Time to preview the 2010-11 Sacramento Kings
Music to listen to: Passenger by The Deftones
Last season/offseason changes: Last season was an interesting year for the Kings. They finished the year 25-57 which doesn’t look good on paper but several good things happened.
The Kings were competitive in the second-half of the year. Second, Tyreke Evans won the Rookie of the Year and showed that he can be one of the top players in the NBA.
The good fortune continued in the offseason when the Kings were able to draft DeMarcus Cousins out of Kentucky, who in my opinion, was the second-most talented player in the NBA draft. He does have maturity issues but its rare to find a player of his size combined with mobility and ease around the basket.
Another addition to the Kings was center Sam Dalembert or as I like to call him, the Dalenbeast. He’s going to do well in Sacramento because his main role will be to rebound and play defense because the scoring responsibilities aren’t there for him with the Kings like they were in Philadelphia.
I also liked the drafting of Hassan Whiteside, a project at the center position who will take time to mature but well worth the risk.
The Kings did have to say goodbye to Andres Nocioni, which hurts their perimeter defense and three-point shooting. Also, to acquire the Dalembeast, they had to trade away Spencer Hawes, which doesn’t hurt as much because Cousins is now in the fold.
Strength: The first thing that any top team needs is a go-to scorer and the Kings have that in Evans.
He’s one of the most physically imposing guards in the league, too big for opposing point guards to defend and just as athletic as any shooting guard. The one thing that he needs to do is develop a jump shot but you can say that for many young players in their second year in the NBA.
Weakness: The role players.
If the Kings want to make a run at the playoffs, the rest of the players outside of Evans have the increase their production.
Carl Landry needs to finally fulfill his potential and give the Kings a much needed presence, Jason Thompson has to get better, Donte Green needs to improve his shooting as well as Francisco Garcia.
Most important player: While we all know about Evans’ talents, I’m going to say its Cousins.
If Evans reaches his potential, the Kings can be a nice squad that may make the playoffs once every two or three years. If Cousins reaches his max, the Kings can be a championship contender because its so essential to have a post player that can dictate so much of what you do on the court.
Celebrity crush from the city: I’m taking Giselle Fernandez
Coaching: I remember Paul Westphal from his days as head coach of the Phoenix Suns in the early 1990’s and thought he did a good job but didn’t think he would be in the NBA again. When it was announced that he was going to be the Kings head coach, I was skeptical.
However, he’s done a good job with the Kings but has to get the Kings to be more than just give the ball to Evans and get out of the way.
First memory of the team: I actually remember when Jason Williams, aka White Chocolate, came into the NBA and created some major excitement for the Kings. His crossover of Gary Payton was one of the nastiest moves I’ve even seen on a basketball court.
Best case: Sneaking into the playoffs
Worst case: Evans and Cousins can’t co-exist
Uniform grade: I’m a big fan of the purple and black. It was a good move to strictly go with the purple unis on the road and ignore the black ones. Grade: B
Overall outlook: The Kings are an improving squad and may even get to 35 wins this season but they aren’t going to make the playoffs. They’ve been lucky in the draft the last two years with acquiring talent, especially with Cousins but now is the time to start developing the new players into a cohesive unit that may be a force in the West in two seasons.
Those are my thoughts, what about yours?
2010 Backdoor Cut Previews:
Atlantic Division
Central Division
Southeast Division
Northwest Division
Pacific Division
The Sports Inquirer 
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