August Preview: The Sacramento Kings
In my opinion, the Kings had the most disappointing season out of anyone this year. They were on the cusp of making the playoffs last season, and made offseason moves which were supposed to push them over the hump. The bad news? It didn’t work. Out of their four free agent signings, the only one which panned out was really Richaun Holmes. I think he’ll be a solid backup center for them. On the other hand, Ariza, Joseph, and Dedmon turned out to be pretty useless pieces that couldn’t help them win. Unlike most people, I don’t think the Harrison Barnes contract is that bad, either. He’s a solid scorer and pairs decently with Fox and Bagley.
That brings us to this year, where the Kings started off super cold. It was looking like they took a huge step back, and in a lot of ways, they did. Bagley was getting hurt, Fox was getting hurt, it was almost like a worst case scenario for Sacramento. Then, once the team finally got healthy, they managed to start stringing together some wins. They were 7-3 post-All-Star break, and everything was looking up. I honestly believe that they could have made a serious push for that 8 seed. Then the season got suspended and all momentum was lost.
Now that the season is finally coming back, I think a lot of the Kings’ successes will be determined by how Fox and Bagley can hold their composure in the high stress environment. The 8 games before the playoffs are not going to feel like the regular season for those teams looking to snag the 8 seed. It’s going to feel as close to a playoff environment as most of them have ever felt. This is the case for the Kings. Their best players have never felt what it’s like to play in a playoff basketball game, so they're going to have to adapt. The fact that it’s in a neutral site will ease the stress a bit, but everyone’s going to be going all out, so the Kings will have to put up or shut up.
It’s been reported that Bagley is likely to come off the bench as he continues to nurse his foot injury, which means the starting lineup would look something like this - De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes, Nemanja Bjelica, and Richaun Holmes. Honestly? Not a bad starting five. Add Bogdan Bogdanovic, Marvin Bagley, Harry Giles, and Jabari Parker off the bench and they could make some serious noise come August.
Now comes the real question… Do I think that the Kings will end up as the 8 seed in the Western Conference? In reality, no. I don’t. It’s not because they don’t have the talent or roster to do so, I just think other teams have a much better chance. The Kings are one of the teams I have in my head that could surprise everyone, though; including myself. I hope Fox puts on an absolute show come August. We’ll have to wait and see.
