Sacramento Kings: 2008-09 Season Prediction

With the Pacific Division Chapter of my NBA 2009 Season Prediction Series coming to a close, it comes time to analyze a currently rebuilding franchise—the Sacramento Kings.

The Kings used to be the kings of the Pacific—no pun intended—winning the division two consecutive years in 2002 and 2003. In 2002, the Kings advanced to the Western Conference Finals before being eliminated by the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers.

Since that point, the Kings have been sliding down a slippery slope. Sound familiar?

Think back to the 2000 Western Conference Finals when the Portland Trail Blazers lost to the eventual champion Lakers in seven games. After that point, the Blazers fell deeper and deeper into the bottom rungs of the Western Conference, and the "Jail-Blazers Era" began.

Currently, only one player from the Kings' 2002 team, Bobby Jackson, is on Sacramento's roster. In the 2005 offseason, the Kings traded Jackson to the Memphis Grizzlies for SG Bonzi Wells. This past offseason, the Houston Rockets traded Bobby Jackson—along with Donte Green, a future first-round pick, and cash considerations—back to the Kings for SF Ron Artest.

Mike Bibby, who used to be the Kings' franchise PG, was traded on February 16, 2008 to the Atlanta Hawks for PG Tyronn Lue, combo G Anthony Johnson, F/C Shelden Williams, C Lorenzen Wright—currently a free agent—and a second-round draft pick.

Doug Christie was traded early in the 2005 season to the Orlando Magic for SG Cuttino Mobley, who is also no longer with the team.

Sharpshooter Peja Stojakovic was traded for Ron Artest, who, as I mentioned above, is now on the Houston Rockets.

Chris Webber was traded in February 2005 to the Philadelpha 76ers for SF Corliss Williamson, PF Kenny Thomas, and PF Brian Skinner.

Vlade Divac signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 offseason, vacating the starting C spot to Brad Miller.

As you can see, the Kings' roster has been dismantled and reconstructed. Let's look at how they have performed in the NBA Draft in recent years.

In the 2007 NBA Draft, the Kings selected Washington freshman C Spencer Hawes with the 10th pick in the draft. In the 2008 NBA Draft, the Kings selected Rider senior PF Jason Thompson with the 12th pick in the draft, and acquired Syracuse freshman SF Donte Green in the Ron Artest trade with Houston.

Although Jason Thompson improved every year he played at Rider, and won the MAAC Player of the Year award in 2008, it is strange that Sacramento picked him. Thompson is a scorer—he averaged 20.4 ppg and 12.1 rpg while shooting 50.6 percent from the field.

The problem is that Sacramento does not need a scorer. The team averaged 102.5 ppg in 2007-2008, the eighth-best average in the league. The downside is that the team allowed 104.8 ppg on defense.

The Kings needed to get better defensively.  Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Spencer Hawes, and Brad Miller are liabilities on defense, because all they can think about during games, is their next chance to score.

Now let's analyze the current roster of the Kings.

The Kings have filled the hole vacated by Mike Bibby at starting PG with Beno Udrih, who was signed in the offseason to keep him in Sacramento.

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