[Editor's Note: I wrote this before the Marvin Bagley news broke. Since he's barely even been a part of the team for the last season, I stand by my statements.]
How's that for a fast offseason? Seems like it was barely but a week ago when we were all marveling at Giannis dominating the Suns in the Finals and pining over such enticing draft prospects as Franz Wagner or Moses Moody.
Fastforward three or so months and we're already here at the start of a brand new season, one in which the Kings are somehow the least Kangziest team around! Seriously, in case you've been hibernating since the close of the last Kings season, this entire offseason was filled with stories of meddling owners, hilariously incompetent front offices, coaches casually throwing players under busses, and tell-all books about dangerously imcompitent coaches literally driving players towards suicide (He's your problem now, Luka!) and none of them was about the Kings! It is an incredibly low hurdle to surpass but the Kings somehow did (knocks on wood and says twenty hail marys) and, boy, doesn't it feel nice?
That all isn't to say that the Kings had an amazing offseason by any means. Hell, if you asked people prior to summer league whether the Kings had a good offseason or not, I'd wager most Kings fans would say that they had a bad one. I mean, picking yet another point guard at the ninth overall pick despite your two best players already playing the same position as him and trading for a guy whose main achievement beyond winning a ring in Cleveland is somehow making a Kardashian sister into sympathetic figure doesn't exactly say "We are healthily building momentum towards ending our playoff drought."
And yet, the Kings are 9-0 through Vegas and the preseason, 2021 Vegas Summer League champs, possessors of the Summer League co-MVP, and no longer owned by Shaq. All in all, I'd call that a successful summer vacation, which really means nothing if none of this translates to more regular season (and hopefully postseason) success.
So here we are, a new season. Hope springs eternal and, heck, the law of averages says we've gotta stop losing at some point, right?
Regardless, I'll be watching every night with bated breath. In the immortal words of VF21, I LOVE THIS TEAM or, alternatively, "Where has the rum gone?"
+++Game 1+++
Sacramento Kings @ Portland Trailblazers
@Moda Center
Potential matchups-
No injuries to report and Luke Walton won't tell us who's playing and it's the first game of the season so it's kinda hard to know who's playing who but here's some preliminary guesses.
Richaun Holmes vs Jusef Nurkic - Nurk is a guy who's traditionally given Richaun fits. Richaun is exceedingly gifted at playing downhill on offense regardless of who's on him but he's really struggled on defense against guys who are bigger than his relatively lanky 6'9"/6'10" frame. Nurkic is definitely that. In preseason, Nurk largely had his way against the Kings despite being pretty much the only Blazer starter playing in that contest. Would not be surprised to see some Len/Tristan Thompson action early if Holmes starts slow against the Bosnian big. Advantage: Nurkic (tenuously, though I can see Holmes getting the upper hand with a nice offensive night)
Moe Harkless vs. Robert Covington - Here's where things get murky. Luke hasn't announced his starters yet but I'm pretty sure he's going with Maurice Harkless and defensive versatility over the offensive capabilities of Marvin Bagley, who started the first game of preseason before being sidelined with a mysterious knee injury for the rest of preseason. Covington has actually struggled since coming over to Portland to fill the defensive role player role originated by Moe in their system a couple of years back. Robert Covington is absolutely the better player of the two at this point in their careers and yet I oddly feel better about Harkless's chances to succeed against the Blazers than I do those of Covington against the Kings. Advantage: Draw (but Covington if we're being totally honest here.)
Harrison Barnes vs. Norm Powell - This is where things get really wonky. See, the Blazers are already playing the three guard set up that Kings fans have been discussion nonstop all offseason. Norm's only 6'3" and his shooting splits generally dropped after he got traded from Toronto but Neil Olshey backed up the Brinks Truck anyways. Norm, it must be noted, is truly one of the greatest Kings killers in recent memory. The Kings could go with a three guard lineup to start the game to counter the Blazers three guard situation but that flies in the face of everything I've come to know about Luke Walton so I'm guessing it'll be Barnes on Powell to start the night. Both guys will give each other issues but as a versatile 3/4 who has somehow become one of the most efficient scorers on the roster, I have faith that Barnes will have the better night of the two players, even if a lot of his production ends up coming from the four spot in smaller lineups. Advantage: Barnes.
Tyrese Haliburton vs. CJ McCollum - A matchup of two dudes who have been in Ben Simmons trade rumors all summer for some reason. CJ is coming off a very disappointing playoffs run in which he looked utterly useless next to Dame but has been a very solid second star next to Dame for their entire careers together in Portland (though ideally he's probably a third guy on a contender). There's been a lot of talk about Tyrese potentially taking a leap this season but that largely quieted down after a relatively unimpressive preseason where he uncharacteristically struggled with passing and hitting shots. While I expect him to bounce back and show some improvement, I still don't think that he's quite at McCollum level just yet. Advantage: McCollum.
De'Aaron Fox vs. Damian Lillard - There's been a lot of talk about Dame's future in Portland all offseason (also in conjuncture with Ben Simmons trade rumors) but he's still a Trailblazer to start the season and still an absolutely Kings destroyer. Dame's not exactly the world's best defender so I'm still expecting Swipa to eat well against the Blazers interior defense but this matchup will probably also be dependent on how much time Dame spends being defended by Davion Mitchell, who is perhaps the most impressive point of attack rookie defender I have ever seen but also has never seen a pure scorer of Damian Lillard's caliber before. If Off-Night can make things hard on Dame, it might just give the Kings a chance to start the season 1-0. Advantage: Dame
Kings Bench vs. Blazers Bench - This, in my mind, is the Kings' biggest advantage in the game. The Blazers bench is led by Larry Nance Jr., who came over from Cleveland as part of the Lauri Markannen sign-and-trade deal. Nance is a versatile defender and solid offensive role-player. After that, the Blazers bench is a general factory of sadness. Anfernee Simons was a guy who got a lot of talk about being a potential breakout player a couple years ago but that has absolutely not come to fruition for the combo guard. After him, the next best guy on the Blazers bench may be... Ben McLemore? B-Mac signed with the Blazers after effectively saving his career boy spacing the floor for the Lakers late last season. He tries hard and can occasionally really heat up but he's also Ben McLemore. Meanwhile, the Kings bench is led by some combination of Buddy Hield (potential 6MOY candidate if he stays with the Kings all season), defensive wunderkind Davion Mitchell, Tristan Thompson, who's looked surprisingly good in his time with the Kings, and Terence Davis (capable of randomly dropping 25 points at a moment's notice). Plus you'll have whatever contributions Marvin Bagley can give you if his knee hasn't fallen off his body by tipoff. I'm trying not to get too excited about the bench situation but I feel confident that this is one of the deeper Kings teams in recent memory (not exactly super difficult to achieve). Advantage: Kings
Final Predictions
This isn't exactly the easiest game to have to start the season but I guess every team can't start by playing the Thunder. The point remains that this is not an unwinable game. The Trailblazers have a new coach, aren't particularly deep, and are relying on Nurkic's leg not falling off for them to have a chance to contend in the West this season. This is the sort of game the Kings need to learn to win if they really do intend to end that playoff drought anytime soon. Alas, it's opening night in Portland and Dame just declared his love for the city so I'm pretty sure he's about to drop a fifty-burger on us. I do anticipate us putting up a fight at least.
Blazers 117, Kings 109
GO KINGS
How's that for a fast offseason? Seems like it was barely but a week ago when we were all marveling at Giannis dominating the Suns in the Finals and pining over such enticing draft prospects as Franz Wagner or Moses Moody.
Fastforward three or so months and we're already here at the start of a brand new season, one in which the Kings are somehow the least Kangziest team around! Seriously, in case you've been hibernating since the close of the last Kings season, this entire offseason was filled with stories of meddling owners, hilariously incompetent front offices, coaches casually throwing players under busses, and tell-all books about dangerously imcompitent coaches literally driving players towards suicide (He's your problem now, Luka!) and none of them was about the Kings! It is an incredibly low hurdle to surpass but the Kings somehow did (knocks on wood and says twenty hail marys) and, boy, doesn't it feel nice?
That all isn't to say that the Kings had an amazing offseason by any means. Hell, if you asked people prior to summer league whether the Kings had a good offseason or not, I'd wager most Kings fans would say that they had a bad one. I mean, picking yet another point guard at the ninth overall pick despite your two best players already playing the same position as him and trading for a guy whose main achievement beyond winning a ring in Cleveland is somehow making a Kardashian sister into sympathetic figure doesn't exactly say "We are healthily building momentum towards ending our playoff drought."
And yet, the Kings are 9-0 through Vegas and the preseason, 2021 Vegas Summer League champs, possessors of the Summer League co-MVP, and no longer owned by Shaq. All in all, I'd call that a successful summer vacation, which really means nothing if none of this translates to more regular season (and hopefully postseason) success.
So here we are, a new season. Hope springs eternal and, heck, the law of averages says we've gotta stop losing at some point, right?
Regardless, I'll be watching every night with bated breath. In the immortal words of VF21, I LOVE THIS TEAM or, alternatively, "Where has the rum gone?"
+++Game 1+++
Sacramento Kings @ Portland Trailblazers
@Moda Center
Potential matchups-
No injuries to report and Luke Walton won't tell us who's playing and it's the first game of the season so it's kinda hard to know who's playing who but here's some preliminary guesses.
Richaun Holmes vs Jusef Nurkic - Nurk is a guy who's traditionally given Richaun fits. Richaun is exceedingly gifted at playing downhill on offense regardless of who's on him but he's really struggled on defense against guys who are bigger than his relatively lanky 6'9"/6'10" frame. Nurkic is definitely that. In preseason, Nurk largely had his way against the Kings despite being pretty much the only Blazer starter playing in that contest. Would not be surprised to see some Len/Tristan Thompson action early if Holmes starts slow against the Bosnian big. Advantage: Nurkic (tenuously, though I can see Holmes getting the upper hand with a nice offensive night)
Moe Harkless vs. Robert Covington - Here's where things get murky. Luke hasn't announced his starters yet but I'm pretty sure he's going with Maurice Harkless and defensive versatility over the offensive capabilities of Marvin Bagley, who started the first game of preseason before being sidelined with a mysterious knee injury for the rest of preseason. Covington has actually struggled since coming over to Portland to fill the defensive role player role originated by Moe in their system a couple of years back. Robert Covington is absolutely the better player of the two at this point in their careers and yet I oddly feel better about Harkless's chances to succeed against the Blazers than I do those of Covington against the Kings. Advantage: Draw (but Covington if we're being totally honest here.)
Harrison Barnes vs. Norm Powell - This is where things get really wonky. See, the Blazers are already playing the three guard set up that Kings fans have been discussion nonstop all offseason. Norm's only 6'3" and his shooting splits generally dropped after he got traded from Toronto but Neil Olshey backed up the Brinks Truck anyways. Norm, it must be noted, is truly one of the greatest Kings killers in recent memory. The Kings could go with a three guard lineup to start the game to counter the Blazers three guard situation but that flies in the face of everything I've come to know about Luke Walton so I'm guessing it'll be Barnes on Powell to start the night. Both guys will give each other issues but as a versatile 3/4 who has somehow become one of the most efficient scorers on the roster, I have faith that Barnes will have the better night of the two players, even if a lot of his production ends up coming from the four spot in smaller lineups. Advantage: Barnes.
Tyrese Haliburton vs. CJ McCollum - A matchup of two dudes who have been in Ben Simmons trade rumors all summer for some reason. CJ is coming off a very disappointing playoffs run in which he looked utterly useless next to Dame but has been a very solid second star next to Dame for their entire careers together in Portland (though ideally he's probably a third guy on a contender). There's been a lot of talk about Tyrese potentially taking a leap this season but that largely quieted down after a relatively unimpressive preseason where he uncharacteristically struggled with passing and hitting shots. While I expect him to bounce back and show some improvement, I still don't think that he's quite at McCollum level just yet. Advantage: McCollum.
De'Aaron Fox vs. Damian Lillard - There's been a lot of talk about Dame's future in Portland all offseason (also in conjuncture with Ben Simmons trade rumors) but he's still a Trailblazer to start the season and still an absolutely Kings destroyer. Dame's not exactly the world's best defender so I'm still expecting Swipa to eat well against the Blazers interior defense but this matchup will probably also be dependent on how much time Dame spends being defended by Davion Mitchell, who is perhaps the most impressive point of attack rookie defender I have ever seen but also has never seen a pure scorer of Damian Lillard's caliber before. If Off-Night can make things hard on Dame, it might just give the Kings a chance to start the season 1-0. Advantage: Dame
Kings Bench vs. Blazers Bench - This, in my mind, is the Kings' biggest advantage in the game. The Blazers bench is led by Larry Nance Jr., who came over from Cleveland as part of the Lauri Markannen sign-and-trade deal. Nance is a versatile defender and solid offensive role-player. After that, the Blazers bench is a general factory of sadness. Anfernee Simons was a guy who got a lot of talk about being a potential breakout player a couple years ago but that has absolutely not come to fruition for the combo guard. After him, the next best guy on the Blazers bench may be... Ben McLemore? B-Mac signed with the Blazers after effectively saving his career boy spacing the floor for the Lakers late last season. He tries hard and can occasionally really heat up but he's also Ben McLemore. Meanwhile, the Kings bench is led by some combination of Buddy Hield (potential 6MOY candidate if he stays with the Kings all season), defensive wunderkind Davion Mitchell, Tristan Thompson, who's looked surprisingly good in his time with the Kings, and Terence Davis (capable of randomly dropping 25 points at a moment's notice). Plus you'll have whatever contributions Marvin Bagley can give you if his knee hasn't fallen off his body by tipoff. I'm trying not to get too excited about the bench situation but I feel confident that this is one of the deeper Kings teams in recent memory (not exactly super difficult to achieve). Advantage: Kings
Final Predictions
This isn't exactly the easiest game to have to start the season but I guess every team can't start by playing the Thunder. The point remains that this is not an unwinable game. The Trailblazers have a new coach, aren't particularly deep, and are relying on Nurkic's leg not falling off for them to have a chance to contend in the West this season. This is the sort of game the Kings need to learn to win if they really do intend to end that playoff drought anytime soon. Alas, it's opening night in Portland and Dame just declared his love for the city so I'm pretty sure he's about to drop a fifty-burger on us. I do anticipate us putting up a fight at least.
Blazers 117, Kings 109
GO KINGS
