For the month of October, Mitch Pratt, Andrew Kasmarek and Charlie Tritschler will be previewing the NBA teams for the exciting 2013-2014 season.
The Sacramento Kings are one of the most dysfunctional franchises in the NBA. I don't feel bad giving out titles like that because I am a diehard fan of the only team that might be more dysfunctional (over the last 25 years). However, the Kings now have new ownership with a group led by CEO of TIBCO (Bay Area software company), Vivek Ranadive, who took over after the team was nearly sold by the Maloof brothers to Chris Hansen (not this Chris Hansen) and moved off to Seattle.
Now, they'll have new direction after getting a highly sought after head coach-to-be from Golden State in Mike Malone and after having rid of Tyreke Evans and locked up DeMarcus "Boogie" Cousins to a huge 4 year, $62 million contract to be the face of the franchise. It'll be nice to see the Kings have some stability after being at the brunt of relocation rumors for the the past two or three seasons.
The X-Factor: Rookie G Ben McLemore - The Kings were lucky enough to have McLemore fall all the way to them (seventh overall) in the 2013 NBA Draft. McLemore could have very easily gone #1 overall, at least for a period of time last year. After he was rather impressive in Summer League, it'll be interesting to see if he can become a star right away in his first NBA season and start to form another piece to nice core in with Cousins.
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| Cousins, inked up and tatted. |
The Big Question: Can Boogie Cousins put his past immaturity behind him? - I think it's pretty curious to reward a guy who could not get along with a lifeless Chucky Doll throughout his first few seasons in the NBA. The 23 year old clashed with former head coaches Paul Westphal and Keith Smart all throughout but maybe a new regime from top to bottom (and a nice pay day) will help him move forward and be the franchise player that all of us are waiting for him to be.
Key Additions: PG Greivis Vasquez, F Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, PF Carl Landry - Vasquez has been a pretty solid point guard in his career. He's much bigger than most PGs and plays with passion. Luc Richard is a former Buck that can't score consistently and his defense isn't really what it used to be but maybe another offseason to recover from his knee injury will help him get back.
Key Departures: G/F Tyreke Evans - The former Rookie of The Year pulled a Brandon Jennings and just never really improved all that greatly from his ROY campaign, even after going through what I like to call his NBA formative years (20,21,22). He's got a new situation and a new (albatross) contract in New Orleans to prove his worth.
Kings Draft: McLemore and G Ray McCallum - I've already discussed what McLemore might mean for the Kings but Ray McCallum could be a nice piece. Having seen him play a few times in person, I can say that he's more athletic than your average point man. He's got decent size and with his athleticism, I think his defense can will be NBA ready.
Prediction: I'll say 4th in the Pacific. I think they're better off than the Suns for this coming year but there still in a transitional phase so they most likely won't compete for the division crown.
-Mitch
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