The Sacramento Kings had an underwhelming trade deadline, and general manager Scott Perry referenced 2027-28 as the season in which the team will be able to make some more moves because of more financial flexibility.
Sacramento has the 8th highest team payroll, which has resulted in the worst record in the NBA (12-44). This unintentional, ethical (whatever you want to call it) tank has been a sight to see.
Now, a new report from CBS Sports has ranked the Kings front office as dead last in the league. Just ahead of the 29th ranked New Orleans Pelicans front office. Here is what the report had to say about Sacramento slotting in at 30th:
“The Pelicans and Kings have run away with the two bottom slots, but New Orleans has talent evaluation as a redeeming quality. I’m not sure what the Kings do well, if anything. That’s as true on the court as it is off of it. They rank 28th in offense, 28th in defense and 28th in rebounding. They foul more than almost anyone and they even lose the turnover battle on average. What’s so startling about this is that, in the midst of one of the most egregious tank-offs in NBA history, the Kings weren’t even trying to be this bad. They signed Dennis Schröder to a contract that worked out so poorly that they had to give up Keon Ellis, one of the few desirable players on the roster, just to dump it. The irony of that is that they could have used a team-option to make Ellis a restricted free agent and re-sign him under favorable terms last offseason, but didn’t in order to keep his salary low enough to fit Schröder under the luxury tax line. They bungled this from every angle and wound up De’Andre Hunter, a contract Cleveland was eager to dump. Speaking of contracts teams were eager to dump, how’s Zach LaVine working out for them?”
Welp. The NBA Lottery is May 10. What could go wrong?
The ranking is too high.
BREAKING: In a tally of 29-1, Kings owner becomes the lone dissenting vote for expansion. Sources say he “cried” about being declared the 32nd worst owner in the NBA. Other owners pointed out the 2 new owners haven’t even been chosen yet. That appeal fell on Mr. Ranadive’s deaf little ears.
Agreed. I’d also put them behind the Seattle and Las Vegas expansion teams that don’t yet exist.
Knowledgeable fans would do a better job in that front office. I do not mean that as hyperbole.
I was thinking along those lines. Probably still last if MLB, NHL, and NFL are included. Thrown in some Division 3 athletic programs, Catholic basketball leagues and Fantasy football leagues too.
Beat me to it. It’s crazy to think that the Pelicans made one the worst moves I can ever remember trading an unprotected pick in this draft and yet the Kings still CLEARLY have a worse front office. It’s all Vivek. I don’t think the GM is even relevant in Sacramento and the NBA at large has finally caught up to this reality.
I knew it was a Sam Quinn article before I clicked. I believe he’s ranked the Kings dead last every year since he joined CBS in 2019.
Looks like he is correct again.
LOL, that would be 3 different front offices since 2019. Only one thing remains the same in that time.
Two technically, but yes, absolutely.
28th, 28th and 28th. So, we’re first in consistency? Alert the local shills.
NBA 4.0
If you split up the first 54 games, the Kangz went 6-21 in the first half, and 6-21 in the second half. They’re well on their way to going 6-21 in the third half*
____
*don’t @me, I graduated from the vivek school of 5-on-4 basketball good tactics
And this:
#DeportRanadive
He’s a legal US citizen.
I do find it disturbing that a corporation that invests in an industry that employs hundreds of foreign millionaire’s with work vistas (NBA) also invests in detention facilities that holds thousands of foreign non-millionairs with work visas.
I find it troubling that you make up a false narrative.
Maga much?
So what?
That’s not stopped ice from arresting and deporting legal US citizens.
The “minority investor” is one of those private equity firms discussed in a previous thread:
so he made a profit … why should they not?
Because kidnapping five year olds is bad. And mods, please do lock and delete this thread, because it’s going to age like milk.
False narrative.
My bad.
Way to ruin the article, Rik. Sheesh!
So what?
I sim the lottery on tankathon a fee times a day for fun (?), and usually the Kings get 4th or 5th. Fun times.
Yep. With the worst record the odds are 59.9% that you end up picking 4th or 5th.
14% – 1st, 13.4% – 2nd, 12.7% – 3rd, 12% – 4th and 47.9% – 5th. Per Tankathon.
We need league relegation not tank reform…send Viveks
KangzKwānz to the G-League where he belongs so his daughter can get some dates again, poor thing.I’m shocked! Change the team name to the Sacramento Cellar Dwellers.
Public Service Announcement.
Pay attention to the few longtime Sacramento sports media members STILL reminding us what the next two years are going to look like, as Scott Perry’s magic plan blooms.
It takes serious homerism to pretend this doesn’t look like another round of mismanagement waiting to happen.
We don’t need to wait
Or worse the local media saying well what could the Kings have done? Like someone had a gun to their heads (well no one said it might have been their own hand but well…..)
It’s just such a stupid take. How about not signing Schroder at double his value, leading to not offering a QO for Keon, then having to dump Keon to get rid of Schroder’s terrible contract, then ADDING salary in the Schroder salary dump, so there’s no financial flexibility for another season and a half? It’s going to take TWO YEARS to get back to where the Kings were in July, had they not made the stupid Schroder deal in the first place.
Yup. Any Kings media folk who peddle the “but Perry inherited this” nonsense has no credibility in my mind.
He inherited a lot, and he made it worse!!!!! The Schroder/Ellis decisions are completely on him, which looks like an abject failure so far.
We’re basically a reality show at this point.
It’s the train wreck that nobody actually wants to watch.
After the Anjali stuff surfaced they should’ve leaned into it and got the cameras rolling. Would’ve been more entertaining than the basketball team they trot out year after year.
Real Trust Fund Kids of the Sacramento Kings!
also
Sucksession: Maloofs, the OG SacTown Trust Fund Kids.
Keeping up with the Kangzdashians.
I’m enjoying the dysfunction from afar, Vivek getting all the failure he deserves.
The Owner’s Box; Love in the G League.
“Say what you will, haters. We made the top 30!”
Sabonis shutting it down
LaVine, too.
We all need to go out front before games with a kick drum and whatever else we can find to make noise and start the “SELL-THE-TEAM” chants!
The entire and sole reason the Kings are in the situation they are is 100%..because of Ranadives management/leadership…..or lack there of.
If you were a player, would you be excited or at the very least, happy, to be playing for or potentially playing for the Kings?? Look at all the players who were once Kings and are now on other teams. Fox is thriving in SA….along with Harrison Barnes. Davion Mitchell is 10th in the league in assists on the Heat. Halliburton was in the NBA finals last year. Queta is getting minutes on a playoff bound Celtics team. And that isnt a complete list, since there are several examples of former Kings ALL being in better spots then they were a few years ago.
And then as a coach….Mike Brown was COTY, got fired, landed in New York and they are a playoff bound team and won the NBA Cup. And we all know how things turned out for Mike Malone…..who won a title with the Nuggets.
Ranadive has created a culture of disfunction, lack of chemistry, and general dismay that no NBA player, coach, or exec would ever want to work for the Kings. And you can blame, Perry or Christie, but its starts at the top.
If I am a player or coach and work for that team, all i know is one thing. Some ridiculous decision, or change in management, or new direction could happen at any given time and none of it would make sense. Which makes people begrudgingly show up and do just enough NOT to get fired…..which may happen anyway. Basically, it completely sucks to play or work for the Kings right now, minus the paycheck.
Only solution is for him to sell the team, or completely remove himself from all basketball decisions and management….like the most successful franchises do. And follow that with dumping all the large contracts if you can, stock pile draft picks, play the young guys, and hope we arent completely awful in 3-4 years.
Badge Legend