Year after year the Sacramento Kings can’t seem to get out of their own way.
It’s another NBA season which means another struggle for the Sacramento Kings, who closed out the first half of the season with a 14-22 record. The Kings weren’t necessarily projected to be a playoff team in the Western Conference, but their struggles yet again just seem to have no end in Sac-Town.
You can blame it on a lot of things; poor play from their top picks or even poor coaching, but what seems to occur every year is a bottom dweller in a tough Western Conference. After drafting Marvin Bagley second overall just three years ago, he has not shown too much promise to become the star big man they hoped for. Averaging just 14.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, Marvin’s year three hasn’t been promising in very many ways.
Sharp-shooting guard Buddy Hield has also been up-and-down just a year removed from signing a big extension to stay with the Kings. After the team drafted Tyrese Haliburton with their first-round pick, who has been a pleasant surprise, Hield’s time with the Kings seems to be coming to an end and a trade sooner rather than later might be best for both parties.
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Star point guard De’Aaron Fox was just extended and moving forward with the future backcourt of Fox and Haliburton should be something Sacramento continues forward with.
Besides the questions around their young core, the Kings also have a few very interesting salary issues on their roster that will be tough to shed. Harrison Barnes will be making $22.2 million again this year, and although he’s averaging 16 and 6, the Kings have two more years of Barnes clogging up their salary cap.
Cory Joseph’s $12 million contract will finally come off the books after this year and veterans Hassan Whiteside and Jabari Parker have expiring contracts and seem to get no playing time, although they have shown to be quite effective when given the minutes.
But this roots back to Luke Walton, who ever since starting his tenure in Sacramento in 2019 seems to have little idea of what lineup configuration he likes. After leaving much to be desired in Los Angeles before getting replaced by Frank Vogel, Walton is doing another lackluster job in Sac-Town. You can blame a lot of the teams’ issues on the players but their coaching seems to be a huge catalyst to having no identity in the West.
While Hield was surging last season, Walton decided to have Buddy replaced in the starting lineup, a move that created frustration around Hield’s camp and the organization. And after acquiring Jabari Parker last season, who was having a good year averaging 15 points and six rebounds in the Hawks starting lineup, he never found minutes in Sacramento and has only appeared in two games again this season.
Hassan Whiteside was signed for the veteran minimum after a fantastic year in Portland this past season but is averaging just 14.6 min per game this year in Sacramento.
There’s undoubtedly a weird trend going on that makes you not too shocked that the team is struggling. Besides the positive young upsides in De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, and Richaun Holmes, there’s a lot left to be desired for the future of the Kings.
Luke Walton almost definitely has to be on the hot seat and a good second half of the season could be the only thing that saves his job.