Grizzlies, Kings Trade, Doug Christie, Free Agency

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Jake LaRavia: I believe it was consistent playing time. In my first year in the league, my rookie year in Memphis, I played early on pretty consistently when Jaren Jackson Jr. was returning from his injury. Then, I had rookie issues of injuries and feeling sick while being in and out of the G League. That carried over into my second year and that second half of the season when I was with Memphis. We had all those injuries, and I was consistently playing every game. That’s where it started. Once you get consistent minutes and a role, it becomes easier. The game becomes easier and slower. You see things differently. Going into this year, I had a really good offseason of work. I trained with it with a couple of different people. I hired a chef for my body and eating right. I started doing yoga. There were some things that I changed this off-season that led to my third year being, I think, as productive as it was.

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JL: The biggest thing I’m working on this summer is shooting. I shot a good clip this past year, but I’ve always believed I’m a very elite shooter. But when it comes to the game, I just don’t take that many attempts because I feel like I can make plays. I feel like there are other aspects to my game, but it really just all depends on the role I’m in. With a team like Sacramento, we shoot a lot of threes, and we had a goal each game to shoot a certain amount of threes. For me, there’s no hesitation, whether it’s contested or not contested, almost like that Klay Thompson or Michael Porter Jr. type of mindset where I don’t see any contest. I’m shooting the ball every time. I know I’m a good shooter — a great shooter. I know I put in the work for it. Finishing has been a big thing as well. Those are probably the two biggest ones. Then, I’m always just continuing to work on defensive things because I feel my biggest role right now with whatever team I’m on, and what I bring is that intensity and energy on the defensive side by creating deflections and steals while being able to guard multiple positions. On the offense side, space the floor and make reads.

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JL: It’s going to sound cliché, but I really think I’m just breaking the surface only because last year was my first real season in the league. It was the first season where I was playing consistent NBA minutes. There wasn’t a game I was going into where I was like, “I’m not going to play tonight, or something is going to happen.” I created a role for myself. I produced in that role, and I knew I was going to play every night.

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JL: That was a very young team. I feel like it was good because when I first got there, I think Ja (Morant) was still in his fourth year. Desmond (Bane) was in his third year and still early in his career. We were all learning and growing together. But again, I didn’t play that much. I played in the G league a lot. I got to watch games from the bench. You see the game differently. I got hurt a lot earlier on in Memphis, and so in my mind, I’m like, “How do I fix this?” Then I attacked those things, asked these guys questions, and learned from people who played in the league longer than me. Playing in Memphis was really good. Honestly, even playing in the G league was really good. It was a very humbling experience. You go down there, and you’re playing with a group of guys who are hungry to take your spot or get in the NBA. It made me want to work harder and get better, and it helped with confidence.

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JL: Me and my agents, Aaron (Reilly) and Reggie (Berry), kind of knew it was going to happen because they had declined the fourth-year team option. I had a couple of conversations with Zach (Kleiman) prior to that happening. When the trade deadline came, he called me about an hour or two before the trade deadline was going to close. I was like, “Oh, so I guess I might stay in Memphis.” Then, I got the call. He told me he was trading me to Sacramento. I told him that I appreciated him for the opportunity. I packed my bags, and I was there that night. It was the first time that happened. It’s a crazy experience because you’ve got to pack everything up and go there. I was living out of a hotel in Sacramento the whole time. But it was a good experience. I was going from a young team to more of a veteran-orientated team, and I was able to learn from guys like DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Jae Crowder, Domantas Sabonis, and being able to get a different point of view from guys that have been in the league for 10-plus years. It’s also a different style of basketball over there, but I really enjoyed Sacramento. I love the fans over there.

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JL: Aaron sent that to me when it happened, and my fiancé sent that to me. I was appreciative that he said that. You don’t really see an executive make that kind of remark, so it shows the respect that he had for me and the relationship that we had. It means a lot for a GM to say something like that.

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JL: It was great. He’s a fiery coach. He’s played in the league before and played for Sacramento. He likes the type of player and archetype that I am. He likes the grit, toughness, hustle, and energy. He was a really good coach in that aspect. We were able to get close pretty early on, to be honest, and we created a relationship pretty quickly. Doug was a great coach. He’s very supportive. I had early struggles with Sacramento coming to a new team, a different role, and a new system. He was very good, accepted me, and then transformed me into the player that I had become for that team.

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JL: Yeah, for sure. I loved him being the interim head coach. I even told him in the interview that if you’re not hired, odds are I’m probably not going to re-sign Sacramento, but if you are, there would be more of a chance for me to go back to Sacramento. When I found out the news, I congratulated him. I’d love to play for Doug Christie.

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JL: It’s not an excuse at all for them, but it was a weird season for them in general with a coaching change, trading De’Aaron Fox, and Luke Loucks left to be the Florida State head coach. Things were happening within the organization that you don’t typically see during an NBA season. They were definitely going through stuff like that. When I got there, Zach LaVine and Jonas Valanciunas were new. We were all trying to learn how to play together. Individually, there are not many more teams that probably had more talent than LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis, and Keegan Murray. A lot of talented individual players. It was more so how are we going to be able to piece everyone together and play as a unit. I just don’t think there was enough time for that.

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JL: There are a lot of winners on this team. There are a lot of guys that make sacrifices when they’re playing, and a lot of that archetype I was talking about with me where it’s just both sides of the ball and a gritty, tough defensive energy and intensity. We know with Keegan Murray and Keon Ellis, players like that. You have Domantas, who’s a high IQ center who can play on the wing and help facilitate so the point guard doesn’t always have to do stuff. It’s a very well-rounded team, and stuff may change in the off-season. I don’t know. Whether they trade anyone or whatever happens with that, I think that this team has all the talent it needs to succeed.

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JL: The biggest thing, like scratch the money part, I want what everyone else wants, which is being on a team that’s really competing for a championship or a young up-and-coming team that’s ready to win. I love to compete. It’s one of the biggest reasons I enjoy playing basketball. You’re competing against the highest level of talent when you’re playing in a league. So being on a team that is competing for a championship and that needs a guy like me, a wing that plays both sides of the ball. I’m a defender who can shoot the three and can make plays. I do a little bit of everything. I’d love to see my role expand as I get more and more years in the league.

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JL: I’m 6-foot-8 and can guard pretty much one through five. I guarded Nikola Jokic this year. I guarded point guards like Steph Curry and Kyrie Irving. As difficult as that was, you might get blown by sometimes, but I’ve matched up with those guys. As far as the defense aspect, the biggest thing in the playoffs is you can’t play if you can’t play defense. When it comes to that, I bring a lot of energy, intensity, and hustle to that side of the ball. When it comes to offense, I feel like I can really do anything and everything. I can shoot the three. I can drive the ball and finish with contact. I can make a play or get to the foul line. There’s not really much on the offensive side I feel like I can’t do.

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JL: Yeah, options are definitely open. It’s not like I have my mind set on one place. I’ve seen plenty of cases where it’s hard to turn down money at the end of the day. It’s a business.

You can follow Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Blue Sky (@MikeAScotto).