5 Players the Sacramento Kings gave up on too soon
1. Bob Love
The odds of the average NBA fan knowing that Bob Love played with the Kings are likely very slim. However, this is understandable for a few reasons. For starters, Love was drafted in 1965 and only spent two seasons with the Kings.
Love was selected in the fourth round of the 1965 NBA Draft and would go on to average just 6.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 0.8 assists per game. After two unproductive seasons, the Kings would opt not to protect Love in the 1968 NBA expansion draft, and he would be selected by the Bucks and would eventually get traded to the Bulls.
Once joining the Bulls, Love would start a stretch of play in which he looked like a Hall of Famer, averaging 21.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game while shooting 43.0% from the field. In addition, Love would make three consecutive All-Defensive selections and make the All-Star game three times in a row.
While the Kings weren’t anything special during Love’s prime, adding a player like this to a roster that made the playoffs once during said prime would have been incredibly fun to watch. Regardless, like everyone else on this list, the Kings let Love go and were punished.
