2006 Offseason
The first move of the 2006 offseason for the Kings was quick. Rick Adelman, who had coached the team for eight years and led them to their most successful stint in over 30 years, was on the last year of his deal and the Kings' team president Geoff Petrie opted not to extend it four days after they were eliminated from the playoffs. Adelman was replaced by Eric Musselman. Musselman coached the Golden State Warriors for two mediocre seasons between 2002 and 2004 and is coming off two seasons as a Memphis Grizzlies assistant. In the 2006 draft, the Kings used their one and only pick to select point guard Quincy Douby at #19, likely as a potential successor to Mike Bibby. Douby would spend two and a half seasons in Sacramento, never average above five points per game, and would be out of the league before the end of the 2010s. And while the 2006 draft isn't known for its depth of talent, the Kings passed on 21st pick Rajon Rondo and 24th pick Kyle Lowry, both of whom would become multi-time all-stars and contributors to championship teams.
Come free agency, the free-agent class was not as strong as a team looking to rebuild would hope. Ben Wallace, a brick wall on defense coming off his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award, was considered the top prize, but after the Malice at the Palace, it might be a good idea to keep Wallace and Artest apart. He goes to the Chicago Bulls. Peja Stojaković, a sharpshooter who the Kings traded last season for Artest, is available, but he opts to go the New Orleans Hornets. Al Harrington, a strong scorer, also goes off the table when he signs with the Pacers. Bonzi Wells, who had a stellar series against the Spurs in the playoffs, was also a free agent, and despite Artest willing to forfeit his salary to keep him on the team, Wells signed with the Houston Rockets. Wells would be out of the league in two seasons, but his departure from the Kings showed how poorly the team's free agency outing was. Their only remotely notable addition to the team was John Salmons, a decent role player, but not a needle mover by any stretch.
2006-07 Season
The 2006-07 season for the Kings was...uneventful. Their key players stayed healthy and, aside from an off-year from Brad Miller, played decently enough. No major moves were made outside of releasing most of their free-agent signings. Ron Artest was still a really good, but nowhere near his breakout 2004 season. Mike Bibby was also solid but was regressing from his previous season as well. Kevin Martin had a breakout year in his third season, averaging 20.2 points. However, the Kings would decline sharply, losing 11 more games than last year as they went 33-49, finishing last in the Pacific Division and 11th in the Western Conference.
2007 Offseason
It didn't take long for the Kings' front office to decide that Musselman wasn't working out, and he was fired less than a year after he was hired. Reggie Theus, a former Kings player from the 1980s who had taken the struggling New Mexico Aztecs from a 6-24 record to a 25-9 record in two seasons as head coach, took over the job, supposedly with a guarantee he got three years on the job. A few months later, the Kings used their first lottery pick in 2007 draft to select Spencer Hawes at #10. Hawes wasn't a great player and he'd only spend two years on the team, but to be fair, the only player drafted around the same time who would have been better was Thaddeus Young. Lastly, in a free agency that saw Vince Carter, Chauncey Billups, and Rashard Lewis in the market for a team, the best player the Kings managed to sign was...Beno Udrih, another player who's peak would be as a reliable role player.
2007-08 Season
Unlike the last season, the 2007-08 season saw the team make a big move. Midway through the season, the 23-28 Kings decided to restructure their team and began to move towards a rebuild. They sent Mike Bibby, the last remaining member from the 2003 team, to the Atlanta Hawks for a collection of role players and a second-round pick. Despite trading away one of their best players for close to nothing, the Kings managed to improve under Theus in his first year, winning five more games for a record of 38-44. This could be due to Kevin Martin continuing to develop as a strong scorer, finishing top ten in the league while averaging 23.7 points per game, while Artest would rebound from last season. However, they still fell short of the playoffs, finishing fourth in their division and 11th in the conference.
2008 Offseason
The Kings' offseason began with the 2008 draft, where they used the 12th overall pick to select power forward Jason Thompson, who would spend seven seasons in Sacramento and put up decent numbers, but nothing spectacular. In doing this, they passed on multi-time all-star Roy Hibbert at #17 and Robin Lopez at #15, a better role player with more longevity in the league. They also used two second-round picks to select Sean Singletary at #42 and Patrick Ewing Jr. at #43. Both were traded soon after the draft. While it feels like choosing second-round picks is a toss-up and finding a gem is more luck than anything, it's worth noting that with the 45th pick, the San Antonio Spurs selected future all-star, Most Improved Player, and All-NBA Third Team member Goran Dragić.
Free agency was uneventful for the Kings, only adding Bobby Brown to the roster and missing out on bigger name free agents like Luol Deng, Elton Brand, and Gilbert Arenas. The big move for the Kings would come in August when they completed tearing down the team by trading away Ron Artest, who reportedly never really wanted to be in Sacramento to begin with, and their two second-rounders for two players, one of which was former King Bobby Jackson, and a first-round pick. Lastly, this offseason saw veteran big man Shareef Abdur-Rahim retire.
2008-09 Season
The 2008-09 season was rough for the Sacramento Kings. Early in the season, the team cut Reggie Theus' three-year guarantee short, firing him after a 6-18 start and ending his Kings' coaching career with a record of 44-62 (.415 winning percentage). Theus was replaced by assistant coach Kenny Natt in his first and last head coaching job. By the all-star break, the team was 11-43, and it would only go downhill from there. In the days leading up the trade deadline, the Kings made multiple moves. The biggest of these moves saw the team trade Brad Miller and John Salmons to the Chicago Bulls for a package of four players, the most notable of which being Drew Gooden and Andrés Nocioni. They then added a talented young player in Rashad McCants via a four-player trade. However, McCants would quickly vanish from the league, with the reasons ranging from his reputation as a locker room cancer, as told by former GM Kevin McHale and former teammate Kevin Love, to McCants claiming McHale had him blackballed, to McCants also blaming the Kardashian Curse. That is not a joke. Meanwhile, Kevin Martin was still seen as a bright spot, but injuries were mounting up. In the end, the Kings would win just six more of the 28 games they played, ending with a record of 17-65, the worst record in franchise history. They'd finish dead last in the division, the conference, and the league. They've officially hit the bottom. But they could look on the bright side, things could be looking up if the lottery fell in their favor.
2009 Offseason
The lottery did not fall in their favor. Despite having the best odds, the Kings not only missed out on the #1 pick but fell all the way down to 4th. This caused them to miss out on a multi-time all-star in Blake Griffin at #1 and a future MVP in James Harden at #3. A month after the lottery, the Kings found their next head coach in Paul Westphal. Westphal's professional coaching career was mostly successful, having led the Phoenix Suns to their best record in franchise history in 1993, but hadn't coached in the NBA since 2000 and his last head coaching job saw his Pepperdine University team go 7-20 under his watch. Come the 2009 draft, the Kings would end up using the 4th pick to select Tyreke Evans, three picks ahead of Stephen Curry, and five picks ahead of multi-time all-star DeMar DeRozan. Later in the night, they'd use the pick from the Ron Artest trade to select Omri Casspi at #23. They'd also take Jeff Pendergraph (now Ayers) with the 31st pick but quickly traded him for two players and cash.
As usual, free agency failed to get any of the notable names on the market such as Carlos Boozer, Jason Kidd, or Paul Millsap to journey to Sacramento. They would end up landing a past his prime Desmond Mason, a 25-year old Sean May, who's coming off a season where microfracture surgery left him physically unfit to play basketball, and Ime Udoka, another role player who was well past his prime. Mason would get cut after five games and May & Udoka would be gone after this season.
2009-10 Season
The 2009-10 season was one the Sacramento Kings could've built off of. Tyreke Evans won the Rookie of the Year, beating out future MVPs Stephen Curry and James Harden, after averaging 20.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game. In doing so, he joined all-time greats in Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan, and LeBron James as the only rookies to average 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game. On top of that, Omri Casspi had a surprisingly solid rookie season, averaging 10.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting 45% from the field and 37% from three-point range. However, the Kings also made a move that hurt their chances of rebuilding. Kevin Martin, who despite his injuries was still one of the team's strongest scorers, was traded to the Houston Rockets as part of a three-team, nine-player, one draft pick trade that sent Tracy McGrady to the New York Knicks. In return, the Kings received Carl Landry, a strong offensive 26-year old power forward, Joey Dorsey, who only played eight games with the Kings, and a 31-year old Larry Hughes, who they'd cut. The Kings finished the season 25-57, an improvement of 8 games but still not enough to keep them out of the bottom of their division and the second-worst in the Western Conference.
2010 Offseason
The 2010 offseason started with the Kings shipping underwhelming draft pick Spencer Hawes & Andrés Nocioni to the Philadelphia 76ers for veteran big man Samuel Dalembert. A decent move on paper, but Dalembert would only play one season in Sacramento while Hawes would develop into a better player in Philadelphia. Come the 2010 draft, the Kings dropped from the 3rd pick to the 5th pick in the lottery, but that would prove to be a blessing in disguise. In a rare moment where the team made the right decision, the Kings used that 5th pick to select DeMarcus Cousins. While he's fallen off due to injuries in recent years, you could make the argument for a while that Cousins was the best center in the league, having been named a four-time all-star and an All-NBA 2nd Team member twice. And outside of 10th pick Paul George, there wasn't anyone better for the Kings to select. The Kings also used their 33rd pick to select Marshall big man Hassan Whiteside.
2010's free agency saw several big names on the market, including LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. Of course, the Kings didn't land any of them, along with not landing other strong free agents like Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, or Amar'e Stoudemire. Instead, the Kings signed more career role players, most of whom wouldn't be on the team by the time the season started, while the rest wouldn't even be on an NBA team after the season. A few days before free agency, however, the team did manage to trade for a 2011 2nd round pick from the Milwaukee Bucks. I wonder if that'll come in handy?
2010-11 Season
What should've been a season that saw the Kings improve the last year instead saw their progress stunted. Tyreke Evans regressed from his great rookie season, his statistics dropping across the board. Omri Casspi failed to build off his rookie season as well, regressing and averaging just 8.6 points per game on 41% shooting. Carl Landry regressed significantly as his playing time went down, going from 18 points and 6.5 rebounds per game last season following his trade to just 11.9 points and 4.8 rebounds this season. He'd end up being traded midway through the season to the New Orleans Hornets for Marcus Thornton, a strong scorer who broke out on the team but if the Kings wanted to a strong scorer they could've just kept Kevin Martin, who they traded for Landry. Speaking of Martin, he'd play a full season with the Rockets and averaged 23.5 points per game. Not a good trade in hindsight. On the bright side, DeMarcus Cousins had a strong rookie season and made the All-Rookie 1st Team. The season ended with the Kings going 24-58, a one-win decrease from the previous year. They'd finish last in their division for the fourth time in five years and second to last in the West.
2011 Offseason
Once again, the lottery was not kind to the Kings, who fell from 5th to 7th. The Kings used that pick to select Bismack Biyombo. An underwhelming pick, but the Kings would quickly ship him, along with Beno Udrih, away in a three-team, eight-player trade which landed them John Salmons once again and the 10th pick in the draft...Jimmer Fredette. Fredette was standout at BYU for the past four years and was unanimously named the 2011 National Player of the Year. However, as I've written about on this blog before, Fredette failed to adapt to the NBA and (aside from a six-game stint with the Phoenix Suns in 2019) was out of the league by 2016. Had they not made this trade and kept their pick, they could've used it to select multi-time all-stars 8th pick Kemba Walker and 10th pick Klay Thompson, the latter of which is a multi-time NBA champion and one of the best three-point shooters in the league. Later in the draft, the Kings selected Tyler Honeycutt, who'd spend two years in the NBA, at #35. This draft wasn't all bad though. That second-round pick they traded for a year ago allowed them to take Isaiah Thomas with the 60th and final pick in the draft. Like Cousins, Thomas has fallen off sharply following several injuries but is still easily one of the bigger draft steals of the 2010s. Thomas quickly developed into a reliable starting point guard, effectively surpassing Jimmer Fredette as their go-to to run the offense. One week after the draft, the Kings parted ways with Omri Casspi, sending him and a second-round pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers for JJ Hickson, who was coming off the best season of his career at just 22 years old.
Due to the 2011 NBA lockout, free agency was delayed until December. The Kings didn't sign any big names like Marc Gasol or David West but were able to lock down Marcus Thornton, who had averaged 21.3 points per game following his trade and was seen as a top shooting guards on the market. They'd also add veterans Chuck Hayes and Travis Outlaw to a team that desperately needed veteran presence.
2011-12 Season
The shortened 2011-12 season for the Kings started with some immediate drama. Eight days into the season, DeMarcus Cousins, who nowadays has a reputation for being at best, grumpy, and at worst, highly and detrimentally irritable, was sent home from a game by head coach Paul Westphal, who described him as someone who "continually, aggressively lets it be known that he is unwilling/unable to embrace traveling in the same direction as his team" and that it "cannot be ignored indefinitely." While Cousins denies this, it was reported that he demanded a trade away from the team. It became clear that either Westphal or Cousins had to go. Unsurprisingly, the team stuck with Cousins, and Westphal was fired just seven games into the season (the team went 2-5), ending his tenure with the Kings with a record of 51-120 (.298). Westphal was replaced by Keith Smart, a Kings assistant who had coached the Golden State Warriors last season. The team had its ups and downs. DeMarcus Cousins blossomed, averaging 18.1 points and 11 rebounds per game, while Marcus Thornton continued to show he was a strong scorer, leading the team with 18.7 points per game. As I mentioned, Isaiah Thomas heavily exceeded expectations and made the All-Rookie 2nd Team after averaging 11.5 points and 4.1 assists per game.
However, Tyreke Evans continued to regress as he was phased away from his natural point guard position. Jimmer Fredette proved to be a dud, averaging just 7.6 points and 1.8 assists per game while shooting below 40%. Lastly, JJ Hickson was a horrible fit for the team, averaging 4.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game and shooting under 40% from the field before he was waived. Hickson would sign with the Portland Trail Blazers that same season, where he went from averaging 4.7 points & 5.1 rebounds with the Kings to 15.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game on the Blazers. The Kings finished the season going 22-44, which is an improvement from the previous season (their winning percentage went up from .293 in 2011 to .333 in 2012.) However, the team still finished last in their division for the fourth year in a row and second to last in the West.
2012 Offseason
The 2012 offseason began for the Sacramento Kings with the 2012 draft, which once again saw them fall in the lottery, this time from 4th to 5th. They'd use the 5th pick to select Thomas Robinson, a dominant player at Kansas but a flop in the NBA, and he wouldn't even finish the season on the Kings. In picking Robinson, they passed up on several quality players, including multi-time all-stars Damian Lillard at #6 and Andre Drummond at #9, a strong scorer in Harrison Barnes at #7, and strong role players in Terrence Ross at #8 and Austin Rivers #10. They'd also use their 36th pick to select Orlando Johnson, who they traded the following day for cash when they could've had 39th pick and multi-time all-star Khris Middleton.
Come free agency, the Kings failed to land top free agents that would fit their needs like Deron Williams, Steve Nash, or Kevin Garnett. They would land Aaron Brooks, a point guard who won Most Improved Player in 2010 but failed to replicate that season for the rest of his career. They'd also trade a second-round pick to the Toronto Raptors for James Johnson. Lastly, they'd waive Hassan Whiteside two years after drafting him. Since then, he's become one of the better centers in the league and, in 2020, currently sits at 2nd in the league in rebounds and 1st in blocks per game.
2012-13 Season
The 2012-13 season might have seen the team improve record-wise, but the season was not pretty for the team. Once again, the hot-headed DeMarcus Cousins took center stage for the Kings, causing controversy when he confronted San Antonio Spurs color commentator Sean Elliot over comments he made during the game concerning the way Cousins played against Tim Duncan. The confrontation earned Cousins a two-game suspension. A month later, Cousins was indefinitely suspended by the Kings for "unprofessional behavior and conduct detrimental to the team", missing two more games in the process. Cousins would finish the season with improved shooting numbers but a drop in stats and a league-leading 16 technical fouls.
Meanwhile, Marcus Thornton began to regress, dropping to 12.7 points per game. Tyreke Evans, while not bad, was still regressing. Jimmer Fredette continued to disappoint, improving to shooting above 40% but dropping in points & assists per game. As I mentioned, Thomas Robinson flopped and was lumped into a six-player trade with the Houston Rockets along with Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt. The Kings received Cole Aldrich and Toney Douglas, both of whom would not be on the team by next season, and Patrick Patterson, a decent addition that was averaging 11.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting 52% from the field, but would drop to 8 points per game on 49% shooting with the Kings. Lastly, Aaron Brooks is another addition to the team that isn't working out, so he gets waived. The only bright spot of the team was Isaiah Thomas, who continued to exceed expectations and averaged 13.9 points and 4 assists per game while shooting 44% from the field. The Kings finished the year 28-54, an improved .341 win percentage from last season (up from .333) but still fourth in their division and the third-worst record in the West.
2013 Offseason
The 2013 offseason began with a franchise-altering move. On May 16th, the Kings' owners The Maloof family sold the team to a group led by Vivek Ranadivé, the founder of TIBCO Software and former co-owner of the Golden State Warriors. If you want an idea of how fit Ranadivé was to run a basketball team, in 2014 he proposed the team run a system where one player stays on offense the whole time while the rest of the team plays defense 4-on-5. Two weeks after the NBA approved the sale, Ranadivé replaced general manager Geoff Petrie with Pete D'Alessandro, the former assistant general manager of the Warriors and Vice President of Basketball for the Toronto Raptors. Keith Smart would also be fired as head coach, ending his Kings' career with a record of 48-93 (.340.) Taking over head coaching duties was Mike Malone. Malone was a first-time head coach, but had gained the reputation as one of the best assistant coaches in the league and has been credited by Stephen Curry and Draymond Green as a big part of the Warrior's success after his stint as an assistant under Mark Jackson.
That brings us to the 2013 draft, where the Kings & D'Alessandro used their 7th overall pick to select Ben McLemore, two picks ahead of CJ McCollum at #9, and five picks ahead of Steven Adams at #12. They'd also select Ray McCallum Jr. at #36, who would play two decent years with the Kings but fell out of the league by 2016. Following the draft, the Kings were involved in a three-team, five-player, two-pick trade, sending Tyreke Evans to the New Orleans Pelicans in a sign-and-trade. The Kings received Greivis Vásquez, who played 18 games for the team, and two second-round picks. One of those picks would be sent to the Milwaukee Bucks as part of a trade with another second-round pick for Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. That pick would become future Rookie of the Year and 50-40-90 club member Malcolm Brogdan. Come free agency, the Kings missed out on top free agents like Chris Paul and players that would fit their needs like Andre Iguodala and Andrei Kirilenko. James Johnson, who would develop into a quality role player, would also leave in free agency. But hey, Carl Landry's back...so that's something.
2013-14 Season
The 2013-14 season was another season that saw the Kings make a slight improvement. Cousins had another big season, averaging 22.7 points and 11.7 rebounds per game while shooting 50% from the field. Isaiah Thomas also continued to develop, averaging 20.3 points and 6.3 assists per game while shooting 45% from the field. To add to that strong duo, the Kings sent four players to the Toronto Raptors for three players, including Rudy Gay, yet another strong scorer who could come drop 20 points a night if needed. The season, however, was not just positives. Cousins kept is nose clean for the most of the season, but received a one-game suspension after punching Patrick Beverly during a game. Marcus Thornton has dropped from averaging 21.3 points per game following his trade to the Kings to just 8.3 in his final season. He'd be traded midway through the year for Reggie Evans and Jason Terry, who never played for the Kings due to injury. Carl Landry spent most of the year on the disabled list following a hip surgery before the season and a meniscus tear midway through the season. Luc Mbah a Moute, who keep in mind they traded a pick that would become Malcolm Brogdan for, would play just 9 games with the Kings before being traded to the Timberwolves for Derrick Williams, someone who is considered one of the bigger draft busts of the 2010s. And then there's Jimmer Fredette. Fredette, once a top player in college, could barely get on the court and was released two and half years after being drafted. The Kings finished 28-54, the same record as the year previous, and finished fourth in the division and 13th in the West.
2014 Offseason
The 2014 draft fell to the 8th pick and selected Nik Stauskas, passing on 10th pick Elfird Payton, a dependable role player, and 13th pick Zach LaVine, a player who would become a borderline all-star, following the draft, Pete D'Alessandro and the Kings made one of the most baffling moves in NBA history. Isaiah Thomas, a 20 points per game scorer who had been practically handed to the Kings, and was both a fan favorite and one of Mike Malone's favorite players, was traded to the Phoenix Suns for Alex Oriakhi, a man who would never play in the NBA. That's it. Since then, Thomas became a multi-time all-star and legitimate MVP candidate. This happened one day after signing veteran point guard Darren Collison, but the move is still just as bad as it was in 2014. This was followed up by a four-player trade that got the Kings Wayne Ellington, who they quickly cut. Ellington has gone on to be a solid role player in the league. The Kings would follow these up by adding veteran role players like Ramon Sessions and the everyone's favorite First Take analyst Ryan Hollins. Hey, even Omri Casspi is back!
2014-15 Season
The Kings might have improved in terms of their record, but this season was a disaster for the Sacramento Kings. Following his terrible Isaiah Thomas trade, Pete D'Alessandro set his sights on the next member of the Kings to get rid of...Mike Malone. Despite the fact that, under Malone, DeMarcus Cousins has been playing his best basketball, and the fact that team was 11-13 (not good, but better than they usually start) to start the season, and the fact that Malone is universally respected as a coach, Malone was fired midway through the season, ending his Kings tenure with a career record of 39-67 (.368). Today, Malone is coaching the very successful, very good Denver Nuggets, and his firing is considered one of the worst head coach firings in modern history. Replacing Malone is Tyrone Corbin, who was just a placeholder for the real replacement. Corbin coached the Kings for 28 games (going 7-21) before George Karl took over the job. Karl is a former Coach of the Year with over 30 years of head coaching experience.
As for the players, the team looked fine for the most part. As I mentioned, DeMarcus Cousins was in top form and had one of the best seasons of career, averaging 24.1 points and 12.7 rebounds per game while shooting 47% from the field. Cousins would also be named to his first all-star game, also becoming the first Sacramento King since Brad Miller and Peja Stojaković in 2004 to make the all-star game. Last year's midseason addition Rudy Gay would also have his best season, averaging 21.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game while shooting 46% from the field and 36% from three-point range. Darren Collison put up good numbers but only played in 45 games due to injuries. On the negative side, Nik Stauskas proved to be a dud of a pick, averaging 4.4 points per game while shooting under 40% from the field. The team finished 29-53, a one-win improvement from the previous year, but still put them 4th in their division and 13th in the West.
2015 Offseason
Pete D'Alessandro's tenure with the Kings was not long for the world following the 2014-15 season, as he left the team to return to the Denver Nuggets front office. This came after the Kings hired Vlade Divac as the vice president of basketball and franchise operations, effectively stripping D'Alessandro of decision-making power. D'Alessandro's tenure has since been described as a complete mess, plagued by insane roster turnover (only DeMarcus Cousins & Jason Thompson remain from when he started) and even allegations of leaking negative stories about members of the Kings, including players, staff, and even Vivek Ranadivé, to further his own agendas. Before the next season started, Divac would be named the general manager of the team. Divac had little experience in the front office in basketball and none in the NBA.
Come the 2015 draft, the Kings used the 6th pick in the draft to select center Willie Cauley-Stein, five picks ahead of a much better center in 11th pick Myles Turner. If you're wondering why they'd use a top pick to draft a position they already have a star at, it might have something to do with the fact that Cousins was very likely out the door. The relationship between Cousins and Paul Westphal might have been bad, but the relationship between him and George Karl made him & Westphal look like the best of the friends. The two routinely took shots at eachother in interviews, with Karl even lobbying to Divac and other players that Cousins needed to be traded. This led to this:
A simple three emoji tweet that might seem like nonsense to the average person, but "snakes in the grass" is something that NBA players have made reference to before. Along with Cousins, there was Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith, Andre Iguodala, and Ty Lawson.
What do all of them have in common? They were all coached by George Karl, with some of them having been on the receiving end of verbal swipes from Karl. But unlike with Westphal, Divac and management didn't pick a side in the beef, as they looked into trading Cousins. That's not to say Karl was safe, as reports came out that the team was looking to replace Karl with legendary Kentucky coach John Calipari, and even had lawyers looking into finding a way to terminate Karl's contract. That plan failed, and Karl remained the head coach.
Following the draft, Divac quickly went to work, sending three-players (including Nik Stauskas), a 2019 first-round pick, and the right to the swap picks in 2017 to the Philadelphia 76ers for two foreign players who would never play in the NBA. Come free agency, the team would actually manage to land a pretty big free agent in Rajon Rondo, but only on a one-year deal. They'd also add other veteran free agents, including former all-star but 35-year old Caron Butler, Marco Belinelli, and Kosta Koufos, and a young Seth Curry to the roster.
2015-16 Season
Despite the drama of the last year, the Kings were able to recover and continue their slow improvement over the last eight years. DeMarcus Cousins would end up remaining on the team despite the trade rumors and had another standout, all-star year, averaging 26.9 points and 11.5 rebounds per game while shooting 45% from the field, also developing a three-point shot that had been absent throughout his career. Rajon Rondo was able to have a solid season, averaging 11.9 points and 11.7 assists per game while shooting 45% from the field. Rudy Gay had regressed but was still playing well, averaging 17.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while shooting 46% from the field. Darren Collison was strong off the bench, as was Seth Curry in the amount of playing time he got. However, it wasn't all good. Marco Belinelli, usually a solid sharpshooting role player, shot below 40% from the field and barely shot 31% from three. Caron Butler was too broken down to keep playing, only seeing the court in 17 games this season. Oh, and remember Isaiah Thomas? The guy Pete D'Alessandro traded for just about nothing? He's averaging 22.2 points and 6.2 assists per game and making the all-star game. The Kings would go 33-49 on the season, putting them at 3rd in the division and 10th in the conference.
2016 Offseason
The Kings wasted no time, as some NBA players would say, cutting the grass. One day after the season ended, the Kings fired George Karl, ending his Kings' tenure with a record of 44-68 (.393). A month later, the Kings would hire David Joerger, a longtime Memphis Grizzlies assistant coach who took over head coaching duties towards the end of the Grit and Grind era. Come the 2016 draft, the Kings used the 8th overall pick to select Marquese Chriss, another big man. That pick would quickly be traded to the Phoenix Suns for the rights to Bogdan Bogdanovic and two other 2016 picks, Georgios Papagiannis and Skal Labissière, two more big men. Bogdanovic has developed into a quality player, Papagiannis would barely play before leaving the NBA in 2018 while Labissière would play decently, but wouldn't last on the team. Marquese Chriss has since developed into a better player than both Papagiannis and Labissière, but had they not traded the pick, they could've taken 11th pick and future all-star Domantas Sabonis. They'd also draft Isaiah Cousins (no relation to DeMarcus) with the 59th pick, but he wouldn't play a game in the NBA.
Before free agency officially began, Caron Butler was bought out of his contract after he exercised his player option. The underperforming Marco Belinelli was also traded to the Charlotte Hornets for the 22nd pick Malachi Richardson. Belinelli would quickly return to his strong shooting the very next season. Rondo, their biggest free-agent signing in the last decade, opted not to stick around and signed with the Chicago Bulls. For free agency, the Kings couldn't land a top free agent, instead adding veteran role players like Arron Afflalo, Garrett Temple, Matt Barnes, and Jordan Farmar. They also brought in Ty Lawson, someone who DeMarcus Cousins could bond with over their disdain of George Karl. Lawson could come in handy as a back-up point guard, especially since Darren Collison will be missing the first eight games of the season after pleading guilty to domestic battery.
2016-17 Season
The 2016-17 season might have seen the Kings only post a slightly worse record than they had in recent years, this season would prove to be a complete turning point for the franchise. DeMarcus Cousins, unarguably the best player the Kings have had since the 2002 Western Conference Finals team, and probably even better than the players from that squad, was still performing at the top of his game, very clearly did not want to be on the team anymore. The George Karl debacle didn't help and midway through the season, Cousins was finally traded away. The Kings sent Cousins & Omri Casspi to the New Orleans Pelicans for a three-player, two draft pick package. The Kings received Tyreke Evans, nearly four years after Evans left the Kings for the Pelicans in free agency, Buddy Hield, the 6th pick in the 2016 draft, Langston Galloway, a career role player who would only play 16 games with the Kings, and 2017 first and second-round picks.
As for the rest of the team, it was unremarkable, to say the least. Rudy Gay continued to be a strong offensive player but was no longer scoring 20 points per game, Buddy Hield put up much better numbers with the Kings then he did with the Pelicans, going from 8.6 points per game in New Orleans to 15.1 points per game in Sacramento, and Darren Collison continued to be a reliable member of the supporting cast. Their veteran free agent signings would also perform well, mostly off the bench. On the other end, Tyreke Evans is still not living up to his Rookie of the Year status from 2010 and is an inefficient shooter, shooting just over 41% from the field now. Ty Lawson is alright, but nowhere near as good as he was in Denver. Willie Cauley-Stein is decent, but not what you'd want out of a 6th pick. The three rookies on the Kings roster, Labissière, Papagiannis, and Richardson, all barely saw the floor and aside from Labissière, did not do well when they saw the court. Unsurprisingly, no one on the Kings received any MVP votes. But you know who did:
Isaiah Thomas. The Kings would go 32-50 on the season, a one-win drop from last year, and finished 3rd in their division and 12th in the West.
2017 Offseason
The 2017 NBA Draft saw the Sacramento Kings jump up from the 8th pick to the 3rd in the lottery. One problem...the Kings gave the Sixers the right to swap picks in a 2015 trade, so that pick belongs to Philadelphia while the Kings get the 5th pick. The Sixers would end up trading that pick to the Boston Celtics and landed the #1 pick in the draft. While Markelle Fultz didn't work out for them, the Celtics were able to land future all-star Jayson Tatum with the Kings' pick. It's not too bad though, because the team used the 5th pick to select De'Aaron Fox, a borderline all-star and probably the best player they could've realistically taken. However, the draft wasn't entirely good. Thanks to the DeMarcus Cousins trade, the Kings also had the 10th pick from the Pelicans. They used that pick to select Zach Collins, who they traded on draft night to the Portland Trail Blazers for the 15th pick Justin Jackson and the 20th pick Harry Giles. Jackson was decent, but wouldn't be on the team for long, while Giles missed his entire rookie season and is just decent. Had they not traded their pick, they could've had 13th pick Donovan Mitchell or 14th pick Bam Adebayo, both all-stars. The Kings appeared to land a draft steal when they picked Frank Mason III with the 34th pick. Mason III was the Consensus National College Player of the Year at Kansas but has struggled to find his footing in the NBA and only played two years on the Kings before being waived.
2017 free agency was a massive gut punch to the Kings. Rudy Gay, the best player on the team not named DeMarcus Cousins over the last few years, left for the San Antonio Spurs. Tyreke Evans also leaves for the Memphis Grizzlies. Evans would have a bounce-back year with the Grizzlies, put up his best stat line since his rookie season, which probably has to do with him being able to play point guard while Mike Conley was injured. The Kings did land some big names in free agency, albeit players way past their prime in Vince Carter and Zach Randolph. They also signed a quality role player in George Hil, who was coming off the best season of his career, and Bogdan Bogdanovic after trading for his draft rights the year prior.
2017-18 Season
The 2017-18 season saw the Kings regress following their slow attempt to get back to a winning record. Their major young players (De'Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Willie Cauley-Stein, Bogdan Bogdanovic) played well, but this team was still a complete dud. Zach Randolph, who's literal first act as a Sacramento King was getting arrested for having roughly two pounds of marijuana on him and was charged with possession with intent to sell, was the leading scorer for the team with 14.5 points per game. You could make the serious argument that 36-year old Zach Randolph was the best player on this team. Vince Carter didn't provide much, which isn't shocking since he was 41 this season. George Hill wasn't playing poorly, but he underwhelmed and with Fox playing well, his days were numbered on the Kings. He'd end up being shipped to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a three-team trade that landed them Iman Shumpert, who only played 42 games for them, and Dimitrios Agravanis, who has yet to come to the NBA after being drafted in 2015. They also got veteran Joe Johnson from the Utah Jazz in that trade, but they'd cut him quickly. They'd also trade struggling sophomore Malachi Richardson for another young player; Bruno Caboclo. Caboclo was the 20th pick in 2014 and was drafted as a result of what I call "The Giannis Effect", essentially drafting super raw prospects in hopes they develop into stars. Caboclo was famously said to be "two years away from being two years away" and was nicknamed "Brazillian KD" but has barely seen the court since being drafted and would only play 10 games in Sacramento. Going back to the young Kings' players, Skal Labissière & Frank Mason III would play well, but not often, and Papagiannis saw the floor even less than he did in his rookie season, eventually getting waived. The team finished the year 27-55, a five-win drop-off, and putting them at 4th in the division and 12th in the West.
2018 Offseason
The 2018 draft saw the lottery fall in the Kings' favor for the second year in a row, as they jumped from the 7th pick to the 2nd pick. This year, they got to keep that pick and selected Marvin Bagley III. Bagley III is a quality young player who has a lot of potential, but in picking him, they passed on two future all-stars in Luke Doncic at #3 and Trae Young at #5. They'd also use the 37th pick to select Gary Trent Jr. but would trade him for two second-round picks and cash. Just before free agency, the Kings would trade a strong veteran role player in Garrett Temple to the Memphis Grizzlies for Deyonta Davis, who they'd cut before the season started, Ben McLemore, who left in free agency the year prior, a second-round pick and cash. Temple is now a key role player on the Brooklyn Nets. Free agency saw the Kings nearly pull off a great free agent signing in restricted free agent Zach LaVine, but the Chicago Bulls quickly matched the offer. Instead, the Kings would land veteran big man Nemanja Bjelica and a solid guard in Yogi Ferell.
2018-19 Season
The 2018-19 season was the first time in a long time that the Kings have almost made the playoffs. The team looked to focus on their young players and it paid off. De'Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield both had breakout seasons, while Bogdan Bogdanovic had a less impressive, but still good season. Marvin Bagley III also performed well in his rookie season and Nemanja Bjelica proved to be a valuable veteran in the starting line-up. The team did also make a solid move when they sent Zach Randolph, who hadn't played all season, and underwhelming sophomore Justin Jackson to the Dallas Mavericks for Harrison Barnes, a former NBA champion who proved how strong of a scorer he is in Dallas. Barnes' numbers would drop as he took a backseat to the younger players the team was focusing on, but he still performed well. The Kings made other deals during this time, including getting a solid role player in Alec Burks from the Cavaliers and a second-round pick in a three-team trade. However, they'd misuse Burks, only playing him in 13 games. The next season, he'd sign with the Golden State Warriors and put up the best numbers of his career. They'd also trade mediocre big man Skal Labissière, who had fallen out of the rotation almost entirely, for...medicore big man (and Basketball Section favorite) Caleb Swanigan, who would play a total of 10 games for the Kings, from the Portland Trail Blazers. Oh, and Ben McLemore was not good whatsoever, so they cut him. He'd sign with the Houston Rockets the next season and is currently performing well for a strong Western Conference team. The Kings would go 39-43, their best record since 2006 and a big 12-win improvement from last year. However, they would fall shy of the playoffs in a stacked Western Conference, finishing 9th and nine games behind the 8th-seeded Los Angeles Clippers.
2019 Offseason
Soon after the season ended, the Kings parted ways with Dave Joerger after three seasons, ending his Kings' career with a record of 98-148 (.398). Replacing him would be Luke Walton, a former NBA as a player who was coming off a mediocre three years as the Lakers head coach. He did coach the Golden State Warriors for over half of their record-breaking 73-9 season while Steve Kerr recovered from back problems, but...this team isn't the 73-9 Golden State Warriors. The 2019 draft saw the Kings without a first-round pick due to the same trade that caused them to miss out on Jayson Tatum. They did have three second-round picks, which they'd use to select Justin James at #40, Ignas Brazdeikis at #47, and Vanja Marinković at #60. They would then trade Brazdeikis for the 55th pick and 2019 Final Four Most Outstanding Player Kyle Guy. They could've also used the 40th pick to select promising big man Eric Paschall, who went 41st. Free agency saw several shake-ups around the league...just not in Sacramento. They did manage to lock down Harrison Barnes, which was nice. They also signed Richaun Holmes, a promising young player who struggled to find a place in both Philadelphia and Phoenix. They'd also add veterans like Cory Joseph, Trevor Ariza, and Dewayne Dedmon.
2019-20 Season
And this brings us to the 2019-20 season, a season that saw several ups and downs for the Kings. Their young stars in De'Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield both continued to play well, but fellow young player Marvin Bagley III didn't get to join them as he spent the majority of the season on the disabled list. Nemanja Bjelica & Bogdan Bogdanović both continued to contribute to the team's success, but Harrison Barnes struggled to play the way he had in Dallas. He was still playing well, averaging 14.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, but not really good enough to be worth the near $24.5 million he was getting paid. Richaun Holmes finally found his footing the in NBA and averaged a career-best 12.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. The same couldn't be said for Dewayne Dedmon, who regressed following his stint in Atlanta and averaged just 5.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. The Kings would end up trading Dedmon and two second-round picks to the Hawks for Alex Len & Jabari Parker, a talented but injury-prone player. Len was just slightly better than Dedmon in Sacramento while Parker struggled to get on the court. By March, the Kings were 28-36, not in the playoffs but still in serious contention with the then 8th seed Memphis Grizzlies only 32-33. This was the best chance the Kings had in making the postseason...and then the world went to Hell.
On March 11, it was announced that the Utah Jazz's Rudy Gobert had tested positive for COVID-19, and the season was suspended. Gobert, who likely spread the virus after he jokingly touched every reporter's microphone during a press conference, became the first of what would be 34 NBA players and personnel to test positive and inadvertently caused a shutdown of not just the NBA, but just about all sporting events from the start of the MLB season to March Madness to even WrestleMania. The suspension of the season, which was originally set to last at least 30 days, would end up going until July when the season restarted in the NBA Bubble, an isolated zone with strict health guidelines where the 22 teams still in playoff contention would play eight games to determine the final playoff seedings. The Kings received the invitation, but went 3-5 in the Bubble and, following their loss to the Rockets in their sixth seeding game, were eliminated from contention. The Kings finished the year 31-41, a worse record winning percentage-wise from the year before (down from .476 to .431), and finished fourth in the division and 12th in the Western Conference.
In Conclusion
14 years. That's how long it's been since the Sacramento Kings have played a playoff game. It's the longest postseason drought in the NBA currently, the second-longest in NBA history, and the third-longest in the four major sports leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL.) The failure of the Sacramento Kings is almost legendary. From a failure to draft the right players to a failure to attract strong free agents, to misusing the talented young players and role players they had, to making bad, sometimes bafflingly terrible, trades where they received diminished returns for quality players. It begs the question; where do the Kings go from here? On one hand, they have a talented young core to build around. Buddy Hield, Marvin Bagley, Bogdan Bogdanović, Harrison Barnes, and Nemanja Bjelica have proven to be a valuable group and have helped lead the team to their best records since their last playoff appearance, while De'Aaron Fox has shown some real potential to be a future all-star. And this offseason did see the Vlade Divac-era come to an end, as Divac stepped down from his position as general manager.
However, on the other hand, replacing him is Joe Dumars, the man largely responsible for the early 2000s Detroit Pistons' unlikely to NBA Champions, but just as responsible for their collapse in the late 2000s and the early 2010s. On top of that, the Kings now find themselves in a place that's arguably worse than being bad; being average. When you're really bad, you have the advantage of a top draft pick to add a potential superstar early in their career, something you have a lower chance of doing when you have a pick anywhere from 9th to 14th. And when you're a small-market team that struggles to attract big-name free agents, that lack of a high draft pick can be detrimental to a team looking to rebuild for the 15th year in a row. As of right now, it's hard to gauge where the Kings stand in the grand scheme of the NBA, and next season will be interesting to see if the Kings break their 14-year drought or tie the Clippers' 15-year streak.
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