Sacramento Kings: 2016 Offseason Grades

Surprise, surprise: The Sacramento Kings had another bewildering summer. Here’s a look at their complete 2016 offseason grades.

It’s been 10 years since the Sacramento Kings last made the playoffs, and in the DeMarcus Cousins era, the team has only surpassed the 30-win mark once — last season, with 33 wins.

Cousins is entering his seventh season in the league, and any “forward momentum” could be undone in a split second’s notice by a Boogie trade, a Rudy Gay trade, or even by Rajon Rondo‘s free agency departure.

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The Kings managed to not completely blow the draft for once, but a summer that should’ve been spent picking a definitive direction was squandered by moves that directly contradicted each other. Sacramento still isn’t a playoff team, nor are they a bottom-feeder ready to rebuild through the draft.

Though the front office didn’t make any bad deals, almost everything they did in free agency fit the bill of a title contender rather than a rebuilding team, as they added useful players who won’t move the needle and may take away minutes from the younger players who need that developmental time.

New head coach Dave Joerger will have a hard time with this roster, not only because it’s devoid of star talent outside of Boogie and Willie Cauley-Stein, but also because it’s hard to tell whether the front office wants to compete (it does) or tank (it doesn’t, but that’s where we’re headed).

Bearing all this perpetual sadness in mind, here’s a look at the Sacramento Kings’ complete 2016 offseason grades.

Next: Bye Bye Belinelli

Bye Bye Belinelli

Before the 2016 NBA Draft even began, the Sacramento Kings added another selection to their ranks by dealing Marco Belinelli to the Charlotte Hornets for the 22nd overall pick.

Belinelli was on a perfectly reasonable contract and had championship experience, but he struggled to contribute in his lone season with the Kings, averaging 10.2 points per game on 38.6 percent shooting from the field and 30.6 percent shooting from three-point range.

With Belinelli failing to spread the floor and Ben McLemore needing more minutes, it made sense to jettison the 30-year-old Italian. Even better, the Kings managed to turn him into quite the first round steal, using the 22nd pick on Syracuse’s Malachi Richardson.

A 6’6″ shooting guard with a 7’0″ wingspan, Richardson is extremely athletic and when he’s on, he’s a tremendous shooter. He’s a bit on the streakier side, as anyone could tell from his 36.3 percent shooting in his lone season for the Orange.

But if he can hone in his shooting skills, particularly from three-point range, the Kings will be glad to have some stability and depth at the 2-guard spot.

Richardson didn’t play particularly well in NBA Summer League action, averaging 8.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game on .361/.333/.591 shooting splits. Other than a 20-point, seven-rebound outing, he was largely ineffective in his five games in Las Vegas.

Even as a 20-year-old coming off his freshman season, however, Richardson was a solid get for a team that needs to start moving in a definitive direction. “Younger” wasn’t a bad place to start.

Grade: A-

Next: The Draft-Day Trade

The Draft-Day Trade

Entering the draft, the Kings only owned the No. 8 pick and the No. 59 pick. Thanks to their trade with the Hornets and a draft-day trade with the Phoenix Suns, they were able to turn Belinelli and that eighth overall selection into two additional first-rounders.

By shipping the eighth overall pick to the Suns, the Kings acquired two of Phoenix’s first-rounders (No. 13 and No. 28). They also received the rights to Bogdan Bogdanovic, a promising young player who put off joining the Suns for the 2016-17 season, and a 2020 second round pick.

Since there are so many components to this trade, it’s a hard one to grade. Overall this move was a net positive for the Kings, but their execution with those extra picks left something to be desired.

At No. 15, Sacramento made their annual head-scratcher selection of the draft, taking Greece’s Georgios Papagiannis — a player most teams probably didn’t expect to be in play until at least the 20s. That’s not to say he’s a bad prospect, but this was a stunning way for the Kings to use the first of their four draft picks.

A 7’2″ goliath, Papagiannis is an old school big: strong, plodding and in control of a complete back-to-the-basket game, but largely unathletic. He struggled in Summer League, averaging 5.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, shooting 35.7 percent from the field and failing to record a single block in four games.

Despite having good hands, this was a puzzling pick this high in the draft, especially for a team that already has DeMarcus Cousins and Willie Cauley-Stein at the center spot.

With the 28th overall pick, the Kings got much better value, taking Kentucky’s Skal Labissiere. Though he’s a bit of a project, some experts thought he’d be taken somewhere in the teens. For a team that’s still somehow mired in a rebuild, having a long-term prospect with a high ceiling never hurts.

In Las Vegas, Labissiere averaged 11.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game on 45.8 percent shooting. He also made three of his four three-pointers and that late in the first round, the Kings put at least one of their picks acquired from the Suns to good use.

As for Bogdanovic, he’s already one of the best players on the Serbian national team and as one of Fenerbahce Ulker’s bright young stars, he helped the team finish second in the Euroleague championship and handily win the Turkish League championship, hovering around the 40 percent mark from three-point range along the way.

However, as much as Double Bogdan might help the Kings with his shooting touch, and as great value as Sacramento got with Labissiere, that Papagiannis pick was just downright odd.

Passing on the most athletic big in the draft — Chriss — and all his immense upside at the 4-spot to take a lumbering big man like Papagiannis could come back to haunt the Kings, depending on how Labissiere pans out, when Bogdanovic finally comes over and how Chriss develops in Phoenix.

Grade: B-

Next: Sacramento's Final Draft Pick

Sacramento’s Final Draft Pick

With Labissiere being a boom-or-bust candidate and Papagiannis being a reach at 15, there’s a chance the Kings made their wisest selection with the second-to-last pick in the entire draft, Isaiah Cousins.

A 6’5″ shooting guard from Oklahoma, this underrated prospect averaged 12.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game in his senior season. He’s a bit old at 22 and a bit undersized for a 2-guard, but he can play both positions, is an excellent shooter (41.1 percent from three last year) and works hard on the defensive end.

The Kings are actually starting to get a bit crowded at the 2-spot, with McLemore, Cousins, Arron Afflalo, Malachi Richardson, Garrett Temple, Lamar Patterson and eventually Bogdanovic all on the roster, but Cousins and Temple can both play the 1 as well.

Plus, there’s still the small issue of Cousins actually making the roster, since he hasn’t been signed yet as a second round pick. If he does, however, this is pretty great value to be had at No. 59.

Grade: B+

Next: Acquiring Afflalo

Acquiring Afflalo

The Kings walked away from the draft with four young rookies and traded away one of their older shooting guards in the process. That makes the decision to sign Arron Afflalo to a two-year, $25 million contract all the more perplexing.

To be fair, Afflalo makes some sense on this team if they want to be competitive next season, and it’s not terrible value under the skyrocketing salary cap either. But with Cousins’ future increasingly in doubt, it feels like Afflalo was the kind of player the Kings should’ve signed last season, when they were trying to put something together.

Last year in New York, Afflalo averaged 12.8 points per game and shot 38.3 percent from three-point range, but he regularly frustrated Knicks fans with his shot selection. It’s clear that at this point in his career, when he’ll turn 31 in October, he’s no longer a difference-maker.

There’s a reason Kendrick Lamar used to be jealous of Arron Afflalo.

Paying that kind of player $12.5 million a year seems like a typical Kings decision, although we shouldn’t ignore that only $1.5 million is guaranteed in the second year of his contract.

Afflalo gives the Kings a steadier hand at shooting guard compared to James Anderson, and he’ll be useful in a pinch if they foolishly decide to give up on McLemore. But should that really be the goal for a team that should be trying to rebuild through its youth?

Grade: C-

Next: Adding An Anthony

Adding An Anthony

Two years and $16 million, with the second year being non-guaranteed, isn’t a hefty price to pay for a journeyman like Anthony Tolliver. But like the Afflalo deal, the problem with this signing is less about the length or financial weight of the contract, but rather, the actual quality of the player being signed.

Entering his ninth year in the league, Tolliver will be playing for his ninth different team. His best season was back in 2009-10, when he averaged 11.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per game for the Golden State Warriors/Minnesota Timberwolves. Since then, it’s been nothing short of a struggle.

At this point, Tolliver is that player every team adds on a cost-effective deal and thinks it’s a great addition because this time around, he’ll have something to contribute. Only it’s never happened, and if it didn’t happen for a Stan Van Gundy Detroit Pistons team that was ideally suited for a stretch-4, it probably won’t happen amidst the chaos that is the Kings franchise.

Sure, Dave Joerger is a great coach, but aside from being a solid locker room guy, Tolliver’s one trademark skill — three-point shooting — has hovered around the 36 percent mark for two seasons now. Perhaps he’ll find his footing in the unlikeliest of places, but for now, this is a bit of a nothing signing.

Grade: C

Next: Getting Garrett

Getting Garrett

A three-year, $24 million contract (with an $8 million player option in the third year) may seem like a lot for a guy most casual NBA fans have never even heard of, but unlike the Tolliver signing, this cost-effective addition may be able to actually help the Kings a bit.

Though the Washington Wizards took a step backward last year, the silver lining was Garrett Temple’s ability to play both guard positions and make the most of his 43 starts, averaging 9.3 points and 2.2 assists in 30.3 minutes per game and shooting 35.2 percent from three-point range in those games.

Though he only averaged 7.3 points and 1.8 assists per game and posted paltry .398/.345/.728 shooting splits for the season, Temple’s versatility will allow Joerger to plug him into either guard spot depending on which direction he goes with the rotation.

Temple probably won’t blow anyone away, but let’s be honest: Outside of Boogie and WCS, nobody else on this roster is going to do that anyway.

Grade: B-

Next: Bringing Barnes Aboard

Bringing Barnes Aboard

Again, another solid contract in terms of length and money down, but what are the Kings going for in 2016-17? Are they trying to make the playoffs with a Darren Collison-Afflalo-Rudy Gay-Boogie-WCS core? They can’t possibly be that naive, right?

A two-year, $12 million deal for Barnes is peanuts under this new salary cap, and Barnes’ $6.4 million player option for the second year makes this a low-risk move no matter what happens in 2016-17.

But make no mistake about it: This move to acquire a 36-year-old 3-and-D wing is about trying to make the team competitive, since Barnes’ fiery disposition is hardly the stuff of “locker room leadership.”

This move doesn’t improve their young culture, but it does add an intense competitor who will shoot (and probably miss) a lot of threes like he did last year, when he shot 32.2 percent from distance. The year before, he was at 36.2 percent.

The signing makes sense on some levels, since Joerger really enjoyed Barnes’ veteran leadership in Memphis and since Barnes is also from the Sacramento area. For a contender looking for wing depth, a move like this would’ve been a steal.

But for a team that can’t either commit to a rebuild centered around youth or quickly build in the here and now around Cousins, this is yet another perplexing signing that provides no indication of what kind of team the Kings want to be in 2016-17.

Grade: C+

Next: Enlisting Lawson

Enlisting Lawson

With Rondo gone and Darren Collison facing domestic violence charges, the Kings’ backcourt wasn’t what you’d call stable. With a one-year contract for Ty Lawson, Sacramento is hoping the troubled point guard can help alleviate some of that concern.

After his time with the Denver Nuggets abruptly came to an end because of two DUIs, Lawson’s value around the league cratered during the 2015-16 season. The Houston Rockets gave up a handsome sum to add him to the backcourt alongside James Harden, but Lawson was soon demoted to bench duty and was bought out of his contract in March.

Lawson averaged a meager 5.8 points and 3.4 assists per game in 53 appearances for the Rockets, shooting a putrid 38.7 percent from the floor. He was picked up by the Indiana Pacers for their playoff run, but his numbers dipped even further to 4.9 points and 4.4 assists in 18.1 minutes per game.

For a player who had averaged 15.2 points and a career-high 9.6 assist per game just a season ago, Lawson’s rapid decline and prior off-court demons are hardly indicative of the kind of stability Sacramento needs right now.

If a one-year rental of Rajon Rondo didn’t work, it’s hard to see it happening for Lawson. In other words, Kangz gon’ Kangz.

Grade: C-

Next: Odds And Ends

Odds And Ends

To close things out, the Kings claimed shooting guard Lamar Patterson off of waivers after the Atlanta Hawks waived him a few weeks ago.

This is the least significant move of the Kings’ summer, being that Patterson averaged a grand total of 2.4 points and 1.4 rebounds in 11.3 minutes per game for ATL last season. His .350/.245/.727 shooting splits aren’t exactly what you’d like to see out of a “shooting” guard either.

The contract is for two years, with the first year being non-guaranteed. If Patterson actually makes it through the season still under contract, he’ll become a restricted free agent next summer.

This move was purely made for depth purposes, though it’s unclear why it happened at all given how many shooting guards are expected to be on the roster soon. Moving on.

Grade: C-

Next: Overall

Overall

The Sacramento Kings added three (and possibly four) rookies to their ranks this summer, but they didn’t go all in on a full-scale rebuild. They added useful veterans that you’d expect to see from a contending team, but they didn’t build anything substantial around DeMarcus Cousins.

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They neither improved nor got substantially worse. As always, the Sacramento Kings just kind of…are.

Well, that’s actually not true. The Kings will probably be worse or about the same next year. They lost Rajon Rondo and replaced him with the incumbent Darren Collison, they replaced Quincy Acy with Anthony Tolliver, and they got rid of Seth Curry so they could sign Matt Barnes. Losing Rondo was inevitable, but does any of the rest of that make any sense?

As has been the case for a decade, the Kings are adrift at sea, devoid of direction. They didn’t trade Cousins, nor did they assemble anything but another 30-win team around him. They brought in rookies, but they couldn’t even do that completely right, passing up on Marquese Chriss‘ long-term potential for that curious Papagiannis pick. Either trade your star or go all in to help him.

It’s no wonder Rudy Gay and Boogie each had not-so-nice things to say about the front office this summer. They’re absolutely right. While the individual deals are good from a value perspective, they add up to a jumbled mess of flawed rookies and veterans who are either past their primes or not the best locker room influences.

More hoops habit: Phoenix Suns: 2016 Offseason Grades

Hiring Joerger was a major score for the franchise, but sadly, it just gave the fanbase false hope that this summer would amount to something. Labissiere and Richardson are nice finds, and none of the contracts Sacramento handed out this summer are toxic, but good luck trying to explain this team’s direction after such a contradictory and aimless offseason.

Grade: C-