Sacramento Kings: How trading DeMarcus Cousins saved the Kings
The Sacramento Kings receive Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway, Tyreke Evans, a 2017 First-Round Pick, and a 2017 Second-Round Pick
Moving Cousins was the proverbial waving of a white flag for the Sacramento Kings, signaling a shifted season focus toward tanking and the first steps of a complete rebuild.
It’s no surprise that removing Cousins from the Kings would completely recreate their offense; Cousins far and away led the team in usage percentage. The second most utilized player on the roster was Rudy Gay, who was putting together another decent season.
On January 17, 2017 — a year and nine days before Boogie’s career-altering injury — Gay would rupture his left Achilles tendon. An ominous bit of irony, in retrospect.
At the time of the trade, the Kings were 24-33, good for the 9th seed and just 1.5 games back on the eighth-seeded Denver Nuggets. Let’s take a look at what they received.
Tyreke Evans (SG/SF)
As a result of this trade, Tyreke Evans would return to Kings for the second stint of his career, suiting up with Sacramento for the first time since 2013. Evans was once regarded as a promising young prospect for the Kings.
He even won the 2010 Rookie of the Year award — beating out some guy named Stephen Curry.
Unfortunately for Evans, that rookie season was one of his best, and he never fully realized his potential with the Kings or the Pelicans. Naturally more of a shooting guard, Evans’ ability was severely limited by being slotted in at the three instead.
This issue would be compounded by the influx of guards available on the roster to close out the 2016-2017 season for the Kings.
Evans would play just 14 of the last 25 games of the season for Sacramento, putting together averages of 11.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game as the most-utilized player on the post-Cousins Kings.
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When the season concluded, he would struggle to find a suitor in free agency and eventually sign with the Memphis Grizzlies.
In retrospect, Evans was likely a salary-dump by the Pelicans to help offset some of Cousins’ bulky contract. He filled a roster spot, but not much else. The Kings never had him in their long-term plans after seeing him suit up for a combined 271 games across five seasons.
Most recently, Evans was dismissed and disqualified from the NBA as the result of violating the NBA-NBPA anti-drug policy. He will serve his two-year suspension and be eligible for the 2021-2022 season if the NBA chooses to reinstate him.
He will be 31-years-old.
Langston Galloway (SG)
At the very least, Langston Galloway was going to get a decent chunk of playing time for Sacramento.
Minutes were up for grabs after the Kings wisely opted against keeping Matt Barnes who had recently been in the headlines for an altercation at a New York night club alongside — you guessed it — Demarcus Cousins.
An undersized shooting guard, Galloway put up below-average numbers but showed signs of a somewhat promising three-point stroke. In just 19 games with the Kings, he shot 47.5% from three but only 40% from the field.
After the season, Galloway opted out of a $5.4 million player option and signed with the Detroit Pistons on a three-year, $21 million contract.
Galloway has not shown signs of being much more than a fringe backup guard, however. Though he led the league in lowest turnover percentage last season, his minutes are being threatened by a cast of multiple guards with similar skillsets.
Buddy Hield (SG)
As soon as the deal was announced, Sacramento’s eyes turned to Buddy Hield who was immediately seen as the centerpiece in the return for Cousins. Hield was selected sixth overall in the 2016 draft and showed promise with the Pelicans before being nabbed by the Kings.
Upon joining the Kings, Hield began to quickly blossom as a premiere shooter that could score from virtually anywhere on the floor. He has one of the smoothest three-point strokes in the game, and he’s able to create off the dribble in addition to being your prototypical catch-and-shoot guard.
Sacramento Kings
Along with his offensive skillset, Hield has proven to be very durable, missing only two games in the last three seasons while averaging about thirty minutes a night. That’s been the absolute antithesis to Cousins in the same timeframe.
Last year, Hield put together an exceptional season, averaging 20.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.
He’s improved each year and has shown signs of being an elite three-point specialist that might find his way into the discussion of being one of the top guards in the Western Conference next season.
With the addition of Hield, Sacramento forms an impressive young backcourt that can be built around and developed moving forward. Hield has, in no way, shown hesitation to shoot the ball and has thrived as the Kings’ number one scoring option last season.
Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé has even gone on record saying that Hield has “Steph Curry potential.” If he’s right about that, I don’t think Kings fans could possibly be too upset about saying goodbye to Boogie.
The 26-year-old will be entering his fourth season and is under team control through the 2020-2021 season.
2017 First-Round Pick
The 2017 draft class was anticipated to be one of the most loaded in recent memory and the Kings were intent on acquiring draft flexibility despite a history of being almost completely inept in pinpointing key draft talents.
With the Pelicans scuffling down the stretch, the unprotected first-round pick turned into the 10th overall selection which the Sacramento Kings would use on Gonzaga’s Zach Collins. Collins was a toolsy center that could play at the four and showed decent enough shooting touch to handle the rock on the perimeter.
The same night he was drafted, however, Collins would be shipped off to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Justin Jackson (selected 15th overall) and Harry Giles (selected 20th overall).
Harry Giles is an imposing, young power forward with good hands and court awareness. He’s flourished in pick-and-rolls and has developed into a rim-runner that keeps defenses on their toes.
Giles has also showcased various post moves, including an impressive hook shot and dazzling behind-the-back passes to set up his teammates.
At just 21-years-old, Giles shows tremendous upside and remarkable quickness for someone his size.
Jackson is a small forward that has a good sense of how to create shots for himself and other teammates. He’s fairly slow-moving on the floor and has shown inconsistencies in his shot-making since debuting with the Kings at the age of 22.
While Jackson has shown upside as many young players do, his impact in Sacramento goes beyond what he offered on the court.
On February 7, 2019, Jackson was packaged with Zach Randolph in a trade that would land Harrison Barnes from Dallas. Z-Bo would promptly be waived and would not play a single game for the Mavericks.
Barnes offered a significant upgrade over Jackson and was a somewhat surprising win-now move for the Kings who lurked just outside the top eight seeds.
A defensive-minded small forward that had been widely regarded as being a positive influence on the young talent in Dallas, Barnes supplied a sort of veteran leadership that balanced with his ability to play in a faster offense.
In 28 games to close the season, Barnes put up the most efficient numbers of his career — averaging 16.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists for the season while shooting 45.5% from the field and 40.8% from deep.
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Though the Kings would ultimately fail to reach the postseason, they would be able to re-sign Barnes to a four-year extension. Like Hield, Barnes, who is entering his age 27 season, has proven to be durable throughout his career and figures to be a mainstay in the starting lineup for years to come.
2017 Second-Round Pick
With the 34th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, the Kings would select Frank Mason III, a talented young guard who would give another option for the Kings to consider for their backcourt.
Mason is undersized even relative to other point guards but has shown a high level of basketball IQ and ability to set up his teammates especially off of screen plays.
However, his shooting woes are hard to ignore; he shot just 21.9% from three-point range last season, one of the worst marks in the NBA.
Most recently, the Kings made the tough decision to waive Frank Mason III in favor of Yogi Ferrell, who showed slightly more consistency last season. Mason has since signed with the Milwaukee Bucks.