A Royal Pain
Fansided

Sacramento Kings: The Aftermath Of The Infamous Trade In 2015

By Ryan Ritter

Sacramento Kings Vlade Divac (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
Sacramento Kings Vlade Divac (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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SACRAMENTO, CA – APRIL 7: Owner Vivek Ranadive and General Manager Vlade Divac of the Sacramento Kings present De’Aaron Fox #5 with the 2019 Oscar Robertson Triple-Double Award prior to the game against the New Orleans Pelicans on April 7, 2019 at 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 Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA – APRIL 7: Owner Vivek Ranadive and General Manager Vlade Divac of the Sacramento Kings present De’Aaron Fox #5 with the 2019 Oscar Robertson Triple-Double Award prior to the game against the New Orleans Pelicans on April 7, 2019 at 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 Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The Picks

This is the only section where the Kings even vaguely came out on top with this trade.  All in all, Vlade managed to draft a lot of his future core even if he was largely not in control of where he would be picking.

Everyone’s hearts sank when the dreaded pick swap was triggered in the 2017 Draft Lottery (also triggered: an all-time Joel gif). In a loaded draft, the Kings dropped from the third pick to the fifth pick, all for a trade that had already largely busted a year prior.  Even worse, the Sixers used the Kings pick to skillfully work out a trade with the Boston Celtics for the first pick overall. By this point, you did not even want to leave the house if you were a Kings fan.

BUT! That number one pick, Markelle Fultz, became one of the weirder draft busts of all time, and eventually got moved to the Orlando Magic two years later. The Kings wound up getting the guy they wanted anyway at five: De’Aaron Fox. Despite their best efforts, Sacramento might have ended up picking the best player in the draft anyway.

As the final nail in this particular coffin, 2019 was the year the Kings lost their pick to the Sixers no matter what. Thus, it was looking to be a long year when the Kings were projected to be one of the worst teams in the league last summer. Even worse, the Sixers by then had traded Sacramento’s pick to…the Boston Celtics, maybe the most obnoxious team to owe anything to in the entire association.

BUT! As we all now know, the Kings were not so bad this year, and Sacramento only ended up owing the Celtics the 14th pick in a supposed weak draft.  All in all, it appears a bullet has been dodged.

Also. Will The Kings Use ALL Their Second-Round Picks?. light

It is important to note that the Kings likely could have had all of these picks (and possibly more) by simply doing nothing. It is also worth mentioning that Bol Bol or whoever the Celtics select with our pick at #14 could be the next big NBA superstar (not impossible, by the way; famous #14 selections include Clyde Drexler, Dan Majerle, Tim Hardaway and….Peja Stojakovic).  However, odds are we can call this a victory.  Well, in the sense that shooting yourself in the foot and missing is a victory.

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