The Sacramento Kings are winning the offseason so far.
Okay, that may sound a bit crazy to think about, but for what their goal is, they have made the best possible decisions for the franchise. They should most certainly be in the run for the playoffs next season.
Sacramento’s goal heading into this summer was put to put a competent team around De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis and they have accomplished that goal at every turn.
Let’s go over their main moves.
The Sacramento Kings are winning the NBA offseason so far
First and foremost, most people will look at draft night as a fail. The Kings selected Keegan Murray over Jaden Ivey with the fourth-overall pick in the draft.
While most believe that the Kings were picking for fit rather than for talent, but in reality, they were merely using it as one of their conditions. They just like Murray more.
Just because most people think Ivey will be better than Murray doesn’t mean he will be, and even if he is, the gap might not be that big. So the Kings took a player that fit in better since they didn’t think there was a big talent gap between the two. That’s smart drafting.
Next up, we have their first move of NBA free agency, which was signing Malik Monk. The Kings signed him to a two-year, $19 million deal on the first night of free agency.
This was a massive win for the Kings, as Monk just wrapped up the best season of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers. He should fit in beautifully as a sparkplug scorer off the bench for the Kings.
And most recently, Sacramento traded for Kevin Huerter. They shipped out Justin Holiday, Mo Harkless, and a first-round pick, getting the young sharpshooter in return.
Huerter’s size and shooting ability should make him a perfect fit as Sacramento’s starting shooting guard alongside Fox, creating a potential starting lineup of Fox, Huerter, Barnes, Murray, and Sabonis.
The Kings may be the laughing stock of the NBA, but so far this offseason, they are doing everything right.