Taking away minutes from a young developing player is hardly detrimental to the team as a whole if the player getting those minutes is better than the players he's taking the minutes from...
Yes it is. That's exactly what it is. Not giving playing time to developing players is detrimental to your team, and I can't grok why you would think otherwise. Your statement is only true when it applies to a team that is contending: you can justify not developing a Gerald Wallace when you've got a Peja Stojakovic and a Hedo Turkoglu and you're the top three contenders to win a championship. You can't justify it when you're barely one of the top three contenders for the eighth seed. On a young up-and-coming team like the Kings, that is probably still a good year away from making the playoffs, developing young talent is the single most important thing this team has to do. That's one of the most fundamental tennets of putting a team together: you don't mortgage your future unless you think you can win now.
The 2002 Kings could afford to not develop young talent; the 2010 Kings cannot.