With the NBA Draft Lottery just two days away, the Sacramento Kings' fate hangs in the balance of the ping pong balls as they await to learn their draft position for this year's much-anticipated draft. Thankfully, we'll know soon where the Kings are going to be selecting, and after we know, we'll get a much clearer picture of what the offseason should entail for Scott Perry and the rest of the front office.
The Kings have so much work to do with their roster that it's hard to even come up with mock trade scenarios, let alone real ones for Perry. The team has talent on the roster, and players who could theoretically help other teams, but no one around the NBA seemed interested in the Kings' veterans last offseason, and that could very well be the case again this year.
The measures that Perry should take to move off of those contracts, though, rely heavily on where the Kings are going to select in the lottery. If they get lucky, it's easier to stomach underwhelming deals to move off contracts, but if they drop in the lottery, it might make more sense to hang on to more veterans to help bridge the gap.
As a reminder, below are the Kings' current lottery odds heading into the weekend.
Their highest odds are to fall two slots to the seventh spot, but what stands out is how many possibilities there are, as they can land anywhere from number one through number nine. That's the difference between potentially landing a superstar at the top end of the draft or finding a solid role player to add to the core towards the end of the lottery.
Where the Kings end up should dictate almost all of the follow-up moves that Sacramento makes this offseason, even before they know exactly who they are going to pick.
If the Kings land one of the top three picks or strike gold with the top pick, they should do everything they can to clear the way for that player. If it's a guard, that means trading Malik Monk, Zach LaVine (if that's possible at all), and Devin Carter. If they land a wing like AJ Dybantsa, they could even entertain the idea of trading Keegan Murray to try and collect more assets as they fully reset the roster.
If the Kings fall in the draft, they're still going to have a chance to grab a star and a building block, but it becomes much harder to completely tear down and build around that player with the lower odds of grabbing a perennial All-Star. Sacramento should still put their focus on giving the rookie as much playing time and a large role as possible, but it leaves the door open to bring in another star via a trade.
There's still so much up in the air for the Kings, but we're finally going to get our first answer soon this Sunday. And it's arguably the most important answer we'll get all offseason that should shape the rest of the moves ahead.
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