Sacramento Kings: Enter Rajon Rondo, Marco Belinelli

After a long and, for many, worrisome opening to their free agency period, the Sacramento Kings can point to some consequential results of their initial shuffling on Thursday.

Following the departure of shooting guard (and last year’s first round draft pick) Nik Stauskas, long-tenured Kings big man Jason Thompson, and injury-plagued power forward Carl Landry, the team was seemingly posing for another unflattering media portrait.

ALSO ON HOOPSHABIT: 30 Greatest Draft Steals In Lottery Era

Luckily for those with heartache over another , Dr. Vlade Divac had some Pepto left after all.

One with a more optimistic view might have seen the Etch-A-Sketch shake-up might have hoped something along the lines of a Rajon Rondo signing would happen. Rondo and the Kings have been widely derided for their respective unreliable tendencies of late, but perhaps those with the rosiest lenses might see this union as a mutual rehabilitation opportunity.

Those whose outlook is understandably grim might see the Kings adding another lowly player not up to his potential, and not up to scratch in terms of mindset.

It is not hard to sympathize with Kings fans who dislike the notion of adding another brusque personality to a team led by a moody DeMarcus Cousins and head coach George Karl, whose distaste for his employers’ rebuilding framework has made him hard to pin down, and harder to keep out of controversy.

While some might simply point to Rondo’s spotty record in certain areas, he can certainly give flashes of the player who averaged a double-double during his best days in Boston. What is more disconcerting is how the narrative of his behavior seems to coincide with his on-court performance.

When he is unhappy in his predicament, as he was during his twilight with the Celtics, and as he turned out to be for nearly the entirety of his “stint” with the Dallas Mavericks, he seems to withhold his talents and display his moodiness on the hardwood and in the locker room.

Rondo will have to find a way to earn the respect of George Karl, Kings fans, teammates, and the basketball community in order to have any sort of job security coming out of his 2015-16 one-season deal. This may involve changing his game to be less reliant on him solely, focusing on key strengths and amplifying them as he knocks on the door of his 30s.

His shooting will have to be mitigated, and drives into the paint will only allow his free-throw evolution to continue in agonizing fashion.

Presumably, Karl will want to use Rondo as an Andre Miller replacement, the older point guard who can facilitate and boost assist numbers, allowing Cousins or Belinelli to seal the deal.

Rondo’s caricature of the icy, dour floor general might fit in Sacramento if he bought into it fully, becoming the coordinator and play-caller who, at this stage in his career, is able to delegate scoring to those more well-equipped. Whether he can or will transition into that part of his narrative arc will define how successful he is during this most recent … stint.

Marco Belinelli‘s presence should be a welcome surprise to Kings fans who have had a bevy of young shooters come and go during the last several years.

His three-point shooting has never fallen to worse than .357 during his NBA tenure, and his tendency to shoot long would make up for Rondo’s perimeter shooting deficiency.

Were Rondo to continue using his passing skills in pick-and-roll situations, he would have an available option to pivot to with Belinelli on the floor. No more mind games with defenses getting him to take inconsistently-executed shots on a regular basis, plenty more opportunities to use his stop-and-go pace-making drives to allow Belinelli and Cousins (among others) to position themselves for the three or the easy close-range two.

Having a former Spur in the mix can only be to George Karl’s liking. Having playoff experience from two one-time champions can’t hurt either — both know the grind of the playoffs better than anyone on the Kings roster. Though neither has quite reached 30 years of age, they can provide both that perspective and pedigree along with their considerable athletic abilities.

If the perfect storm of desire to reclaim their stature can be coupled effectively with George Karl’s desire to remain one of the NBA’s most historically successful coaches, and Cousins’ desire to make it to the playoffs, good things might happen. Friday’s moves are, despite the natural lapses into cynicism that are inherent in analyzing the Kings, a sign that the team can improve next season.

Though the Belinelli signing was an unexpected gem of a move from Kings vice president Divac, how the pieces he’s managed to assemble will all tumble in the rickety Sacramento dryer will be dependent on the dynamics between the grumpiest triumvirate in basketball — Cousins, Rondo, and Karl.

Next: Golden State Warriors: 10 Steps To Winning The Title

More from Hoops Habit

• The 5 most dominant NBA players who never won a championship
• 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
• Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
• Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
• Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout