Are the Kings favorites to land Russell Westbrook + Jonathan Kuminga?

Are the Kings favorites to land Russell Westbrook + Jonathan Kuminga?

promised. We are back with Michael Scott of Hype. Michael, nice to meet you in person, man, and appreciate you hopping on the show. Oh, my pleasure, brother. Anytime. Thank you for having me and your support of my work. I appreciate it. Of course, man. You know, we were talking yesterday about some of your uh some of your baseball memories out there in in New York. So, it’s been a lot of fun, man. As far as Kaminga is concerned, I’ve been talking to a lot of people about it and the the question of obviously we know what he wants, but I feel like there’s a discretion between what how he views himself, how the Warriors view him, and how other teams view him. Do you think there’s kind of a question mark as to, hey, we’re going to go get this guy? Because if somebody thought he was going to be a star, I feel like we’d know. And I don’t know how many people I think a lot of people think he’s got a high ceiling, but there’s a lot of guys like that. I I think the biggest thing with Jonathan Kaminga Allen is that people view maybe a little bit of untapped potential there. And it’s about what is the price point of two things where he is now and where a team thinks that he can go. So right now, let’s say for example, he ends up back with Golden State. Okay. If he ends up back on Golden State, I think what you have to look for are a couple things. Number one, maybe not a long-term deal, maybe something like three years or four months, but I would say maybe more even three. And then I would say to you, I think an important aspect of any trade there would be a potential trade kicker and a percentage on that. And I say that because right now, if the market doesn’t dictate what he wants, ultimately, you can use that trade kicker to get back some of that money you feel like you may not be able to get at this point in the market given the teams that just don’t have a lot of cap space. And with him, you’d have to be doing a signing trade. So, um, you know, and I mean, look, I Brooklyn, I don’t see just because I know some people maybe have mentioned Brooklyn. I I don’t see that ultimately from every from my sources and whatnot. So, I think that narrows it down a bit. Um, you know, big picture, there’s been talk about you guys in Sacramento for sure, but I also think if that’s going to happen, there’s got to be a moving of parts here, whether it’s a Malik Monk to Demar De Rozan, even if it’s not to go somewhere like a three team deal. So, there’s a lot of um variables to whether Jonathan Kaminga can go to Sacramento anywhere. So ultimately there is a decent chance that he could stay in Golden State, get a deal that you can potentially look to flip going into the February trade deadline or possibly even a little bit before that. But essentially that’s kind of where that situation is right now. Allan, do you I’m talking to Michael Scott of Hoops Hype. Do you feel like uh if they waited for December, right, and and they they do the deal, the three-year deal, and they waited for December, how many more teams do you think would be interested in Jonathan Kaminga if the Warriors just waited? Because a lot of people were saying, “Hey, in the leverage conversation, if you’re the Kings, if you really want Kaminga, you can sign.” Obviously, the Warriors are in a tough spot with this with the signing trade and everything like that, but yeah, you’re the only one you’re the only one in line. And if you wait for December, there might be other teams that are now interested because it’s just a lot cleaner. Well, not only that, but I also think injury-wise, what if something comes up and a team’s like, “We need this guy to fill a void, right?” I I get that aspect of it, but ultimately then you also lose a little bit of control in terms of if you’re not going to do a signing trade now, you’re going to lose control of kind of what the deal looks like, right? And Kaminga’s camp is going to have to look out for itself with the hope of there being a signing trade and obviously like the trade kicker. But, um, big picture to me, I I’m I’m aligned kind of with your thinking in that in that regard. Um, but we’ll see. Time will tell if he’s if he’s on Golden State. I think the plan obviously from his side would be to try to go somewhere else um within the season before the deadline if he ultimately remains. They’re making sure they take care of the backup center situation with Drew Eubanks. Scott Perry was on uh on the broadcast in the first the first game that the Kings had. He said, “Yeah, we’re still looking for a point guard.” that name agent zero Russell Westbrook keeps getting brought up. What do you think about Russell Westbrook? And have you heard anything about the Kings interest level and maybe other teams interest level? You know, it’s funny when you said age zero, the first person that came to mind was Gilbert. Me too. Me too. I don’t know why I did that. It’s all good. No, it’s all good. But big picture, like I feel like with Russ, um, essentially a lot of this stuff is kind of status quo. M um I think Brayley Beal is going to start to move the market a little bit. Hopefully like teams I think are waiting for Braley Beal to move the market. Obviously, you know, if you talk to people on the concourse here, the prevailing thought remains that Braley Beal will end up with the Los Angeles Clippers. Um so then after that, I think then you kind of move from there. Where does Chris Paul go? Does Chris Paul have a return back to the Clippers where he’s wanted to be close to LA, close to his family? And I would, I think, give him a decent chance to compete. So certainly something to keep an eye on there. And then after that, as far as Russ and some of these other free agents, then I think the dominoes start to fall. Obviously, Sacramento’s bked uh been linked heavily to him the most. And so I think ultimately, you know, that’s where you’d have to look initially if if there was going to be something. Yeah. Uh, and it was interesting certainly how he he ended in Denver to get to this point. So, usually when you’re going to decline an option, you’d almost think like something was lined up, but we’re still here at this point. Yeah. And, you know, it’s not just Russell Westbrook who’s being brought up. They’re kind of other free agents as well. And not just free agents. I mean, I guess we’re kind of burying the lead out here, but LeBron James with four four teams. One of those teams being the Warriors. Obviously the Clippers, the Mavericks being a bit of a surprise. Do you think there’s anything that could actually happen? I mean, a lot of people are saying, well, if you wanted to be moved, you just wouldn’t have taken the option. Uh, maybe some posturing happening on both sides, but could that affect the market anywhere? I don’t know if the player option I don’t know if the player option has anything to do with it, Alan. I’ll be quite honest with you. I think when you can take 50 plus million dollars, you take it and then you figure it out. Yeah, the whole thing about the NBA is you get your money while you can and then you go from there and you figure it out. Same thing kind of like what we would see potentially with Chant and Kamingo for example as we touched on when it comes to LeBron I think I think a lot some of this is a little bit speculative. I think all the the stuff in the air right now um if you’re the Lakers and you got LeBron and Luca and you can still compete and have a good team. Austin Reeves is your third guy. Um DeAndre is going to be the X factor for them. Mhm. Now as a starting center, you know, I LeBron’s never been traded. Yeah. So, if there was going to be a time now in the twilight of his career, whether he’s got a year left or or more or whatever, he’d have to see. But, I mean, by all accounts, he’s enjoyed LA and he’s he opted into that for a reason. Before we get you out of here talking to Michael Scott of Hoops Hype, thank you for joining us, Mike, as always. Before we get you out of here, any names in general that maybe I know it’s been a quieter a quieter summer league, but any names in general that you heard come up that maybe you previously hadn’t heard before coming out to the desert for like a trade or free agency. What’s on your mind? Anything like that? Anything like that? No. I I got to tell you, no. And I mean, it’s the market’s been a little bit dry as the desert, right? Because going into free agency, it wasn’t a robust list with all due respect to the guys that are on the market compared to years past. Yeah. And, you know, I thought when John Horse said the other day that, you know, Miles Turner was the number one free agent. It’s like, well, maybe a realistically available guys. Yeah. But, you know, in that regard, it’s like, okay, well, that that to me, while he’s still a good player in his prime, I the ceiling of the free agency class is not what it had been in years past. And just when you look at trade talk and stuff out here for the most part, it’s it’s still been a little relatively quiet. Yeah. So, I I just think if anything would move the needle, it would be a commanding sign and trade. But I also feel like Allan, if if that was going to materialize, I I would almost think it would have happened by now. Not to say that it won’t, but yeah, as you said, there’s got to be some reservations a little bit here, or else this this would have got done already by now. Yeah. And I mean, look, the whole conversation of what is what was it supposed to be craziest NBA off season? I mean, it had its moments. It had a chance. I think it had a chance in terms of potential trade stuff, but it I don’t know. I don’t know how much you like really move the needle like that in terms of that. Um, look, I get it. Sometimes there’s hype, right? But reality and hype and substance are two are three different things. And that’s why we’re here right now. And you know, like I said, we’re drier than the Grand Canyon right now. Before we get you out of here, we talked a little bit about this on the concourse yesterday, but Malik Monk and the the off the offguard conundrum that a lot of these offguards are dealing with. Do you think that there is a a value concern with I won’t say with Malik Monk, but with players like Malik Monk who you’re not a pure point guard. Maybe your defense isn’t where we’d like it, but you can get buckets. You know what I mean? You you you can cook when you need to cook. Do you think that the league is saying we don’t really value that type of player the same? the Any Simons thing happening in Boston Cam Thomas you can I mean Cam’s in restricted free agency but when you’re talking about the ilk of the player and the prototype as a scoring guard and and that’s the main focus. Yeah, I certainly think you’re seeing a little bit of a trend. Shooters still seem to get decent amount of money like Lukard got a decent amount of money I thought. Um you know Duncan Robinson y uh still got a pretty good deal, right? And so to me, shooting has always maintained. I think the scoring guards the days of like the Lou Williams era where Jamal Crawford guys that come off the bench light it up like Times Square on New Year’s Eve, but their efficiency is a little bit cost. They have been devalued to your point. I would agree with that assessment, Alan. I would Michael A. Scott, thank you so much for joining us, man. It was good meeting you in person. Pleasure. We’ll definitely do it again when I’m out in New York. We’ll definitely link up and save travels back whenever that is. We’ll talk soon. Thank you, brother. My pleasure.

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype joined The Allen Stiles Show to discuss the latest on the Sacramento Kings’ pursuit of Jonathan Kuminga, Russell Westbrook’s free agent interest, the potential of LeBron James hitting the trade market, and what has happened to the value of the offensively minded guards.

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