Light the beam Sacramento you deserve it. After a 16 year long NBA playoff drought the Kings have not only finally made it, but also have taken a 2-0 lead over the defending champions, the Golden State Warriors. If you had told anybody this a year ago they would’ve called you insane. The Kings last season had decided to trade up and coming star Tyrese Haliburton for Domantas Sabonis, hoping he’d be a better fit alongside De’Aaron Fox. They didn't get the results they would hope for and close the season 10-15 after the trade. This would leave the Kings finishing the season 30-52 placing them 12th in the Western Conference and last in their division. Yet another disappointing and uncompetitive season. A lot of work would have to be done by the front office to help this team even compete. Well they would do that and even more.
The Kings front office would go on to nail just about every decision they made. They hired Warriors assistant head coach Mike Brown as their head coach. This was an amazing decision. Brown has been a part of some amazing teams and coaching staffs, including the Warriors during their dynasty and was even a member of the early 2000s Spurs teams. He’s coached the likes of LeBron, Kobe, and Stephen Curry. Coach Brown would come into a team with low expectations and would go on to not only bring them to the playoffs, but also win the NBCA Coach of the Year Award. Coach Brown doesn’t get all the credit though, the Kings first round pick Keegan Murray came in and helped contribute to the team’s winning. He would go on to average 12.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assist over the course of 80 games while also shooting 45% from the field and 41% from three. Keegan also set the rookie record for threes in a season with 206, surpassing Donovan Mitchell's record of 187. The rookie wouldn’t be the only new addition to the team. The Kings would also trade for Kevin Huerter from the Atlanta Hawks and sign Malik Monk in free agency. Both of these players are essential to the Kings high powered offense. Huerter helped space the floor and shot 40% from three on the season. Monk has provided a spark off the bench and has elevated his game in the playoffs going from 13 points a game to 25. In game one of the playoffs he would finish with 32 points off the bench making him and De’Aaron Fox the second pair of college teammates to go on to score 30 points in a playoff game, joining Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.
As great as all these moves were, they alone are not the reason for Sacramento finishing as the third seed this year. De’Aaron Fox improved his game all around seeing small increases in his stats across the board and improving his efficiency from the field to 51% after being at 47% last year. His percentage from three also saw an increase from 29% to 32%. De’Aaron Fox was also the personification of clutch this year and would go on to win the first ever Clutch Player of the Year award. Fox went on to average 55 points per 100 possessions in the clutch on 52.9% from the field. Fox alone was amazing, but the Kings had another All-Star this year in Domantas Sabonis. Sabonis had a dominant year in his first full season with the Kings. He went on to average 19 points,a league leading 12 rebounds, and 7 assist per game this year all while shooting an absurd 61.5% from the field.
The Kings went on an amazing run this year that no one saw coming. They went from near the very bottom of the Western Conference all the way to a top 3 seed and improved their win total from 30 last year all the way to 48 this year. This run isn’t over either as they continue to try and keep the beam lit throughout the playoffs on a hopeful NBA Finals run that no one could have predicted. The Kings run makes you think, which NBA team at the bottom of the standings right now could climb the ladder as quickly as the Kings did this year.