I think he's more of 4 than a 5, at least currently. But because the Kings are so incredibly short-handed at the 5 he has to play there. If JV would have been retained, it would have been interesting with those two on the floor at the same time.
It's also more palatable after you've lost 8 in a row.
It'd be even more palatable if Schröder, DeRozan and/or LaVine weren't.
I'm pretty sure they still have to play a full 82-game schedule and they get the Jazz four times just like us
I understand that, but there's something to be said for how the table is set for you from the beginning of the season and how that affects team morale and chemistry from the beginning. The "just like us" thing and "it all evens out in the end" is BS when one team is playing the champs, wolves and Nuggets 3 times each in less than a month. That doesn't mean the Kings would be on LA's level because they obviously don't have the stars LA does but there is a major difference in scheduling here and it's very intentional. That's why the term "get right game" exists lol imagine a team being lucky enough to have quite a few of those early on.
Counterpoint: it's possible that the worst possible scenario for the long-term future of the Kings would have been a soft early schedule. Nothing like a fast start against weak competition to talk Ranadivé out of letting his general manager try to pull off a rebuild.
Now this I do agree with! Everything happens for a reason and they did need a strong kick in the pants to get this rebuild going.