Sacramento Kings Preseason Media Presser
Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2020 9:33 pm
Hello everyone and welcome once again to another Sacramento Kings Preseason Media Presser! We’ve had an exciting offseason after a better-than-expected regular season, though it was nothing to be impressed about.
Last season we started the season running a lot of our young guys and making deals to offload some veterans to gain mainly points. I really liked the core of players I had and realized I needed points for much needed trainings. We were very happy with the trades and even brought in Lopez to help win us a few games. After the All Star break we were nearly a .500 team to finish the season and not an easy guaranteed win, but we still have a lot of progress to make.
We went into the offseason with a solid core, cap space, and potentially a decent pick in a weak draft. We were very fortunate to obtain the 2nd pick in the draft and drafted Kuykendall. While he has some weaknesses on defense, we decided to draft the best available player and loved his athleticism and offensive ability. Our idea is he can be a potential scoring option off the bench for now and think he can be an efficient scorer because of his athleticism. In a draft of limited options after the clear #1 I think we made the right choice.
In RFA we had a bunch of money we needed to spend and hopes to be in a position to make a play for a decent player. We won the bid for Roderick Pastor on the Bucks but a deal that made sense for both couldn’t be made. I had hoped to build up the courage and make a move for a blockbuster trade, but felt the team wasn’t ready to win just yet and the young guys needed more time.
In UFA we decided we were weak in the front court with only Addington and made a play for several players, along with a few other sure-maxes. Although we didn’t get a star we were hoping for, we did sign Miguel Thomas, Bertram Pugh, and Norris Radd. We are excited to see what these players can bring on the court for the team and felt we did a great job getting starters in the front court. These were our only big moves, but it was just enough to pump some optimism into our team.
Training camp went well for a team full of young players. Lynch was hit but insurance saved him, with the only unfortunate part being his gains were modest. We were hoping for more but we will take the insurance save as a huge win for the offseason. The stars Hayes and Dorian has excellent camps both in the top 20 in gains league wide and we can’t wait to see how these two shape up by their second contracts. They are starting to look like serious contenders for starter minutes. Addington was a surprise giant improver and has cemented the backup C spot with his inside scoring, defense, and rebounding that is coming along. Kuykendall improves where he has potentials and didn’t improve much elsewhere. His TC enforced the idea that he may not be a reliable starter, but can be an option off the bench to add much needed offense to the team. Miguel, Pugh, and Radd all survived with smalls gains, which was probably the biggest win for TC. Nothing is worse than paying a player and taking an immediate hit.
We hope to finish at or above a .500 record. While it will be tough and the division looks just as dominant as they have been in the past, I think the Kings can become the type of team that isn’t a cakewalk and surprise some.
The floor is open for questions and thank you in advance for your time and participation
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Last season we started the season running a lot of our young guys and making deals to offload some veterans to gain mainly points. I really liked the core of players I had and realized I needed points for much needed trainings. We were very happy with the trades and even brought in Lopez to help win us a few games. After the All Star break we were nearly a .500 team to finish the season and not an easy guaranteed win, but we still have a lot of progress to make.
We went into the offseason with a solid core, cap space, and potentially a decent pick in a weak draft. We were very fortunate to obtain the 2nd pick in the draft and drafted Kuykendall. While he has some weaknesses on defense, we decided to draft the best available player and loved his athleticism and offensive ability. Our idea is he can be a potential scoring option off the bench for now and think he can be an efficient scorer because of his athleticism. In a draft of limited options after the clear #1 I think we made the right choice.
In RFA we had a bunch of money we needed to spend and hopes to be in a position to make a play for a decent player. We won the bid for Roderick Pastor on the Bucks but a deal that made sense for both couldn’t be made. I had hoped to build up the courage and make a move for a blockbuster trade, but felt the team wasn’t ready to win just yet and the young guys needed more time.
In UFA we decided we were weak in the front court with only Addington and made a play for several players, along with a few other sure-maxes. Although we didn’t get a star we were hoping for, we did sign Miguel Thomas, Bertram Pugh, and Norris Radd. We are excited to see what these players can bring on the court for the team and felt we did a great job getting starters in the front court. These were our only big moves, but it was just enough to pump some optimism into our team.
Training camp went well for a team full of young players. Lynch was hit but insurance saved him, with the only unfortunate part being his gains were modest. We were hoping for more but we will take the insurance save as a huge win for the offseason. The stars Hayes and Dorian has excellent camps both in the top 20 in gains league wide and we can’t wait to see how these two shape up by their second contracts. They are starting to look like serious contenders for starter minutes. Addington was a surprise giant improver and has cemented the backup C spot with his inside scoring, defense, and rebounding that is coming along. Kuykendall improves where he has potentials and didn’t improve much elsewhere. His TC enforced the idea that he may not be a reliable starter, but can be an option off the bench to add much needed offense to the team. Miguel, Pugh, and Radd all survived with smalls gains, which was probably the biggest win for TC. Nothing is worse than paying a player and taking an immediate hit.
We hope to finish at or above a .500 record. While it will be tough and the division looks just as dominant as they have been in the past, I think the Kings can become the type of team that isn’t a cakewalk and surprise some.
The floor is open for questions and thank you in advance for your time and participation
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk