NBA Draft: Should the Sacramento Kings trade up? Trade down? Trade out?

The Sacramento Kings will likely hold on to their 12th overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, but what are their options if they decide to shop it?

As is the case nearly every year, the upcoming NBA Draft will be a decisive point for the Sacramento Kings. After what has felt like a never-ending string of botched picks and terrible player evaluation, the Kings are looking to make good on their late lottery selection.

Former general manager Vlade Divac relieved himself of his duties after the conclusion of the Kings’ season in mid-August, and his replacement will certainly have his hands full.

Divac did not exactly do a masterful job of setting up his successor for actual success. Not only does the team boast a roster full of high-priced contracts, but they have also become the poster child franchise for botched draft selections over the last decade-plus. Their futility in evaluating talent has become widely known even to casual fans of the league, thanks to Damian Lillard and Luka Doncic.

The franchises’ ineptitude in drafts has resulted in what is now a fourteen-year playoff drought, and it doesn’t look like that streak will be ending any time soon.

That is of course unless the Kings can fix their troubles during the 2020 NBA Draft.

It will certainly be a tall task. After having serious capital over the last few years (two lottery picks in 2017, second overall pick in 2018), Sacramento finds itself with a single selection near the end of the lottery in what looks to be one of the weaker drafts in recent memory.

So what should the Kings do? Should they put together a trade package in order to move up in the draft? Should they explore options for trading down? Is trading out of the first round completely even an option? We take a look at all three possibilities.