Sacramento Kings season preview

The NBA season will be here before you know it and FanSided is here to get you ready. In the lead up to Opening Night, we’ll be previewing two teams each day, reviewing roster changes, discussing important players and challenges, and hearing the perspective of our FanSided site experts. Let’s get ready for basketball!

Roster changes

Inputs: Georgios Papagiannis (C, NBA Draft pick No. 13); Malachi Richardson (SG, NBA Draft pick No. 22); Skal Labissiere (C, NBA Draft pick No. 28); Isaiah Cousins (SG, NBA Drat pick No. 59); Matt Barnes (SF, signed for two years, $12 million); Arron Afflalo (SG, signed for two years, $25 million); Garrett Temple (SG, signed for three years, $24 million); Anthony Tolliver (PF, signed for two years, $16 million; Lamar Patterson (SF, signed for two years, $2 million); Ty Lawson (PG, signed for one year $1.3 million); Jordan Farmar (PG, signed)

Outputs: Rajon Rondo (PG, signed with the Chicago Bulls); Marco Belinelli (SG, traded to the Charlotte Hornets); Eric Moreland (PF, signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers); James Anderson (SG, unsigned); Quincy Acy (PF, signed with the Dallas Mavericks); Seth Curry (SG, signed with the Dallas Mavericks); Duje Dukan (PF, unsigned); Caron Butler (SF, unsigned)

Retained: None

Most important player

The most important player on the Sacramento Kings is DeMarcus Cousins. Rudy Gay is a talented mid-range scorer, but the Kings will go as far as Cousins will take them.

When he wants to be, Cousins is the best big man in basketball. He is a skilled offensive player, an adept rebounder, and a solid shot blocker. The only problem with Cousins is that he has a reputation as a malcontent. He plays for the most dysfunctional franchise in the NBA. Could you really blame him?

It’s not all bad for Boogie. He has three things going for him he didn’t have this time last year:

1.) Cousins is an Olympic Gold medalist. Don’t discredit this for a second. It matters because he saw what it takes to win on a massive stage. By playing with better players in Rio, he can be a more intentional leader and a better teammate.

2.) Sacramento has a new home court arena. The Kings will open the brand new Golden 1 Center in downtown Sacramento. Kings fans are as loyal as they come. They’ll cheer for the Kings regardless, but the new arena only helps keep the fanbase engaged and Cousins happy.

3.) Dave Joerger is his new head coach. Maybe Joerger and Cousins bring the best out of each other?

There is optimism with the 2016-17 Kings, but Cousins has to be the most buttoned-up he has ever been as a basketball player for Sacramento have a shot at making the playoffs.

Most important addition

The most important addition to the Kings organization in 2016-17 isn’t a player, but Dave Joerger, its new head coach. Joerger had been the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies the last three seasons, leading Memphis to a combined 147-99 record and three trips to the Western Conference playoffs.

Somehow, the Kings were able to out-kick their coverage and a land a solid NBA head coach amidst their own dysfunctional tendencies. The reason Joerger is so important to the Kings’ success this season is that he might be able to reach disgruntled superstar DeMarcus Cousins, or at the very least provide some stability.

During Cousins’ time with the team, the Kings have gone through head coaches like Russell Westbrook goes through insane outfits. The instability, which Cousins has probably contributed too, has certainly had a negative impact on one of best pure talents in the game today. The only head coach that Cousins seemed to have a good rapport with in Sacramento was Michael Malone. Kings owner Vivek Ranadive fired Malone, who runs one of the more methodical, albeit sluggish half court offenses in the NBA, because he wanted a head coach that played more up-tempo.

Cousins is more comfortable in the half-court, but he’ll get out and run if he has to. Unfortunately, that can leave him gassed on the defensive end of the floor and the Kings are utterly hopeless when Boogie can’t hang on defense.

Joerger seems to be a closer match to Malone’s style; he was a defense-first coach with the Grit-and-Grind Grizzlies. Cousins will like the pace of Joerger’s offense and the frequent post-up opportunities. Their basketball philosophies seem to complement each other. Hopefully Cousins and Joerger can make it work in the win column as well.

Related Story: Phoenix Suns season preview

What does success look like?

— Rafe Wong, @ARoyalPain, A Royal Pain

Based on talent, the Sacramento Kings aren’t as good as last season. With that being said, mild improvement from the purple and white can be expected this season. The main reason why the Kings struggled last year wasn’t because of their lack of talent but rather their lack of chemistry within the organization, especially between players and head coach.

Expect the Kings to gel more with Dave Joerger and to substantially improve a defense that was ranked dead last in points allowed per game in their previous campaign. The offense for the Kings won’t be as explosive as it was last year, but it should still be solid as DeMarcus Cousins continues his reign as the best big man in the game.

The Kings could win around 35 games this season. Although this would only be two more than last year, it would be a small victory for the franchise. Hopefully, the front office realizes that they can’t take shortcuts in developing a contender and they need to slowly and patiently build the team around Joerger’s philosophies and the dominance of Cousins going forward.