A team desperate to turn things around, the Sacramento Kings gambled this offseason on moves that could pay off if things go right.
Coming into the offseason The Sacramento Kings were without a doubt the most confusing team and were, to an extent, a laughing stock. From DeMarcus Cousins indirecting George Karl over social media to Vlade Divac playing down the rift, the Kings soap opera continued to dazzle fans across the world. To veterans of the game, it wasn’t surprising to see George Karl butting heads with his players, the same happened in Seattle with Ray Allen and he had disagreements in Denver with Ty Lawson and Carmelo Anthony. For a guy who is an absolute master at the so called ‘x’s and o’s’, Karl is a terrible man manager. Cousins is no doubt hard to work with, but when you have a player that talented at such a small and unattractive franchise you have to go out of your way to accommodate them.
This rift seems in the past, George Karl told CBS Sports that he is ‘looking forward to the new season’ and that he ‘loves his players’, this could suggest that he is ready to work with Cousins for the good of Sacramento basketball. Cousins works in Karl’s up tempo system due his fantastic pick and roll game also because he is multi-talented which means he opens up spaces for other players to thrive in. On his game he is near enough unstoppable.
In looking beyond the future hall of fame coach and the best center in America, we can begin to look at their offseason and it has been about as successful as it could have been given the ‘reported’ circumstances in the team. In beginning with the draft, they utilized their pick on defensive stopper Willie Cauley-Stein who can play at the four and at the five. He fits Karl’s system as he excels in the pick and roll game and can finish with authority in the paint, think of him like a Javale McGee or Timofey Mozgov type who will give the team much needed presence in the paint whilst being intelligent and mobile enough to attack in multiple positions. The pick was arguably the best they could have done, Mudiay was available but with the Cousins’ rumours dominating the market it would make sense for Divac to follow the ‘better safe than sorry’ line of thinking.
Rajon Rondo adds one much needed skill to the Kings, and that is Basketball IQ. Darren Collison is a good backup, but his poor decision making and his poor execution in the half court makes him a questionable fit for a Kings team that will need to maximize the potential of players like Rudy Gay and Kosta Koufos in the pick and roll game. Rondo is a divisive character no doubt, but he is clearly talented. He works best with pure scorers, and he has two of them in the form of Gay and Cousins. George Karl’s system should give him easy driving angles, it’s a fantastic pickup by Vlade Divac. Rondo also has a point to prove — critics think he his best years are behind him, and an under the radar team like Sacramento is the perfect place for him to rebuild what he has done in the past.
Marco Belinelli isn’t a truly exciting pickup, but he is exactly what they needed and he could form a good backcourt with Rajon Rondo. Ben McLemore struggled for consistency last year, but Belinelli was consistent in the Spurs team and rarely had a bad game. He shot 37 percent from downtown and averaged a steal per 48 minutes which suggests he is active on the defensive end which will help George Karl’s side launch fast breaks, a cornerstone of his system. Also added to the backcourt was Seth Curry, who lit up summer league and was considered alongside Kyle Anderson to have been the best player of the tournament. He has the shooting stroke of his brother and George Karl has yet again gambled on a player with a point to prove.
On the topic of ‘points to prove’- it seems as if this whole franchise has a point to prove. People constantly mock them for being bad and having terrible off the court problems that have plagued them since Rick Adelman’s departure in 2004. I will back them to prove this point and give a really tough challenge for the eighth seed this year. They have great front court depth which was only added to by the signing of Kosta Koufos, they got a new back court that fits coach Karl’s system and with all star players like Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins in the team they should be definites for 45 wins this year. Of course, a lot has to go right for them, they’ll have to iron out any chemistry issues and people like Rondo will need to get to their best, but the future isn’t that bleak for the franchise as others have suggested.
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