Sacramento Kings

Sacramento Kings season preview

Projected starting lineup

G Mike Bibby
G Kevin Martin
F Ron Artest
F Shareef Abdur-Rahim
C Brad Miller

Reserves
John Salmons
Kenny Thomas
Mikki Moore


Last year
Did someone not pass the memos to the Maloof brothers before they signed off on the Ron Artest trade? Someone had to tell these guys that Artest was trouble, right? Sure it was easy to get blinded for a moment, as the Kings had went 20-9 after the 2006 NBA all-star break, but this is Ron Artest we are talking about here. The guy who started the Malice at the Palace, the guy who needed time off to promote his CD, the guy who asked for a trade from the team that stood beside him, the guy who felt he needed a second job at circuit city during his rookie season, the guy who wore a bath rode to a practice...DID THEY GET THE MEMOS??? I mean, it's quite obvious that this guy is somewhat unstable. Is that championship material? The 2006-2007 season will go down as a major disappointment for the once proud (and successful) franchise. I don't want to blame everything on Artest though, as the Kings decided a successful coach in Rick Adelman was not needed and they choose not to renew his contract, instead signing Eric Musselman, who celebrated his new job by having a few drinks and going for a nice little drive. Let's see...what else...oh yes, Mike Bibby. Dude who scored 36 points in game 5 to lead the Kings over Dallas in the first round of 02-03 playoffs had become non existent. Brad Miller who is one of the best passing big men just a few years ago, spent the majority of the season on the sidelines, and when he did play, he looked 40 years old instead of 31. Shareef Abdur-Rahim USE to be an all-star!?!? I know, I had to double check that one myself. This team showed how much of a decline it was on in 2006-2007...except for one player, Kevin Martin. Out of the ashes rises hope, as Martin in his 3rd season averaged 20.2 points shooting 47.3%. But as I have said before, how good can one player be if he is the best player on a awful team? Regardless, the upside is there. Which is more then I can say for the Kings team as a whole.


Off-season
Signed Mikki Moore
Re-singed Justin Williams
Drafted Spencer Hawes
Lost Ronnie Price to free agency
Lost Corliss Williamson to free agency

Well the Maloof brothers must have been watching Saturday morning TV when they decided to hire Reggie Theus. Reggie by the way, has zero experience coaching an NBA team, although i am sure the success he had with the Deering Tornadoes will help him out in the NBA. As for Mikki Moore, he was tops of the league in FG% but did that memo about playing with Jason Kidd also miss the desk of any of the Kings staff members?


2007-2008
If you could take the best out of the starting five, like take the 03-04 season of Bibby, the 06-07 season of Martin, a sane Ron Artest, Shareef from 01-02 and Brad Miller from the 02-04 years and add in the success that Theus had with Deering and then you got one heck of a team here. In fact, a top 5 or 6 team in the league team. But all you are going to get in 07-08 is Martin. As for everyone else, enjoy the money because the money is the reason why changes will be minimal for the next few seasons. They already looked into moving Bibby, but the obvious decline (or lack of interest perhaps?) as well as a massive contract makes Bibby pretty much stuck in Sac town. They trying to see what they could get for Artest, but other teams read what they get in the in-box. No one is taking Miller. The only positive they got is Martin. So it was a fun ride. Those Sacramento vs L.A. battles in early 2000 was great. Hopefully NBA TV replays a few of those some day. But as for today, welcome to the world of the NBA lottery Sacramento.


What to watch for
1) Artest - If history has taught us anything, it's that Artest will do something news worthy this season
2) The decline of Bibby, Shareef and Miller - If these guys can have a bounce back season, it can change the outlook of this team in a big way
3) Coach Theus - Is NBA coaching experience required to be successful?

Prediction
I see the decline of those three players continuing, and even if they did bounce back, it's a tough road to the playoffs in the West. Martin will keep up the 20 ppg average, but blowing up this team is pretty much the only option at this point.

Between 23 and 27 wins this season with a 12th place finish in the West.