Why the Sacramento Kings are an attractive free agent destination

After years of being one of the most undesirable destinations for NBA free agents, the Sacramento Kings are finally an appealing option around the league.

Long seen as the basement franchise of the NBA — a place where esteemed careers go to perish and promising ones are squandered — the Sacramento Kings have worked hard to shed their unfortunate label.

While the entire “culture change” ideology might be a little drawn out in the world of sports, it’s clear that that’s exactly what we’ve witnessed with the Kings over the last two years. A franchise long associated with losing and incompetence has finally started to turn the proverbial corner.

It all started when the team decided to bite the bullet and trade away star center DeMarcus Cousins, a player who had been the face of the franchise for over half a decade. The only problem was that his brand wasn’t the image they were looking to establish.

Cousins grew tired of Sacramento’s perpetual losing and toxic environment and the Kings finally decided that it was time to move on. It signaled a changing of the guards for the Kings — a complete rebuild was soon to be underway.

For a franchise that had failed to win for years even with the presence of Cousins, optimism was undoubtedly tempered. But little did fans know that the winds of change were about to sweep through a Kings organization that was desperate for any glimmer of positivity.

Buddy Hield, acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans in the Cousins deal, began to emerge as one of the best shooters in the NBA. Then there was electric point guard De’Aaron Fox who broke out in his sophomore professional season as one of the most exciting, dynamic playmakers in the league.

Of course, there was also promising big man Marvin Bagley. While Bagley didn’t start during his rookie season, his up-tempo bombastic style of offense provided plenty of hope for a breakout campaign in his first year as a starter the following season.

Suddenly, an aura of hope surrounded the Kings franchise.

The reputation garnered by General Manager Vlade Divac began to change. In fact, the reputation of the entire Kings organization began to change.

And that’s where we currently sit today. The Kings are viewed around the league as one of the most exciting, young, up-and-coming teams in the entire NBA. While they’re still a superstar or two away from being true championship contenders, it’s clear that there’s a solid foundation here.

And a foundation is the most important part of attracting said superstars.

Reputations are always changing, but the longer a reputation remains unaltered, the harder it is to eventually shed it. Unfortunately, that’s something the Kings might have to deal with this offseason.

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There are certainly more attractive destinations out there. After all, it’s not as if Sacramento is or ever will be a big-market city. This isn’t New York and it certainly isn’t Los Angeles. But for once, the Kings have the stuff that they can control locked down.

They’re a young, fun, and exciting franchise that is quickly on the rise. Their young core of Hield, Fox, Bagley will continue to improve especially with the latter two aged 21 and 20 respectively.  And with the right superstar in place, this is a team that could go from a playoff contender to a championship contender in the timespan of one offseason.

Now, it’s all about acquiring that superstar.

It’s unlikely a player like Kevin Durant finds his way to Sacramento and ditto for someone like Kawhi Leonard. But could the team land someone in the next tier of talent like Tobias Harris or even Jimmy Butler?

At the beginning of the 2018-19 season, the answer would have been a resounding “no” — not without the help of a truckload of money, of course. But after a near-40-win surprise of a season, the Kings are among the most desirable free agent destinations in the entire NBA.

The future has the potential to be exceedingly bright for the Kings. Now, it’s all about flipping on the light switch.

Fortunately, this offseason they have the money and the will to pay their electric bill.