You had plenty of good questions for us, and we managed to pull Tim away from trolling on Twitter long enough to provide some answers as well! Let’s jump in.
From andy_sims:
Assuming a stretch four isn’t acquired ahead of the season, can you think if any reason why Ellis wouldn’t start at shooting guard, with DeRozan at small forward, given the defensive boost that Ellis provides? (He also shoots really well.)
And if we do get that PF, should Mike Brown start him or Ellis, depending on matchups?
Tim: First and foremost, I want to apologize to the masses. Greg posted a mailbag without including a fable-esque story about himself. I’ve received thousands upon thousands of complaints. You are heard. You are understood.
With that ugliness out of the way, I would like to see Ellis start between Fox and DeRozan. That would allow Sacramento to sic Ellis on the opposing team’s best perimeter threat, which would help to prop up Mike Brown’s overall defensive scheme. Between Fox, Ellis, and Murray, the Kings could shift their defensive pressure around as needed, with quite a bit of versatility between the trio. As mentioned in the question above, Ellis is also a quality shooter (career 42% from deep on 2.5 attempts per game), who has shown some additional skills in Summer League. Unfortunately, I can see the Kings starting the season with Huerter next to Fox, both to reset his trade value and to rebuild his confidence, but if that experiment goes awry again, I expect a quick rotational change by the coaching staff.
Greg: I agree that barring some other impact acquisition, Keon Ellis should be in the starting lineup. He gives you perimeter defense without sacrificing spacing. Essentially you’d be swapping out Harrison Barnes for DeMar DeRozan in the lineup the Kings finished last season with, a lineup that was pretty elite on defense. DeRozan isn’t a great defender, but neither was Barnes. Keegan Murray essentially becomes your 4, which I don’t really have concerns about. Keegan and Keon are both really versatile defenders and can guard a variety of positions, and Fox is no slouch when he’s engaged.
From ThisHotFireKevin:
what one piece of this teams big 3-4 is the most replaceable , and why ?
Tim: Out of Fox, Sabonis, Monk, and Murray, Monk is the most replaceable player, but that’s more of a reflection of the uniqueness of the other three players, rather than a condemnation or criticism of Monk. De’Aaron Fox is a top-20 player in the league, Domantas Sabonis is the engine that makes Sacramento’s engine run, Keegan Murray is a big two-way wing who plays legit defense (imagine if we had two of those!), and Monk is a great scorer and pick-and-roll gunner off of the bench who probably won’t do much else for the Kings this year. If the Kings lost Monk, they would certainly be a much worse team. If the Kings lost any of the either three, they would be a lottery team.
Greg: Agree with Tim, the answer is Monk, especially after the acquisition of DeRozan, giving the team another offensive creator. The Kings really struggled when Monk went down last season because they didn’t have another creator, but DeRozan gives them another option. That’s not to suggest that Monk and DeRozan are redundant, they are both very needed, but DeRozan makes Monk more replaceable than the others.
From RikSmits:
When will the NBA start whistling like FIBA when it comes to players blatantly hunting for fouls?
Things seemed to improve a bit after the AS break, but it’s still annoying.
Tim: Never. Never ever.
Greg: They’re never going to whistle player for foul-hunting, but my hope is that we see a continuation of how the league was officiated in the latter part of last season. The league allowed more physicality, more aggressive defense, and it was wonderful. I think it’s necessary for the long-term health of the game.
From Hippity_Hop_Barbershop:
Is Monte’s vest stuffed with freezer packs in the summer?
Tim: It’s stuffed with future flexibility.
Greg: While we often joke about the Kings always trading for cash considerations, it can’t be cheap to keep Golden 1 Center cold enough for Monte to wear vests all summer.
From Marty:
I finally sat down to start Game of Thrones. I made it halfway through the second episode before I realized I was watching a soap opera and bailed. Is there something wrong with me, or is my assessment correct?
Tim: It’s a soap opera WITH DRAGONS.
Greg: Isn’t most prestige television just fancy soap operas?
From murraytant:
when can McDaniels be traded? and is there a reason he has not been “introduced”?
Tim: McDaniels can actually be traded at any time; however, he cannot be aggregated with other players until two months have passed since the trade date. Sacramento made the trade on the 27th of June, so that restriction should be lifted around the 27th of August. And would you bother introducing salary filler?
Greg: Yeah, the lack of an official introduction seems to suggest that he won’t be in Sacramento very long, and the Kings are waiting for the 60 days to pass so he can be moved in another deal they’ve lined up. Or maybe Jalen has just been busy and didn’t want to drop everything to come to Sacramento in the middle of a July heatwave.
From A_Night_At_The_Arco:
Is this draft class really this bad, or do you think folks all making more of SL than we should? I’m not referring to the Kings undrafted 2 way players as they seem better than some of the top picks so far, but they’re also all much more experienced. Thank you!
Tim: The draft seems pretty bad to me. There will be some pretty good starters and role players to come out of it, but no one is really shining.
Greg: This isn’t a bad draft class, it’s just lacking clear top-end talent. But there will be quite a few rotation NBA players in this class, and one or two will become real stars. It’s important to remember that rookies struggling in Summer League isn’t an automatic cause for alarm.
From Adamsite:
Because I haven’t heard much on the subject, will Huerter be healthy and available for camp and/or the start of the season? If not, could his possible trade value be too low at the moment for Monte to consider moving him?
Tim: According to the reports when the surgery was announced, Huerter is expected to be ready for the start of training camp, although we haven’t heard anything either way in the offseason. Huerter’s value isn’t particularly high right now, and I imagine trying to rehab his image before going hard in the trade market is probably the right move.
Greg: Here’s my issue with the idea of not moving a player because their value is low right now: it might not go up any further. I don’t think Huerter’s value is at its peak right now, but it wasn’t as its peak at any time last season. And yet we know from reports that Huerter still has value around the league because front offices don’t put too much stock into one down year. But if Huerter has another year like last year, of if the shoulder is still giving him issues (which I don’t actually expect), or if he just can’t find his rhythm off the bench, maybe it stops looking like a one-year fluke. If Huerter needs a change of scenery, and you can get a player back that you think helps the team, you make the deal even if it isn’t “peak value” for Huerter.
From BuiltToSpill:
From RobHessing:
Jerry Reynolds: Great American, or Greatest American?
Can’t wait to vote him for President in 2032 when he’s finally old enough
Tim: Greatest human.
Greg: American, human, why put qualifiers on it? He’s simply the Greatest.
