The Kings aren’t a super team, aren’t young – and still aren’t playing for the future

It was June 21, 2018, when Kings general manager Vlade Divac said he thought the Kings were a “super team, just young.” Two years later the Kings are neither a super team nor young.

As the Kings run out the clock on their time at Walt Disney World Resort, the team is no closer to either descriptor that Divac bestowed upon his team. What’s worse is that the Kings seem completely uninterested in developing any young talent in the NBA bubble being played near Orlando.

The Kings have De’Aaron Fox, who is young and on his way to being a legitimate star. The team has Marvin Bagley III, who the team still hopes can be great if he can remain healthy. Aside from those two, the only Kings players under the age of 25 are DaQuan Jeffries, Harry Giles, Justin James and Kyle Guy.

Jeffries has been one of the few bright spots for the Kings in the bubble and looks like a player the team should try to bring back. But Jeffries and Guy are on two-way contracts. Justin James has been glued to the bench even before the Kings arrived arrived for the reboot. Giles has seen minutes but is still clearly behind Alex Len and Richaun Holmes in Luke Walton’s rotations. Giles will also be a free agent this summer, as the Kings decided to decline his option for reasons that only make sense to the Kings.

With the Kings officially eliminated from playoff contention, fans had hopes that some of the team’s younger players might get an opportunity to play in the final two games. Walton dismissed the notion in media availability and stayed true to his word in Tuesday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Walton’s starting lineup against the Pelicans was Cory Joseph, Bogdan Boganovic, Harrison Barnes, Nemanja Bjelica and Alex Len. The average age of the starting lineup was 28.5 years old.

Fox was out with a sore shoulder, and Bagley has missed the Orlando experience with an injury, so those two can’t be held against Walton, but the problem extended beyond the starters. Giles played 25 minutes, but that was because Holmes sat with an injured leg. Jeffries played just 14 minutes. James and Guy each received a Did Not Play-Coach’s Decision.

This isn’t to suggest that Walton should have rolled out Guy, James and Jeffries for 35 minutes each. But it makes no sense for the few young players on the roster to be glued to the bench right now.

The Kings have nothing to play for. Walton has said in his media availability that this is a great opportunity to develop for next season, but his actions have nothing to do with development. What development is going to come from playing Joseph for 37 minutes?

The Kings aren’t playing to make the playoffs. The Kings aren’t playing to develop young players. The Kings are playing with no clear objective, other than perhaps the goal to win as many games as possible so they can relieve pressure on the coaching staff and front office.

In sports you sell success or you sell hope for the future. The Kings aren’t successful. Beating a Pelicans team who also sat their best players doesn’t change that. The least Walton could do would be to act like he was preparing for the future instead of just trying to save his job.

Greg Wissinger has covered the Kings for over 10 years and is the managing editor for KingsHerald.com.