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Somewhere along the way, the Sacramento Kings became the punch line to the sports world’s longest running joke. It started with the Maloofs and their obsession with uprooting the team from Sacramento, but it’s continued long after their departure. Vivek Ranadive has carried the torch well, making punch-line move after punch-line move. Be it the four-on-five defense idea or the search for a jazz band leader or three coaches in one season, the Kings owner is way out ahead of the crazy curve.
But at some point, the Kings moved forward. They had to, and the early results of the Vlade Divac era are strong. It will take time for his roster to prove out, but Sacramento is an improved team. If you are grading their offseason on talent increase alone, it’s hard not to give the front office a solid A.
The media has yet to get the memo. They are still enthralled with the drama in Sactown. They are waiting for the next gaff, be it new John Calipari rumors or the final death blow of the George Karl and DeMarcus Cousins relationship. It’s like they have a cup pressed to the door listening for the something that might sound crazy enough to run to the editor with.
Unfortunately for the folks trying to put things back together in Sacramento, the Kings are still the soup du jour. Storied franchises like the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks bumbled through free agency like fools, but Sacramento can’t shake the stigma of being the worst-run franchise in professional sports.
Ty Lawson continues to smoke hookah and get behind the wheel drunk, but the key points to Zach Lowe’s spectacular interview of newly hired Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone were surprisingly Kings-centric.
To call the Kings low-hanging fruit would be a gross understatement. They are the easy target, and the beating will continue until they prove they can wear the same outfit for an entire day without changing their mind.
I’m not sure where this puts Kings fans. This has been a roller coaster of emotions for one of sports’ most loyal groups. Should they lock in for season tickets knowing that this team will either be really good or implode into a million pieces before Christmas? Should they purchase “In Vlade We Trust,” T-shirts and start saving for playoff seats?
This is still a mess, but giving up now and becoming a Warriors fan just seems very out of character for the typical Kings fan.
You want your team to make a sound draft pick. Check. You want them to chase big free agents, even if it doesn’t lead to a signing. Check. You want a trade to improve the team, and you want solid-to-amazing decisions with their cap space. Check.
But you also want the noise to go away. The Kings are tightening the ship and staying away from ridiculous catchphrases. So much for NBA 3.0. It has been abandoned on the side of the road like a box of 2015 Cleveland Cavaliers Championship T-shirts.
The message is clear. Divac is the boss. Karl is the coach. Cousins is the star. Rudy Gay is the recruiter, Rajon Rondo is looking for redemption and Marco Belinelli is the shooter.
Divac has built the team around his All-Star center. He is focused on making it all work, but he has a very tall order in front of him. Fixing the Sacramento Kings and putting them back on the right track will require a minor miracle.
For those that have been begging for there to be a plan in place, you now have one. Whether it is a good plan or not will work down the road a bit. If Cousins and Karl move past the animosity and get on the same page, the Kings have a real shot to have a quality season. It all comes down to one relationship between a star player and a future Hall-of-Fame coach.
So for now, take a cautious approach. The Sacramento Kings are just a few weeks removed from utter chaos. They are also a few weeks removed from a genius makeover. They are unstable, but led by a steady hand. Frantic and calm at the same time.
If you have a better way of describing this franchise, feel free to leave a comment below. I would love to tell you it will all work out. But predicting what comes next for this franchise would be a fool’s errand.
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