On a hot streak, the Sacramento Kings have been winning the West Coast’s heart. With a staggering turnaround from a tumultuous 16 years, the Kings may be the next championship contenders in the NBA’s Western Conference.

16 years.

That is the longest an NBA franchise has ever gone without making the playoffs. The Sacramento Kings, somehow, managed a way to do this, missing the playoffs every season from 2007-2022.

So as a Kings fan myself, I was as ecstatic as ever when they made the playoffs last year. But what changed? Are they actually championship contenders now, or just pretenders? And what can they do to improve?

Before Last Season

From 2017–2022, the Sacramento Kings had a record of 190–282 (.405), struggling with mediocre talent, horrible draft choices, and redundancy in the skillsets of guards De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton. However, when the 2022 NBA Trade Deadline rolled around, they changed everything, dealing Buddy Hield and emerging star Tyrese Haliburton, for Indiana Pacers’ PF/C Domantas Sabonis.

And that off-season, they made a series of moves to further build around De’Aaron Fox, hiring offensive-minded Mike Brown to be their new Coach, drafting 3&D specialist Keegan Murray, and acquiring shooters Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter. These additions heavily complimented Fox’s skillset, a fast-paced slasher who needs the ball to score, but also good spacing around him.

Impact of Roster Changes

With Haliburton, another primary playmaker, gone, and receiving a good center and shooters, Fox finally got the opportunity to maximize his potential. He averaged a whopping 26.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 5.7 assists in the 2023 season, a stark contrast from his 2022 pre-trade Deadline stat line of 21.8/3.9/5.1. 

All of these changes resulted in the Kings going 48–34 last year, as the 3-seed, after their measly 30–52 12-seed season the year before. But now with these changes, can we consider them a contending team?

Sacramento Kings Golden 1 Center ceremoniously lights the beam after a win. (Leo_Visions/Unsplash)

Current Status

While the roster is solid, and Mike Brown has proven himself to be a great coach, unfortunately, the Kings are not a contender, whether to win (or make it to) the Finals.

Historically, teams have needed a top 5–6 level player to win a championship, or at least a top-10 player to make it there. However, while teams like the Nuggets, Clippers, Suns, and Mavericks have at least one of these, neither Fox nor Sabonis are that caliber of player (yet).

In addition, the Kings have a massive lack of talent compared to these contender-level teams. A lot of them have significant third/fourth options, like Aaron Gordon or Bradley Beal, as well as depth. However, while Huerter, Monk, and Keegan Murray are decent, they are not third options on championship-level teams. Not to mention, the Kings have virtually no depth or defense. 

So, if they are clearly not ready yet, what steps can they take to get there?

Add complementary pieces to Fox and Sabonis

The Kings should acquire talent to bolster their depth behind Fox and Sabonis, through signing free agents or trading.

Some 2024 free agents the Kings could realistically sign: G Spencer Dinwiddie, G Tyus Jones, G/F Talen Horton-Tucker, G/F Bruce Brown (team option), and PF/C Christian Wood.

On the other hand, some players they could target in trades: G Alex Caruso, G Josh Giddey, G/F Bogdan Bogdanovic, F Cameron Johnson, F Torrey Craig, F/C Kelly Olynyk

To acquire these players, Sacramento could use their 2025 and 2027 first and/or second-round picks, along with players like Harrison Barnes (-104 plus/minus), Davion Mitchell (-110), Chris Duarte (-34), Kessler Edwards (-30), and salary filler. The Kings should primarily trade because it creates more salary flexibility than signings, and they need to get rid of some of the roster’s net negatives to improve the team. 

Overall, if the Kings can add 2–3 of the players above, including at least one defensive player (while shedding their liabilities), they can solve their bench and offensive consistency issues.

Rim and paint defense

While Sabonis is a phenomenal offensive player, his lack of interior defense is glaring at times. If the Kings truly want to contend, they need to be able to defend in that area.

They can go in one of two directions with this issue. Firstly, they can get a powerful backup big who can come off the bench (ie: Andre Drummond). However, a more bold option, and something I think would benefit the team more, is acquiring a starter-level center and moving either Sabonis or them to the PF spot. 

Using the trade pieces listed earlier, the Kings could trade for players like Clint Capela, Jarrett Allen, Nic Claxton, Naz Reid, Walker Kessler, or Brook Lopez.

Alongside Sabonis, any of these players could help account for his lack of blocks and paint presence, and enable him to focus on his offensive game.

Acquire a solid third option

Another glaring issue the team deals with is a lack of major talent. Fox and Sabonis are great, but after that, the team lacks a third major name to back them up.

Players Sacramento could trade for, although some are likely unattainable for them, include Paul George, Mikal Bridges, Jarrett Allen, Lauri Markkanen, and Dejounte Murray. 

The challenge with adding a third option for the Kings is that they already lack defense.

So, they need to avoid the typical archetype of great scorers who lack defense capability.

Instead, they ought to carefully seek someone who can both defend, offer offensive value, and take them to the next level, and all of these players fit that bill.

Additionally, for this team to truly take the next step, we need to see continued growth from De’ Aaron Fox, into a top-10 player, as well as improved defense from Sabonis.

File photo of Vivek Ranadivé, CEO, Governor, and owner of Sacramento Kings, speaking at the TiEcon 2015 Youth Track. (Amar D. Gupta/Siliconeer)

Outlook

All in all, the Kings have made quite the leap these last three years. But, if they don’t want to be left in the dust, it is time they make some moves to contend in the West.

But, if this team can truly accomplish some of the listed items and get continued growth from youngsters like Keegan Murray and Keon Ellis, I am really excited for where they can go. 

It is very possible we see this team become something special in the near future.

But, for now, us Kings fans just get to sit back, enjoy our team, and light the beam.