Note: I’ll be in Las Vegas for Summer League today through Monday, so if you see me (a generic-looking white guy almost certainly rocking a Basketball Poetry or Basketball Intelligence T-shirt), say hi!
As a kings fan, I like this signing purely on the basis of “we did something.” Does it make us contenders? No. Are there questions about the spacing? Yes. Does it make our defense worse? Definitely. Have we, an already small team, gotten functionally even smaller? I would argue yes.
However, it addresses our huge need for on-ball creation outside of Fox and Monk by adding a legitimately consistent and talented scorer, which is almost never a bad thing (unless you’re the Suns with Beal), and like… even if it doesn’t work, at least we tried? Trying *something* is fun as a fan, especially when compared to sitting on all our assets waiting to make a move that never materializes, which is what we did all of last year, so I’m happy just on that basis.
I had almost this *exact* conversation with someone else. I totally agree that it's fun to try something new! The Kings have had the same team for two years now, and needed a shake-up. This will certainly make them one of the more interesting teams to watch when the season tips off.
Also, I like Ellis for the 5th starting spot. Shores up our defense, can knock down spot up 3s at a 40% clip (assuming he doesn’t regress, which isn’t a given), and the room he makes on the second unit means Carter plays alongside Monk, which feels like a more complimentary fit than Carter and Ellis together.
Hmm, yeah I guess it depends on how good Carter looks on-ball. I don't watch much college, so I have no idea how he'll fit, but the Kings fans I know seem excited about his potential.
Keeping Huerter in this deal and the lowish contract for Derozan give the Kings a solid chance at trading for a high level role player (Cam Johnson?) to fill the 3&D wing spot they need to balance things out. The duo of Monk and Ellis off the bench with Lyles would be very effective too
In some ways, I think Ellis is actually better-suited to be a starter than a backup, as his defensive talents are almost wasted coming off the bench, and he won't need to worry about doing anything other than shooting with the starting unit. But perhaps he has developed more on-ball juice in the offseason; we didn't see enough of him last year for me to feel comfortable putting him in a box just yet!
Lyles is such an underrated bench player. Totally agree about Cam Johnson, though, who would would help this team tremendously. I'm surprised we haven't heard more about him this summer in general.
As a kings fan, I like this signing purely on the basis of “we did something.” Does it make us contenders? No. Are there questions about the spacing? Yes. Does it make our defense worse? Definitely. Have we, an already small team, gotten functionally even smaller? I would argue yes.
However, it addresses our huge need for on-ball creation outside of Fox and Monk by adding a legitimately consistent and talented scorer, which is almost never a bad thing (unless you’re the Suns with Beal), and like… even if it doesn’t work, at least we tried? Trying *something* is fun as a fan, especially when compared to sitting on all our assets waiting to make a move that never materializes, which is what we did all of last year, so I’m happy just on that basis.
I had almost this *exact* conversation with someone else. I totally agree that it's fun to try something new! The Kings have had the same team for two years now, and needed a shake-up. This will certainly make them one of the more interesting teams to watch when the season tips off.
Also, I like Ellis for the 5th starting spot. Shores up our defense, can knock down spot up 3s at a 40% clip (assuming he doesn’t regress, which isn’t a given), and the room he makes on the second unit means Carter plays alongside Monk, which feels like a more complimentary fit than Carter and Ellis together.
Hmm, yeah I guess it depends on how good Carter looks on-ball. I don't watch much college, so I have no idea how he'll fit, but the Kings fans I know seem excited about his potential.
Keeping Huerter in this deal and the lowish contract for Derozan give the Kings a solid chance at trading for a high level role player (Cam Johnson?) to fill the 3&D wing spot they need to balance things out. The duo of Monk and Ellis off the bench with Lyles would be very effective too
In some ways, I think Ellis is actually better-suited to be a starter than a backup, as his defensive talents are almost wasted coming off the bench, and he won't need to worry about doing anything other than shooting with the starting unit. But perhaps he has developed more on-ball juice in the offseason; we didn't see enough of him last year for me to feel comfortable putting him in a box just yet!
Lyles is such an underrated bench player. Totally agree about Cam Johnson, though, who would would help this team tremendously. I'm surprised we haven't heard more about him this summer in general.
i may get to a Summer game myself. if so, will wave. thx for the great work.
Please do so! And thank you!