3 NBA playoff outsiders that must make the postseason in 2022

Teams that must make the NBA playoffs: 1. Sacramento Kings

It’s been a tough 15 seasons for the Sacramento Kings.

With no playoff appearance since the 2005-06 season and with the team finishing below a .500 record last year, it does not seem that there is much to be positive about at all.

But the young talent on the roster should provide some cause for hope. De’Aaron Fox has continued to improve since entering the NBA and had a career-best year last season, Tyrese Haliburton looks like he could be a serious talent, while Davion Mitchell will add some tenacity on defense along with some additional scoring to the team.

The trouble is that most of this optimism lies in the backcourt, particularly when factoring in Buddy Hield too. Sacramento still has some issues in the frontcourt and on defense, ranking last for defensive rating last season.

But despite the team’s obvious weaknesses, the front office has opted to continue along the same road. The team continues to focus on Fox as the key piece moving forward and has gone with the method of taking the best player available in the draft regardless of position as a means of improving.

Fox is now coming up to his fifth season with the Kings, however. Hield is approaching his sixth with the team, Harrison Barnes will be in his fourth, as will Marvin Bagley Jr.

If this team is going to succeed, it has to be soon. It has had the time to develop and grow together and at some point, the decision to not rejig the roster has to pay off.

The Kings cannot continue finishing with sub .500 records and picking in the mid-lottery. This team either has to make a leap, or the front office has to be proactive in making changes for the better, whether that’s in the short-term or the long-term.

Every season the team continues to miss the playoffs heaps more pressure on the franchise and those involved. For a team named after royalty, its last 15 years have resembled something closer to a joker as opposed to a king.

The bad news is that the West is highly competitive, and Sacramento is still lacking in key areas.  While the play-in game opens up more possibility of the Kings making the postseason, it will still be enormously tricky.