Sacramento Kings – TBT



The Franchise

The NSL brings a new era to the Klemm-lead Sacramento team and gives him a chance to start anew (and forget about that hapless, doozy of an NLL version) with one of the best players to ever play the game. Klemm always wants to win and it’s no exception in the NSL, with his roster drafted and manoeuvred into a position filled with smart, talented and hardened veterans around the one and only LeBron James.

Klemm has quite possibly the best vibes of any manager in the league. The guy has endless energy and insight and seems like a guy who will always give his mates the time, whether it be for a chat or to move the firewood that he just chopped in his backyard. It comes through in everything he posts, as well as all his deals, with each move made with the hopefulness and sheer optimism that that last win-now move might be the one to get him over the top. Similar to myself, he isn’t afraid to mortgage the future and the ‘what if’ upside of youth and picks in order to give himself a shot at a moment of immortality; so he can say to himself… ‘We are the best’. I admire and respect the approach because it’s just so damn easy to resign ones self to being sh*t and just turn it into top picks. Kudos, you loose unit.

The Roster

As mentioned earlier, he struck gold in the inaugural NSL draft and had LeBron James fall to him at pick 12 (just moments before my own pick – I was rooting for James to fall to me). He is a demi-god basketballer and has/will leave an imprint on this game like few others, equally in terms of success and personal production and for the changes he forged for player movement, social media and the players association. He is a goddamn mogul; ain’t no other way to put it. But until he becomes a billionaire movie producer/team owner/entrepreneur, he still has 4-5 years left of truly elite 2k production. Kings fans will be thrilled to see James play positions 1-5 and bring a level of overwhelming mismatch to all of them. He will average close to a triple double with points in the high 20s – 10+ rebounds and around 7 dimes. Watch him have an MVP-type season.

Now, you can’t really go wrong with a particular build around LeBron James. However, Klemm has gone for quite a distinct build and surrounded him with 3&D players and tall, athletic bigs who won’t require many/any touches on offense. He has made some major trades, acquiring Jrue Holiday and Al-Farouq Aminu for Bogdanovic, Ibaka and pieces. He downgraded both Kevin Love and Hassan Whiteside, moves which I am not certain made him better but definitely made him deeper and more versatile. This Kings team is built to play modern-day basketball – switch at every opportunity, play fast and hit the open man for the open shot. This is how I see the rotation shaking out come opening night:

Starters

PG – Patrick Beverley (Absolute defensive bulldog, intensity at 100, 3&D)
SG – Jrue Holiday (Elite defender but rounded, secondary scorer, playmaker)
SF – LeBron James (the Alpha and the Omega)
PF – Al-Farouq Aminu (sleek and quick forward, more D then 3 but handy)
C – Gorgui Dieng (tall, athletic bodies there to rebound)

Rotation
Derrick Rose (fantastic scorer, 6^th man of the year candidate), Dwayne Bacon (scoring potential, upside), Trevor Ariza (terrific 3&D wing), Austin Rivers (basic, versatile depth), Willy Hernangomez (tall, athletic guy that’s not that good but 2k loves)


That is a dangerous team. They boast athleticism and super defensive prowess across all five positions and all players are able to finish in some manner off an assist from LeBron James, who will command huge usage in this lineup. Most of these players, in fact, all besides Holiday, are elite role players and that works just fine when your best player can do as much as LeBron can. The bench looks a little shaky due to the inability for guys like Carmelo Anthony, Kenneth Faried and Jonas Jerebko to agree to one-year minimum contracts, but Derrick Rose is still really good and will tear up most opposition benches. 


The Context

The Kings find themselves in the daunting Western Conference (one day, just one day it would be nice to be in the lesser conference…) that boasts at least 2/3 of the win-now talent in the NSL. They are a lock for the playoffs, but without any history to go off of, it’s quite hard to be specific. I feel confident giving them a likely top-four spot, but that means that one of the Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trailblazers, San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns won’t be there. I think with such a relatively even spread of talent and parity throughout the league due to the inaugural draft, James’ talent will stand out as much this season or more than it will likely stand out in future seasons. He is a once-in-a-lifetime player and he will take the Kings to 55+ wins.


The Questions

 Can Jrue Holiday be maximised as the second banana next to LeBron?

I feel like I have as much clout as anyone to comment on this. Despite winning the pre-season tournament, and without any real facts or evidence to back it up, I felt that Jrue Holiday would be continually underutilised next to James Harden. Is it because Harden is a ball hog? Yes. But Harden is also a great passer. Will James do a better job of sharing the ball or putting Jrue in the position to make plays?

What if small-ball isn’t en vogue?

Sacramento looks to have a dangerous, prototypical basketball team, very similar to the current NBA Clippers. They are athletic, intense and fit together well, but one thing they are not is tall. They have a short/average height point guard, shooting guard, a tweener power forward and a short center. If the settings embrace tall-ball, they will have to make some major moves… which leads me to…

Who gets traded first?

Picks aside, I think that Patrick Beverly or Trevor Ariza get traded first. 


The Prediction

Klemm will make sure his team is competitive and will pull out the stops to keep his dream of a title alive. James is going to dominate and Klemm just needs him to stay healthy to march into the playoffs. I think he will somehow get older through trades and needs to look out for an upgrade at the five spot. If nothing else, he will continue to be a beacon of enthusiasm and banter for all the merry men in the NSL!