As ugly as everything has turned out, at least the Utah Jazz can sleep well at night knowing things have gone according to plan. The same cannot be said about the Sacramento Kings. This was supposed to be the season they would take a step forward, but instead, they have taken a step back.
Losers of five games in a row, the Kings are suddenly 13-18, which puts them as the No. 12 seed in the Western Conference. DeMar DeRozan has been a bust, De'Aaron Fox is growing impatient, and their floor spacers aren't spacing the floor. Between their interest in John Collins and firing Mike Brown, it's clear that they're grasping at straws to salvage a season that might go down in flames.
Brown's firing has initially been highly questioned because of what he's helped the Kings achieve, following over a decade of play that ranged from hideous to subpar. For the next few weeks, we'll see if this was the right decision, but if it proves to both not help the Kings and make them worse, this could be a problem for the Jazz.
The Kings might join the tanking competition
The Kings owe a top-12 protected first-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks this season. They're in line to avoid giving it up to Atlanta at the moment, which is something they don't currently want because of their playoff aspirations. But if things don't improve, they may go to the necessary lengths to prevent themselves from trading their pick to the Hawks.
It's likely the Kings will try to add more veteran help to improve their chances of making the playoffs, hence their interest in Collins, but they're now on the clock to turn their season around or pack it in. Granted, it's not like the Kings have a history of making the smartest decisions, but firing Brown indicates that they're aware that their season is in trouble and they need to rectify the situation ASAP.
If they accomplish that, then obviously, the Jazz don't have anything to worry about, but there's a growing belief that Brown wasn't the problem in Sacto, and if that proves to be the case, the Kings may put their name in the hat for the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes.
The Jazz have already seen teams send out signals they intend to tank. The Nets did as such when they traded Dennis Schroder, one of their best players, to the Golden State Warriors. The Kings' move today signaled that they want to keep their playoff hopes alive, but it's not unreasonable to suggest that they may change course if things don't improve soon enough.
And if they don't, that's another threat to the Jazz's tanking. The Kings are currently five games behind the Jazz in the tank, and they might be further behind in that regard if and when they decide to go the other way, but since so much has backfired already, their tanking position may be fortified before they decide to see it through.