r/kings

He looked serviceable as a bench big and he’s only 23. Could work as emergency big depth. Thoughts?

His value is at an all time low right now. He might be a better player with a more limited role. If the starting lineup is something like Fox / DeRozan / Ellis / Murray / Sabonis, then having Monk and Huerter come off the bench will provide constant offense to both units. He’s decent insurance if a scorer gets injured during the season too.

At a minimum, I want to see Huerter in action with a smaller role. If it doesn’t work, then trade him later.

Heard a take on d-lo and kc that I thought was very interesting, when asked who he thinks should start at the 2 Frank Red said he’d play Kevin. He said that Huerter has always been an emotionally driven person, and that showing him the benefit of the doubt would help gas him up and get him back to the level he was at two seasons ago. I remember after coach Mike sat him in preseason for Duarte seeing that interview where he was clearly and visibly bummed out -big sad vibes- and he never really really got into the groove after that point. His trade value is, as others have pointed out on here, at an all time low; and he’s a young guy, if he can shoot the way he did in the year 1 AB (anno beamus- the year of our beam) and atleast give full buy in on the other end, he may even be not only a fantastic trade chip but maybe even become a solid long term player on the team.

Maybe starting him would be a step too far for most with how steep his drop off was last year; I personally don’t know if I would do it if I was in the seat of power. But this is an interesting viewpoint nonetheless and I was curious on if anyone else sees validity to this argument, as it was only two short years ago that KD was comparing this guy to Steph, which is quite a distance of away from being our permanent-trade-machine-slot-in (side note: remember when it was buddy and holmes?)

Anyways, carpe beamum 🟣🔦

These mock trade articles are always trash but here's what SI has for some of our remaining trade targets.

Sacramento Kings receive: Dorian Finney-Smith
Brooklyn Nets receive: Kevin Huerter, 2025 second-round pick (via POR), 2026 second-round pick

Sacramento Kings receive: Bobby Portis
Milwaukee Bucks receive: Keon Ellis, Trey Lyles, 2025 second-round pick (via POR)

Sacramento Kings receive: Cameron Johnson
Brooklyn Nets receive: Kevin Huerter, Colby Jones, 2028 first-round pick (lottery protected), 2025 second-round pick (via POR)

I cannot emphasize this enough, Kyle Kuzma is not only a bad option for the Kings’ roster, he is one of the worst players in the NBA. Here are some of his advanced metrics:

Career Box Plus-Minus average (per basketball-reference): -1.1 

• His very best season of BPM was -0.2. As a #1 option the last few seasons as well as playing a significant role on a Finals team, this is not good. 

Win Shares per 48 minutes average (also basketball-reference): .049

• For reference, .049 last season would put him at 167th out of 185 qualified players

DARKO (check out  for explanation): -2.2

• This puts him at 365th out of 429 players

Points per shot attempt percentile each season of his career (per cleaningtheglass):

17-18: 61st percentile

18-19: 30th percentile

19-20: 41st percentile

20-21: 41st percentile

21-22: 20th percentile

22-23: 34th percentile

23-24: 21st percentile

LEBRON metric each season of his career (per )

17-18: -1.37

18-19: 0.52

19-20: 0.02

20-21: -1.56

21-22: -0.59

22-23: -0.32

23-24: -1.76

Additionally, he's a career .337 shooter from three and has not improved at all there. Bad defensive player, high usage/low efficiency, and does not impact winning. The one thing he's got going for him is his contract which would make him lower risk as long as the Kings gave up nearly nothing, but he isn't worth it to me.

This dude believes that both Bane and JJJ are better than both Fox and Sabonis

~Prediction~: 5th seed, beating Memphis in 6, losing to the Thunder in 6 with at least 1 game going into overtime. I think this roster is close to making the Western Conference Finals.

I was not expecting DeMar DeRozan to be the foward Monte traded for. I think we all expected Kuzma, hoping we didn't give up too much, or Lauri, hoping we kept Murray and Ellis. But I think we're all pretty happy with the DeMar for HB and Chris Duarte swap. I know all of us are fearful of the pick stawp in Fox's 13th NBA season. (Man, that's a long time away; we're probably going to be mad about it. lol)

I believe the starting lineup and the closing lineup will be Fox, Ellis, DeRozan, Murray, and Sabonis. (Trey or Carter if defense is needed; Monk or Trey if 3s are needed.)

I think Murray's role will change this season. With DeMars offense, I think with the starting lineup, Murray will focus on defense and rebounding. But I think he'll get extended minutes with Monk against bench units, which is where he'll work on his creation. Bench units will be so focused on stopping Monk from scoring that Murray will get much, much easier shots against lesser competition. And I think DeMar is going to sit more than we expect, and Mike Brown will say, "We need him fresher for the playoffs, and Murray is young and needs the extra work on offense."

I think Fox will get back to scoring, but I'd suggest the Kings media try to keep track of Fox's "hockey assists." I can see a lot of Fox-Sabonis-DeMar kind of plays. Or Fox-Demar-Murray plays in our future. Fox assists may go down slightly, but I think it won't be due to lack of ball movement, but because the guy he's assisting too would be giving up a good shot for a great shot. And the threat of Fox on offense already created an advantage for the 3rd guy because the defense was creeping over to help on Fox and the 3rd king ran away from his defender. Where the guy Fox was assisting finds the open cutter.

I think Carter and Ellis are going to have moments in the playoffs. The energy, the blocked shots, the rebounding. Ellis has proven he can hit the open 3-pointer (41% last season), and Carter has shown he can catch lobs if the wrong defender is in the paint. I think we're going to need a nickname for the Ellis/Carter backcourt. They remind me of an unbelievable secondary in the NFL or the bash brothers in Mighty Ducks 2. We might need a nickname for the Fox/Monk backcourt as well. Because of their speed and athleticism and the lobs they can throw to each other, JETS comes to mind because they're flying. Flying up and down the court, flying through the air. And they always seem to have a GPS to find each other, lol.

No one has signed Kessler Edwards yet. I would 100% resign him. He might be a lesser version of Ellis, but in the forward position. I thought he showed a lot on defense last season and was able to hit open 3s, though his jumper loads kind of slowly. And I love his athleticism and wingspan. He looks like a pterodactyl out there. He looks like he belongs with Herb Jones and Trey Murphy, and we need dudes like that. 

Jordan McLaughlin is here until Devin Carter is healthy, and then I can see McLaughlin being moved. I'm sure Monte is hoping for a late 1st to a contender who needs a backup PG, but probably for 2nd rounder and cash considerations. (Everyone needs a good backup, PG.) 

Over all, this should be a fun season. I hope Fox and Murray learn from DeRozan. How to close, how to get to the elbow, and how to use your body to create the shot you want (especially Fox.) I think the Clippers, Lakers, and Warriors will be worse. I think Buddy Hield is traded at the deadline. (I can see Steph, Draymond, Kerr all being frustrated with him. There is a reason why Philly didn't keep him next to Embiid, PG13, and Maxey.) I think the Rockets still have too many young guys. I think the TWolves are feeling themselves a little bit too much and the disease of me, kicks in a little early. And KAT doesn't fix his mental issues. Which will be frustrating to Edwards. 

I think the Kings win the Pacific division. Lakers, Clippers, Warriors miss the playoffs (top 8) and the Suns are fighting with us for the 5th seed.

I definitely ain’t… no sir-ree.. I definitely am not itching for more news

Long time lurker first time post.

Love me some Keegan Murray!