What is the Sacramento Kings’ Plan? I Found Out. | Locked On Kings

What is the Sacramento Kings’ Plan? I Found Out. | Locked On Kings

Amongst the many confusing and perplexing things about this Sacramento Kings team, one question in particular is at the top of fans minds right now. What is the plan? What is general manager Scott Perry’s plan and how will he actually execute it? Well, I have made it my mission to as best as I can poke around and find answers to that question. And on this special edition of Locked On Kings, I will share with you everything that I’ve learned, including the active first phase that we are currently in and the second phase that could begin as early as December. I’ll share it all with you right here on Locked on Kicks. 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 season long. This episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Head to fanduel.com to get started. 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. And a few little things to get out of the way, a few things to establish before uh we dive head first into what I’ve learned about the Sacramento Kings plan. Number one, there are going to be elements of what you hear in this plan that you’ve probably heard to some extent before. Hopefully supported though by a lot of new information that I have gathered through conversations with sources in and around the Sacramento Kings organization with knowledge of what is going on. You will hopefully get a lot of that in this episode today. Now, I cannot promise you that you will like a lot of the explanation of what the plan is currently here in Sacramento, but hopefully you have some answers to some pressing questions, even if you don’t like what the answers are. Now, I’ll be honest with you, because this is what happened with me over the course of of this investigation. I suppose you probably will also have more questions by the end of this podcast. And if you do, feel free to share them with me. I will do my absolute best to answer whatever questions I can. If I don’t know it, I’ll simply tell you I don’t know it. A lot well, there will be portions of this podcast where I share with you my opinions or my feelings on the situation or kind of my own personal assumptions, connecting the dots. I will make those moments for you as clear as I possibly can because the vast majority of the information that I’m going to share with you is not stuff that I’m coming with up with out of the blue or what I think is going on. This is information that has been told to me or that I’ve gathered really over the course of this awful fivegame home stand that the Sacramento Kings have put us through over the last week or so. So, let’s dive in to what I have learned about what the plan is here in Sacramento. Because the Kings, believe it or not, do have a plan. It’s underway. It’s been underway. But one of the terms, the term that I have not heard at any point in any of my conversations is the term rebuild. I have not heard rebuild. I certainly haven’t heard tanking. I haven’t heard any idea of a fire sale coming where the Kings will just sell off all the pieces on their roster, players on their roster that they don’t want for for scraps or for whatever they can get pennies on the dollar. I have not got an indication of any of those things. Now, I don’t want you to freak out because I don’t want you to think, “Wait, Matt, the Sacramento Kings aren’t rebuilding. Then what the heck are they doing?” I’m telling you, I have not heard the term rebuild directly. In fact, it sounded like that term rebuild was to some extent avoided. But the process by which Scott Perry’s plan is being laid out or has been made clear to me, whether you want to classify it as a rebuild or not, there are some significant similarities. So, don’t get caught up on the term rebuild. understand, just listen to what the plan is because it’s already in motion. We’ve been in the first stage really for months, but over these first 12 games, actively been in the first stage. And this is a term you have probably heard before, whether it’s here on Locked on Kings or on any of the other shows or great media members that cover the Sacramento Kings uh this season. This is a a term that you should have heard before, the talent evaluation stage. That’s what the Sacramento Kings are currently in. Now, again, don’t roll your eyes going, “Matt, I’ve heard all this before. You’re not telling me anything new.” Stick stick with me here because I think a lot of people assume that the talent evaluation stage is the preliminary part before the plan can really begin. The talent evaluation stage is where you’re sitting there twiddling your thumbs, just watching what happens in front of you, taking notes, and then once you have enough information, now you can really start to execute your plan. That’s not the case. Talent evaluation is phase one. The NBA trade deadline is February 5th. That means the Kings have three months to evaluate two major things. Number one, who on this roster fits the identity that Scott Perry and Doug Christie have laid out? There’s pillars like uh play hard on the defensive end, play physical, right? Those who fits that identity and two what is the trade value for those pieces, those players that do not fit that identity. Many of us, myself included, already have a preconceived idea of who does and doesn’t fit. We came into the season with these ideas, and some of those feelings and ideas have been confirmed over these first 12 games. We’re not the only ones. Scott Perry has already had a preconceived idea of who does and doesn’t fit, right? We already know how he feels about Zack Lavine as a winning basketball player based off of comments that he’s made going back to a podcast before he ever had the King’s job. How he handled or made Malik Monk available over the course of the summertime. It’s believed that Scott Perry does not view Malik Monk as a long-term fit or piece of the identity going forward. And over the course of these 12 games, we’ve learned that a lot of this core does not seem to fit this identity. This defensive first approach that Doug Christie and Scott Perry want to have. Clearly, it’s very obvious a lot of this core, a majority of this roster does not seem to fit that identity. if the Kings are going to actually finally do a rebuild. And that’s the term I’ll use. Again, not the term a term I’ve heard, but we’re we’re essentially talking about the same things. Call it whatever you want. If the Kings are going to do a true rebuild, which they have never really properly executed in the VCron Diva era, period. They’ve tried multiple times, failed multiple times. If they are going to do a true rebuild, they need to do it right. That means taking the necessary time and not taking shortcuts. Taking shortcuts has been a big issue for this ownership group, this regime. Even going back to the only success that they’ve had, Beam Team One, Beam Team One was a shock to us all. Beam Team One skipped a few rungs up the ladder and jumped all the way up to flirting with 50 wins and a third seed in the Western Conference. And the kings felt that okay now like we don’t we don’t have to do anything. We we’re we’re here. We have established themselves. And we’ve seen over the years that they’ve not properly addressed what they need to address. And now the Kings have completely tumbled down the mountain back into basketball hell. So the Kings need to take the necessary time. And one of the things I’ve been told by multiple sources is that Scott Perry and his front office are operating with the proper patience and time up to a couple years as it will take to build a sustainable winner. Let me say that again. I am told that Scott Perry and his front office are operating with the proper patience and time up to a couple of years as it will take to build a sustainable winner. Understand this. Perry would not have accepted this job from the or for the kings to be the general manager of the kings without the asurances from owner of aron and dv that he would have the proper time to clean up the mess that he has inherited and build towards an actual sustainable successful future. Now I think a lot of people are going to get hung up on that two years thing. Oh my god Matt like it’s going to be two years before the Kings do anything of note. What I understand that to be and what I’ve gathered is that that doesn’t mean that the Kings are going to use these next two years as essentially gap years and and wait it out until Ross or money comes off the books. Zack Lavine’s contract is no more. Demard Rosen’s contract is no more. It doesn’t mean that the Kings are just going to twiddle their thumbs and wait for two years for that money to get going and then they can start this rebuild. No. over these two years, whether they’re able to move on from both or either of those contracts or not, they will be using these next two years so that when that money does come off the books and when the CA Kings cap space and financial situation does open up two years from now, the Sacramento Kings will be in a position to where now they’re really looking to jump and not begin a rebuild, but begin the sustainable winning part of the rebuild at that point in time. So, it’s not the rebuild is starting two years from now. It’s they’re using the next two years to put themselves in a position to when that money is freed up. That’s when they’re ready to s to to have success, sustainable success. Look, I know fans are eager. Some of you are probably rolling your eyes at the segment already. You want to see change ASAP. You’re tired of this basketball. I don’t blame you. This basketball that we’ve been watching over these first 12 games is horrible. Get rid of Demar Rosen. Get rid of Zack Lavine. Get rid of these guys that we obviously know don’t fit the identity. Get rid of them. But consider this. Rushing to trade older core pieces now for scraps could hinder a rebuild more than it could hurt it. Right now, in addition to Scott Perry evaluating what the Kings have, other teams around the league, all 29 other teams are doing the same thing. I’ve been told a general rule of thumb amongst general managers and front offices in the NBA is to use 20 to 25 games to gather and evaluate truly what you have. 20 to 25 games puts us in the mid December time. Why is that important? Because in mid December, that’s typically when contracts, players who signed deals over the off season, so like Dennis Shruder are now eligible to be traded. That’s the time where trade season begins and trade season goes from that mid December time all the way up to that February 5th trade deadline. So the Kings still have another month before that trade season opens. Technically, yes, they could trade to Marty Rosen or or Malik Monk or Zack Lavine or any of these guys that they want to right now. They’re able to make trades right now, but you need two to tango. You need two teams that are willing to do it. And other teams aren’t going to willingly or eagerly try and trade for Demard Rosen or Malik Monk or any of these guys right now because they’re still trying to figure out if they need those guys and how desperately they need those guys. But by 2025 games by mid December, January, as we get closer to February and the trade deadline when they realize, hey, we’re a contender. We need one more scoring punch off of the bench to really help us make a deep playoff run. Oh, the Kings have Malik. Oh, the Kings have Demard Rosen. Okay, I’m going out and getting that. Teams will have a better idea of how much they need that and how much they’re willing to give up for that that the Kings can take advantage of at that time better than they can today. The Kings will have different reasons to trade each player and different expectations of a good return. I believe that the Kings could get Malik Monk or Demar D Rozan. could turn those into a hopefully good young player, a player who is a rotational piece that better fits the core or maybe some sort of decent draft compensation from a contending team who lacks that scoring off the bench. I think Malik Monk and Demard Rosen could both help a winning team right now. Let’s talk like the case of Demard Rosen or Zack or excuse me, Deamont Sabonis or Zack Lavine. Those are different because those contracts are so significant. two of the worst contracts in the league. Technically, what is the good return for the Sacramento Kings in a trade of those contracts? It’s not equal value for the players. The best return that the Kings are getting in that trade is simply getting off of that money. That means trading one of those guys for likely worse contracts or or or worse players with other bad contracts, but they come off the books earlier to ultimately open up more financial flexibility earlier for the Sacramento Kings to then use appropriately. So Demar Rosen, Malik Monk, maybe Dennis Shruder, these are guys that could probably net you some pretty significant return. Keon Ellis because teams might need those players to solidify their playoff pushes and championship caliber teams. Right now, other teams might be willing to take on a Demontto Sabonis or Zack Lavine contract and give you bad contracts in return. It’s not going to be equal value for the player. The best player in the deal is going to be leaving the Kings, not coming to the Kings, but the financial flexibility that they would gain, that is the benefit of making those trades. So from now until February, regardless of onc court results, the Kings will be evaluating their own talent and the trade market around them. In this case, time is on their side. I know we’re impatient. I’m not going to use the word patience here. Scott Perry, can’t use the word patience. Kings fans have been patient enough, but the time right now is on the Kings side. As much as it frustrates us, that’s the position that Scott Perry in this front office is in. And an important note for you to really understand what the goal is of this organization right now. Not once in any of the interviews, the press conferences has Scott Perry said the word playoffs or win talked about win totals because those aren’t the goal. The goal for the Kings right now is evaluating talent and finding the pieces that fit, finding the pieces that don’t, getting rid of the ones that don’t, and bringing in more that do. By February, the second phase will begin. That’s the true roster reconstruction phase. Like that’s the latest that it will begin. And that phase has two phases. The short-term phase is the moves that the Kings can make at the trade deadline. The long-term phase is next summer and beyond that because once the trade deadline’s up, the Kings can’t make any more moves at that point, right? So, they will evaluate what the market is for certain players at that time. If there’s a good trade out there that makes sense, they will execute it at that time or before that time. If not, like the Kings should have done with De’Aran Fox last year, they will hold on to that asset and re-evaluate what the market is for that asset and how it’s changed based off the circumstances of the rest of the league during the offseason. There are three pressing fan questions that I know you have because I had the same three. How does Dennis Shruder fit into this talent evaluation phase? Why is Keon Ellis riding the pine? Or how why are his minutes being so impacted? And why did the Kings trade Yonis Valenunis for Daario Sarich? I got answers or at least context to those three questions. Plus, I know something that you’re going to want to talk about. ownership involvement, VCron Diva’s involvement, how much, if at all, is he involved based off of his history of meddling and inputting himself and what he wants in decisions. I’ve got plenty coming on both of those in just a second. This episode of the Lockdown Kings podcast is brought to you by Drip Drop. When I’m hydrated, everything just works better. My focus, energy, mood, even my skin. That’s why I’ve been using Drip Drop. It’s doctor-developed hydration that keeps me running at full power no matter what my day looks like. Drip Drop isn’t your average sports drink. It delivers three times the electrolytes and half the sugar of leading brands using a science-backed formula trusted by medical professionals, firefighters, and over 90% of top college and pro teams. I love using Drip Drop just for my daily life, right? Whether I am uh uh covering a Kings game, chasing my kid around the yard and trying to keep up with him uh or just a day of working at my desk at the ABC10 studios. I just mix a packet in the morning before going to the gym or starting my day and I use it during that midday slump. Hydration has become a non-negotiable for me. Drip Drop helps me feel sharper, calmer, and honestly just better overall. Right now, Drip Drop is offering podcast listeners 20% off your first order. Go to dripdrop.com and use promo code locked on NBA. That’s dripdrop.com. Promo code locked on NBA for 20% off. Stock up now before the heat hits hard and keep your body and mind performing at their best with Drip Drop. This episode of the Locked on Kings podcast is also brought to you by Wayfair. The holiday season is right around the corner and that means it’s time to get your home ready. 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So don’t miss out on early Black Friday deals. Head to wayfair.com now to shop Wayfair’s Black Friday sale for up to 70% off. That’s wayfair w a y f a iir.com. Sale ends December 7th. Three pressing questions that I know you have that I had too. We will address those three now. Number one, how do how does the Dennis Shruder signing fit into the talent evaluation phase? That was a choice that Scott Perry made and Dennis Rutder doesn’t seem to be helping or accomplishing what the Kings were hoping he would accomplish. Number two, why is Keon Ellis, who likely fits the new identity, not playing as many minutes as he probably should and even at times riding the pine more than he should? He didn’t come in until the fourth quarter in two of the last uh four games. Like, why is that happening? We’ll talk about that. And finally, a big one that I’ve heard talked about a lot. Why do the Yonas Valenunis for Dariosarge trade? How in the world does that make sense, Matt? How in the world is that part of the plan? By themselves, all three of these moves, when you separate them completely, a lot of them do not make sense at all. But when you start to connect them and realize that they are interconnected, again, you might not like the explanations, but they all involve each other and they all fit together. They all make sense. Start with the Dennis Rutder thing. How does the Dennis Rutder signing fit the talent evaluation phase? First off, as we all know, the team after trading Dearan Fox simply they needed a point guard. They did not have a point guard and there’s only so many ways you can address that via trade which the trade market was horrible for the Sacramento Kings during the summer because it was horrible for everybody because everybody had scared money. The other element is the draft which the Kings did not have their draft pick in last year’s draft. They traded into the draft to go and get Nick Clifford at 24 but that’s not you’re not finding the starting point guard at 24 with any confidence at 24 in the draft. So, the third and final option is free agency. Well, free agency, you’re only at the mercy of who’s actually a free agent. And Dennis Shruder was in their mind the best available free agent that could potentially fit the identity. So, the Kings sign Dennis Shruder to a threeyear deal. The third year is partially guaranteed. And the Kings added that third year. Didn’t make it a two-year deal. They made it a three-year deal because you need to have a three-year contract minimum to be able to do a sign and trade. The Kings made it a sign and trade with the Detroit Pistons in order to use a trade exception to sign Shruder and give themselves as much financial flexibility as they could at the time. His contractual timeline is essentially equal to the other core pieces. It’s essentially the same as Demar D Rozan and Zack Lavine. So, in no way does the Dennis Shruder signing disrupt the long-term timeline. It’s not like the Kings signed him to a four or fiveyear deal to where he’ll still be around and the Kings will still be figuring out what to do with him once those other guys come off the books. That third year is only four million of I think 15 or almost 16 million guaranteed only four million. So if Dennis Rder is still on the Kings at that time and it’s not working out the Kings can pay him his 4 million move on not have the cap hit move on their merry way. The Russell Westbrook aspect has kind of thrown a curveball into things. Kings fans are noticing it. I talked about on the lockdown kings podcast a couple weeks ago. Are the Sacramento Kings regretting to some extent the Dennis Shruder move because of how well Russell Westbrook has played? With the benefit of hindsight, we know that hey, Russ looks capable right now of handling the starting point guard spot. And if the Kings had just signed Russ to his vet minimum contract and not signed Dennis Shruder, they could have used that money elsewhere, however they wanted to. They could have used that money in a different way that maybe fit the the timeline better. Would maybe extending Keon, whatever. Whatever they could have done with that money and Russ could have held down the point guard position. But that’s with the benefit of hindsight in real time. Remember, the Kings signed Dennis Shruder months before they signed Russell Westbrook. And they didn’t sign Russell Westbrook until a week before the season began. The Kings at that time believe that Dennis Shruder was better fit for the starting point guard spot than Russell Westbrook is. Russ has exceeded their and our expectations. That’s the reality of the situation. So, are the Kings just stuck with Shruder? Well, kind of. Yeah, because they signed him to a multi-year deal. However, the Kings structured Schroeder’s deal to be tradable and around the mid-level exception range. The mid-level except exception this year is like 14.1 14.2 million. Uh his uh Shruder is being paid I think 14.7 14.8 8 around there million this year and it goes up to 15 next year and and even higher that third year which is partially guaranteed right around the range where the Kings could use Dennis Shruder at any time to swap for a mid-level exception type role player or valued player that could again could fit the rebuild timeline and the and the identity that the Kings are trying to build better. So Shruder is structured to where there’s like a fail safe there if it doesn’t work out and as of right now it is not working out. It is a contract that the Kings are able to and will be capable of moving. Could be as early as this season, could be this summer, could be next season, whenever. It is a movable contract and the Kings were intentional with that. Question number two, why is Keon Ellis, who likely fits the new identity, why is he playing less? Why is he riding the pine? Two things are true. Two things are true. The Kings are in a talent evaluation phase. One, there are players ahead of Keon on the depth chart to be evaluated. There are players based off of their careers, based off their skill level, have been and are considered better players than Keon Ellis. So naturally, those players are going to get more playing time and those players are also being evaluated. Number two, the Kings already have a pretty good idea of who Keon is and how well he seems to fit that identity. On paper, on the court, Keon Ellis seems to make a perfect amount of sense. I have been assured on multiple occasions to remove all doubt. I have been assured on multiple occasions that this current front office likes and values Keon. There is no reason at all for me to believe whatsoever that it is not the intention, the goal, the desire of the Kings to extend Keon Ellis to sign him to a new deal when he becomes eligible, which by the way is right after the trade deadline. Think about that. The trade deadline comes and goes. Maybe the Kings move on from a player or a couple players that are taking a lot of that playing time that are ahead of Keon Ellis in the depth chart. Those players are now gone. Keon, there’s now a window opening up where you’re playing 25, 30 minutes a night. Your role is more established going forward on this team. Now, do you want to go to the negotiation table and now we can really with a a clear role, a clear spot ahead, now we can talk figures. Now we can commit to you long term. There’s a reason for this. Again, it’s a timeline. But at the same time, the reason why the Kings felt like they didn’t have to extend Keon when he was eligible during the off season, they don’t want to bid against themselves when it comes to Keon’s next contract. They don’t want to raise the value higher than they need to because they don’t really know what Keon’s value is outside of Sacramento. Hence the patience with this new deal. Personally, this is where my opinion comes in. Personally, I disagree with the method of how they’re handling this situation. Even if they have a better idea of who Keon Ellis is compared to other people on this roster, I personally disagree with the idea that, okay, we can play Keon Ellis less because we need to see these guys more because you always run the risk of potentially losing Keon Ellis for nothing if he’s unhappy with how he’s treated this year. So I personally don’t like the risk, but the Kings clearly feel that it is worth the risk. Got to talk about the Yonas Valenunis for Dario Sarge trade. We’ll talk about that plus ownership involvement, the VC ranadva part of this conversation. That’s all still coming here on Locked on Kings. This episode of Locked on Kings is brought to you by Door Dash. The NBA season is heating up and Door Dash has found the perfect way to keep fans in their bag all season long. Ong Whether you’re watching for the highlights, your fantasy team, or just your favorite player, Door Dash makes every game night even better. Door Dash is the official ondemand delivery platform of the NBA. And they’re celebrating with something called the bag drop. Every time an NBA player scores 50 points in a game, Door Dash drops 50% off of your next order with Dash Pass the next day. And you’re automatically entered for a chance to win the ultimate fan bag. We’re talking player inspire inspired drip, exclusive gear and stuff that you’ll actually want. I love that with Door Dash, it’s not just food that you’re getting. You can get everything from snacks to drinks, headphones, ice, even socks, all delivered to your door. Door Dash has you covered for late night highlights, last minute watch parties, and double overtime fuel up. So, next time someone goes off for 50, use promo code NBA50 the next day to get 50% off on Door Dash with Dashpass, plus your shot at the bagdrop. Dash Pass members only. 50% off up to $10 the day after a 50 point game with promo code terms apply. No purchase necessary. Ends April 13th. Open to US residents 21 or older. Visit door dashinyoubag.com for full details. Door Dash in your bag all season long. Finally, Locked on Kings is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at an even bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team’s the one making that late push. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your favorite game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Why did Scott Perry and the Sacramento Kings trade Yonis Valenunis for Daario Sarich? It’s actually pretty simple. Immediately it freed up $5 million for the Kings to use. But it’s also what happens next year. Dario Sarge is an expiring contract at the end of this year. Dario Sarge can’t even get in the game even on on a game like last night’s blowout loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Like Sarge is he’s just a placeholder on this roster. He expires at the end of the season. He’s going to be gone next season. The Denver Nuggets or whichever team has Jonas Valenunis will owe him $10 million. So, not only immediately did the Kings save themselves $5 million, they saved themselves $10 million the season after. So, believe it or not, this is a trade that actually is a great example of what a quote unquote rebuilding trade looks like. Yon trading Yonis Valenunis, a player that has a lot to offer your team or any team, trading them for a piece that maybe fits, maybe doesn’t, could be essentially a salary dump to get that money off your books. Or maybe the Kings use a different player to uh to trade for a player that does fit, but is maybe more of a long-term project, isn’t as good as the player that they send out. Like the that this is a perfect example of what a rebuild trade does look like. And there are probably going to be others that the Kings make that are like this this season. So, you can’t really say, “Hey, I want the Kings to move on from these players. I want to trade these players, but I don’t like that kind of return. Even if they’re fan favorite players, that’s what makes it hard. Like if if the Kings feel like they can’t retain Keon Ellis. Not that I think Keon is easy to move because he’s only worth $2 million or his contract is only $2 million. So that makes it hard to get equal value in terms of player compensation for Keon unless you’re getting like a first round draft pick for him, which maybe the Kings can get and maybe that’s enough for them to move on if they feel that they can’t resign Keon or can’t work something out. But a lot of these rebuilding trades that the Kings are probably going to be trying to make over the next handful of months, they’re not going to be the most popular, the most exciting, but we should be able to analyze each trade and recognize, okay, that fits that fits the plan because it frees up money or that fits the plan because the Kings got a draft pick, which is better for the future, or that fits It’s the plan because the king’s got a player that in theory better fits the identity going forward. We should be able to have one of those three or hope hopefully for some of these trades multiple of those three explanations fit each move. But the overarching thing that I know a lot of you are going to ask that I’ve thought about that will linger over this organization for a while until there’s probably sustainable success. How does King’s owner of Achron play into this? Matt, this all sounds great. It all sounds interesting, but VC is still the owner of this team. I’m not going to believe anything’s going to change. I’m not going to believe that Scott Perry will actually execute a rebuild properly. I will not believe that the Kings will take the time needed to execute a rebuild properly because VCron is there and he will get involved. He’ll get impatient. He’ll get one of his adviserss involved. He’ll say he wants this player. He will meddle like he has so many times over his ownership tenure. Here’s what I’ve been told. Again, like I reiterated earlier, I have been told that Perry has been granted the appropriate time to execute a proper rebuild. I have also been told by a source close to Sacramento Kings ownership that Scott Perry has complete and total decisionmaking power. Vavonad is hands off. Now, as every owner in the league would be, he wants to be informed about what’s going on. He wants his general manager to communicate with him what he is doing. That’s common. That’s not cause for concern. But I’m even told that there are things that Perry is doing that VC is not fully aware of. Meaning VC’s not in the room when Scott’s having these phone calls. VC’s not there for the meetings. VC’s not a part of any negotiations or anything that is happening. Again, I have been told by a source close to the king’s ownership that Scott Perry has complete decisionmaking power if VCron is hands off and is not fully aware of everything that Perry is doing or considering going forward. Naturally, and I think it’s healthy, there will be a level of skepticism to this. I have my own skepticism, too. There’s a lot of we’ll believe it when we see it, right? So, I don’t blame you if you feel that way. I’m just sharing with you what I’ve been told from multiple sources about the the assurances that Perry has received and VCron and DV’s involvement and how much this is Scott Perry’s rebuild or this is Scott Perry’s plan. This is his plan. when this gets ugly, when ticket sales are impacted because the team is not very good because there’s a very good chance in order to execute the rebuild properly like the Detroit Pistons of a couple seasons ago, the Kings will be a really bad basketball team. Even I don’t know, the month of February, the month of March, early April, the Kings might be dreadful. Now, they might be playing their young players, which some people would be happy, but are you going to pay 75 to 100 bucks a ticket to go sit in the lower bowl to watch that? Some people might, and good, good for you. I hope you do. But overall, I think the expectation is a rebuild or being going young and starting over will have an impact, a negative impact on ticket sales right away. So, when it gets ugly, when ticket sales are impacted, if this drags out for a couple of seasons, like it could, will FVC still allow Perry to see it through? That’s what I’m skeptical about. That’s what everybody should be skeptical about. Again, I think that skepticism is healthy. Only time will tell. But as of now, all I can do is share with you what I’ve been told. And as of now, the plan is completely Scott Perry’s. He is in complete control. And VC is not involved in the decision-making at this point. We’ll see if that stays true because in my opinion, it will need to fully stay true in order for the Kings to do this, right? So there you have it. That is what I have learned. That is what I have gathered over the last week and some change talking to many, many people trying to figure out as much as I possibly could about what is going on here in Sacramento. I hope the dots are a little more connected for you. again whether it’s Dennis Shruder being on more of a timeline with these other contracts than what we would expect as him being the first Kings move what they’re doing with Keon Ellis Yonas Valunis again you might not like the explanations for these moves but that’s what they are or that’s what I have been given that’s what I have been told there’s no guarantee that Scott Perry’s plan works none whatsoever But I think we can all agree that what we want is for the necessary time to be taken for him to either succeed or truly fail. not call it a failure halfway through because we got cold feet and make a change, bring in a new general manager and have the front office essentially restart everything all over again with while inheriting a halfbaked plan of the past regime that the Kings have done a number of times over the last decade and some change. Any questions that I can answer for you, I will be happy to do so. If I if I know the answer or if I have an idea of the answer, I will share that with you. You can reach out to me at matteorgsack on Twitter. Email me [email protected]. Leave your thoughts in the YouTube comment section down below. I know you’re going to have more questions after this. I hopefully hopefully you also have some answers. Again, the major takeaway really is is this. there is already a plan in motion. It’s very unlikely that someone from the organization is going to come out and say we’re rebuilding in any kind of statement or anything like that. Rebuilding isn’t tanking and it’s very unlikely that the Kings will voluntarily tank. But they may like they are right now end up losing a lot of basketball games simply because of the process. We can talk about Shruder signing no Keon extensions, the Valenunis trade, but real judgment for Scott Perry begins really from December to the trade deadline and the moves that he starts to make then and then it reestablishes itself next off season and be gone beyond. So while we are in this evaluation phase and watching this bad basketball, how do fans get through it? How do we get through these months? Well, all we can do is just evaluate two, make our own opinions. Which players do we think fit the division? Which players would we like to have around long term? Who do we think we could get a good return for in a trade? And who in the trade market would you like that other teams have that the Sacramento Kings could potentially target that fits the plan better? And also take each game individually for what it is and try to find enjoyment in it. tonight or last night’s game against the Atlanta Hawks. It’s tough to find enjoyment in a game like that, but the young guys got a lot of playing time. Nick Clifford got a lot of playing time. Devin Carter got a lot of playing time. Maybe there’s something there. Keon Ellis went six of 11 from three-point range. There’s something there. Look at each game as an individual, as by itself, and take what you can from those games. I’m telling you, heavy playing time for some of the younger or other guys, not this core group of veterans. Those guys getting more playing time feels inevitable. At the same time, if some of the big names are still here after the deadline, that does not mean that they won’t be moved in the summertime. I don’t think Damonte Sabonis and Zack Lavine will be traded at this deadline. I don’t believe they will. I think their contracts are too hard to move right now. That might be a problem to solve in the summertime. Demar De Rozan, Malik Monk, maybe even Dennis Shruder. I have a pretty good feeling that at least two of those three guys will probably be gone. maybe as early as December, likely the closer we get to February’s trade deadline when other teams have an idea of how bad they need those players and what they’re willing to give up to get them. But I’m telling you, once Scott Perry has an offer in front of him that fits, that makes sense, I think he’s ready to pull the trigger. I think he sees what we all see. So, now only time will tell. Again, if I can answer any questions for you, happy to do so. I hope this podcast a little more long form, a little more long- winded. So, I apologize about that, but I hope it was informative for you. And all of you listening, I appreciate it. Even those of you who hate listening, who are going to dismiss everything that I say because you don’t like the messenger that it comes from, you don’t believe I have any connections, any sources, anything like that, that’s fine. You can believe that. I I thank you for listening anyway. But I’m just Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just trying to do a service for myself because I want to know and I’m trying to provide the information for you Kings fans that you deserve to know and that I would want to know if I were in your shoes. So, I appreciate all of you regardless. Cannot wait to have you join me on the next episode of the Locked On podcast. Until then, my name is Matt George. You have been listening to Locked on Kings, part of the Lock Podcast Network.

Matt George walks you through everything he’s learned about Scott Perry’s future plan for the Sacramento Kings, including the first phase that the franchise is actively in.

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What is the Sacramento Kings’ Plan? I Found Out.
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