A Baffling Move: The Kings Sent Away Two All-Star Guards and a Starting-Level Point Guard They Developed, Making the Playoffs Only Once in 20 Seasons

Although the Kings acquired former star players including Russell Westbrook, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine last season, they still failed to make a breakthrough and finished near the bottom of the Western Conference. Looking back at the past decade-plus, the Kings' journey has been extremely difficult. In 20 years, aside from taking advantage of a rare opportunity to reach the playoffs in the 2022-23 season, they spent every other season simply competing unsuccessfully in the West, giving them the worst record among all NBA teams during that span.

In fact, the Kings did have opportunities to rise in recent years. A few seasons ago, they possessed backcourt depth that the entire NBA envied, with De'Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton and Davion Mitchell. Two of these three players were at an All-Star level, while Mitchell, though slightly behind them, became a starting-level point guard with the Heat. However, the Kings traded all of them away in recent years, leaving fans stunned. Why did the Kings decide to trade them? Let us take a closer look.

There was not enough ball possession to share among the three, so Haliburton left first.

Going back to the 2021-22 season, the Kings had Fox, Haliburton and Mitchell on the roster. The awkward issue was that none of the three could effectively play the shooting guard position, making it difficult for them to build satisfying chemistry when they shared the court. In addition, all three were point guards who needed the ball in their hands to maximize their abilities, creating a difficult situation for the team. At the time, fans and media accepted that the Kings might move one of the three players. The problem was that their choice was considered poor: they traded away Haliburton.

Haliburton had already shown the potential of an All-Star guard in his rookie season, averaging 13 points, 3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Then, in the first half of the 2021-22 season, he averaged 14.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.7 steals. His passing vision and ball-handling rhythm were qualities Fox and Mitchell did not possess. Even so, the Kings still sent Haliburton to the Pacers.

As a result, Haliburton quickly proved his value with the Pacers, producing elite 20+3+10 performances in two consecutive seasons and leading the Pacers to the NBA Finals. After seeing Haliburton's remarkable talent, Kings fans regretted the trade.

Mitchell's inconsistent offense led to his departure two years later as well.

After trading away Haliburton, the team gradually gave Mitchell more opportunities. The No. 9 pick from the strong 2021 draft class was only 1.83 meters tall, but he displayed remarkable defensive talent. In the 2021-22 season, the same season Haliburton was traded away, Mitchell averaged 11.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists. Considering his rookie performance, Mitchell deserved recognition. However, he also had issues, with his lack of shooting ability being the biggest concern. The Kings could have given him time to develop, but they chose a different path.

After acquiring Domantas Sabonis and developing good chemistry with Fox, the Kings surprisingly put Mitchell on the bench in the 2022-23 season. For two consecutive seasons, they only gave him 15-18 minutes per game, causing major declines in his statistics and efficiency.

The team then sent him to the Raptors, at one point leaving Mitchell without a regular role. However, in the 2024-25 season, he revived his career with the Heat, improving to 10.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game, while raising his three-point shooting percentage to 44.7% and firmly securing a starting point guard role. The Kings once again lost a starting-level 3-and-D guard, leaving fans frustrated.

A contradictory team-building approach led to completely giving up on Fox.

Finally, there is Fox. The Kings were once close to acquiring Luka Doncic, but because they already had Fox at point guard, they missed out on Doncic. Of course, while Fox did not reach Doncic's level, he was still a quality star point guard, averaging 21.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 6.1 assists over his career to date. Even after dealing with injuries, he remained one of the fastest players in the NBA.

What frustrated Kings fans even more was that Fox had just posted career-best numbers in the 2023-24 season with 26.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2 steals per game, and in the first half of the 2024-25 season he was contributing 25 points, 5 rebounds and 6.1 assists. Yet the team still traded him to the Spurs.

After DeMarcus Cousins left, Fox became the Kings' symbolic franchise player, spending nearly eight seasons with the team. Even so, he was still given up by the organization, which disappointed many fans. Now the Kings have fallen into another difficult period, and when they will return to the playoffs remains unknown, making it difficult for many fans to accept the situation.