How Can The Sacramento Kings Make The Playoffs Next Season?
How far away are the Sacramento Kings from the playoffs? While it won’t happen this season, there’s going to be a ton of hype going into the 2019-20 campaign. What does Vlade Divac need to do? How do the Kings take the next step?
The one key for the off-season is to find a big man. Willie Cauley-Stein isn’t going to be back in Sacramento next year. Marvin Bagley and Harry Giles have shown they are more than capable of handling the 5 spot. Still, there needs to be a stable presence there. Dwayne Dedmon is a perfect fit for the roster.
Dedmon is a defensive extraordinaire. He’ll make much more of an impact than WCS. This also gives Bagley and Giles a bit of breathing room. Whether the coach (who should assume to be Dave Joerger) wants to start Dedmon at the 5 and Bagley at the 4, that would remain to be seen. Giles could come off the bench as the backup 5.
That brings us to the next step the Sacramento Kings must take, re-sign Harrison Barnes. If Bagley starts at the 4, and Dedmon starts at the 5, you’ll slide Barnes into his natural role at the 3. He’s much more efficient playing in that position. And for this season, Barnes has been sensational for Sacramento.
During his stay with the Kings, Barnes has averaged 14.6 points and 6.5 rebounds. Those numbers have been steadily increasing over the last two weeks. In addition, his defense has been exceptional. It would really hurt the Kings if they lost out on him to another team.
What certainly needs to happen this off-season, getting a backup point guard. De’Aaron Fox has made great strides this year, but he can’t play all 48 minutes. Yogi Farrell has been a solid contributor, although his defense isn’t where it should be.
If the Sacramento Kings are looking for a backup PG, they’d look for a defensive minded one, possibly someone with a bit of a scoring streak as well. Patrick Beverly comes to mind, but he’s probably not going to settle for a backup job. There are other soon to be free agent point guards that will be on the market, and Sacramento needs to consider all of them.
Lastly, Dave Joerger needs to remain coach. A lot can be said about his rotations and decision making, but look at what he’s done with this roster. There aren’t many coaches who could take a team from worst to almost making the playoffs. A lot of players have thrived this year under his coaching. It would be absurd to take him out of the role.
The Sacramento Kings aren’t far away. There has been a lot of talk as to what they will do in the off-season. All of these moves need to be made in order to improve the roster. Vlade Divac is a great General Manager, and
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Daniel is a guru of baseball and basketball prospects. He’s a very experienced Amusement Park traveler as well. Follow him and his hot takes on Insta @dgentleman9288
