I've carried a grudge for 15 years against the Sacramento Kings, and it's still going strong.
While the grudge began in 2011 when the Kings drafted Jimmer Fredette, it's still burning brightly enough today that I'm hoping beyond hope that BYU freshman sensation AJ Dybantsa gets drafted by any other NBA team than the "Kangz".
Back in 2011, the Sacramento Kings drafted BYU legend Jimmer Fredette No. 10 overall in the NBA Draft. The highly dysfunctional franchise then did everything it could to marginalize Jimmer and antagonize BYU fans trying to root for him.
Fredette's misadventure in Sacramento was due in large part to playing for three coaches and under two ownership groups in the two-plus seasons he played for the Kings. The front office that drafted him and was committed to his development quickly disappeared. Coach Paul Westphal was playing Jimmer over 24 minutes per game to begin the season, but Westphal was fired after a 2-5 start to Fredette's rookie campaign.
The 2011-12 Sacramento Kings were full of discord, instability, and selfishness with mercurial big man Demarcus Cousins often at the center of it.
Jimmer Fredette couldn't have started his NBA career in a worse situation than Sacramento. His NBA career seemed over before it even started as the Kings coaching staff jerked around his playing time in seemingly arbitrary patterns. This instability and lack of predictability made it tough for Jimmer to ever "find his groove" with the Kings, shooting or otherwise.
Despite playing for the worst organization in the NBA at the time, people forget that Jimmer still hit 40.2% of his 3-point attempts in 171 games with the Kings. Yes, Jimmer's defense was a liability and he struggled to create for his teammates, but there's no reason he couldn't have gone on to have a Seth Curry-like career (Seth Curry, not Steph) in which he was a key reserve for 10-plus years in the NBA.
Instead, the Sacramento Kings derailed his career.
I haven't forgiven the Kings in the 15 years that have passed since that fateful day when they drafted Jimmer. I doubt I will have forgiven them 15 years from now.
If there is any justice in this world for BYU fans, AJ Dybantsa will not be a Sacramento King!
Please, universe, keep AJ Dybantsa away from Sacramento
The Sacramento Kings are the laughingstock of the NBA.
Sacramento has made the playoffs exactly one time in the last 20 years, and that was an unceremonious first round exit in 2022-23. They went 22-60 this year and have some of the best odds in the NBA Draft lottery to land the No. 1 overall pick.
If there is any justice in this world, they won't end up with AJ Dybantsa.
No rookie is going to fit on this absurd Sacramento roster, even one as talented and versatile as Dybantsa.
The Kings front office has assembled the most confusing roster in the NBA. Veteran guard Zach Lavine has a player option for next year that will pay him $49 million. DeMar DeRozan, who turns 37 this summer, is under contract next season for $25.7 million. The trio of Keegan Murray, De'Andre Hunter, and Malik Monk -- not quite a "Big Three" you buid a championship team around -- will make a combined $69 million next season.
Sacramento's only two real point guards under contract next year are Devin Carter and Killian Hayes.
Domantas Sabonis is a fine player, no doubt, but the rest of the cupboard in Sacramento is bare.
The Sacramento Kings have been a team going nowhere for the last two decades.
Based on their current roster, they're not going anywhere anytime soon.
While the names have changed in the Kings front office and coaching staff from the Jimmer fiasco 15 years ago, the culture is the same old Sacramento.
Jimmer Fredette deserved better than the Sacramento Kings.
And for the sake of BYU fans everywhere, so does AJ Dybantsa.
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