kings fans really need to hope this time will be different, because the previous regime left seven straight losing seasons and a terrible mess of a roster in their wake, making it very, very difficult to build a winner around demarcus cousins via the trade block or free agency. the kings' tradeable assets remain far and few between, and sacramento remains an undesirable location for impact free agents...
personally, i have a helluvalot more faith in the ping pong balls bouncing sac's way in a stacked draft class than i have faith that ranadive/d'allesandro/malone will be able to significantly improve the talent level of this team through trades/signings, and given the kings' recent lottery history, that's really saying something about how much of a challenge it will be to polish the kings' turds enough to bring back significant value in return, or to convince (beg?) a significant talent to sign on the dotted line. the point is, there are no desirable avenues...
nobody likes losing, but a basement finish brings the opportunity to draft parker, wiggins, randle, exum, smart, etc. are any of them guaranteed superstars? no, but a top-5 draft pick is hardly out of the realm of possibility for this team as constructed, and while there are no guarantees, it's hardly a stretch to say that drafting a talented young player like jabari parker or andrew wiggins fills an immediate need, makes this team instantly better, and positions the kings much closer to the playoff picture in the long term. but trading the kings' scraps for rudy gay, rajon rondo, or even omer asik? that's much less likely to occur, and also much less likely to have the long term impact in the win/loss column that drafting a potential all-star would have...
if one wants to be futile about the kings' chances of scoring in the upcoming draft lottery and/or retaining whatever talent they come away with, that's certainly fine, but one is unlikely to be pleased with any rebuilding strategy if that is the case. as you've pointed out, the previous regime traded omri casspi and then failed to extend tyreke evans' contract, leaving the new regime in the awkward position of having to decide whether or not they wanted to fork over a ton of money to retain the services of a player they did not have the opportunity to personally evaluate. they elected to let evans walk. i think it was a mistake, but he wasn't their draft pick, and it wasn't their fault that the previous regime had stunted evans' development...
that said, since the new regime was forcefully determined to engage in a rebuild when they arrived here (their first go at it, but the kings' umpteenth rebuild in the last decade), then the prescription is simple: they must draft well, they must develop their young talent, and they must pay up when the time comes to re-sign their best players, while not overpaying for roleplayers. it's debatable about whether or not taking ben mclemore with the 7th pick constitutes "drafting well" (i certainly would have preferred MCW), but we'll have plenty of opportunities to see if this organization can effectively commit to ben's development. we'll also see what the 2014 draft brings, and whether or not the new regime continues to insist on overpaying for role players, as they accomplished with the carl landry signing...
again, kings fans had better hope things will be different this time around, because that's just about all there is to hope for. and this is coming from a fan who has made a point of expressing both suspicion and discontent regarding some of the moves made once the new regime took over. you're certainly not the only one who remains unconvinced of their capability, but it seems foolish to curse the inevitability of futility before this regime has had a chance to... well, accomplish much of anything. they deserve a grace period, however brief, to attempt to bring in more talented players...
