As Sacramentans well know, no piece of good news for the Sacramento Kings (“good” being relative) comes without a high possibility of a deal gone wrong or an opportunity missed. Perennial playoff teams like the Dallas Mavericks can absorb tremendously bad news with the hope that their infrastructure will fill the void.
Sacramento’s infrastructure is so continuously crumbling and healing that a single free agency mishap often weighs heavily.
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Luc Richard Mbah a Moute WAS signed for $1.55 mil but is contract voided by Sacramento Kings after failed physical @BBallInsiders
— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) July 17, 2015
This particular miss, however, may not be so consequential.
The week’s blip on the Kings’ radar (Willie Cauley-Stein‘s Summer League acrobatics aside) saw the Kings’ printer-hot contract with 6’8″ veteran forward Luc Mbah a Moute being voided Thursday, following a failed physical examination. This came only two days after the Kings signed him to a short, very reasonable contract.
Whatever the lapse in health or ability was, for it to have nullified a small, niche-need partnership — it must have been something fairly consequential.
Now his second stint with the Kings has come to an even more sudden end than the first. Mbah a Moute’s first visit to Sacramento, which came to an end with the Derrick Williams trade, lasted the length of a really long blink — nine games.
During his time in the NBA, the Cameroonian-born forward carved out an identity as a lock-down defender during a five-year stay in Milwaukee (from 2008-13), before moving in quick succession to Sacramento and Minnesota (both during the 2013-14 season), and finally to Philadelphia for 2014-15.
Though his relatively modest offensive statistics may furrow the brows of some, his ability to challenge and often stifle high-profile assignments on defense have raised the eyebrows of many others.
Mbah a Moute’s knack for anticipating the wants of his assignment and turning them into will-not-haves built his reputation to the point that ESPN commissioned a scouting report from him in 2011.
The Cameroonian’s dual ability to smother the play of both driving, isolation players and sharpshooters demonstrated that he could read his opponent as well as his opponents wished they could read the floor.
In the days of the analytics movement, defense-first players like Mbah a Moute have to rely on elements of play which are not intangible (ask Kobe Bryant if he’d call what’s in the video above “tangible”), but which are unquantifiable. Prevention is something which — as yet — cannot be ticked and calculated, but only seen on film and by those whose efforts are thwarted.
Upon the signing, one might have seen Mbah a Moute as a refined and proven frontcourt partner for DeMarcus Cousins and/or Cauley-Stein, someone who could provide an iron curtain on either end of the floor. He certainly would have been a valuable tool to head coach George Karl, whose desire to tighten play-making comes with a need for solid defensive interplay.
The perimeter is where the nebulous forward tended to dominate, and his addition would have given Cauley-Stein not only a partner in the short term, but a role model who could teach him how to read the tendencies of individual players, and the systems in which they play.
All things considered, the loss of Mbah a Moute doesn’t signify a huge loss for the Kings’ organization. The short-term nature of this contract would seem to indicate that Mbah a Moute was indeed a patch to be placed on Cauley-Stein, Cousins, and Rudy Gay as they transition into a season which likely sees them all divvying up the frontcourt pie.
FanSided
Mbah a Moute will likely continue his career in that type of role – the defensive specialist brought in to acclimate fresh talent to NBA levels of performance. Should his eagle eye be seen as truly valuable, he may even be able to continue in the league as a scout or assistant coach.
Though he and the Kings haven’t been able to make any kind of bond last, Mbah a Moute’s skill set can be supplanted by player development- and defense-oriented members of George Karl’s coaching staff like Chad Iske, who has a long standing relationship with the head coach.
Mbah a Moute’s skill set would be better utilized on more stable teams who need a veteran presence to improve a flagging defense in order to reach the next level. At present, the Kings are looking to build a merely passable defense, and their efforts should be focused on signing more well-rounded contributors whose defensive abilities simply fulfill basic needs.
Player development personnel and coaching will have to bear the burden of fine tuning.
Where the young prince will land next is anyone’s guess, given the way he missed out on a second chance to crack Sacramento. It seems, at this point, that this son of a chief was never destined to be a King.
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