Sheridan August Power Rankings

Section 101

Section 101

All-Star
#1
#1
http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2013/08/02/sheridans-summer-power-rankings-august-edition/2/

Currently has the Kings at #17 which is #9 in the WC.

Seems a little high, but he must like the moves so far.

Pulling their offer to Andre Iguodala may have been the smartest move they made. They don’t need to clog their cap with 30-somethings. Still have the league’s No. 1 head case (DeMarcus Cousins) who could become the league’s No. 1 center if the right coach can pull the right strings (Good luck with that, Mike Malone). Made a nice value signing in getting Carl Landry.
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Bricklayer

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#4
#4
Section 101 said:
http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2013/08/02/sheridans-summer-power-rankings-august-edition/2/

Currently has the Kings at #17 which is #9 in the WC.

Seems a little high, but he must like the moves so far.
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setting us up for a fall. Not that Sheridan could find his *** with both hands, but still, we'd have to break even to justify it, an pass up the Nuggets, Lakers, Mavs and Jazz while doing it out West. That takes the speculative out of his Cousins comments -- we do that, Cuz has got to become the beast THIS year, right now, right out of the gate (and he's had ugly/messy/disgruntled starts to each of his three seasons so let's hope this year he shows up ready).
 
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Chupacabra

Chupacabra

Starter
#6
#6
Sounds about right. I do think we're going to be one of the surprise turn arounds next year. I think Malone and Vasquez are about to change the identity of the team for the better. A healthy Mbah a Moute will make a big difference if Malone is able to turn us into a mediocre defensive team at the least.
 
M

mac

All-Star
#7
#7
Chupacabra said:
Sounds about right. I do think we're going to be one of the surprise turn arounds next year. I think Malone and Vasquez are about to change the identity of the team for the better. A healthy Mbah a Moute will make a big difference if Malone is able to turn us into a mediocre defensive team at the least.
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The problem? While we change our identity other teams have added significant depth to their rosters, so as far as THIS season is concerned, there's no way I see us as #9 in the West. Spurs, Rockets, Clippers, OKC, Memphis, Golden State are miles ahead of us. Nuggets, Mavs, Pelicans and Lakers very likely ahead of us but not a given. Honestly the only team that I think we are definitely better than is the Suns, and maybe to a lesser extent the Jazz. Blazers and Twolves are young and have their share of talent.

In the East we are only definitely better than Charlotte (which is no great achievement). We are maybe better than the Bucks and Celtics (that just started their rebuild so no big surprise there), with the Raptors and Magic slightly ahead of those two. The Wizards should be a lot better with a healthy Wall and the addition of Porter. Pistons got a lot better with the addition of Jennings and Smith. The Cavs added Bynum and Jack, still have Irving and got the #1 pick. I say they are better than us next season.

So in my opinion, barring any more moves we are at best 11th in the West and 22nd overall. Don't forget that it takes time for the team to get used to a new coach and system.
 
DesertFox

DesertFox

Starter
#8
#8
That is really optimistic. Smart was pretty bad, but on talent alone I see the roster with a ceiling of 500. Cuz is the only above average starter.
 
lwc

lwc

Starter
#9
#9
A little too high right now. I do think for good or for bad, we can make it out of the lottery, but I do not expect it.
 
rainmaker

rainmaker

Hall of Famer
#10
#10
Only teams IMO which we're better than in the West are Pho and Por. That's it. We could have been better but FO decisions made us worse, to the point a number are wondering if we're tanking. Second week of July 2013 people were already talking about the draft in June of 2014. That is not success.

ESPN is being kind here.
 
Section 101

Section 101

All-Star
#11
#11
rainmaker said:
Only teams IMO which we're better than in the West are Pho and Por. That's it. We could have been better but FO decisions made us worse, to the point a number are wondering if we're tanking. Second week of July 2013 people were already talking about the draft in June of 2014. That is not success.

ESPN is being kind here.
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This isn't ESPN.
 
SacTownGrantFan

SacTownGrantFan

Bench
#14
#14
#17 is about right, because I expect us to be in the upper-echelon of the lower-half of the league.

We've been rebuilding for what seems like a decade now.

We have possibly the best center in the NBA, plus a promising elite rookie,

and finally a deeper rotation than last year.

This team is on its way up.
 
M

mac

All-Star
#15
#15
SacTownGrantFan said:
#17 is about right, because I expect us to be in the upper-echelon of the lower-half of the league.

We've been rebuilding for what seems like a decade now.

We have possibly the best center in the NBA, plus a promising elite rookie,

and finally a deeper rotation than last year.

This team is on its way up.
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It's great that you're optimistic, but you do realise that at the end of the day this is still the same center we've had in our previous 3 years of 20+ win seasons, of which none were injury plagued? And I'm not sure how our rookie is any more promising at this point than other rookies. 5 teams finished behind us last season: Cleveland, Charlotte, Orlando, Phoenix and New Orleans. Cleveland added Andrew Bynum, another #1 pick (so by your argument a promising elite rookie), and already have a very very good player in Kyrie Irving who only played 59 games last season. I'm pretty darn sure that the Pelicans will also be better than us after adding Evans and Jrue Holiday. Slightly ahead of us were Washington and Detroit, both of which I see as better teams than us right now.
 
NewArena

NewArena

All-Star
#16
#16
rainmaker said:
Only teams IMO which we're better than in the West are Pho and Por. That's it. We could have been better but FO decisions made us worse, to the point a number are wondering if we're tanking. Second week of July 2013 people were already talking about the draft in June of 2014. That is not success.

ESPN is being kind here.
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front office made us worse? I'll wait for the season to start.

You could be right though. On paper, I'm not too giddy
 
K

KingMilz

Guest
#19
#19
If we finish with a record as the 17th best team in the NBA that's basically a championship in my eyes at this point, I just can't see it happening with the current roster.
 
Chupacabra

Chupacabra

Starter
#21
#21
We won 28 games last year. Im estimating that we lost 10 games solely because of poor coaching. We were one of the worst defensive teams in the league, again. I think its entirely possible that we add 10 wins on top of last years record simply because we no longer have the worst head coach in he NBA. I also expect our defense to be mediocre. Not great, but not terrible. The coaching change is going to add wins. More focus on developing Cousins, a point guard that gets everyone involved and i dont have a hard time predicting that we're going to see 10+ more wins.
 
Chubbs

Chubbs

Starter
#22
#22
As bad as smart was, hard to see plus 10-15 wins just based on new coaching. The talent remains mediocre at best, with only cousins being a legit above avg nba starter, at this point. M16 may turn into a star. But that seems years away. Whatever the case with him, it's a better pick than the last two lotteries. At least he has upside.

I see us better than Phoenix and Utah. Maybe. Utah is super young, but has more talent than we do. We are deep in avg talent. So we won't be awful. But 9th in west? That'd be shocking.

If cousins doesn't 'leap' this year, it's completely blow it up time. We are kinda just perpetuating mediocrity with signings like Landry. Interesting Sheridan says we can't sign 30 something's to cap filling contracts, yet the 29 year old Landry was a good signing. Huh! Isn't Landry the definition of a cap filling 30 something, despite being 29? I agree with the premise, but the execution suffered a LOT.

No way Dallas is that bad. Not with a healthy dirk. Certainly not title contenders,but bottom of the west? Nah.
 
N

Npliam

Starter
#23
#23
Chupacabra said:
We won 28 games last year. Im estimating that we lost 10 games solely because of poor coaching. We were one of the worst defensive teams in the league, again. I think its entirely possible that we add 10 wins on top of last years record simply because we no longer have the worst head coach in he NBA. I also expect our defense to be mediocre. Not great, but not terrible. The coaching change is going to add wins. More focus on developing Cousins, a point guard that gets everyone involved and i dont have a hard time predicting that we're going to see 10+ more wins.
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You might have lost 3 games due to coaching.....
 
Padrino

Padrino

All-Star
#24
#24
for reference, the 9th-seeded utah jazz won 43 games last season, and the 10th-seeded dallas mavericks won 41 games last season. then we see a major drop-off in the western conference, with the 11th-seeded portland trailblazers winning only 33 games last season. all told, the western conference has not weakened. where teams like the lakers and nuggets may be slipping, teams like the rockets and warriors are expected to rise. then there are bottom-feeders like the pelicans and timberwolves who are expected to start making splashes...

given the lack of legitimate talent upgrades, and the redundancies across the roster, i do not expect the kings to improve their win total by 15 games next season, which is likely the number of additional games they would have to win to jump into "the conversation," teams that are on the bubble, just outside of the playoffs, and a season or two away from true playoff contention...

i expect to see considerable improvement in the way the organization is run, in the way the team is coached, and in the way the team plays together. i expect to see marginal gains in major defensive categories, and i expect a big year from demarcus cousins. all of this will likely only amount to an additional 5-10 wins on the season, if i'm being very generous, as the currently-constructed kings are simply without the requisite proven talent necessary to make a massive leap up the standings. this puts them at about the 11th seed, which is modest improvement, but it's not much to build on, considering that an 11th seed doesn't earn you a shot at andrew wiggins...
 
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blackice

blackice

G-League
#25
#25
Not sure why we are ranked 17th overall by this guy...he must of made this article late at night with not much sleep. Anyway, we are going to be probably 13th or 14th worst in the West once again with no shot at Wiggins.
 
Bricklayer

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#26
#26
blackice said:
Not sure why we are ranked 17th overall by this guy...he must of made this article late at night with not much sleep. Anyway, we are going to be probably 13th or 14th worst in the West once again with no shot at Wiggins.
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Well, if we end up 13th or 14th in the West we might actually have a shot at Wiggins.

The problem is that we seem to have no plan, and so are balancing negative and positive and maybe looking at a slight improvement if the coaching or Cousins works out. which then gets us into 11th-12th in the West and no realistic hope of anything either way. The dead zone.
 
VF21

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#28
#28
Chupacabra said:
Keith Smart coached the team like he was trying to lose. 3 games? I watched the games too. Keith Smart made moves that were so poor it boggled the mind and he did so almost every game. 3 WINS?! Wow.
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Maybe Npliam got interrupted or distracted. He probably meant "You might have lost 3 games a month due to coaching..."
 
Padrino

Padrino

All-Star
#30
#30
Padrino said:
for reference, the 9th-seeded utah jazz won 43 games last season, and the 10th-seeded dallas mavericks won 41 games last season. then we see a major drop-off in the western conference, with the 11th-seeded portland trailblazers winning only 33 games last season. all told, the western conference has not weakened. where teams like the lakers and nuggets may be slipping, teams like the rockets and warriors are expected to rise. then there are bottom-feeders like the pelicans and timberwolves who are expected to start making splashes...

given the lack of legitimate talent upgrades, and the redundancies across the roster, i do not expect the kings to improve their win total by 15 games next season, which is likely the number of additional games they would have to win to jump into "the conversation," teams that are on the bubble, just outside of the playoffs, and a season or two away from true playoff contention...

i expect to see considerable improvement in the way the organization is run, in the way the team is coached, and in the way the team plays together. i expect to see marginal gains in major defensive categories, and i expect a big year from demarcus cousins. all of this will likely only amount to an additional 5-10 wins on the season, if i'm being very generous, as the currently-constructed kings are simply without the requisite proven talent necessary to make a massive leap up the standings. this puts them at about the 11th seed, which is modest improvement, but it's not much to build on, considering that an 11th seed doesn't earn you a shot at andrew wiggins...
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haha, i don't know why this thread was revived, but looking a few posts up, i feel like my offseason assessment of where the kings were headed was pretty fair...

;)
 
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