We’re only 11 games in, but it already feels like a long, arduous season for the Sacramento Kings. Between the 1-10 record, Doug Christie’s coaching being an oft-discussed topic, and the trade of Nique Clifford to the Oklahoma City Thunder, there’s been no shortage of storylines for the Kings early this year.
Throw in the puzzling signing of Mason Plumlee, which was announced last night, and it feels like the Kings are absolutely all over the place.
And now, the team has been connected to Gabe Vincent once again, which is great and would be a solid signing at this junction of the season, but I can’t help but feel disappointed, or maybe confused, about the possibility.
Why Signing Vincent Would Be Great
Vincent still being a free agent is very much akin to Precious Achiuwa’s situation last year. He’s arguably the best player available on the free agent market and it’s a surprise he wasn’t signed by a team leading up to the season.
The Kings being able to get him in the building now would bring in a defensive-minded player at their biggest position of need, the backup point guard spot. Darius Acuff Jr. is leading the entire league with 37.4 minutes per game, which isn’t sustainable for the year going forward.
Vincent is coming off a season where he averaged 4.4 points, 1.4 assists, and 1.0 rebounds on 35.2% shooting from the field and 34.1% from three in 29 games for the Los Angeles Lakers and 24 for the Atlanta Hawks. The numbers don’t jump off the page, bug Vincent does play the style that the Kings are trying to find this year.
He can defend, shoot the three, and be a steadying presence off the bench for the Kings’ struggling second unit. That’s a solid acquisition for any team this far into the season.
Why the Signing Would Be Disappointing
On the flip side, the first question after the Kings sign Vincent would be ‘Why?’
He’s a 30-year-old win-now player, which doesn’t quite line up with where the Kings are at (1-10) this season. Just like the Plumlee signing, it’s not a move that moves the needle for the future at all.
And that’s where the disappointment comes in. This season is supposed to be a building block for the Kings going forward. Yes, they need to win now, as Acuff is already showing frustration with the lack of results on the court. But they can’t lose sight that this has to be done the right way.
Ideally, they would be playing all the young players as much as possible, but that has been far from the case so far this season, and it hurts even more to see Clifford go out the door. It would be one thing to trade Clifford to bring in another young player or two to take a flyer on, but instead, we have a 27-year-old in Leaky Black, 36-year-old veteran in Mason Plumlee at a position with multiple players ahead of him, and the possibility of Vincent. That doesn’t scream ‘build for the future.’
The Kings don’t have the luxury for any mistakes right now. Would signing Vincent be a mistake? Probably not in it’s own single instance. But paired with all of these other problems and recent moves, it doesn’t inspire much confidence going forward that things will get better.
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