After losing to the New Orleans Pelicans for the sixth time this season and just missing out on the playoffs, the Sacramento Kings are entering the most important offseason for the franchise in recent years. De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis are in their prime and under contract for the next few years. The Kings cannot afford to miss the playoffs again.
Now is the time to build a contender and work to catch up with teams like the Timberwolves, Mavericks, and Thunder, who all surged to the top of the Western Conference. After finishing third last season, the Kings should have made a similar jump but failed to get there. As a result, the front office has plenty of work to do this summer.
So, let’s look at three Kings that earned untouchable status and two that should be cut loose.
De’Aaron Fox earned untouchable status
De’Aaron Fox is the Kings’ franchise player and centerpiece. That became apparent when the team traded Tyrese Haliburton to get a co-star for Fox. Whatever the reasons were, they went all in on him, and Fox has lived up to the expectations for a franchise player lately.
Last season, he finally made his first All-Star team and, even though he missed out on that this year, he was one of the best scorers in the league. Plus, he has come a long way as a defender, pushing his team to be more physical by leading by example. When he missed some time early in the season, the team looked lost and incomplete.
Being only 26 years old and only having one playoff series under his belt so far, Fox still has plenty of room to grow, but from now on, he will always be considered in the All-Star and All-NBA conversations, especially if the Kings manage to build a better team around him.
For now, Fox has earned untouchable status, and that likely won’t change unless things go seriously wrong in the next few years and the organization feels the need to blow everything up and rebuild either from scratch or around Keegan Murray.