It’s been almost half a year since the Kings last played actual basketball, and a new season is right around the corner. There’s new young talent in town, players returning from injury, and a fresh slate for everybody involved.
So why can’t I find myself getting excited?
I don’t think I’m alone in this regard. Being a Kings fan has hardly ever been easy, and these past 20 or so years have taken a toll on this fanbase. What few bright spots we’ve been given to enjoy have been quickly dimmed. We’re Charlie Brown, kicking at a football that we know is going to be pulled away each and every time.
Last season was one of the toughest I’ve ever had to sit through, watching players I knew had no future with this franchise toil away and set personal records while the team itself floundered and had its worst season in over a decade. The team couldn’t even manage to lose right, winning eight games after the All-Star break that saw them slip from the best lottery odds to the fifth worst and eventually fall to the seventh pick in the draft. We also had to watch our last head coach, Mike Brown, go on to win the NBA championship in his first year after leaving us, while the other team in the Finals had our former franchise player, De’Aaron Fox. It was the ultimate proof that the grass is indeed greener anywhere outside of this franchise.
Now, all that’s not to say that I don’t have hopes for this season. The Kings actually do have some young talent this season, namely Darius Acuff Jr., but I also really like what I saw from second-round pick Emanuel Sharp in college and Summer League. Maxime Raynaud, Dylan Cardwell and Nique Clifford were bright spots last season, and they’re returning and hopefully going to be even better. Keegan Murray is healthy again and hopefully will return to form.
But the ultimate hope for a fan of any team is to see their team win games, and that is not something I think the Kings will be doing much of this season. Most NBA pundits put the Kings at or near the bottom of the league. Las Vegas has set the team’s over/under for wins on the season at just 21.5, the lowest in the league. To add to that, being a bottom-three team this year actually punishes teams with lower lottery odds, and with 16 picks in the lottery being selected now, a team like the Kings could see their draft slot drastically drop. If you think going from fifth to seventh is bad, imagine going from first to 12th.
This team also has no real identity around it as of yet. There are still players like Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis who will play heavy minutes for this team but clearly have one foot out the door, waiting for their next best opportunity. Doug Christie feels as close to a lame duck coach as you can get without explicitly being such. You have Ben Simmons talking about how the Kings are a great opportunity because both he and the team have “low expectations” (he’s not wrong on either count). Scott Perry has opted to be patient over seeking short-term satisfaction (a strategy I’ve asked the Kings to employ for years to no avail), but it’s put this team in a holding pattern that’s going to take some time to get through.
I am happy that basketball is back. I’m going to go to games, root for wins and hopefully see a few Beams lit here and there. But I don’t feel that same excitement I usually have around this time of year. I see Lucy holding that football again, and it’s hard to work up the motivation to kick.
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