A New Start in Sacramento

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fter a much maligned era of Basketball the Maloof brothers finally sold the Sacramento Kings. As per the new owners request every single contract at the end of the 2014-2015 season is an expiring contract. Furthermore the Kings have an unprecedented 8 picks in the 2015 draft, six of them being in the first round. Three of those picks are in the lottery and the Kings hold the #1 and #3 pick. This will undoubtedly be the most important draft in Kings history and the fans that still remain are eagerly anticipating it.

Also a new front office has been hired and a whole new coaching staff has been hired. Justin Victor was hired as head coach. He was formerly a successful college coach he tends to run a fast paced offense.

The new ownership team lead by entrepreneur Jerry Palms has hired a new front office headed by GM, David Daniels. Daniels is a former scout and tends to use advanced scouting methods using statistical data rather than just observing talent.

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2015 Mock Draft(top 5 prospects)

A.C. Nealy – 6'2” 185 SG – Ohio

-Best Case: Monta Ellis with a better jumper.
-Worst Case: a Rich Man's Jimmer Freddette

Johnathan Morrison – 6'10” 222 PF – Illinois

Best Case: Zach Randolph

Worst Case: Anthony Randolph

Robert Alexander – 6'9” 224 PF – Robert Alexander

Best Case: Ryan Anderson

Worst Case: Channing Frye

Rasheed Beerbolm – 6'8” 216 PF/SF – Michigan

Best Case: Carlos Boozer

Worst Case: Brandon Wright

Jim Beaudean – 6'2” 172 PG – Vanderbilt

Best Case: A More Athletic Jose Calderon

Worst Case: Johnny Flynn

The team basically needs to take A.C. Nealy as the first pick. Nealy is an offensive talent that will not come around for a long time. The downside to Nealy is that he needs to defend point guards and he himself is not best suited as a point guard. This will make it difficult to build a team around him. The team would love to draft Robert Alexander at PF. Alexander is a stretch power forward who lives on mid-ranged jump shots and three point shots. Alexander will keep defenders out of the driving lanes so Nealy can roam free. If the Kings can draft both Nealy and Alexander they will have two very solid building blocks for their future. The real trick of this draft is to turn the remaining seven picks into a cohesive unit.

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Draft:

#1 A.C. Nealy: No surprises here, Nealy will be the cornerstone of the franchise, the future rests in his hands. Nealy is small for his position, but he has a devastating first step and has a great shot. Nealy can create his own shot but he really excels at getting open without the ball. Nealy will thrive in a fast paced offense as he is a great finisher in transition.

#3 Robert Alexander: The Kings played their cards close, they publicly stated that they were open to a wide variety of candidates for their #3 pick, the reality was that they wanted Robert Alexander and would have easily taken him second over Morrison, Alexander is another cornerstone for the franchise.

#12 Pavao Dragicevic: The SF from Croatia fell to no. 12 because many teams were uncertain if he was going to make the commitment to come over to the states before his European contract was up, otherwise Pavao would have gone in the 6-8 range. Pavao is a jack of all trades and is known in Europe for his passing ability. The Kings didn't expect Pavao to be available at no. 12 but he was and they snatched him up. Pavao will be useful to the Kings for his passing ability, the more playmakers the Kings can surround around Nealy the better.

#15 Marcus Kelly: Kelly is a raw SF/PF combo. Although Kelly played mostly PF in college, he is perfectly capable of guarding Sfs in the NBA. Kelly is a very raw offensive talent. Kelly's jump shot is ugly, he scores the majority of his points in transition and through hustle plays. Kelly was picked up for his defense. Kelly has a long way to go before he becomes a truly effective NBA player, but he has all the tools to become one.

#18 Tom Murdock: The PG/SG from Vanderbilt played second fiddle to Jim Beaudean in college but the team made it to the NCAA finals and Murdock was very effective, at certain points taking over games. Murdock is highly sought after by a few teams that see him as a glue guy for their squad. The Kings don't really like his shot selection or his propensity for turnovers, Murdock was picked mostly because no other player would have had the value on the trade market. Murdock enters his career in the NBA positioned on the trading block.

#26 James Moore: This hulking 6-11 center is an intensely raw player who is not ready for the NBA. Moore has displayed immaturity and a slow learning curve in college. The 6'11” 264 pound center was once a highly touted prospect, but two colleges later and a lackluster NBA career dropped Moore to #26 in the draft. The Kings took Moore as a project, although rumor has it that the team would be willing to trade Moore for the right player.

#31 Donnie Largent: This tall SF out of Syracuse played a key roll off the bench for a very good college team. Many advanced scouting data shows that Largent's defense was a big reason for this showing. Largent however doesn't have a good jumpshot or good enough handing abilities to drive to the rim. The Kings are excited to get such a good defensive presence at SF/PF, but expect very little out of him on the offensive end.

#56 Larry Blackman: Few expected Blackman to be drafted at all, but the Kings liked his rebounding numbers enough to give him a shot at making their team. Blackman played four years of unspectacular basketball at Marquette university. At 6'10 215 Blackman needs to fill out his skinny frame, few people even in the Kings organization expect Blackman to make much of an impact in the NBA.

The front office was very happy with their draft. Currently A.C. Nealy, Pavao Dragicevic and Robert Alexander are all slated to start. The front office will put the rest of their drafted players on the trading block to try and get either a suitable defensive presence at C or a good defensive point guard.

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Trade:

Tom Murdock and James Moore traded for Omar Asik and 2016 2nd round pick. The Kings were able to take on salary and the Pistons were able to gain salary relief and two young players for their rotation. In Omar Asik the Kings get a solid presence at center. Asik plays good defense, rebounds and blocks shots. Asik's athletic ability has waned in recent years and his field goal percentage has dropped just below the 50% line but he still has games were he is effective in the low post, although his free-throw percentage is atrocious. Overall Asik is a solid defensive presence that hurts the offense slightly. The Kings hope that a change of scenery will bump Asik's statistics back up to what they were a few years ago.

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Summer League: In big news Pavao Dragicevic decided to come to the states for the summer league to get accustomed to his new team. Pavao also extended his rookie contract with the Kings and announced his intention to play in the NBA next season. Most speculated this was due to Pavao being promissed a starting position.

The Kings are looking to get some buzz going through the Summer League. A.C. Nealy, Robert Alexander and Pavao Dragicevic will be on display.

Game 1 103-82 Kings beat Pacers:

A.C. Nealy won the player of the game in the 103-82 victory by the Kings in 23 minutes he scored 28 points off of 11-24 shooting. Nealy added one assist 3 rebounds and 3 steals to his totals.

Robert Alexander scored 20 points off of 7-9 shooting hitting five out of five three pointers, Alexander led the team with 8 rebounds.

Pavao Dragicevic played the point for most of the game and got himself 8 assists in 19 minutes, he also scored 12 points off of 5-9 shooting.

Game 2 117-100 Kings beat Nets:

Robert Alexander won the player of the game scoring 20 points off of 9-13 shooting, he also added 6 rebounds.

A.C. Nealy scored 19 off of 8 for 11 shooting he added 3 steals once again.

Pavao Dragicevic scored only 5 points off of 1 for 5 shooting yet he did tally an impressive 10 assists.
Game 3 The Kings win 118-96 to the Washington Wizards

A.C. Nealy scored 19 points on 6-9 shooting and had a very impressive game overall racking up 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals.

Robert Alexander was the leading scorer for the game, scoring 24 points on 10-22 shooting. Alexander was only able to grab 3 rebounds.

Pavao Dragicevic went 4-12 from the field scoring 9 points, yet again being the primary ball-handler Pavao had 13 assists.

Game 4 The Kings defeat the Spurs 110 to 85:

A.C. Nealy scored 13 points on 5-8 shooting.

Robert Alexander scored 20 points on 9-18 shooting and added 6 rebounds

Pavao Dragicevic scored 11 on 5-6 shooting and added 12 assists.

Game 5 The Kings are defeated by the Nuggets 90-79

A.C. Nealy scored 12 on 4-13 shooting

Robert Alexander socred 14 on 6-10 shooting

Pavao Dragicevic scored 6 on 3-12 shooting and added 8 assists.

Summer League Stats for Nealy, Alexander and Dragicevic

Nealy PPG 17.8 APG 1.4 RPG 3.8

Alexander PPG 19.6 APG 1.2 RPG 5.2

Dragicevic PPG 8.2 APG 10.2 RPG RPG 1.8

Nealy and Alexander had good summer league performances as far as efficiency and scoring are concerned. Dragicevic did not score or rebound well, but he made up for it with absolutely impressive passing ability. It should be noted that Dragicevic played point guard almost the entire summer league, during the regular season he should be playing a point-forward role.

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Free Agency:

The major goal for the Kings is to get a PG that can play well with A.C. Nealy. Since Pavao Dragicevic proved he is a competent passer in the summer league and Nealy can shoulder some of the PG duties, so the goal isn't to get the best facilitator but to get a point guard that can guard the best guard on the opposing team. Here are the current list of cannidates.

Iman Shumpert: Shumpert plays for the Knicks and he seems to like his role there. Shumpert is 6'5” and a very good defender, he won't look to dominate the scoring on offense, he is a perfect fit for Sacramento. The downside of Shumpert is that the Kings will have to grossly overpay for him since his is a restricted free agent and the Knicks could match any offer the Kings throw at him.

Grevis Vasquez: Grevis Vasquez has the necessary size and is a great facilitator(if not slightly turnover prone.) Vasquez is second on the list because despite his optimal size he still struggles defending elite guards. It is possible that the Kings will still persue Vasquez as a backup to Shumpert even if they do sign Shumpert.

Secondary Goals: Every position needs depth and the Kings will try and find good defensive back-ups to make up for their young inexperienced core. The Kings need veteran mentors to help build a winning culture in Sacramento.

Tyson Chandler: It would be a pipe dream to get Tyson Chandler on the team at 32 Chandler is aging, but the Kings will still offer near a max contract to see if he will bite. Chandler is leaving the rebuilding Knicks who did not offer Chandler the max contract. The Kings know that Chandler already achieved championship success early in his career and hope that he will be willing to help Sacramento become a winning team. Omar Asik and Tyson Chandler would be a very good platoon.

Nick Collison: Collison is a veteran with experience winning, he knows his limitations and seems to always find ways to help his team win. Collison may accept the veteran's minimum if he doesn't get many suitors.

Rasheed McCants: McCants would be a backup for Nealy and his job would be to hit three-point shots and do pretty much nothing else.

Joe DeLord: Another shooting guard without much use except his defensive ability, he played one season as an undrafted rookie and would be thrilled to sign a guaranteed contract.

Andris Biedrins: Biedrins is a shell of his former self and has been for years, he can however still rebound, which seems to be a weakness of the team.

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Free Agent Signings: The new ownership and front office of the Kings performed a coup and actually obtained absolutely every free-agent they targeted. They did so by offering long contracts and overpaying. Most NBA analysis points to the fact that the Kings will be a much better team this year, but without any of their rookies becoming superstars they will languish in mediocrity. Despite the mixed reviews the Kings were one of the most active teams on the free-agent market.

Iman Shumpert: The Kings undoubtedly overpaid for Shumpert paying him around 12 million a year over four years. Many Knick fans were upset that the offer presented by the Kings was so overblown, but the Kings got their number one free agent target in this controversial signing.

Tyson Chandler: The Kings 13 million dollars a year was too much for Chandler to refuse. It didn't hurt that Shumpert was signed before him and is a good friend of Chandler who also used to play for the Knicks.

Grevis Vasquez: The Kings signed Vasquez to six and a half million a year, undoubtedly overpaying for Vasquez to solidify their guard rotation.

Nick Collison: Collison was a deal compared to the rest of the free agent signings the Kings did. By waiting for the end of the free agency period the Kings got Collison for just over the veterans minimum. Collison chose the Kings probably because he will get more minutes with the Kings at PF.

Andris Biedrins, Rashad McCants, Joe DeLord: All signed for minimum contracts, it is unlikely that any of these players will get much playing time.

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2015-2016 Sacramento Kings:

Point Guard: Grevis Vasquez: Vasquez is the best facilitator on the Kings and after much debate between the coach(Victors) and the GM(Daniels) Vasquez has been given the starting job at PG where he will do the majority of the ball-handling.

SG: Iman Shumpert: Shumpert will start at SG for his defensive ability.

SF: Marcus Kelly: Marcus Kelly will start at SF simply for his defensive ability and because the starting PG Vasquez is a good floor general making Dragicevic more useful off the bench as a facilitator.

PF: Robert Alexander: Alexander will be in a rare position, among the starters he will be the no. 1 option on offense. Putting Alexander in this position was also a point of contention between the front office and the coaching staff. The coaching staff is very fond of Alexander.

C: Tyson Chandler: Chandler will be the recipient of inside passes and he will play immaculate defense, this is his job and if the last few years in New York are any indication of how he will perform with the Kings then he will do a very good job.

Bench:

A.C. Nealy: Nealy will be used for instant offense off the bench, the 19 year old is expected to start by the end of the year and eventually be franchise player for the team. Right now the coaching staff doesn't have much confidence in Nealy's defense, they want the No. 1 pick to play hard and earn his starting spot.

Pavao Dragicevic: Dragicevic is going to play just as many minutes if not more than Marcus Kelly this season, he will be used as a facilitator in the position of point forward. He will most definitely be the starter by the end of the year as he gets more used to NBA basketball play.

Omar Asik: Asik will get minutes behind Chandler and is expected to play good defense up the middle for the Kings. The Asik/Chandler tandum make Sacramento's defense at the Center position very solid.

Nick Collison: Collison is expected to back up Alexander at PF, he will put in quality minutes as he always does, a consummate professional Collison is a valuable member of the King's bench.

Rasheed McCants: McCants will be used in situations when an extra three-point shooter is needed.

Joe DeLord: DeLord will be used at one of the wing positions occasionally when extra defense is needed.

Andris Biedrins: Biedrins is insurance if either Asik or Chandler face an injury.

Larry Blackman: Expected to see most of his basketball action in the d-league

Donnie Largent: Largent can expect the same as Blackman.

Kyle Jones: Rounding out the roster is Kyle Jones who is a backup point guard who was undrafted and was mostly signed to round out the roster for the practices.

With Nealy and Dragicevic and Asik coming off the bench the 2015-2016 Kings team looks deep. The team is also mixed with veterans and rookies throughout the roster. Victor the King's coach has already put his neck out on the line and disagreed with the front office over the starting players. The front office organized almost all of their signings around A.C. Nealy being the focal point of the offense and Victor insisted that Nealy's defense was not NBA ready and that the 19 year old should come off the bench. This prospect did not go over well with Nealy's agent. Nealy however accepted the role because of his respect for the coach.

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Regular Season Record: 49-33.

The Kings shocked the basketball world and finished the season with an excellent 49-33 record winning the 5th position in the Western Conference playoffs. Justin Victor is an immediate cannidate for Coach of the Year. Almost everything went right for the Kings this year.

Tyson Chandler had a career year scoring a career high 17.7 points per game under Justin Victor's heavy pick and roll/fast paced offense. Chandler didn't have to compete with anyone for inside buckets. Chandler also grabbed 9.4 rebounds per game. Chandler did all of this with a shockingly high .654 TS%. Some advanced metric fans touted Chandler as an MVP candidate. At 32 Chandler had the season that no one every thought he would have. Chandler was also a vocal leader in the locker room voicing his constant support for Justin Victor.

Robert Alexander had a great rookie season, putting himself on the short list for rookie of the year. Alexander lead the team with 18.0 points per game. Anderson lead the league in 3pt attempts at 630. Alexander hit his 3pts a .392 clip. Many pointed out that if Alexander has even a semblance of a long career and keeps up this pace he will be the best big-man long range shooter of all time. Alexander has a high quick release and he can seemingly get a 3pt shot off in any situation, he practically lives on the perimeter. Occasionally Alexander will drive to the rim to take his opponent off guard. Alexander had a TS% of .599 which is more than the Kings could ever ask for. Alexander only grabbed 6.2 rebounds per game. Justin Victor defended this total stating that Alexander rarely played offense near the rim and that on defense he concentrated on stopping his opponents first and rebounding second, which is what the coach instructed him to do.

Pavao Dragicevic played his way into the starting position, garnering himself an impressive rookie season. Dragicevic has a good all around game scoring 12.4 points per game tallying 4.4 assists per game and 3.6 rebounds in about 27 minutes of play per game. Dragicevic had a .562 TS% which is well above the league average. Dragicevic's unselfish team play earned him high praise from his peers and his coach.

Grevis Vasquez in many ways had a down season, hitting a near league average .527 TS% and scoring 12.0 points per game. Vasquez rebounded and passed very well however tallying 5.6 assists per game and 4.6 rebounds. Justin Victor liked Vasquez for his ability to run the pick and roll and considered Vasquez an absolutely integral part of the offense because of it.

Iman Shumpert had a career year and led the league with 2.4 steals per game. Like Tyson Chandler Shumpert will be in the running for defensive player of the year. Shumpert always guarded all of the opponents best wing player all year round and he played with an intensity unmatched by his peers. Shumpter scored 13.8 points per game added 5.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds. Shumpert was never acquired for his efficiency however and struggled receiving only a .484 in the TS% category. Justin Victor explained this by saying that Shumpert was the one guy willing to take difficult shots with the clock running down.

Marcus Kelly played well above expectations in his rookie year, scrapping for all 9 of his nightly points. Good things happened with Kelly's energy when he was on the court. Kelly's productivity never truly showed in the box scores as he only had 3.6 rebounds per game and 1.2 assists per game in his 24 minutes per night off the bench. Justin Victor claimed that Kelly is the best man on man defender on the team.

A.C. Nealy had a successful rookie year scoring 12.0 points per game on .603 TS% as a rookie. Nealy got more and more minutes as the year went by and Justin Victor has publicly stated that he will start in the 2016-2017 season. Nealy does one thing well and that is score, he tends to be turnover prone and gambles too much on defense. Justin Victor was explicitly harsh on the young guard and would pull him from games after small mistakes. Victor's rational was that Nealy needed to “play the game right” if the Kings ever wanted to win a championship. Nealy publicly was very patient with his coach but rumors swirled that Nealy was not happy with his playing time.

Omar Asik did his job of being a good stop gag at defense in the middle, Asik also performed fairly hideously on offense putting up a paltry .487 TS%. Justin Victor always spoke positively of Asik's effort on defense but he also expressed frustration at Asik's inability to hit free-throws.

Nick Collison seemed to drop off dramatically in productivity hitting a pathetic .417 TS%. Collison played good enough in other areas to secure a part in the rotation. Collison's coach expressed that Collison had a high BB IQ and that he believes Collison can continue his NBA career as a roleplayer because of his ability to set screens and make the right choices on defense, even if his athleticism is basically gone and his offensive game fell completely off the map.

Rasheed McCants came into games basically only to be a 3pt shooting option. Although McCants won two games with last second 3pt shots he still overall had a statistically below average season shooting below 40% from the field and having a higher 3pt% than FG%(both of which were under 40% but close to it.) McCants TS% was .495 on the year.

Andris Biedrins, Joe DeLord and Kyle Jones each played very little over the season, too little in fact to give them an accurate assessment as players.

Donnie Largent had an excellent season in the d-league shooting very high percentages in all areas even 3pt% something he didn't have in his college game. Largent will play a role in the future of the Kings if he continues to develop his jump shot.

Larry Blackman had an unspectacular year in the d-league and it looks as if he may not have much of a future in the NBA.

Team Stats:

PPG 108.3(3)
APG 23.0(5)
RPG 43.1(13)
BPG 5.9(21)
SPG 9.5(6)
TOV 17.2(28)

OPPG 106.0(26)
OAPG 21.0(12)
ORPG 42.7(14)
OBPG 5.1(1)
OSPG 9.9(28)
OTOV 16.5(6)

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Playoffs Round 1:

Round 1

The Kings faced off against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder lost the previous year to the Heat 4-3 in the finals and were very hungry to make it to the finals again. Unfortunately for the Thunder and fortunately for the Kings the Thunder center Marc Gasol and key player Kevin Durant were nursing minor injuries. The Kings took advantage taking the series dramatically in seven games. Iman Shumpert and Robert Alexander both performed excellently and won co-mvps for the series. The final game was in Oklahoma City and the Kings came back from behind in dramatic fashion shocking NBA fans everywhere.

Round 2

The Kings seemed fatigued vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves and eventually lost 4-1 in the series, looking completely out of their league. The Timberwolves would eventually go onto the Finals where they would end up defeating the Charlotte Bobcats in seven games for the championship.

In the end of the year the Kings emerged as one of the most exciting teams in the NBA. The Kings successfully made themselves relevant once more after one season.