Sam Amick reflects on covering previous bad Sacramento Kings teams
The Athletic’s Sam Amick tells Carmichael Dave and Jason Ross what it’s like to cover really bad NBA teams, reflects on covering the start of the Sacramento Kings’ downfall in the late 2000s, and much more.
Plus, what will the NBA’s solution to this tanking problem be?
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4 Comments
You’re the man Sam
The tanking headlines are being milked by the league. Nothing is going to happen. The only issues are teams like the jazz throwing games that ruin the spirit of gambling. You could make the argument that increasing odds of non-bottom 3 teams to move up in the lottery has only made tanking worse
I’ll take a stab at ending tanking, but it’s going to be drastic lol.
The current lottery system is broken because it rewards failure. This is a ground-up redesign to make every game matter.
1. The Currency: Player Personnel Credits
The draft lottery is replaced by an annual auction. Every team starts the season with a base allocation of credits. Throughout the season, teams earn additional credits based on performance. A standard win grants credits, while winning against a division opponent grants a higher amount to incentivize rivalries. Winning at home also provides a small bonus to reward teams for performing for their local fans.
2. The Spend: Draft vs. Salary Cap
Credits are used for two primary purposes:
• The Rookie Auction: There is no draft order. Teams bid on prospects in a live auction. The highest bidder gets the player.
• Cap Space Expansion: Under a hard cap system, teams can spend their earned credits to buy extra salary cap room. This allows successful teams to keep their homegrown stars that they otherwise could not afford to pay.
1. The Rebuild: The War Chest Carry-Over
To ensure struggling teams can still access top talent, we introduce the Carry-Over Rule. Playoff teams must spend their credits by the end of the off-season or they expire. However, teams that miss the playoffs are allowed to carry over their leftover credits to the following season. This allows a rebuilding team to play hard, win games to earn credits, and save them up to eventually outbid a champion for a generational prospect.
2. Why this works:
• No Incentive to Lose: Losing a game is now a direct financial hit to a team’s future. If you don't win, you don't get the currency needed to improve.
• Strategic Management: Front offices must decide whether to spend credits to maintain a veteran roster via cap space or save them to go all-in on a rookie in the auction.
• Asset Trading: Credits take the place of draft picks in trades. A team can trade a veteran player specifically for credits to use in the next auction.
The result is a league where every regular-season game is a high-stakes battle for future resources. We stop rewarding losing and start rewarding the grind.
trade all the high contract players !! Rebuild the Kings with rookies !! The NBA requires a substantial minimum team salary to operate a franchise. While the narrative gets spun to trade LaVine & Sabonis, "Let's save the owner some money" … the Kings would need max contract players in return.