2014-15 Sacramento Kings Preview

Oct 15, 2014 - 6:09 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Kings made waves last December by trading for the high-priced Rudy Gay.

Unfortunately, the addition did little for a moribund franchise that stumbled to a second straight 28-win season and an eighth straight year of watching the playoffs.

Gay logged his usual gaudy peripheral numbers, scoring 20.1 ppg and connecting on a respectable 48.2 percent from the floor, but his value took a hit when the Raptors turned around their season after dealing him away.

Now Gay is starting a season with his third team in three years and is set to become a free agent next offseason.

His future is just as unpredictable as Sacramento's, since the Kings appear to be content on sacrificing wins for building towards something down the road.

The club surprisingly parted ways this offseason with emerging point guard Isaiah Thomas, who led the team in assists and was one of three Kings who averaged 20-plus points. The sign-and-trade with the division-rival Suns did little more than provide some financial flexibility.

In Thomas' place is Darren Collison, who has been a borderline starter during his five-year career. Collison backed up Chris Paul in Los Angeles last season and averaged 11.4 points and 3.7 assists in limited minutes.

The decision to downgrade from Thomas to Collison deviates from the Kings inking DeMarcus Cousins to a massive contract extension last offseason. Cousins is one of the more volatile players in the league and has received multiple suspensions from the NBA and the Kings for his behavior

The move paid off in droves, however, with Cousins playing his best ball last season while staying out of trouble. The 6-foot-11 forward averaged 22.7 points and 11.7 rebounds -- both career bests -- and led the team in blocks and steals.

Cousins furthered his development with a fabulous showing at the FIBA World Cup and helped the Americans easily win gold.

"I learned a lot from (the World Cup) and it was an incredible experience," admitted Cousins, who played alongside Gay. "I felt I added a lot to my game, especially defensively. I have the confidence to know that I really can do it on the defensive end, as well as the offensive end."

Keeping a youthful core like Cousins and Thomas together would seem obvious, but the Kings have other plans -- like obtain as much first-round talent as possible regardless of need.

Included in that philosophy are Ben McLemore, Derrick Williams and Jason Thompson, all lottery picks without a true position.

In fact, the only known commodities the Kings have are Cousins and Gay. The rest of the roster is a mix of youthful, raw talent that somehow must have their minutes distributed evenly by second-year head coach Mike Malone.

Time will tell whether the muddled roster can produce positive results, and Malone is not sure when, or if, they ever will.

"I'm not going to say we're going to win X amount of games. I'm not going to promise a playoff berth," Malone admitted. "My hope is we can play to our potential every night."

What that potential is remains to be seen.

2013-14 Results: 28-54, 4th in Pacific, Missed playoffs.

ADDITIONS: G Nik Stauskas, G Darren Collison, F Omri Casspi, G Ramon Sessions

PROJECTED STARTING FIVE:

PG- Darren Collison SG- Ben McLemore SF- Rudy Gay PF- Reggie Evans C- DeMarcus Cousins

KEY RESERVES: PG Ray McCallum, G Nik Stauskas, F Omri Casspi, PF Carl Landry, G Ramon Sessions, PF Jason Thompson, PF Derrick Williams

FRONTCOURT: Cousins and Gay were rewarded with trips to Spain this summer and came home with gold medals. Those kind of accolades can boost a player's confidence and can have a trickle effect on the rest of the Kings' impressionable roster.

The pair provides a daunting inside-out matchup for most opposing defenses, which can only contain the duo's 42.8 combined scoring average.

Who winds up playing alongside them in the frontcourt is up in the air. Veteran rebounding specialist Reggie Evans will share time with Carl Landry, Williams and Thompson, and the hope is for Williams to come into his own in a contract year.

The second overall pick in the 2011 draft averaged just 8.5 points and 4.4 rebounds after the Timberwolves gave up on the prospect and traded him to Sacramento last November.

BACKCOURT: Collison once again gets a chance at being a starting point guard despite history suggesting he's nothing more than a solid backup.

The Kings brought in Ramon Sessions to challenge him, but there's little reason to believe Collison is on par with the other premier point guards in the league, particularly in the Pacific Division.

Ray McCallum, last year's second-round pick out of Detroit, is the potential point guard of the future, and the Kings hope they nabbed his running mate in this year's draft.

With the eighth overall pick, the club selected sharpshooter Nik Stauskas out of Michigan. The reigning Big Ten Player of the Year hit an absurd 44.2 percent from 3-point range as a sophomore.

"I'm not trying to come in and put any pressure on myself," Stauskas said. "I'm a very confident person. I've talked to coach Malone and the thing he's looking for from me is to just play my game."

Stauskas will likely start the season on the bench with Ben McLemore getting the nod, but unless McLemore can improve on his 32.0 percent shooting from long range, it's only a matter of time before Stauskas takes over.

BENCH: Sacramento's bench is certainly a work in progress. The starting lineup will change game-to-game and there will be plenty of players logging 20-plus minutes a night.

A quick glance on the bench will also require a double-take, because the Kings took a flier on 7-foot-5 project Sim Bhullar -- the first player of Indian decent to sign an NBA contract.

Bhullar spent two seasons playing college basketball at New Mexico State and will become the tallest player in the league if he makes the team.

"I'm just a big guy that can rebound the ball, block shots, clog the paint and make it harder for guys to score easy buckets around the rim," Bhullar said.

He, at least, knows his role. Where the remaining subs fall is anyone's guess.

COACHING: Malone was not given much to work with in his first year as an NBA head coach, but he kept the Kings out of the basement thanks to an assist from the Lakers' abysmal campaign.

He wants to build around a defense that improved as the season went on while shoring up obvious areas of improvement on the offensive end. The Kings were 23rd overall in turnovers per game (14.7) and finished better than just two teams in 3-point shooting (.333).

Stauskas should single-handedly help the latter category, but it will be tough for Malone to vastly improve the former with such a fluid roster.

OUTLOOK: The Kings' front office has set up the franchise for the future with young talent, financial flexibility and little chance at competing for a playoff spot, which will put them right back in the draft lottery.

Kings fans have little to look forward to other than watching Cousins grow into an every night force and Stauskas firing from downtown.

And, of course, there's a new arena scheduled to be ready for the 2016-17 season -- right around the time the team should be competitive.