Jerry Reynolds isn’t ready to let early camp noise shape the story of the Sacramento Kings.
The Kings legend, speaking on Sactown Sports’ The Drive Guys, said the first stretch of training camp is mostly about something much simpler than roster debates or breakout headlines: health and readiness. What coaches want early, Reynolds explained, is to see everybody on the floor and in a good place heading into the season.
“The first days you just want to kind of hope that all your guys you’re looking forward to watching work out are healthy,” Reynolds said. “You’d like everybody kind of like ready to go to work and positive about the coming season.”
That’s why he’s wary of overreacting to what happens in practice before the preseason even starts. Reynolds said those early sessions can show energy and chemistry, but they don’t tell the full story. In his view, the real picture starts to sharpen only when the games begin.
“Usually not much because every team does the same thing,” Reynolds said. “You really would almost have to get into preseason, and probably near the end of preseason to start getting some accurate thoughts.”
He said preseason is where the important evaluations begin, because players are no longer working against teammates in controlled settings. They have to prove themselves against another team, and that’s when roles start to come into focus.
That lens matters for a few Kings players in particular, including Ben Simmons. The buzz around Simmons has already started to build, but Reynolds suggested the optimism may be moving fast. Even so, he still sees a big swing factor there if Simmons can get back to the level that once made him one of the league’s most impactful players.
“For this team to really make much of a stride, I think Ben Simmons is probably the outlier,” Reynolds said. “If he could be Ben Simmons of five years ago, he can make his team a lot better.”
Reynolds also weighed in on Nique Clifford, saying the second-year forward has plenty of usable tools but still needs one clear edge to separate himself. Clifford’s all-around ability is useful, Reynolds said, but versatility alone won’t be enough if he wants to carve out a steady role.
“His strength is he’s highly skilled in about every phase, but he’s not super skilled in anything,” Reynolds said.
Maxime Raynaud is another player Reynolds believes will matter this season. The key question, he said, is where Raynaud fits and whether the Kings can use him at both power forward and center. If that happens, Reynolds thinks it could give Coach Christie and the team a real boost.
“If he could, that would really give Coach Christie and the team a little bit of a leg up on where people thought they’d be,” Reynolds said.
Even with Sacramento facing low expectations - many projections have the Kings finishing last in the Western Conference - Reynolds isn’t buying into the pessimism. He pointed to the health of several core players as the reason he believes the team can beat those forecasts.
“I just think with a healthy Keegan and De’Andre Hunter and Domas and Monk, I just think this team is better than that,” Reynolds said.
In Other News...
Kings Cost Cutting Move Looks Worse With Another Toronto Payoff
What looked like a straightforward cost-cutting move for Sacramento last summer has aged in an increasingly awkward way. The Kings sent Sasha Vezenkov and Davion Mitchell to Toronto for Jalen McDaniels and two second-round picks, a deal that was supposed to help reshape the roster while trimming money from the books, but the return has done little to quiet second-guessing.
Vezenkov eventually headed back to Europe after a buyout with the Raptors, while Toronto turned those picks into Alijah Martin and Jamal Shead, with Shead already landing a three-year contract extension. Mitchell, meanwhile, is now with the Miami Heat and appears to be their starting point guard, another reminder that Sacramentos decision moved on from a useful guard while Toronto kept finding ways to turn the deal into more value. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Linked To Young Shooter Who Could Fit Steve Kerr Perfectly
Jordan Hawkins is suddenly on the market after a fast-moving stretch that saw the former UConn standout, taken 14th overall by New Orleans in 2023, traded to Memphis and then waived. It is a reminder that first-round pedigree only goes so far in the NBA, especially for a young guard whose biggest selling point is still the same one that got him drafted in the first place: the ability to space the floor and punish defenses when the shot is falling.
For a team like the Kings, who have long valued offense and perimeter creation, a player such as Hawkins at least fits the profile of a low-risk flier with upside. Sacramento is not alone in that thinking, either, with Dallas and Golden State also mentioned as logical landing spots for the same reason: each could use shooting, each could give him a clear role, and each offers a style of play that might finally help him settle in as a reliable NBA weapon. [Read more 🡒]
De'Andre Hunter Suddenly Looks Like A Huge Kings X Factor
De'Andre Hunter has barely had a chance to show what he can mean for Sacramento since arriving in last Februarys trade, and the injury that cut his first season short only made the wait longer. With preseason opening on the horizon, the Kings finally have a healthier version of the wing in camp, and Hunter says he is ready to play after spending much of his early tenure sidelined.
For Sacramento, that matters because Hunter brings exactly the kind of two-way flexibility the roster can use, especially on a team trying to get more versatile on defense without sacrificing scoring support. He spoke about that defensive versatility himself, and with an expiring contract in hand, he has a chance to make a strong early case that he can be more than a name in the middle of a trade package. [Read more 🡒]