Sacramento Kings: The 4 Ways To Improve The Franchise

I believe there are four ways to improve the Sacramento Kings this upcoming season. Let us explore those specific ways.

Basketball is truly a numbers game.

If one loves percentages and numbers from a mathematical standpoint, then you will love basketball. As proof, there are many good jobs in the NBA pertaining to analytics. It is important for coaches and players alike. It will point out where your team is strong and weak and it is completely objective. Numbers do not lie.

One can break down the numbers into so many subcategories it will make your head spin. By team, by players, by offense/defense. Well, you get it. There are only two things that analytics cannot measure, the heart of a player and their work ethic. As the wise basketball analyst Bill Herenda has said many times in our conversations, teams can only improve in four ways. Let us break them down one at a time.

#1 The draft is the most common way teams try to improve

If one is the worst team in the NBA, that team has the best odds of getting the number one pick. The NBA hopes that the team with the number one pick can vastly improve due to building a franchise player around them. To bad for the Kings, they have been middle-of-the-road losers. So odds would have them getting middle-of-the-road draft picks for most of their 12-year drought.

But luck had the Kings move up in the draft in the last two years, and the talent the purple and white got in those two years shows it. Vlade Divac and staff made solid picks with De’Aaron Fox, Frank Mason III, and Harry Giles last year. And Marvin Bagley III looks good enough to be an NBA player down the road. I expect by midseason he will start to adapt to the speed and defense of the NBA. His biggest problem will be the strength of opposing players that he will see every night. Vlade seems more confident at his job and the draft.

# 2 Develop the players on your team

It sounds simple and it is, but some teams are better at developing talent than others. The jury is still out with Dave Joerger. Last year, Buddy Hield showed great improvement and Willie Cauley-Stein progressed on the offensive end. With Bogdan Bogdanovic, it has been said that the Kings cannot keep him out of the gym, so Joerger gets half credit for Bogi’s improvement.

Frank Mason III has made moderate gains and Justin Jackson did well in summer league. That said, we should be looking for a big jump in play this year from the whole group.

Skal Labissiere has not shown enough improvement but has the opportunity to change it this season. It has been said that Skal has a chip on his shoulder and is working hard for this upcoming season. I would love to see him put it all together.

This year will sort out the keepers from the sleepers. There were other players that Joerger has worked with who showed improvements but now are not members of the Kings anymore.

# 3 Trades can be a quick way to improve your roster

Trades are another way a team can improve. Most of the time someone gets the better end of the deal, and the Kings have been on the losing end too much. But with that said, I am glad to see that Vlade is getting better at waiting for deals that are good for the Kings.

A general manager has to say ‘We are a better team’ in some way for it to be a good trade. With trades, a player is under contract and are obligated to play for the Kings, even when it is not their preferred destination. With the best management and coaching staff that the Kings have had in years, instability is no longer an issue. This is important to players. If the Kings are committed to changing the culture, it will make the organization a more attractive landing spot for players. Then they can sell those players on all that is good about the Kings and Sacramento.

Chris Webber is a good example. He really did not want to come to Sacramento and the Kings. We all know how that turned out.

Without Webber, the Kings would not have been the winners that almost made it to the NBA Finals. That said, the Kings must not be the suckers of the league anymore. Other teams must know that when they propose a trade to the Kings, it better be a legit offer.

#4 Free agency is great but a tough sell for the Kings

Let us be honest. The only time players actually went out of their way to come and play for the Kings was when the team was a title contender. Back when they were “The Greatest Show on Court”.

That was 2001, and for once as a Kings fan, I felt my team was respected. This is such a great city that some players choose to live after their playing days are over.

Sacramento has so much to offer players as a community. Still, the reputation of Sacramento being a cow town has not gone away. Getting players who want to be here, like De’Aaron Fox, who said that he would love to play for the Kings before he was drafted, is the way to be successful.  The Kings seemed to be focused on making sure they are getting the right players, instead of just any players.

Final Thoughts

Bill Herenda who is widely respected in the NBA and college sports scene has let me borrow one of his quotes. “You can only improve a basketball team four ways” 1) Draft well. 2) Develop players. 3) Make smart trades. 4) Sign good free agents.

The Kings need to master all of them. Vlade has learned and gotten better at most of them. I will add a fifth way a team can get better which is changing the culture or attitude of what the team expects from each person in the franchise. From the top down.

Work hard, expect the best from yourself and others, and pick your teammates up and not put them down. This breeds positivity and carries over to the whole improvement of the team. If the Kings follow this method, their winning will come sooner than later.