Laugh as you may but Durant should consider Sacramento

[perks-a-beast]

Durant’s legacy is hanging on the balance. If he doesn’t want to be remembered in history as the guy who road the coat tails of a 73 win team to titles, he needs to pave his own way to a championship. It’s like how people view LeBron differently for bringing a championship to Cleveland opposed to how they perceived him in MIA. Believe this - not every title is equal. That one championship LeBron won for Cleveland means much more than the two he won in Miami because he did it for a city who likely would have gone another fifty years without one if he didn’t come back. Durant needs a new franchise to make his Cleveland. Out of all the teams with the cap space to give him the max contract he deserves, Sacramento stands out. He can be their saving grace who not only brings them to the playoffs for the first time in over a decade, but can bring them to the finals and possibly deliver a ring. He could even be the guy that turns that franchise around and prevents them from having to uproot and move to a different city, because they are for sure a candidate for that.

I look at Sacramento’s roster, and people think they have overachieved this season when I don’t think that’s the case - their young guys are just really good. Not to mention Dave Joeger has them playing hard. Hield and Fox have been a great backcourt duo (I see them as Wall/Beal without the horrendous chemistry issues), and Bagley and Cayley-Stein have performed admirably upfront. The only glaring weakness on that team seems to be at small forward, where Durant would help a ton. Say what you want about KD, but with the amount of talent that guy has, I think if you plop him on that team right now they’re beating anyone out west. Plus, all the young guys are on rookie contracts which gives financial flexibility to continue to be players in free agency even after signing him.

Put the Kings over the top, save the franchise, and mentor and teach these young guys what it takes to win a title all while being the main guy and breaking scoring titles in the process. That’s how Durant redeems himself. Just a random though. Probably a long shot to say the least, but something I think he should consider

Now of course I don’t know Durant, but it seems like he’s really bothered by the criticism he has reviewed for joining GS. Secure and confident people don’t have to fight with teenagers on social media. Going to SAC gets him off the hook a bit, and puts him in a good situation roster wise for quite a while, as SAC is still really young. And I don’t really think Durant is one to want the spotlight ofNew York like everyone thinksr.

[RodyTur10]

Durant’s legacy is hanging on the balance. If he doesn’t want to be remembered in history as the guy who road the coat tails of a 73 win team to titles, he needs to pave his own way to a championship. It’s like how people view LeBron differently for bringing a championship to Cleveland opposed to how they perceived him in MIA. Believe this - not every title is equal. That one championship LeBron won for Cleveland means much more than the two he won in Miami because he did it for a city who likely would have gone another fifty years without one if he didn’t come back. Durant needs a new franchise to make his Cleveland. Out of all the teams with the cap space to give him the max contract he deserves, Sacramento stands out. He can be their saving grace who not only brings them to the playoffs for the first time in over a decade, but can bring them to the finals and possibly deliver a ring. He could even be the guy that turns that franchise around and prevents them from having to uproot and move to a different city, because they are for sure a candidate for that.

I look at Sacramento’s roster, and people think they have overachieved this season when I don’t think that’s the case - their young guys are just really good. Not to mention Dave Joeger has them playing hard. Hield and Fox have been a great backcourt duo (I see them as Wall/Beal without the horrendous chemistry issues), and Bagley and Cayley-Stein have performed admirably upfront. The only glaring weakness on that team seems to be at small forward, where Durant would help a ton. Say what you want about KD, but with the amount of talent that guy has, I think if you plop him on that team right now they’re beating anyone out west. Plus, all the young guys are on rookie contracts which gives financial flexibility to continue to be players in free agency even after signing him.

Put the Kings over the top, save the franchise, and mentor and teach these young guys what it takes to win a title all while being the main guy and breaking scoring titles in the process. That’s how Durant redeems himself. Just a random though. Probably a long shot to say the least, but something I think he should consider

Now of course I don’t know Durant, but it seems like he’s really bothered by the criticism he has reviewed for joining GS. Secure and confident people don’t have to fight with teenagers on social media. Going to SAC gets him off the hook a bit, and puts him in a good situation roster wise for quite a while, as SAC is still really young. And I don’t really think Durant is one to want the spotlight ofNew York like everyone thinksr.

I also think that Sacramento is a very interesting destination for either Durant or Leonard. Sacramento is very talented, has a good coach, no bad contracts, a ton of cap space and has a hole to fill at small forward.

[Roy H.]

Crappy city, high taxes, terrible ownership and management.

[Erik]

Terrible management is relative. They’re not the Sixers. Everyone was laughing at the Cousins trade except for me. Looking back, he got value for Cousins and got rid of a problem. Hield is a good player. He drafted Aaron Fox, and while he should have obviously taken Luka, Bagley isn’t a slouch either. I don’t see any glaring recent misses. Your narrative is from a time in which “Divac gave up Cousins for nothing” which we now know is bull.

[perks-a-beast]

Crappy city, high taxes, terrible ownership and management.

He was in OKC for years so he can handle a crappy city, doesn’t seem like the type to go out on the town for a big night anyways. He’s more of a stay in his hotel room and argue with 7th graders on Twitter type of guy.

I know there’s less than a 0.05% chance he goes there, I’m just saying it would be an interesting fit from a purely basketball standpoint, and it would be interesting to see how he would be as a maestro for a younger team as he is now a seasoned vet.

[perks-a-beast]

Terrible management is relative. They’re not the Sixers. Everyone was laughing at the Cousins trade except for me. Looking back, he got value for Cousins and got rid of a problem. Hield is a good player. He drafted Aaron Fox, and while he should have obviously taken Luka, Bagley isn’t a slouch either. I don’t see any glaring recent misses. Your narrative is from a time in which “Divac gave up Cousins for nothing” which we now know is bull.

Yeah it’s now safe to say SAC won that trade, although at the time it was a head scratcher as Hield wasn’t playing all that well. Now he’s looking like a stud.

[Moranis]

Terrible management is relative. They’re not the Sixers. Everyone was laughing at the Cousins trade except for me. Looking back, he got value for Cousins and got rid of a problem. Hield is a good player. He drafted Aaron Fox, and while he should have obviously taken Luka, Bagley isn’t a slouch either. I don’t see any glaring recent misses. Your narrative is from a time in which “Divac gave up Cousins for nothing” which we now know is bull.

Yeah it’s now safe to say SAC won that trade, although at the time it was a head scratcher as Hield wasn’t playing all that well. Now he’s looking like a stud.

I'm not so sure they won that trade in a vacuum.  Obviously Cousins getting hurt significantly alters any analysis on the trade, but you can't just assume he will get hurt like that either.  The trade was Hield, Evans, Galloway, the first that ended up 10th (Zach Collins), and a 2nd that ended up 34th (Frank Mason) for Cousins and Casspi.  It isn't a bad trade for the Kings, but I can't say they won that trade either as Cousins is by far the most valuable player in that trade.

[Roy H.]

Terrible management is relative. They’re not the Sixers. Everyone was laughing at the Cousins trade except for me. Looking back, he got value for Cousins and got rid of a problem. Hield is a good player. He drafted Aaron Fox, and while he should have obviously taken Luka, Bagley isn’t a slouch either. I don’t see any glaring recent misses. Your narrative is from a time in which “Divac gave up Cousins for nothing” which we now know is bull.

2015: Drafted WCS at #6; traded swap rights (Tatum swapped for Fox) and a future #1 to clear cap space to sign Kosta Koufos and Marco Belinelli

2016: Traded down in the draft to select Papagiannis;

2017: Traded down in the draft, swapping Zach Collins for Harry Giles;

2018: Passed on Doncic

That’s the track record you want Durant to hang his hat on?

[gouki88]

Terrible management is relative. They’re not the Sixers. Everyone was laughing at the Cousins trade except for me. Looking back, he got value for Cousins and got rid of a problem. Hield is a good player. He drafted Aaron Fox, and while he should have obviously taken Luka, Bagley isn’t a slouch either. I don’t see any glaring recent misses. Your narrative is from a time in which “Divac gave up Cousins for nothing” which we now know is bull.

2015: Drafted WCS at #6; traded swap rights (Tatum swapped for Fox) and a future #1 to clear cap space to sign Kosta Koufos and Marco Belinelli

2016: Traded down in the draft to select Papagiannis;

2017: Traded down in the draft, swapping Zach Collins for Harry Giles;

2018: Passed on Doncic

That’s the track record you want Durant to hang his hat on?

Considering my distaste for Durant, I’d kinda dig that actually.

[johnnygreen]

During the Chris Webber era in Sacramento, that was a great basketball city. They had an unbelievable home court advantage because the crowd was electric. A player like Durant could definitely bring that energy back to that city. If my memory is correct, Boogie Cousins didn’t want to leave Sacramento (and the Kings didn’t want to lose Cousins to free agency and get nothing in return). If Durant has any interest at all, Cousins would be a good source for Durant if he has any questions regarding the Kings organization. If Cousins doesn’t get the max offers that he desires, could a return to Sacramento be in the cards for him? Could the Kings get Durant and Cousins?

[Erik]

Terrible management is relative. They’re not the Sixers. Everyone was laughing at the Cousins trade except for me. Looking back, he got value for Cousins and got rid of a problem. Hield is a good player. He drafted Aaron Fox, and while he should have obviously taken Luka, Bagley isn’t a slouch either. I don’t see any glaring recent misses. Your narrative is from a time in which “Divac gave up Cousins for nothing” which we now know is bull.

2015: Drafted WCS at #6; traded swap rights (Tatum swapped for Fox) and a future #1 to clear cap space to sign Kosta Koufos and Marco Belinelli

2016: Traded down in the draft to select Papagiannis;

2017: Traded down in the draft, swapping Zach Collins for Harry Giles;

2018: Passed on Doncic

That’s the track record you want Durant to hang his hat on?

Other than the 2015 blunder, don't see anything terrible there. Look at all of the other franchises and the bad things that they do. I remember posting about just how bad the Kings have been, but I think that Divac is getting better at the job. Their core of Hield, Fox, Bagley and WCS is pretty good. Like OP mentioned, they just need 1 huge piece or 2 big pieces to be a formidable playoff team.

• 2015: If you look back at the 2015 draft, at the 6th slot, WCS is probably the best pick there unless you reach for Devin Booker. He's getting to be a good player.
• 2016: You mention that they swapped down to get Papagiannis, but you failed to mention that the entire draft sucked. Would you rather have Chriss? Seems like six of one half a dozen of the other to me.
• 2017: Again, you're missing the payoff. Zach Collins isn't a star player either. I actually liked the move at the time to get 2 shots at a good player. Anything after top 5 is not very likely to be a player that moves the needle on your team, anyways. They hit a pretty big win on Fox.
• 2018: Sure, they passed on Doncic, but so did the Suns, the Hawks, and a lot of analysts. Again, Bagley is shaping up to be a good player.

[RodyTur10]

2015: Drafted WCS at #6;

Solid pick. Yes, players like Turner and Booker would have been available, but the next picks in the draft were Mudiay, Johnson and Kaminsky. Good job by the Kings.

traded swap rights (Tatum swapped for Fox) and a future #1 to clear cap space to sign Kosta Koufos and Marco Belinelli

That's indeed pretty ****ing stupid. The last years teams seem far more reluctant to trade away draft picks for salary relief.

2016: Traded down in the draft to select Papagiannis;

It's less worse than it seems. The pick was very bad (a gamble), but the trade was #8 (Chriss) for #13 (Papagiannis), #28 (Labissiere) + rights Bogdanovic. That last part makes up for it. 

2017: Traded down in the draft, swapping Zach Collins for Harry Giles;

Trading #10 for #15 and #20 seems a perfectly reasonable trade to me. The Kings again just failed to pick the right players with Justin Jackson and Harry Giles. Players like John Collins and OG Anunoby were also available to them.

2018: Passed on Doncic

Passing on Doncic is what's going to haunt Phoenix, Sacramento and Atlanta for a very long time. The Kings with a young core consisting of Fox, Hield, Bogdanovic, Doncic and Cauley-Stein would be very intriguing.

That’s the track record you want Durant to hang his hat on?

Their track record in drafting has been rather poor, but their recent trades have worked out decently. And they are in a very good situation. I think there are a lot of teams that would switch sides with Sacramento given the chance to.

[nickagneta]

Maybe he should consider it, but he won't. I think he will be most likely to stick in GSW if they let Draymond go. I also think teams like LAL, LAC and NYK are in the conversation.

Could Philly be the best landing spot though, if they don't resign Butler and salary dump Fultz? Embiid, Simmons, Durant. Very intriguing.

[Who]

"Laugh as you may ..."    That was my first reaction but after letting the idea settle for a few minutes, I am starting to like it.

PG: Fox
SG: Hield
SF: Bogdanovic or Shumpert
PF: Durant
 C: WCS or Bagley

I'd like to see Sacramento play Durant at PF rather than SF however. I think that keeps up the team's quickness advantage.

Long term, I think Sacramento has to choose between Bagley and WCS. Both guys are talented centers and both guys deserve 30+mpg. By trading one of those guys, Sacramento could bring in another talented forward. Someone to replace Bogdanovic / Shumpert in the starting lineup. Give that starting 5 more balance again.

That would be a very difficult team to play against.

However, I cannot see Durant considering this. Established stars do not want to play with young guns. They want other established stars. Fox, Hield, WCS and Bagley have not proven themselves enough to attract a top star like Durant - unfortunately ... because it would've been a lot of fun to watch that team.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

WCS is having an all-time playing-for-his-next-contract season. I've always liked his talent (since Kentucky), but the problems have always been the same -- his passion for the game comes and goes. As soon as he gets a Clint Capella-like contract, I predict he will struggle.

I like Fox and Hield. That's a pretty good backcourt.

All in all, I don't think Durant even considers the Kings. They are a high level piece away from being considered.

If they drafted Doncic instead of Bagley, I'd give them a chance.