Okay, so I've read up on a few things in hopes of finding positives in the Kings' current predicament.
Here are the regular season records of the 03-04 Cavs, the 04-05 Magic, and the 07-08 Sonics - now called the Thunder.
Cavs: 35 - 47
Magic: 36 - 46
Sonics/Thunder: 20 - 62
Now, as you may or may have not noticed, these were the years the 3 teams drafted future superstars Lebron James, Dwight Howard, and Kevin Durant respectively. While managing to Draft the best players in their draft class, these teams failed to finish with a record even close to .500 and won 30+ games or so (with the exception of the Sonics).
Today, the Cavs and the Magic are title contenders while the young Thunder are in the playoff hunt and are one of the most improved teams from last season.
Our team is currently facing a Similar situation, we've managed to draft the best player in the Draft in Tyreke Evans - a rookie averaging 20/5/5 and is the leading candidate for Rookie of the Year. We are also 2 games shy of matching our win total from last season (17) before the all star break.
Point is, these type of struggles are to be expected. We are one of the youngest teams in the league, we have a new coach, and have dealt with injuries left and right which have caused constant reshuffling of line-ups.
If anything, it is remarkable that the Kings have 15 wins right now (plus a few more if not for Laker ref bail outs and late game choking episodes). We have talented young players in Tyreke (superstar in the making), Hawes, JT, Donte, and Casspi. We also have one of the league's best scorers in K-Mart. All of these players will be prominent in the rebuilding process one way or another. Whether they remain in the team this season or next is still unknown, however, it is good to know we have young talent which we can use in trades to further rebuild and improve our team.
So yeah, take it easy guys. I know our expectations may have heightened after the early season wins and brilliance (Evans game winners, 35-point come back) and we even wondered if we had a chance at the playoffs (no). But we have to understand that rebuilding doesn't take place overnight. We were without direction the last 2 or 3 years and only now have we found an identity and a rock (in Evans) which we can build our team around. Just like the teams I previously mentioned, it also took them time to build around their young superstars and just look at them now. We can follow suit, we just have to be patient.
Remember, we are just at the beginning.
A message from a 21 year old from the Philippines who's been a Kings fan since 2002. Go Kings!