This is the story of organizational dysfunction coming home to roost. And if you're a Sacramento Kings fan, pour yourself a drink because this one's going to hurt.

A year after watching Tyrese Haliburton dominate the NBA Finals for Indiana, Sacramento Kings fans now get to watch Mike Brown and De'Aaron Fox square off in the Conference Finals - neither wearing Kings colors.

Let that sink in. The coach they fired mid-season. The star player they traded. Both succeeding without them. Both in the Conference Finals while Sacramento sits at home.

Sometimes the cruelest fate in sports is seeing what could have been.

The Kings fired Brown after a 7-game losing streak that included Fox giving up a 4-point play against the Pistons. That loss, more than any other, seemed to be the breaking point. But firing your coach mid-season rarely fixes deeper problems - it just creates new ones.

Brown landed on his feet with another contender. Fox got traded and is now thriving in a better situation. And Sacramento is left wondering what might have been if they'd just kept the core together and worked through the rough patch.

There's a 50-50 chance Kings fans also get to see Keon Ellis and Dennis Schroeder in these Conference Finals too. More former Kings succeeding elsewhere. More reminders of what Sacramento let slip away.

Kings fans have suffered enough over the years. The playoff drought that lasted nearly two decades. The near-misses. The bad draft picks. The poor front office decisions. They finally had something good - a competitive team, a respected coach, a franchise point guard.

Then they blew it up.

Now they get to watch everyone they let go succeed without them. That's torture. That's what happens when you panic instead of staying patient. That's what happens when you don't have organizational stability.

Brown is proving he can coach at the highest level. Fox is showing he's an elite guard when put in the right situation. Haliburton is already a Finals veteran. All former Kings. All thriving elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Sacramento is back to the drawing board. New coach. New direction. Same old frustration for a fanbase that deserves better.