The Sacramento Kings are tired of being a doormat from the West, and also the organization’s most powerful figures have been laying down powerful rhetoric to that effect all offseason.
\n”This year, let us be clear, it is about wins and losses,” proprietor Vivek Ranadive told Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee.
\nGeneral Manager Pete D’Alessandro advised Jones:”We are not trying to be patient anymore, we’re not. We would like to acquire more, we want to be exciting.”
\nKudos to the Kings for planning high, for attempting to reward a loyal fanbase by altering the culture. But assigning wins using a roster that simply isn’t cut out to collect a lot of them may be a mistake. It is dangerous to shift into short-term success mode too early; it can cut the legs out from a rebuilding process in a means that’s sometimes unfixable.
\nSacramento will begin Darren Collison, Ben McLemore, Rudy Gay, Jason Thompson and DeMarcus Cousins, which seems intriguing on paper.
\nHowever, when you understand that the Kings’ most frequently used five-man unit annually showcased these very same players together with the departed Isaiah Thomas at point guard instead of Collison and that said unit managed a net rating of minus-5.0 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com, it is hard to see where the impression that this group can win comes from.
\nMaybe it’s the additions of Ramon Sessions, Omri Casspi and rookie Nik Stauskas. Perhaps it’s religion in Cousins’ continuing advancement.
\nWho knows?
\nThis is a long method of saying that even if the powers that be in Sacramento believe this group has a shot to do anything, the cold truth of name chances at 250-1 is a far more accurate appraisal.
\nNot this year, Kings.<\/p>\n