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By: Jason Fleming
The heyday of the Sacramento Kings ended five years ago with the exit of Coach Rick Adelman and forward Peja Stojakovic. 2006, the last year Sacramento made its way into the Western Conference playoffs, was the end of a run of eight straight seasons in the playoffs. Sure, four of them were first-round exits, but those Kings never failed to entertain.
Now, the Kings barely do that. They are on their fourth coach in five seasons and have won just 33% of their games over that span. They have slowly traded off or let go every piece from the good times and have attempted to build through the draft. With guard Tyreke Evans and center DeMarcus Cousins the Kings seem to be on the verge of building something good, but the bad seasons and an aging Arco Arena have the franchise likely headed to Anaheim.
A team winning just 24% of their games in 2010-11 has plenty of issues to address, but here are five steps they should take first.
1 – Get a New Head Coach
Paul Westphal was an interesting choice when the Kings hired him back in 2009. He had been out of the NBA for nine years. During that time he coached at Pepperdine, was an assistant for the Dallas Mavericks, and worked in the Dallas front office. At one point Westphal was a solid NBA coach, but he just hasn't been able to connect with the Kings. (It's a testament to just how good that Westphal's career coaching record still has him winning 54% of his game even including a dreadful 41-108 record in Sacramento.)
The Kings need a head coach who demands absolute respect but at the same time can work with and develop the young talent they do have. Westphal is good at letting his players learn and at teaching, but he hasn't been able to earn absolute respect. They need a coach who will install an organized offense and hold them accountable to running it. They need a coach who demands they rebound and hustle on defense, to close on open shooters, to fight through screens – and they need a coach who will bench them if they don't follow through.
Westphal is a decent coach; he just isn't the right coach for this roster of Sacramento Kings.
2 – Add Veteran Leadership
The Kings have just two players 30 years old and their 14-man roster averages 24.8 years of age (excluding Luther Head, who was waived Saturday). Nine players are below 25, and Evans and Cousins – the franchise cornerstones – are just 21 and 20. The older players the Kings do have – Samuel Dalembert, Francisco Garcia, Beno Udrih – are not vocal leaders. They just are not players who step up and demand to be heard, which is exactly what younger players like Evans and Cousins need.
Without that leadership the result on the floor is barely controlled chaos; and often times it's not controlled at all. Ideally the Kings would have a veteran big man who could be the leader of the defense and a veteran guard who could lead the offense. The Kings have 10 players under contract for next season and three draft picks (their own and a second-rounder that will come from Milwaukee, either their own or Chicago's). That leaves two open roster spots.
The Kings have just $29.3 million committed to those 10 players. The draft picks will likely cost them another $6 million or so, depending on where their lottery pick lands. That means they will have two roster spots to fill and plenty of money to spend, even if the new salary cap is lower. A veteran power forward, both physical and willing to lead, and a veteran point guard who can run an offense – and keep his teammates within that offense – would be ideal.
And what if they want to keep one of their free agents? More on that in a bit.
3 – Nail Down the Franchise's Home
At this point it seems almost a given any home game the Kings play after this April will be in Anaheim. Instead of drawing this process out the franchise needs to make a decision and move on. Until they can figure out where the franchise is going to live, it's going to be very hard to get a new coach to commit or to get free agents to sign on.
4 – Address the Deficiencies
There is one thing about the Sacramento Kings making them somewhat of a rarity: their rebounding differential. They outrebound their opponents by 2.2 a game, which usually is an indication of a successful team, which they obviously are not. So what's the issue? Their opponents outshoot them 47.9% to 44.7%. Opponents turn the ball over 1.2 times a game less. Opponents shoot 1.7% better from three-point range and 3.2% better from the free throw line. Opponents also dish more assists, block more shots, and make more steals when they face the Kings.
Much of this goes back to the lack of leadership and accountability on this team. Still, players must hold themselves to a higher standard. Cousins shoots just 43% from the field, pathetic for a big man. What that says is he is making very poor decisions on the shots he should take. Evans shoots just 41%. Considering that when healthy these two players take the bulk of the shots, that's a serious problem. A stronger coach will demand they play smarter, as will veterans around them, but these two players need to acknowledge and work on their issue themselves.
5 – Balance the Roster
Remember those two roster spots the Kings have to play with when free agency begins? And how they should be used on veterans ideally? Well, it would also be a good idea to keep guard Marcus Thornton, who they acquired at the trade deadline from New Orleans for Carl Landry. Since coming to Sacramento Thornton has averaged 22.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.82 steals per game while shooting 48% from the field and 42% from three-point range. Evans, who has been out with plantar fasciitis, has indicated he'd really like to see what the two of them could do together in the backcourt.
The question becomes this: is that a good idea?
Of those 10 players under contract for next season, just three of them are post players. Here is the breakdown:
PG: Beno Udrih, Pooh Jeter
SG: Evans, Francisco Garcia
SF: Omri Casspi, Donte' Greene, Jermaine Taylor
PF: Jason Thompson
C: Cousins, Hassan Whiteside
Taylor's contract is not guaranteed if waived by August 1, 2012 and Jeter's is a team option – if neither are retained that removes about $1.6 million from the Kings' obligations for those two roster spots. Whether Evans is a point guard or a shooting guard is up for debate, but the Kings would benefit more with him at the off-guard spot next to a true point guard.
The frontcourt will be focus of the 2011 NBA Draft for the Kings, but they still need that veteran. So what if they want to keep Thornton too? For him to be most effective he must play the two. If Evans also plays the two, then Garcia and his $5.8 million are left out, which means a big chunk of the cap not playing. That's not saying Garcia isn't valuable, it's just how things break down.
It does mean a trade could be used, perhaps with Udrih or Garcia or Greene, to bring in one of the needed veterans also, to help balance the roster and not have so many minutes needed by players who play the same position.
***
Clearly the Kings have many, many decisions they must make after their season wraps up on April 13th at home against the Los Angeles Lakers. While many teams have coaching and roster decisions to think about as they approach the next draft, the Kings face relocation as well. These five steps aren't the only ones the Kings must take; it's simply a starting point. With Cousins and Evans, mixed in with a little guidance, accountability, and maturity, the Kings have pieces to build around. Now it's time to find the rest of the pieces.http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=19171
