5 Worst Moves In Sacramento Kings History

In this entry to our All-TIme list, we take a look at the five worst moves ever made by the front office of the Sacramento Kings.

Disappointment and incompetence are threaded in to the fabric that is Sacramento Kings basketball, and any “Worst Of” list regarding the franchise is fairly easy to write. Sometimes though, there is so much ineptitude that it can be difficult to choose which option is truly worse.

This is true for this particular list of bad moves that the Sacramento Kings front office has made over the years. Sure, there might have been some bigger blunders in the early years of the team playing in the California capital, but we have highlighted the ones that are most fresh in our minds, all of which have taken place in the last decade.

What do YOU think is the worst move in Kings history? Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comment section below.

#5. J.J. Hickson Trade

The first entry on our list was not as much a terrible trade as it was an eyesore for so many years. In July of 2011, the Sacramento Kings traded Omri Casspi and a protected pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for J.J. Hickson. 

The Kings had high hopes for Hickson, who was an up and coming 22 year old big man who broke out to average 13.8 points and 8.7 rebounds the previous season. Those hopes certainly did not last long, as Hickson played just 35 games in a Kings uniform and just never caught on. His numbers dipped to 4.7 and 5.1 with Sacramento to finish out the 2011 season.

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He was waived nine months after being traded to the Kings.

But the real story of the trade was the heavily protected first round pick that the Kings sent over to Cleveland. The restrictions were as follows:

2012: Protected for Top 14
2013: 1-13
2014: 1-12
2015 – 2017: 1-10
If pick does not convey in 2017, it automatically became a second round pick.

Needless to say, the Kings did not finish outside of the top ten in any of those drafts. The pick kept rolling over, and over, and over again until it was finally conveyed as the 2017 second rounder. Interestingly enough, the player that ended up being chosen with that pick was Jordan Bell to the Golden State Warriors. Cleveland had traded the pick to the Chicago Bulls in the Luol Deng trade, and the Cavaliers had flipped it to the Warriors for cash.

The pick was on our minds every season. Will the Kings finish outside of the top ten? Can they afford to lose their draft pick this year? The trade was more of an annoyance than it was a disappointment. Still, it lingered long enough to make our list.