News - Sacramento Kings - KLEMMELO
It's Now or Never...
The Kings have hit a few bumps in the road as of late... And let's be real they're all almost entirely self inflicted.
The self proclaimed "King of Free Agency" of course once again, made a big splash this off season bringing back T.J, Barton and Fournier while also signing free agents Cody Zeller, Jabari Parker, Cory Joseph, Kent Bazemore, Justice Winslow, Austin Reaves and Jock Landale. Veteran wing Justin Holiday was also brought over via trade on the day to replace the hole left by Ross, since being moved prior for Dragic (Spoiler Alert: Trade of the season right there...).
It wasn't all "Peaches n' Cream" for the Kings though... Last seasons prized trade-deadline acquisition Evan Fournier; Eventually leaving a sour taste in the mouths of the Kings faithful, as they were forced into a S&T deal that would send him packing to Cleveland for Marcus Morris. Now all of a sudden the Kings proposed "Elite backcourt depth" had taken a massive hit with Dragic refusing to play, along with both Fournier and Ross now finding new teams.
As expected it didn't take long for the Kings GM to start up the ole "Trade Express", already being involved in nine trades this year as we come around the bend to the half way point of the season. Ibaka, Griffin, Wright, Covington and Bembry now don the 'iconic' Kings Purple night in and night out and will prove to be valuable rotation pieces for Sacramento as they try to get this circus back on track.
Heading into week 8 the Kings start so far this season has been shaky to say the least... They currently sit 10th out West with an underwhelming 12-17 record. 6 of the top 8 sides reside in the Western Conference and none of the other teams filling out the ranks look to be an easy beat by any means. From the outside looking in the red hot Warriors are finally clicking and on a league best 7 game win streak. Both Dallas and OKC have all the star power required, at least on paper, to make a push towards possibly taking a top 8 seed or at least being right there come play-in time.
With rumors swirling about T.J's return and possible timeline as he rehabs from surgery, the Kings are again dealt with another devastating blow. If what the claims say are correct, he may not be back on the court until closer to the end of the season or even early Play offs... When the Kings made the 'questionable' move for T.J last season, as their proposed starting PG, many around the league mocked and jeered... The move was critiqued, raising questions of a 'limited' ceiling with a team led by him running the offence... Well, As predicted (by GM Klemmelo at least...) this season T.J was jostling for the leagues top spot in both assists (Currently ranked 2nd/7.3 APG) and steals (Currently ranked 3rd/2.0 SPG), both hushing the haters while also now proving bittersweet. That kind of production just can't be so easily replaced...
...And who knows what the go is with that bum Dragic.
What the Kings DO have though is a top 25 guy and franchise big in Vucevic averaging 18/12 shooting 50+% from the field. One of the best snipers and perimeter scorers in the game in Buddy who ranks 3rd in the league in 3pt makes converting at a very respectable 43% clip and sixth man of the year front runner in Zeller, who has averages of 12.8/10.1 shooting 64% in a shade over 20 MPG while coming off the bench.
With their recent moves they now sport All-NSL Defense caliber guys like TJ and Covington who lead the Kings on that end alongside the likes of Ibaka, Barton, Bemby, Winslow, Wright and Joseph who are all widely considered as being above average to elite on the defensive end. The Kings have veteran experience and legit depth being 10 men deep even on the worst of days and a GM at the helm with years of experience, knowing exactly how to get the best out of his teams...
Depth Chart (Fully healthy):
PG: T.J. McConnell/Delon Wright/Cory Joseph
SG: Buddy Hield/Will Barton/DeAndre Bembry
SF: Robert Covington/Jabari Parker/Justice Winslow
PF: Nikola Vucevic/Blake Griffin
C: Cody Zeller/Serge Ibaka
With all the bad luck or questionable decisions made so far, the Kings have finally been given a slight opening to relevance again as they face some severely crippled opposition in week 8. They match up against Golden State, Toronto, Milwaukee and Indiana... Who collectively see the likes of PG, Lowry, Ayton, SGA, Towns, Gordon and Mobley as being just a taste of the talent currently on the injury list...
The Kings toughest part of the schedule is now behind them and looking forward to weeks 9-15 we see them up against opposition with an average win% of .425. They play the entire regular season series' four games against Dallas during this stretch and have the chance at coming out of it being up in their individual series against Conference rivals Houston and OKC. With games against GS, DEN, MIN, HOUx2 and OKCx2 all of a sudden it's easy to see how this given stretch will surely shape and impact the Kings 21-22 season greatly...
Whether its for better or worse remains to be seen...
Oh and of course... Pray for us, cuz it's always...
#ALLINORBUST
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