Sacramento Kings: Ranking the Best Players by Position in Team History

Only three franchises—the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors—have been in the NBA longer than the Sacramento Kings franchise. The Warriors were originally in Philadelphia and moved to San Francisco in 1962. They moved to Oakland, Calif., and changed their name to Golden State for the 1971-72 season.

The Kings franchise joined the then-Basketball Association of America as the Rochester Royals, along with two other franchises that still exist, the Minneapolis Lakers (now in Los Angeles) and the Fort Wayne Pistons (now in Detroit) for the 1948-49 season.

The franchise’s roots date to 1945, when the Royals joined the old National Basketball League with a roster that included future coaching legend Red Holzman and Hall of Fame quarterback Otto Graham. The Royals captured the NBL championship in their inaugural season and reached the NBL finals in each of the next two seasons before moving to the BAA—which became the NBA when it merged with the NBL for the 1949-50 season.

The Rochester Royals remained in the NBA through the 1956-57 season, when they moved from Rochester, N.Y., to Cincinnati. After 15 seasons in Cincinnati, the franchise was moved again to Kansas City. However, with baseball’s Kansas City Royals already in place, the franchise changed its nickname to the Kings and, because it was playing home games at both Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City and at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Nebraska, the team was christened the Kansas City-Omaha Kings.

When Kemper Arena opened in 1975, the team abandoned Omaha and played exclusively in Kansas City, with the exception of a few games in St. Louis during the 1980s.

However, attendance dwindled in the mid-1980s and the franchise again packed up and headed west, this time to Sacramento, Calif., where they have played since 1985-86. The Kings appeared to be headed north to Seattle earlier this year, but a last-ditch effort by Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson proved successful, as he was able to secure city funding for a new downtown arena and find an investment group willing to keep the team in California’s capital city.

So who are the best players by position in the history of the Sacramento Kings franchise?

NOTE: Players must have appeared in 250 regular-season games with the franchise to be considered for this list.

Small Forward: Jack Twyman (1955-66)

Twyman played in six All-Star Games in his 11 years as a Royal, joining the Rochester Royals as a second-round pick (eighth overall) out of the University of Cincinnati in the 1955 NBA Draft. Twyman was twice an All-NBA second team selection and retired with career averages of 19.2 points and 6.6 rebounds. He was with the franchise when it moved to Cincinnati in 1957.

His 15,840 points rank him second in franchise history and he also appears on the team’s career leaderboard in rebounds (fifth, 5,424) and games (second, 823). His 19.2 points per game scoring average is the ninth-highest in the history of the franchise.

Yet for as great a player as Twyman was—he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983—it is his role off the court that gained him his greatest fame. Twyman acted as caretaker for former teammate Maurice Stokes, who suffered significant brain damage due to an injury he sustained in the final game of the 1957-58 season, for the final 12 years of Stokes’ life.

When Twyman died in June 2012, Cincinnati television station WCPO aired this obituary of him:

Apologies to: Peja Stojakovic, Scott Wedman, Arnie Johnson, Eddie Johnson.

Power Forward: Jerry Lucas (1963-69)

Lucas came to the Cincinnati Royals as a territorial draft pick after leading Ohio State to a national championship in 1960 and back-to-back appearances in the NCAA title game in 1961 and 1962. His debut with the Royals was delayed after he signed with the Cleveland Pipers of the fledgling American Basketball League, for whom he played in 1962-63.

When the Pipers folded, Lucas came to the Royals and despite not having great size at 6’8” or great leaping ability, Lucas was one of the top rebounders in the NBA.

He made six All-Star Game appearances as a Royal and was the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 1963-64 after averaging 17.7 points and 17.4 rebounds per game and leading the league in field-goal accuracy with a 52.7 percent mark. Lucas was first-team All-NBA three times as a Royal and made the second team twice.

He was traded to the San Francisco Warriors early in the 1969-70 season (Oct. 25), with Cincinnati acquiring Jim King and Bill Turner in exchange for Lucas.

Despite not ranking among the franchise’s top 10 in games played, Lucas is the second-leading rebounder in franchise history with 8,876 boards and his 9,107 points is seventh on the club’s all-time list. He is the franchise’s career leader in rebounds per game at 19.1 and his 19.6 points per game ranks eighth, while his career player efficiency rating (PER) with the Royals of 19.2 is fifth in franchise annals.

Lucas was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980. Here is a career retrospective on Lucas and his rebounding prowess:

Apologies to: Chris Webber, Jack Coleman, Johnny Green, Otis Thorpe.

Center: Sam Lacey (1970-81)

Lacey, a bruising 6’10” center out of New Mexico State, came to the Cincinnati Royals as the fifth overall pick in the 1970 NBA Draft and made his mark as a rebounder and defensive presence. Lacey finished in the top 10 in defensive rating three times in his career with the franchise and led the NBA in defensive rebounding percentage in 1974-75 as a member of the Kansas City-Omaha Kings.

Lacey was with the team as it transitioned through its identities as the Cincinnati Royals, Kansas City-Omaha Kings and Kansas City Kings.

He played in the 1975 All-Star Game and is the franchise’s career leader in rebounds (9,353), steals (950) and blocked shots (1,098) and games played (888). He was also an adept passer for a big man and his 3,563 assists rank as the second-most for the franchise. With 9,895 points, Lacey is fifth on the franchise’s all-time list and he is fifth all-time with an average of 10.5 rebounds per game.

Lacey was traded to the New Jersey Nets in November 1981 in exchange for Mike Woodson and a first-round pick in the 1982 draft.

Apologies to: Arnie Risen, Brad Miller, Vlade Divac, Wayne Embry.

Shooting Guard: Bobby Wanzer (1948-57)

Wanzer joined the Rochester Royals for their final season in the NBL in 1947-48 out of Seton Hall and then played with the team throughout its time in Rochester as a member of the BAA/NBA, serving as player-coach for the team’s final two seasons in Rochester and continuing on as coach for one full season and part of a second after the club moved to Cincinnati.

Wanzer was a five-time All-Star and was named to the All-NBA second team three times in his career, helping the franchise to its lone NBA championship in 1951. Wanzer was one of the first real outside shooting threats in the NBA and was the first player in league history to shoot better than 90 percent from the free-throw line, hitting 90.4 percent of his attempts in 1951-52, a record that stood until Bill Sharman of the Boston Celtics bested it with a 90.5 percent clip in 1956-57.

Wanzer retired as a player after the 1956-57 season and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987> He did an interview during which he talked about the early days of life in the NBA:

Apologies to: Mitch Richmond, Doug Christie, Adrian Smith, Kevin Martin.

Oscar Robertson (14), shown defending Boston Celtics’ guard Sam Jones, was a triple-double machine for the Cincinnati Royals–now the Sacramento Kings–in the 1960s. (Flickr.com photo by redsox20041027)

Point Guard: Oscar Robertson (1960-70)

The only player in NBA history to average a triple-double over an entire season, Robertson joined the Cincinnati Royals as the top pick in the 1960 NBA Draft out of the University of Cincinnati.

Robertson went on to win Rookie of the Year honors in 1960-61 and was a 10-time All-NBA selection as a Royal, with nine of those appearances on the first team. He played in 10 All-Star Games in his 10 seasons in Cincinnati, as well, and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player in 1963-64, the only player in the history of the franchise to receive the honor. During Robertson’s second year in 1961-62, he led the league with 11.4 assists per game while also averaging 30.8 points and 12.5 rebounds a contest.

Robertson is the franchise’s all-time leader in points (22,009) and assists (7,731). He also ranks third in games played (752) and rebounds (6,380). His PER of 25.0 is the tops in franchise history, as is his 29.3 points and 10.3 assists per game averages.

As a Royal, Robertson led the NBA in scoring in 1967-68 with his 29.2 points per game average, twice led the league in free-throw percentage (85.3 percent in 1963-64 and 87.3 percent in 1967-68) and was a seven-time assists leader, including three straight seasons from 1963-64 through 1965-66.

Robertson was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in April 1970 for Charlie Paulk and Flynn Robinson and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980.

One of the games he is most often remembered for was a 37-point performance against the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the Eastern Division semifinals in 1966.

Apologies to: Tiny Archibald, Bob Davies, Mike Bibby, Larry Drew.