Many around the NBA world were surprised when the Kings selected guard Davion Mitchell with the 9th pick of the 2021 draft, not because they thought Mitchell was undeserving, but because two of the Kings’ best players last season were De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton, both slender guards.
However, Mitchell quickly showed his value in Summer League, spearheading a dominant defensive effort en route to the championship, winning co-MVP in the process. Fox believes Mitchell’s defense-first mentality will be “great for the team,” and “he’s definitely going to come in and help us change a lot of that,” in regard to turning around the team’s 30th ranked defense, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (via Twitter).
There’s more on the Kings:
- Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé announced today that he bought out the shares of several minority owners who were essential in keeping the team in Sacramento, per James Patrick of The Sacramento Bee. It’s worth noting that the move was made in part because the former owners believe the team is stable now, with no plans to relocate.
- The Kings are hiring Saagar Sarin as a scout, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Sarin served as the Timberwolves’ scouting coordinator the past two seasons and previously worked with Kings general manager Monte McNair in Houston. Anderson adds that the move was unrelated to the recent firing of Gersson Rosas.
- McNair believes players want to play for coach Luke Walton and credits him with the the team’s ability to re-sign free agents as well as the return of Alex Len, per Jason Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link).
- The Kings have officially signed Matt Coleman III to a non-guaranteed training camp contract, per Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). Coleman played four seasons for Texas and was a two-time All-Big 12 member for the Longhorns. James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area confirms the contract will be a standard Exhibit 10 (via Twitter). The move was first reported in July by Jeremy Woo of SI.com.
Say what you want about Ranadive as owner, at least he did great by keeping the team in Sacramento. I remember back before he bought the team how much uncertainty there was about that.
Yeah, all the players are stoked about that. NOT.
The only ones who really benefitted were the fans, at least in theory.
The team has been in Sacramento for 35 years and they have basically become the Cubs of the NBA (pre 2016 of course).
Kings if they haven’t already should give up on Ben and go for KP.
3 team deal
Kings: KP
Mavs: Heild Bagley Dragic
Raptors: Powell Green 2nd Rounder (Mavs)
Kings then play Fox Haliburton Barnes KP and Holmes. That’s a good mix of defence, floor spacing, length, athleticism and youth.
Off the bench you do lack a little depth but because of this deal you do open up a roster spot which you can fill with any FA. I’d recommend Wesley Mathews, Kyle Guy, Justin Jackson or Glen Robinson.
Dallas are the biggest winners here getting back a solid trio of talent. The Mavs most likely start Doncic Heild Hardaway Finney-Smith and Bagley. With Dragic, Burke/Brunson, Bullock, Kleber and M. Brown off the bench. That’s elite shooting around Luka, a very solid back up playmaker in Dragic and multiple bigs.
Bagley is often criticised but when he’s not injured he’s put up some decent numbers, last year was 14-7.5-1 in 26 minutes and that’s shooting some threes. When he’s out injured they also have M. Brown, Marjanovic and WCS.
Raptors simply don’t have a true centre. Their tallest player is 6’9, and they only have 1 listed centre in Berch. Dwight Powell is originally born in Toronto, Canada. So it’s a homecoming for the big man. Rumours have it they want to buy out Dragic or atleast ship him out, this deal gets them a solid return. A big, a former first round pick player and a second round pick.
Kings have better overall balance on their roster and look to have some direction in building a decent team. Dallas goes big and now have a roster which could make them a title contender. Toronto fills some needs and gets back a nice return for an unwanted player.
Only reason I think the Mavs say no is that this kills them on defense. They can score just fine. If they want to take the next step it will be with defensive play.
But if you look at the players they lose, KP Powell and Green they aren’t exactly amazing defenders.
Neither are the players they get back however Dragic can hold his own and Bagley has upside defensively.
Defence will be an issue but every team has issues. On their day this side could beat any with Luka running things with elite shooters, two way bigs, Dragic backing him up and the depth they have.
So we have Walton to thank for resigning Len? Why should any Kings fan be impressed by that?
We’re not
Ben and Mackey >>>>> Kings
Halliburton, Buddy, Bagley, #1pick >>>> Sixers
If the Kings do start making the team more defensive oriented that means Fox, Buddy, and MB3 all go. They’d upgrade with a Simmons trade. But they’d have to find outside shooting somewhere. Maybe the target OG, RoCo, D Brooks?
Kings fan here (cue the sad trombone). Us Kings fans think Vivek is a complete joke and he needs to be more hands-off ,but boy are we happy he was able to keep the team in Sacramento. It’s done wonders for the city (the new stadium completely revitalized a rundown part of downtown).
We’re over Buddy (awful defense, bone-headed plays) and Bagley is a diva (his Dad is Lavar Ball-lite). And nobody cares for Walton. We all wanted him gone last year.
kangz fans are as loyal as they come. Say what you want, but we love our team. Win or lose. Excited to see how Haliburton progresses in his second season and what Davion will bring on D. Yeah, Simmons might be a good addition, but not for what the 6ers want and the drama he’ll most likely bring to the team. I’m good.
I liked Coleman in summer league, but wonder if he has a fit there with all their other guards. Maybe if they make a trade. I could also see him being worth a chance somewhere else. I really liked his energy, especially defensively, and thought he looked very good as a combo guard