Given how badly the season has started, no one would be shocked to find out the Sacramento Kings were intentionally tanking to get a better lottery pick in the next draft. That strategy only pays off if your team is even remotely capable of developing young talent, which the Kings are not.
Sacramento gets a lot of criticism for how old their roster is, particularly their starting lineup. It usually contains some combination of DeMar DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, and now Russell Westbrook. That group has an average age of 33, which is definitely on the older side in the NBA.
That being said, the Kings also have plenty of young guns on the roster. Counting two-way contracts, 12 out of their 18 players are under the age of 30. That includes both Keon Ellis and Keegan Murray who are only 25 years old and are still entering their prime years on the court.
Additionally, Sacramento did incredibly well in the most recent draft. They picked up Nique Clifford and Maxime Raynaud, who are 23 and 22 respectively. On top of that, they also signed undrafted center Dylan Cardwell, who is also 23. The Kings do have young stars in the making. Well, in theory.
The Kings keep dropping the development ball
Sacramento's focus on pushing forward with veterans getting big minutes over properly developing young talent has been an issue for a long time. Some rumors have indicated that direction starts at the top with Vivek Ranadive who may have been the one infatuated with DeRozan and LaVine.
The problem with that is young players and rookie struggle to get minutes on the court, particularly guards. Guys like Keon Ellis and Devin Carter ride the bench instead of getting reps. Ellis in particular could be a huge player for the Kings if they put the work into getting him there.
As such, tanking the season to get a great lottery pick in the next draft is doomed to fail unless Sacramento's culture makes a complete 180. They'll just end up with another talented young player stuck in the G League or riding the pine as Sacramento loses back-to-back games to the Pelicans.
One key sign of change is Keegan Murray's return, with both Clifford and Raynaud getting more minutes. If the Kings continue to invest in young players with big potential, they'll get one heck of a return on them. The same could be true for other players like Cardwell. But not Carter. Trade him.