The Sacramento Kings’ wild ride was suspended at a peak; will we ever see the finish?

The Sacramento Kings have had an absolute roller coaster of a season, and the postponement of Wednesday night’s game minutes before tipoff was the craziest loop yet.

The wild ride has been temporarily shut down and we all hang suspended from its very peak. The world looks upside down. Is that funnel cake I’m smelling?

As we are currently stuck hundreds of feet off the ground in this surreal state, allow me to look back on the track that has led us here. I just have to make sure my keys and cellphone don’t slip out of my pocket and fall to the earth below.

In October, an 0-5 start punched Sacramento directly in the stomach. Marvin Bagley III fractured his thumb in the first game and missed seven weeks. De’Aaron Fox sprained his ankle after nine games and missed five weeks.

Despite those injuries, somehow the Kings got . . . better?

Sacramento went on a surprising 12-9 run without their franchise cornerstones, including impressive wins over the Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks.

Richaun Holmes made his presence felt in a major way over this stretch. That was a surprise too, as he was the most modest acquisition of the four free agents signed by the Kings in the offseason. He played like an All-Star and moved into the starting lineup.

On the other hand, there was Dewayne Dedmon. He was Sacramento’s highest-paid acquisition and he was given the starting center spot on opening night. But he was falling to pieces. He couldn’t hit a shot. He could barely even make a clean pass. It was bizarre.

Finally, De’Aaron Fox returned and . . . the Kings lost eight straight games. You could feel Sacramento throwing their collective hands in the air as the season hit its steepest descent.

Sacramento broke its losing streak on the first game of 2020, but the slide continued after that. From Dec. 17 to Jan. 22, the Kings lost 15 of 18 games.

Bagley returned during this stretch only to be injured again. This time it was a midfoot sprain. Then he came back. But then he was in a walking boot. Then he said he was unsure if he would play again this season. He hasn’t appeared in a game since.

Is your neck sore from the whiplash yet?

As the trade deadline approached, Dedmon requested a trade and he got it. Trevor Ariza, another recent signing, was also dealt. Everything pointed to these trades being motivated by asset accumulation and getting rid of financial commitments. But there was another surprise in store.

Kent Bazemore and Alex Len, two journeymen that struggled with their respective teams, helped the Kings turn yet another sharp corner with alarming velocity.

Upon Bazemore’s arrival, the Kings started their best streak of the season. Sacramento won thirteen of their next 20 games, including 6 of 9 since Len joined the rotation.

Len has accumulated 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 61.9 percent from the field. Bazemore has contributed 10.3 and 5.0 rebounds per game while shooting 38.6 percent from 3-point range. Both have injected the Kings with new levels of energy that no one saw coming.

Those last 20 games are also the only 20 games that Buddy Hield has come off the bench. Hield scored the most points of any Kings player both this season and the last. Suddenly, he was benched and the feelings around that move have been a bit confusing as well.

Hield has been far more efficient and the Kings have had their best stretch of the season. However, there is concern around Hield’s morale after losing his role as a starter and his contributions have swung wildly. One game he is dropping 40 points and another he is barely playing in the second half.

Up and down. That’s been the way of the Kings all season.

The recent climb also rocketed the Kings back into the playoff picture. That felt impossible when they were seven games back of the Memphis Grizzlies at the All-Star Break.

But last week they were alone in the ninth spot in the Western Conference, just three games back. Richaun Holmes was nearing a return from his own untimely injury. Sacramento was buzzing again. The click-click-click of the coaster was resonating again as anticipation rose.

The New Orleans Pelicans were in the playoff mix as well when they came to Sacramento for the Kings’ only nationally televised game. Anything felt possible.

Then everything stopped.

The Kings players wanted to play and the fans wanted to watch. But the outside world threw the Kings their biggest surprise yet. Steel screeched against steel as the NBA ground to a halt due to the coronavirus.

It’s impossible to know how this will play out. And maybe it’s all the blood rushing to my head as we are held in suspense, but I have no idea what to make of things. The sports world is simply upside down.

Will the ride start up again? When? Will the rest of the games be canceled? Would the Kings have made the playoffs if this didn’t happen? Would they have hit another huge downturn?

I really have no idea. We can’t judge the season until it’s over. No one knows when that will be yet, or if we just witnessed it last night without knowing.

All I can do is suggest we hang on and tell each other it’s going to be all right.