Sacramento Kings: 5 goals for De’Aaron Fox’s rookie season

1. Help the Kings avoid negative headlines

The Sacramento Kings have been an organization mired in dysfunction and disorder for more than a decade. From DeMarcus Cousins acting up on and off the court, to coaches waging battle with both their players and the front office in the media, to players such as Rudy Gay taking significant pay cuts simply to get out of town, the last few years have been no different.

Dysfunction has also manifested in performance, as the Kings have missed the postseason for 11 straight seasons. One-sided trades where Sacramento objectively received the worst return have plagued the team again and again, none more so than the 2015 deal with Philadelphia to offload salary just to sign middling veterans no longer with the team.

Vlade Divac and the Sacramento front office have verbally signaled a culture change, and have backed that up with their transactions over the past six months. From trading Cousins to signing veteran voices for the locker room in Zach Randolph, George Hill and Vince Carter, Sacramento has backed up its desire to move away from the disarray of the past.

De’Aaron Fox can be a key part of that, the central piece of a new young core for the Kings. He takes over for Cousins, whose tenure was defined more by his propensity for technical fouls than his exceptional on-court play. Fox was discussed as the character guy in the draft, a player who would keep the spotlight on the team.

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If Fox is dynamic on the court, he will help this team generate positive headlines. That’s something Sacramento has been missing for a long time. If he avoids the negative headlines that have plagued the organization for equally long, his selection can mark a turning point in the Kings’ path as a franchise. That’s an impactful first-year goal for the young guard to strive for.