Sacramento Kings Season Preview

Sacramento Kings

2014 Record 29-53

2015 O/U 30.5

Who are their stars?

You can argue about his on court attitude, and you can argue about his off court behavior, but Demarcus Cousins is the best center in the NBA. He is unstoppable in the post, has athleticism and ridiculous size for how well he can handle the ball and run the court. The offseason additions were made in what may be seeing “Boogie” move to the power forward role with two rim protectors next to him at center. Any argument against Cousins being the best center is to say that Gasol is a better defender, and now giving Cousins a lighter load on that end, and potentially more freedom to work away from the hoop on the offense, I think both are huge helpers to his overall game. Cousins is already averaging 24-12 but I would suspect another year of potentially bigger numbers, and a starting role in the all star game. The Kings assembled what now is technically a big three with the addition of Rajon Rondo to Rudy Gay. Rondo, Gay, and Cousins are all guys who tend to show their emotions on the court, sometimes to the deficit of the team and that will need to be monitored as this team has a high explosion potential. If these guys can gel though, it is a big three as Rondo is a guy who can feed a scorer like Cousins with easy assist. Gay is a guy who can score as well and isn’t too bad defensively. Overall this thing could really go two ways, but I think we might see a happy medium, especially if wins can come.

Who are the glue guys?

To me, the Kings have a plethora of talented glue guys who will play in a rotation, but in their effectiveness they keep the team together. While defense is not the positive of any of their three stars mentioned, the drafting of Willie Cauley-Stein as well as the signing of Kosta Koufous from Memphis gives this team two rotational defensive big men. WCS should be the starter right away at age 22, and the reason he stayed in college so long was to work on his offensive game. He is an NBA starting quality defender, and he defended virtually every top ten pick in the NBA draft, regardless of position. Koufous was a guy who spelled Marc Gasol in Memphis, and had to keep up the defensive intensity. Kofous can bring that same role in and it really legitimizes the size that is in the big man rotation. Beside Rondo in the backcourt appears to be another rotation of a group of guys who bring different skill sets. To start is Darren Collison, who will run the point when Rondo is on the bench, but will also be getting minutes beside Rondo in my opinion. Collison is a veteran who can do a little bit of everything, and he knows how to run an offense effective with Cousins. If Rondo and Cousins ever clash, it will be Collison needing to ease tensions. Beside Collison and Rondo is the duo of Marco Bellinelli and Ben Mclemore. Mclemore should start and that is because of his defensive capabilities. He can hit some occasional threes, but he brings strong defense to a team that doesn’t need much more offense. In bench units and for instant offense, Bellinelli is the perfect deadeye three-point shooter to get hot and end slumps. He isn’t much on the defensive side of the ball, but in the correct lineups, a rotation of those four guards could work out well.

Who are the rotational players?

Omri Casspi is a potential glue guy, but I just don’t see him getting more minutes than everyone mentioned above. He is a nice rotational forward, and at 6’9” if small ball is needed he has potential in that four role who can stretch the floor. Other than that there is Caron Butler, who clearly has seen some wild locker rooms, and if anyone can handle the three personalities on the team, Butler should have a good shot.

Where do they rank? Over Under? How far do they go?

With a no-nonsense, but proven coach like George Karl, as well as Butler and Collison who should be used to handling personalities, I think the blow up rate may be a bit exaggerated at this time. I could see myself looking back in five months laughing about my faith in Sacramento, but to me this is the year they make the playoffs. I see them bottoming as a 10 seed and a 10-14 lottery pick, but I think if Cousins can stay healthy, and these personalities don’t clash, that we have the 8th best in the West, and while it may be an early playoff exit, the buzz would be a complete 180 when looking to sign players going into 2016.

Over 30.5 wins, 8th in the Western Conference,13th in the NBA