3rd place – Sacramento Kings
2015-16 record: 33-49 (3rd place in Pacific Divison)
2016-17 prediction: 31-51
The Sacramento Kings’ offseason has been… interesting.
DeMarcus Cousins has stayed put despite the wishes of many eager rival fans around the NBA, which is ultimately what everyone should have expected, anyway. They signed Arron Afflalo for a fair price of two years, $25 million, brought in Matt Barnes on a two-year, $12.5 million deal, and have even added the rapidly falling Ty Lawson, as if the Kings couldn’t look any more Kingsy.
But free agency isn’t even the issue at the hand. The general direction of the franchise — the identity by which it will function or try to improve with in 2016-17 — is simply unknown.
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After trading their 8th overall pick in this year’s draft (that could have been super-high-upside Marquese Chriss), they received the 13th and 28th overall picks from the Suns. Those picks resulted in an unknown Greek center, Georgios Papagiannis, at 13, and Skal Labissiere at 28. The Kings also traded Marco Belinelli to the Charlotte Hornets for the 22nd pick (resulting in Malachi Richardson).
Primarily, they hoarded big men. They added a random, slow, center in Papagiannis and power forward Labissiere when they already have Cousins, Kosta Koufos and Willie Cauley-Stein in their frontcourt, as well as another four in Anthony Tolliver from free agency.
With such selections on draft night and the Papagiannis pick, Boogie didn’t hesitate to tweet out some frustration.
https://twitter.com/boogiecousins/status/746149291249410050?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
If that wasn’t enough, Sactown Royalty asked Rudy Gay in July about what he thought the franchise’s current direction is. He said he has no idea:
"“I have no idea. I suit up and give it my all. That’s all I can do in this situation, that’s all you can do. Go out there and play as much as you can. Obviously, we don’t have anything to really build on. We have a new coach. I think that’s the only thing we can really build on. New coach and seeing how it plays out.”"
In response to being asked about the potential of the new team, Gay again had no idea what they’re doing:
"“Honestly, I haven’t paid attention. I don’t even know who our new players are to be honest with you.”"
For new head coach Dave Joerger, questions of a cluttered frontcourt, defense, and the simple managing of rotations throughout the roster hardly sheds much excitement onto next season for the Kings.
Key players like Gay and Cousins are clearly bothered by what the team is doing. Seeing much success or any kind of easy sailing to an improved record isn’t easy to do for this Kings team. Hovering around 30 wins based on their talent alone seems likely.
Next: 2nd place - The Warriors' closest Western competitor