Kings mailbag: Has coach Luke Walton lost his locker room? Who else will be traded?
Greetings from Miami! I could be out trying to catch the South Beach flu or jogging along the coast to warm up my organs for upcoming stops in Detroit and Chicago. Instead, I’m holed up in this hotel room, pondering the most pressing questions facing the Kings.
Has coach Luke Walton lost the team? Is he going to get fired? Has this team improved in any way since he was hired? Are other players going to get traded?
The Kings (15-27) were preparing to play the Heat (29-13) on Monday night at AmericanAirlines Arena, but you guys are the ones who brought the fire in this week’s Kings mailbag.
@Scullyfan asks: Twitter chatter seems to feel like Walton has lost the team. What say you?
Walton has lost large swaths of the fan base on Kings Twitter, but he hasn’t lost the locker room yet.
Players understand why Walton has insisted on improved half-court execution and defense. They tell me he has been notably steady in his messaging and demeanor despite their struggles, a trait he also demonstrated with chaos swirling around him in his final season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
There have been occasions when Walton’s relationships with certain players have been tested — Buddy Hield immediately comes to mind — but even then Walton quickly found a way to maintain respect, trust and understanding.
“Luke has been consistent (since) he came in and what he’s been telling us,” Hield said. “Luke is doing a great job of just keeping us on balance. He’s saying the right things and he’s showing us the right things on film that we messed up on. It’s not like he’s not showing us and coming at us. He came at me a lot of times this year and challenged me, and he’s doing a good job. We’ve just got to stay focused and locked in. He’s doing a good job. We’ve just got to go out there and execute. He’s been telling us what to do and we just have to apply it on the court.”
@bstone76 asks: Will they fire Luke at the end of the year?
That seems unlikely, but we need to see how the rest of the season plays out. The organization hasn’t even begun to entertain that question due to all the injuries the Kings dealt with over the first half of the season. Front-office officials won’t judge Walton on the first 41 games unless the last 41 games are just as disappointing. They want to see what he can do with a healthy team over the second half of the season.
Walton is in the first season of a four-year contract. The organization would be reluctant to part ways with him so soon even if the Kings don’t show improvement in the second half, but it’s worth noting that assistant Igor Kokoskov has NBA head coaching experience if the situation in Sacramento really goes awry.
@get3nj asks: What effect, if any, has Walton had on this team? 40+ games in (I) have yet to see this team improve at anything. Joerger had already established (defense) and pace this time last year. This team has no identity.
I would agree this team has lost its identity and there’s no question the Kings played with extraordinary pace last season under former coach Dave Joerger, but let’s not pretend they were good defensively.
In 2018-19, the Kings were 21st in defensive rating (110.8) and opponents’ fast-break points (14.2). They were 26th in opponents’ points in the paint (51.2), opponents’ second-chance points (14.4) and defensive rebounding percentage (.713).
This season, they are No. 2 in opponents’ fast-break points (11.3) and No. 4 in opponents’ second-chance points (12.0). They are 12th in opponents’ points in the paint (46.9), 15th in defensive rebounding percentage (.731) and 18th in defensive rating (110.2).
Walton would tell you he’s putting in the foundation for eventual postseason success. Others will point out some of these statistical improvements are due in part to the team’s slower pace, which has suppressed numbers across the board, but the pace has picked up now that point guard De’Aaron Fox is fully healthy. It will be interesting to see if the Kings can play faster while adhering to the principles Walton is trying to put in place.
@Dalerich81 asks: When does the rebuild start and which other guys will be traded at the deadline? Hopefully Marvin Bagley III and Buddy Hield are gone.
The Kings are already beginning to retool their roster after sending Trevor Ariza, Wenyen Gabriel and Caleb Swanigan to the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday in exchange for Kent Bazemore, Anthony Tolliver and two second-round draft picks.
The Kings still believe they have future All-Stars in Fox and Bagley. Under provisions in the collective bargaining agreement, Hield would be difficult to move before July 1 because he signed a four-year, $86 million contract extension in October, although he is currently making $4.9 million in the final year of his rookie contract. Those three players will stay put barring an offer the team can’t refuse for Fox or Bagley, but everyone else could be made available if the Kings get an enticing offer.
Kings general manager Vlade Divac still doesn’t know what he has with this group given all the injuries over the first half of the season, but he is willing to listen to any offer that would improve his roster.
@SactownSteve22 asks: How many more are likely to be joining the (thee players who were traded to Portland on Saturday)?
Few players on this team are untouchable right now, but center Dewayne Dedmon is the most likely to move before the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline. Dedmon lost his starting job early in the season, fell out the rotation completely and has publicly requested a trade. The Kings will accommodate that request if they find a deal that makes sense for them. They also have to listen to offers for Bogdan Bogdanovic, even if they would prefer to keep him.
@G_Jackson21 asks: Any chance of the Kings trading Buddy and keeping/signing Bogi? It’s pretty clear that Buddy is a liability on (defense) and his BBall IQ is nowhere close to Bogi’s.
This is a question the Kings have to be asking themselves. Bogdanovic has not accepted the four-year, $51.4 million extension he is eligible for, knowing he will likely make more this summer as a restricted free agent. The Kings will have the right to match any offer he receives, but they could be priced out of the market if Bogdanovic starts getting offers in the $20 million range.
With extensions for Fox and Bagley also looming, this roster could get very expensive very quickly with no sign yet that the team is ready to become a contender.
This story was originally published January 21, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
