I’ve Never Been More Confident in De’Aaron Fox Than I Am Now | Locked On Kings

I’ve Never Been More Confident in De’Aaron Fox Than I Am Now | Locked On Kings

on today’s show I’ll share with you why I have never had more confidence in dear and fox than I do right now plus we’ll discuss our overall confidence level in the king’s second unit and Bleacher Report put out a hypothetical Kings Trade involving the Brooklyn Nets that has me very intrigued I’ll explain right here on lockon Kings you are locked on Kings your daily Sacramento Kings podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day and now ladies and gentlemen it is that time time for another episode of Locked on Kings hello and welcome into lockon Kings your podcast hub for Sacramento Kings coverage all offseason long today’s episode is BR to you by LinkedIn jobs which will help me find the qualified candidates that you want to talk to Master post your job for free at linkedin.com lockon NBA that’s linkedin.com lockon NBA to post your job for free terms and conditions apply my name is Matt George I have the privilege of being your host here I’m a Sacramento Sports Anchor and reporter for ABC 10 news and before we get to anything Sacramento Kings there’s something I have to do oh the Los Angeles Lakers got rejected Dan Hurley said you know what I’d rather stay at Yukon where I can actually win things than to go to Los Angeles and be a part of the next leg of the Los Angeles Lakers trying to hold on for dear life with their yesterday’s players no disrespect to to to LeBron James no disrespect to Anthony Davis they’ve got some of the greatest players ever to play the game on that roster but their time is past the time of the NBA now belongs to the Anthony Edwards of the world to the Shay gild Alexanders to the Luca dones the LeBron and AD era of greatness is essentially over Dan Hurley sees the riding on the wall he’s won two back-to-back national championships with the Yukon Huskies the money ain’t worth it to come to Hollywood to be at the helm of a sinking ship so ah any uh any Lakers struggles is always happy for us here on the lockon Kings podcast anyway now that we’ve gotten that out of the way now that I’m done being petty let’s talk about dearon Fox I’ve been teasing this podcast for weeks right why do I have more confidence in de’arra Fox right now going into next season than I ever had before and I was sitting before I even thought about this as a podcast I was having a conversation with a number of actually friends of mine when talking about the Sacramento Kings and I think it’s a fair question still to question question if dearon Fox can be a superstar on a championship team right I don’t think he’s done enough to 100% prove that he is that guy it’s fair to acknowledge that while also having confidence in his ability to get there he’s not there yet but in my opinion there’s no reason to believe that he can’t get there and he can’t be that guy so after I had that conversation with those guys I I I went home and I was thinking about it more and more I was thinking why do I feel so confident in dearon right now the Kings just missed the playoffs dearon believe it or not even though it felt like the kings dealt with more injury issues last season than the season before dearon actually played more games last season than the season before he had his incredible start of the Season his slump in the middle of the season ended on a high note we know what happened uh in the playin tournament but he was very good against the Golden State Warriors to help eliminate them from the playin in Sacramento so putting all this together and thinking about all of it plus his circumstances with his contract and everything I just came up with a list of reasons for why I feel like dear’s going to play his best season and go into the best season of his career and more importantly he’s going to lead the Sacramento Kings further than they’ve ever gone before I should say under in in his era um the furthest they’ve ever gone since like the Chris Weber era I think is what’s going to happen this season led by dearen Fox and one of the immediate reasons for that actually has a lot to do with his teammates Keon Ellis is the first name that comes to mind Keon and I think this this king’s defensive system that they figured out and established in the final third of last season that there’s no reason to believe it’s not going to carry over into this year they have their defensive Focus they know they can play a physical brand of basketball and they feel that they can replicate it and play that way for an entire 82 game regular season whether it’s game one in October game 40 something in January or the end of the season around playoff time they believe that the way they they they played defensively to end last season can be who they are night in and night out that takes a tremendous amount of pressure off of dearon fox two seasons ago the kings were making their push and finally ending the playoffs playing playoff the drought excuse me fourth quarter time and a large portion of the game before that but especially fourth quarter time if there was a star guard on the opposing roster and pretty much every team in the league has a star guard dearon Fox was the guy guarding him not out of just sheer competitiveness and willpower from Fox although that definitely existed because the Kings needed him to their only other similar on ball Defender was Davon Mitchell but Davon Mitchell at that time was really struggling to find his fit especially on the offensive end of the Florida remember we’re talking about two seasons ago when the Kings led the league in offense so offense was their identity right dear was was the guy guarding Steph dearon was the guy guarding Dame dearon was the guy guarding Kyrie that was his job out of necessity the Kings needed him to do it at the end of last season they could throw Keon they could still throw Fox when they wanted to and fox asked for it from time to time they could throw Davon like the Kings now at least before they make any changes to their roster and I’m of the belief that they will make defensive improvements to their roster this season they have to but even as the roster stands right now there are more options defensively for Sacramento that takes some of the pressure off of dear’s shoulders that serves two purposes one for a a game by game basis that opens up dear to focus more on the offensive end of the floor where he is a great right or where if the kings are going to get a superstar caliber dearon fox or an MVP caliber dearon Fox is going to be scoring the basketball amongst his his other things but the Kings I think need Fox to continue to elevate himself to that Superstar caliber score and we saw it in flashes last season but not through an entire season right taking some of his load off on the defensive end night in Night Out helps him to do that but from the full Grand scale and grand scheme of things to have him still be a large part and take a lot of the responsibility for how the kings are going to play defense but for for him to not necessarily be the foundation or the focal point or the Workhorse on the defensive end every single night I think that helps his durability and more importantly I think that helps that Gap in the season that he’s had consistently in his career right we’ve mentioned the hot starts we’ve mentioned the the hot uh finishing de Seasons but in the middle of the Season typically will see dearn slump a little bit whether it’s because of fatigue it’s because of he he’s banged up which a large portion of the Season Fox plays banged up and bumped and bruised just because of the kind of player that fox is but those middle those Dog Days of the Season months dear T typically takes a step back a little bit I think a portion of that is because of fatigue if he’s getting more defensive help across the board from his teammates and has guys like Keon Ellis that he can line up with every single night and Keon is responsible for taking the primary defensive role for the majority of those minutes that I think I mean I don’t see a way that that doesn’t help dear and fox play at a more consistent high level for the course of 82 games I think a big portion of a big reason why I’m so confident in dearon 2 is last season we saw the true emergence of dear’s three-point game right but there was still portions of the Season where it felt dear was over reliant on the three-point shot then there were games where he didn’t shoot it enough it felt like Fox realized like he he he added this tool to his bag right but he was trying to figure out how to most effectively use it his three-point percentage went up from 32% to 37% his volume increased from five threes a game to just shy of eight 7.8 threo attempts per game now it’s about finding the balance not just as a three-point shooter but as a three-level scorer because when he won clutch player of the year two seasons ago he was Lethal at the mid-range and he kind of took a dip with his mid-range shooting because of the elevation of his three-point shot he also hasn’t been getting to the rim and finishing around the rim as much as he did to start his career I think a large portion of that too is because he gets clobbered every time he goes to the rim and doesn’t get to the foul line as much as he should but Fox truly adding that three-point shot to his game and having a year of it under his belt plus another offseason to work with Luke LS who’s largely responsible for the elevation of that three-point shot I think Fox will have a better understanding of how to use that three-point shot and how to build it into his I mean his ability to be a three-level scorer an unguardable three-level scorer at the NBA level is right in front of him like he’s said and he’s right he can get whatever shot he wants there are certain defenders in the league that are going to work hard to stay in front of him they definitely exist but Fox should be basically unguardable cuz he can beat you at all three levels he just has to find a way to be most effective at all three levels and not sacrifice one for for the other on any and every given night I think the recommitment to Mike Brown matters a lot to dear and Fox as well one because Fox when he early in his first season working with Mike Brown he talked a lot about how he finally has a coach that’s coaching him the way he wants to be coached right but think about what fox has been through in his career here in Sacramento he’s been through a lot of coaching changes he’s been through inconsistencies throughout the organ ganization so while we as a fan base are relieved to see a coach get a second contract for the first time in damn near 20 years imagine how reliefed he is as the guy that’s working with that coach every day to see okay we’ve made progress we’re moving in the right direction this organization committed to someone that I believe in and therefore by proxy committed to me and what we’re doing here I think that matters to Fox now I’m not in dear’s head I don’t know dear personally to level where I can text him or or or have a psychological conversation with him and get an idea of how much that matters to him and how much that matters to his family but I have to imagine that his roots are dug here in Sacramento not just as a player who is committed to playing in front of this fan base and committed to playing in Sacramento and really worn Sacramento on his sleeve from the second he was drafted here I mean he’s got a family here he’s got his lovely life wife Reay rain and then they just announced that they’re uh they’re having their second child together right Fox’s roots are here in Sacramento he’s committed to this city I think it also helps him to fight as hard as he can for this city on a nightly basis when he sees the organization that he’s working for kind of shed some of their past continue to move away from what they were and commit to a guy that he supports that supports him and that is ultimately trying to get this team out of their dark historic past so I think Mike Brown getting a contract extension does really matter to dearon Fox and I think we’ll see the way he plays and the way he approaches his game be a positive reflection of that he’s got two seasons remaining on his deal this is important the Sacramento Kings did make an offer this season to extend his contract he ultimately turned it down it’s not because he has second thoughts about playing for the Sacramento Kings it’s because well that we know of it’s because money right he’s eligible to make a lot more money how does he do that well he’s now going into his eth season in the league so a Max contract is based upon your seniority essentially so between your first six se in your first six seasons in the league a Max contract that you’re El eligible for is 25% of the cap of course we know the cap is going to continue to go up and up and up and up especially with a new TV deal coming Deen Fox knows what that that alone a higher percent uh the the cap getting higher means more chunk of change that he’s eligible to get but because he’s now past his six year he’s in going into season 8 he’s now eligible for a Max contract at base 30% of the cap I should say Max 30% of the cap however more can be added on top of that based off of your performance that’s where we talk about making the all NBA team that’s why Anthony Edwards and and um uh Ty hurn are going to each make $45 million more total on their deals because they both made all NBA teams this year granted they’re signing their second deals Darren Fox will be signing his third I think so you have the all NBA opportunities he can also get paid for winning the MVP Defensive Player of the Year stuff like that that’s a little less likely I think than all NBA but regardless you have the cap going up with the new TV deal and the Cap’s going to keep going up every single year so he gets 30% of whatever the cap is at the time that he resigns plus potentially another all NBA nod that adds more money to what he can make so I say all that to say dearon Fox’s payday and the money that he makes is performance-based the better he performs the more money he can potentially get I don’t know how much money is a motivating factor for dear I have to imagine like all of us he wants to make more money if it’s available to him so if you add that to there’s ‘s the competitiveness factor of wanting to win there’s the Loyalty factor of resigning Mike Brown and now you have the financial factor of the better I play the more money I’m eligible to make uh in a a couple of Seasons or whenever they decide to uh to make that extension finally to me there’s absolutely no question about the competitiveness of dearon fox he’s a competitive dude that comes out in his trash talking on the floor and that comes out in his leader ship style which is a lead by example style now there are fair questions to be asked about dear as a leader fair questions 100% we’ve been asking him really his entire career here in Sacramento do the kings need more of a vocal leader than dear’s willing to be but dear’s leadership is by example that’s certainly not a bad trait to have and it certainly is is e easier for some teammates and some guys to follow Dr when he’s willing to do the work especially on the defensive end right if the kings are trying to commit to giving 110% on defense every possession all 24 seconds of the shot clock every single night if dearon Fox isn’t willing to do it why the hell would the rest of the roster be but dearon is he’s a leader by example his competitiveness he wants to win 100% never in doubt Fox knows that this team is close and he made that apparent through his his comments at the end of the season I was in New Orleans I was in New Orleans after they lost to the Pelicans for the sixth time in the same year and they were eliminated from playoff contention and fox was disappointed some people have problems with Fox’s aloofness after games he doesn’t sometimes he wears his emotions on his sleeve he used to do that years ago and people didn’t like that at that time now dearon fox has more kind of of an aloofness of like it’s over it’s done with I got to move on some people have a problem with that but dear’s comments that night were we’re not a bad team like we weren’t a bad team we won 46 games the West just was what it was and we had unfortunate injuries we lost some games at times that were timely mistakes so dearon knows this king’s team is close I think dearon is also aware that in addition to roster improvements he has to be better he said as much he needs to be better and the kings taking that next step towards ultimately contending a lot of that falls upon his shoulders to take that next step in his career I was talking to uh Chris Peterman recently from the Sacramento beat covers the Sacramento Kings is a great job good friend here of the podcast and Chris and I were talking about how some players like are are are are psychotic like they’re sociopaths and in the way that like Michael Jordan Michael Jordan was a freak Kobe Bryant was a freak like they were like I will not let you beat me like I am so competitive almost to an unhealthy level that I’m driven to do whatever it freaking takes to win I think it’s fair to question whether or not d has that element is he motivated by his family off the court is he motivated by other things other than just purely winning and beating the guy in front of him but I do believe that dearon cares wholeheartedly about winning that his goals are set on a title and not just being a perennial playoff team and collecting a pay paycheck and being the man here in Sacramento I don’t think that’s enough for him again I’m haven’t had this conversation with him so I can’t say for sure I’m just based off of my work around him and covering him his entire career I think I have a decent idea of what his motivation are plus talking to other people about him who know him better than I do you put all that together his competitiveness the financial aspect Mike Brown coming back his three-point shot the defense and his teammate’s ability to help take some of that defensive load I have full I I’ve never truly never been more confident in dearn Fox this next season I think we’re going to see another level of dearn we saw the burst of it at the beginning of last year where he was averaging 30 points a game and he was scoring with the best of the best in the league I think what we saw at the start of last season we’re going to see for the majority of next season and like I said before and like we saw in the playoffs two years ago when Fox gets to that stage he will shine he will shine he did he will he can still get better and that should be scary for the rest of the league today’s episode of the lock on Kings podcast is brought to you by eBay Motors passion drive and and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors is everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you’re into speed power or style eBay Motors has got you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you’ll always find exactly what you’re looking for and with eBay guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or you get your money back because with eBay Motors you’re burning rubber not burning cash with all the parts that you need at the prices that you want it’s easy to make your car the MVP and bring home some huge wins keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com elgible items only exclusions apply eBay guaranteed fit only available to us customers I remember last off season when we knew for the most part that the kings are going to be running it back they made some additions Chris Duarte Sasha venkov Javale McGee and it was all in the interest of improving the king’s second unit improving that bench unit it’s fair to say outside of Mal monk the king’s bench unit was inconsistent except for they were consistently disappointing right I did not I was not pleased and not happy more often than not with how the bench unit played the kings were heavily heavily reliant on their starters pretty much on a nightly basis which there’s a certain level of understanding to that but your bench unit is important how impactful they are when the Kings got good uh input from their bench and good performances from their bench typically they won right and they should be getting that I think more often than they got last season so we’re taking I I want to take a look at the king’s current bench unit these guys aren’t guaranteed to be here next season but we’re going to look at this current bench unit and we’re going to talk about which guys we have confidence in that we think are trustworthy and which guys we don’t necessarily trust let’s start with the trustworthy guys the first one that jumps off the page and I don’t need to talk about him more than 10 seconds is Malik monk I’m of the belief that if Malik monk comes back there’s a very very good chance that Malik will be a starter I’m of the camp that I think Malik just should be a starter and you figure out how to stagger your rotations to where you can still get him a lot of run with that second unit if you need to if Mike still feels and if Malik’s okay resigning in Sacramento and still coming off the bench and competing for the Sixth Man of the Year that he should have won twice by now if he’s okay with that so be it I don’t know what his motivations are but whether it’s coming off the bench or starting I’m 100% okay with Malik monk right Trey ly Trey L had a disappointing year he spoke last summer about how eager he was to return to the Sacramento Kings and the Kings brought him back on a two-year deal unfortunately he dealt with some nagging injuries a lot last season started the season with the I think it was an ankle injury um got banged up again in the middle of the Season train never was at the level and got to the level where he was at the year before that being said he’s still in my trustworthy category like was Trey good enough last season no is Trey good enough to be the Sixth Man on a championship team I don’t think so but seventh or eighth option absolutely Trey La is a is a good guy for that spot I also think Trey LS is capable of helping this Kings team win in the postseason he’s versatile he fits well with what the Kings do he spaces the floor he can rebound the basketball he can put the ball on the floor and attack the basket when he wants to I think I I trust Trey L and he’s going into one last year of his career I know I’ve brought his name up in hypothetical trade talks especially with the Washington Wizards for Kyle kosma because he’s an expiring deal that’s not because I want to move Trey La that’s because Trey has an expiring contract and the Kings don’t have a whole lot of those so if teams are looking for expiring Trey is going to be one of the guys that’s naturally brought up in those conversations but it’s not out of a desire to trade Trey L as long as Tre is a Sacramento King I’m okay with that Davon Mitchell changed for me and I’ve been very very transparent with this I was not a believer in Davon Mitchell in fact a good portion of the through last season I was ready for it to be done I thought the experiment was over I thought yeah include Davon Mitchell in a trade package either at the trade deadline or this summer get him out of here it’s not working he does have value he’s a good Defender use him and picks or whatever the hell you need to attach him to to go out and get an upgrade I was of that belief I thought the ship had sailed then the Kings figured something out and by the Kings figuring something out they also put Davon Mitchell in a significantly better situation to succeed they gave him more consistent playing time Mitchell found out how to be more effective on the offensive end of the floor and because he was able to stay on the floor we saw more of that defensive impact that off night is known for right so Davon Mitchell if who he was at the end of last season he doesn’t even have to get that much better let’s say like his career is nightly what he was for the Sacramento Kings to end last season if that’s the case he’s a trustworthy guy and I’m happy to have him coming off my bench finally Alex Len now Alex Len is trustworthy within the Realms and of his role I don’t think Alex Len is a guy that you’re looking at to really be a massive bench piece on a championship team but Alex Len is freaking reliable you know exactly what you’re going to get he comes in and always stays ready gives you the exact same things he rebounds he sets really good screens he doesn’t necessarily block shots as much as maybe a big should I don’t know but mikee Brown also doesn’t value block shots but he changes shots right he takes up room in the paint he clogs the paint he is a presence out there he always stays ready he’s cheap he’s a hard worker he’s cheap meaning he’s his contract is not very expensive I mean as long as Alex Len is a member of the Sacramento Kings I’m 100% okay with it even if it’s as a depth piece even if he doesn’t play for a large majority of the Season how having a player like Alex that you can call on at any time I think is reliable I think that’s why Mike Brown likes him I think that’s why the Sacramento Kings should have interest in keeping him around there’s only really two names on my untrustworthy Talent list I guess I could kind of add a third with Kessler Edwards but I think we know what Kessler is he’s a good Wing Defender that struggles with consistencies of three-point shots and therefore is going to struggle to find consistent playing time but he’s not a a bad depth piece to have and realistically we know what to expect from him Sasha V zenov and Chris Duarte we have higher expectations than what they delivered of course in the case of Sasha venkov who we talked about a lot on the last podcast because there’s conflicting reports now that the Kings have informed Sasha that they don’t want him to come back and Sasha has informed the kings that he doesn’t want to come back whatever the situation the reality is the bottom line is like the Sasha venkov experiment hasn’t worked and it sounds like both sides are recognizing that and in routes to a breakup Sasha whether remains with the Sacramento Kings are not there are too many question marks about Sasha on the defensive end of the floor offensively he is gifted I think the Kings misused him a lot of times and he could have been better that being said is he reliable is he trustworthy I don’t know because I really haven’t seen enough yet and I also know that Sasha is who he is at this point in his career late 20s like he’s not a young rookie or young second-year player who he is is who he is and if that doesn’t mesh with what Mike Brown and the kings are doing so be it Chris Duarte is a young player has dealt with injury issues that have held him back a little bit early on in his career I know the kings were very excited about bringing him in as was I Chris Duarte was a foul Merchant on the defensive end of the floor he fouled way too much offensively he was very inconsistent with this three-point shot and even though he had two different cracks during the preseason and the regular season at taking a starting spot he never really could hold it because he wasn’t good enough to hold it I don’t mind if either of those two guys are on the Kings roster next season I do mind if either of those two guys are on the roster with the expectation that they’re going to be an important part of the second unit if they are then the king second unit is not good enough then I have the could they work category Harrison Barnes Kevin herder and Kobe Jones I’m not going to talk about this as much as I wanted to one for timing purposes and two because I think this could be a completely different podcast by itself so I’m just going to touch base on it very quickly and I’ll go into more details in a future episode later this offseason do I think Harrison Barnes could work as a bench player absolutely 100% I think he’d be a valuable player to have off your bench what does that role look like that’s to be determined do I think Kevin herder could be a good bench player for the Sacramento Kings I have more questions than I do about Harrison Barnes except I know what Kevin herder could bring off the second unit as that flamethrower three-point offensive option I do have concerns about Kevin’s overall fit in the king’s defensive schemes and I still feel that Kevin and Mike Brown are not necessarily on the same page not that they don’t like each other or anything but I don’t think Kevin quite fits what Mike is trying to do with his rotations so I still think it’s more likely that Kevin is not on the team than he is on the team but of course it takes two to tango and you’re not just going to give Kevin herder away for nothing if Kevin’s role is as a bench player as a volume three point scorer Off the Bench we know how hot he can get he could shoot 50% for a month if he wants to I think that’s very valuable for the Sacramento Kings to have and you can stagger him and with any lineups as you is that you want you can have them out there with dearon have them out there with domas have out there with Keegan doesn’t really matter uh and then there’s Colby Jones Colby Jones I I I believe in kobby Jones I think measurement wise I think skill set wise I know he’s a second round pick so we have to be realistic in our expectations but I think Colby Jones provides a lot of what the Kings need more of I think summer league in the California classic is going to be really telling if he comes out in the California classic comes out in summer league and dominates I’m not saying the same way that Keegan did when he had 40 and 50 points but if or almost 40 and 50 points if Colby comes out and looks like one of the best if not the best player on the floor in the California classic and the summer league that furthers my confidence in his ability to actually be a part of this king’s rotation I don’t know if it’ll be as early as next year but I know for a fact the king seed value in Colby and I personally believe that Colby brings to the table a lot of what the Kings need more of so if if col’s leaning towards any he hasn’t done enough to prove it yet but I think I trust what Kobe Jones can be more than I don’t trust what he will be if that makes sense like I said at the top of the show today’s episode of the locked on Kings podcast is brought to you by Linked In jobs when you’re hiring for your small business you want to find quality C candidates and professionals that are right for your role that’s why you have to check out LinkedIn jobs LinkedIn jobs has the 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that’s linkedin.com lockon NBA to post your job for free terms and conditions apply so really quick hypothetical trades are always fun to do during the offseason and Bleacher Report always has fun with these articles that they have one hypothetical trade for every team to make this offseason and of course they always capture our attention a lot of people react negatively to them as someone who creates that kind of content I understand that a lot of people don’t like these conversations naturally but they’re intrigued by them because we all like to play general manager right we all like to put our GM hat on and try and make trades and improve our roster uh from from the safety of our couch with no real responsibilities or no real repercussions so here is the hypothetical trade that Bleacher Report came up with recently the Kings would send Davon Mitchell Chris Duarte and a top 10 protected 2027 firstr draft pick to the Brooklyn Nets for Dorian finny Smith now my first initial reaction to this was too much right to me if you could either remove Davon and replace Davon with a worst player or increase the pick protection meaning it’s Lottery protected top 15 protected that’s what I would look to do once we get past that just talking about Dorian finny Smith he’s exactly the type of player that the Kings need exactly now on a realistic level he’s not a superstar or anything like that and the Kings could of course need a but the kings are looking for players of Dorian finny Smith’s size archetype and quality a 67 versatile Wing Defender who shot nearly 35% from three-point range this season which was an increase over last season he started 56 of 68 games Dorian finy Smith would be fantastic for this king’s roster and I think Bleacher Report is definitely on to something to where whoever put this trade together recognizes that this is what the Kings need and those type of players are not easy to get so while again my initial reaction is God Mitchell Duarte and a top 10 protected first round pick for Dorian finny Smith that’s a lot to give up if the kings are as desperate as I think they are and need to be in order to add Wing defensive Talent it might be what they have to do now granted I still think that the Kings can get Kyle kozma for this year’s first round pick and expiring contracts I think it’s very possible so this is a deal that doesn’t have to be made on draft n it could be made after draft n after you get the context of any moves you try and make with 13 but you could also I guess I suppose you could make this trade on draft KN if you wanted to and send 13 to to Brooklyn or make a selection for Brooklyn at 13 I I still feel like the Kings could get Dorian finy Smith for Less not a lot less again like replace Davon Mitchell with a slightly worse player or less important player or increase the pi protections I think you can get away with that by the way I think in this trade like the if the the pick in 2027 doesn’t convey then it turns into two second round picks which I have no issue with you like go ahead take multiple seconds I don’t care but Dorian finy Smith man he’s enticing he’s a player that the Kings could absolutely use he’s a player that the Kings needed to add to their roster at the trade deadline this past season it does leave the question though like does Dorian Smith replace Harrison Barnes as a starter because in this trade Harrison’s not involved in the deal so if you’re bringing Dorian Dorian finny Smith over and again he started 56 of his 68 games for Brooklyn last year do you move Harrison to the bench and start finny Smith next to Keegan Murray well I think the way Keegan Murray plays offensively and develops offensively does have a large part of that conversation but taking that out of it finny Smith is a similar age he’s a better Defender than Harrison Barnes is more reliable Defender 100% % but Harrison Barnes is a much more reliable offensive option he averages about four more points per game than Dorian Finn Smith does and he shoots 38% from three to dorian’s almost 35% that’s a big difference right so offensively I far more trust Harrison Barnes than I do finny Smith but defensively which would ultimately be his goal as a three and D Wing I think he could be more consistently impactful for Sacramento than Harrison Barnes is personally I think if this trade WI went down right let’s say this trade actually happens going into training camp I think the expectation should be and would still be that it’s Harrison barnes’s starting job but Harrison can’t go walking into training camp knowing that that spot is as secure as it’s been basically every single year uh of his career here in Sacramento like every year the Kings have not really had any other option for Harrison to be threatened by for his starting spot if the Kings had Dorian finy Smith come into training camp with Harrison Barnes Harrison’s going to have to fight to keep that spot I still think he would be the day one starter for the Sacramento Kings and finy Smith would be like a sixth or seventh man coming off the bench to be determined about Malik monk but I wouldn’t I don’t hate the deal I don’t hate the idea of the deal also by not trading Harrison Barnes and getting Dorian finy Smith if you feel confident in finey Smith as a starter going forward it opens up the door for a Harrison Barnes trade later on this off season if you feel like making it so I like the idea I like the idea of Dorian finy Smith and ACO if you want to respond to your thoughts on that hypothetical finey Smith trade your thoughts on the king’s second unit which guys you trust and don’t trust and your thoughts on what I had to say about dearon fox and your overall confidence level in Fox how confident are you in the king star going into next season let me know you can do so on Twitter at Matt George sack you can email me Matt Georg Sports gmail.com or if you’re watching on YouTube leave your thoughts in the YouTube comment section down below appreciate your support as always can’t wait to have you join me on the next episode of lockon Kings until then my name is Matt George I’m going to be joined by jav McGee yeah Sacramento Kings Center Javale McGee he’s been making the rounds of media tours appeared on uh 11:40 sack toown Sports appeared on multiple news stations now he’s coming un lockon Kings he’s supposed to join me on Wednesday hopefully everything works out because I’ll have my interview with javil McGee coming a little bit later on this week so I hope to see you then my name is Matt George you’ve been listening to the lockon Kings podcast part of the lockon podcast Network [Music]

Matt George shares why he’s never been more confident in De’Aaron Fox as the star of the Sacramento Kings than his is now. Plus, a discussion on the trustworthiness of the Kings bench unit.

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I’ve Never Been More Confident in De’Aaron Fox Than I Am Now
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCer6XxOVaMbmW2HBLpuLkzQ

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