Brenden Nunes Recaps the Kings’ DOMINANT 4 Game Stretch in Summer League
Oh my goodness. We know that uh Vegas is where the stars hang out. We know Drapes is there and it looks like he has landed a big star for us. Who you got there with you, Drapes? I I got I wanted Chris Watkins, too. Let me just say that cuz I I would love to have Chris, too. Got our boy Brendan Nunez, Southtown Sports, 11:40 Kings Insider. And I wanted him and Chris on because we’re the only local cats down here. Really, we we holding it down more so than anybody else. These guys are putting in work. So, I’m like, we got to give them some love and show the people that Sack Town Sports 11:40, we are down here. We are in the building. Absolutely. How are you, Brandon? Doing good. Uh, thanks for having me, guys. Appreciate you, Drapes. Like, like he said, uh, we got some good representation going on out here. We actually got some things in the works, so stay tuned for, uh, some things I’m sure you guys will see going into next week. But, if I could paint the picture a tiny bit, Drapes is in the back of the workroom over here, and I’m trying to write. I just finished up the postgame article here and I hear him talking crap about the Niners in the background. You can hear me, man. I can’t I can’t get some peace around here while I’m trying to work. This guy’s hyping up the Eagles. Hey, all I know is y’all got to be better than 6 and 11. You better than 61. 6 and 11 is crazy. They will be better than 6 and 11. Let me ask you this. And seriously, about this whole setup, how like can you hear me clearly over there or no? Am I pretty loud? Kind of. I’m used to your voice though, you know, so I pick up on it quick. I’m in the middle of right now. I’m like, wait, I hear that. Do I have the stream open? Did you go on Allan’s show the other day when he was here or No. Did you have to whisper like you at the moment? We actually were changing rooms that day and we did it from a lobby of a hotel. Oh, really? Yeah. We’re makeshifting everything. You guys on the fly, man. But Kings are getting it done. Yes. How’s it been for you out here, man? Covering the games and seeing our rookies up close and personal. How’s it been? It’s been good, man. It’s um everybody’s been really personable. you know, even just hanging out with the guys. We obviously get pretty good access and and get to be around them. Obviously, even these last few days, nobody else is really out here like you’re saying. So, gotten a chance to spend time with some of these guys. Good characters. Like, even just from that aspect, enjoy hanging out with them and kind of their personalities. Isaac today is talking about how he knew Max for a while from college days. They had the same uh coach even if they were at different places with Kyle Smith going from Washington State over to Stanford and he knew Max, but he didn’t know how funny he was. He said he just come up to him and just like pet him every once in a while and just do random stuff. Um, so there’s some Yeah, a little little weird, but you know, there’s some personality here. Uh, point being and I think that’s been good. And obviously when you see them having success on the floor, it makes it all easy for these guys to be in good spirits. You know, Brendan, I I just saw that story and I wasn’t sure how to present it on the air, so I hadn’t mentioned it yet. I left that apart intentionally. You know, it was Yeah, it was interesting. It was interesting, but it’s all in good fun. Yes. Yes. Now, drapes, Friday night, I think it was Friday night, they had the NBA media tip off party there in Vegas. I’ve heard about this party. Did you attend? Because my understanding is the gentleman to your right, he did attend even though he was Allan is telling stories or what, man? The lists. So I just No, I unfortunately I I or fortunately depending on how the party was. You know me, Whitey. When everybody goes right, I’mma go left, big fella. So no, please share, Brendon. I know we in Vegas and you’re not supposed to share your secrets or anything and what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But how was that party? No, I mean man, it was it was good. You know, we’re just talking to certain people. I believe Yeah, it was at the win. U I’ll just say shout out to Allan because he kind of helped us uh work our way into that party. Allan was kind of smooth. smooth with how that happened. Um, but you know, I’m gonna do better than him and keep the story to Vegas. There’s there’s not all that much depth to it. We end up at like a random concert, me, Sean, and Allan. And it was a good time. It was a good time, but you know, we’re getting a lot done out here. Some good networking. Allan, you want to hear how Allan got them in? Because Yeah, I would love to. Did he already share this? Yeah, he shared this today. So, there there was a couple people with lists and they’re, you know, they’re like, “I’m sorry, you’re not on the list.” Oh, I got I I got the email. you’re not on the list. So, at some point, Allan got on his phone and there was no one on it and he said, “Yeah, yeah, okay. We’ll be right in.” Supposedly, the person he was with did the same thing and they just walked in and they had a great time at the party. Yeah. Since he already shared it, it’s fine. We’re like trying to figure it out. I had somebody else get my email and they’re like, “All right, here’s a confirmation.” And to be honest, I’m like, “This might just be a screenshot of a confirmation, so we got to work with this.” Did you have an actual an actual confirmation? We did. We did, but it was not working. And a guy comes over like newly updated list is like, “No, I’m not seeing you on here.” He turns around for half a second. Allan walks past me with some pace and is just like, “Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. We’re coming in right now.” Like acting on the phone. I’m like, “Well, I guess I should follow his lead right here.” And sure enough, you act like you belong. I don’t know why we’re telling on ourselves in here. We’re just talking about people can hear me. That’s awesome, man. But now, was it worth it though once you got in? It was a good time. It was a good time for sure. We uh Yeah. talking with some people, you know. I think we talked with Mark Jones a little while Mason some friends, you know, and uh always good getting to talk to different people from around the league as well. So, Nico Harris, I heard I heard they were hanging out with Nico Harrison at one point. I don’t know about Maybe I missed Nico. Really? Yeah. Allan might have separated from the group. No, I don’t think so. I don’t think so. All right. All right. Yeah, I uh I did not go to that party that night. Yeah, Brandon, as you may know, a lot of Kings fans are so excited about this team at summer league. You know, they’re and maybe it’s because the last couple years have been a little underwhelming and they’re so excited about this team. What stands out to you about the way this team is playing so far at summer league? I I would say that, you know, it’s the first things that you hear Scott Perry mention anytime anybody’s talking to him is this defensive identity, the identity that he wants the Kings to have. And I can’t think of a summer league team that’s ever felt like they’ve had an identity like this or embraced it and leaned into that so much. And everything that you see with this summer league team is exactly how it’s going to be with the Sacramento team. Obviously, there’s going to be differences in how that all functions, but this defensive focus, the picking up 94 ft. That pressure, I think, is something that they want to translate. And you’re seeing that already be what the Sacramento Kings are. When Scott Perry says, “I want you to think of a certain brand of basketball.” when you think Sacramento Kings, they’re kind of already starting to do that. And it’s helpful for the rookies and current guys to be able to play in that style, they should be able to directly translate. So, um, it also helps when you got some talented guys like Nick Clifford doing these, you know, midi pull-ups on guys out there. He was cooking today. Uh, definitely recognizing moments where I thought Cleveland was going on a run, it might get out of hand and it’s like me Clifford, boom, boom, boom, bucket, bucket, bucket. Uh, Max spacing it out. Mason didn’t play today, but he’s been out there obviously. They have they have a lot of talent and they’re all playing together so it’s led to good things. Let’s talk about Nick for a little bit because to your point, you know, today Cleveland’s making a run, Proctor’s going off and it felt like Nick raised his game to another level and we saw that I think it was game one uh he did the same thing. You know, down the stretch he made big plays. Have you noticed that? And what does that tell you about him? Yeah, I would say that, you know, they keep calling him a Swiss Army knife, but I think sometimes you can tap even more into some of this ISO creation that he has and, you know, creating advantages in isolation, but that doesn’t mean that he’s only scoring. Sometimes you’re seeing the pass and he had nine assists today. He was flirting with a triple double. I think it’s 199 and seven. Um, that game one that you’re talking about, he wasn’t very aggressive in the first half. He said he was just kind of trying to play the right way, which I think is a good trait for young guys to have. You don’t want to come over and just step on everybody’s toes. I believe it’s 17 of 18 or 16 of his 17 in that second half. Um, so yeah, recognizing those moments and I think the smoothness of how he’s been able to do it. Asked Isaiah Stevens about it today. He played with him in college new way for the Kings and he said he thinks it’s the pace of play. It’s it’s how he can go slow to fast, fast to slow. Um, and playing at his own pace within control the whole time. And I think that you’re seeing that. Mhm. Brendan, would you say that this roster for the most part is likely to be the roster that the Kings start the season with? And if so, how do you think Kings fans should feel about that? Yeah, I think they still have a little bit of work to do. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw another point guard added. I know you pointed to who was it the other day. I think the Russell Westbrooks talk is still kind of floating around a little bit there. Um, and then stuff like, you know, I I saw a hoopite put out that um, help me out, Terrence Davis is only partially guaranteed and only will become partially guaranteed if he makes it through training camp. That the Drew Eubanks contract is non-g guaranteed. So, you can take what is it up to 21 guys outside of your two-ways into training camp. So, keep in mind they can bring in some more guys here that I think could compete for those last spots, but I don’t think that you’re seeing anything big that, you know, probably is notably within the rotation that you could say that comfortably right now outside of maybe maybe we still have Russell Westbrook talks um lingering around. Do you see Brendan them adding a point guard without clearing up and moving somebody else in the back court or like do you really think they’d add somebody given the glut of guards that we have? I kind of think they need another point guard because so if you were saying that you needed a point guard before this off season, you only got one, right? And so what happens my only thing is that yeah that’s fine but if Ben Dennis Shruder goes down then we have a problem. So, that’s the only reason in my mind where I I think you could, you know, shell that up a little bit. Try to get a little bit more help back there. Unless you feel comfortable with Devin Carter or I don’t think Nick’s handle’s quite there yet, but maybe you feel good about Deon or some of these other guys you already got there. Let me ask you then. You Hold on, Whitey. Because he brought up Devin Carter. How would you Yeah, it was you were going there, too. How How would you grade these four games and experiment at point guard for Devin? I don’t I I don’t think the point guard thing is very it’s just a tough spot for Devin to be in. It’s not something that he played throughout his collegiate career. And I think that asking him to develop that, you can see where there has been growth there. Um but it’s still just not natural. I think that’s something that’s going to continue to take a little bit of time, but he can still impact the game. I think, you know, point guard in the second unit where you still have one of Zack or Demar or maybe Domas is still out there and you can still run features through their guys. I think that Deon has a role where he can’t impact things, but um unfortunately I feel for the guy. You got to mention sort of the injuries that kind of still seem to be lingering before game one. Um you you see him shaking that shoulder during it. He says that he he had a a little flare up the day prior. He’s great in game two. He wasn’t very good in game three and we’re sitting right there on the bench. You can hear him talking about it hurting to be honest. Um so and then he doesn’t play great today. It’s like it sucks that when that happens you have to be like how is he feeling? So hopefully we can continue to work past that. Um I will say I don’t think any it’s fair for anybody to get on him about that. He’s trying everything that he can. So um I’m hopeful there’s a good player in there, but I still think you need to see it continue to be pieced together more consistently. Brendan Nunes with us from uh Vegas. How do the Kings make sure that what’s happening in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas? How do they as a team uh as a franchise um make sure that the positivity that they’re building now and the culture that it actually makes its way into at least a training camp once they reconvene for that? Well, the tough part of that is that, you know, well, they’re going to try to put in that identity, but I think the tough part is is that it has to be echoed and really championed by the top players on your roster. And so hopefully they do get that buy in. You see Demar out here today. Um he’s chopping it up with Scott. I I think heard him talking to you were actually sitting right there. Not to outouch you. You sitting right there with Demar and uh Dear and Doug just casually, you know, no big deal. Those are my guys, man. What you expect? Yeah, those are my guys. Playing it cool. Um but yeah, I mean I think that Demar is a guy you’re going to get that sort of leadership from. Even if he’s not the defensive minded guy, I still think you will see him buy in. You’ll see him communicate the right way. I think you’ll see that from Domas. Zack doesn’t have like a history of being a bad locker room dude or anything. So, I think the answer to that is it has to start with the top players on the roster and their skill sets maybe don’t favor into that, but I think that you will get some buy in. At least that’s what you’re what you’re hoping for and betting on. Brendan, I know you brought this up a couple of days ago that we hadn’t seen any Kings veterans come down and watch. Uh we did see Demar uh today took the guys out for dinner last night. Uh it does Yeah, he took the guys out. You know, the organization doesn’t seem to have a problem. How do you view what you’ve seen, you know, from the Kings veterans, the lack of them being here and then Demar showing up today? I guess Keon was around the other day for game day. I didn’t get to see him, but you know, what do you make of all that? Yeah, didn’t see Keon at the game, but I know that he was out of practice. Um, got some work in actually with some of the coaches and stuff. Um, and then Terrence Davis was out here too, even though we just mentioned not fully guaranteed. So, shout out to TD. Might be playing into his cards a little bit there. You know, playing nice for sure. U, but I I don’t know. Well, I mean, I think that it’s nice to see it out there. Like when San Antonio’s lined up with their entire team, that stands out, you know, but there’s a lot of teams where I don’t think that many guys are out here. Like Cleveland wasn’t very well represented. I don’t think Austin wasn’t very well represented. So, I see how it could be easy where it’s like, oh, this is the team we keep tabs on, so it stands out a lot. But, I don’t know. I don’t read too much into it. Also, team was like shook up a bunch last year. Last year was a really weird season. Um, so I don’t know. I I personally don’t read all that much into it, even if it would have been nice to see a couple guys. Don’t we need to see Maxim Reo against better competition? And I know he’s playing well. He can only play against the guys he’s playing against. I was hoping he would play against uh Malawatch when they played the Suns and and he wasn’t able to play because of his wrist, but um don’t we need to see still what Maxim does against better big competition? Yeah, I think that we do. And the offensive stuff I I think can be real right away. I think even maybe at the four more so than the five for some things. I just talked to his college coach today. Actually, I’m going to have something on that a little bit later tonight. Um but he said that he thinks that he works even better at the four. He was like think of him more as a Lori Markinet than a Luke Cornet. Um even mentioned like Kelly Ool Lin but with a little bit better foot speed. Obviously there’s a height difference. Um, so you know, if we’re talking, again, that’s absolute ceiling obviously, but like something like that, the versatility that Lori Markin does have offensively. I think you see that a little bit with Max and and defensively, he was told to not block shots in college. You’re too important to our offense, leading scorer. Now he gets to buy in that. This guy’s a computer science major. Uh, coach was joking that he thinks he could make more money outside of basketball. Um, so super smart guy, gets a kick out of calling out defensive coverages just to annoy the other team. I think that I I’m willing to bet on his improvement from everything that I’ve seen and how people talk about him as a person. And that’s the same thing that you could say for Nick, which again I think very much points towards this culture and identity that Scott Perry is trying to create in Sacramento. Do you feel Max, you know, obviously we hear him all the time, you know, whether he’s in the game or the bench, but even the way he talks to some of the other players, it seems like he’s wise behind. And I know he’s an older player, four-year player and everything like that. Seems like he’s a little more mature be beyond his years out there on the floor. Like he’s kind of a leader, if you will, already on this team. I think so. I I think that you definitely see that leadership. I think it’s something that had been there since his time in college. And it’s even more impressive. Like English is not his first language. In the interview that he had with Jason Ross, he talked about how sometimes he thinks people can’t understand him with little things. I’m like, “Dude, I think you speak great English. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Um, and so multiple languages and he’s that sort of leader. maybe, you know, don’t haven’t talked to them about this, but maybe there’s some perspective things of coming over um just from France and and embracing everything here. So, I I think that he’s been great off the court, man. Everything about how they talk about him as a worker, how he is as a teammate, just an intelligent person, but also light-hearted. Uh coach told me that he limits himself to one one hour of social media, internet a day, super disciplined guy. Um, so I think again makes it easy to bet on him. Brennan and Drapes, I’m wondering what you guys think of this. I’ve been thinking of Scott Perry and the things that have happened in the organization since he came in and he’s going to get most of the credit for this and he deserves a lot. But obviously there are a lot of other people that deserve credit, too, especially the players. But to me, he came in at a time when, you know, it’s like if you’re in an emergency room, the patient is bleeding. You have to stop the bleeding. You have to stabilize the patient. And I think he’s done that. And now it’s getting to a point where at some point it’s like you have to deliver a baby. You have to deliver like a team, a team that has a chance to be competitive. And it’s not easy. But I think he’s done a really good job from where he started to where this thing is right now. I think he’s done a remarkable job. I think Dr. Perry has done a remarkable job. Yeah. I mean, I think they’re one of the winners of summer league for for what’s that worth. Isaiah Stevens was on the team that won summer league last year in Miami. I will say Miami wasn’t a great team last year, but they got the whole culture thing going on and I think that’s what Sacramento is starting to build. I I honestly don’t have the highest expectations for the Sacramento team next year. I think it’s a very tough Western Conference. I think they are good enough to win on any given night which helps from a you know just a viewership standpoint and honestly the West is so wide open. It’s just a wide wide range of outcomes in my mind. but still some finagling of the top of the roster that I think Scott Perry is going to have to work out and and be patient yet prudent I think is wording that he’s often using um while trying to get value for some of those top guys but I I think I still feel like with the main team we’re kind of waiting on those moves to take place do you think All right so we’re waiting on those moves and they may not happen this off season maybe at the deadline maybe next off season but we do have Dennis Shruder now at the one what kind of impact do you think he’ll have when it comes to winning and losing what we get out of Demar, what we get out of Zack this season? Yeah, I think he’s a professional. I think he fits everything that Scott Perry wants. I think um you see a little bit of like a fierceness to his play. He’s got a little bit of an edge to him, you know, uh saw little clips put together recently of him kind of going back and forth with guys and I think having that little bit of edge is good for this Kings team. I think he’s also just a professional. He orchestrates everything. He’s a guy that will recognize, hey, Zack hasn’t touched the ball in three possessions. I’m going to go that direction of the floor this time, you know. So, I think little things like that help. And he plays really well with pace. He’s a really fast player. It’s not De’Arren Fox. Um, and maybe they partially wanted to play fast obviously because Dear when he was here, but Dom plays really well into that. Zach plays well into that. Keegan’s accustomed to it. So, I think Dennis will also help you get the pace back up. Um, which can make things simpler for everybody else. I I like it and I think it’s pretty low risk considering it’s it’s really two years that third year partial guarantee. Brennan, we had someone, I think his name was Trey, uh who earlier today just commented in the on the text line that, you know, Kings fans tend to get really attached to guys that aren’t here long. Like people were Valenunis fans, now he’s gone. We know that with uh with Jake Laravia, he had a lot of fans. And it’s interesting because Kings fans over the years have a knack for gravitating towards guys that maybe aren’t here long or maybe aren’t really that good. I, you know, somebody uh mentioned um Oster Tag came up. Uh players like that. I remember I was a big Tony Delk fan, you know, and he wasn’t here long. I’m wondering in all your years as a Kings fan, did you ever have a guy that was one of your favorites that maybe wasn’t that good or wasn’t here that long? Not to put you on the spot, but I’m just curious because I know you’ve been a Kings fan for a long time. There might be a cutout in that room behind you, Whitey. Of Jamias Ramsay. No way. You was a Jamaas Ramsey guy. Actually, that draft class, Jamaias Ramsey and Robert Woodard. I really loved both those guys. There’s a Jias Ramsey somewhere in that studio waving it off somewhere in that studio. It also was like that was the first draft class when I was covering the team that I got close to. So, I got a little bit of like I’m rooting for these guys, you know. Jay, cut his mic, bro. Cut his mic, man. And I just said Jayas, right? Like people, he was going to be through the roof. He’s playing with Karen Shannon who’s killing it out here. Yeah. Oh, man. You got to keep that one to yourself, man. He’s still young, man. You don’t know. I’d rather hear the Vegas stories than that. What happened at the tip off party? Yeah. Right. Right. That’s good stuff. All right, man. we go to let you go. Appreciate it. What can we look for on uh the website Sackttown Sports 1140? Yeah, you know, I think uh we’re planning on having some sitdowns. Don’t want to don’t want to say names yet because you know, things always could fall through. We’re in Vegas trying to plan things out, but it sounds like we’re going to uh potentially talk to some people in the or have some things that uh that come out here in the next few days. So, we’re working out here in Vegas. So stay tuned.
Brenden Nunes joins the Drive Guys to talk about the Kings being 4-0 in Summer league, how the off season is going for them, and who he thinks the Kings should aim to acquire this off season.
Thank you for watching. Don’t forget to hit the thumbs up and subscribe!
#nba #sacramentokings #nfl #sanfrancisco49ers #mlb #athletics #sanfranciscogiants #sacramentorepublicfc #nbasummerleague #nbafreeagency
Subscribe at: https://www.youtube.com/c/Sports1140KHTK/?sub_confirmation=1
Find Sactown Sports 1140 online: https://t.co/K0vdSg5o1w
Listen live to Sactown Sports 1140: https://player.listenlive.co/55401
Like Sactown Sports 1140 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SactownSports
Like Sactown Sports 1140 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sactown1140
Follow Sactown Sports 1140 on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sactown1140
App download Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bonneville.khtk&hl=en_US&gl=US
App download iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sports-1140-khtk/id1314735220
1 Comment
Jake was great watch your foot it might end up in your mouth 🙂