Blow it up already: Tear into the Sacramento Kings’ roster to give it a complete makeover

Joe Davidson
·6 min read

The Kings treasure their winning streaks. They savor and embrace them like an ageless rock-’n’-roller embracing new Rolling Stones tickets.

That’s been a theme here since the Kings relocated from Kansas City to give Sacramento a sample of the sporting big time. This was in 1985, when Ronald Reagan was in the White House, when people bemoaned gas prices and inflation. Some things never change.

Thirty-six years in, and the Kings continue to perfect the art of underachievement. Thirty-six years in, and the Kings have produced eight winning campaigns, the last in 2006, marking the longest streak of drudgery in the NBA. So blow this thing up already. Make trades. Clean house. No one is untouchable, except a fan base that deserves better.

Kings fans lead the league in grimaces. They watch through clenched fingers, wondering what they paid for. Sacramento fell to the worst team in the Western Conference on Sunday in front of the smallest crowd of the season at Golden 1 Center. The Kings listed the attendance as 13,601, but it didn’t look like it or feel like it, and who can blame fans for staying away? Attendance at Golden 1 has dipped to an average of 14,187, second-lowest of the 30 teams in the NBA.

Houston stormed to a 13-0 lead Sunday, a patchwork franchise in transition met with little Kings resistance. The Rockets lost the lead, then played like the more mature, more engaged team down the stretch behind guys you may not have heard a lot of — Jae’Sean Tate and Garrison Matthews, anyone? — to prevail 118-112. The Kings’ latest winning streak lasted two games. It included a much more inspired effort against these same Rockets on Friday.

Opinion

Sacramento hosts Detroit on Wednesday then hits the road for a seven-game road trip. If Kings fans and sponsors are fortunate, the Kings will return to Golden 1 on Feb. 5 against Oklahoma City with a new look. Specifically, a lot more new players. Something has to change, or this thing will bleed out to the end, just like each of the the previous 16 seasons.

In a talent-heavy league, the Kings have too little

Blame the coach? That’s a tired act. Even when the Kings enjoyed those eight winning seasons in succession, from 1998-2006, fans often clamored for the canning of coach Rick Adelman. Can’t be, right? All truth. I covered the Kings a lot in those days, and with every playoff loss, there was the collective cry to get a new coach.

That’s just like what happened with all those coaches who replaced him, including Eric Musselman, Reggie Theus, Kenny Natt, Paul Westphal, Keith Smart. Fans liked Michael Malone, but not Tyrone Corbin. Fans gave George Karl a standing ovation when he took over in the middle of the 2015-2016 season, then they booed him right out of town. Same with Luke Walton.

But you can’t pin this current Kings mess on the current coach, Alvin Gentry. He knew he had some pieces to work with when he took over and was handed a bucket and mop to tidy things up. He didn’t inherit near enough to survive the rigors of the NBA.

This is forever a talent-driven league. You win with All-Stars and you sink and wallow without them. The Kings had All-Stars under Adelman — Chris Webber, Brad Miller, Peja Stojakovic — but those days are pure fantasy now. The Kings have no All-Stars. Shoot. Who’s their leader, their go-to guy?

The Kings have pieces but pieces that do not work together. What’s the old saying? You’re as good as your record, right? The Kings are an uninspired 18-28. They’re headed nowhere fast. Fans feel it. They see it. They cringe. If they weren’t so bored Sunday — half of them seemed to be checking their phones for 49ers-Cowboys playoff updates — they might have booed the product on the court.

De’Aaron Fox has elite burst and quickness, but he has been dogged by inconsistency. He was ejected Sunday for a flagrant foul on Matthews, who finished with 17 points. Can the Kings trade for Matthews?

Buddy Hield is an elite shooter but he’s not elite in anything else. Marvin Bagley III had his best game of the season Friday with 26 points and 13 rebounds, then didn’t play Sunday due to a sore shoulder. The Kings could have listed him on the injury report as “Kings rotten luck.”

Kings first-round pick Davion Mitchell has elite defensive guard skills and seems to be a keeper, but if someone wants to acquire him, the Kings have to listen. Tyrese Haliburton is the Kings’ best player. He does a lot of things well. He feels the game, gets guys involved, makes plays, wants to be here. But per the Kings’ luck, he missed Sunday’s game due to health and safety protocols.

Richaun Holmes is elite in effort and grit, but he, too, has been stalled by injuries and health issues. Hield and Fox should have devoured the one roster in the NBA that’s more talent-thin than the Kings. They had flashes, but glimpses and flashes against the lowly Rockets is not a sustainable model.

“Through this stretch, we’ve gotta stick together,” Holmes said, adding that he’s “just grateful to be here, to get a chance to play.”

Kings were bad at Christmas and they’re the same now

See, Holmes gets it. So does his coach. Gentry, the day after Christmas, blasted his team while meeting with the media, the residue of a 25-point loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

“It’s the most disappointed I’ve been in 34 years in the NBA. That performance was absolutely ridiculous. We didn’t play hard. We didn’t compete. We didn’t guard the ball, didn’t guard screen and rolls. We didn’t follow the game plan,” he said.

Gentry took over for Walton, who was cut loose after a 6-11 start. Gentry has gone 12-20. Are the Kings still following the game plan? They have too many lapses that cannot be blamed on health or injuries. It simply is not a good team. Gentry can coach the team but he can’t play for them. He can remind them that they get paid obscene amounts of money to compete, and that fans were there to watch the effort. They haven’t gotten their money’s worth.

On Sunday, the coach said of the latest Kings effort, “The difference of the game was how we started. We started with very low energy. We gave a young team confidence and we were fighting uphill. I know we got the lead back, but all that energy expended to get to that point. ... I realize Haliburton was missing and Fox was ejected, but we’ve got to find a way to win that game. There’s no excuse who’s out and who’s not playing.”

But Gentry believes in his team. He has to. He believes the Kings will get better when everyone is healthier, or at least they’ll try.

“We’ve got to play hard and play smarter,” he said. “That’s frustrating.”

Added Hield, “I’m encouraged every day. We’re professionals. I know we can be better.”

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