Sacramento Kings 2017 Season Preview: Draft Utopia

Sacramento Kings 2017 Season Preview

Rudy Gay led the Kings in scoring before a season ending injury. Gay needs to stay healthy in 2017.

Chris Ransom follow @DraftUtopia Posted on 3/6/2016.

Sacramento's star player DeMarcus Cousins nearly got traded. Heading into 2014-2015, Sacramento was perceived by many as a one man team led by center DeMarcus Cousins.

Cousins led the team with 24.1 points per game while posting 12.7 rebounds per game, 3.6 assists per game, 1.7 blocks per game, and 1.5 steals per game. The thing with Cousins is he only played 59 games.

Small forward Rudi Gay had 21.1 points per game, 5.9 rebounds per game, 3.7 assists per game, and 1 steal per game. Gay only played in 68 games last year.

There's no question that Cousins and Gay led this team in 2014-2015. One of the surprise players that finally blossomed was shooting guard Ben McLemore who had 12.1 points per game, 2.9 rebounds per game, and 1.7 assists per game. McLemore struggled his first two years with the Kings, but finally stepped up in 2014-2015. Unlike Cousins and Gay, McLemore played all 82 games with the Kings and was easily the most durable starter in this lineup.

Sacramento drafted Willie Cauley-Stein as expected sixth overall. Willie Cauley-Stein was an awesome center at Kentucky, but some were worried that he would not move to power forward, but when he insisted that he would move to power forward Sacramento drafted him.

The one thing to like about that is that if Cousins does not play 60 games, you can move Wille Cauley-Stein over to center if Cousins gets injured at any point. The setback is that the Kings have no backups behind DeMarcus Cousins and Willie Cauley-Stein ready to step in if either player gets injured.

Following the 2015 NBA Draft, Sacramento addressed the point guard position in Free Agency. Sacramento picked up Rajon Rondo. If Rondo performs like he did with the Boston Celtics and everyone stays healthy, then this Sacramento squad could get to the 2016 NBA Playoffs. If Rondo averages 8.9 points per game like he did in Dallas then Sacramento will be on the outside looking in.

Darren Collison averaged 16.1 points per game and he's riding the bench as a sixth man. I think that's extremely irresponsible on Sacramento's part to keep Collison on the bench. Having two guys capable of starting at the 1 playing point guard with Rondo and Collison could create team chemistry problems.

Sacramento may have the starting five to make the NBA Playoffs if Rondo gets 10 points per game. I disliked the fact that Rondo is starting because Collison was awesome last season, and keeping Collison and signing a quality backup would have save some cap space.

For some reason I see the Kings on the outside looking in with all the talent in the Western Conference. It's not a matter of the NBA hating the Kings. Sacramento has their best starting lineup since the Kings glory days in the Early 2000's. It's just kind of complicated for Sacramento because they have questions over who starts at point guard plus no depth at any other position besides point guard. One injury kills this teams playoff chances which is why the Kings will miss the playoffs.