The Sacramento Kings have been on the wrong side of league-wide controversy for the past couple years. The majority of the reason being that the front office of the Kings franchise just doesn’t seem to be on the same page. They seem to lack a consistent direction for the future and being at the bottom of the Western Conference hasn’t helped turn their luck around either.
The Kings haven’t made the Playoffs since 2006, but they had hoped they would change their fortunes by drafting DeMarcus Cousins in 2010. Despite becoming an All-Star, Cousins himself has not been enough to push the Kings to the Playoffs, and the pieces they have added throughout the years haven’t helped their cause much either. The Kings have literally tried everything to push this franchise into a new direction; getting a new arena, new jerseys, trades to shake things up, and even firing one Head Coach per year. So what is the issue in Sacramento? Here at Def Pen, we couldn’t help but explore what’s going on in Sac-town.
Sacramento Kings Front Office
In 2013, the Sacramento Kings were bought out by a group led by their new owner, Vivek Ranadive. Since Ranadive has become the owner, the franchise has been under tons of scrutiny, especially in its front office and their inability to manage an NBA team. One of the things most scrutinized about Sacramento is the way they treat their players and coaching staff. If the firing of Michael Malone, who is now the Head Coach of the Denver Nuggets, was any indication, the Kings don’t know how to deal with their most valuable employees. He was hired and fired in less than one season, but in that season, the Kings started off well, with an 11-13 record, showing a grit and toughness that only Malone was able to pull out of DeMarcus Cousins and the rest of his players.
Malone was fired, but he was just the start of the Kings Head Coach firing rampage. Since becoming the owner in 2013, Vivek Ranadive has gone through with firing 4 Head Coaches which essentially means 1 coach per year that he’s been the owner. Now, Head Coaches in the NBA do not necessarily have the best job security, but in Sacramento, there seems like there is absolutely not security in being a Head Coach. They never treated George Karl with the respect he deserved, and the amount of rumors that arose from the relationship of Cousins & Karl alone was daunting. That’s not where it stops, trade rumors and unhappy players have made Sacramento a place even free agents have to think twice about.
Trade Requests and Unhappy Players
Players are quite frankly tired of being in Sacramento. If DeMarcus Cousins’ subtweets throughout the years don’t suffice as proof, the trade request by Omri Caspi this year and a disgruntled Rudy Gay are enough to show that even players who come into the organization aren’t happy. Rudy Gay has been dealing with trade rumors for as long as he’s been a member of the Kings, and he was quoted saying playing in Sacramento is ‘basketball hell’. Rudy really doesn’t have a choice in the matter, and neither does Omri Casspi, who has fallen out of the rotation and hasn’t spoken to new Head Coach Dave Joerger since pre-season.
Both players are just a sign of what others who have played for Sacramento in the past couple of years have alluded to and it’s got the attention of the media and other players around the league as well. Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix has been critical of owner Vivek Ranadive, even calling him one of the worst professional sports owners of all time. Former Kings executive Geoff Petrie was quoted saying that Vivek’s ‘revisionist history’ is what’s led to him being labeled as a lousy owner. With problems in all area’s basketball related, the heat has been on Ranadive and presumed President of Basketball Operations, Vlade Divac to make something happen. They have one of the biggest assets, literally, in the NBA in DeMarcus Cousins. They need to find a way to keep him happy but Cousins behavior raises issues of its own for the Kings, as many analysts around the league believe he just hasn’t matured as a player yet.
Too Late To Mend Ties With DeMarcus Cousins
Since being drafted to Sacramento in 2010, Cousins has received his fair share of criticism, but his performance has never wavered. Throughout his career, he’s been consistently putting up All-Star numbers, and this year is no different from the others. He’s averaging 26.9 points a game, 9.5 rebounds, almost 4 assists and a steal per game, potentially on his way to another All-Star year. He’s the only player in the Western Conference that has consistently been on a losing team but has made the All-Star game twice. His value cannot be questioned, because if he were to be put on a different NBA team, he would definitely make a difference. Whether it’s a good or bad difference, that remains to be seen.
Cousins attitude and behavior on the court has got in the way of his success his whole career. Teams have struggled in any attempt to trade for Cousins because his attitude deteriorates his value to other teams but not to the Kings. He has gotten 93 technical fouls and has been ejected out of 10 games, throughout his 7 years in the NBA. That’s right, he even gets statistics in the categories you don’t want him to. So what do most say to him? ‘Just play basketball! Focus on the game!’, but how could you ask someone to play basketball in an environment he must absolutely dread? It’s not possible. We’ve all had a job that we’ve hated, is it too much to give DeMarcus a little bit of credit for enduring through his job for 7 years? Even as a multimillion-dollar basketball player, it can be hard to enjoy what they consider work.
He’s been the victim of verbal attacks from the media, he’s had clashes with coaches and front office staff and his attitude on the court has shown his frustration. I’m not saying it’s an excuse for his lash outs on the basketball court, but who would be happy in his situation? He’s got a front office who hasn’t shown signs of improvement and constant trade rumors that are sure to drive him insane. Personally, I can’t wait until he becomes a free agent in 2018 because he’ll finally have some choice and say in what he decides to do next with his career in basketball.
What’s Next For Sacramento?
Until now, although being the Kings franchise player, Cousins has had little input or say in what comes next for this Sacramento franchise. He’s been quoted on numerous occasions saying that he wasn’t told or wasn’t aware of the decisions that front office made, and his frustration when Michael Malone was fired, showed that. Just as recent at this week there is a new report that Kings have indeed reached a new boiling point with Cousins. So him being traded might be a matter of if instead of when.
So what’s next for the Kings? They’ve started out this year struggling, with a 5-9 record, and although they got one over the Raptors heads last night, the truth is, they’re still in bad shape. Their 2 top scorers are disgruntled with a dissatisfied Rudy Gay and a ‘tech-savvy’ DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings look like they’re off to their usual start. Something has to change and it can’t be another arena change this time. If there’s any indication, it looks like the Kings will be one of the busier teams before the trade deadline. Will another roster shake up be enough to give the Kings some new-found energy? It’s highly unlikely that that on its own will do justice to turn this team around.
This issue starts at an organizational level for the Sacramento Kings and in order for this franchise to get back on track, they need a new-found direction. Will the Kings have to make even more changes in the front office in order to make up for their past mistakes? That remains to be seen. All we can hope for is that the current system of Vivek Ranadive and Vlade Divac start to catch a hint because that is the only way they can move forward.
