Law Murray: Are the Kings in a Position for a Tank to Work?
club. Law Murray of the Athletic covers the NBA joining us. Law, you know, when we look at the Kings roster this off season, a lot of people point to Demar D Rozan as a guy that, you know, likely could be on the move. What do you think D Rozan’s value is around the league? I think it’s tough, man. Um, I think I like the contract that the Kings got him on, but a lot went down. Like we’re thinking De’Arren Fox is going to be there. There was a real breakdown there. There’s a breakdown with the head coach, breakdown with the front office. And now you’re in a situation where Dear is a player who like what do you what do you do there? You know, Dear is good at what he’s good at. I don’t think the rest of the league is looking to try and snag Dear like that. Um, and so when you look at value and and Demar, I don’t see a lot of scenarios where the Kings make out well in a in a deal for Demar. Like I think that I like I I struggle to see a situation where the Kings get a better player than Demar in in in that kind of a deal. So that’s that’s a struggle. Um that’s and and I know there’s a new GM there now with Scott Perry and there’s what he said about Zack Lavine. Like that’s the tough thing too. It’s like we were talking about the Clipper like Clipper fan base was talking about Zack Lavine last year and people were confused as to why his value would be so low. like he’s a guy who can shoot and score and you know when Zach is playing his best that’s aesthetically pleasing because of his athleticism and and grace when he plays and I’m like it’s not about Zack the player it’s about Zack the asset you know like if you’re having that on your team and then this is what I was saying about Brunson and Hallebertton it’s about what kind of players are fitting around them and what kind of team do you have around them And then there’s the fact that there’s things you have to consider with age and durability. Dear has been durable, but that dude is entering year 17 next year. Like it we see that there are some activity related things that Dear is starting to decline on a bit. Like give the ball to Dear. Dear is going to take care of ball, make good decisions, get to his mid-range, make that shot. But who does Deamar defend? You’ve had Keegan Murray having to defend the guys and chase them around. You see how much that takes away from Keegan Murray’s game. You know, you don’t have a point guard. If you get a point guard, what are they going to do? They got to get the ball to Zack, to Demar, to De Manabonus. You have so many issues there with so much talent. It’s so confounding and everyone in the league knows this and that’s what’s going to make things hard for the Kings. Law. Last one for me. joined by law Murray of the Athletic. I want to stay there and kind of compare, we’re talking about Demar’s value. One of the teams that we have heard has been the Lakers and you’re right there in Los Angeles even though you do a lot of covering of the league. You do a little of course you you handle the Clippers. Do you see a fit for Demar playing a part for the Lakers or as you said, is it just difficult to see Demar fitting out anywhere right now? Absolutely not with the Lakers unless LeBron does something crazy. And to what I can tell, LeBron ain’t trying to give up no money. Like, right, come on now. Again, we got to see what LeBron’s contract looks like. He’s got a $52 million player option, but he’s either picking that up or he’s opting out. And he’s not exactly opting out to give nobody a discount. You know what I mean? Um that dude LeBron is trying to generate uh generational wealth here, you know? Yeah. He trying to do some things that uh folk don’t really get to do uh at certain level. So you got two years left on the Mars contract. He making around 25 million in both of them. You you got to find a way. And the Lakers already have depth issues. So, if you’re going to keep Luca, if you’re going to keep LeBron, I don’t think the Lakers are like trying to give up Austin Ree or somebody to get the Demar on their team. And Demar doesn’t fit you. The Lakers already had too many cooks in the kitchen, if you will, as far as ball handling. They need supplemental players. It’s the same thing with the Kings. The Kings have a good problem, if you will, as far as, hey, they have guys to play through. What the Kings need is some depth and some some doubts. Law Murray joining us. Law, I’mma let you go on with this question right here. You know, we’re trying to figure out a path forward for Sacramento. We talked about Demar De Rozan. We know Zack Lavine’s contract. There’s a a segment of the fan base that says tear it all down, tank, try to be OKC some, you know. What do you make of a team like Sacramento with established players looking to blow it up and tank and maybe going through a dark age once again three, five, six years? I don’t I I don’t think tanking is the is their best option. I mean, you look at this year, they lost their lottery pick because of the Kevin Herd trade. you know, Kevin Herd not even on team no more. You know what I’m saying? So, I I don’t I don’t love where they’re at. I think the Kings being competitive is is is is pretty good. Like, you got Doug Christie now. Um he knows that’s his job. He’s not the inter room head coach anymore. So, I think that there’s something there. Uh if you can keep guys healthy, they’re going to be tough to defend uh because they have interior scoring. They have guys who honestly that team shouldn’t have issues turning the ball over. Um there they there’s a pathway from them to build the margin to be competitive. Now tanking requires you to be able to have the draft picks that tank and to be able to actually be in a spot where you can sit there and develop for five years, you know. Um and I’m just not sure that they have the assets to do that right now. they’re gonna have to get really creative and I just I just don’t think they’re they’re set up to do that. Also, you have to draft really well and I think the Kings have had decent draft picks, but then keeping those guys has been an issue. Um, so that’s I I don’t see I don’t see tanking in their future right now, especially with some of the guys on that team. Law Mary.
Law Murray of the Athletic joins the Drive Guys and gives his opinions on a potential DeMar DeRozan trade and the Sacramento Kings’ prospect of tanking next season.
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