By Liam McKeone

Ah, the Sacramento Kings. They’re the perennial screw-up of the NBA family, somehow falling flat on their faces year after year, despite trying their very best to crawl out of the space they’ve inhabited at the bottom of the standings for 15 years now. It seemed their ineptitude peaked when they traded the only true star they’ve had since the pairing of Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic in the early 2000s: DeMarcus Cousins for Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway and two 2017 draft picks. At the time, it seemed like a classic Kings mistake, that they had again been fleeced for the guy who was supposed to be their franchise savior. Add in the extensive promises general manager Vlad Divac made about not trading Cousins in the weeks leading up to the trade and it seemed like the “dumpster fire” status quo would prevail in Sac-Town.

Flash forward a year later, and things look…. not as bad? Is it possible? Do Kings fans have something to look forward to besides another year of missed draft picks and poor free-agent signings? Well, they just might. The Kings’ front office continued to baffle everyone with their free agent signings over last summer, picking up three motivated vets in George Hill, Zach Randolph and Vince Carter. Their veteran presence is important for a roster as young as Sacramento’s. But they were taking valuable playing time away from their top prospects, most notably DeAaron Fox, selected fifth overall in last year’s draft. Fortunately for Kings fans, the front office finally came to their senses and traded away Hill while giving more playing time overall to their young guys all over the roster. They have fully committed to tanking for a top pick in this year’s draft, which is their only path to relevance, especially since their pick in 2019 belongs to the Celtics (unless it ends up being the No. 1 overall pick).

For the last month and a half of basketball, the progression of the young players is the only aspect of the team worth watching for Kings fans. So far, the results have been encouraging. Fox still can’t shoot threes all too well, but he’s been putting his athleticism to good use on defense and is a force in transition thanks to his blinding speed. Hield, the prize haul from the Cousins trade, hasn’t been the second coming of Steph Curry as Divac claimed, but he’s been able to space the floor by shooting over 40% from three all year, and has occasionally flashed the natural scoring ability that made him the sixth overall pick in the 2016 draft.
The real prize of the season thus far, however, has been the rise of Bogdan Bogdanovic. Besides having an awesome name, the Serbian shooting guard has been showcasing an efficient and effective offensive game since the All-Star break, as he’s been granted the keys to the offensive with Hill gone and Fox continuing to struggle with his jumper. At 25, he’s a bit older than Hield and a lot older than Fox, but he’s a polished offensive role player with the potential to become a great scorer in the league. It has been a long dark age for Kings fans, but with the development coming this year and a (hopefully) top-five pick in a loaded draft this offseason, they might finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.