Is it Time to Panic in Sacramento?
“There is no time to panic”
-Buzz Lightyear (Toy Story)
After a season that no one saw coming, the Sacramento Kings are off to a, well…not-so-hot start. Last year they were treading water between the 8th and 9th seed. The 8th seed would have given them their first playoff berth since 2006, which would have been a nice feat, but sadly, they finished the season poorly. They finished 39-43 as the 9th seed, and their post-season dream was put to rest. If you talk to any Kings fan, they’ll tell you that it wasn’t a disappointing season. Truth be told, it wasn’t. This team last year was supposed to be in “tank mode,” but they were so much fun to watch, and surprisingly, pretty damn good. The young big three of De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, and Marvin Bagley is very enticing. These guys are already playing great basketball, and they’re so young. So, why horrible start this year? Well, if you’re not paying attention, I’ll explain. Three things: Lack of a true center, lack of a bench, and poor coaching.
Wait…Who’s Their Center?
Good question. Richaun Holmes. Never heard of him? Don’t blame you. First off, he is not a “bad player” by any stretch of the imagination, but he is a way different post presence than the former Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein. Willie is a different kind of center than Holmes. Cauley-Stein doesn’t stretch the floor and has almost no court vision, but he can rebound and dunk with authority. Holmes is smaller in height and has a shorter wingspan, but he can stretch the floor, as he is more athletic and has a better jump-shot. While he lacks the skill set that Cauley-Stein had, Holmes isn’t a bad player. He’s good, but in my opinion, he shouldn’t be a starter. If I were building a team to win, I would love to have Holmes come off the bench as my backup center. He’s a great backup, but he doesn’t fill in the hole Cauley-Stein left behind. Another thing to remember is that Cauley-Stein is the only center that Fox and Bagley have played with so far in their careers. They only know how to play with a certain type of center. Now, they need to learn how to play with a differently. They need to know how to utilize a different type of center into their play styles. In my opinion, I love this for the Kings. Throw them out in the wild early and let them adapt. I know a lot of Kings fans (and myself) are high on the young center Harry Giles, but Sacramento declined his player option. This could mean they either want to give him an even longer contract, or they plan to part ways. If they keep Giles--and he can stay healthy--he could be a huge piece for the Kings in the future. If not, you can always trade for one or (less likely) sign one. This is as temporary of a problem as there is for the Kings. While it might affect the team currently, in the long haul, I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
The Bench
Well, here’s the real issue. The Kings bench. Normally, it’s not an issue with a rebuilding team. But we’re talking about the Kings here, so we definitely need to shine a light on this. Normally, you can just sign good bench players. They don’t require that much cap space. The issue with the Kings is, they don’t have any. On top of that, Sacramento is not a very desired destination for free agents. The Kings always make some odd decisions. Remember when they got rid of Iman Shumpert when he was playing well for them? Shumpert was also mentoring as well as bonding off-court with their star player De’Aaron Fox. Why get rid of him? Also, giving Harrison Barnes a four-year $94M contract didn’t help either. Don’t get me wrong, Bogdan Bogdanovic is a fantastic sixth man, but after that, they don’t have anyone else that can produce off the bench. Again, normally not an issue, but with Harrison Barnes and Buddy Hield soaking up the majority of the cap space, how are you going to come up with the money to sign decent bench players? You don’t. I hope for the best, but it seems as if the Kings are going to have bench problems for years to come.
Luke Walton…Why?
This is not another issue that the Kings shouldn’t worry about too much, but it’s a huge problem at the moment. Barley any NBA coaches last. Most of them will learn how to use the players they have. But come on Sacramento, why would you fire a coach who knew how to utilize this ultra-fast team correctly? And on top of it, bring in one who couldn’t utilize the same type of fast, young players in Los Angeles. Why does Sacramento always seem to make the wrong decision? If Luke Walton can get this team back to the fast-paced, run-and-gun type of offense they had last year, they’ll be fine. Just like players, sometimes coaches need time to adjust to new teams.
The Verdict
In a nutshell, no, it is not time to panic in Sacramento…yet. You need to remember one thing; this team is young. I mean YOUNG. It’s crazy that they are already making a push for a playoff spot at this stage. The problem is…it’s Sacramento. For some reason, I have a gut feeling they’re going to continue to make horrible decisions, but as for now, you’re not in the worst spot.