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The Sacramento Kings Were Smart To Hold Off On Goran Dragic

By Aaron Mah

Dec 26, 2014; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Ben McLemore (23) and Phoenix Suns guard Goran Dragic (1) fight for possession of the ball during the first quarter at Sleep Train Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 26, 2014; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Ben McLemore (23) and Phoenix Suns guard Goran Dragic (1) fight for possession of the ball during the first quarter at Sleep Train Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Since his purchase of the Sacramento Kings in early May of 2013, owner Vivek Ranadivé has outwardly sought after innovative thinking, and exhaustively explored numerous avenues to bolster the team’s set of liquid assets.

However, Ranadivé’s eagerness to pioneer forward solutions has conversely made the Kings the butt of many NBA-related jokes.

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As a Kings’ fan, though, one has to be cautiously optimistic.

The franchise not only finally house an owner fully committed to keeping the team in the state capital of California — recently breaking ground on a new arena in downtown Sacramento — Ranadivé has also been outspokenly candid and willing to try avant-garde strategies, and much like Mark Cuban circa early 2000s, an amendable spender for the chance at winning.

Accordingly, the Kings had been linked to a plethora of rumored trade deadline deals; most notably, circulating hearsay regarding Sacramento’s quest to acquire Arron Afflalo and Goran Dragic.

Engaging in a blockbuster trade, though, at this juncture, may not be the most timeliness of propositions. Explicitly, the Kings have undergone a household of changes over the past year and a half.

Most recently, the Kings went against their word in giving interim coach, Tyrone Corbin, the rest of the season to curate a viable system and culture, and in contrast, hired George Karl — a well-established coach who shares a similar brand of uptempo flow philosophy as their upper management — right before the All-Star break.

As such, with two months left and 30 games to go, the Kings simply lack the tangible evidence to appropriately evaluate how their current contingent of players will perform under Karl.

Sacramento Kings
Sacramento Kings /

Sacramento Kings

Take for example, in the event of a Goran Dragic trade, the team would have surrendered the opportunity to judge how Darren Collison would perform under Karl’s point guard friendly system.

Admittedly, on paper, Dragic is a perfect fit for a breakneck paced offensive scheme. Specifically, during Dragic’s breakout campaign last season, 24.6 percent of his points came from fast break situations, and 41.4 percent of his points derived from within the paint, per NBA.com.

Moreover, playing primarily at lead guard, Dragic ranked seventh in the league last year in drives per game, at 9.6, and produced 5.3 points per game off said drives, according to NBA.com’s SportVU Data.

Predictably, Dragic’s numbers has fallen precipitously this season, while playing almost exclusively off the ball.

Collison, on the other hand, in a rather volatile season, has been one of the few pleasant surprises for the Kings. His vivacious play, on both ends of the floor, was a chief reason for Sacramento’s success in November.

Thus far this season, 24.8 percent of Collison’s points come off of fast break situations and 31.7 percent of his points are scored within the painted area.

However, Collison only averages 4.1 drives per game and 2.9 points off of drives.

As a disciple of Chris Paul, one could argue that Collison is most effective while playing in a controlled paced environment — ala under former coach, Mike Malone’s system. But with his trackstar speed, Collison should theoretically thrive in the open court.

Moreover, it is way too early to give up on rookie, Nik Stauskas, four months into the season — especially considering the set of external circumstances he has had to deal with.

With that in mind, pairing him, along with either Jason Thompson or Derrick Williams, and a future first round pick is simply too hefty of a price for a two month rental for a player who has indirectly told the media he had no interest in re-signing with any team not named the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, or his new home, the Miami Heat.

Overall, it was a judicious move for the Kings’ brass to relatively stay pat, add a veteran familiar with Karl’s system, in Andre Miller, and evaluate their current roster accordingly.

Next: Portland Trail Blazers: 5 Trends To Keep An Eye On After The All-Star Break

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