What came to light (slowly at first, rapidly near the end) was the financial fiasco that had become the Brothers Maloof. Towards the end they cut staff and traded off more expensive contracts. The past several years had been the NBA on a shoe-string, and the brothers would not invest one more penny than they absolutely had to. When Vivek Ranadive and friends bought the team, not only were the fans elated that the team would remain in Sacramento, there was great anticipation that the playoff drought would come to an end once the new regime had a chance to put their stamp (and their money) on the team. The first move was to hire Michael Malone as head coach. Seemed a bit odd, considering the team had not hired a general manager yet, but hell, no biggie, right? And away we go!
2013-14
Demarcus Cousins, though arguments could be made for Isaiah Thomas. Cousins came in at 22.7 pts. and 11.7 boards and increased his assists and blocks. Thomas was solid as well, and when the Kings acquired Rudy Gay, the Kings seemingly had their big three.
Sign of the times: Ben McLemore falls to #7 in the new ownership’s inaugural draft, and they snap him up, sight unseen. Suck it, C.J. McCollum!
Fun(!) fact: The team finishes 28-54, but 20-20 when Cousins, Thomas and Gay all play. And McLemore is showing flashes of being legit. There is genuine hope heading into the 14-15 season.
2014-15
Cousins is still the best player on the roster, despite missing 23 games.
Sign of the times:
Fun(NOOOOO!!!)) facts: Isaiah Thomas’ reasonable, three-year MLE offer from Phoenix is too rich for the Kings’ blood, and a sign and trade for a 2nd round pick and the rights to Alex Oriakhi is executed. Michael Malone is inexplicably fired after the team gets off to a 11-13 start (9-6 prior to Cousins going out with viral meningitis). After a palette cleanser or Ty Corbin, the (dis)organization hires George Karl.
2015-16
Cousins, who increases his scoring to 26.9 ppg and is named to his second straight all-star team.
Sign of the times:
From left to right: Duje, Bag.
Fun(sigh) fact: This is the first year of current management, highlighted by the infamous Philadelphia trade. The phrase, I appreciate Ranadive for saving the team, but¦ is born.
2016-17
Cousins, in spite of playing in only 55 games before being traded to New Orleans for Buddy Hield and a 1st round pick.
Sign of the times:
Exhibit A:
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Exhibit B:
Fun(?) fact: Cousins plays 120 games between the front office’s decision to go all-in with him via the Philly trade and then deciding to blow it up.
2017-18
Willie. Cauley. Stein. (Checks notes. Adjusts tie. Clears throat. Walks off stage.) Folks, he was better than Fox, Hill, Randolph or Bogdanovic. Hield is close, but overall WCS had the best season here. Yipes. The less written about this season, the better. So¦
Sign of the times:
Fun(!!!) fact:
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2018-19
Buddy Hield. De’Aaron Fox is the bigger surprise in his second year and arguably the new face of the franchise, but Hield is a little bit better, averaging almost 21 ppg while shooting almost 43% from three. Hield also grabs a robust (for a shooting guard) five boards a game and is non-stop motion for all of his team-leading 2,615 minutes.
Sign of the times: Light at the end of the tunnel? Joerger is letting the team run, and Fox and Hield are showing tremendous improvement, while rookie Marvin Bagley makes the NBA’s rookie first team.
Fun(-) fact: The team’s 39-43 record is their best in over a decade. For the first time under this ownership, the team seems to have a direction and a purpose. With cap space and flexibility and young, emerging players, there is renewed hope among the fan base.
2019-20
Hield? Fox? Sign Lady? Your call on this one.
Sign of the times:
Fun (wha???) fact: After firing a coach (Dave Joerger) and assistant GM (Brandon Williams) that were hired under his tenure, Vlade Divac is rewarded with a four-year extension.
–
My list of best Kings players per season:
Mitch Richmond (x7)
DeMarcus Cousins (x6)
Chris Webber (x4)
Reggie Theus (x2)
Peja Stojakovic (x2)
Kevin Martin (x2)
Tyreke Evans (x2)
Otis Thorpe
Kenny Smith
Wayman Tisdale
Lionel Simmons
Mike Bibby
Brad Miller
Ron Artest
Willie Cauley-Stein
Buddy Hield
Sign Lady
–
Tune in next time, when I recap the last fourteen years of Kings playoff performances!
Vlade will fix this, trust me.
Fleemojis!
Speaking of which, has anyone seen Vladmoji?
I think a lot of those “Sign of the Times” pictures just reminded me why I have so much fun making fun of this organization on the forums.
As frustrating as DeMarcus was, he was incredible fun to watch. I remember going to a game where the Kings were playing the 5 win Sixers. I was excited because I thought I would actually see the Kings win a game (had not seen them win live in about a decade). Nope. I did, however, get to watch Cousins play amazingly and eventually get ejected.
Great consolation prize.
To each their own, I guess.
His body language, his arguing with the refs at the worst moments, his demeanour towards his teammates and coaches, and I am sure I missed some things; it was too much negatives for me to overcome and enjoy his incredibly soft hands, nifty offensive moves and occasional stellar passing.
I agree with you here. I remember how frustrated I would get at Demarcus. When he got traded for buddy, I was rejuvenated and enjoyed watching games again.
I am still amazed we ended up getting the better end of that deal. I thought we got fleeced at the time.
Demarcus Cousins was by far the least fun player I’ve ever had to watch on one of my teams, and I had to watch Michael Vick lead my team. Yes, I went there.
Thanks for reminding me about all the things I did not enjoy. I prefer my rose tinted glasses!
It’s frustrating to think about how many times the Kings hurt themselves.
They should have put a real effort behind building a team with the Thomas, Gay, Cousins core. That isn’t a championship contender, but you can run that core to respectability around the league.
And even if you don’t believe in those three together, letting Thomas walk in free agency was just so stupid.
Pete didnt like thomas for some reason. He traded him for basically nothing
On a slightly related note, the most recent episode of George Karls Truth and Basketball podcast covers his tenure with the Kings.
His NDA must have expired because few punches are pulled.
Yeah we are going to get something up on that once we take a listen. There was a LOT.
how do i watch it? it it a youtube thing?
Edit* nvm im an idiot, its a podcast.
And hes more active on twitter…Im sure it has to do with promoting the podcast.
Does he tweet what he’s having for breakfast?
Asking for a friend…
Linky?
truthandbasketball.com
Why do I feel like Im doing unpaid work for Mr. Karl?
This gif might as well be saved under “Kings Fan”. BTW, replies should now only show your username instead of your real name.
Not to pick nits but they still show the real name if the comment was edited.
Nothing worse than a user who complains even when things are fixed.
That’s a fair point, thanks for pointing that out.
I have a real name?
Dude, Rob, a while ago I happened to stumble upon a video from the Kings’ YouTube account about the 2013 Summer League in Vegas, and one of the Kings fans they interviewed included a “Rob Hessing.”
Man, I had forgotten all about that. I think that Andrew Nicholson was working with the Kings at the time, recognized me and grabbed me. Also, the camera adds 10 pounds to your nose.
Nicholson: “Hey, I recognize that no-pants wearing guy over there. Let’s go grab him!”
This entire series has been just terrific Rob
Second
Thirded.
Fourth’d
I think i have found a bug for the website. If you try to login with your email and password you cant comment, but if you login with your username then you are good to go. Also, how do you change your password?
Hey Dupue, thanks for the feedback. I tried testing both my e-mail and username to login and it was working for me. Also to reset your password, hit the “Forgot your password” link on the login page.
I wanted to join in on this earlier but heres what i think… The last 14 years have been excruciating for us fans. We could probably do an entire series on players we passed on for busts. The one that stings the most to me is jimmer over Kawhi. I begged and pleaded to my tv for the kings to pick Kawhi. I begged so much so, that my wife who doesnt pay attention to the NBA knows the name Kawhi. When she hears his name she refers to him as the guy i begged for. Talk about rubbing salt in my wounds.
That is so awesome! It’s crazy what things stick with them. My girlfriend knows nothing of basketball, but her favorite player is Yogi Farrell because of the chant on tv haha. She likes him so much, she wants to name our next dog after him.
The Sactown Chronicles: Back to the Future, Sans Pants.
“Where are Rob’s pants?”
Here’s some random, meaningless stats from the Vivek years:
Boogie put up monster counting stats his last season in Sac. He and Giannis are the only two players who’ve ever put up an arbitrarily chosen combination of Points, Rebounds, Assists and Threes:
The perfect symmetry of Sim Bhullar’s Per36 stats (3MP):
IT, the TS% model of consistency:
Sim was a big guy!
Either that or Shaq wasn’t such a big guy!
Yo mods, I can log in just fine on my phone but can’t via my laptop. Any ideas?
Ok this is weird, I can log in through Firefox, but not Chrome. I cleared my cache but still no luck.
Weird, I’ll send the feedback over. Looks like a few people have been having issues logging in.
I just logged in through Chrome. But the comments are weird.
This is great; and depressing at the same time. Great article, bad basketball team.
You did good, Rob.
WCS the best player on the team? That seems like pure Folly!
Badge Legend