Creating the Blueprint for Sacramento Kings' Perfect Offseason
The Sacramento Kings are coming off their ninth-straight playoff-less season. If they want to end the merciful streak and qualify in 2015-16, they'll need to get their offseason right.
The team holds the No. 6 pick in the 2015 NBA draft, a fine asset. While they don't have a ton of cap space to work with, the Kings also have more flexibility to sign players than they've had in recent years.
But even with cap space and a top-10 draft pick, turning things around in the span of one offseason isn't an easy task. At 29-53, it's not like Sacramento was particularly close to qualifying for the postseason, especially in the difficult Western Conference.
Making matters worse is the apparent dysfunction in the Sacramento front office, as reported by SB Nation's Tom Ziller. General manager Pete D'Alessandro left the Kings for the Denver Nuggets, and how the team will replace him is unknown.
Currently, the only real executive making decisions on behalf of the team is Vice President of Basketball Operations Vlade Divac, and he has zero experience running an NBA franchise.
As Ziller wrote on whether the Kings can improve in the span of the offseason:
"If they had a GM with a plan in place, maybe. With an inexperienced jumble of names in the war room and an activist franchisee calling the shots, that task is a whole lot more difficult. It's time to pray Vlade really does know what he's doing in Sacramento."
Capitalize on the NBA Draft
Probably the most important thing the Kings can do this offseason is take advantage of the NBA draft.
Of course, they can do this by drafting a player or swapping the pick in exchange for an established veteran. That will depend on the potential return in a deal versus whether someone available at No. 6 can help them now and in the future.
Let's look at a few options with the pick, as well as a couple of players who might fit in trades.
Willie Cauley-Stein
The Kings are having Cauley-Stein (and another player we'll get to shortly) in for a workout.
The Kentucky center would be a good option because of his defensive ability. Cauley-Stein averaged 3.6 blocks per 40 minutes in college. Sacramento allowed opponents to shoot 63 percent within five feet of the hoop, better than only the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Plus, it's not as if Cauley-Stein is a one-trick pony. Despite his 7'1", 242-pound frame, he's nimble on his feet and can cover guards and forwards.
Justise Winslow
Winslow, like Cauley-Stein, would mostly help the Kings with defensive versatility. The 19-year-old can effectively cover shooting guards, small forwards and power forwards.
On offense, he's a well-rounded player. The forward showed the ability to attack off the dribble. But he's also capable of knocking down shots from the outside (41.8 percent from three-point range), especially when he gets his feet set. Both of those skills would fit well with head coach George Karl's system.
Cameron Payne
Payne is listed here mostly because Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star reported Sacramento is interested in him.
As far as fit is concerned, he would provide the Kings with their point guard of the future. He can get to the hoop, score consistently (20.2 points per game) and is one of the draft's best facilitators (40 assist percentage compared to 30.1 percent for D'Angelo Russell, the draft's top floor general).
Taj Gibson
Gibson is a name I threw out in a recent article as a trade option. There are no rumors tying the Kings to the Chicago Bull. But Gibson would be a good target because he plays one of Sacramento's weakest positions at power forward and is an established contributor (13.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.9 blocks per 36 minutes).
Not to mention he will only be 30 years old and is locked in at an affordable price ($8.75 million per season) for the next two years. The Kings may get a better return on their investment overall if they draft a youngster, but Gibson would help them more in the short term.
Lawson is an intriguing name mostly because of his history with Karl during their time together with the Denver Nuggets.
Basketball Insiders' Steve Kyler reports both the Nuggets and Lawson may have an interest in a change of scenery as well: "As good of a piece as Lawson is to build around, his lack of confidence in the direction of the organization has become somewhat problematic. Lawson represents the Nuggets’ best trade asset and it seems both parties are at least open to exploring Lawson’s trade value."
It's unknown whether the Kings could get a player of Lawson's value with the No. 6 pick without having to give up DeMarcus Cousins or Rudy Gay. But if they can, the point guard provides a legitimate chance for Sacramento to jump from the lottery to the postseason in 2015-16.
Use Cap Space Wisely
The Kings only have $52.3 million and nine guaranteed contracts on their books.
With the salary cap slated for $67.1 million and the luxury tax at $81.6 million, that leaves $15-30 million for Sacramento to work with, depending on whether it wants to push its financial commitments up to the luxury-tax threshold.
While that's more cap space than the Kings have had in recent years, it's not as much as it sounds.
For one, they have to sign their draft pick, which will cost $2.8 million, according to RealGM. That cuts their flexibility down to $12-27 million. But they have to use that money to fill in five roster spots (the nine current contracts plus the draft selection).
All of that is to say the Kings probably aren't going to sign a max free agent unless they can get creative in a sign-and-trade. Not to mention, Sacramento has never been much of a free-agent destination to begin with.
Considering all of that, here are a few free agents the Kings could target.
Lou Williams
As a combo guard, Williams provides Sacramento with options. Depending on how shooting guard Ben McLemore continues to develop, the Kings could have Williams (the reigning Sixth Man of the Year) slide into the starting lineup at the 2 or come off the bench as the primary backup to both backcourt spots.
Williams' ability to create offense for himself (only 28.3 percent of his two-point attempts were assisted) would provide a nice contrast to McLemore's skill set (62.8 percent of his two-pointers assisted).
Mike Dunleavy
Dunleavy would be a good fit in Sacramento because of his ability to shoot from three-point range.
The 34-year-old has knocked down 40.3 percent of his three-point attempts since the start of the 2010-11 season. As a team, the Kings only made 34.1 percent of their shots from long range in 2014-15, which was worse than all but nine teams.
The catch will be getting Dunleavy to sign. At age 34, he's in the latter stages of his career, and he's spent four of the last five seasons on playoff teams. At this point, the forward may just want to stick with contenders.
Bismack Biyombo
Biyombo would be a good consolation prize as a rim protector if the Kings don't end up drafting Cauley-Stein. He's averaged 2.7 blocks per 36 minutes during his four-year career. Biyombo also held opponents who normally shoot 58.8 percent within six feet of the hoop to 54.8 percent when he guarded them.
He's not much of an offensive player, only averaging 7.5 points per 36 minutes for his career, but the Kings have that part taken care of with DeMarcus Cousins. What they need is someone to provide defense off the bench, and Biyombo could be the guy.
Have a Successful Training Camp
Once the front office has assembled the roster, George Karl and the coaching staff can mold it to their liking during training camp.
It's important to remember that Karl, who came aboard midseason, didn't get a training camp with the Kings. The coach's previous 10 full seasons had all ended with his teams qualifying for the playoffs, so having a chance to work with the players could pay dividends for Sacramento.
The Kings were 13th on offense (103.9 points per 100 possessions) and 27th on defense (107.2 points per 100 possessions) after Karl took over.
His most recent coaching stint with the Denver Nuggets consistently yielded even better results in both categories.
| Year | Off Rtg (Rank) | Def Rtg (Rank) |
| 2012-13 | 110.4 (5) | 105.1 (11) |
| 2011-12 | 109.2 (3) | 106.2 (20) |
| 2010-11 | 112.3 (1) | 107.3 (16) |
| 2009-10 | 111.8 (3) | 107.5 (16) |
| 2008-09 | 110.4 (7) | 106.8 (8) |
| 2007-08 | 110.0 (11) | 106.3 (10) |
| 2006-07 | 107.6 (8) | 105.9 (11) |
| 2005-06 | 105.5 (17) | 105.2 (13) |
Given the coach's long track record of success, it's hard to imagine the Kings not improving now that Karl will have a full offseason to work with the players. Of course, Sacramento can get considerably better and still miss out on the postseason. That's what makes the goal of qualifying for the playoffs such a daunting task.
As Kevin Garnett famously reminded us, anything is possible. But there's little margin for error, which is why the Kings need to have a perfect offseason to get where they want to go.
Unless noted otherwise, stats are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com, and salary information comes from Hoops Hype.
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