“RUN IT BACK!” / Monte needs to fix this.

You can forget about Monk being a core of our team - I am 99,9% sure that he will be in another team next year.
My prediction - if Donovan Mitchel will leave the team, I think Monk can be signed to Cavaliers...

I don't see the Cavs trading Mitchell this off-season. He's under contract for next year with a player option for the following season and I think they'll try to convince him to stay. If they can't, I think he gets moved before the trade deadline next season.

There is no core on this team, per McNair's non-statement in his presser. He traded Halliburton and he would trade Fox, Sabonis or Murray in heartbeat if he got the right deal. Nobody is untouchable.

For most "core" is just a synonym for who they like on the team and who they don't. It has nothing to do with "untouchable." Monte is an opportunist and for him there is nobody untouchable on this roster.

I mean, they weren't winning the title this year no matter what Monte did. I can see why he didn't just make trades for the sake of doing so. We have another offseason to try something different and i'm sure he will

Well, Monte did apparently try. He went after Beal last summer, then OG and Siakam were definitely on the radar this last deadline. No Murray, no trades. This isn't a great draft but for Monte making a deal this summer having that 13th pick actually probably does open up a few more options TBH. I feel like a Murray/13/future picks deal might be looked at but that might have to come as a result of teams disappointing in these playoffs.

can somebody provide an example of any small market team that was successful trading away their draft picks?

Hard to say since teams trade picks all the time, that's different than never selecting young talent. Successful in what way? To what extent? The pick situation matters because not all drafts nor picks are equal. Technically you can extrapolate that type of conversation to players you selected then traded like Tyrese Haliburton. One thing is clear, Monte has hit some bumps keeping his lottery picks if they don't fit in a guaranteed role like Davion who has had a very up and down role since arriving. Then on the other hand you have Ellis who wasn't even drafted. Right now you can look at Indy and say since acquiring Siakam they're looking better.

Ingram is too fragile and injury prone. Also, while his career stats, height, length, and athleticism are impressive and an asset the KINGS could really use, I think he’s a guy that disappears when it matters most.

Not weighing salary demands, trade compensation, etc, the player that makes the most sense for the KINGS from your list is Bridges. He’s the right age and seemingly best fit on both ends of the floor. To me, the next guy after that would be Paul George. A saavy vet that also brings length and athleticism and plays both sides of the floor. Sure he’s aged, but the guy presents another option that can take over games and keep you in it. And he can handle the ball as well. He’s a leader.

Next guy after that would be Markkanen. He doesn’t fill the role of two-way player as Bridges and George do, but he sure can shoot it and is tall and long.

I like the Markkenen idea.....get him....even if it takes a couple 1st rounders (including this year's)

It's evident from Monte's press conference that he understands about the window of opportunity given the ages of our best players and he is not married to the core. I think he has got the right read on things. His execution now needs to match his vision.

Monte so far seems to be a pretty balanced GM. He knows his timeline, and he knows value. Unfortunately, now might be the time where those things don't exactly balance out perfectly. From what we've seen from Monte, he knows what he's doing.

Clippers, Suns and Lakers look no better than the Kings IMO. We aren't far off at all when healthy so i'm looking forward to seeing what monte decides to do. I'm highly certain we'd be showing a lot more fight than a lot of these squads

And yeah, Monte has shown he'll break your heart by trading Americas favorite player, lol. We'll see what Monte does but last year it sure seemed like Fox, Domas, and Murray were the actual core. The common sense guess would be that Murray is the one to be traded if a major win now move were made.

Like, how in the world did last year’s performance make anyone believe this team was going to make forward progress?

Clippers, Suns and Lakers look no better than the Kings IMO. We aren't far off at all when healthy so i'm looking forward to seeing what monte decides to do. I'm highly certain we'd be showing a lot more fight than a lot of these squads

I'm not so sure. New Orleans spanked us 5 times this season. And OKC just ran the table on New Orleans. I would say we are a couple levels away at least. And that is with Malik on board. Without Malik we are even further away.

How we can climb the ladder-Can Monte make a great draft selection this draft?

And the Kings spanked OKC.

We were 2-2 this season against OKC. They won the last 2 games of the series, including one of our patented games where we led by 20 and gave it all back in 12 minutes

We were 2-2 this season against OKC. They won the last 2 games of the series, including one of our patented games where we led by 20 and gave it all back in 12 minutes

I'm not so sure. New Orleans spanked us 5 times this season. And OKC just ran the table on New Orleans. I would say we are a couple levels away at least.

Good video from Bobby Marks.