Let’s cut Monte some slack

Patience is not a particular strong suit for this fanbase, and for good reason.

For 16 long years we watched and waited as the Sacramento Kings franchise toiled in the abyss, failing to grasp multiple lifelines (see our draft history from 2009-2018 if you dare) and at times facing actual extinction.  Recently though, the team has taken a turn for the better under the stewardship of General Manager Monte McNair and company.  The Kings added Domantas Sabonis in a blockbuster trade that sent out Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield, traded for Kevin Huerter, signed Malik Monk and drafted Keegan Murray.  Sacramento took the defending champions to seven games in their first ever playoff series and the fanbase was on cloud nine.

To say this last season didn’t nearly match the highs of the season before is an understatement. After a flurry of activity the year before, the Kings largely stood pat last offseason, re-signing Harrison Barnes and adding Sasha Vezenkov and JaVale McGee.  Sacramento’s first round draft pick was traded to Dallas to salary dump Richaun Holmes. Meanwhile, the Western Conference as a whole seemed to get a lot better, and that continued throughout the season.  While the Kings were still a good team, the competition was far stiffer and Sacramento was no longer a surprise.  The Kings had multiple inexplicable losses against bad teams, and when the trade deadline came, the Kings stayed quiet, not finding a deal that made sense.  To make matters worse, other teams in the West did make moves that made them significantly better: one of them, the Dallas Mavericks, ended up vaulting the Kings in the standings after trading for PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford, and even ended up all the way in the NBA Finals.  But worst of all, the Kings failed to make the playoffs, a sour note on an otherwise decent season record wise.

Success isn’t linear, but for the Kings to be once again left on the outside looking in was a tough pill to swallow.  This team showed last season that there are serious holes, especially in terms of length across the board.  That was one of the biggest reasons the Kings struggled so much against the team that eventually ended their season, the New Orleans Pelicans; New Orleans was able to matchup well with the Kings across the board, while the Kings didn’t really have an answer for the physicality & length the Pelicans brought to the table.  So this was always going to be a big offseason for Monte McNair to address some of those issues and take a swing after staying relatively quiet since the flurry of activity in 2022.

McNair’s first move of the offseason was an absolute home-run; getting a commitment from Malik Monk to a 4 year, $78 million deal before the draft and free agency was huge.  Monk has been one of Sacramento’s best players over the last two seasons, and the Kings were unlikely to find a replacement for him on the free agent market.  The Kings likely would have been outbid in the open market since they were capped on what they could offer, but Monk opted to stay in Sacramento where he has thrived.  Many (myself included) thought it was a foregone conclusion that Monk would be off to secure a rightfully earned payday, but in the end he chose to stay and that’s a testament to the culture Monte McNair, Mike Brown and the organization have built over the last couple of years.

With Monk’s re-signing out of the way, the Kings could now look forward to optimizing their roster.  Missing the playoffs came with one small perk in that the Kings ended up keeping their draft pick, and it was heavily reported that Sacramento was shopping that pick in search of another rotation piece.  Word broke shortly before the draft that the Kings had been in the running for guard Alex Caruso with that pick, but the Chicago Bulls instead opted to trade Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Josh Giddey.  On its face, that’s a better trade for the Bulls than a late lottery pick in what was widely considered one of the worst drafts in recent memory, but it still stung to once again hear the Kings narrowly miss out on a big trade.

Then the draft came and the Kings opted to keep the pick.  Were they taking a wing or frontcourt player to fix their size issue? Nope, they took a 6’2 guard on a roster whose greatest depth is at guard.  Now, that young guard in question, Devin Carter, has a ridiculous 6’9 wingspan and incredible athleticism, but it was still a weird fit despite many draft pundits considering Carter the best prospect available when the Kings drafted.  That fit became a bit clearer the next day when the Kings salary dumped Davion Mitchell and Sasha Vezenkov to the Raptors along with two second round picks but again, that wasn’t a move that made the roster itself any better.

Now, a week after the draft and several days into free agency, the Kings have still stood fast.  They’ve been linked to many names: Kyle Kuzma, Zach LaVine, Brandon Ingram, Lauri Markkanen, Paul George, and DeMar DeRozan among others, but the Kings haven’t done anything aside from bringing back Alex Len.  Wings like Derrick Jones Jr. and Naji Marshall have gone to other Western contenders, and the free agent market is drying up quickly as many in Kings fandom wonder: What exactly is Monte McNair doing?

I definitely get the frustrations in not seeing the team make a big move, but I also think Monte McNair has an incredibly hard job trying to find a concrete upgrade for this team.  Sacramento’s list of assets is not large after years of mismanagement.  Perhaps the team’s biggest asset, Keegan Murray, doesn’t seem to be on the table and likely shouldn’t be unless in play for a legitimate star.  Their next best asset (aside from Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox) is Keon Ellis, who despite breaking out last season only has about 20 solid games on his resumé.  Because of Sacramento’s owed pick to Atlanta and the Stepien rule that prohibits teams from trading picks in back to back years, the Kings have to do some shenanigans to free up draft capital.  The first unencumbered pick the Kings could offer is their 2027 first rounder.

The move that Monte makes now is likely to be one of the last big moves this team can make for a while unless they trade a core member simply because it will likely use up most of our immediate assets.  That’s a big deal, and not something to rush, so I understand why Monte wants to keep some bullets in the chamber until absolutely necessary.  The Kings are also only really shopping Kevin Huerter and Harrison Barnes, who are fine players, but not the kind that makes teams swoon trying to get and are more about salary matching than anything else.  Sacramento also has to factor in future extensions for De’Aaron Fox & Keegan Murray (and maybe any player they trade for that will be in need of one like Brandon Ingram) with new salary cap rules that really restrict what a team can do at a certain payroll level. There’s a lot to weigh here and taking the wrong deal could hamstring the Kings for years.

So yeah, it sucks seeing reports of all these moves being made and not seeing Sacramento’s name come up, but I would at least urge just a little bit more patience before completely freaking out.  We’re not even one week into free agency and there are already those calling for McNair’s head for not making a move.  That’s a bit harsh in my opinion with plenty of options still available to us. Now if days become weeks and months and we still haven’t seen any moves, then I’ll be right there with you busting out my trusty old pitchfork and torch outside Golden 1.  But this front office has done enough to earn some grace.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to check Adrian Wojnarowski’s twitter feed to see if I reverse jinxed the Kings to make a move while I wrote 1300 words about them not making one.