The Sacramento Kings finished the regular season as the third see in the Western Conference. Unfortunately, their postseason hopes didn't last long, as they lost to the Golden State Warriors. Nonetheless, the Kings entered free agency with their eyes set on a few players.

They were involved in rumors regarding Draymond Green, although he returned to the Warriors. The Kings had also been linked to Kyle Kuzma before he signed a hefty contract with the Washington Wizards. They ended up bringing back Harrison Barnes and Domantas Sabonis on new extensions, both of which made sense for the team.

So, they didn't make any major splashes in NBA free agency, at least up until this point. Still, there is one big mistake they made, and it involves Domantas Sabonis.

Kings competing against themselves for Domantas Sabonis extension

The Kings were essentially always going to work on an extension for Sabonis after he came over in the Tyrese Haliburton blockbuster trade. He finished this past season averaging 19.1 PPG with 12.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists on 61 percent shooting from the field. The 27-year-old and former Gonzaga star has been the perfect running mate for De'Aaron Fox, and there was no secret they wanted to keep Sabonis in town.

They signed Sabonis to a five-year extension worth $217 million, which is a ton of money for anybody in the NBA. Is he worth it? He definitely can be and has proven to be since coming over from the Indiana Pacers.

So, why is this a mistake? Well, there are a few reasons. For starters, signing a 27-year-old to a five-year deal that pays him $200 million over the next half-decade is a ton of money to commit. Moreover, who knows what the market value would've been like for Sabonis if he did eventually enter free agency?

On the other hand, the Memphis Grizzlies inked Desmond Bane to a huge contract around the same amount as Sabonis, so that appears to be the way the NBA is trending.

The fit in Sacramento is obvious, and the Fox-Sabonis pairing has been terrific and they were both named to the All-NBA team. He also averaged 16.4 PPG in the seven-game series against the Warriors, so that's good news. Another issue is the injury history for Sabonis. This past season, he did play in 79 regular season contests and all seven postseason games.

Prior to that, he missed quite a bit of time with injuries. Sabonis played in a total of 62 games in each of the three seasons prior to that, so missing 20 games a year isn't exactly what you want from a player making that much money and that carries that giant impact on the floor.

Now, it is worth noting that Sabonis decided not to take all of the money that he could have and took somewhat of a discount, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:

‘Sabonis, 27, isn't taking the full money available to him. He discussed with the Kings' leadership his desire to prioritize the franchise's roster-building flexibility over fully maximizing his earnings, team officials told ESPN.'

So, in theory, this Sabonis deal could have been even larger. All in all, there is no denying that Domantas Sabonis is a terrific player and deserved a heavy payday. But, the Kings essentially shut the door on any other free agency options and have gone all-in on a Fox-Sabonis pairing as they try and make a run in the loaded Western Conference. It will be interesting to see if this move worked out for Sacramento, but adding an All-NBA player was an obvious choice, even if there are some question marks behind the deal.