Burning questions for the Sacramento Kings heading into the 2020 offseason
Long gone are the days when the Sacramento Kings were competing for championships every year featuring players like Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic, and Mike Bibby. Now, this once-proud franchise hopes to get back to a winning culture after another disappointing season failing to make the playoffs for the 14th consecutive season finishing 12th overall in the Western Conference with a 31-41 record.
This is a team that is right at the borderline and straddling the fence between playoff contention or being just an average team barely missing its mark. Guards De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield have begun to turn the corner making strides in their young careers.
Fox appears to be an all-star in the making who the Kings can build around but a major decision will have to be made concerning Hield due to him expressing displeasure concerning his role coming off the bench.
While Marvin Bagley has shown flashes of the player he could develop into, the former lottery pick has struggled with injuries. The Kings have a new regime in the front office as they hired Monte McNair as their general manager. McNair worked under Daryl Morey for 13 seasons as an executive in the Houston Rockets front office and is similar in the aspect of being an analytics-driven executive and it will be interesting to see what direction he will take concerning the team and solving the numerous issues he has to solve.
The Kings are in dire need of playmakers and shooters, overall depth and they must also address the instability in the frontcourt as well as their inability to rebound as they ranked 28th in the NBA. They must also improve in transition as they ranked 19th in fast-break points. Look for McNair to pursue quick guards who can run on the fast break and complement the blazing speed of Fox.
The front office has plenty to fix on this roster and the first thing McNair must figure out is what to do about Hield? Head coach Luke Walton will have to figure out what their defensive identity will be and find some kind of continuity and get his players to give more effort on both ends of the floor.