From Doncic to Haliburton: The Kings’ two unforgivable sins still haunting Sacramento

The Sacramento Kings have long been one of the NBA’s most snakebitten franchises. No championships, no Finals appearances since relocating to California, and forever living in the shadow of the glamorous Lakers across the state.

The franchise’s lone golden era came during Rick Adelman’s eight-year run in the early 2000s, when the Kings were perennial playoff contenders and nearly toppled Shaq and Kobe’s Lakers in a legendary 2002 Western Conference Finals series that went to seven grueling games. But aside from that flicker of brilliance, the Kings have known mostly pain and futility.

The Kings’ unwanted record

They missed the playoffs for 16 straight seasons—the longest drought in American pro sports history—and their only title came all the way back in 1951, when they were still known as the Rochester Royals.

The modern-day Kings, despite flashes of hope, always seem to sabotage themselves. Not deliberately, of course—but through a pattern of misguided decisions that have kept them trapped in a cycle of failure.

How Sacramento missed out on Luka Doncic

Take the 2018 NBA Draft. With Deandre Ayton locked in as Phoenix’s No. 1 pick, Kings GM Vlade Divac had Luka Doncic sitting right there at No. 2. Instead, he chose Marvin Bagley III.

Not only did he pass on Doncic, a EuroLeague MVP fresh off leading Real Madrid to a title, but he also let Trae Young slide. Doncic went on to win Rookie of the Year and fulfill every bit of his “generational talent” billing, culminating in an NBA Finals appearance with Dallas in 2024. He now shares a Lakers locker room with LeBron James after a blockbuster trade—another controversial move, though that’s a different story.

Meanwhile, Bagley has bounced around to four teams in seven seasons, plagued by injuries, defensive lapses, and offensive inconsistency. He was out the door in Sacramento less than three years after being drafted. That blunder alone haunted Divac enough to force his resignation in 2020—an especially bitter exit for a man who had once been a beloved Kings player.

Tyrese Haliburton: The Kings’ next big mistake

But Sacramento’s woes didn’t end with Divac. Monte McNair, a protégé of analytics guru Daryl Morey from their days in Houston, took the reins and made his own share of missteps. Chief among them: the 2022 trade that sent rising star Tyrese Haliburton to the Pacers.

At the time, Haliburton was averaging over 14 points and 7 assists per game and looked every bit like Sacramento’s point guard of the future. But the Kings shipped him off—along with Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson—in exchange for Domantas Sabonis, Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb, and a second-round pick. While the move helped Sacramento end their playoff drought in 2023, it may go down as a short-term fix with long-term consequences.

Haliburton has since blossomed into a full-blown star in Indiana. He’s made back-to-back All-Star teams, led the league in assists in 2023–24 (10.9 per game), and became a hero in Indianapolis with four game-winners during this year’s playoffs. He even dragged the Pacers to the NBA Finals, playing through a torn Achilles in Game 7—a gutsy performance that only added to his growing legend.

Back in Sacramento, the Kings leaned heavily on Sabonis, who has led the league in rebounding three straight years but remains a limited defender and undersized center. Despite his individual stats, the team has struggled to translate his production into wins.

No Doncic, no Haliburton...no direction?

And now, in a painful twist of fate, the Kings are without Doncic, without Haliburton, and—after parting ways with head coach Mike Brown—without a clear direction.

Brown’s replacement is Doug Christie, a fan favorite and former teammate of Divac’s during the Adelman era. As for De’Aaron Fox, he’s gone too, opting to team up with Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio in search of a better shot at contention.

Meanwhile, the two point guards Sacramento gave up on—Doncic and Haliburton—just led the Mavericks and Pacers to the NBA Finals. The franchises that capitalized on the Kings’ missteps are reaping the rewards, while Sacramento is left sifting through the wreckage.

It’s a brutal self-inflicted wound, one that’s demoralized a roster and disillusioned a loyal fanbase. Year after year, Kings fans keep showing up, believing in a franchise that rarely gives them a reason to. And still, they watch from afar as the stars who could’ve been theirs shine on the game’s biggest stage.

In the end, Sacramento’s most devastating opponent has never worn a rival jersey—it’s always been their own front office.

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