The Sacramento Kings have gotten more mileage out of their recent drafts, but that only throws the old misses into sharper relief. For years, this was a team that seemed to find new ways to whiff on prime draft chances, and the scars are still easy to spot. Scott Perry appears to be doing a better job than the people who came before him, but the earlier decisions left a long trail of what-ifs.
The biggest pain points, unsurprisingly, come from the 2018 NBA Draft. Sacramento held the second pick and still managed to come away without the player who became the class’s defining star. That draft also produced another painful miss later in the first round, which is why it keeps hanging over the franchise.
At the top of the list is the one that hurts the most: Luka Doncic and Trae Young. Young went fifth overall to the Mavericks and was then traded on draft night to the Hawks for Doncic.
The Kings sat at No. 2 and had a real chance to take either player. Instead, they chose Marvin Bagley III because then general manager Vlade Divac thought he was the best choice to hang around.
Bagley left Sacramento in 2022.
Another brutal miss came seven years earlier with Kawhi Leonard. Sacramento had the seventh pick in 2011 and used it on Bismack Biyombo, then moved him to the Bobcats in a three-team trade that brought back Jimmer Fredette from the Bucks.
Leonard, meanwhile, went a few picks later at No. 15.
That one still stings.
The Kings also let Damian Lillard slip away in 2012. Sacramento picked fifth that year and took Thomas Robinson instead, while Lillard went sixth to Portland. Robinson was traded before the end of his rookie season after being suspended, played for six NBA teams in five seasons, and has since built an international career.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is another 2018 miss that looks worse with every passing season. He went 11th overall, and while nobody was labeling him a future NBA Champion and two-time MVP at the time, his talent and upside were there to see. The Kings, along with a few other teams, passed anyway.
Jalen Brunson rounds out the list. Dallas grabbed him 33rd overall, making him the third pick of the second round in 2018.
Plenty of teams overlooked him because he was seen as an undersized point guard, but that evaluation has aged badly. Sacramento was one of the teams that let him get by, and now that choice sits in the pile of draft regrets.
In Other News...
Kings Just Made Their Long Term Roster Priorities Clear
The Kings seem to have drawn a fairly clear line around their young core as the front office weighs any future roster changes. Keegan Murray, Maxime Raynaud and Darius Acuff Jr. are all viewed as players Sacramento is unlikely to put on the market, a sign the team is leaning toward patience with the group it believes can shape the next phase of the roster.
For Murray, the hold-up is about seeing more offensive growth before the organization even entertains bigger decisions. Raynaud is already being viewed as a long-term answer at center, while Acuff Jr. has given the Kings enough confidence to project him as a future franchise point guard. If Sacramento does make a move, the emphasis appears to be on veterans, not the younger players the franchise is trying to build around. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves Interest In Jonathan Kuminga Just Hit A Serious Roadblock
Jonathan Kumingas market has started to separate into clear tiers, and the Kings are sitting in the lower one. Sacramento has shown interest in the restricted free agent forward, but only at the veterans minimum, a level that tells you more about where the team is than where Kuminga sees himself. Around the league, the Lakers have reportedly made the most aggressive push with a sign-and-trade framework worth about $45 million, while Cleveland has already pivoted toward Peyton Watson as another option.
For Sacramento, the bigger issue is that Kuminga is not looking for a one-year prove-it deal at that salary. That leaves the Kings in a familiar spot in free agency, trying to compete for a young player with upside without stepping into the kind of financial commitment that would change their roster plans. Unless that stance changes, the gap between what Sacramento wants to offer and what Kuminga is willing to consider is likely to keep this chase from going anywhere. [Read more 🡒]