By Luck and Stupidity, the Warriors and Kings Have Taken Different Paths
By Eric He
For every popular kid, there’s the usual wannabe cool dude who, despite his best efforts, just cannot reach the A1 status he desires.
Somehow, this is a basketball analogy for the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings.
The Warriors are the NBA’s new kid on the block, the recently minted King of the Hill who everyone envies and wants to emulate. The Kings, on the contrary, have been trying very hard to be hip and “in style” for years, but somehow make their already-miserable situation worse with every move.
It’s funny, because if it weren’t for luck, stupidity, or both, the situation could very easily be flipped right now.
We’ll start from the year 2009, a year when both teams were essentially in the same position. The Warriors, after the magic faded from the “We Believe” seasons, had just gone 29-53. The Kings, in Paul Westphal‘s first season, were 25-57.
With the fourth pick in the ensuing NBA draft, the Kings selected Tyreke Evans. The Warriors went with Stephen Curry.
In 2011, after consecutive abysmal years by both teams — the Warriors went 36-46 and the Kings 24-58 — the Kings drafted Bismack Biyombo, then flipped him for Jimmer Fredette, who was selected 10th overall. The 11th overall pick? Klay Thompson, to the Warriors.
And in 2012, the Warriors, at 23-43, had just one more win than the Kings and were two spots behind them in the draft. Sacramento went with Kansas product Thomas Robinson at No. 5. At No. 7, the Warriors selected Harrison Barnes.
Nobody could have predicted how different the paths for the Warriors and Kings would be as a direct result of those drafts.
Evans flamed out after winning Rookie of the Year, seeing his production drop three consecutive years after his rookie season and bolting for New Orleans in 2013. Fredette never lived up to the hype, struggling off the bench before being waived in 2014. And Robinson lasted half a year before being traded to the Rockets, and will soon be on his fifth team in four seasons.
Meanwhile, Curry, Thompson, and Barnes have stayed and blossomed with the Warriors, forming three-fifths of the starting lineup that won the NBA championship two months ago.
Jun 16, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; The Golden State Warriors celebrates with the Larry O
So, to recap: none of the Kings’ lottery picks from those faithful drafts are even with the team anymore, while the Warriors’ selections consist of an MVP, an All-Star, a blossoming athletic forward, and three champions.
But let’s forget about the past and focus on the present and future. After all, those drafts happened before new ownership, led by former Warriors minority owner Vivek Ranadive, purchased the Kings.
Nevertheless, the Kings are still finding new ways to embarrass themselves, and it’s partly because Ranadive is desperately trying to emulate his former franchise.
Consider:
Hiring ex-Warriors assistant Michael Malone may have been smart, but bringing on a coach before a GM was not. Pete D’Alessandro and Malone did not get along, leading to Malone’s eventual ousting.
Drafting Nik Stauskas eighth overall last season probably wouldn’t have been a disaster had Ranadive not literally called him “Klay Curry” at Stauskas’ introductory press conference.
Just because a player is tall and can shoot does not make him a cross between Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Stauskas barely lasted a season before being dumped in a cap-saving move to the 76ers — a deal, by the way, that was just awful for the Kings.
Ranadive is an innovative man, but trying to experiment with 4-on-5 basketball was probably not one of his brightest ideas. In a recent KNBR interview, Sacramento Bee Kings’ beat writer Jason Jones recalled a discussion he had with Ranadive in which the owner implied that the good teams already played some sort of 4-on-5. In fact, Ranadive was describing what is known as a “leak out” — something the Warriors do to perfection — when a team quickly turns a defensive stop into a fastbreak opportunity by pushing the ball up the floor. For his sake, let’s hope Ranadive realizes that he really does not want to play what he believes is “4-on-5” basketball.
For what it’s worth, the Kings’ lone attempt at this strategy failed.
Last season had to be tough for Ranadive, who watched the Warriors soar under first-year head coach Steve Kerr while the Kings went through three separate head coaches in a season. After firing Malone rather whimsically, Ranadive went with Ty Corbin on an interim basis before settling on George Karl.
But what Ranadive really wanted, though, was for then-adviser and former Warriors’ GM Chris Mullin to take over the reigns after Malone’s departure. Again, here is Ranadive attempting to emulate what the team by the bay was doing, bringing in an ex-GM with no coaching experience down to the sidelines. And again, like with Stauskas, just because Mullin had front office experience did not make him comparable whatsoever to Kerr.
That never came to fruition because Mullin spurned an NBA job for a college job, which is when you really know your organization has issues.
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So where do we stand now? The Kings, out of nowhere, have Vlade Divac heading their front office. This is a man who is not well-versed on the salary cap, hates analytics and fired Ranadive’s hand-picked Head of Analytics, and is stuck between a much-publicized beef involving Karl and franchise player DeMarcus Cousins. Oh, and he spent $10 million to bring in Rajon Rondo and make this dysfunctional situation even more toxic, in addition to offering Peja Stojakovic — who has no front office experience — a front office position.
(Side note: if Divac decides to just let the 2000-era Kings run the franchise, Chris Webber would be a strong candidate for Chief Financial Officer).
At this point, the Kings are no longer emulating the Warriors or even trying to become the cool kid. Ranadive and Co. are just throwing paint at the wall and hoping it sticks.
Meanwhile, a couple of hours south of Sacramento, the Warriors have a championship franchise, a rockstar coach in Kerr, the Executive of the Year in Bob Myers, and a front office that Jerry West touts as “the most healthy environment” he’s been around.
One can only imagine what would have been had the Kings foreseen in 2009 what that skinny kid from Davidson would become.