Appearing on FanDuel’s Run it Back show on Tuesday (Twitter video link), Sam Amick of The Athletic said that Kings general manager Scott Perry is trying to keep team owner Vivek Ranadive “at bay” and sell him on taking a long-term view toward rebuilding Sacramento’s roster.
“(Perry is trying to) convince him that this might take three, four, or five years to turn around,” Amick said.
In a follow-up tweet, Amick clarifies that Ranadive – who has historically been very involved in the team’s roster decisions – isn’t pushing back on a plan to rebuild the roster. Perry is simply making it clear, Amick says, that the organization’s approach needs to be extremely “patient and prudent.”
According to Amick, the Kings’ roster is very much “in flux,” with only a very small handful of younger players, such as forward Keegan Murray and rookie Nique Clifford, looking like locks to be part of Sacramento’s future.
Here’s more on the Kings:
- Within the same FanDuel appearance, Amick said he views DeMar DeRozan as a more likely in-season trade candidate than either Zach LaVine or Domantas Sabonis, who have larger contracts that would be more difficult to move.
- Sabonis is at his best when he can be the hub of an offense, according to Amick, but most teams wouldn’t be targeting him to be that player, which would be another factor that makes a trade more complicated. “I’ve talked to his camp recently,” Amick said of Sabonis. “It does not sound like they anticipate (him) being moved at the deadline. It’s more a message of patience.”
- The Kings, who seemed to be Jonathan Kuminga‘s top rival suitor when he was a restricted free agent this past offseason, remain interested in the Warriors forward, Marc J. Spears of Andscape said during Monday’s edition of NBA Today on ESPN (YouTube link). However, according to Spears, the Kings may no longer be willing to offer what they did over the summer. “They threw (Malik) Monk at it before, and a first(-round pick),” Spears said. “But I don’t think that first would be available anymore.”
If Perry can get Ranadive to be patient and accept a long-term plan to improve the Kings, then he will be considered a miracle worker. But will Ranadive actually allow Perry to stay as GM and implement a long-term strategy or will he just fire Perry in a year or two when Ranadive changes his mind again?
I thought GS should’ve taken that offer. Monk would’ve been a better fit and they get a 1st to work with. Could’ve tried to move Buddy for another need. What do I know
But Kings wanted to send a lottery protected pick. It wouldn’t convey anyway, so you’d be trading JK and Buddy for Monk (who has an additional year tacked on that the dubs don’t want to pay)