Sacramento Kings: Crowded frontcourt complicates 2019-20 outlook
By Alec Liebsch
Best-case scenario
De’Aaron Fox fights for an All-Star bid in the wild West, becoming a high-level scorer outside the paint to complement his driving game. Marvin Bagley III takes a sophomore leap akin to what John Collins did last year by averaging a double-double with respectable shooting numbers.
Buddy Hield adds some more scoring to his arsenal, opening up the offense for Bagley and Harry Giles to get easy buckets. Speaking of Giles, he solidifies a role as an athletic combo big, making the frontcourt a little easier to manage.
Harrison Barnes only plays hero ball when absolutely necessary and it helps the team get through those lulls that young teams tend to falter during. He doesn’t put up 20 every night, but he does when the Kings need him to.
Bogdan Bogdanovic builds on what he did last year, becoming a wing who can play on or off the ball seamlessly. The Sacramento Kings are happy to pay his next contract.
Buttressed by the stability that the veterans around these young guns provide, the Kings qualify for the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. They don’t win their first-round series, but they make a top seed sweat a little.
Worst-case scenario
Bagley stagnates, unable to improve as a scorer due to the motley of bigs in Sacramento. Luke Walton keeps shuffling through lineup combinations, but can’t find the optimal frontcourt pairing.
Giles falls out of the rotation, forcing the Kings to trade him at below-market value. Fans and media alike begin to question why the Dewayne Dedmon signing happened at all; he doesn’t hurt the team, but he also acts as a roadblock for Giles to get minutes.
Barnes plateaus and doesn’t make anyone better. He and Fox have to be staggered, as the two fail to complement each other. This friction causes Hield to be at the center of propagated trade rumors, as he is ticketed for restricted free agency in the summer.
The Kings fall out of the playoff race much earlier than they should and the front office goes into the summer of 2020 with a lot more questions than answers.