Sacramento Kings Preseason Media Presser
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 5:56 pm
These never get old! Welcome everyone to another edition of the Sacramento Kings Preseason Media Presser! We had a boring prior season, an exciting offseason, and we’re hoping for a competitive regular upcoming season. As stated, last season was boring. After making it to the Finals but seeing promising star Jeffrey Duren make strides, I decided to rebuild around him rather than use him to build a team. We were definitely a young team, as the Kings may have been the only team to start a whole team of all rookie contracts, as well as the bench.
I saw Duren take the next jump, Small struggle to be the starting PG, Arthur Hardie having a coming out party, and many more, but I was never competitive throughout the season. I was hopeful that I could have a quick turnaround, so I had a plan in place since the start of the playoffs. When the lotto balls gave me the 3rd and 5th pick, the plan had a hiccup. I never expected to get the 1st overall pick, but I did think with the #2 and #3 best odds, I would have a great chance at the 2nd pick. Unfortunately, and fortunately, that didn’t come to fruition.
I reached out to the league-ran Los Angeles Lakers to see if the #1 pick was even available, and was surprised to hear it could be had for a hefty price. The cost of the #3 and #5 pick was steep, but I was not in love with anyone that would make it to the 5th spot. Erik Haynes reminded me too much of Tyson Chandler when he was on my team in the early-to-mid 2000s, so I pulled the trigger and never looked back.
In RFA I gave out a supermax to Jeffrey Duren and maxes to various other players in a very deep and talented pool of guys. Unfortunately, Duren never fully forgave me for sitting him for two seasons and coming off the bench for the third, so he took a 4 year max instead of my 5 year. I also struck out everyone else. It was a quiet RFA period and the message sent to me from Duren was clear.
“Get better. Quick.”
And so I did. Before UFA, we reached out to our good friends in Washington and were able to close a deal that send promising big man Tyron Ferris to the Wizards in exchange for Michael Carter-Williams. Williams fits the versatile role that I love in at least one starting player: he’s tall enough to play the SF position and athletic and skilled enough to play PG. He is a huge boost to the team and is a comfort-type player in case of injuries in the backcourt.
In UFA I decided to split the salary I had available to try and grab two players for expiring deals that could help me compete. I was ecstatic to hear that All League 2nd Team Isaiah Thomas and Spencer Hawes were coming to Sacramento for one big push. Small and Haynes are not ready to start, but they do look like they could contribute off the bench. Having IT and Hawes gives us a strong PG/C combo in addition to Jeffrey Duren on the wing. I was also able to grab a couple of wings as bench guys, but nothing too exciting happened after Round 1 UFA for us.
Ahhhh, training camp. I remember on the honeymoon to Yosemite National Forest, we were going through the main valley and kept getting warnings that certain roads were closed due to wildfires. We asked if they were being put out, and the conservancy explained that in the past, locals and firefighters used to put out fires in the forest to protect the trees and wildlife, but decades later they learned they were doing more harm than good for the national park. The burning death of thousands of acres provided opportunities for younger trees to finally get more light from the sun, which they did not get when the bigger trees were up. From then on, natural forest fires were allowed to burn without intervention.
We allowed training camp to burn the roster, save for the future trio core of Duren, Small and Haynes. The rest was up to the sim league gawds to decide upon. Though players like Don Houghton, Jamey Brown, Billie Billy and Michael Carter-Williams got hit, we believe their hits were the fuel to boost the core trio to A+ camps.
The future is bright, and we have the pieces to at least be competitive now. We hope to make the playoffs, that is our only goal at the moment. With many new pieces, it is tough to get a good game plan and lineup ready at a moments notice. We hope to finish strong and make waves as the young guys continue to grow.
I saw Duren take the next jump, Small struggle to be the starting PG, Arthur Hardie having a coming out party, and many more, but I was never competitive throughout the season. I was hopeful that I could have a quick turnaround, so I had a plan in place since the start of the playoffs. When the lotto balls gave me the 3rd and 5th pick, the plan had a hiccup. I never expected to get the 1st overall pick, but I did think with the #2 and #3 best odds, I would have a great chance at the 2nd pick. Unfortunately, and fortunately, that didn’t come to fruition.
I reached out to the league-ran Los Angeles Lakers to see if the #1 pick was even available, and was surprised to hear it could be had for a hefty price. The cost of the #3 and #5 pick was steep, but I was not in love with anyone that would make it to the 5th spot. Erik Haynes reminded me too much of Tyson Chandler when he was on my team in the early-to-mid 2000s, so I pulled the trigger and never looked back.
In RFA I gave out a supermax to Jeffrey Duren and maxes to various other players in a very deep and talented pool of guys. Unfortunately, Duren never fully forgave me for sitting him for two seasons and coming off the bench for the third, so he took a 4 year max instead of my 5 year. I also struck out everyone else. It was a quiet RFA period and the message sent to me from Duren was clear.
“Get better. Quick.”
And so I did. Before UFA, we reached out to our good friends in Washington and were able to close a deal that send promising big man Tyron Ferris to the Wizards in exchange for Michael Carter-Williams. Williams fits the versatile role that I love in at least one starting player: he’s tall enough to play the SF position and athletic and skilled enough to play PG. He is a huge boost to the team and is a comfort-type player in case of injuries in the backcourt.
In UFA I decided to split the salary I had available to try and grab two players for expiring deals that could help me compete. I was ecstatic to hear that All League 2nd Team Isaiah Thomas and Spencer Hawes were coming to Sacramento for one big push. Small and Haynes are not ready to start, but they do look like they could contribute off the bench. Having IT and Hawes gives us a strong PG/C combo in addition to Jeffrey Duren on the wing. I was also able to grab a couple of wings as bench guys, but nothing too exciting happened after Round 1 UFA for us.
Ahhhh, training camp. I remember on the honeymoon to Yosemite National Forest, we were going through the main valley and kept getting warnings that certain roads were closed due to wildfires. We asked if they were being put out, and the conservancy explained that in the past, locals and firefighters used to put out fires in the forest to protect the trees and wildlife, but decades later they learned they were doing more harm than good for the national park. The burning death of thousands of acres provided opportunities for younger trees to finally get more light from the sun, which they did not get when the bigger trees were up. From then on, natural forest fires were allowed to burn without intervention.
We allowed training camp to burn the roster, save for the future trio core of Duren, Small and Haynes. The rest was up to the sim league gawds to decide upon. Though players like Don Houghton, Jamey Brown, Billie Billy and Michael Carter-Williams got hit, we believe their hits were the fuel to boost the core trio to A+ camps.
The future is bright, and we have the pieces to at least be competitive now. We hope to make the playoffs, that is our only goal at the moment. With many new pieces, it is tough to get a good game plan and lineup ready at a moments notice. We hope to finish strong and make waves as the young guys continue to grow.