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Yesterday’s blockbuster trade that sent Kyrie Irving to Boston for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and Brooklyn’s 2018 1st round pick was the capstone to what might just be one of the most hectic and crazy NBA offseasons ever. I’m hard pressed to think of a time where so many stars switched teams in a single offseason. Jimmy Butler, Paul George, Chris Paul, Gordon Hayward, Paul Millsap ... it’s been exciting to say the least and it might not even be over yet if guys like Carmelo Anthony or Dwyane Wade get their wishes.
The Warriors of course are the catalyst for all this change, as right now the entire NBA is reacting to their dominance. You have contenders looking for an extra punch, fringe playoff teams realizing they have no chance and blowing it up, and young teams focusing on development and youth so that they’ll be ready to take over when the Warriors dynasty comes to an end.
Sacramento is obviously on the lower end of the spectrum, still waiting to see just what they have. They’ve done a good job of refocusing their priorities on the youth, and it’s quite likely they’d be a few steps behind the curve if they had not traded DeMarcus Cousins.
The Kings will in all likelihood be a worse team next year, even as they have acquired veterans like George Hill, Zach Randolph and Vince Carter, and while that’s hard to fathom considering that the Kings have yet to play .500 basketball in almost a decade, it’s a necessary pill to swallow for now. The NBA is in turmoil, reacting to the unprecedented move of the best team in the NBA acquiring the best free agent because of a fluke salary cap increase last summer.
Taking that into consideration, it’s not as uprising that there’s been so much upheaval and might continue to be. We could see even more next summer when many of these stars that have moved become free agents, and LeBron James decides if he’s going to move on from Cleveland or not. It’s a fun time to be an NBA fan, even if as Kings fans we can only hope that some of these young guys develop into stars so that a few years down the road, we’re the ones looking to take advantage of the chaos and make a big jump.