How The Sacramento Kings Can Avoid Sabotaging Their Rebuild

This article will present what the Sacramento Kings can do to make sure their rebuilding process is a success.

With another year at the bottom of the Western Conference looming in the future, the Sacramento Kings are finally on the path of a successful rebuild. While the loss of Scott Perry is disconcerting, he’s set Sacramento up for future success prior to his ‘trade‘.

With that being said, however, there are some things the Kings must avoid to continue on this path, and some they’ve already failed to abstain from.

Rule #1, Let The Rookies Play:

This one sounds simple, but there’s a very fine line between success and failure here. The Kings doled out $89 million in contracts to George Hill, Vince Carter, and Zach Randolph, players who undoubtedly provide valuable leadership and mentorship to the young guys. But they’re also in line to steal minutes away from the rookies. The Kings have to tread carefully here.

The Kings must make sure not take minutes away from De’Aaron Fox and Frank Mason at the point. Bogdan Bogdanovic, Buddy Hield, and Malachi Richardson at two-guard. Not to mention Justin Jackson, Skal Labissiere, Willie Cauley-Stein, and Harry Giles in the front court.

That’s an incredible amount of youth. Young talent that Sacramento needs to develop, and not stash on the end of the bench all season.

The worst possible thing for any rebuilding team to do is impede the development of young talent. The Kings did a good job of letting Cauley-Stein, Hield, and Labissiere loose last season. They must follow the same path if they hope to compete in the future.

Rule #2, Stop Handing Out Bloated Contracts To Veterans:

Signing veteran leaders are important to any rebuild. Unfortunately, the Kings have effectively taken away their ability to take on assets for bad contracts. Take the Brooklyn Nets for example. They were able to bring on a tantalizing young talent in D’Angelo Russell. This, and Timofey Mozgov’s albatross of a deal, in exchange for a late first rounder (Kyle Kuzma) and an expiring contract (Brook Lopez). The Kings used their cap space on the quartet of Bogdanovic, Carter, Hill, and Randolph, handicapping their ability to make such deals.

Sacramento won’t be able to make moves like this for the 2017-2018 season. But in the coming seasons, as contracts come off the books, this route becomes much more viable.

Rule #3, Maintain Stability. Both On The Sidelines, and The Front Office:

We’ve all seen how franchises with a rotating door at general manager or coach tend to struggle to remain relevant in playoff races. That’s not a coincidence. The Kings have had eight different head coaches in the last ten years. Stability isn’t their strong suit, but that could change with Dave Joerger and company.

This front office, headlined by Vlade Divac, appears to have thrown their support behind Joerger and his staff. Something which is a good omen for the future, and important for long-term success.

There’s a reason teams with stability are always competitive. Teams such as the San Antonio Spurs, Miami Heat, and recently, the Golden State Warriors. Even more recently, the Cleveland Cavaliers are a prime example of what happens when stability isn’t present. Even for the great teams.

Final Thoughts:

There are obviously more than three keys to a successful rebuild, but for Sacramento, these three are paramount. The Kings mustn’t sabotage themselves with this rebuild. They’re loaded with more young talent than they’ve had in a while. Not only that, but the quality of talent is clearly superior to years past.

The Kings have a legitimate chance to be competitors in a few short years. Something they couldn’t say over the last few seasons.