NBA: Ranking every team based off draft success over the last 20 years

13 of 31

NBA Sacramento Kings De’Aaron Fox (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

19. Sacramento Kings: 21 points

2000: Hedo Turkoglu: 0.5
2001: Gerald Wallace: 1.5 (1x all-star 1.5x multiplier for pick outside of lottery)
2004: Kevin Martin: 0.5
2010: DeMarcus Cousins: 10 (4x all-star, 2x 2nd team)
2011: Isaiah Thomas: 8 (2x all-star, 1x 2nd team, double points 2nd round pick)
2016: Buddy Hield: 0.5 (Joe Johnson rule)

After a hot start to the century highlighted by seven-straight 40-plus win seasons from 2000-06, the Kings have now gone 13 straight seasons without a playoff appearance (will be 14 if they don’t make a run in the Orlando bubble later this month).

Look no further than their draft record when trying to figure out why they’ve struggled for so long now. Since 2007, the Kings have had 12 picks in the lottery, with the only exception being last year when they didn’t own their first-round pick. Of those 12 lottery picks, only one (DeMarcus Cousins) has made an All-Star team and most of the picks haven’t even turned into serviceable role players.

There’s definitely some hope now with DeAaron Fox (who will certainly be recognized by the formula in a couple of years) and Buddy Hield leading the new era of Kings’ basketball, but they’ll need more help to get the Kings back into the playoffs for the first time since 2006.