Sacramento Kings Embrace NBA Globalization

Photo Credit: Associated Press

The Euro movement and the rise of the international game has been well under way for over 20 years now. Dino Raja. Drazen Petrovic. Sarunas Marcialonas. Arvydas Sabonis. These are just some of the European players I remember making an impact in the NBA during the late 80′s and into the 90′s. Later, players like Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Predrag Stoiakovic and many many others came along and helped continue the transformation of the NBA game and the value of players from around the world.

The idea that players from Europe are more skilled, with higher basketball I.Q.’s and have more complete games has been spreading for all these years. Different teams have adapted in different ways. Some teams devote massive energy to international scouting (see also: San Antonio Spurs) and some don’t (see also: both Los Angeles teams). Today, almost every NBA team has at least one player not born in the United States while some teams have several. Over the course of these last couple of decades the value of these players has skyrocketed.

This trend hit a new high in June of 2014 when the Spurs won the NBA title with a roster made up largely of foreign-born players. Almost the entire core of this championship team was from somewhere not in the United States. And what did they do? They demonstrated a brand of teamwork and “positionless” basketball that is all the rage now. Everyone already suspected that this had great value, but this Spurs team finally proved it. This has caused a feverish rush around the league to find more players from around the globe that fit the new model.

With the Sacramento Kings owner, Vivek Ranadive, being from India, it was no shock that the Kings would quickly be shopping in the international market.

Last week, the Kings made a splash by signing massive Indian center Sim Bhullar. This week comes news that the team is interested in Russian guard Dmitry Kulagin. Kulagin, 22, averaged 7.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game for Russia BC Triumph Lyubertsy last season. The 6-foot-6, 195-pound free agent was not selected in the 2014 NBA draft and is no longer draft eligible. This means that he is free to sign with any team and it now appears that the Kings are the frontrunner for his services.

On the court, these moves will mean little. Buhar is likely to spend this season in the NBDL. If Kulagin signs with the team, he likely will be in the D-League as well. These two players will have little or no impact on the Kings team this season.

Off the court, these are positive signs for the Kings. It is evidence that they are, indeed, heavily monitoring and investing in their global search for talent. Even if these players never do anything for the Kings they represent a symbol to the league that, at least in this particular area, the Kings are getting it right, that they know what they are doing and that they are making progress as an organization.