What if the Sacramento Kings Are Good? | Locked On Kings

Tonight we explore two polar opposite scenarios for the Sacramento Kings. What if they’re surprisingly really good? And maybe more realistically, what if they’re really bad? How does that change the plan shortterm and long-term? Or should it change the plan at all? we explore right here on Locked on Kings. You are Locked on Kings, your daily Sacramento Kings podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is that time. Time for another episode of Locked on Kings. Hello and welcome into Locked on Kings, your podcast hub for Sacramento Kings coverage all off season long. My name is Matt George. I have the privilege of being your host here. I’m a Sacramento sports anchor and reporter for ABC 10 News. We’re just over a couple of weeks away from media day and the start of Sacramento Kings training camp. So, it’s coming. It’s getting real. It’s almost here. The buildup is exciting. Later on in this podcast, we’ll talk a little bit about uh some of the things that I’m most excited about seeing or following when Kings training camp actually begins. But before that, we’re going to explore these Kings being really good and Kings re being really bad scenarios and how we could see it changing the short-term and long-term plans of Scott Perry, if at all. I’m going to need your help on this episode. I’m really curious to hear from Sacramento Kings fans in both of these scenarios. What you want to see the Kings do, what you would feel comfortable with the Kings doing. If you would want, in the case of the Kings being good, to see them go for it, or if you’d rather them stay conservative and just recognize this is a one-year thing, if the Kings are really bad, how quickly, if at all, you’d want the Kings to go into the tank, or if they you’d want them to prioritize playing the young guys. I really want to hear from you. So, feel free to chime in, matte sack on Twitter or X if you want to uh chime in there. You can email me at any time, matteportsgmail.com, or if you’re watching on YouTube, share your thoughts and opinions in the comment section down below as we go on this discussion. But let’s start with the good. What if the Sacramento Kings are good? Now, what is going to more than likely end up happening for the Sacramento Kings in reality is they’re going to be right in the middle. And to be honest with you, as we’ve discussed many times over the course of this offseason, being in the middle is one of the worst places to be. You’d rather be really good or really bad. Let’s start with the Kings being really good. And and I’m I’m essentially going to pose a number of questions as we talk our way through these scenarios. and I’m going to answer them myself or at least where my thought process goes. And again, this is where I want to hear from you, your thought process, what you uh think about, what your answers are to these questions. And one of those first questions when we talk about the Sacramento Kings being good, is is there any scenario where the team goes for it, meaning we’re ahead of schedule or for this particular year in this window, we didn’t expect it, but we’re a winning basketball team. we have a chance to actually make some noise in the postseason. Let’s go for it. So, as we talk our way through this scenario, that’s pretty much the overarching question. And and to me, being good enough or or what I consider good for the Sacramento Kings is being clear of being a playin team. I’m talking like firmly in that top six conversation. I’m not even talking about you avoid the playin by the skinnier teeth and end up in sixth place and right into the playoffs, but only because you got a little bit lucky and and finished a game or two games ahead of whichever team was in seventh and ended up in the play. No, I’m talking like the Kings were in beam team one that year in beam team one when they finished third place in the Western Conference. I have no idea what number of wins it’s going to take to put the Kings there, but we were not expecting that, right? None of us saw the Kings finishing in third place in the West that year coming. None of us did. So, we’re talking about kind of a similar scenario in this sense that the Sacramento Kings, the season is wrapping up and the Kings aren’t even aren’t just in the playoff picture. They’re looking at having homecourt advantage. That’s what I would consider like shockingly a good season. The Sacramento Kings are good. And then we have to ask the question, are they good because of the veterans? Right? Like is Demar D Rozan further cementing his status as a future Hall of Famer by having another sensational year even though he’s 36 37 years old at this point? Personally, I don’t really see many scenarios or really any scenarios where Demard Rosen plays beyond the two years remaining on his contract. He’s got this year and remember next year is partially guaranteed. If if things worked out, best case scenario, and the Sacramento Kings were good and they figured things out with Demar Rozan here, it’s possible, I suppose, for D. Rozan to sign another shortterm deal with Sacramento that would get him close to 40 years old. I don’t see that happening. But in the case of Zack Lavine, right, if Zack Lavine has another fantastic season statistically offensively, and it just works here in Sacramento, it clicks. a full season of Zack Lavine in Sacramento. He starts to like he he he’s winning basketball games. He’s offensively one of the top players in the league. Defensively, he’s at least doing enough to keep the Sacramento Kings above water in that category. Is this a situation where the conversation around Zack Lavine changes from, hey, just get through the final years of this contract to, okay, now maybe we start having the conversation of getting Zack Lavine a new contract here in Sacramento when he is done with his near $50 million deal over well $50 million a year over the next two years. Do we explore an extension on top of that? probably not for the same price point. I would imagine even if Zack Lavine plays really, really well, that dollar figure would hopefully go down. But are we talking about Zack Lavine is now suddenly part of the long-term plan here in Sacramento? I think that’s interesting. I I’m not saying that’s impossible by any means. I have a hard time believing that Zack Lavine could play his way into a position where Scott Perry includes him as part of the long-term plan. But then again, we’re talking about a very unlikely scenario where the Sacramento Kings shock the the league again this season. And we’re probably talking about Doug Christie is coach of the year again or he would be the coach of the year just like Mike Brown was in Beam Team one. Scott Perry’s winning executive of the year and the Kings are are are shocking the world again. And then we also have to talk about like it’s already pretty essential for the Kings to work out extensions long term for Keegan Murray and Keon Ellis. I would imagine in this scenario like that they’re even more essential. You have to make sure you keep those two around because there’s no there’s no way in my mind that the Sacramento Kings can be good this season without the two of them playing a massive massive role in that. And then you have to ask the question like in this scenario, how involved are the rookies right there? I I would love to say in this hypothetical that Nick Clifford is competing potentially for a surprise rookie of the year uh vote or he could win the award that he’s part of the Kings rotation and he’s coming off the bench and he’s looking better against NBA competition than he looked against NBA hopefuls in the summer league when he was very impressive. Right? I’d love for that to be the scenario. But there’s also a very real scenario that if the Sacramento Kings are good, it’s because of the play of their veterans and they’re figuring some things out, which means, hey, are the rookies taking a back seat? If that’s the case, if Nick Clifford and Maxim Reno are not playing or playing inconsistently or playing very little in order to prioritize the veterans playing because they’re winning basketball games, well, you best be winning a lot of basketball games for me to be okay with this scenario. Ideally, again, the Kings are finding ways to win basketball games while including minimum one of them in neat Clifford, but hopefully both of them are part of that success. But it’s going to take a whole heck of a lot in my mind for the Kings to not give playing time and opportunity to those young guys this season. And then here’s the here’s the big part of the conversation here because you can be good through October, November, December, January into February as the All-Star break approaches, but once you hit that trade deadline in February, that’s where you really have to make a decision. That’s where the going for it conversation begins and ends. Right. Is there a scenario where the Kings go all in at the trade deadline? Meaning, wow, we’re shocking the world. We’re in it. We have a chance to do something special here. Let’s try and maximize this season for what it is. Let’s go for it. Personally, I’m against this. Personally, it would take the Kings being on pace to win 50 plus games and being a top three seed again in the Western Conference for me to even begin to feel comfortable with the idea of Scott Perry going for it. Because to me, if Scott Perry were to make any sort of win now move at the trade deadline, that would send off for me personally alarm bells in my head of is this a Scott Perry decision or is this a VCA run a DV on ownership decision of trying to again skip a couple rungs up the ladder, a shortcut, maybe a knee-jerk reaction to we’re good, we got to maximize this right here, right now let’s go for it. I just don’t think that where the Sacramento Kings are, that makes a whole lot of sense. A run with this group would be incredibly fun. I would love to have a repeat of Beam Team One. But here’s the distinct difference between this team making that kind of noise and beam team one making that type of noise. This team is veteranheavy. This team is older. The core of the Sacramento Kings are all 28, 29, 30, 31 up to 36 years old. So, it’s hard for you to tell me or convince me that the Sacramento Kings would be surprisingly good this year and in a good position to build upon it the following year. That was the thing with beam beam team one. Now, ultimately, the Sacramento Kings didn’t do a very good job building on Beam Team 1’s year, but you’re having a a a young De’aran Fox who’s entering his prime, a Demonus Sabonis who is in his prime, a Keegan Murray as a rookie, right? The average age of that team’s like 26, 27 years old, like you there is it’s it’s easy and it was easy at that time to go the Kings are ahead of schedule and they can build upon this next year. they’re they can only get better or they they were in a good position to improve upon it. If you were to tell me that the Sacramento Kings were a 48- win team this year and a playoff team this year, I would say, well, you best do what you can and enjoy this ride now because I have a hard time believing that this team as constructed will be able to replicate this core as constructed will be able to replicate it next year. So, I I I bring that up because I don’t think it would make sense for Scott Perry to trade away a young asset or future draft picks to try and add one more win now likely veteran piece to this veteranheavy team for a one-year window. I just don’t believe that a great season for the Sacramento Kings this year, as fun as it would be be, would go beyond just this year. And maybe you’re going, Matt, you’re being greedy. The Kings have had one playoff season in nearly 20 years. So, if they had a great season, we would love that for sure. We would enjoy it. But I don’t think you have to overreact to a great year at the trade deadline and potentially make your already uncertain future even more uncertain and take away the one thing that you have that Scott Perry has with confidence going into his future is that he has his assets. He the Sacramento Kings draft picks, they have them. They’re not like the Phoenix Suns or the Minnesota Timberwolves or these other teams that are just depleted in draft assets. The Kings have them. I don’t think it would be a good decision this year unless the Sacramento Kings were one of two things. They have an opportunity to get like a legit generational superstar. I’m talking like a top five, top 10 player in the league, or they have a legit title window this season. Those are the only scenarios where I’m like, “Okay, go for it.” And those are scenarios that teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers or Denver Nuggets are talking about, not a team like the Sacramento Kings. So, personally, even if the Sacramento Kings were a surprisingly good to great basketball team, I personally don’t think they should be aggressively trying to make moves at the trade deadline. But what if the Sacramento Kings are really bad team? How does that change their approach to the deadline? and their approach to the season period. We’ll talk about that in just a second. This episode of the Locked on Kings podcast is brought to you by FiveHour Energy. It’s time to fuel up and turn it up with 5Hour Energy Transfusion. This grape, ginger, and lime favor flavored shot brings the iconic taste of a golf course to a non-alcoholic boost. It’s perfect for sinking birdies or making great memories with friends. It’s a hole in one for your energy game. 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But what about the Sacramento Kings being really, really bad? a scenario more likely in my opinion than them being really really good, but not by much. I look at this roster and I don’t think they’re going to be terrible. Unless, knock on wood, they’re riddled by injuries or things of that nature, which god I hope we don’t have to deal with that. But again, what if the Sacramento Kings are bad? We’re talking about out the gate the Kings stumble with the really really tough schedule that they have. I don’t know if you’ve like looked at the first 20 games of the Sacramento Kings schedule. Over those 20 games, you take on Oklahoma City three times. You take on Minnesota three times. You take on the Denver Nuggets three times. And also sprinkled in there, you have a game against the Lakers, a game against the Bucks, a game against the Warriors, a game against the Spurs. It is a very, very challenging start to the season for the Sacramento Kings. So the question I ask you, how quickly do you pull the plug? If the Kings go through those first 20 games, and they win five of them, they’re five and 15 through their first 20 games. I personally think they’ll be better than that. I think they’ll be closer to 500 than that. But what’s closer to 500? They’re eight and 12. It’s a little bit better, but not much. Three more wins. How quickly do the Kings pull the plug? And by pull the plug, like pull the plug has a bunch of different meanings. It’s really broad. People think pull the plug, they think tanking. And to be perfectly clear with you, I don’t see many scenarios or really any scenarios that the Sacramento Kings would essentially go into the tank unless one again they were completely decimated by injuries. Let’s say, and again, knock on wood to all of this because I don’t want any of this to happen, but let’s say the age catches up to Demard Rosen a little bit and Zack Lavine’s injury history catches up to him a little bit. Keegan Murray is banged up. Keon Ellis is banged up. Deontis Sabonis gets banged up again. Malik Monk out again. Like if the Kings are missing multiple important core members for long periods of time. I guess that’s a scenario where I could see the Kings going into the tank almost because they’re forced to. The other scenario is again, let’s say through the first 20 25 games, the Kings only win five, six, seven of them and they are in the cellar of the Western Conference. We’re talking down there with the Utah Jazz and maybe Portland Trailblazers, although I think Portland’s actually going to be pretty good. It’s pretty much It’s like the Kings are with the Jazz and the Hornets and the Washington Wizards in the NBA. The seller, that’s when I could see them truly pulling the plug and tanking. But in this scenario, when I talk about pulling the plug if the Kings go five and 15 through their first 20 games, I’m talking about, okay, we got to do something different. We got to change something up. We got to play the young players more. We got to take this guy out of the rotation. We got to limit this guy’s minutes. That’s where I like when I think pull the plug, maybe I should change that term to making major changes. When do we start seeing major changes with the Sacramento Kings if they get off to a really bad start? When do you start to experiment? When does Doug Christie get active in that sense? Truth be told, how the Kings approach this season, like what Doug Christie decides to do with his rotation and his game plan come training camp, will likely, for the most part, stay the same all the way up until the trade deadline. I’m not saying he won’t make any sort of adjustments or things like that, minor tweaks and things, but the Kings will try to establish an identity. They will come into the season with a game plan. They will work they they will work on specific things during training camp. And Doug Christie, according to Damata Sabonis, Doug Christie has already like given his players ideas of what he wants his offense to be and certain things to work on and certain things to focus on. So Doug Christie has his game plan. Doug Christie already has his philosophy. They will work on that throughout training camp and preseason to try and establish that as best as they can by game one in Phoenix. They will likely keep the the foundation, the fundamentals, the core of that game plan, both offensively and defensively and probably rotation wise steady until the trade deadline. So, we might be waiting till February before any real significant change to happen. Again, minor tweaks here or there depending upon how the Kings are playing, who’s hurt, who’s not, who’s playing well, who’s ready, who isn’t, whatever. But for the most part, things will likely stay the same. But I wonder if the King’s approach to the trade deadline specifically and after the trade deadline is different between being slightly under 500, like let’s say five games under 500, which is let’s say you’re you’re 11th in the West, and you’re struggling to work your way in as as one of the final playin teams, kind of similar to where the Sacramento Kings were last season at that time or really bad like in the in the seller in the in the Western Conference. Is the approach to the trade deadline in either of those scenarios any different? To me, they’re not. And to be honest with you, if the Sacramento Kings are a really, really bad basketball team, I think their approach to the trade deadline should be the exact same as if they are a mediocre average basketball team, which is what I think they are going to be. They need to approach this deadline as sellers, but not as fire sale, get rid of everybody, completely blow it up sellers. I don’t think that’s what the Sacramento Kings are going to be. But the Kings would in this scenario be prioritizing moving veterans. I’m looking at Demar Rozan and thinking, okay, he’s a prime guy that the Sacramento Kings will try and move and trade to a contender and try and get something back in return, whether it’s a young rotational piece that fits the mold for the future or some kind of draft compensation. Maybe it’s Malik Monk that they look look to move at the trade deadline. Maybe they feel pretty strongly that Keon Ellis is not going to resign with them. They look to move on from Keon Ellis. I can’t think of too many scenarios where they would realistically move Keegan Murray at the trade deadline, but maybe something goes up there. He becomes disgruntled. Maybe somehow someway you’re able to find a team that’s willing to take on Zack Lavine or Damata Sabonis’ money. Like that’s the thing. Those are the things that I think the Sacramento Kings should be looking at and will be looking at in pretty much every realistic scenario this season at the trade deadline from slightly above 500 to 500 bang on average to slightly below 500 to garbage in the West or garbage in the NBA period. a team that is paying attention to Tankathon and the draft lottery odds and doing fake draft lottery sims on Tankathon in January. That’s a wide range of how this team could be and winning percentages and all of those I think should have the same approach to the trade deadline. The only different approach that I would have to the trade deadline is if the Kings in the good scenario are so good and so surprising that again they have a chance to land a generational superstar or they have a legitimate out of nowhere title window maybe because the rest of the league is banged up or what have you something some kind of miracle happens in the Kings are they legitimately have a chance to make a Western Conference Finals or NBA Finals run. That’s the only way that I pivot from how I believe the king should approach this trade deadline, which is as smart sellers, not fire sellers, but smart sellers. And while at that point in this bad season scenario, whether you are in tank mode, which I I know Doug Christie hates, whether you’re in the seller of the West or you’re slightly out of a playin spot and still trying to fight and scratch and claw your way into the playin, give Doug Christie 100% full autonomy to make the decisions long-term that make the most sense. If he wants to play Nick Clifford, start Nick Clifford. Do it. If he wants to give Maxim Reno 20 minutes a night, do it. If he wants to not play Dennis Shruder so that he could play or as much so he could play Devin Carter to just give it a look at this point, do it. support and give Doug Christie full control over the final few months and try and salvage something out of a bad season by focusing on the players and the pieces that you could actually see being a part of your team beyond next off seasonason. Again, I want to hear from you. Good scenario or or good season for the Sacramento Kings, bad season for the Sacramento Kings. Which one do you think is more likely? And how would you approach either the good or bad season? Share with me an those questions that I threw out there that I answered myself. Are your answers the same? Are they different? How would you approach the trade deadline under most circumstances? Hit me up. Let me know if you think the Kings, if they’re even remotely have a chance of being good, should go for it. Hey, tell me why. Not saying I can’t be convinced. Tell me why. And hit me up on Twitter. Email me [email protected]. Leave your thoughts in the YouTube comment section down below. While you’re at it, tell me some of the things that you’re excited about or you’re looking forward to from training camp. Right. I’m very much looking forward to what limited access that we get as media to peak behind the curtain as much as Doug Christie will show us in practice and in training camp. There are a number of things that I’m fascinated by and really really going to be paying attention to. One of the first ones is simply Doug Christiey’s approach. What does his game plan look like? What are the changes between Doug Christie, the interim head coach who took over mid-season and just had to make minor tweaks to Mike Brown’s system with Mike Brown’s coaching staff in the middle of chaos and okay, what does head coach Doug Christie with Doug Christiey’s philosophy backed by Doug Christiey’s coaching staff with a full summer, a full training camp, and a full preseason to work it out? What does that look like? And how different is it? Is Doug doing a better job than Mike Brown did of actually maximizing the talent on this roster for what they are good at, not what he would like them to be good at, right? What do those rotations look like? Is the starting five the same with the exception of Dennis Shruder? Are Nick Clifford and Maxim Reno part of that rotation or are they not? I’m I’m fascinated to see what head coach, true head coach Doug Christie looks like. And with the Doug Christie era beginning here in Sacramento, Doug Christie, Scott Perry era, what does that look like? And I asked Doug when I interviewed him after his press conference, I asked him, “When do you when do you start making those changes? When do you start implementing that culture?” And he said, “Well, it starts right now. It starts today with me and with Scott. But when we actually see this team together on the basketball floor together, I imagine they are gonna start right then and there building the foundation of this new identity. What does that look like? I’m going to be focusing on that and talking about that a ton this preseason. You’ll probably be sick of it because that’s what that’s a primary thing that I’m paying attention to and I’m looking forward to seeing in training camp this year as much as he’s able to show us. Another thing I’m most excited to see or explore Dennis Shruder, what does he look like as the point guard of the Sacramento Kings? And how is he building off of the fantastic performances that he’s had for Germany in Euro League, right? Do we see any sort of advantage? Do we see him bringing some momentum into the preseason, bringing some momentum into training camp because he’s been playing basketball at a high level and very successfully for Germany? How does he fit? Which guys does he play really well with? What backcourt looks good? How does he complement Zack Lavine and Demard Rosen and Damada Sabonis in particular? But can he be that point guard that Lonzo Ball was the one year that D Rozan and and Lavine worked well together in Chicago and made the playoffs? Can Schroeder handle that or do that for that group? I’m very very much looking forward to to learning a little bit about that. And then of course the twoman game that never was that should have been last season between Demand Sabonis and Demar D Rozan. Do we see more of that? And especially do we see a two-man game between Demata Sabonis and Zack Lavine? There’s no reason we shouldn’t even more than D Rozan and Sabonis. Lavine and Sabonis should be playing off of each other and working off of each other and dribble handoffs and high pick and roll and everything. They should be doing that a ton. It’s the only way that long-term they make sense together. Again, I want to see D Rozan and Sabonis have more of a two-man game than they had last season, too. But Lavine and Sabonis should be playing off of each other, and I want to see them working on that and trying to establish that and build that chemistry. I know they’re already working together during the offseason, but in training camp with Kings jerseys on in the preseason up until opening night, I want to feel pretty confident that those two are going to be playing together and working together from the jump. Very eager to see that. So, those are three things in particular that I’m really looking forward to really paying attention to with training camp looming. again, as once training camp gets closer, I’ll I’ll speak more on some of the things I’m paying attention to. Of course, I’m planning on being at every single day of Kings training camp. I’ll share with you my notes, my takeaways from that. Um, but it’s real. Like, training camp is really coming. It’s the end of this month. I can’t wait. So, very excited about that. And, uh, we’re almost there. We are almost there. I appreciate all of you for riding out this weird off season with us. Just a weird, boring, kind of lame off season around the NBA, right? Whether because of the scared money, the apron systems, the horrible start of free agency, just boring, just a lame, lame off season. There’s still a chance for there still to be fireworks with the Jonathan Kaminga situation. I know, I know I’ve brought up that name too much. We’ll talk about it if something actually happens. I mean, Josh Giddy is signed and I don’t know. I mean, all eyes are on you, Golden State, and what you’re going to do with Kaminga and what Kaminga is going to decide to do. And the Kings are just sitting back going, “All right, we’ll see what happens.” So, I guess hopefully we’ll get a answer to that sooner than later with the deadline for that qualifying offer coming up pretty quickly here, too. No matter what happens throughout the remainder of this offseason into training camp preseason, the regular season, hopefully the playoffs and beyond, I got you covered right here on Locked on Kings. Appreciate your support. Can’t wait to have you join me on the ne next episode of this podcast. Until then, my name is Matt George. You have been listening to the Locked On podcast, part of the Locked On Network.

Matt George explores two scenarios; what if the Sacramento Kings are good this season, and what if they’re bad? Does the plan change?

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What if the Sacramento Kings Are Good?
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17 comments
  1. Alright. Time for me to be delusional: The Kings could be good (or decent). They could win 44 to 48 games and make the playoffs. I'll justify this delusion by saying that a lot of Western Conference teams are vulnerable.

    Lakers: Lebron and Luka? Where's the defense? Vando is injury prone and he can't be the only defender on a roster. And don't be surprised if Ayton gets benched at some point for behavioral reasons. Lakers should be good and will make the playoffs, but they shouldn't accomplish much. Injuries are a concern with this roster.

    Clippers: Sure, they'll make the playoffs, but they have James Harden, so they're unlikely to find success in the playoffs. Oh, and Kawhi is injury prone (and scandal prone, apparently).

    Nuggets: They only have Jokic. If Jokic for some reason went out with a major injury, they'd instantly be a cellar dweller.

    Warriors: Jimmy Butler is inconsistent and unreliable in the regular season. Draymond is suspension prone. Steph is getting up there in years. The Kuminga situation.

    Memphis: Ja is injury and suspension prone. JJJ isn't the defender or rebounder he used to be, and it's not like he was ever a good rebounding big man anyway.

    Dallas: They'll be starting DLo. Kyrie is out, potentially for the whole season if his recovery suffers any setbacks. AD is injury prone. Cooper will have to be young Lebron like for Dallas to be relevant.

    Suns: They're the Suns. What are the Suns going to do? I don't think anyone sees Phoenix as a threat.

    Portland: Wildcard. No telling what they can do. They have Jrue Holiday. Clingan is entering his second season. Portland could be decent if their young players develop and play defense.

    San Antonio: It's all health. If Wemby and Fox stay healthy and Harper can play, they could be good.

    Pelicans: They're the Pelicans. Every player on their roster could be injured and out for the whole season before their first regular season game. Brittle roster.

    Jazz: No. Not a threat.

    OKC, HOU, and MIN are locks (imo). OKC and HOU have serious depth. They have high ceilings and floors. MIN shows up in the playoffs.

    Now for extra delusion: The Kings will make the Western Conference Finals and Dennis Schröder will be great for the Kings. SCHRÖDER!!!

  2. I'm not sure you can create a winning culture by tanking, or by doing anything less than their best. Now, that doesn't mean we can't put the rookies in to start and still do our very best with them in the line-up.

  3. What would be everyone's thoughts on having a 4 person bench rotation in which 1 of the starting 5 stays on the floor, and the other 4 come off together. Then we could put Keon, Monk and both rookies in together with the one starter. Its not usual to rotate so many in and out at the same time, but this gets minutes where they may not otherwise be available.

  4. One thing I don't understand, Matt, is your comments on age. Besides DeRozan, Lavine is 30, Schröder is 31, Sabonis is 29, Monk is 27, Keon and Keegan are both 25? You're making it seem like they're all mid-30s. And DeRozan is one of the most reliable players in the league, health-wise. They could definitely run it back with this team (based on age, I mean).

  5. 1. The let's go for it scenario – I just don't see it happening unless top players from OKC, Denver, both LA teams and Dallas are just injured most of the year. It isn't happening for a firm top 6 finish. Best case scenario, top 9. (7-9).

    2. Nique Clifford won't win ROTY. He might finish top 5-8 in votes, but I just don't see him breaking into the top 3-4 guys for it. Not unless Zach Lavine is out injured most of the year.

    3. Scott Perry is likely to not knee jerk to go for it. That would be Vivek.

    4. If they are bad, which is more likely, then I expect to see Malik Monk, Keegan Murray, DeMar DeRozan and Keon Ellis all be traded to get draft capital and bad contracts. Pull the plug, I see happening once it gets to 35 games. 10-25 kind of record. I hope they are better than this, but if they are that bad, you pull the plug.

    5. Mid – The most likely of scenarios. I see Monk and Ellis getting moved. 15-19 wins over 35 games.

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