Part 13 of the offseason guides has us diving into two teams located in the Pacific Division in the NBA, with the Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Sacramento Kings
The Kings, after coming off a year where they lost in the play-in to the Pelicans, bounced back and signed DeMar DeRozan in the offseason in hopes that the team could compete with the top of the Western Conference. It wasn’t the worst move in the world, and one that I didn’t mind more than some they’ve made in the past. However, it did not pan out for this past season overall. The most obvious reason for this, besides the record and where they finished, is that former head coach Mike Brown was fired mid-way through the season. It’s worth noting this also came after the Kings blew a late lead and one that saw De’Aaron Fox foul a three-point shooter in the closing second while the Kings were up 3. Management deemed the incident bad enough to let Brown go, a move I disliked. This saw Doug Christie step into the head coaching role and try and lift the Kings up to the level they were at in the West 2 years ago. The Kings immediately went on a 7-game winning streak, with some impressive wins in overtime and on the road, especially one against the Celtics, where Sabonis put up a 28-23 stat line. Ultimately, that wasn’t enough as the Kings missed the postseason altogether, and they faltered towards the end of the season.
Financially, the Kings are in a weird holding pattern, I think management, which is now directed by new GM Scott Perry. They aren’t in either of the aprons or tax for next season, which needs to stay that way. If the NBA has watched anything of the Bulls over the past, it’s the same with the Kings. Many, including myself, refer to the Kings as the Bulls East because if you pay close enough attention, the roster has a ton of overlap between the two in the last 3 seasons. This is not a compliment either, as both have been the laughing stock of their conferences in the past couple of seasons as well. Much of the Kings' offseason is already done, and the big move is that they brought in Denis Schroeder this year. The Kings will likely need to retool the roster going forward and figure out a way to become competitive again. The trio of LaVine, DeRozan, and Sabonis doesn’t offer much in defense capabilities needed, and the roster hasn’t tooled the correct pieces around. If you were wondering when I was going to mention De’Aaron Fox, here’s your cue. Overall, I did like the trade for the Kings; they got back a couple of first-round picks from the Spurs, which will likely be good going forward, but I like that the Kings didn’t throw money at the Fox situation recklessly. I think the Kings felt as though Fox, who is a one-time All-Star and All-NBA player, wasn’t the kind of player they built around. Now pairing him with Sabonis is great for the offense, but ultimately, it stretched out Fox too much, and he likely had had enough. It’ll be interesting to see how the Kings build out in the future.
Player development-wise wise I really have enjoyed the Kings' draft picks over the past couple of seasons. Keegan Murray, who has to take steps forward this upcoming season, Devin Carter, and Nique Clifford are all home-run picks given the selected position. It’s an ironic angle, as one of the more incompetent front offices has made some great draft selections over the past three seasons. Carter showed a defensive skillset and feel that is great. I love his ability to get over screens and be wide in the gaps on defense. I think having Denis Schroeder, a veteran, who allows for a nice example for Carter to learn from, given the wingspans they both have. I think Carter will need to develop his on-ball play, something similar to what he showed in his time at Providence in college. However, it will be hard to get reps with both DeRozan and LaVine on the ball for the Kings. Murray also needs to get back to being a good defender. He didn’t take a lot of steps forward this past season, and for someone who will be on the block for a rookie extension, he would likely want to show something to the Kings that they want to pay for. The Kings are in a weird situation right now, and I don’t think it’s going to get better.
Los Angeles Lakers
Welcome back to the soap opera called the Los Angeles Lakers, in all honesty, they aren’t, but the league’s most famous franchise seems to never get out of the spotlight whether it is Lebron James calling out the lack of depth on the roster, classic, or them getting an absolute gift in the middle of the NBA season with the Luka Doncic trade. Much of the Lakers' season was very productive, and I think it is the perfect building block for the franchise to go forward for the next 10 years. The Lakers started the season with a new head coach, JJ Redick. I think Redick is a great head coach already in the NBA; however, he probably doesn’t need to play the same 5 games in a whole NBA half a season either, but he proved a lot this past season. The Lakers' season seemed to get a reset when they were able to trade for Luka Doncic on February 2nd and send Anthony Davis, a 2029 first-round pick, and Max Christie to the Mavericks. The Lakers seemed like world beaters as they cruised through the rest of the regular season and earned the 3rd seed in the playoffs in the Western Conference. However, they ran into a hot Timberwolves team and lost in 5 games. So what now for the purple and gold?
Financially, the Lakers are in a good spot. They have $194 million in salary committed for the 2025-2026 season and are below the first apron threshold. Rob Pelinka has done a great job in building the roster for the team from last season. They added Marcus Smart through the waiver line, De’Andre Ayton signed a 2-year $16 million contract, and Jake LaRavia signed a 2-year $12 million deal with the Lakers during free agency. However, the most important signing this offseason was the Luka Doncic extension signed on August 2nd. The two sides agreed on a 3-year $165 million extension with a player option in the final year. It keeps Luka around for at least the next 4 seasons and will likely see him get back the money he lost in the trade from the Mavericks to the Lakers. I think the Lakers have done a good job setting up the roster going forward in the future. They have the ammo to make another trade with the lone 2031 first-round pick they have. I think the Lakers are in a much better situation going forward than they were a season ago. We all know Luka is a special talent who has attacked the offseason and reportedly has lost a ton of weight following the regular season.
Player development-wise, both Bronny James and Dalton Knecht are the main focuses for the Lakers. James is expected to help out in the rotation. His defense has shown a massive improvement in just one year, and he looks a lot more comfortable handling the ball and doing a good job of running an offense. The shooting he showed in the Summer league was great, granted it’s just a small sample size, and really doesn’t prove a ton, but it’s always nice to see your younger prospects shoot the ball well in Summer league, especially the second-year guys. Knecht is a little different from a case study; he’s an older player in college, but I think most would agree he doesn’t have an NBA-ready IQ, like most older college players. Knecht will likely need to have a better grasp of the defensive side of the ball. Offensively, Redick also talked about his attention to detail, especially when running plays. Knecht will have to play an important role, but it will be either as a trade asset or a nice player to build around Luka in the future.
It would be dumb not to include the elephant in the room in Lebron James and his future with the Lakers. At the beginning of free agency the James opted in to his $52.5 million player option; however, his agent, Rich Paul, released a weird statement that made it sound like Lebron doesn’t believe in the Lakers’ roster and wants them to improve it, or he could desire a trade. I think the Lakers’ roster is very good for the upcoming season and a team coming off a season where. Typically, Lebron’s threat of leaving has front offices in a pinch, but it’s clear the Lakers don’t care, Lebron has zero leverage because he has a no-trade clause meaning the Lakers can’t willing trade him, but Lebron also opted in to the contract and unless he approves of a trade he’s going to remain a Laker. Very interesting situation for one of the best all-time. Have fun, Lakers fans. You have Luka, though.
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