5 Players the Sacramento Kings gave up on too soon

3. Gerald Wallace

Unlike Turkoglu, Wallace didn’t really show off much during his time on the Kings, at least not enough to suggest he’d be as good of a player as he was following his departure from Sacramento. Honestly, the leap he made to stardom after being selected by the Bobcats in the NBA expansion draft was something very few people likely saw coming at the time.

Wallace would be drafted 25th overall by the Kings in 2001. He would have three relatively unproductive seasons, averaging 3.4 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 0.5 assists while playing an average of 9.7 minutes per game.

Almost as soon as Wallace left the Kings, he exploded into a very good two-way player, upping his points per game from 2.0 to 11.1 in just one season. In Wallace’s next seven seasons with Charlotte, he would make both an All-Star game and an All-Defensive team in 2009.

There were few players more entertaining to watch in the league than Wallace. His high-flying athleticism on both sides of the ball made some pretty bad Bobcats teams very fun to watch for a while.

Obviously, Wallace was drafted in the expansion draft, making it hard to say that the Kings necessarily gave up on him. However, they very easily could have made him one of the protected players and kept him. Despite this, the lack of production makes it understandable as to why they didn’t.