Matt George, Locked on Kings – Gap Year Incoming For the Sacramento Kings?

Matt George, Locked on Kings – Gap Year Incoming For the Sacramento Kings?

uh Matt I’ve been singing your praises all day man uh you did a great job on the Locked On Kings podcast last night you did a great job covering uh the draft for the Sacramento Kings uh hopefully I don’t forget anything I want to ask you because you can provide a whole lot of insight into what happened last night so let’s start here how did the Kings settle on 24 and Nick Crawford because you made it clear they had a couple of players in mind and a couple of spots in line yeah they they came into uh the draft with a a list of names i know pretty high on that list was Walter Clayton Jr they had an eye uh on him nick Clifford of course was uh was on the list um Asa Newell was also pretty high on that list as well to where the Kings actually almost made a a play for Asa Newell around that that 21 spot they were talking to Washington around that 21 spot to potentially uh to jump up there to take him but I I think I’ve I’ve heard like a potential of like some kind of medical thing or like a little spook or a little scare i don’t think it’s anything too extreme because he got taken 23rd the pick before the Sacramento Kings um and then they ultimately landed on Meek um being there but yeah they they had a list and they like Scott Perry said in his press conference and I I thought Scott was very transparent in his press conference which was a breath of fresh air um he talked about like there was preliminary conversations the Kings had talked to multiple teams from Brooklyn to Washington to even potentially Miami to Oklahoma City even going into the draft to kind of at least set the understanding or have an idea of what a trade would look like circumstances and kind of a baseline or a foundation so that when there were five minutes on the clock and things were happening fast they could come up with a deal quickly so it sounded like I mean there was already a conversation between P prey and and Perry around that 24th pick and what it would look like and the Kings decided to pounce when they realized Clifford would be there uh and they ended up getting a first round pick and and Scott Perry starts his tenure as the general manager his first player personnel move he goes out and gets a rookie which I think is really important for a general manager to go out and kind of get the first player that they select right like the entire roster as it stands right now is not Scott’s roster doesn’t mean he’s getting rid of all of them but there that’s not his team he’s inherited them nick Clifford is the first player that he has chosen to say I want that guy on my team so I think that’s an important first step and you’ll learn a lot about a general manager by who they select and I think we learned a whole heck of a lot about Scott Perry on how he moved into the first round how he handled last night which I thought he did a brilliant job matt did you think going into last night that they were going to get into that first round um I know myself and Damen we didn’t james Ham was saying you know it’s a good chance 80% chance and throughout the night I was like no I don’t think it’s going to happen but were you always kind of convinced that they were going to eventually find their way back into that first round i think the hesitation was from what I heard was just the belief that the guys on their list wouldn’t be there and they started dropping really quickly in that late teens range we started like we we saw Walter Clayton go down and we start to see some of these guys that we know are high on the the Kings board or on the Kings list start to go pretty quickly in quick succession i think the Kings felt like that was going to happen and if they were started dropping in those teens range that was an area that it was going to take more than I think the Kings were comfortable giving up to move up to get right so I think the Kings always felt that that 24 or 26 27 range cuz Brooklyn had two picks around there which by the way the fact that Brooklyn didn’t trade any of their five firstrounder and they made five selections is pretty crazy um good for Jordy he’s going to have a a a young basketball team I suppose uh but I I think the Kings knew or felt pretty confident that they’d be able to get a deal done in that range the question was always will any of the guys that we want be there at that spot so like even if Nick Clifford wasn’t the top of their list they still were not confident or not sure and we’ve seen a lot of mock drafts not have Meek there at 24 so I think that was the hesitation that the Kings weren’t just going to move into the first round and move into the first round that’s why Scott Perry didn’t make a trade for a first round pick weeks ago or days ago because why would he like you have more information on draft night a draft pick is more valuable or valuable on draft night than any other time because you have information of who’s going so that’s why he decided to pounce he was patient but but attacked when he felt he could get a pick and get his guy there and and he executed it pretty flawlessly yeah do you think we’re in for a boring night tonight pretty chalk draft keep it moving compared to last night yes um I I I mean I’ve seen the the conversations and the possibilities of what if the Kings trade their second round pick and unless you’re adding that as a sweetener to a much bigger deal that doesn’t have to happen on draft night um I don’t I’m not expecting fireworks i’m curious who they’re going to take and I don’t have as good of an indication as I had last night about guys that are on their list or names that they’re hired on this their board but this is the range of all the guys that they brought in to Sacramento for pre-draft workouts right that’s this range so any of those names that they worked out could go here or maybe some that they didn’t work out like they never worked out Nee Clifford they had a conversation with him at the draft combine but that was it so they can go in any which direction um so I’m I’m more from the viewership standpoint for me I’m I’m going to be monitoring and paying attention to what I pay attention to but I think this tonight’s kind of a sit back and see what Scott is looking for and what kind of project or depth he’s going to prioritize with that pick if he makes a selection there just speaking of Matt George what do you what would what would you like to see the Kings targeted with this 42 pick position um skill level play like who are you looking to guard like I I’m point guard hunting what about you yeah I mean I don’t point guard is the most obvious weakness on this roster or I shouldn’t say weakness I should say like there’s just no depth at the point guard position on this roster you How much are you going to address it with the 40 what was 42nd 43rd pick like I I don’t really look at like you have to take a point guard here because you have no point guard depth to me it’s like I I’m all for the Kings going out and getting another 68 69 guy that’s kind of like an Isaac Jones and maybe he turns into something i don’t know like I think the Kings could always just use more athleticism so go out and try and find like an athlete that impressed you but I I don’t think I really have too much of a preference i’m I would be a bad general manager because I don’t value second round picks very highly i know you can get diamonds in the rough and you can find great guys um in the second round and and teams have done that i don’t I don’t put a lot of stock in second round picks i’m more like okay when you make a selection I’m curious about the player and about their journey but I’m not really name hunting for the second round at this point in time so I don’t have super high of expectations for this pick tonight again it’s more curiosity of what direction Scott goes in and then we’ll monitor that pick that more than likely will spend time either in the G-League or as a two-way player uh that’s that’s pretty much the extent Casey of like how I guess dialed in I am to the second round pick for the Kings tonight let’s jump into part two of the Locked on Kings podcast that you did last night and you talked a little bit about what the future might look like for this basketball team in that future might be within the next handful of days of course the future could be as early tonight but is free agency beginning on Monday there could be a lot of moving parts over the course of the next you know the next couple of days or so started last night the trade to get into the first round grabbing Nick Clifford a guy who can play at the two a guy who can play at the three a pretty versatile player who come off your bench we speculated he could potentially be you know a six-man seventh man drake U confirmed that he thinks that’s the type of player that he is that’s obviously high praise too that’s a rotational player that’s a really solid player when you’re drafted there at 24 but we’re starting to get our first glimpse as to what Scott Perry likes in particular players and I’m wondering Matt what that what that may have told you about uh the future for some guys on Sacramento right now yeah I think that’s what’s important to kind of touch on here is like I said earlier this is not Scott Perry’s roster he inherited it so we’re talking from the perspective of a lot of us we being like myself too like I’ve been very consistent and I was very open whether it was on this show or on the podcast coming into this offseason where I thought I would be shocked if Demar De Rozan were still here like I’ve said that multiple times on the podcast i thought it made sense for both sides the Kings and Demar to move on but that’s coming from the perspective of someone who has followed this team closely and had last year’s context and Scott Perry is coming in with a fresh mindset he has his own of course opinions and and and preconceived notions of players and stuff like that he’s been around the league a long time but it’s about who Scott Perry likes who Scott Perry values and from what conversations that I’ve had reading the tea leaves of the players that he values the very he’s been very vocal repeatedly about the traits character traits of players that he he wants to have here in Sacramento it’s starting to become more clear that Demar De Roza might not be going anywhere and in fact like one of the things I said I said last night because this is a mixture of things that I’ve heard plus kind of common sense is you brought in another 6566 guy nick Clifford is a 23 he’s not in front of course of Lavine D rozan or Malik he’s not in front of Keon and the Kings have a decision to make about Keon coming up here but I feel pretty good about what the Kings are going to do there so in in theory like one of those three that I listed Dear Lavine and Malik has to go and again I’ve heard similar rumblings and if you were to take all contract context off the table and it is a schoolyard pick and here you have in front of you Demar Lavine Malik you can only pick one of them i think Scott Perry’s first choice is Demar De Roza at this point so Lavine now with the context of the the contract really hard to move right now i think we know this so I don’t think Lavine’s going anywhere so now it becomes Demar or Malik again I think Scott Perry would prefer to have Dear at this point in time so the possibility of Malik being traded I think has definitely increased to potentially even a likelihood over the last few days or week as we’ve start to learn more about who Scott Perry likes and values for this team going forward whether it’s short-term or long term what do you think about Devin Carter as his name has been mentioned uh mostly by us I guess but I’ve seen different trade scenarios where he might be involved like what do you think the Kings are feeling about Devin Carter continuing to keep him around i think Devin Carter was one of the players maybe the main or only player that the Kings were really making available in move up trade talks last night and I think it’s fair to assume that there’s not much of a market out there for Devin Carter and guys I I think we also might have overestimated the market for Malik Monk as well and I I’ve I’ve seen the rumors and I’ I’ve seen the reports and trying to find out as much as I can as we all are about this Malik Monk Toronto Raptors if that makes sense because Emanuel Quickley certainly should be someone um that the Kings are monitoring if they feel that they could get him or even RJ Barrett to some extent but I’ve I’ve gotten indications plus just kind of just understanding where the Kings are at where other teams are at and while $18 million felt like a bargain deal for us here in Sacramento with so many teams dealing with the aprons and fears of the aprons and everything like that $18 million is not anything to just say “Yeah we can just take that on.” I I don’t know if Malik Monk’s market is as prolific as at least I thought it would be coming into this offseason i I figured and even going back to a handful of weeks ago I would figure like Malik Monk is one of the not easiest guys for the Kings to move but someone that the Kings could use for a value trade because he’s a good basketball player and he’s on a pretty reasonable deal but the more that we hear the less it sounds like Malik has a ton of suitors although anything could change at any given time just cuz he doesn’t have a lot of suitors around draft time doesn’t mean he won’t have more suitors around free agency or even a week into free agency matt I think you know this a source may have shared with you as well uh that market for Malik last year wasn’t there there was one other team there was one other team the person didn’t tell me the team i I assumed it was Detroit i I come to think about it it didn’t matter i assumed it was Detroit but we thought oh it could be Orlando it could be the wasn’t there i also think we need the phrase I I know for a fact Malik used the phrase money dried up so in the market we thought or was I don’t think we should be so liberal with the phrase or term Malik turn down more money to stay here in Sacramento as much as I’ve seen it used i’m not saying that that is completely untrue but I don’t think like there’s a narrative out there and I understand Malik’s a fan favorite i like Malik a lot personally I don’t I would not hate at all for Malik Monk to still be a Sacramento king i think he’s an incredible valuable six-man i think he’s one of the best six men in the league we’ve seen that does he want to still play that position now that he got a taste of starting i don’t know doug Christie was pretty vocal about when he took the interim job that Malik came to him and said “Whatever you need me to do I’ll do.” And handled things the right way so maybe that’s a good indication going forward but I think like a lot of Kings fans have used this idea that Malik chose to stay in Sacramento and turned down multiple different offers out there that would have made him higher paid because he wanted to be the pizza guy and he loved it here in this city and he loves Sacramento i believe that wholeheartedly you just don’t I don’t know how much I’m I’m buying or how much we I think it’s been overstated let’s put it that way i think it’s been overstated that he turned down a significant amount of money to remain a Sacramento king so I’ll ask both of you guys if that Devin Carter market wasn’t what they thought they was just trying to get into the draft let alone get a player and that was kind of iffy and the Malik Monk market isn’t what they thought run it back say what the hell that What you going to do yeah what you going to do as far as making moves and moving this roster around matt is it realistic that they may be they may be forced to run it back to a certain degree i have been consistent with and I know DLO hates this term and I’m sorry i’ve been pretty consistent with my belief that next season is a gap year like next season is just what it is and I think there’s kind of a similar belief within this Kings front office right now that’s not that they’re just going to punt on next season and next season doesn’t matter because using this and we can talk about this too guys like using this mindset or understanding of what we believe next season to be dennis Schroeder makes a lot of sense so we can go down that road if you guys want to go down that road but I think there’s kind of an understanding or a belief in their this front office as there should be in my mind that next season is just kind of like all right we’ll run not everything back you’re not just going to copy and paste the roster cuz I I do think Scott will make some moves i think they’re going to be fringe moves i don’t think there’s going to be like the the star hunting I think is off the table like I don’t think there we’ve seen there’s no interest in Trey Young like that was something that I think um Sam Ach also kind of reported the Kings aren’t like big contract hunting right now i just I don’t I have zero indication that that’s been the case so I think they look at next season as it is what it is don’t do it don’t do it Matt we’re going to run out one year of one more year of Zack Lavine’s contract maybe we make another push for the playoffs via the playin we get maybe a better indication of certain aspects of a roster from Keegan Murray to Keon Ellis to Nick Clifford to any of these guys and then once you go into next off season where Perry has that context and Lavine now only has one year left on his deal and Demar only has half a season rem well half partial guaranteed final year of his deal or even the trade deadline guys there’s no reason to believe that Perry won’t use Demar at the trade deadline to trade to a team that maybe feels like they’re a go-to scorer away from making a push right i it makes perfect sense to me that Demar’s value might be higher at the deadline than it is right now especially with his final year partially guaranteed so just because the Kings aren’t doing anything right now it doesn’t mean they won’t do anything next season but I genuinely think next season is a gap year dooo and I think there are people in the front office that kind of feel the same they’re they have patience on their side there’s not the same win now pressure on the shoulders of Scott Perry as there was with Monty McNair nor should there be and the fact that I’m hearing these things and feeling this way actually gives me it makes me feel better not about next season but it makes me feel better about this front office that they’re looking around they’re recognizing where the very real position that this roster in this organization is at and they’re not willing to just make a swing for the sake of making a swing to try and turn a mess of very very talented players into a a playoff basketball team in a Western Conference that is just getting better and better and better gross that’s just gross but I I hate that optimistic Matt returned because the the Kings might be on a gap year well hold on hold on because did he return there’s going to be I mean there are going to be nights in three months well I am very happy about what Scott Perry did last night i was very impressed with Scott last night i was very imp i thought he handled that trade brilliantly i thought the assets that he gave up like I thought last night was a very strong indication of who Scott Perry is and will be as a general manager he had the right amount of patience but also attacked when he felt it was time to attack not too much patience and he didn’t jump the gun i was so I was impressed by that we don’t know how Nick Clifford’s going to play out that judgment is safe for a few years from now but that was the first indication we got of Scott Perry as a general manager when it came to player personnel moves and I was very encouraged by that but that doesn’t mean I’m excited about next season i’m not can I throw a little monkey wrench or of sorts at your theory can you if you’re not trying to Okay okay let me start at the beginning you don’t believe Monty McNair in that front office executed the Zack Lavine trade correct um I I think there was very heavy ownership influence but ultimately McNair made the call i guess he he he he made the call with Yes but almost under orders to make the call i think that’s pretty well understood the Zack Lavine move was a win now move everybody agree why would that be different today because Zack Lavine is still very much on this roster rosters is the same why would that not be the case now because they fell short because the win now they didn’t win now they made it to the playin again and then got embarrassed on their home floor in the playin and I think there was a pretty quick realization around that organization that maybe it wasn’t the right move and then you brought in a general manager that I think we all know pretty well wouldn’t have made that move right and and Perry this is not his first rodeo right he’s he’s a a seasoned veteran general manager and like the Kings didn’t hold a vast interview process they wanted Perry and I think Perry’s only accepting this job if he has the confidence that he is going to have two things specifically one the final say within reason right ownership still has to sign off on anything that’s common around the league that’s not of a VC thing that’s common around the league but he’s the g like he makes the call and two that he has the time to write the ship right he has time to clean up the mess so I’m operating with the belief that he has bare minimum those two um those two caveats that any new general manager should realistically have especially one who is as seasoned as Perry and I think all of us can feel pretty confident saying Perry would not have made that move now the Kings will still be competitive next season in my opinion perry more than likely will want this team to be as competitive as possible and if as constructed they can be a playoff team great fantastic but I think Perry like myself and others looks at this roster and realizes that while shortterm they might be able to do something that’s interesting long term there you don’t look at this roster with any kind of long-term confidence or cohesiveness at this point you don’t and it’s not just because all these players don’t work together it’s because one of them’s 35 36 years old and Demar one of them is Zack Lavine who’s coming to the end of his contract domos just started his new contract but you’re looking at a star who’s hesitant to score the basketball so I mean he looks at this roster with common sense the same way you and I do and go “Yeah this isn’t there’s not sustainable success here.” So the Kings were trying to win now last season there was a playoff mandate last season they fell short a new regime comes in here looks around and goes “Yeah winning now ain’t it with this group.” At least that’s those are the tea leaves that I read and that’s me projecting a lot of myself and my opinions and my feelings into it too this is not all stuff that I’m hearing this is a lot of just me and my my opinions on the situation no you’re allowed to have an opinion it’s It’s okay i’m sorry um share your opinion someone might just repeat it a few hours later but go ahead verbatim i’m just saying it happens uh oh who is that who wait a minute what the for the lights just went out like the Undertaker was on his way to get Matt George i’m about to get I’m about to get tombstoned by Monty McNair you know not to get tombstone by Kevin John yeah you could take Kevin it’s fine he’s too happy um the other thing about that and you kind of laid it out too uh Matt when you talk about like the mandate to win now I still you know still think the team has a lot of talent like if they came back with a lot of the guys that they have from last year including Demard Rosen um I think there’s a lot of talent on that roster man and last year was last year was just a wild ride man i I I think I’m not saying that’s the end all beall there were things were just people just didn’t play well and maybe you know there were some some chemistry issues but it was a wild ride last year and that’s got to account for something that’s gota that’s got to play a factor into something and they were you know a playing team last year and I think this year with a little bit more cohesion if you did come back with those guys uh you have a better chance of doing something than you did last year you know so they could still to what Matt was talking about they can still win games even if they kind of run it back so there’s a couple things that you said there that I think are really really important Casey first off you’re right all of us including ownership coaching staff front office could easily go okay what does a full season of Lavine and D Rozan and Domas look like without a star demanding a trade and a coach being fired in December now that there’s no fear of we know Doug Christiey’s going to have the job right what does a full season of that look like those factors absolutely play a factor i think if that I don’t think that’s enough to go into the season with with confidence but that is certainly a factor the other thing that you said there though Casey and it actually goes back to one of your earlier questions you talk about the amount of talent on this roster jake Fischer referenced the same thing earlier on your guys’ show there is a ton of talent on this roster which might play into the majority of it being run back why because the Kings and Perry are not just going to get rid of it for the sake of getting rid of it like that’s how I look at the Malik Monk situation if Malik Monk doesn’t have a great market and I’ve heard like rumors of a trade like or like a super lowball offer from the Miami Heat like the if Malik’s market isn’t as good as we think it is even if Perry’s not the biggest fan of Malik like bring him back like I I don’t don’t just trade him for scraps at this point in time and wait and see like it’s the patience thing that I preached with De’aran Fox right if Demard Rosen’s market right now if you one really like Demar Rosen which I very much believe Scott Perry likes Demard Rosen I think Scott Perry likes Deamar Sabonis a lot too but if Scott Perry one really likes Dear and two he doesn’t feel like he could get what Dear is valued for right now like he’s not willing to play Pat Riley’s game with Miami or whatever like or whatever or they can’t get Kaminga from the Warriors or whatever then wait till the trade deadline and re-evaluate not just where you’re at but where every other team in the league is at especially a team in the Eastern Conference that’s looking at the conference is wide freaking open right now because three stars in the East all went down with the same injury and are going to be out the entire year right that context matters patience is a card that I feel Scott Perry has now that Monty didn’t have last season because Monty overplayed the patience card the two seasons before that if that makes sense so you have all this talent sure you don’t want all of it on your roster or you don’t look at all of this talent as the core of my team going forward but I’m not just going to dump Malik Monk or dump Demar Rozan and give an asset away for scraps because the Kings are too talented to do that it’s a weird spot to be in but it’s a spot where patience I think is more important all right man matt George cooking it is man you got to stay Well I guess pun intended got to stay locked in stay locked on matt George matt George is shooting something i’m I’m not sure no it’s like my zinger like the the product i don’t know i thought Is it cool it wasn’t cool i’m sorry no oh my god no that was not did you think that no i called I called Neat Clifford my guy last night after Jake Gayen called Nate Clifford my guy and I felt like an idiot i said it and like thank god the zoom of neat Clifford is only focused on him because if it were me you would see my face like physically cringe when I said it like I was like oh my guy I was like oh god so anyway that’s how I’m doing oh Matt I love you buddy let’s just get out of here and let Matt Well you can’t get rest man we got another round to cover tonight uh great stuff Matt George you’re killing it over on Locked on Kings and of course ABC 10 coverage of the second round of the NBA draft begins in just about 30 minutes and of course we’ll recap it all beginning tomorrow morning at 10 a.m on the Insiders here on Sacramento Sports Leader ESPN 13:20 vamos Scott Perry

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