Sacramento Kings: Could we see any Kings make the All-Star Game?

The Sacramento Kings have one of their best rosters in recent memory. But could any of their promising players make it to the All-Star Game this season?

The Sacramento Kings aren’t exactly a franchise that is known for producing regular All-Star Game representatives. In fact, since the 2004-2005 season, the Kings have had exactly one player make an All-Star appearance.

That player is former center DeMarcus Cousins.

Cousins did manage to make three All-Star Games during his time in Sacramento with his most recent being back in the 2016-17 season — his final year with the Kings. But for most of the mid-2000s to the present day, the Kings have struggled to produce All-Star-caliber talent.

Fortunately, things are finally looking up for Kings basketball.

Sacramento seemingly has one of their most complete rosters in quite some time. The team doesn’t have any superstars just yet, but from top to bottom they have one of the deepest rosters in the Western Conference and have a young core that could lead them for years to come.

Optimism has finally returned to Sacramento for the first time in what feels like forever. And we’re not talking about the optimism surrounding a top-five pick in the NBA Draft.

We’re talking about optimism surrounding a possible playoff appearance.

But to do so, the Kings are going to need their players to step up to compete in the newly revamped Western Conference. There will steep competition with teams vying for postseason contention.

And as a result, expect there to be plenty of competition when it comes to the All-Star Game. While the All-Star Game rosters are no longer divided up by conference, the initial voting process still relies on such a divide.

As such, it will be harder for Kings players to stand out — especially given the team’s lackluster recent reputation. However, if the team were to send one player to the All-Star Game, which player would that be?

Most would likely answer that question with budding star point guard De’Aaron Fox.

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Fox broke out last season after a disappointing rookie campaign averaging 17.3 points and 7.3 assists in 31.4 minutes per game. Not quite All-Star figures, but still some pretty impressive numbers.

Could Fox take another major leap forward and make his first All-Star appearance next season? It’s certainly feasible, albeit a bit unlikely. But just the fact that this is even in the conversation at all is incredible given his lackluster rookie season.

Personally, I don’t think anybody thought we’d be talking about Fox as a potential All-Star just two years after his 2017-18 campaign.

At just 21-years-old, Fox is far from reaching his ceiling and he likely won’t get to that point for another few years meaning that the sky’s the limit for the former Kentucky standout. But perhaps he could reach his potential a little sooner than we all thought.

If not Fox, another dark horse All-star candidate could be Buddy Hield. However, Hield will need to work on becoming a more well-rounded player before he’s considered among such company.

The Oklahoma product reached the elusive 20-point-per-game mark last season which is a big first step, but the other areas of his game need to come along as well. While not a liability defensively, Hield could certainly use some refinement with his technique.

And on offense, he’s pretty much pigeonholed as a straight-up shooter which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn’t help him out in the eyes of All-Star voters.

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It would be highly unlikely to see either Harrison Barnes or Dewayne Dedmon receive enough national attention to warrant an All-Star appearance. To do so they would need to completely exceed all of their previous career highs and manage to become centerpieces on the Kings’ roster.

While both are crucial parts of the team, they aren’t All-Stars nor are they centerpieces.

And perhaps the young Marvin Bagley could reach that point one day, but it’s extremely unlikely that he takes that big of a leap forward in his second NBA season.

If any Kings player is to make it this season, it’s going to be Fox. However, he’ll certainly have the elements working against him.

National media bias, steep competition, and a focus on team basketball in Sacramento are all things that could prevent Fox from reaching that point this season.

Perhaps Fox will be more concerned with getting the Sacramento Kings to the postseason for the first time in well over a decade.

But that doesn’t mean it still isn’t fun to ponder about stats and accolades — as meaningless as they could be at the end of the day.