BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JANUARY 10: Head coach Doug Christie of the Sacramento Kings reacts during … More
The Sacramento Kings’ future is murky. They fired former Coach of the Year Mike Brown and traded the face of the franchise, De’Aaron Fox. The primary return for the latter was Zach LaVine, a lottery-protected first-round pick from the Chicago Bulls this year, and two more future Round 1 selections.
While the added draft capital should aid their future roster construction, parting with a former All-NBA guard who’s 27 and not acquiring promising young players from the San Antonio Spurs was a head-scratching decision. Instead of prying Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle or a two-way wing like Devin Vassell from San Antonio, the Kings reunited LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.
That’s a pairing that, in part due to injuries, didn’t achieve much success in Chicago. The idea that it would all of a sudden work in the Western Conference with more mileage on their tires was nearly impossible to find optimism about.
The duo, with Domantas Sabonis, led Sacramento to the play-in tournament this year, but they got dispatched 120-106 by the Dallas Mavericks on their home floor. The usually raucous Golden 1 Center became a library as the game turned uncompetitive.
The Kings immediately fired general manager Monte McNair after the loss. They replaced him with former New York Knicks GM Scott Perry. The latter spent three months with the franchise he’s returning to, acting as their vice president of basketball operations in 2017.
It’s now official that Perry will work in concert with Doug Christie. According to Shams Charania of ESPN, Sacramento removed the interim tag, agreeing to a multi-year contract. The Kings went 27-24 after Christie replaced Mike Brown this season. They ranked ninth in offensive efficiency in that stretch.
Putting leadership in place, with a fresh set of eyes and opinions in the front office, was the crucial first step forward. Now, Sacramento must determine Sabonis’s future with the franchise.
Owner Vivek Ranadive has long seemed resistant to embracing a complete rebuild. It’s likely why the Kings got LaVine in return for Fox, but not younger building blocks for a brighter future.
According to veteran NBA insider Marc Stein of The Stein Line substack, the team has no plans for an “offseason teardown.”
While LaVine, Sabonis, and DeRozan are under contract, Sacramento’s lack of cap space this summer suggests it will have to get creative to acquire impactful players. It also reads like a situation likely to end the way the last two seasons did: a play-in tournament elimination.
