I Still Don’t Know What The Sacramento Kings Are Doing
After trading Tyrese Haliburton, it was hard to me to care about the Sacramento Kings. A re-evaluation of them has left me…confused.
The Sacramento Kings haven’t made the playoffs since 2006. They haven’t sniffed a record above 0.500 since that time, either. For the past couple of seasons, I’ve held out hope this team could take some steps in the right direction. Instead, they drafted poorly and traded away their best player for no reason. Why? Because Kings.
I tried to give this team the benefit of the doubt after the Haliburton trade. Even if I view it as a cataclysmic mistake, I’ll give them a chance to prove me wrong. It’s been about a month since the deal went down, and I couldn’t be more disappointed.
Once again, the Sacramento Kings are proving a point. The point that they’re a cut below the rest of the NBA.
The Fallout From The Haliburton Deal
The more I look at the details of this trade, the more brain cells I lose. Not only did the Kings trade their 21-year old rising star, the return package for him is not even close to equal value. Monte McNair drafted Haliburton. McNair should have felt like Haliburton was his baby, an untouchable asset.
Instead, he traded him after 1.5 years for this return package;
Kings “Receive”: Domantas Sabonis – Justin Holiday – Jeremy Lamb – 2023 2nd Round Pick
Pacers Receive: Tyrese Haliburton – Buddy Hield – Tristan Thompson
I think Domantas Sabonis is a great low-post forward, but to not even get a first-round pick from this trade is ghastly. Unless the Pacers are so bad next year that that second-rounder essentially becomes a first, the Kings got fleeced.
De’Aaron Fox Is Back
After a breakout 2021 campaign that saw him have career-highs in points and assists, De’Aaron Fox wasn’t the same this year. He wasn’t nearly as explosive or dynamic. When he was out, we got to see the Kings when Tyrese Haliburton was running the show. The results were promising, which was a bad thing for Fox.
While Haliburton doesn’t need the ball to be effective, Fox does. As soon as they traded their other lead ball-handler, Fox got back into a rhythm;
| De’Aaron Fox With Haliburton | De’Aaron Fox Without Haliburton |
| 20.6 points | 27.3 points |
| 5.1 assists | 6.1 assists |
| 53% TS | 59% TS |
| 17.0 FGA | 20.4 FGA |
| 39 games | 16 games |
Fox is playing his best ball of the season without Haliburton. He needs the ball in his hands to be effective. If there was one problem with his partnership with Haliburton, it’s that Haliburton was too good.
De’Aaron Fox is officially the face of the franchise in Sacramento. If his $163 million dollar extension didn’t prove that point, this will. He’s going to have to perform at this level for the next few years to ease the pain from this trade. If not, Monte McNair will look even worse than he already does.
The Sabonis/Fox Combo
The dynamic between Sabonis & Fox has weird before they even played together. Floor spacing is the main issue of this tandem. Both players aren’t threats from outside. Sabonis is a post player, and Fox is a slasher.
Thus far, their pairing has been better than expected, but their skillsets mix like water and oil. A 116.3 offensive rating in 299 minutes together is promising. That doesn’t stop moments like this from happening;
I’m getting claustrophobic just watching this play. Taj Gibson can easily play both Fox and Sabonis at once. I envisioned this would happen more often with this duo.
I’ve been surprised with how many successful pick-and-rolls this duo has run. Against the Knicks, two of them stood out to me;
Since they ran this pick-and-roll on the wing, Randle can’t peel off Sabonis. The Knicks don’t have any rim protection. Fox uses that fox-like speed to dart to the rim for the score.
This is where Sabonis’s playmaking is so valuable. Most bigs are futile unless they’re right under the rim. One of the best passing bigs in the NBA doesn’t have this problem. That ability to make break-neck decisions is what makes this duo viable.
A Mixed Bag
The Haliburton trade has given the Kings more questions. They’ve learned that De’Aaron Fox has to be the lead ball-handler for him to score. The combo of Sabonis & Fox has been decent, at least on offense.
(Sabonis and Fox have a 118.7 defensive rating when they share the floor.)
Still, I don’t think these ends justify the means of trading your best player. The Kings roster is a mess, with or without Haliburton. It begins with the weird Fox/Sabonis dynamic, but it certainly doesn’t end there.
Terrible Roster Construction
In recent seasons, Sacramento’s philosophy with team-building are confusing. The Kings haven’t built their team like a puzzle. Instead, they’ve tried to fit a square peg into a hexagonal hole. After paying Richuan Holmes $46.5 million last offseason, they trade for Domantas Sabonis. They drafted Fox, Haliburton, and Davion Mitchell in consecutive years.
They have a lot of players, but they don’t have a lot of answers. Look at their current backcourt and tell me your head doesn’t hurt;
De’Aaron Fox
Davion Mitchell
Donte DiVincenzo
Justin Holiday
Terence Davis
Davis, who is talented, hardly plays anymore. Justin Holiday is 32 and belongs on a contender. Donte DiVincenzo is still finding his footing after offseason ankle surgery. Davion Mitchell’s offensive game leaves a lot to be desired, but he’s a lockdown defender.
Trying to balance this guard rotation is a headache. There is always going to be a runt of the litter when the Kings stack their positions like this. All of those guys deserve some playing time, but not all of them will get it.
The Diacotomy Between Talent and Fit
Bob Whittset once said, “I didn’t study chemistry in college.” The Kings have a similar mindset. They don’t have a plan in place. Their decisions seem erratic and unplanned. Drafting three straight point guards is questionable. Giving $163 million to the second-best one is laughable. Trading away the best one is hysterical.
They didn’t move Harrison Barnes, even though he doesn’t belong on this team. He’s going to become an expiring contract next season, something that could make teams hesitant to acquire him. Richuan Holmes, formerly one of the most underrated players in the league, is redundant. His trade value will steadily decline as he wastes away off the bench.
The word I keep coming back to is weird. Sacramento feels like a body not connected with all its systems. There’s an arm and a leg missing from the question, along with some organs. To win in the NBA, you need to build a cohesive unit. There’s a reason Sacramento hasn’t made the playoffs since ’06.
Why The Trade Makes Even Less Sense Now
With Haliburton, the Kings had a record of 20-31. They were the 11th seed after he played his final game for the franchise in early February. Without their best player, Sacramento is 4-8. They remain around the 11th-12th seed in the West.
So, the Kings didn’t get better in the short term with this move. On top of that, they traded their 21-year old star and kneecapped the franchise for the next ten years. Why would they move Haliburton if the results are the same? Wouldn’t you rather have Haliburton and be crappy instead of being crappy without him?
And that’s what’s so frustrating about the Kings. In a league of smart, analytical teams who make logical decisions more often than not, the Kings are behind the curb. Their owner wants to buy a soccer team. Their GM doesn’t know what he’s doing. Alvin Gentry isn’t their answer at head coach. The roster makes no sense whatsoever.
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