Can the Kings, who almost took down the Warriors last season and didn't make big moves in the offseason, continue to break through next season?

Originally compiled from: The Athletic

作者：Anthony Slater and Sam Amick

原文标题：Kings GM Monte McNair explains why Sacramento opted for status quo over splashy upgrades

SACRAMENTO — The Kings' early moves in the offseason included two meaningful transfers before free agency opened.

The first was on draft night, when they signed the 24th pick to the Mavericks as the price for the Mavericks eating Holmes' two-year, $24.9 million contract. This freed up some salary space for the King, which left many in the league wondering what the King's plans were, perhaps even unknown: Are they the next home of a secret Drummond Green? Are they the landing site of Kyle Kuzma? Or will it pursue Grant?

Before the bell rings for the start of the free agent market, the dust has settled on a second trade again. The night before, they agreed to a three-year, $54 million contract extension with Harrison Barnes, a reasonable deal, a trade that is known to be inevitable, a Mike Brown favorite, a locker room leader returning to the starting position he has played for the past 82 games. Although he is not so stable. The Barnes trade annihilated the possibility of Sacramento looking for big players, shattering the dreams of any fan hungry for a compelling upgrade. They then used another chunk of salary space to renegotiate and signed a huge five-year, $217 million contract with Domantas Sabonis to further cement the core roster.

Monte McNair, the Kings' recently renewed general manager, won the 2023 Executive of the Year award, giving the green light to those deals. In an in-depth conversation with The Athletic this week, he detailed Sacramento's offseason strategy, including taking a "no broken, no broken" approach to a roster that energized the city last season with 48 wins and the first playoff entry in 16 seasons.

"(I'm) not saying we won't think about upgrading (or) we haven't thought about it." McNair said, "Because we did explore all of these options. But knowing that one of our options is to bring back a large portion of our original lineup (it would be appealing). ”

McNair's habits of being on the roster are hard to doubt. He spent 13 years under Houston's always aggressive Darryl Morley before coming to Sacramento in the summer of 2020, when the Rockets chased the biggest stars at every turn.

But aside from the shocking February 2022 deal with the Pacers to bring Sabonis to the team and Halliburton to the Pacers, the word patience defines McNair's tenure as king. And when he saw the opportunity for the team to grow after such an amazing season, it became his way to go.

"I think, sometimes, you don't want to be too complacent, we all know the West Division is tough." McNair explained, "Harrison, on the other hand, is our oldest rotation player. He had just turned 31. Others are in their prime, or just beginning their prime—27 or younger. So it's not like, 'Oh, we recalled the original cast but didn't go any further.'" ’”

McNair referred to previous deal deadlines as context for considering deals. The Kings studied theoretical upgrades, examining O.G. Anunobi and Pascal Siakam. They did it again this summer, exploring Anunobi's options again and trying them out on Kuzma and others.

But in February, when most of their rivals failed to do so, they stood still, snapping a winning streak after the All-Star Game and locking in the No. 3 seed. Deep down, they still remember their performance in the seven games they lost to the Warriors in the first round.

"At the time, [the league] had [Kevin Durant] go to Phoenix, (Russell) Westbrook went to the Clippers, (Irving went to Dallas) and so on. We have a soldier standing still..." McNair said. "We're not doing anything major, we're kind of dependent on what we've built and the continuity of our chemistry." We are indeed lucky. Some injuries from other teams helped us get out of this situation. But I do think that you can see that it's feasible to quickly absorb new players and new coaches and things like that, but there's also risks. ”

The Kings will enter training camp with the same starting lineup as they did last season — Fox, Hertel, Barnes, Keegan Murray and Sabonis — as well as their top three bench players — Malik Monk, David Mitchell and Trey Lyles (the latter renewed on a two-year, $16 million contract).

But we believe that a special young player will grow within the squad and a new international player is coming.

Vezhinkov finally came

Sasha Verzinkov's Olympiacos lost by one point to Real Madrid in their Europa League championship game on May 21, and McNair's Kings spent a lot of time trying to persuade him to come to the United States last year, and they have reason to be concerned about it.

Verzinkov, a 27-year-old international star who acquired his signing rights in a trade with Cleveland last summer, has shown a keen interest in entering the NBA for months. McNair, Mike Brown, assistant coach Jay Triano and COO Martina Kolocotronis have all crossed the globe to forge a deeper connection with the 2023 Europa League MVP. During Vezinkov's trip to Greece, Brown had dinner with him and was impressed.

But the drama of the final game made them wonder if Verzincov would reconsider. In this game, he performed well (a game-high 29 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists), but did not perform well in the final game (he did not score in the last 3 minutes and 11 seconds).

In that match, McNair had to look for lessons from one of Verzinkov's opponents. Spanish guard Sergio Lull, once known as "the one who said 'no' to the NBA," repeatedly turned down offers from the Rockets during his time at McNair.

"Would [Verzinkov] want to go back and finish this unfinished business?" McNair recalled his thoughts after the championship break. "So for us, we knew we had to come up with a competitive offer."

They did, signing a 3-year, $20 million contract that included a team option for the final season.

The outside world is nowhere near as excited about it as it is inside the Kings. To most, Vezincov seems to be a mysterious figure without major influence, even though he is one of Europe's most famous players. While McNair understands the reaction, he believes the Kings' team-wide recruiting efforts far outweigh everything they did for any NBA free agent this summer, setting them apart.

"A lot of people hear the word 'international' and don't know them, and when they come over, they think that all of a sudden these players are Mirotic, or Bogdan and Bojan, or Belitsa." McNair said, "Or Peja and Tekcoglu in the past." Once they're here, people get excited. But I think people will also be surprised because people don't know much about him and don't know what he can do. ”

The king's investment in Wezinkov went far beyond the contract. It's a process that's been years in the making.

"Our director of analytics, Colin Montagu, is probably the first person I can remember who worked on Vedzinkov." McNair said, "He has an eye for finding a lot of interesting international players, whether it's in the draft or on the free market or the trade market. This was a few years ago, when Sasha was the target of Montagu.

"Following our process, we had some international consultants who saw him, but our domestic scouts, including (Kings vice president of player personnel) Phil Jabr and (assistant general manager) Wes Wilcox, from a more traditional scouting perspective, started looking at him more and said, 'Yeah, this guy is really great.'" So, before the (2022) trade got him, we spent months, if not years, on him. At the time, we didn't know if he would come. ”

If Verzinkov ends up being the kind of NBA player they imagined, the deal to get his NBA signing rights would be one of the most memorable in Kings history. They got him — their 49th pick — and even got a $1.75 million trade exception from the Cavaliers.

At the time, the Kings had just finished a lackluster season (30-52), which was their usual norm for 16 years — missing the dark days of the playoffs. But with the Kings now playing high-quality basketball to attract Olympiacos' stars, the year-long lobbying of Verzinkov has become much easier.

"I have to admit that the 48 wins, the style of play, our offense, the attraction of Fox and Sabonis, those would be incredible for him and vice versa and I think it's definitely a big part." "He certainly told us how comfortable he felt with our team, how we played, and things like that," McNair said. I'm not sure, but I think our performance this year helped a lot to get Wezinkov. ”

"We'll probably never go to the South Coast, right? But another way to attract people to your team is to win. ”

Keegan Murray's leap

Ahead of the 2022 draft, there is a consensus top three (Paul Banchero, Chet Holmgren, Jabari Smith Jr.) and a popular opinion that Jaden Ivey will be the best candidate for the fourth pick.

The Kings seem to be caught up in a tough draft decision again, and they look like they're going to screw up. They had the fourth pick, but Ivey and Fox overlapped and Sacramento put the bet on Fox despite the slump in the season. So they chose Keegan Murray, an older winger who was considered a fit for the team rather than a talent option – Ive.

"He was considered a safe choice," McNair said, "and hey, of course he was (safe) too." Because he was only 21 years old. But we really don't think so. We are glad that he did meet our great needs, but we feel that his abilities are being overlooked. This is crazy. Because he was first or second on the national scoring list. ”

Murray's rookie season even exceeded the Kings' expectations for a rookie. He set NBA rookie three-point shooting records, averaging 30 minutes per game and starting 78 games for the third seed in the West.

"I just want to tell you that I'm certainly not bragging: I didn't see his hands shoot 206 three-pointers right away." McNair said, "We know he can shoot a little bit three, but in college, he's more of an inside and outside player, you know, he's the kind of high scorer, offensive rebounding, things like that. But he has turned himself into an elite shooter. ”

In the offensive system established by the King, Murray was one of the important pawns. He shot 41.3 percent from the field for 192 catch-and-field three-pointers, which is very valuable for a fourth-choice in a run-based system.

Now, the king has grander plans for Murray, and his ultimate ceiling may determine the king's growth potential. They put him in two summer league games earlier this month and let him lead the playmaking and possession. He looked for shots in blocking and dribbling, scoring 29 and 41 points.

"We knew we needed Keegan to take another step," McNair said. "One of the ways he can do that is by being more second or third choice than fourth or fifth." It's hard to do that when you have two NBA best players, right? Then there was Kevin Hertel and Harrison Barnes. So you know, it might take some time for him to do this naturally. ”

The Kings believe the first-round series against the Warriors gave them a lot of valuable information. As the series progressed, Barnes and Hertl gradually became backdrops, and Murray took on a more important role in the series, becoming more comfortable with his body, speed and tight spaces. He has scored in double digits in his last four games.

They see the two-week training as a trampoline heading into this summer's huge improvement. Over the past few months, Murray has often trained with Fox. He had a summer of penance and had a scout internally likening it to the offensive leap he saw Leonard take early in his career in San Antonio. Talk to anyone on the King's side, and they're all delighted with Murray's excellent offensive abilities.

"He's going to be a second-year student in this league, and it's not going to be done right away or perfect right away." McNair said, "But I'm really happy with his performance. I think scoring is a natural thing for him. He works very hard. He often trains with Fox. It's hard to find a better team scoring mentor than him. As a 6-foot-8 all-rounder, yes, these are things that can take us a step further. ”

Sabonis' contract renewal

First, we asked McNair to explain the chaos that arose last week, when Lithuanian coach Kazis Maxvitis told reporters that Sabonis did not play in the FIBA World Cup because he had thumb surgery. There are all sorts of questions as to why such important information would be disclosed in the context of a non-Kings team.

But as widely reported, the coach just said it wrong. As McNair detailed, Sabonis ultimately opted out of surgery for a broken thumb and is expected to prepare for boot camp in time.

"He had a couple of appointments at the end of the year, and at that time, they said, 'You don't need surgery, but we want to have this rehabilitation program so you can avoid surgery.' "There are only additional risks associated with continuing to fight." But everything went well. He's been going through it for about two months and [he's] tracking it well. But his first goal is to get through the summer and prepare for next year and avoid surgery. It looks like everything is moving in this good direction. ”

So tick "Health" in Sabonis and tick in "Happy". His huge new contract is proof of this.

It all seems to be forgotten now, but until recently, the question of whether Sabonis was interested in staying in Sacramento for the long term remained unanswered. After being traded by the Pacers, he scored excellent stats in the Kings' first 15 games, but the overall result was not as good as it was (5-10).

He is still two years away from becoming a free agent, and there are inevitable rumors in the league that he may not stay in Sacramento. It was a major change for Sabonis, with the Kings leaving Alvin Gentry to make Brown their head coach. As Sabonis discussed at length with The Athletic in mid-February, they took some time to coordinate their vision.

"At the beginning of the year, I saw myself doing what I had been doing in the past, and he saw a different kind of me," Sabonis said at the time. "But as the season went on, I felt like we found the middle ground between the two, how he sees my game, how I see my game, you know?"

By the end of the season, they were one of the most productive partners in the league. But even with success and accolades, with Sabonis honored as MVP top five and All-Team Third Team, and Brown being Coach of the Year, the prospect of a contract extension with Sabonis would have been nearly impossible due to the league's previous rules of collective bargaining agreements.

Everything changed in late June when the details of the new CBA were finally announced. In the first year of any contract extension, the cap on wages that teams can pay veterans increases from 120 percent of their previous salary to 140 percent. The Kings can now close the huge gap between their contract extension and the contract Sabonis can get on the open market if he becomes a free agent.

With Sabonis' contract extension, the Kings' contract with him will run until the 2027-28 season. Fox's contract expires in 2025-26, as will Barnes, Hertel and Murray (who will be eligible for a contract extension in the summer of 2025). Selected by the Kings in 2021, Mitchell showed his worth in the playoff game against the Warriors, with whom his contract runs through the 2024-25 season and could be renewed next summer.

Arguably, at the heart of it all, is the belief that Sabonis will get better as the squad improves.

"I'm a very flexible and optional person." McNair said, "So for me, completing Sabonis' contract extension is a big deal. We can't put all our eggs in this basket (of the free market) because it's a very viable path to build around his salary cap. You can get more exceptions (to sign players) and you can use your bird rights (to sign him) and keep him until next summer, where we can continue to do that and build a team. But if we can lock him in and build a competitive team around him, it will not only help us this year, but also our future. ”

The big picture

After a 45-minute conversation with McNair, he spoke about the Kings' decision-making process this summer.

"I think people always focus only on this year," McNair said. "But for us, this summer is not just about how we perform this year, but also about how we go over the next three, four or five years."

The Holmes deal not only creates salary space for retaining Barnes and extending Sabonis' contract, but it also adds $12.9 million to the Kings next summer. It could help bring Malik Monk back, whose current contract is expiring, but it's part of their plans for the future. It also retains some of the flexibility that McNair has been careful to protect.

"If we're good enough, that's great." McNair said, "With the exception of Malik and Alex, our veterans have signed contracts for at least two years. A lot of people have signed three-year contracts. So our road ahead is wide. On the other hand, if we're not good enough and need to improve, we still have flexibility. We have a lotto-protected pick to Atlanta (in the Hertel trade). We have other (first-round) picks. We have basically remained stable. We have young people. We have tradable contracts. So I think we're in a position where if there's an aggressive game ahead, we're going to be one of the teams that can knock on that door to win. ”

But there are reasons for optimism and pessimism about the team. The Kings brought all the important components of the league's best offense, plus Wezinkov and the more mature Murray. Will Brown's defensive system lead to better results in its second season? Narens Noel as an occasional rim guard interior wasn't enough to spur them to make a lot of progress on the bottom 10 defense. Will 48 wins still put the team in the top three in the West? If an upgrade is needed, how active will McNair be before the trading deadline?

"One of the mistakes you can make in this league is to think your path is linear." "We know it's not going to be a straight line, but we can just keep going one step at a time," McNair said. Hopefully, we can make significant progress. But if there are other obstacles or adversities in your way, you have to be able to get out of it, whether we prefer the right fit or the more talented people. So, for us, we feel not only ready this year, but (if needed) we have plenty of room to hit the tax line through transactions. ”