If you asked a random fan who they would rather be this season between the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings, most people would quickly choose the Warriors. After all, they are 14-10 and fifth in the Western Conference, while the Kings are 13-13 and 12th in the standings.
Still, even the Warriors have been struggling of late, going 4-7 in their last 11 after starting the season 10-3. A big reason for this is that after losing De'Anthony Melton for the entire season with a torn ACL, the Warriors have struggled in their non-Stephen Curry minutes. This is evident by the two-time MVP touting an on/off plus-minus that ranks in the 95th percentile in the entire NBA (per Cleaning the Glass).
So, to help remedy this issue, the Warriors traded Melton and some draft capital to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Dennis Schroder.
Schroder had been having a strong season for the Nets, averaging 18.4 PPG and 6.6 APG on 59.2% true shooting (63rd percentile). Schroder will give the Warriors a competent creator they can lean on to keep the offense afloat (while also providing some defensive value) in the minutes they play without Curry.
How the Sacramento Kings can follow the Golden State Warriors
The Warriors used a rebuilding team looking for draft assets in the Nets to help address a weakness on their team. The Kings would be wise to do that, too.
As we've discussed on numerous occasions at A Royal Pain, the Kings need a two-way wing/forward that can give them size, shooting, and defense.
As fate would have it, the Nets have two of those players (Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith) who could reasonably be traded before the 2025 NBA Trade Deadline. The Kings need to package Kevin Huerter (as a matching salary) and some draft capital (whether that be a first round pick or multiple seconds) and grab one of those two forwards.
More than likely, neither of those additions would vault the Kings into title contention. However, at the very least, getting a bigger, more confident upgrade over Huerter (especially if they can get Johnson) will help the Kings be more competitive in the West. Who knows, maybe they'll even be better than the Warriors if they follow in their footsteps.