There may not be a better environment in the NBA than a close game in Golden 1 Center. The Sacramento Kings faithful have remained loyal through thick and thin, which is why the last two seasons have been very rewarding for them. After winning 48 games and putting an end to a playoff drought that started after 2006, the Kings won a total of 46 games this past season. Unfortunately, that was not good enough to make the playoffs in a loaded Western Conference. That is why Sacramento was forced to come up with a great plan for free agency.
Monte McNair and the Kings front office have done a superb job of flipping this roster around in recent years to build a real contender around De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis. Bringing back Malik Monk on a new four-year contract was huge, but the Kings still faced other challenges in order to add more scoring depth.
After finishing the 2022-23 season ranked first in offensive rating, Mike Brown's group took a step back this past season, ranking 13th in offensive rating. Even though they were still a formidable foe offensively, the Kings needed to bring in another big-time scorer either by way of a trade or in free agency. McNair and the Kings achieved this by adding six-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan.
On the verge of his 35th birthday, DeRozan now joins Fox to create what may be the best closing duo in the league. These two stars have ranked among the best clutch-time performers in the NBA over the last two seasons, which is why the addition of DeRozan is being overlooked.
Still, the Kings had other needs entering free agency that they sacrificed in order to bring in DeRozan. More specifically, the Kings chose DeRozan over adding more guard help, which could come back to be a major mistake.
Kings lacking backcourt depth?
What happens if De'Aaron Fox gets hurt? This isn't a scenario that the Kings and their fans want to think about, but teams around the league always need to have contingency plans in place just in case their star player gets injured.
The Kings currently have 13 players signed for the 2024-25 season. There is still time for the Kings to address this issue, but their overall lack of backcourt depth is concerning. To make matters worse, Sacramento didn't really add talent to their backcourt during free agency.
Monk is a great player. He has proven to be a dependable shooter from the perimeter in big moments, and he was in the running for Sixth Man of the Year each of the last two seasons. The fact that Monk averaged a career-high 5.1 assists per game off the bench last season also proves that he has the capability to help facilitate an offense.
The main problem is that in the event that Fox goes down, all the weight of the backcourt falls on the shoulders of Monk and Jordan McLaughlin, who the team signed from the Minnesota Timberwolves in free agency. While McLaughlin is a very solid backup option, it is hard to envision the Kings leaning on him if things went south. Sacramento no longer has Davion Mitchell to lean on either after trading him to the Toronto Raptors.
If Fox was to get hurt and miss time, Monk, Sabonis, and DeRozan would be the three players who facilitate the Kings' offense. Is that good enough to enter the 2024-25 season, especially given how competitive the West is? Perhaps we are reading a little bit too much into this, but with rookie Devin Carter likely to miss the whole year with a shoulder injury, the Kings seem like a team that could really benefit from adding an experienced guard to their bench.
Markelle Fultz, Dennis Smith Jr., Patty Mills, and even Isaiah Thomas are still seeking new opportunities as free agents, so maybe it wouldn't be the worst idea in the world for the Kings to consider adding one of these four veterans. At this point, it seems like the Kings' lack of backcourt depth is just a product of their offseason moves being incomplete rather than a major mistake they made.
DeMar DeRozan's impact
There is no doubt that DeRozan is going to take pressure off both Fox and Sabonis when the 2024-25 season begins for the Kings. With the Chicago Bulls over the last few seasons, DeRozan always assumed the responsibility of being the first line of attack for his team. While that role obviously changes with the Kings being Fox's team, DeRozan is still going to carry a high usage rate, which will allow for Kevin Huerter and Keegan Murray to do what they do best, being catch-and-shoot threats off the ball.
Another overlooked aspect of DeRozan's addition to Sacramento is the fact that he has averaged 5.1 assists per game over the last three seasons in Chicago. The veteran being a secondary playmaker who can bring the ball up the court makes things a lot easier for Mike Brown as a coach, especially given that DeRozan can go for 20-plus points on any given night.
This may be another reason why the Kings did not feel it was necessary to go out and spend money on a backup guard in free agency. After all, having DeRozan and Sabonis on the floor together gives the Kings enough experience and basketball IQ to surround the two stars with secondary shooting options.
DeRozan joining the Kings has been the most critiqued move made by any NBA team during free agency this offseason. Although he is a great player, DeRozan is nearing the final years of his career, and now Sacramento is committed to him through the 2026-27 season on a $73 million contract.
If things go terribly wrong, this will end up being a franchise-altering mistake for the Kings. However, the upside DeRozan presents as a passer, scorer, and all-around leader, given his experiences in this league, fills a major hole the Kings had. Even without a clear answer as to what their depth looks like behind Fox, DeRozan's arrival aids the Kings in other areas.
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