Mid-Season Report Card: Kings

The Kings are performing in 10-game stretches. Each time, they flip from good to bad. They might be sellers for this year's deadline.

Sacramento will lure you in... Don't fall for it

The Kings are the second-most confusing team in the NBA behind New Orleans. They started off hot, cooled off tremendously, got hot again, cooled off once more. Why? Short answer: defense. Much like the Pelicans, they are at the bottom of the league in defense, 29th to be exact. While they can score pretty well with their offensive firepower in the likes of Fox, Barnes, and Hield, they can't guard anyone.

If they are able to put together a second-half surge, I'd recommend looking the other way until they come back down to Earth. They're not beating anyone in a first round series if they get out of the play-in tournament, which already seems super unlikely.

Talent

De'Aaron Fox is a wondrous young star who plays at an insane speed and handle. He can certainly be the leader of this team and should by all means be an all-star soon. Tyrese Haliburton is talked about a lot because of his intelligence and all-around game. He seems to have a long career ahead of him that will resemble that of an Andre Iguodala or Tony Allen. Buddy Hield provides great shooting ability, but ultimately should be shopped before the trade deadline as he may be taking away from Haliburton's minutes.

Bagley has had his fair share of drama this season, but provides solid numbers and is only going to get better. Their young talent seems immense, but they are kept together by none other than 2021 fantasy basketball legend Harrison Barnes, who is having an incredible under-the-radar season for Sacramento, and you have to expect that they are taking calls on him for potential trades.

Future

Give them a few years, maybe they can finally make it back to the playoffs for the first time since 2006 (not a typo). For what it's worth, in 2018-19 they had a better record than the Lakers, who won the title the next year. Maybe their time is coming, but I don't foresee any free agent looking to move to Sac-Town. Sorry Kings fans.

Grade

D