After finishing the year with a 24-58 mark and a fifth place finish in the Pacific Division, the Kings definitely have no place to go but up. The Kings have one of the youngest groups in the league and it’s only a matter of time before they can get things turned around.

After failing to move the franchise to Anaheim, the owners have decided to keep their team in Sacramento for at least one more year. The city is making an attempt to raise enough funds to build a new arena, and if that occurs, they can keep the Kings in Sacramento.

While the team’s future looks to be bright in Sacramento, their present is a complete different story. They were regarded as making a bunch of different transactions in the offseason, although not nearly enough to warrant a big improvement. They did come up with a way to get Jimmer Fredette, Tyler Honeycutt and Isaiah Thomas through draft. They also added Chuck Hayes thru free agency and J.J Hickson and John Salmons thru trade.

They gave up Beno Udrih in the trade that netted them John Salmons and gave up Omri Casspi in the trade for J.J. Hickson so they did have to give up some good players. The Kings also lost Samuel Dalembert and Marquis Daniels in free agency. They have got fascinating pieces coming in and the players they added are far better than the players they lost, but this isn’t a huge upgrade by any means.

Sacramento re-signed G Marcus Thornton to a multiyear deal after turning it on in his last 27 games of the season averaging 21.3 points per night and ending the season on a positive note. Thornton excelled in Sacramento after being traded from New Orleans at the trade cut off point. He finished the season ninth among shooting guards in points per minute.

While PG Tyreke Evans led the Kings in offense with 17.8 points, assists with 5.6 and steals with 1.5 last season. Still, he took an important step back from his rookie year. Evans missed 25 games last year handling plantar fasciitis. He lost lots of his explosiveness round the basket because of his injuries, and settled for way too many outside shots. Evans tried nearly 3 3′s a game and made only 29.1 %.

With Evans and Thornton doing the majority of the scoring in the perimeter, PF DeMarcus Cousins looks to build off of his powerful rookie campaign inside. He averaged 14.1 points and a team-high 8.6 rebounds last year. The single thing Cousins need to improve is shot selection, because he only hit 43% from the floor and as a big, that is a fairly low number.

With all the additions made by this team, the Kings could sport one of the deeper teams in the league. They have Fredette, Salmons, Hayes, Hickson, Francisco Garcia and Donte Green all as reserves. They have great depth in all areas of the floor and could turn out to be helpful in the shortened NBA season.

Western Conference Prediction: 5th Pacific Division – This Kings team definitely have a lot of hope for the future and the hope is for Sacramento to keep it’s team for years to come. However, you won’t be seeing the Kings in our NBA playoff predictions this season. Sacramento can challenge both Phoenix and Golden State for the No. 3 place in the division, but they still need a season or two to compete for a playoff berth in the ultra-competitive Western Meeting.

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