Before the 2018-19 NBA season started, most people expected the Sacramento Kings to be one of the worst NBA teams in the Western Conference. Aside from failing to acquire a legitimate NBA superstar in the last offseason, the Kings are mostly consisting of young players and still in the middle of a rebuilding process.
However, when the season officially began, the Kings exceeded the expectations and surprisingly performed better than teams who have at least one superstar on their roster. As of now, the Kings are sitting in the No. 9 spot in the Western Conference ahead of last season’s playoff contenders like the New Orleans Pelicans, San Antonio Spurs, Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz, and the Houston Rockets.
Some people are wondering why a rebuilding team like the Kings are trying to win games instead of tanking to strengthen their chance of acquiring a lottery pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. However, in a recent podcast, Brian Windhorst of ESPN explained that the Kings aren’t “incentivized to lose” since the Boston Celtics own their 2019 first-round pick. Windhorst revealed that the Kings are currently active on the trade market, searching for players that could help them compete for a playoff spot in the deep Western Conference.
“Sacramento is not incentivized to lose,” Windhorst said, as transcribed by Sam Amico of Amico Hoops . “If anything, Sacramento will be gunning to think they have a chance to make the playoffs. Sacramento is actually one of the teams I’ve heard is out there on the trade market looking to improve itself because they have no incentive to tank.”
Yahoo Sources: There’s growing discord between Sacramento Kings and Dave Joerger that could eventually lead to change. https://t.co/THzErzZt8D
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) November 18, 2018
Though they are aiming to enter the Western Conference Playoffs 2019, the Kings remain focused on the development of their young players like Buddy Hield, De’Aaron Fox, and Marvin Bagley III. Instead of making their young core available on the trading block, Amico revealed that the Kings are looking to move some of their veterans before the February NBA trade deadline.
“Kosta Koufos, Zach Randolph, and Ben McLemore are some of the names the Kings may be looking to move. Forward Nemanja Bjelica has reportedly been drawing interest, though it’s not known if the Kings would be open to trading him.”
Windhorst admitted that he still has no idea who the Kings plan to target on the trade market, but according to a previous report by Jason Jones of The Athletic , Sacramento is closely monitoring the situation in the Washington Wizards and could make a play for Otto Porter Jr.
