Will the Sacramento Kings be able to attract any marquee free agents?

The Sacramento Kings have long been ‘the place a player’s career goes to die’; often picking up scraps in free agency; could that change this summer?

Things are changing for the Sacramento Kings. After a good year and major improvements from their young core, the Kings look primed to become a perennial playoff contender, except for one small issue: free agency.

The Sacramento Kings — like most teams — have holes in their roster they’ll look to address in free agency, but it’s not a question of whether they want to, it’s a question of whether they can or not. They’ve long been unable to convince free agents to come to Sacramento unless they throw exorbitant sums of money them (hello George Hill and Zach Randolph) and it remains to be seen if they’ll be able to correct that going forward. Still, it looks like the tides of change are starting to roll in.

When the Sacramento Kings shipped DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans in 2017, they did so on the premise of ‘changing the culture’; something Kings General Manager Vlade Divac pointed to as being necessary to build a contender. Two years later, it’s clear the Kings won the talent exchange, but it seems as though that culture shift has finally begun to take place — making Divac look great after a series of bungled moves to start his tenure and making the Kings look like an attractive free agent destination.

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First, Golden State Warriors Forward Kevin Durant offered praise of the Sacramento Kings in December (and again later in the year), then Jeff Van Gundy joined in, Durant’s teammate Draymond Green also shared some love, as did San Antonio Spurs Head Coach Greg Popovich and then — well, you get the point.

Durant’s words are especially important here, as he went above-and-beyond just praising the culture and tenacity of a young Kings team, saying “hopefully guys start to look at this place as somewhere they want to go” to reporters in December. When one of the NBA’s premier talents (and upcoming free agent) says something like that, people will listen.

It also helps that the Sacramento Kings are playing in the third-newest stadium in the NBA and play in a locale that offers all the amenities one could ask for, but without the media spotlight that would come with playing in a city like Los Angeles, Miami or New York. In fact, the Sacramento Kings check nearly all the boxes for being an attractive free agent destination.

Good team? Check.

New arena? Yep.

Cap space? You got it.

City with a mild climate? Sure thing.

The list goes on, but the point is clear — the Sacramento Kings should be an attractive free agent destination. The reasons they might not be, however, might give some players pause.

First, Vlade Divac is still an unproven GM. After several poor trades, poor free agent signings and bad drafts, Divac’s reputation was in the dumps and some fans wondered whether he’d make it through the season. Then came this season. A strong draft, good trades and mid-season acquisitions surprised many, but is this the real Divac or was this year a fluke? On top of that, there’s the situation with newly hired head coach Luke Walton.

Walton, as you’re probably aware, was named in a lawsuit accusing the former Los Angeles Lakers and Warriors head coach of sexual assault, which prompted a joint investigation between the Kings and the NBA. While there’s no timetable as to when the investigation will be concluded, the cloud hanging around the future of the Kings’ new head coach could give some free agents second thoughts.

It’s likely the investigation will be concluded before free agency opens on July 1, but it’s worth questioning how much of an impact Walton’s status will have on the Kings’ pursuit of free agents. Of course, the situation with Walton goes far beyond the basketball court and the allegations are much more serious than anything to do with the sport, but it is worth mentioning regarding the on-court product.

All in all though, the Sacramento Kings have a lot going for them in terms attracting free agents. Whether they can parlay that into signing those free agents is another question, but one that appears to be trending towards a good answer for Sacramento.