Sacramento Kings
Sacramento Kings’ Projected Starting Five:
- De’Aaron Fox
- Buddy Hield
- Harrison Barnes
- Nemanja Bjelica
- Marvin Bagley III
- Other Notable Players — Bogdan Bogdanovic, Dewayne Dedmon, Trevor Ariza, Cory Joseph, Richaun Holmes
If the West wasn’t the NBA equivalent of the Avengers turning on one another, I’d say Sacramento is a safe postseason bet. But they’re not — in fact, claiming the Kings are a postseason favorite might earn you a few strange glances from those in the NBA community.
There’s still a chance, though. Despite the questionable desire to fire Dave Joerger and hire Luke Walton, the Kings have a talented roster. De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield is a sublime pairing, while Marvin Bagley’s late-season surge remained fans of his impressive amateur resume.
The Kings are built to pace and space, allowing Fox and Bagley to dominate in the open court while Hield, Bjelica and others provide spacing. The Harrison Barnes extension was a head-scratcher, but we’ll let it slide. He’s still a decent piece to help anchor a young core.
With Walton on board, hopefully the Kings migrate to starting Bagley at center full time. There’s a chance Dewayne Dedmon steals the job — and, in fairness, the pairing could be worse — but Bagley’s unique athletic gifts are best maximized as a rim-running five with a stretch four to his side.
Due to the glut of perimeter depth, the Kings will bring Bogdan Bogdanovic off the bench as a sleeper sixth man of the year candidate. Trevor Ariza and Cory Joseph were also strong offseason additions, providing a nice kick of veteran experience in reserve.
Sacramento tends to play Philadelphia well. An up-tempo group, led by a quick-twitch guard and a lights-out shooter, could bend the Sixers’ elite defense in uncomfortable ways. It could make up for the Kings’ lack of an answer for Joel Embiid.
Given the tiresome nature of west coast trips — many of which will feature games against more powerful Pacific Division opponents — it’s safe to call Philadelphia-Sacramento a series split.