

Kevin Love
3pt - 2.9
3pt% - 0.334
Reb - 11.6

Obi Toppin
3pt - 2.9
3pt% - 0.344
Reb - 6.4

Julius Randle
3pt - 2.9
3pt% - 0.343
Reb - 10.1

Al Horford
3pt - 2.7
3pt% - 0.446
Reb - 7.3

Kyle Kuzma
3pt - 2.6
3pt% - 0.333
Reb - 7.4

Jordan Nwora
3pt - 2.6
3pt% - 0.408
Reb - 6.9

Trey Lyles
3pt - 2.5
3pt% - 0.363
Reb - 8.7

Kristaps Porziņģis
3pt - 2.3
3pt% - 0.385
Reb - 9.3

Naz Reid
3pt - 2.2
3pt% - 0.346
Reb - 9.6

Christian Wood
3pt - 2.2
3pt% - 0.376
Reb - 10.2

Per 36 Stats - Organised by Rebounds (down to min 10 per 36 and 1 3pt made)
Bobby Portis
3pt - 1.9
3pt% - 0.370
Reb - 13.3

Nikola Vučević
3pt - 1.6
3pt% - 0.349
Reb - 11.8

Kevin Love
3pt - 2.9
3pt% - 0.334
Reb - 11.6

Jalen Smith
3pt - 1.5
3pt% - 0.283
Reb - 11.1

Joel Embiid
3pt - 1.0
3pt% - 0.333
Reb - 10.6

Christian Wood
3pt - 2.2
3pt% - 0.376
Reb - 10.2

Julius Randle
3pt - 2.9
3pt% - 0.343
Reb - 10.1

Tari Eason
3pt - 1.2
3pt% - 0.343
Reb - 10.1

Chris Boucher
3pt - 1.5
3pt% - 0.328
Reb - 10.0

Zach Collins
3pt - 1.4
3pt% - 0.374
Reb - 10.0

Naz Reid
3pt - 2.2
3pt% - 0.346
Reb - 9.6

Kristaps Porziņģis
3pt - 2.3
3pt% - 0.385
Reb - 9.3

[City of Trees]

PJ and Hart is an amazing haul

I don't know a whole lot about PJ Washington. But correct me if I'm wrong that he is a terrible rebounder.
At 4.9 in 32mpg isn't great and he was ranked 6th on the team last season. Doesn't seem like he has improved in that area either.

Advanced stats say HB has a slight edge in rebounding over PJ. *I can't sleep my apologies for the long post*

Contested Rebounds (occurs when a player attempts to grab a rebound, but an opponent is contesting or challenging them for it)
HB: 1.3
PJ: 1.3

Contested Rebound % (measures the percentage of rebounds a player grabs while facing competition or when an opponent is within close proximity)
HB: 28.7%
PJ 27.1%

Rebound Chances (indicates the opportunities a player has to secure a rebound based on their positioning and timing)
HB: 7.9
PJ: 8.9

Rebound Chance % (the ratio of a player's rebound chances successfully converted into rebounds. It measures how effectively a player is capitalizing on their rebounding opportunities)
HB: 58.7%
PJ: 55.3%

Average Rebound Distance (measures the average distance a player is from the basket when they secure a rebound)
HB: 8.1
PJ: 7.0


For additional context let's look at other Kings players

Trey Lyles
Contested Rebounds 1.6
Contested Rebound % 36.0
Reb Chances 7.8
Reb Chance % 55.7
Rebound Distance 5.2

Domas
Contested Rebounds 5.0
Contested Rebound % 40.3
Reb Chances 21.6
Reb Chance % 57.1
Rebound Distance 4.0

Keegan
Contested Rebounds 1.3
Contested Rebound % 28.0
Reb Chances 7.6
Reb Chance % 62.6
Rebound Distance 7.4

Fox
Contested Rebounds 0.8
Contested Rebound % 17.6
Reb Chances 7.2
Reb Chance % 59.1
Rebound Distance 8.8


For fun Josh Hart who is a terrific rebounding guard
Contested Rebounds 2.2
Contested Rebound % 31.3
Reb Chances 11.8
Reb Chance % 59.9
Rebound Distance 7.3

[City of Trees]

[quote="OxAndFox]
Per 36 Stats - Organised by 3pt made (down to min 2.2 3pt made & more than 6 rebounds)
[/quote] PJ is 2.3 at 34.8% with 5.4 rebs

[OGSactownballer]

That was one of the more interesting options for me, if he could play with Domas. Now I guess most options are smaller wings

Spending big on a SF, keeping Keegan at 4, and doing little with one of the league’s worst interior defenses may improve the team moderately depending on who we get. But I think helping Domas in the paint is a higher priority than improving on whatever Barnes was doing

But it looks like that may be the direction, so need Keegan to improve sizably on his toughness if he’s staying at that position

Here is something you and I agree on.

I don’t know what playoff series everyone else was watching this spring, but I watched our j my viable big and team key player get abused by two bugs with no other physical presence to help free him up and should we the burden.

We ended up abused by an undersized team physically. And everyone is getting bigger - even the “wings”.

I am sick and tired of hearing how we need to chase a bunch of 6’5” - 6’7” super guards only to find that when it comes playoff time, big long teams still dominate.

We need a starting caliber PF with size and the ability to shoot to compliment Domas and cover our deficiencies defensively in the paint. Then the perimeter can be either improved organically with the growing young guys we have or be addressed through signings.

But the interior is the priority right now.

Yeah, I mean the lion’s portion of our bad defense is for me our bottom feeding paint defense.

I’m not sure how spending our cap on an elite defensive sg/sf is going to turn that tide.

The options are slim though now, unfortunately.

Agreed.

The idea that trying to somehow have elite perimeter defense with ONE guy and that will fix your problem? It’s foolish because ultimately being able to slow or stop penetrate and kick is how you keep that open shot from happening in the first place.

With the new rumor today that we are being seen as destination for Kuzma I am thinking that the mentality of Monte and Mike a brown is that this is a very young team that actually showed very good defensive ability in spurts last year and by improving the position (PF) with a much better and younger guy in Kuzma and making out already near impossible to even slow down offense BETTER, they can continue to develop and improve defensively under Brown.

There are also plenty of guys out there to fill in the b/u Center spit as a big option that will be available for vet minimum when they see how this team looks as a finished product. That can give you a guy who can come in and bang or play stout run protector for ten to fifteen minutes when needed.

[OGSactownballer]

That was one of the more interesting options for me, if he could play with Domas. Now I guess most options are smaller wings

Spending big on a SF, keeping Keegan at 4, and doing little with one of the league’s worst interior defenses may improve the team moderately depending on who we get. But I think helping Domas in the paint is a higher priority than improving on whatever Barnes was doing

But it looks like that may be the direction, so need Keegan to improve sizably on his toughness if he’s staying at that position

Here is something you and I agree on.

I don’t know what playoff series everyone else was watching this spring, but I watched our j my viable big and team key player get abused by two bugs with no other physical presence to help free him up and should we the burden.

We ended up abused by an undersized team physically. And everyone is getting bigger - even the “wings”.

I am sick and tired of hearing how we need to chase a bunch of 6’5” - 6’7” super guards only to find that when it comes playoff time, big long teams still dominate.

We need a starting caliber PF with size and the ability to shoot to compliment Domas and cover our deficiencies defensively in the paint. Then the perimeter can be either improved organically with the growing young guys we have or be addressed through signings.

But the interior is the priority right now.

Generally, I think these are good points.
I will say though if the shooters (Barnes/Huerter mainly) made their 3s in the GS series we might be having a completely different discussion. It's not just on Sabonis, he still had a decent series, but without help, he was left on an island and forced to do something that's not natural far too often.

But let’s be honest here and try not to be homers and Dan boys and be objectively critical.

The Dubs were and seasoned, older vet squad and they got very physical across the board. We understand that a talented young team will grow, get more mature bodied and this bigger and stronger and have learned from the experience what kind of style/attitude is needed to win at that level.

And the fact that Barnes is NOT one of those guys is exactly why I’m not interested in having him back at any price. He showed exactly what he has always shown in his career steady or not. He’s nothing more than a fifth starter/sixth man and he doesn’t really like that role.

[City of Trees]

Kuzma (28) would be the oldest player on the team assuming Barnes, Delly, Len walk.

[TyCobb]

If Kuzma comes does Murray start?

[BoogieTime]

If Kuzma comes does Murray start?

Yes

[LightTheBeam]

I've been thinking Mike wants Draymond, but that is very unlikely, so next up would be Kuzma.

I just don't see the need to pay him 25/per. What is his market?

Utah is off the table.
SA has Wemby and Sochan at the same spot
Hou has Jabari, Eason, Whitmore, Martin at the same spot
Indiana could potentially go after him, but I still see Barnes as a lock to join Buddy/Hali.
Detroit could go after him, but if you believe wiretap they are prioritizing Cam Johnson

I'd offer Kuzma 4/80 right out the gate and see what happens. Still gives us Bruce Brown type money.

[KF10]

Sacramento going after Bucks All-Star guard Khris Middleton has been a popular theory floated by league figures, but all signs are pointing to Milwaukee and Middleton finalizing a new agreement once free agency begins Friday after Middleton declined his 2023-24 player option last week. The Kings and head coach Mike Brown stealing Draymond Green from the Warriors would be quite the story, while Portland and Detroit are also expected to make plays for Green, sources said. Although all indications continue to point to Green returning to the franchise he’s won four championships with.

The name that’s gained plenty of momentum as a potential Sacramento target is Kuzma, who once thrived down the road in Los Angeles and was nearly dealt to the Kings in 2021 before the Lakers rerouted Kuzma to the Wizards instead and acquired Russell Westbrook. Even with a new deal for Sabonis, plus the Kings expectation to bring back versatile forward Trey Lyles, sources said, Sacramento could have more than $25 million to play with in cap room, according to salary projections provided to Yahoo Sports.

https://sports.yahoo.com/2023-nba-free-agency-with-john-collins-trade-forwards-dominating-early-discussions-151510087.html

According to Yahoo’s Fischer, the Kings are interested in Khris Middleton.

But it sounds like the Bucks are finalizing keeping Middleton in Milwaukee.

[OxAndFox]

Here is something you and I agree on.

I don’t know what playoff series everyone else was watching this spring, but I watched our j my viable big and team key player get abused by two bugs with no other physical presence to help free him up and should we the burden.

We ended up abused by an undersized team physically. And everyone is getting bigger - even the “wings”.

I am sick and tired of hearing how we need to chase a bunch of 6’5” - 6’7” super guards only to find that when it comes playoff time, big long teams still dominate.

We need a starting caliber PF with size and the ability to shoot to compliment Domas and cover our deficiencies defensively in the paint. Then the perimeter can be either improved organically with the growing young guys we have or be addressed through signings.

But the interior is the priority right now.

Generally, I think these are good points.
I will say though if the shooters (Barnes/Huerter mainly) made their 3s in the GS series we might be having a completely different discussion. It's not just on Sabonis, he still had a decent series, but without help, he was left on an island and forced to do something that's not natural far too often.

But let’s be honest here and try not to be homers and Dan boys and be objectively critical.

The Dubs were and seasoned, older vet squad and they got very physical across the board. We understand that a talented young team will grow, get more mature bodied and this bigger and stronger and have learned from the experience what kind of style/attitude is needed to win at that level.

And the fact that Barnes is NOT one of those guys is exactly why I’m not interested in having him back at any price. He showed exactly what he has always shown in his career steady or not. He’s nothing more than a fifth starter/sixth man and he doesn’t really like that role.

Yeah I agree with the physicality part. I actually saw fatigue being in favor of the Kings, but I think Sacramento actually ran out of legs too. That's the seasoned bodies of GS.
That Kings team showed some things that they really didn't during the season. They were up for it defensively with physicality. They just couldn't sustain it and GS wore them down.
That's where this next Kings squad needs to be better and I'm not sure Kuzma does anything in that regard.
Maybe they will look at the BU center spot to improve there because if Kuz is the guy, you would have him and Sasha there, assuming he is coming over, and with Keegan definitely to play some minutes at the 4, there's really no minutes there.

[OxAndFox]

Everyone using Sacramento as leverage once again. This time though it seems more legit given the Kings' position.

[LightTheBeam]

I'd put Middleton in unrealistic territory. Milwaukee has limited ways to improve and very unlikely they let him walk. He's 31 and Giannis best friend. Bad season coming off an injury, but he should bounce back and be fine. More likely Brook walks with Portis already on the roster as a replacement.

[LightTheBeam]

Everyone using Sacramento as leverage once again. This time though it seems more legit given the Kings' position.

Think a lot of these guys were long shots to leave in the first place. More rumors I've heard were Kings interested in those guys, rather than the opposite.

Probably why Kuzma makes the most sense of the guys who might change teams.