As a Sacramento Kings fan since 1995, the management miscues in the past ten years drove me near to despair. But–holy cowbells!–things are looking up!
The Kings drafted–and let go–Hassan Whiteside. He now pulls down 14.3 rebounds per game for the Miami Heat.
Isaiah Thomas was let go for Alex Oriakhi. Do you remember Alex? Professionally this season, he comes off the bench for Garzas de Plata in Hidalgo, Mexico. In the meanwhile, two-time All-Star Thomas is looking at a max contract with the Boston Celtics. This loss continues to grieve me.
Then last summer, the Kings let Seth Curry go without compensation. Curry now starts for the Dallas Mavericks and is shooting 47.9% from the floor, 43.1% from the perimeter, and 84% from the free-throw line.
Seth tore up the court last year for the Kings, especially in April when Coach Karl in his wisdom (finally) gave Seth some court time. Seth finished the 2015-2016 campaign with the Kings having shot 45.5% from the floor, 45% from the perimeter, and 83.3% from the free-throw line. No King shot better. As Grant Napear would say: “Are you kidding me?!”
No attempt was made to resign Quincy Acy. Last year Quincy shot 55.6% from the floor and 38% from the perimeter while being voted the Best Teammate Award by the Kings. He’s now shooting three-pointers at a 53.1% for the Nets. Do you see a pattern here?
Then DeMarcus Cousins was traded. After 6.5 years of the fans (me included) cheering our heads off for him to succeed, he is gone. Cousins—who has the talent to gain entrance to the Hall of Fame—is losing out to his internal demons. This is a pity. We can only hope he solves his authority problems. Already this year he has 18 technical fouls. Good luck, Boogie.
But this writer is rejuvenated! Vlade Divac traded the Kings’ 8th pick, Marquese Chriss, in last summer’s draft to the Suns. In return, Divac drafted Georgios Papagiannis, Skal Labissiere, and the rights to shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic.
Papagiannis is young and a work in progress, however, Labissiere had a career-high 32 points and 11 rebounds against the Phoenix Suns last Wednesday night. His touch is light and sure and he is both fearless and aggressive.
Bogdanovic, age 24, is expected to sign with Sacramento next summer and could be the next Peja Stojakovic. This year playing for Fenerbahce in Istanbul, Bogdanovic is shooting 57.4% from the floor, 38.2% from the perimeter, and 86.5% from the free-throw line. Are you kidding me?
Finally, shooting guard rookies Buddy “Love” Hield and Malachi Richardson have huge upside. The Kings should have two lottery picks in June and the 2017 draft includes point guards of immense promise.
So long as Vivek Ranadive keeps his sticky fingers out of the front office, there is the very real hope that the Kings are coming back. Me? I’m back and I can’t wait for next year.