The Golden State Warriors winning the NBA Championship while featuring a smaller lineup was expected to send a message to the rest of the league in favor of the “small-ball” approach. Considering the way the offseason has unfolded to this point, it’s clear that most teams aren’t getting that message.
The Sacramento Kings in particular have loaded up on big men with a focus on the center position that has left some experts around the league absolutely puzzled. That’s nothing new, though, as the Kings are constantly befuddling the critics.
Here is our best attempt to make sense of what the Kings have done so far this offseason.
Keeping DeMarcus Cousins
This was the most obvious move and not by any means a bad thing as Sacramento decided to keep their All-Star center. The other option was to trade him and reports suggest that this is still in play. However, as of now, they’ve held on to him.
Originally, reports surfaced that head coach George Karl wanted the team to move him before the NBA Draft. The Kings had a bit of a power struggled but decided to keep their franchise centerpiece because he’s just 24 years old and is already one of the best players in the game. Is he a hot head at times? Yes. Do you ever want to trade away a talent like this until you’ve exhausted every single attempt at winning with him? No. That’s why the Kings opted to keep Cousins even though Karl wanted to go down a different road.
Drafting Willie Cauley-Stein
With Cousins locked in at center and Rudy Gay locked in on the wing, there was no doubt Sacramento had a major need at the guard and the power forward positions. So when they used their sixth overall pick to draft seven-foot center Willie Cauley-Stein, there was a lot of questions being asked about whether or not they had actually decided to part ways with Cousins. It’s hard to make sense of this move as Cauley-Stein isn’t known as a polished offensive weapon that can line up at the four and deliver consistent points. However, Cousins is a serious offensive threat, so the logic here is likely to play these guys side-by-side and take pressure off of Cousins at the defensive end.
Signing Kosta Koufos
When news broke that Sacramento had locked up free agent center Kosta Koufos to a four-year, $33 million deal that was fully guaranteed, it was clearly the most questionable of the team’s moves to that point. The Kings had already locked up Rajon Rondo and Marco Belinelli as free agents and probably should have been done there. But then they brought on Koufos as a third center and for a ton of money no less. Sacramento might have been better off using that money somewhere else but it is clear the franchise is putting a lot of stock in to the center position.
Making Sense Of What the Kings Are Up To
So we know what the Kings have done but the question is why? What’s the end game here? How I see, there are three options:
The first is that the Kings are preparing for a Cousins trade. We’ve all seen him be a coach killer so far in his time with Sacramento and it’s possible that they are fed up with him. That’s not likely the case right now but it is possible that he’s on his last straw. If Karl convinces ownership and management that Cousins is not in fact committed, then the Kings can trade him, get a handsome package and not have to worry about replacing him on the roster as they have two centers ready to go.
The second option is the Kings aren’t sure what they have in Cauley-Stein or don’t believe he’s ready right now. Sure, they used a top-five pick on him but who knows if he’s NBA-ready or if he’s going to be a quality contributor at any point. If that’s the case, the Kings still roll with Cousins as per usual but now they have Koufos to back him up when necessary.
The third option is that the Kings have no clue what they’re doing. That’s likely the case here because their franchise has been a circus for about a decade now. They have a coach who likes to run and gun, yet they have a roster heavily invested in centers. It makes no sense but that’s usually what the Kings do and that’s why they are still in the Western Conference basement.
