Heading into the offseason, the Sacramento Kings had little to look forward to other than yet another lottery pick in the NBA Draft. But given the franchise’s incompetence in recent years when it came to actually making those picks count, it was hard for fans to even get excited about that.
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A few weeks of chaotic dysfunction later and Sacramento’s situation has somehow gotten even more bleak.
It’s not that the Kings will be an atrocious team in 2015-16. In fact, there’s a chance they’re better than the miserable 29-53 record they posted last season. But the future doesn’t look particularly bright after a summer riddled with more bad decisions and regretful memories than a college frat party.
We could start with the fact that after head coach George Karl clashed with yet another franchise player in DeMarcus Cousins, the two are both in the organization still. We could mention that there’s no way a situation like this has a happy ending. Or we could talk about how the Kings mortgaged their future for a distant shot at a playoff appearance with a cringe-worthy salary dump.
Say what you want about the Philadelphia 76ers’ noncompetitive “rebuild” strategy, but at least they’re committed to their crappy little plan. In the case of the Sacramento Kings, they might just have no idea what they’re doing, and the last few weeks did little to disprove the notion that this is the worst environment in the NBA. Here’s a look at every move the Kings made this summer with offseason grades.
Next: The Draft