Sunday Musings: Monte McNair's roster reshuffle adds valuable depth

This is the third article in a series breaking down the potential strengths of the 2022-23 Sacramento Kings roster.

Depth is a concept that the Sacramento Kings have struggled with over the last few seasons.

General manager Monte McNair started plugging holes in the roster on draft night with the selection of Keegan Murray, but then continued to reshape the roster with a big trade for Kevin Huerter and the signing of Malik Monk early in free agency.

McNair didn’t stop there as he looked to change the look and feel of a team that finished with a disappointing 30-52 season. An overhaul was needed and an overhaul has taken place.

Is this another point where the Kings have taken a negative from the last season or two and turned it into a positive?

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The Kings’ current projected depth chart looks something like this, although there could be some varying opinions on the list:

PG: De’Aaron Fox, Davion Mitchell, Quinn Cook/Matthew Dellavedova

SG: Kevin Huerter, Malik Monk, Terence Davis, Keon Ellis (TW), Sam Merrill

SF: Harrison Barnes, Kent Bazemore, KZ Okpala/Chima Moneke

PF: Keegan Murray, Trey Lyles, Chimeze Metu

C: Domantas Sabonis, Richaun Holmes, Alex Len, Neemias Queta (TW)

It’s a big roster that will require a minimum of three cuts between now and opening night to get to the league mandate of 15 standard players and two, two-way players.

While there are a few NBA hopefuls mixed in this group, there are also plenty of seasoned NBA veterans battling for roster spots or rotational minutes. Training camp should be a healthy competition.

New head coach Mike Brown has his work cut out for him, but quality depth is a problem that every head coach in the league would like to have. It’s a luxury that didn’t exist in Sacramento just two summers ago.

For comparison, here is a look at the roster that opened the 2020-21 season under Luke Walton.

PG: De’Aaron Fox, Cory Joseph, Kyle Guy (TW)

SG: Buddy Hield, Tyrese Haliburton, Justin James, Jaimi’us Ramsey

SF: Harrison Barnes, Glen Robinson III, DaQuan Jeffries

PF: Marvin Bagley, Nemanja Bjelica, Jabari Parker, Chimezie Metu (TW), Robert Woodard

C: Richaun Holmes, Hassan Whiteside

The league was coming out of a late restart during the pandemic and McNair was a new hire who had just days to put together a roster to begin a 72-game schedule. His only real free agent signings were Whiteside and Robinson III.

For reference, Guy, James, Ramsey, Robinson III, Jeffries, Bjelica, Parker, Woodard, who all made an opening day roster just 21 months ago, are not currently on any NBA roster for the upcoming season.

Only Fox, Barnes, Holmes and Metu are still on the current squad set to open training camp in late September. Four of the regular rostered players on opening night that season (James, Ramsey, Woodard and Jeffries) were second round picks or went undrafted in the previous two drafts.

For the 2021-22 season, the Kings had slightly more depth, but a completely unbalanced roster.

PG: De’Aaron Fox, Davion Mitchell

SG: Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, Jaimi’us Ramsey

SF: Harrison Barnes, Terence Davis, Louis Kings (TW)

PF: Moe Harkless, Marvin Bagley, Chimezie Metu, Robert Woodard

C: Richaun Holmes, Tristan Thompson, Alex Len, Damian Jones, Neemias Queta (TW)

Walking into the season with five centers was a bold move. Barnes and Harkless were the only two players that could legitimately play the small forward position and Walton was forced to start them side-by-side. Mitchell was an unproven rookie and Bagley and Metu weren’t even in the rotation to open the season at the four.

In the span of less than two years, McNair has not only completely reshaped the roster, but also the coaching staff, medical and training staff, as well as the media relations department.

The opening night roster this season will boast at least two reliable NBA players at every position. Some of the spots have even more than two battling for roles.

RELATED: Sunday Musings: Can Domantas Sabonis lead Kings up rebounding ranks?

McNair will continue his search for higher end talent to bolster the roster. He’s repeatedly said that he isn’t done building out the roster and that he will continue to be aggressive, but the base is in place.

We will dive deeper into projecting minute distributions during our upcoming position battles, but Brown has options at so many positions this season.

The former Warriors lead assistant has the ability to go big with Sabonis and Holmes playing side-by-side on the frontline and still have Len as a fallback option. He has five versatile guards to work with in Fox, Mitchell, Huerter, Monk and Davis, if he decides to go uptempo and play three guard sets.

At the power forward spot, rookie Keegan Murray will play plenty, but Brown can move Barnes over against quicker stretch fours, turn to Lyles if the team is getting pushed around in the blocks and give Metu a look if you need more athleticism.

We don’t really know what to expect this season from Moneke, Okpala and Merrill or the team’s two, two-way players in Queta and Ellis. Not all of these players will make the opening night roster and it’s unlikely any of them have a rotational role early in the year.

There are veterans in Bazemore, Cook and Dellavedova fighting for spots as well, with only one or two of these players likely to make the squad. None of these three are guaranteed minutes this season, which again, speaks to the depth of the roster.

There is more work ahead and some difficult decisions will have to be made along the way, but it’s been a long time since the Kings were 12 or 13 deep with legitimate NBA players.

Training camp should have plenty of exciting battles. If the team doesn’t get off to a quality start, Brown has different looks he can try out. If injuries or illness hit the team, they at least have some options to look at.

This isn’t a perfect roster, but there is a lot to like about the collection of talent that the Kings will walk into the 2022-23 campaign with, and there is still time for another change or two before opening night.