The Sacramento Kings have finally snapped their eight-game losing streak with a win over the Denver Nuggets that was both unexpected and impressive. Despite the loss, Jonas Valanciunas still took the time to show the Kings how big a mistake they made in trading him for Dario Saric like only he can.
While the Kings have long lacked rhythm and consistency, it's always been hard to argue that they don't have talented players on their team. They just don't fit together particularly well. There's not a lot of defense or playmaking, and the offense isn't strong enough to make up for those deficiencies.
It also doesn't help that the Kings' front office has made some questionable decisions over the years. They aren't "Nico Harrison trading Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis" questionable, but those moves have been detrimental to the Kings' building something sustainable in Sacramento.
To be fair, many of those decisions were made by the previous front office and not the current regime under Scott Perry. That being said, his front office team was the one responsible for sending Jonas Valanciunas to the Denver Nuggets over the summer, a move that just keeps looking worse.
Valanciunas keeps proving Perry wrong every time they meet
The Kings just faced the Nuggets for the third and final time this season, and actually managed to pull off a convincing victory over the former champions. Sure, the Nuggets were shorthanded with both Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun out, but Denver is still a serious opponent without them.
A big reason for that is Valanciunas, a player who has often been described as one of the best backup centers in the league. He showed that again last night by bullying the Kings around. His contributions on both defense and offense aren't the kind that always show up in the stats, though.
Dario Saric, whom the Kings got from the Nuggets for Valanciunas, is nowhere near as good. That's why he's been on the bench since October 26th, while Drew Eubanks covers for the injured Domantas Sabonis and Maxime Raynaud plays center in the secondary. Saric isn't on anyone's radar.
Every time the Kings and Nuggets meet, Valanciunas shows Sacramento how big an error they made by trading him. Regardless of what the long-term plan is for the Kings, it's hard to see how letting a player like Jonas go fits into that. Sacramento definitely got completely fleeced on that deal.