NBA: Way-too-early Western Conference predictions for 2017-18

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13. Sacramento Kings

X-Factor: Willie Cauley-Stein

Not everything has been perfect in recent years for the Kings. In five seasons, Sacramento has employed five different head coaches. They traded away their centerpiece in DeMarcus Cousins last season. Last but not least, they’ve gone 11 seasons without playoff basketball. This year will likely make it 12.

George Hill was brought in not only as a veteran presence, but also as a valuable starting PG. Starting at SG is 2017 1st Team All-Rookie Buddy Hield. After coming over in the Boogie Cousins deal, Hield finally caught fire from downtown, finishing the season with 15.1 PPG on 42.8% from deep. Garrett Temple appears to be the starter for now, but things could change if rookie Justin Jackson performs well.

Newly-acquired Zach Randolph posted his lowest MPG last season since 2002-03. Z-Bo, at age 36, is clearly winding his career down, but was most likely brought in to be a mentor for starting center Willie Cauley-Stein. However, it was just reported that Randolph was arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to sell, so maybe that’s not working out in Sacramento.

The 23-year-old out of Kentucky has underwhelmed in his two years in the NBA so far. The sixth overall pick in the 2015 Draft has posted only 7.6 PPG, 4.9 RPG and 54.4 FG% on 20.1 MPG in his first two seasons. He definitely needs to be more productive as a big man if the Kings are going make the necessary strides in their rebuild.

Sacramento’s bench players include De’Aaron Fox, Frank Mason III, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Justin Jackson, Vince Carter, Skal Labissiere, Harry Giles, and Kosta Koufus.

Head Coach Dave Joerger returns few players from the rotation he had in place last season. This year his team is stacked full of NBA veterans and the rest are young guys, with very few players in between. We’ll see if this strategy pays off, or if the Kings fail to make the playoffs out West yet again.

Final Record: 26-56

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