There is unrest with the ownership and front office of the Sacramento Kings, and today’s piece from The Athletic details it all.
Early this morning the Athletic (subscription required) released an article that dove deep into the Sacramento Kings’ issues, including the 2018 NBA Draft, the opinions of ownership on the current situation, and how the franchise is viewing the hire of Luke Walton.
Ownership Wanted Luka Doncic
In the article by Shams Charania, Jason Jones, and Sam Amick, it states that the Kings’ ownership was an advocate of drafting Luka Doncic, but ultimately it was up to Vlade Divac to decide who to select. The Athletic mentioned a prior article in which it mentioned Divac’s reasoning behind the pick: Doncic was ball-dominant and would take the ball out of De’Aaron Fox‘s hands, which would ruin his development. Although Divac thought it was a better decision to give the keys of the offense to Fox, Doncic is putting up record numbers in his sophomore season with the Dallas Mavericks.
Vivek Ranadive Frustrated About The Season
The article also dives into the season-long group chat that owner Vivek Ranadive has had with Divac, Luke Walton, and Matina Kolokotronis about the 21-32 record that the Kings have faced this season and the multitude of injuries that have happened to key players. The article also mentions that Ranadive has pointed out how they have played a part in this season’s poor performance. After the article was posted, Ranadive released a statement:
Kings owner Vivek Ranadive declined a request to speak for this story, but the Kings provided a statement that includes the following.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) February 12, 2020
“We remain confident in Vlade’s leadership in building the winning team that our fans and city deserve.”https://t.co/hNb3IrgJB6
Hield Voicing his Frustrations
The article also looks into Buddy Hield‘s camp, about how he feels about being the sixth man. The Kings believe that Hield will soon request a trade if he continues to be relegated to bench duties as he believes he is an NBA starter. The article also mentions that Hield has been critical during Walton’s tenure, but if his role continues to be the sixth man, people close to Hield believe he will continue to be vocal about his disdain for the current situation.
Overall Reaction
With this article coming out from the Atheltic, the story of missing out on Doncic become bigger and unravels more. With Doncic making historic strides as a 21-year-old, it also puts pressure out Marvin Bagley who can not even seem to find the court.
With Ranadive wanting Doncic, it shows why he is frustrated, but this also shows that Ranadive has learned from his mistakes in not meddling with basketball decisions. He needs to find more qualified people for the front office role as this goes to show that a change does need to be made.
In regards to what changes, I believe that Walton needs to stay and has deserved that right, but the Kings have to part ways with Divac. Divac has shown that he cannot assess talent like other GMs such as Masai Ujiri, who was a big part of the Raptors championship run. With this change needed, it also shows that Kings are still on an evergoing cycle of instability. The Kings need to take a long process in finding the right GM, who will not fire the coach or burn bridges if the Kings do end up having a successful season in the future.
As for Hield, he needs to continue thriving as the sixth man. If he starts voicing his opinion, the Kings need to look at trading him as no player should be put ahead of the team, regardless of how good they are. If Divac is here to stay, then he needs to start holding the player accountable and needs to reevaluate the process of how he selects his players.