Very Early Sacramento Kings Rookie Progress Reports | Locked On Kings

Very Early Sacramento Kings Rookie Progress Reports | Locked On Kings

Kings fans, you and I have been hooting and hollering for the Sacramento Kings rookies to get more playing time, but in the time that they have gotten over these first 21 games, how have they looked? It’s a very small sample size, but we have some early rookie progress reports. Brendan Nunees from Sacktown Sports 1140 joins me 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 Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on NBA for $20 off of your first purchase. 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 on today’s show, lots of talk about Nick Clifford and what his primary strength or strengths will be in the NBA. talk about Maxim Reno, the drastic improvement he’s shown already as a second round pick, but also the Kings need to do a better job of allowing him or getting him opportunity to showcase that three-point shooting that got him drafted into the NBA in the first place. Plus, a little bit of talk about Dylan Cardwell, the stuff that he’s doing in Stockton and how much opportunity he should or will receive with the Sacramento Kings throughout the remainder of this season. Brennan Nunez joins me. It’s a great conversation. If you want to weigh in on any of the uh the rookies, what you think about how the rookies are playing, what you want to see from the rookies, you can do so at matte sack on Twitter. Email me [email protected] or feel free to leave your comments in the YouTube comment section down below. But for now, please enjoy this uh rookie early progress report with Brendan Nunes. 21 games into the season is not nearly enough time to make a full observation of an NBA rookie, but we are getting a bit of a taste of who Neat Clifford and Maxim Reno can be in the NBA. Brendan Nunees from Sacktown Sports 1140 and the Kings Pulse podcast joins me here on the Lockdown Kings podcast to talk about what we’re seeing from the young guys. But before we even get to that, Brandon, I think we can all or both agree along with a lot of the fan base that over time we simply need to be seeing them play more. And it seems inevitable with this god-awful five and 16 start that we will get to that point eventually. My hope is though, whether it’s via trade or Doug Christie just taking away some of the minutes for the veterans, that it’ll happen sooner than later because at this point it just feels like running the veterans out there for 35 plus minutes a night is just wasting time. I mean, you just need something to watch for, you know, like honestly from not even I I guess it goes both ways, right? From an entertainment standpoint, like I I kind of find a little bit more enjoyment and maybe I’m a sicko. I definitely am. But like watching Charlotte and Unanipple and LaMelo Ball, you know, or Washington and like Bal Koulibali and some of these other guys. Marvin Bagley had a big game last night. I’m just saying. Um and you know, even like the Pelicans are probably one of the teams that are in a worse situation than the Kings, but it’s pretty dope to watch Derek Queen and Jeremiah Fears go off and have their big games even if they don’t have a draft pick coming into this year. Um so from an entertainment standpoint, I would say 100%. And then even from the strategy of it all, right? Like these guys, the young players, we know what the older guys are and they’re not winning you games in Sacramento. That’s for sure. Some of these young guys can contribute to some of those things and that could be alongside some of these older guys, but there’s just too many right now. The fact that you are five and 16 and old is an insane combination. Um, and they really need to lean into the youth more. And for people that are like, “Well, we don’t even know if these guys are good.” For every Jaylen Williams, there’s a Pokushefsky. You know what I mean? For every Cade Cunningham, there’s a Seikko Dumbboya. Like, you don’t know. And some of these guys aren’t going to hit. And the only way you find out is by playing them, you know? Like, right now, Devin Carter feels like a bus. He probably is, to be honest. But I don’t know that I like can say 100% confidence that he’s not going to go somewhere else and actually look solid because he doesn’t play. Yeah. Nick Clifford specifically. We’ll start with Nick. He’s played less than 10 minutes five times this season. Those five times during the last nine games. Like that doesn’t He was playing more at the start of the season when the Kings weren’t god awful than he is now. Now granted Keegan Murray is back. That that shuffles things up and muddies things up a little bit with the rotation. Precious Achua being there, but Doug’s got to find more minutes for the top rookie on on this team. Now, granted, he’s the 24th overall pick. It’s not like he was a lottery pick and he’s going to be a world changer. We’ll talk about what we believe Meek’s role is or what he will be in the NBA because he kind of hasn’t really shown a lot of elite skill in in any particular area yet. Again, it’s super super early, but you got to find more minutes for N Cleiver. Just the last five games alone, he played 12 minutes 43 seconds against Memphis, 5 minutes 41 seconds in Utah. Again, makes no sense. 9 minutes and 1 second in the loss to Phoenix at home, 11 minutes and 35 seconds in the overtime win against Minnesota, and a 9 minutes 5 seconds in the win in Denver. I mean, neat Clifford just simply needs to be playing more. There’s no there’s no reason to not have him play 12 to 15 minutes bare minimum a night. Yeah, I mean I agree. There’s a you know an instance earlier I guess he ends up starting that game but he played 32 against Golden State and it’s not like the numbers look phenomenal 12 three and three. Um but he does little things out there and I think makes an impact. In the recent games, Doug Christiey’s talked about how he seems to have that he had a conversation with Nick recently about being more aggressive when he’s out on the floor. And I think you see that, but you see it for the eight minutes that you’re talking about. You know, relative to the rest of the league, Meek is 21st in rookies and minutes per game. And you know, there’s a handful of guys that are probably in a similar tier of him. And then there’s just the total upper upper echelon, obviously, Edgecomb, Flag, Canipple, Fears, those sort of guys. Cedric Coward, who was just in town the other day. Um, I I think the minutes 100% need to be there. You need to see what he can continue to develop into. And the confidence that comes with a young player, I think, is is obviously big. And there are enough flashes that I’m super encouraged. I think that, you know, people that you and I have talked to, and I think anybody that watches the Kings is pretty optimistic about what Nick could eventually bring as a well-rounded guy that plugs a lot of holes, can do a little bit of everything, kind of can playmake at his size, also can defend multiple positions, rebounds all right. Um, so yeah, I mean, I think that there definitely is a lot there and the Kings need to lead into it more. It’s just I don’t really envy Doug Christiey’s situation right now. Um, I I kind of think it needs to be the front office making trades rather than how difficult is it for Doug Christie to be like, “Hey, Dear, like 25 tonight, man.” Like 25 minutes tonight, you know, or I like I could see it coming from Precious’s spot, but it’s a little bit weird because as we know, this team does not have much size. I don’t think you’re rolling Nick out there at the four, but you kind of could with Demar, um, Keegan or Precious. And I guess maybe you could say if you’re doing it with Demar, why not do it with Nick? Like it’s all just for the sake of development at this point right now anyways rather than, hey, we’re trying to win as many games as possible, at least from my perspective. Um, so I I personally just think that it probably is going to come after some trades are made because it’s really hard to sit down a Hall of Famer and be like, “Hey, rook.” Or, “Hey, this rook’s about to play over you.” And it’s not these guys aren’t professionals. Couldn’t have that conversation. It’s just kind of how the NBA goes. like that. That’s a tough a tough thing for a rookie head coach to come in and try to approach. So, I definitely think Nick needs to be out there more. It’s just at what point does that happen? And I will say real quick on the other side of that, having Russell Westbrook, having Demar D Rozan, two guys that are well known to be amazing vets in the NBA, I think is beneficial in more ways than we see. I see I understand what you’re saying completely about, hey, it’s it’s It’s going to be hard to go to Demar De Rozan or Zack Lavine and say, “Hey, I’m playing you less so I can play the 24th overall pick, but we’re not talking the extremes of you’re being completely benched and taken out of the rotation.” It’s you’re going to play five less minutes a night because this team is five and 16 and you’re clearly not doing anything for me. And I’m going to give it to a player that has a chance to be something eventually. And if Dear or Russ can’t accept that, I don’t want him on the team anyway. like at that point like these guys are smart enough or should be smart enough to be aware of what the circumstance is especially Dear and Russ who know they’re on the sunset of their career. If Zack Lavine has a problem with it, well then Zack Lavine can add it to the list of things he seems to have a problem with right now in in Sacramento. But going back to Nick Clifford specifically, what’s in his favor is the advanced metrics across the board are really good for Nick when he’s on the floor. The offensive rating for the Sacramento Kings is three points better than when he is off the floor. And then defensively when he’s on the floor, um opposing team’s offensive rating is 10 points less uh than than when he’s uh off the floor. Like it there’s it’s positives across the board in terms of the advanced defensive metrics. James Ham has talked about this a lot on ESPN 1320 and the the Kings Beat podcast, which you can also hear Brennan Nunes on. Uh the advanced metric metrics are very uh in favor of a lot of these young guys with neat Clifford being right at the center of it. We’re seeing granted at a lot of the times it’s against opposing teams second units, but you all you can do is play against who you’re playing and have success against who you’re playing against. We’re seeing that from neat Clifford now. We want to see it in more batch heavy minutes to where I want to see play him for a stretch of of seven to eight games with him playing 20 minutes a night. And I want to see how those numbers fluctuate, especially when he gets more playing time against opposing teams top guys or or starters. I agree. Um and yeah, good correction by you because you’re definitely right. Like just trim Demar’s minutes down. There’s no way. I I don’t know what he’s at over the last couple games, but at one point he’s like flirting with 33, 35, and it’s why why like at this point in his career, why, you know? I I think even like you hear Zach talk about him and he’s like, I know Dear is like obviously a guy that can get you a bucket whenever, especially in that third and fourth quarter, like save Dear for the fourth quarter and maybe actually give him the ball in the fourth quarter if you want to win some games, but that’s a different story. Um, I I think a lot of those numbers in this plays into uh being in favor of playing Nick, but really maybe even more so of not playing the other guys. The starters suck bad. Um, it’s really bad and there’s no cohesion to that group. Like you you hear Doug Christie talk about the identity that he wants of defend, rebound, and share. Nick’s not a great rebounder, but he definitely defends and he definitely shares the ball. And there are plenty of players that are getting more minutes than him that don’t do either of those things to be honest. And and maybe that’s a little bit harsh, you know, here and there, but not to the same extent that Nick does. Like I 100% he needs to be out there more. And I I really like what he brings. Again, a little bit of everything. Ability to put the ball on the deck a little bit. Um and I think that also enabling him to continue to expand his game and the, you know, growth that we’re seeing of Keegan Murray right now. I think a lot of it is mental of like, hey, we really think you can be that guy. You hear Demar coming out and being like, this is your team. Doug Christie talking about, oh, it was hard when we started the year because we were without our number one guy, which I kind of think they’re pivoting a little bit with how the season may be going, which is smart. I will say they were saying the same stuff about Dennis Shruder during during spring or spring training during training camp, by the way. So, take that with a grain of salt. Yeah, in smart pivot, though. It it probably should have been the original thing coming into the year. Um, but I’ll take it. We got there eventually. Meek shouldn’t be in this like I just got to like cater to Demar and Zack, you know, and and sure there are players that you get drafted to, you know, a Boston team that’s really good or maybe not a good example this year. You get drafted to OKC. Aaron Wiggins isn’t going to spread his wings and become a star. Case Wallace isn’t going to spread his wings and probably become a star. Maybe I’m wrong there, but like in Sacramento’s situation, you have an opportunity where you have such a diverse skill set on this player that you just drafted. And sure, a little bit older, say what you want about the ceiling. I think there are a lot of pieces here and enabling him to be able to play through mistakes. Again, I I think that is what Detroit and OKC did and and people talked about them as being embarrassments of the league, but look at them now. You know, like that there is a reason, there’s a method to the madness. And I think sometimes letting your young guys play through mistakes and see like essentially how good am I, you know, and do how how what level do I belong at in this league? And I I think Nick doesn’t quite know yet, which is understandable. It’s early in his year. Um I I think that as long as they make trades at the deadline, and we’re not still talking about this post-trade deadline, I’m not going to think much of it at the end of the year. You know what I mean? Like right now, I’m with you. I think he should be playing more, but more than anything, I’m like, let’s just make sure this isn’t the case post deadline. 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The seat view feature is a gamecher, especially with these games being held in massive football stadiums around the the United States, maybe even to stadiums you’ve never been to before. You can literally see what the pitch looks like from your exact seat before you buy. Prices include the fees up front, which I love. No last second surprises at checkout. These are just some of the many reasons to buy on Game Time. Take the guesswork out of buying your World Cup tickets and every match, concert, or event with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on NBA for $20 off of your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, download the app, make an account, and use code locked on NBA for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Game time. Nick has played 17 of Sacramento’s 21 games so far. If there are two things that I’m going to be critical of Nick, the first is he doesn’t look fully confident and comfortable in just trying things. Like he he looks like, oh, I’m in the NBA. I’m surrounded by all these veterans. I have to do my job. I have to do the right thing. Which is a very common thing for rookies to go through, right? you’re you’re you’re in the the most elite basketball league on the planet and you’re trying to make sure you’re doing the right things, fitting in and doing your job as best as possible. The other element of that, and this is the thing I’m not necessarily concerned about, Brennan, but I’m just curious to see if I get a more secure answer in this question, is what does he do at the NBA level? because he’s he’s he’s showed to be well-rounded and he showed that he could handle some defensive responsibilities and hey, you can shoot the ball a little bit, but you need to have a primary skill or a primary impact if you want to carve out a long successful career in the in the NBA. And that doesn’t mean he has to be a a one-trick pony or anything like that, but I I’m still waiting for Nick to show me the primary thing that he is going to bring to whatever NBA team he’s on, but the primary thing that he can bring to the Sacramento Kings that they can rely upon. If he’s a Swiss Army knife and does a lot of things well, that’s fantastic. The Kings need more of that. But what’s that one or two major marquee things that Kings fans and the Kings organization can hang their hat on and go that’s what Neat Clifford is going to be hopefully for a playoff team in a few years time. I think it’s a smart decision maker like more than anything. And obviously it goes beyond that, but being at 6’5 and being able to put the ball on the deck and be a connective piece in that way, you know, like I I’m while you’re asking this, I’m like trying to think of comps and I probably should have thought of these by now, I guess, but I it’s a little bit tough. Like I almost want to go Derek Whiteish, and that’s a very popular comp nowadays. That’s probably way too kind for sure for Nick. But like, you know, is a Nikquil Alexander Walker in the picture, for example. And I think that’s a guy that just does a little bit of everything. Very much a connector on defense, will take some of the tough assignments. Um, pretty damn good on that end. Um, and then offensively, like I mentioned, can put the ball on the deck. I think the playmaking is pretty impressive at his size. Um, which is where I go a little bit, I guess, Derek Whiteish and almost feels like Bogdon Bogdanovich in that way when it comes to playmaking. and in some of if you remember summer league and some of his college clip like there is some self-creation moments where you’re like hey that was something you know probably not bogey level um but trying to you know theorize a little bit of what this could eventually look like but I really think that playmaking and that versatility the comfort with the ball in his hands and without the ball um plenty being able to do both make an impact on the defensive end of the floor with what he thinks is one to four switchability maybe it’s more one to three we’ll see how it ends up playing out. Um, but the three-point shot does, I think, need to to start going down more. Um, at this current point, he is shooting 27 and a half% from three, only two and a half a game. This is like the definition of small sample size. So, take it for what you will. Um, but definitely obviously need to see that click a little bit more if he’s going to mesh properly with some of these guys. But, to me, it’s a it’s a connective guy that does a little bit of everything on both ends. you know, that is sort of the if you didn’t have him on your team, you probably wouldn’t even really appreciate him that much, but when he is on your team, you’re like, man, this guy really does everything. You know, a Josh Hard out there, for example. Well, and those connective guys, they shine when the team shines. And it’s hard to like it’s hard to ask Nick to to find and carve out his flow as a rookie for a team littered with veterans that can’t establish an offensive flow, period. So, like a lot of you talk about he’s taking two three-point attempts per game. I couldn’t tell you off the top of my head how many I’ve I’ve felt were like that that was a good shot that came out of the flow of the offense and more just seems like oh Nick has the ball in his hands. He has a little bit of space. All right, I got to put this up. So until the Kings can establish who they are offensively, it’s hard to ask Meek to establish who he is specifically offensively when he is expected to be kind of that glue guy uh uh jack of all trades type of piece uh for Sacramento going forward. But the one thing that we can say about Nick, I think, is that from what we’ve seen, he’s he looks like an NBA player. And we weren’t saying the same thing about Maxim Reno when he started this season. Doug Christie had some glowing comments for Max uh during pregame before uh the Kings most recent loss against Memphis and he he complimented Max’s upbringing. Talked about like he called Max one of his absolute favorites. Talked about how smart Max is and that that jumped off the page to all of us when we got to meet him and talk to him for the first time. Of course, he’s a Stanford product that just happens to be really, really good at basketball. Max’s improvement over the course of these first 2021 games to where now the last couple games, what he’s played, 23 minutes against Memphis, 22 minutes against Utah. I’m not even worried about the the scoring that he’s done in both those games necessarily. Just we’re seeing the playing time. And while he still has to put on weight, he still needs to be better as a rebounder for for being a guy that’s 7-1. He needs to get stronger down low against bigs, all these things are still true. But he looks more comfortable at the NBA game than he looked in those first handful of games at the start of the season when he got minutes and it was almost like, God, we got to we got to take him right back off the floor. He’s just not ready. Like that that improvement alone, especially for a second round pick and a sevenfooter, that’s been really encouraging to see. Yes, this is what I mean this is a weird way to say this in timing of it. I guess this is what tanking means fellas. It’s let let let the guys let the young guys play through their mistakes. You know, like people think tanking means we’re trying to lose games. No, that means well I guess kind of but really the way that you do that is you let young players play through mistakes. And that’s what’s going on with Max to be blunt. Like I don’t think he’s very productive right now. Like I I still do think that other teams are every I swear it feels like every single possession he is on the floor. It’s give me that guy, I’m gonna go at him. But guess what? That is great film for him to review. And you’re seeing progress. There’s moments where they have him in a drop and then at times they’re showing with him. There was a couple games where they’re switching one to five with Max and I kind of think it’s a little crazy, but try it. Like see see what you got there, you know? And there’s some touch around the rim that he’s starting to show off a little bit. I thought the three-point shot would look a little bit better and ability to put the ball on the floor, but we saw that in college. Like maybe that will come back around. That’s it’s been a lot more minutes than I certainly would have expected coming into the year. Um like I mentioned, I still don’t think it’s great right now. There’s a lot of times where they go to Precious instead of Max after giving Max a little bit of opportunity and they’re like, “All right, let’s go this other direction.” But again, getting that on tape, I think you are seeing him continue to progress. I like the trying him in def different defensive coverages. Like I I it’s not about winning games right now. It’s seeing what you got with this guy. Um and I’m sure the Kings don’t feel that way. They probably want to win some games, whatever. I don’t blame them. But this is I I love seeing this out here. Even if it’s not the production standpoint, and if I want to go back to the entertainment value of all this, it’s great. It’s great to see a young guy try and spread his wings and you get a little bit of hope of what he could be. Um, again, I’m I’m not I don’t know my level of confidence on what he can eventually be in the NBA, but I think this is how you find out. And you wouldn’t know if you left him in Stockton. Like, did we ever get a great look at Mish Kada? Kind of. Maybe not really. You know, not to this extent, probably. Um, and we’ll see if it keeps up. But I I think this is exactly what you’re supposed to be doing, even if Max hasn’t lit the world on fire, you know. Longtime Kings is also brought to you by Robin Hood. What if sports were traded like markets? Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robin Hood prediction markets. It’s not you against the house. It’s you participating in a live market. You can buy or sell your positions live all game long. 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And I get that like you want to round out your game, but I also need you to showcase your strengths a little bit better. This is not just a Maxim Reno thing. Again, this has happened for a lot of players. If you have one or two things that you do really, really well that you’ve done really, really well in college that got you to the NBA, show me that at the NBA level. That’s why his only nine three-point attempts and going two of nine from three-point range doesn’t worry me, but it it frustrates me a little bit. Now, part of this is also a a product of Max’s environment. Like, Max is being asked to play more of the big role simply because one, Demon Sabonis has been in and out of the lineup with injury, and two, the Sacramento Kings are so undersized that anyone 7 foot or taller, they’re like, “Get in the paint. Dear God, please we need you.” So, I don’t think Max is playing the way that they envisioned him playing as a floor stretching center. He’s certainly not playing the same way that he played for the Kings summer league team in in Las Vegas where he spent more time on the perimeter. That being said, the Kings need to find better ways to get him opportunities to shoot that corner three or shoot that angle wing three. That’s the strong suit of Max. That’s what he did so well in Stanford at the college level. He led Stanford in scoring last season. And one of the things he told me and one of the things his coach told me at Stanford is one of the reasons why we don’t see Max blocking a lot of shots is because Stamford quite frankly told him not to because they didn’t want him to get in foul trouble because they needed him as a scorer. So as time goes on and as Max hopefully gets more playing time over the final 60 what two 61 games of this season still got a long way to go. Yeah. God hopefully we get to see more of I know we’re we’re undized. I know we struggle on that end, but Max, we want to play you on the perimeter a little bit more because that’s where we believe you’re going to be most effective as an NBA offensive center. I need to see it a little more. I want to see some elements of pick and pop. Brook Lopez three-point shooting and if he shoots 20% fine, but give him more than nine attempts over the course of 13 games. Yeah. Again, feels like something that probably will have to be post trade deadline or I think there is some logic here of I know I was just saying it’s good to see him getting minutes. I think it is context specific of Domas being out. Um maybe he could play that backup five role. Drew hasn’t looked very good. But I also do think there’s benefit of hey go put him in Stockton for a little bit, you know, and let him cook offensively for a lack of better word, you know, and let him uh get that bag back a little bit there. Um so because right now it’s like are we saying, “Hey Deamar, I need you to make sure you’re passing to Maxim Reno.” you know, like it like sure there there you can say that for sure and they can create more shots. Um I guess a lot of me saying that is less of I don’t think I do think that should be the case. I just don’t know that I’m betting on that, you know. Sure. Um, and so I I have been a little bit surprised by some of the offensive game when um, take it for what you will because it’s his it’s his college coach, but like Lori Markin for example, as a comp or I think of like a Nas Reed, like this hyperoffensive big man, right? And you mentioned he wasn’t really embracing defense, not at all. In fact, kind of running from it in certain ways um, during college. I just think there does need to be that defensive growth for sure for him to survive out there because he’s not this just elite offensive big. There’s only so many of those guys like not to take a shot but you don’t want him to be Drew Eubanks. You know what I mean? Like where he’s just an offensive big but you’re not quite sure how valuable he really is offensively. Um I mean they’re not even playing Drew Eubanks on the perimeter either though. That’s the thing. Drew Eubanks has been known as floor spacing center his entire career and they’re not spacing the floor with him. So, it’s a product of the environment, but still it’s like, yo, if you have strengths of these guys that you went out and got, I know you’re undersized, but utilize those strengths. And that’s kind of been a theme of the entire season, I guess. 100%. And I think there also could be an aspect of like these rookies just getting a little bit more comfortable. Like, like I mentioned, Doug said he had a conversation with Nick about like, hey, go be more aggressive out there. You know, like from a rookie mindset, you’re going out there and there’s three, four Hall of Famers that I’m playing with. Like in my mind, if I’m one of these guys, I’m like, shoot, I’m the last option out here. Like, I shouldn’t take it unless I’m wide open. And I think that having conversations with them about, no, like we trust you, you know? Um, and I think you you’re seeing Max shoot it a little bit more, I would say, and be more aggressive over these last few games, which is probably a product of just playing more overall, obviously. Um, but I think that you will continue to see their confidence go up. And again, post trade deadline, open up some minutes for these guys or maybe pre-trade deadline. Another Kings rookie uh to we can talk about really quick, he’s one of the two-way guys, is Dylan Cardwell, who played three times in the first six games, including 14 minutes in the opener in Phoenix and 13 minutes in the loss against the Lakers in Sacramento. He’s been DN getting DNPs and basically inactive since spending a lot of his time in Stockton. And what’s funny about that too is is if there is a center with the archetype of the way that the Kings are playing their centers right now. Drew Eubanks fits it better than Maxim Reno, excuse me, Dylan Cardwell fits it better than Maxim Reno and Drew Eubanks do, but Drew and Max are playing because they’re not two-way guys and you you probably view them more as part of the future, too. When Deanna Sabonis comes back, I’m not giving minutes to Dylan Cardwell over Maxi Mareno. So, I don’t see really how Dylan gets too much NBA opportunity consistently over the remainder of this season with Max in front of him. I’m glad he’s in Stockton. I’m glad he he’s doing his thing. And I I like what he brings from the standpoint of attack the rim, aggressive, like kind of a like a dog, a jerk around the rim for for lack of a better term. But, uh, I I’m I I the way I look at Dylan Cardwell is glad to have you in the system, but there are guys in front of you, young guys in front of you, in particular Maxim Reno, that desperately need those minutes more than you you need them. So, back in the line, but yeah, it’s a tough spot. I mean, I think, you know, obviously there’s reasons that Max was the second rounder and Dylan was the undrafted guy, but let’s just say hypothetically those spots were flipped. We’d probably be seeing Dylan right now, right? Like, I I think it’s the reality of Dylan’s on the two-way contract. You only have so many games that you can send him at the NBA level. He actually started, if I’m not mistaken, game one of the regular season, which was pretty wild. Maybe he didn’t start, but he closed. I know he closed at least. I want to say that he started that game. Um, let’s take a look. I genuinely don’t. It feels like an a like eons ago. It feels like Phoenix and I think the beginning of the end was when other teams saw him shoot a free throw. I’m sorry. Um, he’s two of eight from the free throw line in Stockton right now. That’s 25% for anybody that wants to do quick math. Um, that will need to progress, but start. He started which is crazy. Um, so I have been a little bit surprised that he hasn’t gotten some opportunity. Like I’d be lying if I said I’ I would rather see Dylan and Max than Drew at all to be honest. Um, but I don’t I have no problem with how they’re going about it right now. I think getting Ryan Stockton is helpful. Um, and he’s a guy that heard a lot of good things about uh throughout the course of preseason. You hear people talking about how great his work ethic is and as ugly as all of the offense is outside of dunking and catching lobs. I will give credit to dude because we’re sitting there after practices and he is always working. At least now he’s been with Stockton, so we haven’t seen him quite as much. But earlier in the year, you would always see him after practices working on whether it’s these push or hook shots around the rim or mid-range jumpers or or sometimes threes, whatever it may be. Like be uh BJ Armstrong is out there helping him with his form. And don’t get me wrong, it’s pretty I I took some videos where I was like, man, I should not post this because this would not go well for Dylan. U it is they don’t look pretty. But it’s a credit to him that he’s working on it, right? And is there a DeAndre Jordan light, you know, a Clint Capella sort of thing in here of what can he bring you defensively? The energy is definitely there. And it’s, you know, Scott Perry is so big on the character of guys, the identity of this team. I think Dylan is a good example of somebody that falls into you’re sort of betting on the person here just as much of the player and what he can eventually become. So getting run in Stockton alongside, as we learned, Jamir Nelson Jr. um is is probably good for it. Well, Brendan, as as poorly as this season is going, I actually am looking forward to Nick Clifford or Maxim Marino playing 25 minutes and getting absolutely cooked by some of the NBA’s top guys so they can learn the hard way. Like that’s that’s just where this season is at. And hopefully, like if you if you’re if you told me right now, Matt, you’re going to have to wait till February 5th, the trade deadline. So, you have another two months before that’s really going to start happening. I It makes me sick to my stomach even thinking about it. Like, you don’t need to wait that long. Even if you still have some of these veterans or all these veterans on this team, find a way to get these guys minutes because make same make the same argument about Keon Ellis for some reason who still is not getting minutes because Doug says he’s just hard to get him in at time. Well, find a way to get these guys in and like you don’t have to play. To me, the cap is for Zack Lavine and and Demar De Rozan 32 minutes. If they’re cooking, if they’re having one of those nights where they’re really rolling, okay, you can go above 32 minutes, but I don’t want to see either of those guys. And when Demis Sabonis comes back, too, he’s been banged up the entire season. Don’t play him more than 32 minutes. Just leave the the rest of the those 16 other minutes. spread them out amongst the other rookies and and guys that need to be playing. Do that over the next couple months to get us to the trade deadline. Then once you get some of these guys the heck out of here now we can start talking 25 plus minutes for these young guys and just letting them trial by fire. But I can’t wait till February. I can’t wait that long. I can’t go through another two months and 30 some odd Kings games of this before those rookies get that opportunity. I agree. It’s like just pick your pick your path here, you know, and like we mentioned the pivoting into Keegan Murray being the number one guy. Like pivot into your future essentially. Like I wouldn’t surprise me if the team doesn’t want to just call it on this season, right? They’re three and a half games behind the 10 seed for whatever you care about that. Shut up. Honestly, I agree. But if you know the Kings as well as anybody, if I hear that from anybody in this organization, I’m going to vomit. I don’t care. You probably will though, Matt. The veterans the veterans made the decision for you. They can’t be mad about the playing time. They made the decision to go with the youth and go for the future because they’re freaking what what do we say? Five and and 21 or five and 16. I don’t care how far back they are the 10th seed. It’s over. I agree. I agree. I just worry that the organization does not. Um, but I think and one thing I guess I’m curious your opinion here as well obviously been around the fan base a lot longer. Like it feels like it’s easy to say that the fan base would love to see the young guys play more, right? But sometimes I get caught up in like vocal minority of Twitter. Like would would they how many less butts would be in seats if they fully embraced young guys or is there not? Like if if Russ, Demar, Zack aren’t on this team, say Domos, and we’re rolling out Devin Carter, Keon Ellis, Nate Clifford, Keegan Murray, Maxim Reno, like I know a lot of Twitter would love that, but would the would the stadium be full, which shouldn’t, you know, does matter to the team obviously? Well, let me say this, and I say this with the absolute respect to the the Sacramento Kings fan base and the listeners of this podcast who may may feel this way. If you are happily paying hundred plus dollars plus all the extra stuff to go to a Sacramento Kings game right now to watch Demar Rosen, Zack Lavine, and whoever the hell do this, then I don’t care about it. I don’t care about like if if this is what you enjoy, you need to find something else to do. Like this is this is horrible. What we’re seeing is god. The Kings are not only horrible, they’re boring. Like there’s nothing good about the way the Sacramento Kings are in a year where the NBA is really fun, too. It’s tragic. Yeah, Kings are tragic. So, yeah, respectfully to all of you who say, “I wouldn’t go and support the team if they play the rookies,” then don’t support the team because you shouldn’t be supporting this right now, too. But and you’ll support in a couple years when there are actually, you know, some young players on here or the Yeah, I don’t know. I won’t be too negative, Nancy. Whatever happens with the draft pick. We can hope it’s a couple. Hopefully, it’s next year with the top lottery pick, but we’ll have to wait and see. Apparently, like five other teams have also decided to be god awful this season, too. So, we’ll see how the lottery shapes up. OKC number one pick. Jeez Lou, if that happens, I quit. The league should just quit. Well, Brandon, appreciate you helping me break down these uh these rookies. keep up the great work and all the different platforms that you’re on and we’ll uh we’ll thankfully the Kings are on a road for a little bit so we get a little little little break. Absolutely. Appreciate you having me on Matt.

Matt George and SacTown Sports 1140’s Brenden Nunes talk about Nique Clifford, Maxime Raynaud, how the Kings rookies have looked so far this season, and that it’s time to give them more playing time.

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