2016-17 Season Preview: Sacramento Kings

The never-ending makeover of the Kings continues with the arrival of the latest coach, Dave Joerger, and the move to the new arena, Golden 1 Center. That should do for the visual of a team looking, still, for a new start. Except that this is the same old one until proven otherwise. They remain playoff longshots after winning 33 games last season with more bad chemistry and a roster that required another summer of changes, beyond the actual address.

ICYMI

The Kings had the eighth pick in the draft, but traded it to the Suns for No. 13, No. 28 and the rights to European stash Bogdan Bogdanovic. GM Vlade Divac then turned 13 into the gamble choice of Georgios Papagiannis…. DeMarcus Cousins started five of eight games in the Olympics, but averaged only 14.8 minutes because of foul trouble…. Rajon Rondo took a free-agent deal with the Bulls, making Darren Collison the starting point guard.

THREE POINTS

1. Four of the full-time starters could be new actually: Collison and Arron Afflalo have the lead in the backcourt heading to camp, small forward Rudy Gay is a trade candidate and Willie Cauley-Stein could take over at power forward after making the opening lineup 39 times as a rookie. Cousins could be the only holdover before long.

2. One of Joerger’s tasks is the same as many of his predecessors, to fix the defense. The latest dumpster fire on that side of the ball was finishing 23rd in efficiency and 24th in shooting defense.

3. Unable to make a big trade or land the player he wanted at No. 8 in the draft, GM Vlade Divac did a good job of not tying himself to long-term deals in free agency, landing contributors with shorter contracts. He will need to rely on that until Sacramento becomes a player for big free agents.

MAN ON THE SPOT

When isn’t it DeMarcus Cousins? While Vlade Divac would be a candidate as the man charged with trying to sort through the roster mess and Rudy Gay would get consideration for quickly going from part of the foundation to trade possibility, Sacramento fortunes still revolve around Cousins.

STARTING LINEUP

Darren Collison | 14.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 4.3 apg

Back to the opening lineup after 15 starts last season behind Rajon Rondo.

Arron Afflalo | 12.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.0 apg

Looking for stability while on his fifth team in four seasons.

Rudy Gay | 17.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.7 apg

Kings hoping reunion with Joerger can get him in a good place again.

Willie Cauley-Stein | 7.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 0.6 apg

Had some encouraging stretches as a rookie, especially on defense.

DeMarcus Cousins | 26.9 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 3.3 apg

The Kings were 30-38 last season with him in the lineup, 3-11 with him out.

KEY RESERVES

Matt Barnes | 10.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.1 apg

Sacramento native and former King returns home as a free agent.

Omri Casspi | 11.8 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.4 apg

Better than 40 percent from behind the arc two seasons in a row.

Kosta Koufos | 6.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 0.4 apg

Veteran big man could get big minutes – or get traded.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The new arena will be selling tickets, not the Kings. Owner Vivek Ranadive had been pushing for the playoffs by the time the team moved into Golden 1 Center, but that’s not going to happen with the current roster, barring a shocking series of developments around the Western Conference.

Scott Howard-Cooper has covered the NBA since 1988. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter.

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