Will the Sacramento Kings continue to retool their roster year after year?
and Sean, thank you so much for joining us. We know that you’ve been running around. We’re both back from from Vegas, so really thankful for you to take the time. Here’s Sean Cunningham. Who? I don’t know. Sean, how’s it going? We got Sean. Y’all got me. Sorry about that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We got you. We got you. How you doing, my guy? I’m doing all right. I just realized this was the first time I’ve had my um computer setup kind of deal since getting back from Vegas and there’s always inevitably like a step or three that I end up forgetting that I need to do. So, I think we’re I think we’re good. Like I hope I hope everything’s good. I still got a little bit of the Vegas fog in me, but uh I’m doing good. How are you, Alan? I’m good. I you know, Jason asked me I’d said I’ I’m probably about 80% right. I’m almost back to to normal Allen from from the the Vegas shenanigans. It was a great time. You drove there and back, which is impressive in its own right. So, I don’t know how you pulled that off. First time doing so. And uh the reason being is uh well, not to get too personal, I suppose, but don’t be like Sean because he doesn’t have the real ID situation figured out. I had to go through a little bit of a move and uh you know different name on the birth certificate, biological father, a lot of drama there, expired passport which I should not have let happen and now I can’t locate the passport. So anyway, a lot of these little paperwork things. So I was like you know what I’m at a new station only a couple months and I’ve got a whole hell of a lot of gear that is big and clunky and you’ve seen it. So uh having a car would have been outstanding. They were going to rent me one and I was flying by myself. I’ve had to do all those uh if anyone follows me and seen the content, it’s a lot of multi- camera shoots and stuff like that. So, that’s a lot to set up and a lot on my own and carry around and very crazy heat. So, I kind of liked having the car. I’d never done it before, so it’s a little bit of an adventure and I like Right. Right. Well, I all I was going to say was I too uh do not have the real ID and I my passport is expired. But if you did locate your passport, Sean, you could have flown because you can fly domestic for I believe up to two years with an expired passport. That’s how I got there. That’s how I got there. So now you know. But uh little little secret, Adam Allan. Um it’s over two years old. Over expired. Yeah. So I can’t help you. Don’t be like Sean. Yeah. Don’t be like don’t be like Sean. Do be like Sean when it comes to the interview skill set. Great interview that you had out there uh Sean with Scott Perry. Go check that out on YouTube and on KC. So, let’s talk about that. You know, you lugged all your your all your equipment there and you you get the interview with Scott Perry, the newest GM for the Sacramento Kings. How did that go? What was your biggest takeaway talking to Scott Perry who’s talked to feels like a lot of people. He’s been he’s done a couple uh broadcast interviews, but how did you how did you feel like everything went and and what was your biggest takeaway? Yeah, I mean for me it was it was going to be a little bit of an extended interview. I mean, we went over 20 minutes and I wanted to kind of see if he was going to keep that same energy from the beginning to the end and maybe stay on some of the same narratives because some people tend to get tripped up in a in a lengthy interview and maybe kind of reveal a little bit too much and um so I wanted to see him in that setting. Obviously have a great familiarity with him before. I mean, he’s been in the league forever, so uh people are always harping on relationships and the way he views the game and just um things that he’s able to accomplish um having a lot of people around him. Um getting this organization access and into doors that historically have been closed to them. Um and a lot of that is people may not understand, but you’re talking in terms of even draft workouts, uh agents even considering having their people meet. For example, I think Nate Clifford is an example of that. I mean, you’re able to trade in the first round, but when they went to the combine, uh, you know, Nick Clifford never worked out for the Kings. So, when they went to the combine, they were able to meet with Nick Clifford at the combine, have some, uh, face toface time, let them know that, you know, he’s a player that they have interest in. And, and obviously things can change very, very quickly. So, um, I think some of those doors may have been closed uh, to other regimes, maybe not the previous one so much, but um, certainly agents would steer clear. there was an era where they would steer clear of Sacramento for workouts and even even beyond draft. I mean, you’re talking free agency. I mean, things that weren’t even considered. So, uh I I I like what Scott Perry brings to the table in talking to him. I you know, we’ve heard him talk a lot about the Sabonis and D Rozan uh combo platter, if you will. We’ve heard him talk a lot about his draft uh and and obviously summer league and and things of that nature, but haven’t really had him talk about things like Malik Monk, Keon Ellis, Keegan Murray, especially with decisions, important one decision that’s already happened with Keon Ellis, maybe some narratives that are out there. Also, just wanting to be like, yo, there’s a lot of rumors, there’s a lot of narratives. Do you do you want to put Kings fans at ease? Do you want to, you know, address any of them or or kind of shoot down any of them? and some of the stuff that he’s just been asked, he hasn’t been asked straightforward about and see how he navigates those waters, realizing that there’s still a ton of offseason left. So, um I I get the sense and I think anybody hearing the interview will get the sense that um while they’re not done and it’s never really a finished product, I think there’s a curiosity and a very much a um a a realistic approach being that they’ve worked the phones and they’ve seen what what what the markets look like that they’re able to go into the season if it were to start tomorrow that they would be, I think, levelheaded and comfortable. Maybe not exactly where they want to be, but certainly comfortable enough to with the curiosity of saying, “Look, we made a, you know, even before Scott Perry got here, they made a shift and they’ve had a lot of these pieces available.” And the one thing that everybody could talk about was that they don’t have a point guard. Well, you do. And you also have another little plug-andplay piece. Can this guy from the draft and Clifford maybe even a possibility of Maxim Reno, I mean, this I think it would maybe a little bit too optimistic. can they be in a position to uh contribute at the NBA level almost right away as guys that are a little bit longer in the tooth in terms of coming into the NBA from the NBA draft being around 23 years old. And I think there is that that curiosity and I think there is that that optimism and that that that confidence in what Dennis Shruder brings to the Sacramento Kings um and seeing what it looks like. It’s certainly never going to be like you know this is your finished product but certainly I think there’s a curiosity there. talking to Sean Cunningham of KC. I have more questions about obviously the offseason, but you mentioned you mentioned some of the questions and and obviously go check out the whole interview on uh KC and on YouTube, but you mentioned Keegan Murray, Malik Monk. Let’s let’s go Keegan Murray first. I believe Scott was asked a question pretty early on in his tenure. It might have even been his intro presser and he didn’t really uh he not that he didn’t know what to say because he’s always really good with the media but there wasn’t a lot of meat on that bone when he answered the question. How do you think they view Keegan Murray with the extension him being extension elig eligible? A couple a couple of his draft mates just got extensions. How do you think they view Keegan Murray and I guess his ceiling? I don’t I that’s a tough question to answer because you know for a long time I’ve heard people talk even things that that predate Scott Perry like Keegan Murray being this quasi untouchable piece and I’ve you know I’m never about that vocabulary like nobody you’re a bad team nobody’s untouchable. Um that being said like there are people you’d rather not trade and I think there are situations out there. I think in terms of the commitment, I don’t think that anything um will be looked at too much of an overpay considering what Keon or what Keegan Murray, for example, has brought to the table, especially now being more of a two-way player than maybe when he first got into the league. And two-way players get paid. So, um yeah, I don’t think that there’s a fear of paying Keegan Murray. Uh I don’t think that there’s a a um an appetite to trade him either. So, I think that he identifies both Keon Ellis and Keegan Murray as two players that they’re willing to go forward and and and and and celebrate a a great future beyond 2027 even. Uh because I know everyone talks about that cliff and and everyone has their eyes on 2027 in terms of when all this capital and money comes off the table and frees up. So, um I think they’re comfortable with that. I think they’re gonna be, as he calls it, pr prudent and do their due diligence and yeah, you know, I think you’ll know what the market’s like for him and obviously you’ve seen the likes of Jabari Parker or I Jabari Smith who’s been um uh who’s extended himself in Houston and obviously from that same draft class. So, I think bearing that in mind, but I think you know his Keegan Murray’s side of the of the fence also knows that there’s a lot of bad contracts out there. Not to say that Keegan would be one of those, but if you’re looking at the likes of, oh, am I going to be a $25 million a year player in this new apron and collective bargaining agreement when I’m looking over down the road at Portland when they’ve got someone like, you know, Jeremy Grant who’s making upwards of $35 million a year. Um, that to me is maybe somewhere in between, you try to find uh the most he can get, but he’s going to do what’s right for him and the Kings will do what’s right for them as well. Talking to Sean Cunningham, KC. Sean, one more for you. Just on the Scott Perry front. I’ve asked the question and I’ve said that if I get put in a situation with Scott Perry, if he says those magic words, a platform of sustainable success, I’m going to ask him what he means by that. Because if you look at Monty McNair and Mike Brown the last couple seasons, that was success relatively speaking compared to where the Kings had been. So what exactly does he mean by that? Looking at the moves that they’ve made, Dennis Shruder on a three-year deal. You still got Damonte Sabonis, you still got Malik Monk, Demard Rosen is still there for a couple years, and obviously Zack Lavine. Do you feel like if this season doesn’t go well, the whole kind of uh thing out wings is that they just won’t say uncle and hit the reset button. And I was talking to a lot of people in summer league as well about that. Do you feel I’m I’m looking here, Sean, seeing the win totals as low as 36 and a half. Do you feel like if the Kings are an 11 seed or a 10 seed and they, you know, lose in the lose in the playin, do you feel like Scott Perry would go in the direction of retweaking or do you feel like at some point he’s the type of guy that would say, “Hey, we’ve tried it this way. This was kind of a leftover situation for me. It’s time to hit the reset. Obviously, you don’t know. I’m just asking your opinion based on uh who you’ve been around and what you’ve gathered. Yeah. I mean, there there’s at no point do I see or have heard them even talk about doing a full reset. And I think to your point in that scenario, keeping 2027 in mind where a lot of money comes off the books and you have, you know, the closer you get to them to that to that mark, you know, expiring contracts become so um coveted, especially with a lot of these teams trying to get off of money very very quickly. I think to answer the point is I don’t think there’s ever going to be a hard reset in these next few years. I don’t think there’s an appetite from it. I don’t think there’s an appetite for it within that organization whatsoever. And so I think it’ll be still a you can you can do so. I mean people often point to what they did in New York under Scott Perry and uh certainly a retooling and and um I think you can reset the roster but I don’t think you’re going to monumentally uh change your direction and and alter course and try to get off what ultimately is sustained playoff success. And I think both Scott Perry and the previous regime under Monty McNair and Wes Wilcox, they both share that vision and that ultimately what’s at the top. What’s the common thread? It’s VCron a Diva.
KCRA 3 Sports Reporter Sean Cunningham joined The Allen Stiles Show to discuss his sit-down interview with Sacramento Kings GM Scott Perry, how the Kings value Keegan Murray, and what is the Kings’ definition of “sustainable success”.
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