Kings lineup analysis

[Crow]

Kings:

Some were "shocked" when Haliburton was traded, including him. Not judging trade here, yet. Got to see more of have Sabonis fits or doesn't.

Not mentioned was that he he had negative player pairs with almost every King. Not unusual on that team- true also for Fox and Mitchell- but something had to change.

And again. Fox - Mitchell was awful overall and should be on a carefully selected /closely watched test program.

Lots of SGs to try, to try to do better.

[Crow]

95% of 20 most used pairs were negative and the 1 positive is gone.

How much each was due to coaching, effort, talent, design & fit? Will get new data but kinda hard to separate these elements with concurrent changes.

Barnes in 5 of 6 pairs that were -8 pts / 100p or worse. Should he have been gone already? I'd say yes. Playoff goal produced a no answer but what did that get them?

Little previous to build off but some starting points.
Fox - Holmes and Mitchell - Holmes were only mildly negative. Maybe larger combos of one or both have a chance to get to decent or better. Holmes with both of them was great in just 82 minutes of test. All 3 should be tried and compared.

Fox Barnes Sabonis was only mildly negative in moderate minutes. Mitchell Barnes Sabonis was very good in 66 minutes.

Fox Mitchell Barnes Sabonis Holmes only played 2 minutes. If going for playoffs with current roster, that should get hundred of minutes of test... and then decisions of lineup and roster.

It may be that very different 5 mans should with one of Holmes or Sabonis.

K Murray should help and be in as much as possible but exact designs still to work out. Fox Mitchell Murray Holmes and which 5th guy? Try a few but enough to guess how good or not.

Murray - Sabonis? We'll see

Whatever they do early, there should be a comprehensive review after 15-25 games. The new wings and Queta all deserve at least some chance before possibly shortening rotations.

[Crow]

Here is a quick, first cut, starter rotation:

Fox Monk Huerter Murray Sabonis 16 minutes

Monk Barnes Murray Sabonis Holmes 6

Fox Mitchell Barnes Murray Holmes 12

Monk Davis Ellis Lyles Queta 8

Fox Mitchell Huerter Sabonis Queta 4

Mitchell Huerter Barnes Sabonis Holmes 2

Not in order, split into stints.

Typical minutes per game:

Fox 32
Mitchell 18
Monk 30
Huerter 22
Davis 8
Ellis 8
Barnes 20
Murray 34
Lyles 8
Sabonis 28
Holmes 20
Queta 12

Plenty will probably deserve to change / change but got to start somewhere. I could find-time now probably but not sure I want to give more time right now.

Priorities this rotation tests: Fox-Monk, Fox-Mitchell and Monk running the show. Murray at PF and SF. Holmes, Sabonis, Sabonis-Holmes and Queta inside.

Other guys used in spot duty, if at all. Because of injuries, blowouts or poor performances.

[Crow]

Kings used 540 lineups last season, none for even a full 1.5 minutes per game.

Utterly absurd and typical.

I'd HOPE at minimum for less than 400 lineups with one over 8 minutes per game and 5 over 2 minutes. Based on last 2 teams coached by Mike Brown, we may see less or near 400 total lineups and at 5 over 1.5 min/GM but the big minute lineup may be less likely. Injuries can be a factor but so can being too chaotic / prone to change if not going well.

[Crow]

Design distribution of minutes drives lineups but results of lineups should largely drive lineups and minutes.

[DarkStar48]

Without knowing what Murray will provide, I actually think that their best lineup would be Huerter-Davis-Barnes-Sabonis-Holmes, with Huerter as the PG.

This would have a better balance of offense and defense.

It should be at least one of the go-to lineups.

[Crow]

I am ok with trying new things, especially on underperforming teams and / or early. I don't know Huerter well. Had not thought of him at PG. See little sign of that at BRef or 82 games though they are just estimates based on size.
Have you seen him at PG and liked it?

[DarkStar48]

Huerter hasn’t played PG recently, but he spent a decent amount of time at that position in the 2019-20 regular season with ATL and he looked quite competent in that role.

He is a solid ball handler, solid to good passer and solid self-creator.