Can the Kings Inch Nearer to League Respectability in 2009/10?

(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

With the NBA regular season rapidly approaching (countdown of 15 days), and the global sporting atmosphere once again being permeated with the “oooohs and aaahhhs” of the magnificence of the sport from preseason games, basketball fanatics brace for the side-winding, action and gossip packed eight months which the NBA always has on display.

Over the next few days I will bring you a preview of each team through my lens and dissect them with the five most important questions affecting their season. These will consist of four performance-based questions (based of insight on personnel, possible trades, rumours, key player(s) analysis, etc) and one prediction as to what their final regular season record will be; which signals playoff positioning and season outcome.

So we await the four-game opening night on October 27th, which importantly is a date between Eastern Conference powerhouses Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Also, the knowingly star-studded ring ceremony for defending champs Los Angeles Lakers at their palace—the Staples Center takes place (who also play their resident “peasant” rivals, the almost new-look Clippers team). Let’s now take a look at the teams and their fates for the 2009-10 season. Starting with the team who last year had the most reasonable chance at landing the number one draft pick in this past NBA Draft Lottery.

NB:  All predictions and results made are subject to injuries and trades that may occur during the upcoming season

Record: 17-65, fifth in Pacific Division, 15th seed Western Conference

Just when I thought there would be a freak accident with a jump in success and wins, one happens in the weight room! The once-glorious monarchs of the league were further reduced to league jesters with an unconscious and hardly amusing record of 17-65, that took them further away from the Western Conference summit which they constantly traversed in the early stages of the decade. With swingman Francisco Garcia breaking his arm and subsequently undergoing successful surgery that places him on the Inactive List for a  projected four months, the Kings’ chance at stability and a chance of redemption took another treacherous blow.

With Rookie Tyreke Evans drafted as the No. 4 pick after missing out on Blake Griffin with an unlucky bounce of the lottery balls, the Kings hope that he and healthy Kevin Martin and other key players can bring some excitement and success to a team that can hopefully only rise from last year’s disastrous campaign.

5. Can the Kings overcome Garcia’s injury?

Simple: No, they can’t. Francisco is the team’s second scorer (12.7) behind Kevin Martin (24.6) who played over 50 games last season, after Miller and Salmons were traded to the Bulls

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