Should the Sacramento Kings prioritize winning or development?

The Sacramento Kings don’t have a first-round pick in 2019. With that in mind, should they play the vets to get more wins? Or stick it out with all the young players and prioritize development?

The Sacramento Kings are not in an enviable position. After losing their 2019 first-round pick due to one of the worst trades in recent memory a 2015 trade with the Philadelphia 76ers, they’re faced with a choice.

Should Head Coach Dave Joerger give guys like Zach Randolph, Kosta Koufos, Nemanja Bjelica and Iman Shumpert a big role in the rotation? Or should he prioritize playing the younger, first, second and third-year players?

The answer, like most things in life, lies somewhere in the middle. Allow me to explain. Kosta Koufos played just under 20 minutes per game last season, a number that shouldn’t dip below 10 this season. He could siphon off minutes from red-shirt rookie Harry Giles, but that wouldn’t relegate Giles to the bench (unless Giles massively underperforms).

Nemanja Bjelica, signed a 3-year $20.4 million contact in the offseason (2-years and $13.3 million guaranteed), and deserves minutes accordingly. However, that shouldn’t come at the expense of 2018 rookie Marvin Bagley III.

Zach Randolph led the Kings in scoring last season and often provided stability in the starting lineup during an otherwise inconsistent rotation of players starting (14 different players started at least one game last season). His minutes should absolutely be cut from the 25.6 he averaged last year to make room for Bagley, but he should still play a big role in the rotation to start the season.

Iman Shumpert, however, should stay on the bench. He didn’t suit up for the Kings following a mid-season trade from Cleveland due to injury and wasn’t particularly effective prior to his injury. Since he came into the league in 2011, he’s never averaged more than 10 points per game, he’s player more than 60 games in a season just two times and has never shot better than 41.1 percent from the field. He also posted a -1.46 real plus/minus in 17 games last season and a -2.26 offensive real plus/minus.

When it comes to the young talent the Sacramento Kings have, they should fill every spot in the starting lineup. De’Aaron Fox, Willie Cauley-Stein and Bogdan Bogdanovic will all be starters this season. Marvin Bagley should join them and so will one of Justin Jackson and Buddy Hield.

Skal Labissiere should get some extended run as well, if for no other reason than to see if he will be a part of the team’s future. Frank Mason III and Yogi Ferrell are both under-25 and at least one figures to play a prominent role backing up Fox. That makes 12 players at least partially deserving of minutes.

Last season, Joerger ran with a 10-deep rotation most of the season but rotated players quite frequently, especially vets. That will likely be the case again this season, but with more of an emphasis on getting the young guys involved.

So, should they prioritize winning or development? There’s a case to be made that winning won’t happen without development. If the Kings want to get the most out of a season where they don’t have a top-pick, they need to force-feed those young players minutes.

Think of it this way, if somebody on the Kings emerges as a bona-fide star, wouldn’t that take away the sting of not having your pick this year? Sure, it wouldn’t mitigate it entirely but it’d certainly help. How else do you expect to find out if not by playing them significant minutes?

How do players like Marvin Bagley and Harry Giles get better and develop if they’re stuck playing behind the likes of Kosta Koufos, Zach Randolph and Nemanja Bjelica? No disrespect to them, but they’re not the future of this team.

The Sacramento Kings will, and should, play their centerpiece players significant minutes this year. But, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will translate to losing more than they would if they leaned on their vets.