2008 Sacramento Kings Predictions & Preview
It’s time for the Sacramento Kings to enter rebuilding mode. Gone are Mike Bibby and Ron Artest and what’s left for second-year head coach Reggie Theus are a lot of unknowns, Kevin Martin, and Brad Miller. The odds on Sacramento winning the Pacific division come in at around 75-to-1.
Somehow Martin has excelled at the shooting guard spot even though he has one of the oddest looking shots I have ever seen. He does a good job though of drawing fouls and getting himself to the charity stripe. I don’t see how Martin could possibly carry this group to the same kind of season they had a year ago when Sacramento managed to win 38 games. The Kings are listed at 100-to-1 to win the West.
In the front court the team will rely on John Salmons to replace the departed Artest at small forward. He played well last year in averaging 12.5 points playing 31 minutes a game when Artest was sidelined due to either injuries or suspensions. Jason Thompson is hopefully going to grow up fast and be able to take over the power forward spot from starter Mikki Moore. Moore does an average job on defense, but is a liability on offense. At least at center the Kings have Miller who put up 13.4 points to go with 9.5 rebounds a year ago. He can shoot the ball well from the outside, passes well, and bangs with the opposing bigs as well as anyone. The odds on the Kings winning the NBA Finals are currently at 200-to-1.
Beno Udrih is the Kings point guard after averaging 12.8 points and 4.3 assists per game while playing 32 minutes a year ago. Sacramento signed him to a five-year deal in the off-season believing he can improve those numbers. Udrih is a good shooter who also manages the game fairly well. Martin also signed a five-year deal in the offseason and has been a consistent and under-rated scorer for the past few seasons.
Bobby Jackson comes in as the backup at point who can also help speed up the learning curver of Uldrih and Bobby Brown, who is an unknown but word is had a solid summer playing in Las Vegas. Swingman Francisco Garcia scored 12.3 points per game a year ago and plays hard. Donte Green came over in the Artest trade and put up 22.6 ppg in the Vegas summer league. Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson are a couple of big bodies that could develop into decent players. The over/under on wins for Sacrament is currently 28.5.
Final Analysis
This team has been rebuilt around Martin. If you are making NBA predictions on the Kings though, it would be unrealistic to expect them to make the playoffs or even compete this season. This team is just too raw and young, plus they play in the ultra-competitive Pacific division of the Western Conference.
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