The Sacramento Kings are No Longer Trash
/
The Sacramento Kings are back in the NBA playoffs. They have had the longest drought in professional sports, at 16 years, but now they are back.
I love this. I have always had a soft spot for the Kings. I rooted for them back in the late 90's, early 2000's because of Chris Webber. He was a Michigan guy, he was my favorite member of the Fab Five, I always liked him in the pros and I've always despised the Lakers. It helped that I enjoyed players like Jason Williams, Peja Stojakavic and Bobby Jackson. They had dudes they were fun to watch and easy to root for. It was simple to stick up for them, especially against the Lakers. The only Laker I liked back then was Shaq, but even when he went after the Kings, called them the Queens, look it up it is an amazing clip, I rooted hard against him.
Then they fell into a true era of mediocrity. They almost always missed on the draft. For every Boogie Cousins there's a Nik Stauskas. Some players the Kings have taken in the first round include Bysmack Biyombo, Spencer Dawes, Jason Thompson, Thomas Robinson, Ben McLemore, Willie Cauley-Stein, Marquese Chriss and Marvin Bagley. They have hit on a few. I mentioned Cousins. They also took De'Aaron Fox, Davion Mitchell and Keegan Murray in the lottery. Tyrese Haliburton was a lottery pick as well, but they traded him last season in a much maligned trade. That trade ended up working out for them, but at the time, I crushed it along with a ton of other people.
Now it seems like the Kings finally have a quality team built around its best players. Fox is lightning quick, has improved his shot and is, by far, the most clutch player in the league. Keegan Murray has been as consistent as he was in college. He just broke the 3 point record for a rookie last night. He has been taking control on fast breaks here and there. He has been solid as a rock. Damontas Sabonis has been everything they hoped he would be when paired with Fox. They run a tremendous pick and roll game. They play extremely well off one another and they are incredibly tough to guard. Davion Mitchell is proving to be an excellent backup point guard and is their best defender, by a wide margin. Harrison Barnes is the vet that leads the locker room. He also has a winning past, has rings and can tell the younger guys what it feels like to play in the playoffs. Trading for Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk has been tremendous for this team. Both guys add shooting. Both can stretch the defense. Both are willing passers. And Monk has familiarity playing with Fox. That adds a ton. Trey Lyes and Alex Len add depth. And Richaun Holmes is still around and still hitting floaters. The team is constructed properly and they all know what they do best. Hiring Mike Brown was the first right decision this front office has ever made. They also let him hire his own staff and that was, again, a correct choice. This team is an offensive juggernaut. They are number 1 in the league. They can score and score and score some more. They are the team the Mavs thought they would be. Their defense leaves a ton to be desired, they have a lot of work there, but so far they have been able to outscore enough opponents to secure a playoff spot. They are also going to have home court in rounds one and two. They will most likely be the 2 or 3 seed. There is a world where I could see the Kings ending up in a game 7 in round two to go to the West Finals.
I love that the Kings are relevant again. I think the NBA is more fun when the Kings are not a joke. Also, imagine a first round matchup of Kings-Lakers. That would be awesome. It would take me back to my early years of being a NBA fan. Congrats on the playoffs Kings. Now make it last and become the perennial playoff team you are constructed to be.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.