The Sacramento Kings finally got back in the win column after a win in Denver against the Nuggets snapped an eight-game losing streak. Despite the win against a very good team, most of the fanbase and NBA media have no expectation that this will be a turning point for Sacramento.
Part of this has to do with the fact that the Nuggets were missing two key starters and coming off a very tense away win against the Houston Rockets the night before. The other piece is that the Kings are somehow near the bottom of the league in both offense and defense.
In the past, fans would be smart to brace for another big trade for an imperfect star rather than a rebuild. With Ja Morant, Trae Young, and LaMelo Ball reportedly on the trade block, it felt like just a matter of time before another “Win-Now” move for the Kings came across our timelines.
Luckily, NBA insider Jake Fischer threw some water on that fire in his Sunday Best substack post.
“I’ve since heard rather strongly that Perry does not intend to pursue Young, Ball or Morant,” Fischer wrote. “None of those lead guards is known for the sort of defensive toughness that the Kings’ new regime has made it clear will be a priority.”
I’m sure you, like me, haven’t seen a lot of the “defensive identity” that Scott Perry is speaking of just yet. The Kings have a 121 defensive rating on the season, with only the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards trailing them. Given this, you may think that adding an All-Star point guard like Morant, Young, or Ball can’t possibly make things any worse, and maybe you would be correct.
The Kings, as currently constructed, aren’t going anywhere, but Perry and the rest of the organization seem focused on the future for once. While that trio of guards are all incredible players, their flaws are in direct contradiction of the team-building rules of the modern NBA.
How the Domantas Sabonis Experience Can Be a Lesson
In their own way, the Kings have already gone down the path of building around a flawed offensive engine. Although Domantas Sabonis is not a point guard, his limitations as a center have come with similar team-building pitfalls.
For the Kings to be successful with Sabonis as their best player, they would need a rim protector next to him and guards that won’t funnel drives right toward him every possession, and offensively, there would need to be multiple shooters on the court at all times. To be fair, the Kings have never really tried to put the right team around Sabonis despite the illusion that they were.
Now, it does seem that the Kings have decided it’s far too challenging to build around a center like Sabonis, which aligns with perspectives outside of Sacramento, according to Fischer.