The Sacramento Kings will tell you they are rebuilding, and you can choose to believe that. After all, they took a wrecking ball to last year’s roster, and yet all that bluster feels akin to swinging a wrecking ball through shadow.
The era built on the shoulders of DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay never saw more than 33 wins in a single season. In fact, the Kings haven’t had a winning season since Brad Miller led the team in Win Shares all the way back in 2005-06. Rick Adelman was still the coach. Mike Bibby and Kevin Martin were running mates, and the world still fell under Shaquille O’Neal’s shadow, or at least his trash talk.
But, regardless of whether the rebuild starts afresh or continues abysmally, change is afoot. This year’s Kings are not last year’s Kings. The team will, once again, march out a new opening day lineup. Such was true in the days of Kevin Martin. Such was true in the days of Tyreke Evans. Such was even true in the days of Cousins and Gay. Some traditions are worth keeping, and a revolving door in the castle lobby appears to be one of them.
The Kings will look for continued development from Buddy Hield and Willy Cauley-Stein. They will hope for brazen athleticism in the form of De’Aaron Fox. They will cross their fingers and hope to rely on the likes of Justin Jackson, Harry Giles, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Frank Mason III, and Matt Jones (all rookies). They will probably find some of these names were the wrong proclamations to utter on draft night, but maybe one or two will play themselves into the kingdom’s lawbooks. Most of all, though, they will hope the old guys nurture youth and do not delay its maturation.
Sacramento’s roster sits on a fulcrum. On one side are eleven names with a combined six years of experience. On the other side is a combined forty-five years of experience and only two names: Vince Carter and Zach Randolph.
These two old men were born in 1977 and 1981 respectively. Their young teammates, with the exceptions of Garrett Temple, Kosta Koufos, and George Hill, were all born between the years 1992 and 1998. Randolph played 24.5 minutes per game last season. Vince Carter played 24.6 minutes per game. As the likes of Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade chase rings, these two former Grizzlies appear to be chasing minutes, and yet their roles in Sacramento will not be easily defined. They’re not here for the long haul, and yet they will provide more than a maester’s council. They’re ballers — they aim to go down either shooting or banging. The question shouldn’t be whether these two grizzled veterans are doorstops so much as whether the youth movement will be woke enough to pay attention.
If you can’t learn from the Brothers Grizz, then from whom can you learn?
George Hill is 31-years-old. He has battled in the playoffs for San Antonio, Indiana, and Utah. He has made big shots, and he has been dealt defeats. He has been a favorite of those who value efficiency. He is also versatile enough to play either guard spot. He inspires affection from his coaches. He’s not the kind of player opponents want to see on a regular basis. He is neither undervalued nor overvalued. People respect him in the way one appreciates a canoe’s soundness underfoot. He will never gain the legendary status of a Vince Carter or Zach Randolph. He lacks both their talent and charisma. Yet this moment belongs to him.
Everyone else is either too young or too old to bring it on a nightly basis.
If you tune into a Kings game in late January, you may see De’Aaron Fox or Harry Giles lighting up the scoreboard, but you may also find them riding the pine. On some nights, Vince Carter will look like a corpse. He will have bags of ice weighing him down so that even a fade away jumper is too much to ask. Z-Bo will sit for long stretches when Willie Cauley-Stein has it going or foul trouble shackles him to the coaching staff. Due to everyone else’s inconsistencies, George Hill will become a reason to watch. He will be the voice of experience in the unruly Western Conference. The coaches and players will have to trust him because he is the only bridge between antiquity and the future.
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Is it a rebuild? Not exactly. Is it a settling for stability? Quite possibly. But maybe the world’s beauty does not require supreme talent. Maybe a journeyman point guard is true enough.