Credits: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports The Sacramento Kings finished ninth in the Western Conference last season.
After beating the Golden State Warriors in their first play-in game, the Kings failed to score and succumbed to the New Orleans Pelicans a few days later.
The Pelicans would continue to getting swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
It shows how legitimate the Western Conference is. This offseason, the tug-of-war has been alive and well at the top.
Dallas Mavericks, Western Conference champions loaded with signing Klay ThompsonThe Thunder signed Isaiah Hartenstein to anchor their young core. The Warriors added Kyle Anderson and Buddy Heild. The Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers are making returns.
All of these teams had better records than the Kings, so it is obvious that they felt the urgency to add the best free agent available, DeMar DeRozanto complete a great trio with De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis.
The Kings gave DeRozan a three-year contract in a trade that sent Harrison Barnes to the San Antonio Spurs and Chris Duarte to the Chicago Bulls along with two second-round picks and cash.
The headliner is undoubtedly DeRozan, with the other pieces of this deal being backups. He was already introduced to the Kings faithful at their California Classic game on Saturday night, where he was introduced to thunderous applause.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with Kings fans being excited about this trade. It is arguably the biggest offseason deal in franchise history. DeRozan is a California native and a six-time NBA All-Star. Kings fans have seen 20 years of mediocre basketball, and they finally have a fun and endearing team to get behind.
At 34, DeRozan averaged 24 points per game last season and appears to be the veteran winger the Kings needed to turn the corner.
And DeRozan can probably lead the Kings to the top. But can he lead them to the top? It’s going to be tough because of the workload in the Western Conference, and it’s only getting better.
Not to mention the fact that the playoff rosters of Fox, Sabonis, DeRozan, Malik Monk, Keegan Murray and Kevin Huerter are still a bit awkward.
The Kings have improved. There’s no denying that. They should be a true NBA playoff team this season. But making the playoffs and playing in them are two very different things in the NBA. Often, it takes multiple playoff appearances before a team makes it to a conference finals game.
And with their new superstar in the final years of his career, the Kings don’t have much time to waste.
