Things have been rough for the Sacramento Kings this season. Just a few years removed from the “The Beam Team” and an end to the 16-year playoff drought, the Kings are back at the bottom of the standings in the Western Conference. They are staring another season without a playoff appearance right in the face and their rebuild on the fly with veteran additions has not panned out so far.
At least now the Kings have a direction which General Manager Scott Perry revealed in an interview with Sam Amick of “The Athletic”. Perry spoke at length with Amick about the need for patience from fans and while he wouldn’t use the term “rebuild” he admitted that “There’s no quick fix or quick elixir to [rebuilding the roster] if you’re going to try to build it the right way”. When asked if he agreed with Carmichael Dave that this will be a “full rebuild”, he laughed it off and said “I’m not a big label guy, but I’m just telling you that it’s going to take time to build this the right way”. It’s no coincidence that Perry kept repeating the phrase “the right way” which suggests he won’t try to take any more shortcuts to build a contender.
This is great news for Kings fans if they are being honest about the team’s current prospects. Some may be deluded into thinking that a fully healthy squad, something they have not had this year, would be enough for the Kings to get back into playoff contention. Others may feel that a trade for a disgruntled star like Ja Morant or Anthony Davis might be the path forward but Perry doesn’t seem to be on board with either of those ideas.
Kings leadership appears to be leaning towards a “Process-like” approach to building the team that we have seen in places like Philadelphia, Oklahoma City, and Detroit. Essentially a youth movement that involves selling off players for picks and assets and accepting that contention is a few years away.
Oklahoma City is the best case scenario but even they needed some luck in the form of the Los Angeles Clippers not realizing they had a future MVP on their hands in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Philadelphia’s tanking was far too blatant for the NBA and they were essentially forced to fire Sam Hinkie as “penance” for their crimes. Detroit is the most replicable path forward as they simply tore down a play-in type of roster and kept taking chances with high lottery picks until they developed a superstar in Cade Cunningham.
The reality is that Sacramento is not Miami or Los Angeles where they will attract top-tier free agents that can help this team reach contention overnight. They are like many other smaller market teams where the growth has to be organic and a focus on young players is the best approach in this situation.
This may lead to a few seasons of suffering for Kings fans but that is nothing new for the loyal fans that pack Golden 1 Center every night. At least with the words of Perry, and hopefully the backing of ownership, they will have hope that there is a plan in place and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
