The Sacramento Kings are the most intriguing team in the NBA. Not only do they have Boogie Cousins on the roster, but new owner Vivek Ranadivé pitched the idea of 4-on-5 defense. It would be similar to what Loyola Marymount ran in the late 80’s.
I plan on spending many nights switching back-and-forth between the marquee game of the night and random Kings games. I doubt they will use the proposed defense, but I’m all about outside-the-box thinkers in leadership roles.
We will be posting a team preview for every team up until the start of the regular season.
Here is the 2014-15 NBA season preview for the Sacramento Kings.
2013-14 Win/Loss Record: 28-54
Key Additions: PG Darren Collison, SG Nik Stauskas, SF Omri Casspi, PG Ramon Sessions, C Ryan Hollins & PF Eric Moreland
Key Losses: PG Isaiah Thomas, SF Travis Outlaw & SF Quincy Acy
Projected Starters: DeMarcus Cousins, Jason Thompson, Rudy Gay, Ben McLemore & Darren Collison
Fantasy Sleeper: SG Nik Stauskas – The Kings don’t have many 3-point shooters on the roster. Collison, Gay and McLemore will take them, but the Kings don’t want them to take many. Stauskas was arguably the best shooter in this year’s draft. He will get plenty attempts and should hit 35%+ of them.
Team Analysis: The Kings were mere minutes away from being moved to Seattle before Ranadive stepped up and bought the team. They had no identity and basketball fans outside of Northern California wouldn’t have cared. DeMarcus ‘Boogie’ Cousins was the only player of worth on the team.
Since the ownership change, the Kings’ roster has improved quite a bit. They made a bold move by acquiring Rudy Gay. Ranadive wants to focus on players undervalued just because they have bad contracts. This is the reason the Kings are rumored to have interest in Detroit’s Josh Smith. The Kings don’t appear to be afraid to spend and take risks. Trading for Josh Smith would definitely be a risk.
The Kings really turned things around once they acquired Rudy Gay. Cousins said in an interview this Summer that he felt they were better than some playoff teams. This is the year I expect them to take a little step towards the playoffs. They will improve by six or seven wins. Not bad for a team still trying to rebuild.
2014-15 Wins Over/Under Betting Line: 30.5 (Prediction: OVER)
2014-15 Projected Win/Loss Record: 36-46 (12th in Western Conference)
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About the Author…
Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.