Post-Mortem: 2021-22 Sacramento Kings

ElectricMayhem · Post #1 » by **ElectricMayhem** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 3:17 am

Unless the Sacramento Kings make a 19-point comeback in the final 6 minutes against Golden State, their championship aspirations will have to wait another year. I feel confident enough to make this thread now. We shall now cut them open and see what's inside...

Here is the data from last year's Post-Mortems:
Post-Mortem Results I: GM Confidence Meter
Post-Mortem Results II: Coaching Confidence Meter
Post-Mortem Results III: Performance Compared to Expectations
Post-Mortem Results IV: Rising/Treadmill/Waning

Team Name: Sacramento Kings
Record at Time of Death: 29-50 (.367)
GM: Monte McNair (2020- )
Coach: Alvin Genry (2021- ) (Interim)

Offensive Rating: 22nd
Defensive Rating: 27th
Rebound %: 26th
Turnover %: 15th

GM: Change or keep?
Coach: Change or keep?
Relative to expectations, how did they fare this year?
Rising, falling, or treadmill?
If you were in charge, what would you do this offseason?

Notes:
Players under contract next year:
De'Aaron Fox ($30m)
Domantas Sabonis ($20m)
Harrison Barnes ($18m)
Richaun Holmes ($11m)
Justin Holiday ($6m)
Davion Mitchell ($5m)
Maurice Harkless ($5m)
Terence Davis ($4m)
Alex Len ($4m)
Chimezie Metu ($2m) (Partially Guaranteed)

Team Options:
Trey Lyles ($3m)

Player Options:

Free Agents:
Jeremy Lamb
Josh Jackson
Donte DiVicenzo
Damian Jones
Neemias Queta

Dead Money:

Previous Post-Mortems:
30. Orlando Magic
29. Detroit Pistons
28. Houston Rockets
27. Indiana Pacers
26. Oklahoma City Thunder
25. Washington Wizards
24. New York Knicks
23. Portland Trailblazers
22. Sacramento Kings

ElectricMayhem · Post #2 » by **ElectricMayhem** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 4:35 am

(first paragraph copy/pasted from NY and WAS threads)
With teams like New York, Washington, and Sacramento, it's hard to say what should be done at the front office and coaching levels because the true rot is at the ownership level. It's hard to see anything changes until they get a more committed ownership group in. Trust me, as a Lions fan, I know (though extremely happy with Sheila Ford Hamp now, thanks for asking).

What were they doing with that Haliburton trade? THEY HAD SOMEONE WHO REALLY WANTED TO BE THERE! THEY TRADED HIM AWAY! The Kings are a treadmill team that doesn't even make the playoffs. Sabonis MAY marginally raise their floor, but also lowers their ceiling. That's a firable offense for their GM. As for the coach, we know who Gentry is. He's great in a supporting role, but he is not someone who can turn your team around as the head coach. We have numerous data points on this. They really need to hit on some draft picks, but they are unlikely to move up and get one of the top picks that can change a franchise. Invest in this team like you would invest in De'Aaron Fox's NFT.

BigGargamel · Post #3 » by **BigGargamel** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 4:45 am

The Haliburton trade predictably turned out to be another stupid Kings move. It's important for team culture to develop your drafted players. They had something special with him. I don't hate Sabonis, but I'd rather have Halibruton. They could have had the future face of their franchise, someone they drafted, developed quite well. Drafting a player that turns into an All Star is a culture changer.

Kings are gonna King. Passed on Luka, Trae Young, Jaren Johnson and face a really tough climb out of the brutal Western conference cellar. Their real only hope is to get those ping pong balls and land Jabari Smith or Paolo Banchero.

gom · Post #4 » by **gom** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 4:52 am

The Kings had one job: to make the playoffs, because they have been grossly incompetent for many seasons. I deeply sympathize with Kings fans. The team owes Sacramento a better performance. Most of the Kings fans I know are somewhat past the change or keep the GM or Coach questions. Alvin Gentry was better than Luke Walton, but Luke Walton was worse than a slow painful death. Why are these the options?

I could also argue that the Kings are better now than when the season started. The team seemed motivated to get rid of two players: Buddy Hield and Marvin Bagley. Hield, who came back in the Cousins trade, was unhappy with his role on the team, and the Kings were not prepared to offer the disappointing Bagley any new deal.

The main trade of the season was the Feb 8 deal that brought Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb, and Domantas Sabonis (and a 2023 SRP) to the Kings in exchange for Tristan Thompson, Buddy Hield, and Tyrese Haliburton. Lamb is an expring. Holiday and Sabonis are arguably solid contracts. Tyrese Haliburton, however, (though his defense needs some work) is an excellent player, who in a bigger role with the Pacers, got 17.2/4.1/9.5 with those 9.5 assists 3 times as much as the turnovers (3.2). 3-pt shooting of 42.6% on 5.5 attempts per game. Even so, I can’t call it a bad trade. It’s maybe one the Kings FO couldn’t win though.

The Kings also traded Vanja Marinković and Marvin Bagley for Josh Jackson, Trey Lyles, and Donte DiVincenzo. These are all expirings, but there is a $3M option on Trey Lyles. The Kings should take it.

1. Take the $3m option on Trey Lyles.
2. Free Agents:

i. Jeremy Lamb (pass)
ii. Josh Jackson (pass)
iii. Donte DiVincenzo (professional player, but not good enough for mle, offer a minimum deal)
iv. Damian Jones (offer biannual exception, $4m)

3. Kings have a $4m trade exception & a $1.6m trade exception. They also have a non-taxpayer mid-level exception (about $10.2m).

These are the remaining playuers.

De'Aaron Fox ($30m). PG.
Davion Mitchell ($5m). PG.

Justin Holiday ($6m). SG.
Terence Davis ($4m). SG.

Maurice Harkless ($5m). SF.
Harrison Barnes ($18m). SF.

Domantas Sabonis ($20m). PF/C.
Richaun Holmes ($11m). PF/C.
Alex Len ($4m). C.
Chimezie Metu (C) ($2m) (Partially Guaranteed)

Trey Lyles: (PF) $2.6m team option. (again... take the ption)

Draft:

Top 7 pick.
#37 & #50.

---------
Kings should target best player available, but they desperately need help at shooting guard and more presence in the front court. Not necessarily a ball-first player either. Fox is one of the highest usage players in the NBA (14th in USG%). He just needs more options. If the Kings have lottery luck and get Banchero or Holmgren, everything gets a lot better. Bennedict Manthurin (a high-usage shooting guard) would also be a good choice if the Kings end up drafting after #5.

Wammy Giveaway · Post #5 » by **Wammy Giveaway** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 5:26 am

The Kings are the new Clippers, the owners of the longest playoff drought in NBA history. By missing the playoffs for sixteen straight years, they have given the Clippers a free pass to a better tomorrow.

If they want to get back into the playoffs, they will need to target two special people:

1. Chris Paul: Turning dysfunctional teams into competent ones. The Pelicans were a small market team with little success. Clippers were losers until David Stern got involved and gift wrapped CP3 to Donald Sterling's franchise, giving them their true first taste of success not seen since... ever. The Thunder were on the verge of tanking the season, but upon Paul's arrival they shocked the league with a playoff appearance, taking the Rockets to seven games in 2020. The Suns were 10 years in the lottery, with bad owner Robert Sarver and budding star Devin Booker contemplating out, until Paul joined Phoenix and turned them into the top seed we're seeing now. Kings would trade anything to get the superstar fixer-upper.

2. Doc Rivers: A bad coach, yes, but a good person who has this way with underdog teams. The Kings are an underdog, if not a team of role players. Rivers once molded the 2018-19 Clippers into the Revenge Of The Role Players, only the fourth team in NBA history to make the playoffs devoid of a current or previously-elected All-Star on the roster. He also helped guide the Clippers out of the Donald Sterling scandal which could have had the franchise shut down by any means necessary. Sacramento would have to put up with his brand of "players-who-played-for-him-before," "players-who-defeated-him-in-the-past," and the fear of nepotism when he brought in his son Austin Rivers and son-in-law Seth Curry, but you would take his media-friendly persona and ability to overachieve any day. A short term gain that could lead to a long term rehabilitation project.

I would have put Jerry West on this list - the man with the golden touch who turned the Lakers and Warriors into dynasties, made the Grizzlies a relevant contender, and rehabilitated image of the Clippers - but I think the Clippers will be his last stop.

Who else out there has the gravitas to fix the Kings, the Theo Epstein of the NBA if you will?

DroseReturnChi · Post #6 » by **DroseReturnChi** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 6:13 am

BigGargamel wrote:The Haliburton trade predictably turned out to be another stupid Kings move. It's important for team culture to develop your drafted players. They had something special with him. I don't hate Sabonis, but I'd rather have Halibruton. They could have had the future face of their franchise, someone they drafted, developed quite well. Drafting a player that turns into an All Star is a culture changer.

Kings are gonna King. Passed on Luka, Trae Young, Jaren Johnson and face a really tough climb out of the brutal Western conference cellar. Their real only hope is to get those ping pong balls and land Jabari Smith or Paolo Banchero.

hali move is not stupid and you lost credibility when you talked abt luka new gm has nothing to do with him.
keep drafting well bpa and cycle hali's for a chance at a star. they are basically the cavs before they got mobley.
all their vets are useless get rid of them for a young guy thats about to break out.

Murray_17 · Post #7 » by **Murray_17** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 6:21 am

They're not going anyway unless they trade Fox tbh.

But at the moment that's likely one of the worst contracts in the league.

So, yeah, probably need a new rebuild.

MrGoat · Post #8 » by **MrGoat** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 6:33 am

Fire the GM for the Haliburton trade alone. If you're to fire Gentry you'll need to have a good candidate in mind rather than making a coaching change just to make a coaching change. They're stuck in a lottery treadmill and really they need some lucky ping pong balls already, for being in the lottery every year over these last 15 years it's shocking how few times they've gotten to move up, Bagley was the only one in that stretch and talk about botching that one.

God Squad · Post #9 » by **God Squad** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 6:49 am

Spoiler:

babyjax13 · Post #10 » by **babyjax13** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 8:00 am

Fire everyone. The Hali trade was dumb, they went from a bad team with some hope for the future but a poorly balanced roster, to a bad team that is only going to get worse as Barnes gets older and they don't have a top 10 roster in the West even when healthy. The real problem, though, is Randive. Man just doesn't know a thing about the game of basketball but believes they are one deal away from the playoffs at all times.

vege · Post #11 » by **vege** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 8:08 am

Fire the owner

/thread

tarantism · Post #12 » by **tarantism** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 8:11 am

They reek of fringe play-in treadmill team. The roster is poorly constructed and they don't have a lot of paths to real improvement unless they get incredibly lucky in the lottery. Just a big yikes all around.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

baldur · Post #13 » by **baldur** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 8:21 am

pray for lottery gods to get a top 3 pick maybe chet holmgren or jabari smith can things turn around.

Statlanta · Post #14 » by **Statlanta** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 11:56 am

Fire the GM
Keep the coach
Worse should be better than the Spurs and Pelicans
Treadmill.
Draft a good player and let the vets go.

Godymas · Post #15 » by **Godymas** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 12:36 pm

what a dumpster fire of a season, i truly feel for Sacramento fans.

Kings felt pressured to trade for a new star and already went all in on DeAaron Fox.

The Tyrese Haliburton trade was still moronic as hell, Tyrese is looking like a franchise changing PG surely they could've done better than Sabonis (not saying Sabonis is bad or anything, but Haliburton and salary would've been the piece of a Paul George-tier star trade)

DeAaron was slumping to start the year, Haliburton was proving he was the right case moving forward, instead of holding out the Kings make a stupid panic move. They could've tried to move Fox in the off-season and gotten to the same end-result of not making the playoffs.

They were garbage defensively (again). They didn't move Harrison Barnes who also could've gotten them something nice. Traded away Bagley for Donte Divincenzo which is still not good value for someone they chose ahead of Luka.

What is the vision of this team, what is the roster construction going for, are they just praying that their 2 offensive stars will carry them into the play-ins next year? No defense on this roster and how are they going to add defense. Ben Simmons would've been a better return for Haliburton than Sabonis but the fit wasn't there with Fox. Was Philly not willing to take Fox for Simmons? Panic trade an incredibly great young asset just to end up in the lottery again. The GM is atrocious, the coaching terrible and nothing about this team seems capable of changing next year.

ConSarnit · Post #16 » by **ConSarnit** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 3:21 pm

Firing the GM and coach is like repairing your meniscus but leaving the brain tumor (Vivek) in your head.

Vampirate · Post #17 » by **Vampirate** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 3:43 pm

This is the only team I can say that's worse than the Knicks and their mess.

Parataxis · Post #18 » by **Parataxis** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 4:20 pm

Making a 'win-now' move at the trade deadline, and and then ending up as a bottom 5 team in your conference is just inexcusable from a management standpoint. It's one thing to try and fail, but you need to at least understand where you're at before you push your chips in.

Since you can't fire the ownership, replacing the management is the only option - ideally with somebody who is willing to say 'no' to their boss.

BigGargamel · Post #19 » by **BigGargamel** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 4:23 pm

DroseReturnChi wrote:
BigGargamel wrote:The Haliburton trade predictably turned out to be another stupid Kings move. It's important for team culture to develop your drafted players. They had something special with him. I don't hate Sabonis, but I'd rather have Halibruton. They could have had the future face of their franchise, someone they drafted, developed quite well. Drafting a player that turns into an All Star is a culture changer.

Kings are gonna King. Passed on Luka, Trae Young, Jaren Johnson and face a really tough climb out of the brutal Western conference cellar. Their real only hope is to get those ping pong balls and land Jabari Smith or Paolo Banchero.

hali move is not stupid and you lost credibility when you talked abt luka new gm has nothing to do with him.
keep drafting well bpa and cycle hali's for a chance at a star. they are basically the cavs before they got mobley.
all their vets are useless get rid of them for a young guy thats about to break out.

Well the Kings have been doing Kings things for the past 16 years. Thus Kings gonna King.

CptCrunch · Post #20 » by **CptCrunch** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 4:24 pm

Haliburton for Sabonis trade is also quite dumb from the contract perspective. Haliburton is on a rookie contract until the end of 2024. Sabonis is on $19m/year until 2024 and will be a UFA at that time. If the Kings just Kangs around for 2 more years, I don't see how Sabonis doesn't pack his bags and go elsewhere.

Haliburton on the other hand cannot leave Sacramento for a long time due to the binding nature of the NBA draft/UFA process. (Also the kid loves Sacramento, most prospects would dodge the Kings, Haliburton WANTED to get on board the pirate ship)

The central issue for the Kings (aside from ownership and management) is their insistence on building around Fox. Fox is not a franchise cornerstone, yet the Kings have been building around Fox since 2017. Fox plays on one side of the court, cannot stay health for the full season, is a passable-only distributor, and on top of all this is an exceedingly mediocre shooter. I know BPM is not an end-all-be-all stats, but for reference Fox has never posted above a 2 BPM in his 5 years in the league.

Fox at this point is a sunk cost that the Kings cannot get over. Building on top of Fox instead of Haliburton is gonna set the franchise back for half a decade (or shall I say is another move that will ensure half a decade more of mediocre basketball)

As a bonus: I just want to add that De'Aaron Fox rug-pulled his fans for the tune of $1.5m in the form of a NFT scheme/scam. The justice department has just charged the creator of the Frosties NFT with wire fraud and money laundering for rug-pulling in the amount of $1.1m (https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/03/24/us-justice-dept-charges-2-in-nft-money-laundering-rug-pull-scheme/). There is probably a non-negligible chance that De'Aaron Fox can get charged in the future.

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