The Sacramento Kings have seen a lot of turnover on their roster over the past few months. They made one of the biggest deals at the 2021 NBA trade deadline when they traded for Domantas Sabonis from the Indiana Pacers, giving up young star Tyrese Haliburton in the process. It didn’t lead the Kings to the playoffs right away, but the hope is that with a solid offseason of work, that could change this upcoming season.
All of a sudden, Sacramento has a surprisingly deep team that could make some noise in the Western Conference. They added a solid prospect in Keegan Murray with the fourth overall pick of the draft, and shored up their rotation by acquiring guys like Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk. Add the star pairing of Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox, and the Kings look a little bit dangerous.
It was a solid offseason of work in Sacramento, and it could have been even better had they made this one major move. Let’s explore what that move was and see how it could have benefited the Kings moving forward.
Kings offseason move they needed to make
Re-sign Donte DiVincenzo
The Kings biggest trade deadline move involved them ending up with Sabonis, but they also picked up Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Jackson, and Trey Lyles in a four-team deal at the deadline as well. Each guy entered their rotation immediately, but it was clear that DiVincenzo was the piece that had the most potential for the Kings moving forward.
During his first three seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks, DiVincenzo had become an invaluable piece of the Bucks rotation. He was a solid three-and-D guard for Milwaukee, and while he ended up missing pretty much the entirety of the Bucks’ Finals run, he played a big role in getting them there.
DiVincenzo missed the start of the previous campaign, but once he returned, he found himself boxed out of the Bucks rotation. It also didn’t help how he shot just 28.4 percent on threes during his short time with Milwaukee last season, but the Bucks decided to cut ties with DiVincenzo and send him to the Kings.
DiVincenzo looked much more like his old self coming off the bench for the Kings, shooting 36.8 percent on threes and scoring 10.3 points per game. The hope was that DiVincenzo could either start alongside Fox in the Kings backcourt or come off the bench just as he did to close out the 2021-22 campaign.
Instead, DiVincenzo ended up joining the Golden State Warriors in free agency on a two-year, $9.225 million deal. This was considered by many to be a great move for the reigning champions, but also a confusing one for the Kings. Why let DiVincenzo walk?
Rather than re-sign DiVincenzo, the Kings went after Monk in free agency, and signed him to a more expensive two-year, $19 million deal. Monk had a solid season for the Los Angeles Lakers, and may have a bit more upside than DiVincenzo, but he’s going to be filling DiVincenzo’s role for a larger price.
That’s because the Kings also picked up Huerter in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks on the same day they signed Monk. Huerter figures to start over Monk, and he does virtually the same things as Monk. The Kings handed out a more expensive contract to land Monk, and a trade package that involved Maurice Harkless, Justin Holiday, and a first-round draft pick for Huerter when they could have just re-signed DiVincenzo for cheaper.
The Kings have always seemed to be a franchise without a clear direction, and these moves reinforce that notion. They unloaded Marvin Bagley III to get three players in return, and right now the only one still on their roster is Lyles. Bagley’s status was obviously a bit of an unavoidable situation, but what’s the point in making a deal for some rentals when you aren’t even a playoff team?
DiVincenzo was a solid, if unspectacular, two-way guard who could have filled the Kings hole at shooting guard in one move. Instead, the team unloaded more money and assets to bring in two players who aren’t exactly huge upgrades over DiVincenzo. It remains to be seen what the Kings are actually trying to accomplish here.
Sacramento has a good roster, but their mismanagement of it continues to baffle NBA fans everywhere. Even beyond this confusing trio of moves, the Sabonis trade, in which they willingly gave up one of the most promising players in the league in Haliburton, makes it seem as if the Kings front office has no idea what they are doing. The Kings have a solid team, but it feels like they could have made their lives easier had they just re-signed Donte DiVincenzo at the beginning of the offseason.
