A Royal Pain
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The Sacramento Kings cannot afford to remain idle in free agency

By Jonathan Roberts

SACRAMENTO, CA - JUNE 24: General Manager Vlade Divac of the Sacramento Kings addresses the media at a press conference on September 27, 2017 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA - JUNE 24: General Manager Vlade Divac of the Sacramento Kings addresses the media at a press conference on September 27, 2017 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Sacramento Kings are coming off their best season in a decade, but if they want to continue their improvement and push for the playoffs, they can’t afford to stay idle in free agency.

It’s the beginning of May 2019, yet we’re talking about the Sacramento Kings and the 2020 NBA Playoffs — in other words, it’s peak offseason.

Playoffs, however, won’t even be a possibility if the Sacramento Kings do nothing once July rolls around. The Kings were good this season, yes, but they weren’t ‘playoffs good’ and banking on further youth development without fixing the holes in the roster is a dangerous game — one that’ll leave the Kings wishing they’d done more.

Is possible the Kings’ young core in De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Marvin Bagley III and Harry Giles III take another step forward? Sure, it’s probably even likely, but will that jump be enough to get the them an extra nine games in an increasingly good Western Conference? Probably not.

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Regardless, that’s not Sacramento’s only option. With nearly $40 million in cap space this offseason — more if Harrison Barnes is re-signed for a lower annual average — the Kings can, not only patch up their roster holes, but make a marked improvement as well.

With their current roster the Sacramento Kings are lacking in three major areas: backup point guard play, depth and center play. The Kings, at the very least, must improve at the five and should aim to improve at both the five and backup one, even if it comes at a cost of added depth.

As highlighted here, there’s a plethora of backup point guards who could be had for relatively cheap and while the same goes for center, it’s worth throwing a bit extra cash at the five to firmly secure what they need most: shot-blocking and rebounding.

On the free agent center market, the top options, like all things in life, are likely to be the most expensive — and all come with major question marks. Nikola Vucevic could be an excellent fit in Sacramento coming off an all-star season in Orlando, but are the Kings prepared to offer him a max contract? Brook Lopez is arguably the best — and safest — option out there, but it’s incredibly unlikely he leaves the Milwaukee Bucks unless somebody pays him significantly above market-value. Dewayne Dedmon is another attractive option, but he a 29-years-old 25-minute per game player. That’s not necessarily a problem, but the Kings would need to add depth behind him to work as a platoon.

Next. Do Sacramento Kings fans still want Luka Doncic?. dark

No matter who they target, they have to at least target someone. If the Sacramento Kings refuse to make any needle-pushing moves in free agency, they’re dooming themselves to another season without the playoffs. This is even more important in a year where the Kings don’t have a first round draft choice (at least not yet), but if the Kings make the right moves come July, the playoff drought might finally be broken.

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