One of the most exciting games of the regular season last year took place between the Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Lakers. At one point the Kings were up by 20 points, in the Staples Center of all places, making me think that this team, full of random players I had never heard of, actually looked really good. However, Kobe ended up being Kobe, scored 39 points including a game winning three-point buzzer-beater resulting in the Kings slowly settling back down to the bottom of the Western conference.
But there is a lot to be excited about if you’re a Kings fan. I feel like they are rebuilding the type of team they had back in the early 2000’s that was a Robert Horry away from taking down the Lakers. This new version of the Kings keeps the old Sacramento formula of mixing European players with young, rising American stars. If the players from last years team continue to improve and newcomers Demarcus Cousins and Hassan Whiteside capitalize on their potential, the Kings will be right back in the mix of Western Conference powers sometime in the next 2-3 years. Here’s how they look:
Point Guard
I’m not gonna lie, for most of last season I thought Tyreke Evans was Terrence Williams from the 2008 Louisville Cardinals team. I would read articles that said Evans played for Memphis in college and think I kept finding editing mistakes believing full well that he was a Louisville alum. The numbers speak for themselves 20.1 ppg, 5.8 apg, 5.3 rpg, he’s 6’6, 220 lbs making him one of the biggest point guards in the league, and he’s only 21 years old. He can be their point guard for the next 15 years and if they surround him with talent the way they did with Mike Bibby, Evans will be leading the Kings deep into the playoffs in the upcoming years.
Shooting Guard
Beno Udrih had 19 points and 13 assists in that near win over the L.A. Lakers. He’s the token Eastern European guard for the Kings, a spot that was once played by Peja Stojakovic and Hedo Turkalou. At 6’3 he’s small for a shooting guard, but most teams will probably have to shift their shooting guard over on Evans meaning Udrih will be guarded by 5’11-6’4 point guards.
Small Forward
The Carl Landry for Kevin Martin swap between the Rockets and Kings really can be considered a wash. Both players continued to average around 18-20 ppg on their new teams and will continue to do so next year.
Power Forward
Omri Cassipi can move into the Vlade Divac role for this Kings team or he can realize this may be his last year starting when DeMarcus Cousins begins to emerge.
Center
Samuel Dalembert is a good defensive center and will give this team somewhat of a veteran presence.
Intriguing Aspect to this team
Demarcus Cousins could be great. He’s 6’11, 270 (in reality probably 280) and had flashes of brilliance last year at Kentucky. If Cousins can be a 15-20 ppg guy his rookie season, which is not out of the question, these Kings will be flirting with an 8 seed out west. Also Hassan Whiteside is a legitimate 7’0 and has a wingspan closer to 8’0. There are enough bigs (such as Jason Thompson who led the team in rebounds last year) in front of Whiteside that will allow him to take his time developing into a shot blocking force.
Why I think this all is intriguing is because very few teams in the NBA are built around a strong front-court. Only the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls and Portland Trailblazers truly have great power forward and center play. The Kings have two seven foot shot blockers with Dalembert and Whiteside, a physical scorer in Cousins, a finesse guy in Cassipi, and a hard nosed rebounder in Thompson. The next 5 years of the NBA are going to be dominated by the Lakers, Heat, and Thunder (Celtics window is about 1-2 more years) and the way to beat these teams is by having good low post play and a superstar point guard. You’re not going to be able to get a better shooting guard than Kobe or Wade and you won’t have a better small forward than Durant or LeBron, but with a star point guard like Tyreke Evans and 4-5 legitimate big men, the Sacramento Kings will find their way into the playoffs by the year 2013.
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