Yes they are less talented than most of the west playoff teams but there is a reason they are built how they are and a reason why they punch above their weight. Surround Fox and Sabonis with shooters and it’s tough to stop.
But why aren’t they more talented? Why are we having this convo? It was with regard to Pascal. Why not go get him? Do you think maybe the Kings considered that fitting another non shooter with their core competency was going to be an issue? So the players they are building around present some limitations on what they want to do.
And yes they put at least one better defender out there in Keon Ellis. I think Keegan improved on that end too but not getting good shooting years from their wings and Fox doing his every other year thing took them from first to 14th offensively. They need more defensive minded players that can also spread the floor. Improving on Barnes/Heurter/ on defense will help or Ellis as a shooter… but that’s hard to do and may not have the defensive impact a rim protector would.
I just think when they made that deal that their upside became limited. Paying Fox and Sabonis as your max guys is going to make the rest of the build out challenging if you want to be a conference finals team. They may win a playoff series with this group but that’s the ceiling imo. Breaking through that means they hit a home run somewhere with limited swings.
