Just two years ago, the Sacramento Kings looked like promising contenders. They had earned the three seed, took Stephen Curry and the Warriors to seven games in the first round, and had a budding star in De’Aaron Fox. After years of misery, it finally felt like the Kings were back.
The harsh reality of the NBA is that life comes at you fast. For Sacramento, it came faster than the speed of light (or beam light?). They traded Fox last season, fired Mike Brown, and missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season. They acquired Zach LaVine in the Fox deal, but no meaningful draft capital for the All-Star guard.
The Kings are now in a weird spot. They aren’t good enough to contend, nor are they bad enough to tank. They are stuck in the middle.
The Sacramento Kings need to pick a direction
Sacramento has had a lackluster offseason. They haven’t been able to trade DeMar DeRozan, who is putting up nice numbers, but the Kings are not ready to win now, nor is he a winning piece. The ceiling is known with him and LaVine: the play-in.
The Kings signed Dennis Schroder to a $45 million contract, but again, signing veterans is not the answer for them. They have Devin Carter, who needs as many on-ball reps as he can get because he didn’t play a lot his rookie year.
Schroder is not the only one blocking those on-ball opportunities. DeRozan, LaVine, Malik Monk, and Domantas Sabonis are all ball-dominant players. The Kings have young guys like Keegan Murray, Nique Clifford, and Carter who need to develop.
The ceiling has already been reached for DeRozan, LaVine, and Sabonis. They have too many flaws to work together effectively. Neither are strong defenders, the shooting outside of LaVine is iffy, and they are all making way too much money for the results they are producing. It is time to move on and rebuild with the young pieces the Kings have.
The Kings must move off their veterans and embrace the rebuild
Sabonis, DeRozan, LaVine, Monk, and even Schroder, all need to be moved for capital and young players. Sacramento messed up the good rebuild they had going with Fox and Brown at the helm because they got impatient. Hopefully this time they can learn their lesson. Carter, Clifford, and Murray is a good start for their young core. Getting them valuable on-ball reps should be the priority this season.
All is not lost for the Kings. They own their first round pick in next year’s class, that is set to be just as talented as this year’s class. Tanking could lead them to the chance of snagging Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, or AJ Dybantsa. Embracing the tank is their best course of action so the beam can be lit for the long-term in Sacramento.
