Jazz Pick Up Easy Win In Sacramento’s 2020-21 Season Finale
May 16, 2021, 8:24 PM | Updated: 8:48 pm
(Photo by Ben Green/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ben Green/Getty Images)
The Kings finish the season with a 31-41 record and are tied for the 8th-best chance at the top-pick in this summer’s NBA Draft Lottery
Another season is in the books for the Sacramento Kings.
As has been the case for the past 15 years, the Kings’ season will end without a playoff appearance, as the Utah Jazz ended Sacramento’s rollercoaster season with a 121-99 drubbing at Golden 1 Center on Sunday night.
With the loss, the Kings finish the season with a 31-41 record, the same record that the team finished with last season.
Sacramento jumped out to an early 25-15 lead in the first quarter thanks to a strong starts from Terence Davis and Damian Jones. Utah–of course–would respond with a 13-0 run to end the period and take a 28-25 advantage into the second.
From the second quarter on it would be all Jazz as Utah outscored the Kings 36-24 to take a commanding 64-49 lead into the half.
In a game that had plenty of meaning for Utah (the number-one seed in the Western Conference & home-court advantage throughout the postseason) the undermanned Kings simply had no answer for a team that could very well win the NBA Finals this summer.
The Jazz outscored Sacramento 57-50 in the second half to put an end to the regular season and put the finishing touches on what has been an up-and-down season for the Kings, who will head into the offseason without a postseason appearance for the 15th-straight season.
Now that the season is in the rearview mirror, the real work must begin for a Kings franchise that has some solid pieces for a better future, but plenty of question-marks surrounding the supporting cast, coaching staff and front office.
It’s been 15 years. How many more seasons will pass before the Sacramento Kings finally figure things out?
Rounding out the box score
Terence Davis finished out his sophomore season with another 20-point performance, scoring 20 points on eight-of-14 from the field over 32 minutes.
Davis, a restricted free agent this summer, has shown that he possesses the ability to be an impact player off of the bench for a team in this league. Sacramento will hold the right to match any offer given to the 24-year-old this offseason.
Buddy Hield flirted with his first-career triple-double on Sunday night, finishing with 13 points, seven rebounds and a career-high nine assists over 31 minutes. Hield knocked down one three-point field goal in the loss, as the sharpshooting guard is just four three-pointers short of tying Peja Stojakovic’s franchise record for made three-point field goals (1,070).
Damian Jones scored a season-high 19 points on nine-of-13 from the field to go along with six rebounds.
Rookie guard Jahmi’us Ramsey ended his first NBA season on a high note, establishing a new career-high of 12 points over 21 minutes.
Louis King added 12 points in his first first-career start to round out Sacramento’s key contributors.
Coming Up
Another offseason of uncertainty awaits the Sacramento Kings.
- Will head coach Luke Walton return for next season? With two seasons and $11.5 million remaining on his contract, it’s unclear what the team is planning to do regarding the second-year head coach. Prior to Thursday night’s game against Memphis, Walton stated that he was “very confident” that he would be returning next season.
- Richaun Holmes, after two incredible seasons with the Kings that featured the center posting career-years in back-to-back seasons, has reached the end of his two-year deal and will enter unrestricted free agency this summer. Holmes has stated several times that he is open to returning to Sacramento this offseason, but how much money is the team willing to commit to the 27-year-old? Bobby Marks of ESPN shared last month that Holmes is expected to receive offers in the range of $11 million this summer.
- The futures of Harrison Barnes, Buddy Hield and Marvin Bagley III are going to need to be looked at as well this offseason, with Monte McNair needing to clear salary cap space somehow prior to re-signing Holmes or other free agents that might require Sacramento to open its checkbook.
- Terence Davis has looked strong during his short stint with the Kings, proving to be a candidate for next year’s rotation if the team chooses to retain him in free agency. Davis will enter restricted free agency this summer if the Kings extend a qualifying offer of $2 million to the young guard, giving themselves the right to match any offers from other teams.
- Justin James’ 2021-22 contract becomes guaranteed if not waived by July 15, 2021.
Free agent list:
- Richaun Holmes – C
- Moe Harkless – F
- Hassan Whiteside – C
- Terence Davis (restricted) – G
- Louis King – G
Upcoming Offseason Dates
- June 21-27th: NBA Draft Combine
- June 22nd: NBA Draft Lottery (Sacramento has a 20.3% chance of jumping into the top-four)
- July 29th: 2021 NBA Draft
- August 2nd: NBA free agency begins (3:00pm PST)
- August (TBD): NBA Summer League in Las Vegas
