Sacramento Kings' Young Core Shines in NBA Offseason Scrimmages

There were so many members of the Kings in the gym that they had two of the six teams competing against competition around the league. At the beginning of the video, you see the first Kings’ squad, comprised of Carter, Ellis, Clifford, Jones, and Eubanks, take on Randle’s squad, where they lit it up with some excellent passing and shooting. 

These runs are basically just pick-up basketball, so watching the Kings make extra passes to get their teammates easier looks is a welcome sight. Ellis, Carter, and Clifford manned the lead guard duties for the most part, and all showed a little bit of their ability to run the offense. Most importantly, all five guys looked really comfortable playing together. 

The second Kings squad didn’t get quite as much airtime, but that didn’t stop Raynaud and Plowden from making a few highlight plays. There was even a game where both Kings’ squads got to match up against each other as a preview of how practices will look in season. 

The impact of summer pick-up runs

The summer is essential to NBA players, especially younger ones who haven’t seen much (or any) time on the floor. In years prior, guys like Pascal Siakam, Davion Mitchell, Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Russell Westbrook, Klay Thompson, Scottie Barnes, and Cade Cunningham used Rico’s scrimmages as a chance to take their games to another level. Even James Harden played last year, which is a testament to the value of these offseason scrimmages.

With Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Dennis Schroder, Domantas Sabonis, and Keegan Murray expected to be the starting five, minutes might be tough to come by for many of the guys highlighted. The Kings have tried to make moves to free up time for their developing players, but so far, nothing has come to fruition. 

For now, Clifford, Carter, Ellis, Raynaud, and Jones will all be sitting behind at least one veteran as the Kings continue on their path to mediocrity. Sabonis and Murray are seemingly part of the Kings’ future, but the rest of the starters are probably not going to be around for very long. This makes it all the more frustrating that Hines’ runs might be the best chance at seeing some of the younger Kings in extended action this year. 

None of this is to say that any of the Kings’ starting five are bad NBA players, far from it. The issue is that the team clearly has a great group of young players who should be getting a ton of minutes on a team that has a slim chance at playing postseason basketball. 

Fans and the media (myself included) like to harp on the Golden State Warriors for not giving their younger guys, like Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga, a chance to develop during the season. The reality is that the Warriors actually have a real chance at competing for a title with Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Jimmy Butler still on the roster. The Kings, despite their talent, haven’t shown that they’re even close to reaching those heights. 

The Kings remain one of the bigger mysteries in the NBA as they still seem to be in “win-now” mode. Owner Vivek Ranadive has been criticized for the team's direction since taking over, but all was quiet after De’Aaron Fox and Sabonis led the team to the third seed in the Western Conference and took the Warriors to the brink of elimination. 

Instead of capitalizing on that momentum, the team would miss the playoffs the next two seasons while trading Fox for LaVine. After ending last season as the 10th seed and getting bounced by the Dallas Mavericks in the Play-In, it made all the sense in the world for Sacramento to give their rookies and other young players a chance to play this season, but that doesn’t seem to be the direction the team is going. 

There’s still hope that things play out differently; however, I wouldn’t expect to see Clifford, Carter, and others get as much time on the court as they did in LA.