This season was an eventful one. The Sacramento Kings started the season with a majority of their core from their magical 2022-23 campaign, the addition of six-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan, and hopes of making some real noise in the Western Conference for the first time in two decades.
Unfortunately, DeRozan (while productive on the box score) didn't make as much of a difference as they'd hoped, the Kings couldn't make it out of the NBA Play-In Tournament (for the second year in a row), and De'Aaron Fox was traded from the only franchise he'd ever known.
That last part proved to be a major storyline for the Kings in 2024-25. The Kings didn't just move Fox because they got a good deal. Fox told them that he wanted out. While it was sad to see Fox go, the whole fiasco provided a learning experience that Sacramento needs to use if they ever hope to build a true contender.
Sacramento needs to treat their stars better in the future
By all accounts, Fox loved Sacramento. Fox wanted to be here, and he wanted to bring the team back to their former glory. However, he grew frustrated after the front office failed to make moves to improve the team. And his anger was only exacerbated when the team abruptly fired head coach Mike Brown in the middle of the season.
Fox and Brown were quite close. But for some reason, people thought Fox was the reason the 2022-23 Coach of the Year was let go. However, instead of nipping these rumors in the bud, the higher-ups remained silent when everyone was blaming Fox and calling him a coach killer.
Moving forward, the Kings need to stand behind their stars. We sawafter the Memphis Grizzlies fired head coach Taylor Jenkins, the organization immediately stepped up and said this decision was solely their own, not the doing of their star players. The Kings need to have this same approach.
On top of that, the Kings need to recognize when they have high-level players and a chance to really compete. They need to make moves to give their roster more balance and versatility, not just acquire big names whose skillsets are repetitive of their current core (like DeRozan has proved to be during his time).
At the end of the day, the NBA is a star-driven league. So, if you want to win, you need to know how to keep your stars satisfied.