Is it time to move Domantas Sabonis to the PF spot? Could the Kings target a C this summer?

Is it time to move Domantas Sabonis to the PF spot? Could the Kings target a C this summer?

love Bobby all the time now we talked to uh Bobby during the uh March Madness and now we’re bringing in athletics fan sport in the hat bobby Gerald to join us it’s Dave it’s Jason good morning Bob how are you i’m good guys how about you i’m great how are you Jason you good i’m good i’m doing good got an hour left yeah yeah yeah looking forward to dinner tonight a little hungry maybe some brunch um let’s talk about the D let’s talk about the Kings first and foremost jason what do you say let’s lead off with that bobby’s always got ideas on the Kings what what okay Bobby could you tell us exactly and be specific what the Kings are going to do this summer who they’re going to trade for and will they have a draft pick go um sure i wish I wish I did know all that stuff right um but of course I don’t um you want to know what I think they should do yeah yes so not everyone agrees with this and I’ve talked about this before but uh I think Domos Sabonis has got to be a four in the NBA if the Kings are ever going to get past the the 40 win you know 40 to 48 win plateau i just feel like um you know we’ve seen over the last three years about what this team can do playing at their best with Dom as a center and I like Dom i mean this is so this isn’t me bashing him at all i think he has uncommon toughness and uh and a lot of skill and I think that his his uh newfound uh comfortability is that a word comfortability he’ll make it one all right uh he’s more comfortable uh now shooting the three-point shot uh than he used to be you know and he he makes 41% of these shots now and if you look around the NBA there’s a lot of teams playing the two bigs the two you know two big lineup and it seems to be having a lot of success and so um I think there needs to be a legitimate 2025 NBA type athlete shot blocker that you can you know be a vertical threat with and someone who can help um you know tighten up that defense quite a bit so that would be my line of thinking if I was the Kings I’d be trying to do whatever I could and you know Jonas Valenunis is on the roster but he doesn’t move you know the way that he even used to move five years ago and he’s not going to get any faster um and he ended up having a a negative defensive rating last year valenunis did so I think when you look at all that kind of stuff it just cries for having someone um who’s big that you could play alongside Sabonis get out there and make Sabonis a four and then the defense would be better and I imagine you know when I look at Sabonis imagine him as an interior passer throwing lobs to someone who can actually finish lobs and and you know and make dunks around the basket i just think that that would be uh that would be probably the first place I would look so I guess I I have two thoughts on this a followup on the first part of that Bob is any player or players you have in mind that you think the Kings could target to fill that five spot that you think would would marry well with Sabonis and then the second part is there’s a lot more than just that you know with D pros and Lavine cleaning up some of the guards needing a point guard just kind of where else do you think this team might uh you think they should they should look oh absolutely there’s there’s there’s a lot that can be done um you know I think the free agent center market is not that good um you know most of the names are declining in value with aging bodies um you know so if you look at a player like Al Horford or Brook Lopez that’s exactly what I wouldn’t want the Kings to do i think you kind of already had that in uh in in Valenunis you know someone who’s on the down side who’s a who’s a big spacer so um you know Don Sharp from Brooklyn is someone who’s an underrated passer and decision maker he’s not scared of contact he’s only 23 years old he’s a restricted free agent that has you know room to grow that’s the kind of guy that I would be uh interested in i think he’s a really good passer i think the Kings need to find some value you know that’s that’s the deal in the NBA right now is find some value don’t overpay for aging guys that are that have no room to grow i mean the Kings need to have some guys that we can put some faith in that you know in two or three years they could blossom uh into really being something so uh I like Dron Sharp from that standpoint um if that didn’t pan out um Clint Cabella uh I think could be a reasonable fallback he’s regressed but I think he’s still capable more capable than Horford or Lopez um a guy like Luke Cornet uh who’s a quality backup in Boston you know these these aren’t home run type plays here we’re just talking about getting somebody who can do those things to allow Domosh to move down to the four spot so um that would be me and then of course you know they they could go into the draft and if they really are going to move into the 20s maybe they have somebody targeted there um that they think you know could could fulfill that need and it’s also entirely possible that I’m just out to lunch and uh and this is not even something that they’re thinking about it’s that’s probably the most likely scenario no I I I like where you’re going i I understand that when it comes to discourse surrounding teams the the thing that gets the most hits and the most conversation are the big names but those big names become incredibly complicated so it’s like when we were talking about well they’re looking for a point guard what if Chris Paul is the guy as funny as it would be lonzo Ball you know and I’m not advocating either i’m just saying those are not sexy uh sexy names what about Mark Williams with with Charlotte and I understand that health is an issue but I’m just kind of going with your your your flow here of of guys that might be in distress or might be on the cheap you know he’s 23 years old uh he’s 7 foot his his measurements are off the chart he just doesn’t play a lot but is that a guy you’d take a flyer on if the price was right or is he not fit that bill oh absolutely i’m I’m one of the I’m in the Mark Williams fan club for sure he’s uh he’s he’s on my fantasy team guys he’s he’s uh he’s someone that I’ve liked for a long time the the injury part yeah certainly would would scare me so you need to be really sure um you know with all the medicals and everything that you think he’s going to be good to go going forward but yeah I love Mark Williams i just think that um you know he’s someone he’s going to cost you you know what I mean he’s not someone that I don’t think you’re just going to be able to go out and get like a you know and and and Mark Williams is way more the player than Dron Sharp is right now or Jaylen Smith from Chicago is someone else who still has upside at the age of 25 maybe with some consistent minutes he could be something there’s a kid in Washington Tristan Boopovich that I think is still raw but it has some really intriguing long-term potential uh with a 72 and a half wingspan but he’s more of a reserve player right now so um you know those are some of the guys that that I would uh that I would be looking at there and then as far as the rest of it goes um yeah I agree i think it’s hard to win games um with D rozan in 2025 you know he’s he’s a two-point scorer mid-range master and as good as he was down the stretch and as much as the Kings leaned on him at times down the stretch you know he’s he’s still a guy that shot well below the average of 36% um that’s the league average of three-pointers in the NBA and so you know what do you do with him you know I think I think either he needs to become a six-man or you need to trade him and uh and I would probably be looking to to trade him and I think you know he’s making $24.5 million that’s not super ridiculous to make him untradeable in my opinion i don’t know that for a fact obviously but um I would think that he would be tradable for something jason I figured it out if you want to know by the way Sacramento Kings trade Demar D Rose and Malik Monk and Devin Carter to the Charlotte Hornets along with three first round picks two of them unprotected for LaMelo Ball and Mark Williams roll out a lineup of Sabonis Williams Keegan Zack Lavine and LaMelo Ball bob we’re done right that that’s it let’s win a title that would be pretty good if LaMelo played any defense at all i know i know you know what I mean but maybe Mark Williams is back there to protect him all of a sudden but a lamelo Zack Lavine back court would be would be uh about the height about the height of disinterest as far as defense goes so yeah uh I’m not so I I see you know LaMelo is a good player obviously i mean he really is talented talented guy he just personally wouldn’t be the first guy I would choose in going after a point guard and for that reason um I just don’t think he’s he’s you know defensive-minded guy and I think that Doug Christie I mean we know Doug we know what Doug’s gonna want um so yeah I don’t think there’s a perfect answer out there um as far as free agency is concerned um you know Ty Jerome is someone I’ve mentioned before i People have some questions about re whether or not he’s really a one um people think he’s more of a score more of a two i think you your your point guard should have some scoring capability i mean De’Arren Fox certainly wasn’t just a straight point guard um so I like Ty Jerome i don’t know what he’s going to cost but his contract is up after this um you know Josh Giddy uh he’s going to be a restricted free agent so you figure Chicago’s going to resign him um and he would cost big money but he’s someone that I would consider um I think D’Angelo Russell is risky uh but he’s capable you know I don’t think his talent went anywhere it’s just can can anyone unlock that talent sorry can uh Bob can LaMelo not LaMelo can Lavine um be a better version of Lavine here with D Rozan maybe being gone and or a new point guard like a true point guard will that how much would that benefit Zack Lavine here you think i think he could be uh just having a a training camp with Doug too ought to you know ought to help and maybe tighten up some of his defensive inefficiencies um if that’s possible um and and playing with a point guard I think certainly would would be a big deal for for everyone on the Kings roster um you know a good a good point guard really can set the table get you uh you know calm down get the floor space properly uh all that kind of stuff so um you know we’ll see i don’t think Chris Paul by the way you know you mentioned that in passing Dave i don’t think that would be the worst thing in the world either i mean you know he’s a guy that absolutely knows how to play he can be a coach on the floor as much as Doug likes to play a free flowing you know not really call plays type of a deal just go out there and play and read and react i think Chris Paul uh his intelligence would make some sense i mean obviously he’s on the downside um but you know if we need a and it seems to be the hot term these days a bridge uh point guard then uh you know that might be your guy in the year 2025 yeah I don’t have a problem with that i want to mention by the way Bobby Gerald joining us uh you can check out all his stuff at hoopobsession.com want to make sure we plug that in there yeah I you know it sounds the heavy rumor is that he wants to go back to Southern California uh obviously the Lakers have their point guard Luca Donsich although that’d be interesting rotationally maybe uh going back to LA uh to the Clippers as a backup to uh James Harden but but I I am completely with you there now let me ask you this though and this is this is one of those uh keep it simple stupid comments but I know there’s a lot lot more to it Bobby the the Kings have an all you know you were you were just talking about LaMelo Ball and defense or lack thereof along with Zack Lavine i could not agree with you more on that well the Kings have one of the best defensive guards in the NBA and Keon Ellis and they also have a guy that Monty McNair drafted largely for his defense this is a guy whose comps coming out of college were largely uh Marcus Smart types in Devin Carter is it or Oh oh by the way they also have the former number one pick in the draft who was drafted head of Jason Tatum and and De’ar Fox and Markeel Folultz that aside you know this big question about point guard point guard you you have Damonte Sabonis who is is Diet Jokic who is gonna Does Sabonis allow you to train guys like Ellis and Carter to be that point guard of the future or is or is that just too simple yeah I don’t know i I kind of feel I’ve I’ve always kind of felt like point guards are kind of almost born you know what I mean you’re you’re born with that there’s a few guys that have you know have reversed it as they’ve gone along kade Cunningham comes to mind you know he’s a guy that actually had more turnovers than assists in college uh and so when people were talking about oh he’s going to be a point guard in the NBA I was kind of like I don’t know um and I was absolutely wrong i mean he’s grown into that and become that but I also think there’s a different talent level between Kate Cunningham and and Keon Ellis and Kate Cunningham and Devin Carter so um right now I would continue to roll as if Keon and Devin Carter are both uh two guards um I I just think that’s what I what’s what I see in their game um but you you could probably do a lot worse than having Ke on because you know you need a guy out there especially if you’re gonna have Zack Lavine you know and Keegan Murray and and if you know we don’t know what’s going to happen with Demar but there’s so much shooting already on this team that you kind of need a guy who’s just ready to you know play defense and do whatever the team needs someone who doesn’t need to have plays run for them um I’ve always thought that that was something that this this version or this latest you know last two or three years version of the Sacramento Kings has needed is someone who can just be an athlete defend run the floor you never have to run a play for him finish at the rim um do that kind of stuff i just think it’s it’s the thing that this team uh is probably lacking the most outside of a legitimate 2025 NBA style center that runs the floor dunks and does all those things that that a a good center does maybe a guy that’s maybe fast at that position to the rim maybe capable of scoring six clutch how can hit hit shots in the CL yeah i don’t know we Right keep on the lookout don’t find those guys everywhere do they no um want to ask you about the draft obviously this is something you you’ve watched all the college games you watch all these guys you you have your own um it’s not really your own um your own thoughts on on the board but I what I like to ask you Bob every year is like like Cooper Flag is everybody’s number one i think there’s no doubt about that but like where would he be a comp to other number ones like if if you know the last 10 years of number one picks is Cooper Flag the best of them is he would he go number one over Anthony Edwards would he go number one over Anthony Dave like just kind of where does he over Zion where does he fall in line as far as the past couple years of number ones before you answer this is great did you see this segment yesterday or Okay so there’s a segment on ESPN and what they did is they started it last year and they went all the way back until we got until you got to a guy that you would take number one so Bobby on Jason’s question can I run you through this list of number one picks and I and and I want to see how far we go back until you say yeah I would I would and we’re we’re not gonna count Victor Wmanyama here okay because I was already gonna say he’s Wimy’s number one it’s not Yes yeah that’s that’s what they did they skipped over him okay so Paulo Beno uh flag okay kane Cunningham flag anthony Edwards flag and and and of course remember everybody the game we’re playing is not now for this next one by the way at the time who would have body taken zion Williamson flag you could keep going it would be Cooper flag it’s going to be Cooper flag the rest of the way for me i don’t who who do you think you could get to that I I honestly thought you’d struggle with Zion just because of the the where he was ad yeah how about AD that’s where they Okay that’s that’s probably about Yeah that’s probably about that the last time I was that confident that someone was going to really Yeah yeah and I think you know Cooper he’s just he’s the real thing man i mean you know I’ve brought this up to you guys before I believe but you know he led the entire NCAA in box score plus minus i mean like the whole as an 18year-old i mean you know so he he just doesn’t have any holes he he shoots it he has a 2 to1 assist to turnover ratio his defensive rating was whopping 5.9 points better than the Duke team defensive rating he won all the awards he’s right-handed but he uses his left hand well uh he’s just strictly about basketball he plays the right way um to me is the easiest number one pick since Wimyama and and then going back a long way before that i just I it’d be hard for me to see Cooper Flag failing barring a catastrophic injury so if you obviously if you were the GM of Dallas knowing that you have this incredible luxury but also at the same time this kind of pick could probably get you most any player in the league and there’s been talk before about Giannis whether that’s legit or not would you even flinch at that or say look we’ve already got Kyrie we’ve got AD we’ve got a good team um when healthy if we added Giannis or whatever player that is would you do that or you say no I can’t I can’t risk moving Cooper flag i wouldn’t mess with it um not for Giannis and it’s not like I mean I love Giannis i think he’s a great dude he’s a good you know this and that but at the end of the day he’s a 22% three-point shooter you know and so Giannis for me Giannis needs to be a center period the the Bucks the Bucks need to move to Giannis to center get rid of get quit screwing around with Brook Lopez and his however old he is right now and and play Giannis at center and call it a day and their efficiency would rise tremendously and they might have a chance um but you know they’re screwing around thinking that Giannis is anything but that with his 22% uh three-point shooting i mean he’s just proven it time and time again he plays best around the basket near the basket he’s a good defender there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be playing center uh at this point you know he’s put on the muscle uh necessary he’s not going to get pushed around um you know and that’s a story for another day um but but I feel pretty strongly about that um so so yeah I would I would just roll with with Cooper Flag and uh you know Anthony Davis doesn’t like to play center but hey guess what Anthony you’re playing center or else or else we’ll trade you you know what I mean and you’re 28% three-point shoot you know we did this listening to you scout out Cooper Flag we kind of did this exercise uh a couple weeks ago Jason and I I’m curious as to your take because you’ve forgotten more about college basketball than most so in hearing you and hearing so many others talk about Cooper Fleck by the way disclaimer I get this is kind of a jive dorky comparison but it just goes to a lot of the hype i I’m thinking about a guy who at 18 years old uh went to Duke uh was the big man of the year the ACC rookie of the year first team all ACC ACC player of the year ACC freshman of the year Pete Newell big man award although they’re different players how much would your analysis of a sure thing differed between Cooper Flag and Marvin Bagley um quite a bit because Cooper can Cooper can shoot the three you know and I think um Marvin Marvin didn’t do that marvin wasn’t near the defender that Cooper is um you know I think Cooper is is just far superior that way um you know Marvin was probably a more turnovers than assist guy too u you know and I mean I just think Cooper has has a better feel i still will go to my grave thinking that the Kings never utilize Marvin Baggley the right way so we could we could go into into those weeds too um you know it’s like I used to get so frustrated he’d be standing over there in the corner they whoever it was the coach at the time probably Luke Walton uh would be like “Hey let’s go stand in the corner.” Uh if you’re Marvin Bagley basically playing like a dead man role and he would just stand there and if he got the ball maybe he could shoot a three it’s like yeah let’s have our 20% shooter that’s great around the basket go stand in the corner and shoot threes we couldn’t even get a duck in we couldn’t get a back cut we couldn’t get you know and I know Marvin wasn’t the perfect player but I’ll go to my grave thinking he was utilized the wrong way and I still haven’t written off Marvin as a player uh that can at least contribute we’ll see hey he might get to play in Memphis you know depending on what they do they’re they’re definitely like what are they doing they’re screwing around right talking with Bob yeah I know right i tried to tell the Orlando Magic about Casey i tried guys i really did yeah as we’re talking Bob Gerald here from hoopobsession.com so is it clearly like I mean you were so high on Cooper Flag which a lot of people are and then just a big canyon to the next or how’s like two through seven to 10 in this draft look um to me Dylan Harper is a pretty clear two um the guy from Ruckers he’s 6’5 this is Ron Harper’s one of Ron Harper’s sons uh 6’5 with a 611 wingspan can probably play shooting guard and small forward uh and just a kid you know born in 2006 i mean some of these kids are 18 and 19 years old um but I like Dylan Harper he has a way to get to the basket he’s kind of slithery um but but smart and strong at the same time so I like him i think one two is pretty set and then Jason I do think uh it’s open for interpretation after that between Trey Johnson from Texas who’s a really gifted scorer that that squares up on his shot so beautifully uh BJ Edgecomb from Baylor who is another like guard wing type guy that’s a really good defender and a and a good athlete um you know a lot of people like Ace Bailey from Ruters i’m a little lower on Ace i think all he really does is is uh shoot and score not a lot there as far as team play defense sharing all those kind of intangibles but the talent is undeniable and then and then after that tier then you get into you know some really subjective thoughts about you know who might who might go where uh it it depends you know do you want to take a chance on a guy who’s a little older you know are you okay drafting a 22 or 23 year old or do you think uh in the lottery you have to kind of take an upside swing on one of these younger kids you the philosophy of teams will be interesting to see because there are some players that I think that are ready to come in right now that are really seasoned college players that can come in and contribute and and help a NBA team possibly win some games um but in four years will they be better than some of these kids that uh you know like this this kid from France Yon Baron Jay who who I think is kind of the darling of uh of draft Twitter right now you he seems to be moving up all the different mock drafts and you know he’s really raw he only started playing like four years ago but he has great size and the way he moves on the floor shows you um a glimpse into what might be in in the year 2029 are the Kings going to get any of them man so we keep hearing all this stuff right the guy Fiser from the Stein Line you know says that the Kings are going to jump into the top 20 um and I was trying to think you know who who would they be targeting if they were trying to jump into the top 20 and um you know if a guy like Nick Clifford from Colorado State were to fall that far um he’s someone that certainly I think should be considered he’s one of those 23 year old guys but actually has a game and you know I’m not the comp guy but he has a game that reminds me of Doug Christie uh you know a really good defender uh good enough on offense uh 100% about the team i think he’s someone that’s interesting uh I think Maxim uh Renault from Stanford is a really skilled big um probably tins more towards the the four than the five um but you know sevenfooter that can step out and shoot and just make shots make baskets uh obviously knows how to play i think you know he’s someone that they could be considering um you know and maybe a little bit deeper a guy like Ryan Caulk Briner from Kraton uh who has a 76 wingspan and and doesn’t foul out of games and makes a lot of shots near the basket um those are all possibilities or if they wanted to go point guard you know Nolan Trayori um who some say will be a point guard eventually um from um uh France is another guy that uh is a possibility he’s a young kid though and I don’t think he’s really ready to come in and contribute right away that’s Bobby Gerald always dropping knowledge hoop obsession i know sometimes spelling obsession is one of those words tricky one it’s a little bit obso.com or you could just Google basketball knowledge studs and it’s probably it’s probably going to be the first thing that pops up uh Bobby Gerald joining us uh as he does whenever we need to learn things bob appreciate you brother thank you so much thank you guys uh I’m going to go eat some uh fo now and uh is that how you say it Jake it’s f It’s fuagra but yeah I say it as Is that the kind of Is that the kind of stuff you you like to see on a menu Dave no dude i You know I’m I’m cool with not spreading goose liver on some bread i’m I’m just by the way it it not only is it taste weird and gross but also anytime you want to have some fun and by fun I mean cry uh and I’m not Mr peeta guy but like just Google how fuagra comes to bear and it’s not it’s the deuce is having zero fun with this i can promise you that well I’m going to go ahead and pass on that then so uh there you go maybe I’ll have some uh brazed lamb liver now or there you go some sweet breads yeah yeah i’ll bet you I wonder how your dad your dad’s a foodie i wonder how he feels about all that stuff well he’s a he’s a foodie in a different sense so he’s not he’s not a fufu foodie that’s See we we call it fufu we don’t like the fufu my dad likes meat potatoes yeah chili dogs chili has he ever had a hot dog before oh my god he’s the chili dog king yes have a good rest of your day brother talk to you soon see you guys all right take care that is Bobby Gerald

Bobby Gerould of HoopObession.com joined Carmichael Dave and Jason Ross to preview the Sacramento Kings offseason, look ahead to the 2025 NBA Draft, and much more.

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