Sacramento Kings: Why Team Needs 2011-12 Season More Than Most

There aren't any teams in the NBA that benefit from the lockout. Veteran teams, like the Boston Celtics or Los Angeles Lakers, are set to lose their final chances at winning championships, while younger powerhouses like the Miami Heat or the Oklahoma City Thunder are losing years of their prime.

For the Sacramento Kings? It's much worse than that.

The city of Sacramento is just a few months removed from almost having the team relocate to Anaheim. The NBA decided at the last minute that Sacramento deserved one more chance at building a new arena. 

The lockout couldn't have come at a worse time for Sacramento. While other cities are just missing games, Sacramento is missing the chance at restoring fan interest and getting the momentum to get a new building started.

Here are five reasons why the Kings need the 2011-2012 teams more than most:

The Kings Need to Build Team Chemistry

The Kings have a lot of talent, but that talent needs time to jell and get some chemistry.

With players like Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins already gaining reputations as "black holes," the Kings really need to figure out an offensive game plan that all the players can buy into.

Add incoming talent like rookie Jimmer Fredette and former Cavaliers standout JJ Hickson, and the situation in Sacramento gets that much murkier.

While the reputations of Evans and Cousins as "black holes" are overblown ones, the Kings do need to figure out how they'll fit all these pieces together into a working offense.

And less time on the practice court and in training camp means less time for Paul Westphal to try to craft his talent into a well-oiled machine. The talent is there, but the chemistry and cohesiveness still needs to be built.

Free Agency Cap Room

Sacramento currently has the second-largest amount of cap space, and even if the new collective bargaining agreement shrinks the salary cap, the Kings will have a good chance to go out and sign some new players.

Despite their attempts to leave Sacramento last season, the Maloof Brothers are apparently ready and willing to pay money to bring in talented free agents.

This free agency class has a ton of veteran talent, such as Shane Battier or Grant Hill, who could be excellent leaders for Sacramento.

Throw in big talent like Marc Gasol and Nene Hilario, and if this was another year without a lockout it could be a jackpot for Sacramento.

Instead, as the lockout drones on and players become more uncertain, it seems less likely that free agents will jump ship to new teams. A quicker resolve to the lockout could mean more chances for teams with cap, like Sacramento, to step in and fill their weaknesses.

Arena Negotiations

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson is making huge steps towards getting the city a new Entertainment and Sports Complex, but the lack of Kings games—which is the biggest attraction of building a new arena—certainly doesn't help his cause.

Johnson proved to the NBA Board of Governors last May that Sacramento was a viable place for an NBA team, and shows significant progress towards getting an arena deal in place. Since then, the Taylor/Icon group passed an arena feasibility study, and city officials have been in extensive work on financing options. 

Still, Johnson needs all the public support he can get, and if the Kings were playing some basketball over the next few months—and hopefully, winning—it could skyrocket public interest in getting a new arena done.

While other cities are sure that they'll have basketball whenever a new collective bargaining agreement is reached, it isn't really a certainty for Sacramento. 

The Kings Need to Capitalize on Fan Interest

Sacramento has always had one of the best fanbases in the NBA, but over the past few seasons it's been hard to be a Kings fan.

The economic recession hit Sacramento as hard as it hit anywhere, and despite rebuilding the franchise, the Kings owners, the Maloof brothers, rose the price of tickets instead of lowering them. With the Kings playing such horrid basketball, even a fan base as rabid as Sacramento's stopped going to games.

But the threat of losing the team sparked a resurgence in fan attention. Toward the end of the season, Arco Arena/Power Balance Pavilion was again packed with Kings faithful. When the NBA announced the Kings would be back in Sacramento, at least one more year, season ticket sales went through the roof.

With the Kings adding BYU superstar Jimmer Fredette, fan adoration jumped even higher.

The longer the lockout persists, the more jaded fans everywhere will become when basketball finally does return.

For Sacramento, however, it's not just a small problem. The Kings need all the fan support they can get if Sacramento hopes to get the public support for a new Sports and Entertainment complex and prove to the NBA that the city is a very viable home for an NBA team. 

Team on the Rise

The Kings have a ton of youth and talented players: Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins, Jimmer Fredette and JJ Hickson all are under 24 and show tons of promise.

If the Kings can re-sign Marcus Thornton after the lockout, that's another step in the right direction.

Certainly, having talent doesn't win games on its own, and the players have to figure out how to play with each other.

But for a young and exciting team like Sacramento, every missed game is a missed opportunity to get better and to get better together.

While aging teams and veterans like Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan have the most to lose in a lockout—veterans could lose the finals years of their careers—young players who haven't hit their prime are missing key chances to develop their skills. 

For Sacramento, having so many young players and no games is letting their talent go to waste.