The NBA commissioner launched a crackdown on alleged tanking going on across the league. How does this impact the Kings?
Slamming and three-point shooting weren't the lone topics during NBA All-Star Game weekend. So was "tanking," which entered the fore front of the league office before the festivities inside the Intuit Dome.
And the Sacramento Kings have become sprinkled into the discussion.
Sacramento sits at a league-worst 12-44 overall at the break. Fans and analysts have ripped into head coach Doug Christie for his rotational vision among his players.
The logjam sparked additional theories of tanking going on with the Kings -- especially in the race to land the NBA's top draft pick on May 10 through the league's lottery.
Commissioner Adam Silver threw down the hammer at the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers already by instituting fines back on Thursday. Both franchises are positioned to land inside the top five of June's draft.
But are the Kings being accused of such a practice? Even local media members in Sacramento weighed in on the discussion.
"You’re concerned about tanking. But at the end of the day, what the fan base wants is for their team to be good, play at a high level, and have a legitimate shot to compete," said NBC Sports California Kayte Christensen on The Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross.
However, Sacramento's market enters the picture here too.
"If you’re going to talk about tanking, then you should probably talk about market size,” Christensen explained. “There are some teams in this league that never have to worry about tanking because they’re such a draw for free agents. They have an advantage that the majority of the other teams do not.”
Sacramento indeed isn't exactly an attractive "big city" destination for prized free agent. The team landed an aging Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan. But missed on landing Ja Morant via the NBA Trade Deadline.
All the more reason taking in draft picks looks like the best move -- which general manager Scott Perry acknowledged to reporters on Feb. 6.
"Draft capital is extremely important. This is a big draft for us coming up,” Perry said. “Maybe the silver lining is that we get a high enough pick to get a difference-maker when the time comes.”
Perry could be targeting AJ Dybantsa of BYU next. Dybantsa was in attendance for the Kings at Jazz game before the league's break -- sparking theories he'll eventually join the franchise.
The NBA hasn't hammered the Kings for tanking or even found legit proof the practice is being executed by Perry and Christie. Christensen, though, says "a lot of teams are doing it,” when it comes to purposely losing games.
"They’re trying to appease the league, but also say, ‘Hey, we’re trying to build something here, and we don’t have the same advantages as everyone else," Christensen said.
Join the Community! Don't miss out on our KINGS ROUNDTABLE community and the latest news! It's completely free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members.
Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected.