Mark Jones on the Kings’ youth movement & one free agent target to consider

Mark Jones on the Kings’ youth movement & one free agent target to consider

of today’s show here. Jason Ross with you. Carmichael Dave on vacation. He’s back with us next week. But as promised, you see him now on your screen, the voice of the Kings, one of the voices of the NBA as well. Mark Jones, who was on the call last night and has been bouncing all around Las Vegas and summer league Jason Ross here. Mark, good morning. How are you? Good, man. Good. Just uh finished my morning workout and and uh um man, it’s hot out here. Didn’t I just see you like in Las Vegas? I was there. Made a bounce. Left on Sunday. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Got out Sunday, watched a couple games and got back. But what was the workout today? What were you doing? Uh a little core and then uh just a little two-mile run. Um a circuit around the hotel, the Virgin Hotel here. Um got to get it before it gets really hot. You know what I mean? It’s Yeah. You ran You ran outside. Yeah. I can’t do treadmills for too long, man, because they’re brutal on my knees and um I uh I just hate stale gym air. I like being outside when I get a chance. Yeah, makes sense. Even though it’s 103 in the shade, I know already. Um well, the Kings been hot, Mark. I know you’ve watched them and you called the game last night, but um I I’ve been saying about summer league, you know, you go there to evaluate the young guys to see what you potentially have and oh, by the way, along the way, maybe you get some wins and you can play for a championship. The Kings are kind of checking all those boxes right now. Yeah, huge. I um I love the overall style of play. I mean, I forget what the total amount of turnovers was by the end of the night against Phoenix, but they flipped them a million times. It felt like like every especially in the second half just the defensive pressure uh the 94 ft pickups uh the halfcourt defense was solid uh contesting shots um you know with Scott Perry taking over as general manager um team got together right on the first night prior to training camp for the summer league and uh you know each of the people kind of spoke and talked about setting the tone from now. It starts beginning you know now in terms of setting the way that they want to be as a as an organization and and you know uh accountable tough um you know buy in all those things and I think we’re seeing some of that manifesting itself on the court even here in summer league. It’s never too early to reset your culture and um winning here in Las Vegas um I don’t think can be overstated that yeah it’s important and it’s showing. You know what’s interesting is I was saying this earlier generally and you’ve done this a long time as have I but it’s like your your veterans can kind of be the culture starters and they’re going to teach the young guys the way of the league and and the ropes and the the grind of the NBA. But I’m hoping there’s a little bit of a flip of that too, Mark, where these young guys come in with a different energy, a different vibe, playing this 94 ft of defense, and you know, it that’s not something that D Rozan and and Lavine and maybe Monk have been known for. So, you know, I’m anxious to see how this these guys are fused together with the knowledge and talent of the core veterans with these young guys. Yeah, the blend is going to be uh very interesting to see how it um kind of unfolds on the court and um you know uh it’s basically teaching some old dogs new tricks, right? And Scott Perry has said that, you know, he wants volunteers, not hostages. And if you really want to be here, then I think ultimately uh professional players buy in. And if they don’t, then the adjustment is made and you keep moving the ship forward. Um we’re going to see what that willingness looks like. And you know, sometimes it’s not even about willingness. Sometimes it’s about if you can do it or not and whether it’s viable if you for to play a certain style with certain uh people and that’s that’s all to be figured out and we’ll see that beginning the middle of October in training camp in preseason. Yeah. Talking with Mark Jones, the voice of the Kings TV voice also you see him all over the NBA was on the call last night. going to go over a couple of the individuals and you were talking to me I talked to you after the uh second game against the Bulls and you were telling me a story that you ended up sharing as well on the air last night which I’m glad Kings fans heard but about Devin Carter and his dad you had a flight with him uh coming across country and um the the fatherson bond the former player and son and the work those two guys are getting and I’d love you to share a little bit more about what you think that has done for Devin and and even for both of them. Yeah, I I think um Devin has learned that this is his year to, you know, step on the accelerator and keep his foot down on it. You know, after a really disjointed rookie season with the shoulder, um he never really got on track. So, you know, late May, early June, he called dad and and uh they had a conversation. And dad was like, “Well, I’m I’m I’m going to put my hands on you because I haven’t had my hands on you to work with you since you went around away to college uh to play for Frank Martin at South Carolina.” And they got together early June, uh, you know, rented out an Airbnb in Phoenix and did two a days and, you know, skill work in the morning for a couple of hours. um shooting in the afternoon, uh conditioning, uh second week very much the same, then leaning it a little bit more towards uh conditioning. And it was interesting because AC Anthony, his dad, told me that Mark, I pulled a lot of my old Pat Riley drills that we did when I was with the Heat, things that would make players literally uh puke into garbage cans on the sidelines. And Devin was up to the challenge. And you know, Anthony says, “Hey, my job here this summer is to make my son a point guard.” He’s never played point guard. We’ve heard Devin say that to the amassed media in Sacramento. And he’s coming along. And you know, I think there’s going to be probably a couple more sessions and phone calls and uh FaceTime calls with dad and film review. And you know, Anthony has the year off this year because he was part of the purge of the coaching staff in Memphis. and um he’s looking forward to being a little bit more present and engaged in being able to try and help his son improve and become that, you know, professional point guard or at least learn the position a little bit better. But it was a very fruitful uh several weeks uh in Phoenix. And it was interesting, he said, Mark, he said, you know, he had one of his uh collegiate teammates there, you know, so they could drill against each other at times and and make it competitive. He said there was nothing else to do there. We were in a remote area. You know, the young guys at times were, you know, there they they had they had nothing but a pool table. So, it was either pool or watching basketball video and breaking down tape. And he said after a while it was me getting more stir crazy than those young boys because in their free time when they weren’t watching basketball video and breaking down tape, you know, millennials, right? It’s it’s, you know, on their phones and stuff. And he’s old school. He’s not about that. So, it was time for him to bounce after several weeks, but it was a very productive uh time in the desert with his dad. And um I think we’ve seen it pay off, especially in the last two games. Yeah, I know. Last night when you had Scott Perry on the broadcast, I I think he was quick to tell you that look, he there’s no doubt we could tell he he he’s NBA caliber defensively, guarding one, twos, possibly threes. it’s more of that offensive game, but you know, whether he’s a combo guard, whether they play him at some point and he’s shooting the ball better, it just I don’t know if it’s confidence, if it’s uh reps, maybe all of it. But I also did see him kind of holding that shoulder again a couple times last night. I don’t know if there there’s something still lingering there or not. Yeah, I I don’t know. I um we haven’t gotten any kind of medical update yet on him, but um hopefully he’s okay and hopefully it’s just a little nick uh because he needs to he needs to be on the court this year. He really does. and uh a little bit more time in Sacramento as opposed to Stockton because there are minutes available at backup point guard behind Dennis Shruder and you know we saw Nick Clifford yesterday. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him play some backup point guards. So that might be part of the um minute split between those two guys at some point. Yeah. Well, let’s go there next. Mark Nate Clifford. I mean talk about feel and fit and versatility. They’re calling the Swiss Army knife. I think it’s perfect. He he looks the part. He’s mature. He’s obviously new to the NBA, but so far so good. Everything I’ve seen. What are your thoughts on Meek? Yeah, plays with great pace at the offensive end. Um the thing the nuance that really impressed me last night, you know, beyond his great three-point shooting was three of three from downtown and his feel for the game to see the court and pass was several times um Phoenix tried to with their point guards. Uh they tried to heat him up and pressure him and you know they were able to turn him a couple times but you know he had his head up, never had his back and had to spin. So he you invite the double team from the other side. Uh they couldn’t run and jump him and he handled that pressure really well. So um he had a crash course in in NBA uh defensive pressure and uh being able to handle it and acquitted himself extremely well. I I love the way that he plays at both ends of the floor and that’s the way that the NBA is going now. It’s a it’s a group of, you know, you got to have a bunch of 66 65 to 67 guys on your team playing the wings who play at both ends of the floor. If you look at Oklahoma City and uh Indiana, two teams are in the finals. They got a bunch of those guys. Yeah, Kings and Kings have been light on that. That’s for sure. And then uh a guy who didn’t play last night, but I know you’ve seen him play. You were at the game the other day where Maxim Reno is uh booming voice can be heard throughout the gym and his communication even if he’s not playing. I know they’ve liked what they’ve seen. I I’d love your opinion on what you’ve seen from Big Macs. Yeah, that was when I was at practice. Uh to hear him anchor the defense and be calling out, you know, weak, weak, strong, strong. I got him. Um it was pretty impressive. And I love the fact that, you know, just like Clifford, you have a 22, 23 year old rookie who has the ability coming into the NBA to be a plug-and-play guy and contribute immediately because he’s a little bit older. And I think I can envision the Kings using him uh like a hub. I mean, running some delay actions at the top of the lane and being able to make plays for himself and and for teammates and uh running those DHO actions and those Zoom actions and uh really cerebral and I I more than anything love a guy that I can speak French to, too, having, you know, taken French for nine years in school. So, yeah, there’s that, too. But he should only player in collegiate basketball last year to average 20 and 10. Yeah. You know, I I like you said, his communication skill is is elite, too. So, as we look to, you know, obviously the offseason isn’t done. We’re watching this team try to win as much as they can in the summer league. And then the the last phase is continued summer development and Scott Perry’s turn to see what else he can do with this roster. Shruder’s an addition. These picks are an addition. Uh, and then there’s a lot of duplication in a in a season that, you know, we all know coming off of just it was a wild year. Trading Fox, firing Mike Brown, Doug Christie coming in. I know they’re going to try to get some continuity. It it’s it’s an odd collection at times, but what’s your early thought on what the roster makeup could look like and could turn out to be next year? Yeah, I’m uh I’m curious to see if any more dominoes fall. Um, you know, obviously the the Kaminga thing is kind of orbiting around uh potential roster moves. Um I’m not sure that you know the the math works, the money works there based on what Kamingus Camp is probably looking at their client getting. Um but you know, he’s he’s a very attractive piece. Um, you know, some of the chatter I’ve heard out there a little bit that and I’m thinking about what price he might come at is uh and and this some people will scoff at this, some people won’t when you look at his talents. Uh Ben Simmons is still out there too, you know, and uh a 610 guy that is NBA all defensive team. Uh a great passer and facilitator. He’d be great in the type of style that uh you know the Kings might want to run this year. And um he’s not another mouth defeat. Yeah. More importantly at the offensive end. But um I would guess that we’re going to see probably, if I had to bet, the same same roster that we’re looking at right now without any major tweaks before training camp. Yeah, I mean I’m with you on that. And I think, you know, I I’d be curious on your years of experience too, Mark, on when you have two players that are as good as they are in Zack Lavine and Demar De Rozan that have had a couple different turns at this. It’s not like they’ve been a failure, but it hasn’t bloomed and blossomed as much as maybe you would think with two guys of their kind of talent. Do you have any, I guess, opinions on maybe why in Chicago and why here in Sacramento, the times they’ve been together, that two guys that are as good as they can be, but it just doesn’t always gel together? Yeah, I would I would say there’s a lot of truth to that. Uh Jason, I would also say that their grade here in Sacramento is incomplete. That’s fair. Because they haven’t had a training camp together, gotten to know their teammates and have uh pieces around them that they’ve gotten familiar with from day one. Um you know, Doug took over on the fly last year. He’s getting a training camp in. He’s got veteran assistants around him and they’re going to get a chance to implement the way they want to play with Demar and with Zach and I think we can probably fully grade them on on this year um and see how it goes. But um you know the the one thing about Zach and Demar is that they’re both both very prideful people. you know, I know them very well, especially, you know, Deamar is very prideful and um nobody who’s accomplished the number of allstars that those two guys have combined. I think it’s seven or eight between them, uh wants to be the guy that gets pointed as it not working right. So, um you know, I I think there’ll be a tremendous amount of buy in in what from those two guys, from what Doug asked from them this year. And um I I think it’ll be a nice mix. I think I think the Kings are going to be very competitive in the Western Conference this year. I think Dennis Schruder is a great piece for this team. I think, you know, we may have lacked every every locker room needs a guy with a loose wire. Dennis got a loose wire. And I I mean that coming from a place of love. I love Dennis and uh he’s very competitive. Uh but he’s not afraid to jam guys up when they need to be jammed up. Yeah. And I think that’s a a variable that this team might have been wanting a little bit in past years. Yeah, for sure. I you know, I was curious to I know you get to talk to a lot of different people. You you’re the circles you’re in, whether it’s coaches, agents, players. Um you were talking a little bit earlier about Kaminga and I know it’s been a bad year to be a restricted free agent, the money and the apron and all that stuff. Are are you finding Mark that um th in those circles people are with the cap and all that? Is this good for the league? Are they happy about this? It feels like it’s been a little bit more difficult to to operate for some GMs this summer. Yeah, it’s man, if you don’t thread the needle on your projections, your financial projections and your roster projections moving forward, you get stuck. You can get stuck in neutral. like getting stuck in neutral is pretty much the norm unless you’re you know Sam Prey who had things fall perfectly for for them and their projections with their young young roster and their experience and their payroll but even with them now Jason the mortgage note is due man you saw the amount of money and checks they right so yeah and then the other side of the coin is you can’t be balling on a budget you know you can’t have champagne dreams in a you know baloney sandwich budget. So, that doesn’t work. I I think that um in this environment, you’re going to see a lot more roster building um one through seven or eight as opposed to heavy rosters of guys who are always commanding the max. I think that’s the next evolution. I think you’re going to have star players on their respective teams being asked more frequently to take less than the max, not 100% of it, maybe 90 or 85% of it to make room for roster building. I think that might be the next trend. Unless you’re one of those franchises that just says, you know, hey, I’ll write a blank uh, you know, repeater tax they call it, right? I’ll just write it three to one, whatever it is. Boom. Here. Yeah. Not many of those. And I think to your example, I think I don’t know this for a fact, Mark, but it felt like that as an example might be Memphis. Look, they liked Jaw, they like Jiren Jackson, they probably liked Bane, but I don’t think they wanted to pay three guys that kind of money and then, hey, let’s move one of them and sign the other two. And that might be kind of the norm going forward. Yeah. Yeah. You’re going to have to as a general managers move forward, uh, find guys who outperform their contracts early and then make a decision later, you know. So that that’s that’s kind of the way it is. I um I I guess grudgefully I like it. Yeah. Because it brings on, you know, we’ve had seven different NBA champions now in seven seasons. So, uh that’s one side of it. The other side is dominance in pro sports with teams kind of sells too, you know, like dynasties sell too. the Bulls, the Warriors, the Lakers, that those those are sexy, too. So, I don’t know. Some people like vanilla, some people like chocolate, some like strawberry, some like Neapolitan. Yeah. Well, the league the league literally has experienced both of those here in this last decade. They had what, Warriors Cavs? Four, four times in a row. Yeah. And now we’re at seven champs in a row. If you were to You’re in Vegas, so it’s a place where people do bet. If you were to, and I know you said stay away from the tables. Yeah. Um, but if you uh if you were looking at that, would you predict an eighth different champion or I guess in this case a repeat from OKC or one of those other seven kind of um keeping this, you know, I guess one of those other as well. I OKC seems to be on another level right now. They do. Um but a year ago at this time, we were all saying that about the Boston Celtics, too. We really were. I mean, they were top five in offensive and defensive rating and dominated Dallas. They dragged them in the finals and won it in five games. So, um, you know, all it takes is an injury and we’re back to an open competition again. I think I think in the Eastern Conference, it’s really wide open. You know, there’s Cleveland that’s out there a little bit, but then everybody else has a shot, especially with Tatum probably out for most of, if not all of next year. And, you know, Atlanta’s much improved. They might be a team to watch in the East, but the West is so competitive, by the time you make it to the playoffs, you know, guys are running on fumes. Yeah. Uh, last I would I would bet that we’re going to see I don’t know how it’s going to happen or unfold, Jason, but as good as Oklahoma City is, I’m going to bet that there’s going to be an eight different champion. Yeah, I I kind I kind of feel it, too. All right, last one for you as we’re talking with Mark Jones. Mark, I don’t know. I know the league’s going to study all this. There’ll be a deep dive into all the research. I hope it’s just rotten luck, but anything to the Lillard, Tallebertton, uh, Tatum? I mean, these are superstars with these Achilles injuries that it’s just I mean, it’s awful. I hate it for these guys. Uh some I want guys to play every game. There’s the the crowd that’s like, “Hey, let’s rest these guys.” So, I anything to it or just kind of some rotten luck here? I I think it’s just an aberration. I just think it’s rotten luck because as Adam Silver pointed out, they’re looking at some of the data. Uh they didn’t have nearly the number that they did this year and I don’t even have a theory on it. I I just think it’s rotten luck. You know, I do know that I do know that. My one guess would be Jason that, you know, I’m in the gyms all the time in the summertime and, you know, watch all the guys work out um year round almost in fields. You know, they’re in the gyms. Like I see Jeff Green and Emanuel Quickley pretty much every day in Miami down in the gyms and they’re they’re there at 8:00 in the morning working out and then come back for a lift at night and get up shots. And that cumulative wear and tear at some point has to take uh uh take a hold of your body. And I I just think sometimes guys may play too much. I do. I think it’s a wear and tear thing. That’s my amateur orthopedic surgeon uh opinion, but guys have so much mileage on their bodies by the time they’re even 24 now when they come into the league with kids training year round and you know AU basketball and I don’t think AU basketball is the boogeyman like a lot of people. I love it. But, you know, guys play so much because it’s so competitive and by the time these kids come into the league at even at 23 24, they’ve got some hard mileage on them. So, yeah, that that’s probably as good of a thought and take on that as as I’ve heard. Well, Mark, uh, we appreciate your time as always. Uh, enjoy the rest of your time in Vegas. Try to stay cool and let’s see if the Kings can get that third summer league championship. Hey, man, I’d love them to see some rings on their fingers when they leave. Las Vegas. That’d be great. Jason, thanks for having me. Keep up the great work, man. All right. Thank you. Appreciate it. Yeah, light the beam. That’s right. Mark Jones joining us from his hotel there in Las Vegas. Uh we appreciate that. The uh voice of the Kings, voice of the NBA, and uh taking his time after his workout just jogging outside in Vegas at 103 temperature. That guy’s a machine. Absolutely appreciate him. Uh thank you for him joining us. Hopefully you enjoyed his uh interview there. hair like we always

The Sacramento Kings are turning heads in Las Vegas Summer League thanks to the strong play of rookies Nique Clifford and Maxime Raynaud, as well as second-year guard Devin Carter.

Kings TV play-by-play voice Mark Jones joined The Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross to share his observations of the newest members of the Beam Team, contemplate if more moves are on the way in free agency, and much more.

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