Last night’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies was a new low for the Kings this season. Not only was the 41 point margin the worst loss by any NBA team so far this season, the Kings managed to do it against a 4-11 Memphis team missing its two best players. Over their last eight games, all losses, the Kings have been outscored by 187 points, including four losses by 27 points or more. We knew the defense was going to be bad, and it is, but the offense has been just as bad despite featuring a team full of players known only for their offense.
Even Coach Doug Christie has seemingly lost his fire. Not even four games after his fiery tirade following the loss at home to the Atlanta Hawks, his postgame press conference after an even worse loss to the Grizzlies was far tamer. Maybe he realizes that this team as currently constructed is a lost cause, and there’s only so much energy left to give for a bunch of players that probably won’t finish out the year with this team. I shudder to think what the atmosphere at Golden 1 Center might be should this type of play continue when the team gets home next week (and immediately has to play the Minnesota Timberwolves yet again).
There’s no magical elixir that is going to fix this team. Coaches, players and even fans all seem to just be waiting for the next shoe to drop when this team makes an actual commitment to rebuilding, and that likely won’t be until December 15th when the trade market really starts to open up. But why should the Kings wait until then to make some major changes? What does playing DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Dennis Schröder really do for this team? If they’re not part of this team’s future, just don’t play them. Invest in the players that might be around for a while instead, or at least see what you might have in them. Throw them into the fire, because at this point what is there to lose? It’s not like these veterans are building trade value or setting good examples for the young players. If anything it’s the other way around, as the team oftentimes only plays more energetically when the young guys are in the game.
I want to see what Nique Clifford can do with more responsibility and initiative. I want to see if Maxime Raynaud can hang with NBA guys. I want to see Keegan Murray given the reins and utilized as a primary scoring option instead of simply being asked to be the glue guy. I want to see if Devin Carter can develop into something before the Kings give up on yet another draft pick. And my god, do I not want to see Keon Ellis languishing on the bench, game after game.
I don’t care about seeing DeMar DeRozan hit another midrange jumper after dribbling the ball for 20 seconds. I don’t care that Russell Westbrook just got his 10,000th assist. I don’t care how many meaningless points Zach LaVine scores in a 30 point blowout loss.
Bad teams can still be interesting. Bad teams can still be fun. This team right now is neither, and it’s excruciating to think about the fact that there are still 66 more of these games. What’s even worse is not truly knowing what the Kings will do. Any sane team would be seeking to blow this up as soon as they could. But I could just as equally see the Kings pivoting and using more assets to acquire a LaMelo Ball or Ja Morant and think that will be their panacea. Kings fans have seen and heard it all, and at this point there’s no trust between this fanbase and organization that things can get better.
I’d say this is rock bottom but if there’s one thing we’ve learned about the Sacramento Kings over the years, it’s that they can always go deeper.