2009/10 Review:

Even though the Sacramento Kings had the second worst record in the Western Conference last season, they have shown some signs of excitement regarding their future.

Note that at the end of the year, the Kings had a 14-17 record to show with some impressive outings from their young guns like the 35-points epic comeback win in Chicago in December, 21st. However, they hit the wall in January with a 2-13 monthly record and since then, they just couldn’t stop losing ballgames after ballgames.

Rookie Tyreke Evans shocked many pundits last season by becoming only the fourth rookie in NBA history to averaged at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in their rookie season. The other four players to average 20-5-5 in their rookie season were: Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan and Lebron James! At the end of the season, he received the Rookie of the Year award.

The other up-and-comer from last season is Omri Casspi. The Israeli player was a nice unexpected surprise with his impressive range and dangerous offensive game. Obviously, he hit in a wall late on the season because the NBA world was something new for him and his body couldn’t keep up with the tiredness, but he still showed some glimpses of an all around player.

Hell, even Beno Udrih had a nice comeback season! The Kings also received Carl Landry midway the season and Landry is another valuable asset for the future of this organization. The problem was that they couldn’t finish the games and were highly inconsistent through the sign – two evident signs of their youngness and inexperience.

2009/10 Advanced Stats:

Pace 7th 97.8
Offense 22nd 102.3
Defense 20th 106.9
Rebounds 15th +0.59

2010/11 Outlook:

Projected Depth Chart:

PG: Tyreke Evans, Luther Head, Pooh Jeter
SG: Beno Udrih, Francisco Garcia, Antoine Wright
SF: Omri Casspi, Donte Greene
PF: Carl Landry, Jason Thompson, Darnell Jackson, Hassan Whiteside
C: DeMarcus Cousins, Samuel Dalembert

After having one of the most excitement teams in the league in the beginning of the last decade, the Kings are now in a rebuilding mode and their bread and butter of this process has been what the Portland Trailblazers did and recently the Oklahoma City Thunder has been doing: build the team via the draft picks.

Tyreke Evans is the face of the franchise and the player that the organization has to build around. At 6-foot-6, 220 pounds and a wingspan that would be the envy of most bigs, Evans plays at the Point Guard position, so he has a potential matchup advantage in every single game against his direct opponent. He averaged 20.1 points, 5.8 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 45.8% from the field. However, he also committed 3 turnovers per game – something normal for a PG in his rookie season. As long the season progressed, Evans obviously teared down his play especially in March, in which he shot 42.2% FG and averaged 3.3 turnovers per game. There isn’t any doubt that Evans will have a bright future in this league, but it is his responsibility and character that really has to step up like and lead the team. The Oklahoma City Thunder was able to make an incredible jump last season because Kevin Durant was a true leader on and off the court and every teammate followed his leadership. If Tyreke Evans is able to make such impact in the team then the Kings will develop faster than the expected.

Since Kevin Martin left town or was injured, Beno Udrih took his job and was a good compliment for Evans. After receiving an extension, Udrih was horrible in 08-09, so it was nice for him to have a bounce back season last year, in which he shot 49.3% from the field and 37.7% behind the arc. He is a natural Point Guard, but with Evans on the court and demanding the ball, Udrih is now more of a spot-up shooter and his shooting numbers were pretty good playing in this role. Because he has some good vision court, the Kings have two dynamic combo guards on the court and Paul Westphal really likes this combination.

Because of frequent injuries, Francisco Garcia failed to make an impact in the team and his future role will be more of a 6th man coming off the bench. Last season. he missed a total of 52 games and even when healthy. he never felt comfortable on the court. Hopefully he will enjoy an injury-free season and his ability to play both at SG and SF provides Paul Westphal a lot of versatility about his usage time.

Omri Casspi was a nice surprise last season albeit his inconsistence was pretty evident and normal after all. The Israeli player is a nice piece of the Kings puzzle due to his good shooting ability which helps to spread the floor for Evans and Cousins and going for this sophomore season, we can expect him to be more consistent. Behind him the Kings have Donte Green and Antoine Wright to compliment the position. Green has some potential with him but he is yet to show it in a consistent basis.

When the Kings saw the real potential of Tyreke Evans, they didn’t take long to get rid of Kevin Martin and the solution was trading him to Houston for Power Forward Carl Landry - who was having a breakout season in Houston – probably we would compete against Jamal Crawford for the 6th man player of the year award and in Sacramento he received the possibility of being a full time starter. Even though after receiving more 10 minutes per game didn’t particular boosted his numbers when compared to his Rockets days, the fact is that Landry averaged 18.0ppg and 6.5rpg, while shooting 52% from the field and if we take in account that he will receive $3-million per-year, then the Kings made a great deal.

In this draft, the Kings selected big man Demarcus Cousins with the 5th overall pick and Cousins will be the future center of this team sooner or later. Cousins averaged 15 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks last season in Kentucky and showed off a very impressive defensive game and a mid-range shot that he is able to create on his own, which is a huge plus to any aspiring rookie. In the first game of this preseason, he posted 16 points and 16 rebounds, so the Kings have a great talent to found a foundation with Tyreke Evans for the next decade.

Traded to the Kings during the summer, Samuel Dalembert is now in the last year of his big contract and in Sacramento, he has the responsibility to show more consistency than he did in Philadelphia in the last couple of years. He is still one of the best shot blockers of the league and a terrific rebounder; however he’s also a foul machine and provides little in the way of offensive support. With his presence, the Kings don’t need to rush the development of Cousins, but sooner or later Dalembert will get past Cousins in the depth chart.

The Kings have also young players Jason Thompson and rookie Hassan Whiteside to complete the frontcourt. We are talking about a really talented and young unit, but with a lot of signs that they will be inconsistent through the season. That was one of the reasons of why the Kings failed to be competitive last season so these young players must step up quick.

It is pretty hard to not watch this team and ignore its extremely terrific potential all across the roster. However, few young and talented teams were able to make the jump that the Oklahoma City Thunder made last season, actually I think that the Thunder was the exception of the rule, so the Sacramento Kings have some growing pains in front of him. Nevertheless, the excitement is back to Sacramento and the league really needs some of that energy in the West coast.