The Sacramento Kings played it safe while the rest of the league went big. Will it pay off?
The Sacramento Kings played it safe in free agency, passing up on stars for ancillary pieces and depth. Will the bet on its core pay off?
In the span of 24 hours, the landscape of the NBA has been changed potentially more than it ever has in a single day. The Sacramento Kings, however, haven’t joined the growing number of teams who added a new star to their roster, but maybe that’s because they didn’t need to.
In the days and weeks leading up to free agency, the Sacramento Kings — largely because of their cap space — were linked to numerous star players in Tobias Harris, Nikola Vucevic and Al Horford but decided against seriously pursuing either one. Harris, Vucevic and Horford all signed for deals in excess of $100 million, with the Kings’ largest contract to a free agent coming in at a paltry $40 million to Dewayne Dedmon.
In the immediate aftermath of what was one of the most active free agency periods in Kings history, it’s impossible to whether avoiding the big-ticket players was the best decision. What you can say though, is that the Kings’ front office displayed a clear vision, and executed it perfectly.
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By the time free agency started, the rumor mill was linking ancillary pieces and role players to the team, not the star many wanted, and much to the chagrin of Kings Twitter and fans across the board. 12 hours later, however, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn’t like what the Kings have done.
Before sunrise on Monday, July 1, the Sacramento Kings had already inked Dewayne Dedmon to a three-year, $40 million deal, Trevor Ariza for two years and $25 million and Cory Joseph at three years, $37 million. Monday evening, the team also signed Richaun Holmes to a two-year, $10 million deal.
Meanwhile around the league, players like Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, Kevin Durant and Kemba Walker all found new NBA homes, but the Kings did exactly what they set out to do — add players and depth to support their own budding stars, De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield and Marvin Bagley III.
Now, as they’re stuck up against the salary cap, Sacramento is a better team at every position than they were heading into last season. And for a team that won 39 games last season, that could be enough to launch them into the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade, which is why the Kings needed to do as well as they did in free agency.
The 2019 offseason is likely the last offseason the Sacramento Kings will have cap flexibility until at least the 2021-22, and likely until the ‘22-23 offseason. The Kings have just $60 million in salary committed for the ‘21-22 season, but that’s not including extensions for Buddy Hield, De’Aaron Fox and potentially Bogdan Bogdanovic and Harry Giles.
All salary cap concerns, however, become moot if this year’s Kings take the step forward many expect after free agency. By surrounding their stars with important ancillary pieces, the Kings have not only upped their talent level, but provided themselves an opportunity to become an actual contender after one or two seasons with their current core.
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This isn’t to say the Sacramento Kings are a shoo-in for the playoffs next season, but they’re certainly a playoff contender and who knows, maybe by the start of 2020-21 season we’re talking about the Kings as a title contender. And if that ends up being the case, we’ll point to the 2019 offseason as to why.