Sacramento Kings: Complete 2017 offseason grades

The Sacramento Kings were incredibly busy this offseason, overhauling more than half the roster. How should their summer be graded?

Teams talk about organizational change, turning a franchise’s direction toward the positive and raising the level of maturity and culture from top to bottom. Few teams are able to follow through on that discussion. The Sacramento Kings may have been the exception.

Beginning with the DeMarcus Cousins trade last February, Sacramento has been vocal and active in instituting widespread changes to their roster. Long a joke of a franchise, spending more time cleaning up off-court messes than winning basketball games, the team is intentionally adding players whose dossiers include “culture builder” in the strengths section.

That doesn’t mean it’s an immediate change, nor a linear one — the most notable news item for the Kings over the past month was the arrest of newly signed big man Zach Randolph. But the changes have been evident, and it’s clear to players, fans and rival teams that this team is serious. They don’t want to be the laughingstock of the league any more.

If the culture change began in February, it was accelerated on draft night. From draft night through the first few weeks of free agency, few teams overhauled their roster as much as the Kings, who now have a packed roster. Willie Cauley-Stein, drafted in 2015, is now the longest-tenured player on the team.

How should fans and other observers judge their offseason? Busy doesn’t mean successful, and new faces aren’t necessarily an improvement. While a team at the bottom has nowhere to go but up, the Kings haven’t been able to climb out of the morass in a decade. Will this season be any different? Here’s a look at Sacramento’s complete offseason grades.