The reason why everyone seemed to be rooting for the Sacramento Kings during the 2022-23 season was because it had been so long since the team had experienced any sort of success.
The Kings have occupied the gutter of the NBA standings for the better part of two decades – serving as a symbol of incompetency and poor decision-making.
However, general manager Monte McNair, head coach Mike Brown, and the rest of the new regime have shown a level of proficiency that the team has not seen in quite some time, leading many folks to believe it is a new day in Sacramento.
And while the Kings have made plenty of strong moves this offseason (acquiring DeMar DeRozan, drafting Devin Carter, signing undrafted rookie Isaiah Crawford, etc.), there has been a series of events that should give fans flashbacks from the past.
Sacramento Kings are bleeding second round picks
In late June, on the second day of the draft, the Kings traded Davion Mitchell, Sasha Vezenkov, and two second round picks (one of whom became Jamal Shead) to the Toronto Raptors in return for Jalen McDaniels. For the Kings, the goal of the deal was to get off Vezenkov's contract (which the Raptors were then able to get off for free).
Then, on Monday, the Kings decided they also wanted to get off McDaniels' contract (without even giving him a chance). So, they traded him to the San Antonio Spurs and attached a second round pick to the package to complete the deal.
In summary, the Kings traded away three second round picks in order to get off Vezenkov's bad contract. Second round picks may not be incredibly valuable. But we've seen in the past that you can get solid role players by packaging together multiple second round picks (like when the Golden State Warriors traded back for Gary Payton II).
Missing out on an opportunity to acquire a rotational player isn't the end of the world, especially if you plan on using the cap space you freed up by moving negative contracts to add key contributors in a trade.
As a team that will be pretty hamstrung financially starting in 2026-27, it makes sense for the Kings to use their current flexibility to make a win-now move. But based on recent comments from people who cover the team, this doesn't seem like it will be the case.
Breaking it down on the show today, but yesterday’s Kings moves:
— Carmichael Dave (@CarmichaelDave) October 15, 2024
1. Are a precursor to something
2. That something is almost certainly a FA player or two, like maybe one of the ones that worked out
This 99.99999999% isn’t a prelude to something substantial.
So, the Kings aren't using their second round picks to trade for players, and they aren't using the extra space it opens up to make a substantial move.
Overall, the Kings are still in a pretty good spot, even with this clear case of asset mismanagement. But the team better not let this recent occurrence turn into a habit, or they will be right back where they started – acting as the poster child for a poorly run organization.