Sacramento Kings Media Release

[NOLa.]

Wow, where do I begin? There's the good, the bad, and the ugly... so we'll start this off ugly. Despite a team record 62 wins in the regular season none of it mattered when we lost in the first round of the playoffs in Game 7. Our own Pacific brethren laid the final strike to the nail in the coffin and we have no one to blame but ourselves for the poor showing. Yeah, Reggie Williams got injured on the last game of the regular season and was out for the playoffs, but at the end of the day we had gained a 3-1 advantage in the series and dropped the ball because the thing we were known for was nonexistent: our defense. The Suns came back to win 3 in a row and two of those were in Sacramento, which stings but I tip my hat to the owner for besting me in 7 and had respectfully reached out to him after the loss to congratulate him. Basically those suicide rumors about cliffs are not true.

So now the bad news: ERMYGERD the Kings only signed 1 year deals this free agency, didn't hit a big signing, and holy shit look at all those Y/Y players! It's true, I don't have pretty colors on my team page. Yeah, all my guys signed were 1 year deals.

Hilarious? From the reactions, yes.

Expected? Most definitely.

So I did this on purpose? I would hope so.

Mr. Uter is not impressed with the makeup of my team and while I don't think this is one of the better talented teams I've had I can say I got the players I needed to be competitive again in the West. I've learned a lot in the past three seasons competing since Day 1 when the league began and took no days off analyzing my games. I believe that you don't need to gather the best possible talents you can fit on your team to win a championship, you just need to best utilize what you have to work with and try to game plan around your players instead of what you think is cute to do. I might not be able to win as many games as last season and I don't think I'll win the division title this season yet again, but two teams I respect a hell of a lot (Lakers and Warriors) can tell whoever is #1 in the Pacific has to deal with me on their ass all season and I go to the full 82 games. Yeah, that was a message to the significantly improved Blazers and Sonics if they are ready to start competing.

This leaves us with the good news. We were able to bring in multiple players to come in for one year to help compete in the West and while they aren't sexy, flashy moves we were happy our targets decided to play here for one season. The team decided to focus on players who can play two positions to help with game planning around injuries, such as Jerry Renolds, Vern Flemming, and Alaa Abdelnaby (he's become my favorite to pronounce even though I'm probably saying wrong). Flemming had a rough TC but the hit wasn't that bad since he's just a backup on an expiring deal. Jerry Reynolds actually had a positive training camp but for some reason his colors changed ERMYGERD. We look forward to seeing Jerry team up with Malone and Richardson as he fits the ideal player we look for in his position.

Another positive is that the team in general had a good training camp. Flemming and Kleine took hits but the rest of the team really picked up the slack and the four younger players I have in Alaa, Miller, Brown, and Bonner had an average of +33 between them. That's right the Kings are actually improving instead of getting killed.

So why the 1 year deals? To be honest it's because I'm considering moving on from my old team and want to change directions.

Is Karl Malone on the move? Maybe.

Do I not want to max Karl Malone? Why wouldn't I want to max Malone, the only scoring champion this league has currently. Of course I would max him with no hesitation.

So what's the problem? Nothing, but if anyone else were interested I'd be crazy not to listen.

I appreciate the time you took to reading this if you did! A lot of change is coming to Sacramento and we look forward to the upcoming season and competing against the best of the best yet again.


Questions and comments are now welcomed!

[logpmess]

If you decide to look to the future, Pooh Richardson seems to be your most valuable asset to starting to build a team. How valuable was his acquisition and what ways do you look for him to develop this season?

[NOLa.]

Mar 15, 2014 13:48:50 GMT -6 logpmess said:

If you decide to look to the future, Pooh Richardson seems to be your most valuable asset to starting to build a team. How valuable was his acquisition and what ways do you look for him to develop this season?

Thanks for the question. The moment Richardson asked for a contract extension I was overjoyed because I had the whole season to negotiate with him by myself, which is the best part. I knew the PG market would be flooded with talent and that teams would pay decent sized contracts to get them, so signing Pooh to a 3 year deal in which he'll never earn more than $3 mil a year was well worth it for future free agencies.

As far as development is concerned I almost never relied on Richardon to be a key part of this offense and I think it's time for that to change. I have changes I want to make to my teams game plan that I think will be beneficial to him, I just hope it is also beneficial to the whole team.

[Conroy]

Sports Guy Bill Simmons here. It sounds like you weren't thrilled with the offseason but after having the excellent season you had last year, you have to be a little surprised the computer ranked you so low don't you?

[NOLa.]

Mar 15, 2014 14:28:59 GMT -6 Conroy said:

Sports Guy Bill Simmons here. It sounds like you weren't thrilled with the offseason but after having the excellent season you had last year, you have to be a little surprised the computer ranked you so low don't you?

Actually I'm not surprised, the computer has ranked ny team this low the other three seasons as well to start off. If you're comfortable with your team you will be fine.

This off-season wasn't thrilling for me because I decided to hold off rather than lock myself into place with players I don't need later. I'm fairly patient as an owner and I feel my team has benefited by sticking to a plan rather than winging it each season. 

[Inner_GI]

You like the Suns are holding an aging All-Time player in the front court. How do you see the future of the Kings with Karl? Is this his final run at a title? It doesn't look like Karl is losing a step just yet. How was training camp for him?

[NOLa.]

Mar 15, 2014 15:35:50 GMT -6 Inner_GI said:

You like the Suns are holding an aging All-Time player in the front court. How do you see the future of the Kings with Karl? Is this his final run at a title? It doesn't look like Karl is losing a step just yet. How was training camp for him?

The future for Karl is a great one as a player. The PF position is kind of weak in this league and every training camp more and more PFs continue to get killed who were once promising such as Larry Johnson, Christian Laettner, and rookie Vin Baker already! While others will continue to improve (Kemp, Webber) Malone should still be up there in terms of Top PF for seasons to come until regression kick in. However, Malone had a small positive in training camp. No losses in any category and improved his handles, passing, and steals. As an owner I'm ecstatic that he hasn't lost a step.

His future as a King is cloudy, I've already talked to several owners about the possibility of moving him and continue to discuss packages. I'm not pressed to move him because I think I can continue to have a winning team easily with the right pieces around Malone, I just need to be healthy to sustain my success.

[Deleted]

It seems since the league began you've been disrespected in power polls, free agency grades, and any type of publication produced outside of Sacramento. Why do you think that is ?

[Nick Malone 77]

Nick Melon; Charlotte Observer: Since you seem to be tepid of possibility of making Malone a king for life, one player you've barely touched on was the emergence of young backup center, Oliver Miller. We all know his defensive and box out prowess around the rim, do you think this is the season we see him develop an offensive game as well with more opportunity for minutes and passes his way or do you just see him as primarily a defensive stopper?

[NOLa.]

Mar 16, 2014 9:36:40 GMT -6 ballsohard said:

It seems since the league began you've been disrespected in power polls, free agency grades, and any type of publication produced outside of Sacramento. Why do you think that is ?

Interesting question and I like it. I love reading the articles and even though I don't agree with my own team's personal grades I'm always interested in what other people think. I'm always evaluating my team and I know I miss things due to me seeing through rose colored glasses sometimes, so an outside opinion is welcomed in my books because constructive criticism is one of the best tools to improve your weaknesses.

Also, sometimes I feel the writers and graders of sim league don't understand the direction I take my team season-by-season. When teams were focused on fast paced offensive players in the creation draft, I focused on defensive players and slowed it down. When teams made splashy moves in free agency, we kept patient and targeted specific players for our game plan. It was probably questionable at the time but over the course of this great league we've finished with 54 wins or better. I would hope my actions speak louder than words like "most improved roster" and "GMOY*" but in the end I always stress two things important in this game.

1) If you're comfortable with your team you'll do fine in the regular season, and

2) luck is half this game.

Maybe I've been more lucky than good but I'll take it either way.

[NOLa.]

Mar 16, 2014 11:05:35 GMT -6 Nick Malone 77 said:

Nick Melon; Charlotte Observer: Since you seem to be tepid of possibility of making Malone a king for life, one player you've barely touched on was the emergence of young backup center, Oliver Miller. We all know his defensive and box out prowess around the rim, do you think this is the season we see him develop an offensive game as well with more opportunity for minutes and passes his way or do you just see him as primarily a defensive stopper?

We've been put in a spot we did not foresee contemplating until next season, but Oliver Miller has had two good training camps that have improve his defense, rebounding, and strength and might be competing for the starting spot over Klein due to his regression. I don't think we'll start off that way because we see him as our primary PF/C backup to get him around 20 minutes a game for the season. Preseason will be a good testing ground for my three potential Cs and I want to see how Oliver handles going against better talent.

As for his offense we realistically only see him score on average 6 points per game. Hopefully he takes smart shots or else his playing time will diminish. Miller will be in the mold of Randy Brown, a versatile defensive role player that I value highly.

[IamQuailman]

Will Maukie, Milwaukee Tribune.

Looking at the Western Conference and the Pacific Division, where would you rank yourself amongst your rivals? If the playoffs started tomorrow, where do you think you fall?

[NOLa.]

Mar 17, 2014 12:33:45 GMT -6 IamQuailman said:

Will Maukie, Milwaukee Tribune.

Looking at the Western Conference and the Pacific Division, where would you rank yourself amongst your rivals? If the playoffs started tomorrow, where do you think you fall?

Thanks for the question. I don't seem to have any rivalries but I do get most excited about my divisional games against the top.I guess I get excited about playing against Bow and Balls because I want to rub it in if I win the next time I see them on Skype or ignore them for a week if I lose. I think right now it's looking like

Warriors
Lakers
Kings

of that group because I didn't do much to get better and the Lakers talent up front has gotten anemic. They still got more talent than me so I give them the nod.

If playoffs started tomorrow, I'd hate to say it but I may be looking at my first seeding not in the top 3.

[IamQuailman]

AWARDED 5 POINTS (Count towards your 93-94 media day press release 5-pt accrual)! THANKS FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION!

[NOLa.]

I'm a safe bet like your life's staked on it.
For real, I'd hate to keep you all wondering.
I'm constant like the seasons, and I will never be forgotten man.