Sacramento Kings Preseason Media Presser

[NOLa.]

Welcome to yet another edition of the patented Sacramento Kings Preseason Media Presser. I've had an interesting offseason, which turns out isn't actually a good thing, so I'll recap real quick the previous season and move on from there.

Last season, my team exceed everyone's expectations, including my own. We not only competed for the Pacific division, but we won it outright. We were rewarded the #1 overall seed in the Western Conference and went on to defeat the Spurs, Clippers, and Nuggets until we were eventually defeated in Game 6 of the Finals against the Hawks.

Going into the offseason, we knew we weren't going to be big movers in the draft. We were able to snag JaMychal Green, a PF who can stretch the court and rebound. He isn't a franchise-changer, but we were happy that he received a small boost in training camp, and could be a nice backup if he develops right. After the draft, we accepted Greg Monroe's qualifying offer for RFA.

BUT IT TURNS OUT I FORGOT TO PAY MY TAX!

So I couldn't retain Greg Monroe but I did have a shot in UFA. Okay, that's fine. I handed out contracts to a lot of the available RFA's with my newly acquired cap space and landed Jeremy Lin and Hassan Whiteside. Needless to say, they were both accepted and I came out with no one. But that's okay, I have a shot at Greg Monroe!

Until he was maxed. Gone. Monroe is gone.

But I signed Tyson Chandler! Only to trade him away almost immediately to the Sonics for a pick.

So far, not so good.

In the end, I was able to send Chandler Parsons and John Henson to the Knicks for Vucevic and another pick to collect. Parsons and Henson played a huge part on my team last season, but with the band broken up, I decided it was time to send the remaining pieces elsewhere. Except, Collison is still here. For now.

I don't expect much from this team and I am currently in the process of a rebuild. Hopefully, I'll land on my feet this go-around, and I have slightly better luck than my last time. I am gambling on the college draft not being a total waste, so we will see how it goes.

Floor is open.

[digiskunk]

Despite losing Greg Monroe, you were able to acquire high-caliber players such as Hassan Whiteside and Jeremy Lin. Do you feel that you're better off now than you were before these deals? Why or why not?

[Inner_GI]

Despite losing Greg Monroe, you were able to acquire high-caliber players such as Hassan Whiteside and Jeremy Lin. Do you feel that you're better off now than you were before these deals? Why or why not?

Jeremy Lin plays for the Knicks

[NOLa.]

Despite losing Greg Monroe, you were able to acquire high-caliber players such as Hassan Whiteside and Jeremy Lin. Do you feel that you're better off now than you were before these deals? Why or why not?

Yeah I would feel pretty good if they were on my team, but at the moment they are sadly on their incumbent teams respectively.

I have two Nikolas though. Seems like a popular name lately.


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[Inner_GI]

WHAT THE Frye DID YOU POISON PARSONS WITH? UNDISCLOSED INJURY. I THINK YOU OWE THE KNICKS THEIR 10 POINTS BACK!

[NOLa.]

WHAT THE Frye DID YOU POISON PARSONS WITH? UNDISCLOSED INJURY. I THINK YOU OWE THE KNICKS THEIR 10 POINTS BACK!

Broken heart syndrome. He missed it during sim calls when I screamed GET HEEM PARSONS.

I hope he recovers quickly in upcoming training camps. He was a great player for me last season and I hope he can produce for you what he is capable of.


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[digiskunk]

Despite losing Greg Monroe, you were able to acquire high-caliber players such as Hassan Whiteside and Jeremy Lin. Do you feel that you're better off now than you were before these deals? Why or why not?

Yeah I would feel pretty good if they were on my team, but at the moment they are sadly on their incumbent teams respectively.

I have two Nikolas though. Seems like a popular name lately.


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lmfao my bad, i reaaaally <expletive deleted> this one up haha

oh well i tried!

[garbageman]

Had you landed Greg Monroe, do you think your team would have been better equipped to win a championship with the Hawks reloading and having a solid training camp...not to mention other rising teams in both the East and the West?

And as a followup on Monroe, given his training camp, is he worth the max now?

[JNR]

GWR: Is Reggie Jackson ready to lead this team through the rebuild?

[NickMalone77]

Nick Melon; The Advocate: Was losing Greg Monroe the turning point to deciding to blow up the roster or did it come earlier after losing to the Hawks in the finals.

[NOLa.]

Had you landed Greg Monroe, do you think your team would have been better equipped to win a championship with the Hawks reloading and having a solid training camp...not to mention other rising teams in both the East and the West?

And as a followup on Monroe, given his training camp, is he worth the max now?

I don't have a way of knowing what would have happened if I was able to accept Monroes qualifying offer. I believe he still gets maxed, because RFA gives the other teams in the league a "safety net" that even though they may overbid on a guy, the original team can still match a bad offer. In UFA there is no net, so if you offer a contract you need to be happy with it.

Had I retained Monroe, I may have retained Chandler and Foye and made one more push with my own developing guys like Noel, Parsons, Jackson and Henson. From there, I think I could have put myself in the best situation I could to compete for the Pacific division.

I would place a max bid on Monroe given his current potentials, yes.


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[NOLa.]

GWR: Is Reggie Jackson ready to lead this team through the rebuild?

We are very excited to see Jackson grow, however, he may be more of a role player this season. We will test out his minutes but he's a volume shooter. Being undeveloped, he hurts the team when he's chucking shots. Don't be surprised to see Jackson coming off the bench this season if we have to find a defensive guy at SG.


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[Bowtothebill23]

First of all, I wanna congratulate you on an excellent season. It's really an honor to be voted a top 3 GM in a season, and I know you must be thrilled. How much of a factor did the Warriors' potential this year contribute to your deciding to rebuild?

[JNR]

First of all, I wanna congratulate you on an excellent season. It's really an honor to be voted a top 3 GM in a season, and I know you must be thrilled. How much of a factor did the Warriors' potential this year contribute to your deciding to rebuild?

You're the wind beneath our wings Ben.

[NOLa.]

First of all, I wanna congratulate you on an excellent season. It's really an honor to be voted a top 3 GM in a season, and I know you must be thrilled. How much of a factor did the Warriors' potential this year contribute to your deciding to rebuild?

In other news, the Oakland salt factory bursted upon the cumulation of playoffs results and training camp.





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[kucoach7]

Do you expect to keep Pekovic around or do you plan to break up the Nikolas before the end of the season?

[NOLa.]

Nick Melon; The Advocate: Was losing Greg Monroe the turning point to deciding to blow up the roster or did it come earlier after losing to the Hawks in the finals.

Losing to the Hawks in the Finals was definitely not a factor. There was a mix of reasons why I decided to change directions.

The biggest was losing Monroe for nothing. My starting PF was replaced with maybe $4mil in cap space without his rookie contract in the books and that's it. It wasn't losing Monroe in UFA, it was not having the right to accept/decline a contract for Monroe in RFA.

The second factor was only signing Chandler in UFA and not signing a few key guys in round 1. Round 1 is the single most important round of free agency, including RFA. After that round, I rescinded by offer for Foye and traded Chandler away to the Sonics.

Had the first round gone differently, even losing Monroe, I would have tried to compete one more year.


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[IamQuailman]

Walk us through your RFA experience. For a hot minute your team could have been on the up and up for years to come. Looking back, do you wish there would have been a way to keep Whiteside and Lin?

Sent from my Phone
No Trade List: Hornets

[NOLa.]

Do you expect to keep Pekovic around or do you plan to break up the Nikolas before the end of the season?

Pekovic is wearing a Kings uniform but he has no ties here, even if he plays out his contract. He's a good player, but we are pretty set at center and will look to use him as a trade chip for either salary purposes, or shipping him to a contender in need of a nice value big man.

Nikola Vucevic has been bonding with him, though. It was something I was afraid of bless his kind heart.


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[IamQuailman]

Follow up question, are you really blessing his heart?

Sent from my Phone
No Trade List: Hornets

[78#]

How much were you willing to offer Monroe compared to what he got from the Hornets? Does the preseason you guys had give you any hope for the season?

[ballsohard]

Why is all your staff dressed in black ?

[NOLa.]

Walk us through your RFA experience. For a hot minute your team could have been on the up and up for years to come. Looking back, do you wish there would have been a way to keep Whiteside and Lin?

Sent from my Phone
No Trade List: Hornets

I do wonder what could have been had I won both or either of those players. It would have impacted my bids for round 1 of UFA and possibly the rest of the season. Both have bright futures and will be the face of their franchises for the foreseeable future.


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[NOLa.]

How much were you willing to offer Monroe compared to what he got from the Hornets? Does the preseason you guys had give you any hope for the season?

If this was RFA, I was willing to match up to $16.5mil starting.

In UFA, I offered $13.5mil for 5 years at 12.5% increases.

Preseason was fake news. Unless Collison goes god mode and both the Nikolas' can compete against any front court, we aren't going to win much.


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