Predict next season's number of wins.

[_SRV_]

Well, season starts in few days, roster is set, rotation also, game plan not so much, but the general lines are apparent, it's prediction time.
Last year we made a 38 wins season, Martin had a good season but missed games, Artest played out of his mind but also missed a few, Udrih was solid, Bibby was somewhat solid.
We're out of the veteran presence of Artest and Bibby, Brad is a year older and already out of the 1st 5 games, Kevin Martin is supposedly better, and the bench got an upgrade of Bjax, JT, more comfortable and motivated Shelden (hopefully), a year older Douby and Greene.
We're very thin at PG and Udrih isn't reliable 82 games player and Brown is a rookie.
The 38 last season were affected a lot by injuries, I'd say we were worth at least 5 more.
How many wins you think we'll have?
I'd say we'l' be in he 35-40 range, snd I'll go with 36.

State your prediction, and try to pick a number that wasn't mentioned to make it some sort of a contest where we bust chops (sp?) at the end of the season.

[pillwenney]

I'm going with 34. That's been my number for a while, and I'm sticking with it.

[RoyalCourtJestr]

34 sounds bout right. I

[SacKingZZZ]

Although I don't think losing Ron will necessarily effect the W/L total for this season, the fact is that we've gotten worse in the "win now" category when many teams (Clippers, Blazers, Bucks, maybe New York, maybe Chicago, maybe Indiana, maybe Charlotte) have gotten better.

I think we'll battle the T-wolves, Grizzlies, and Thunder for a top pick in next years draft but won't be that low.

28 wins.

[deNIEd]

I would have said 28, but I'll say 27

[Wolfay]

Defense will be virtually nonexistent without Artest. Our offense will be average, maybe slightly above, but defense will be below average by a good margin. Salmons is above average, but it's a train wreck from there.

31 wins, solely because of Martin.

[sacstar16]

I'll go with an even 30.

[KF10]

Yeah, my number is 34. IMO mid 30s..

[Danimal1730]

Truth betold, i think we are better, on paper, going into this year than we were last year. Going into last year we had no depth at point gaurd, artest was out for the first 7, and other than kevin everything was question marks. The bench is better, the starters are about the same, I say 43.

Also we will be better with Mikki benched.

[SacTown Kings]

We are better than Minny, Memphis, Oklahoma, and Golden State . I am sure that a team led by Mertin will do better than a team led by Stephen Jax (Maggette doesn't come close making up for the lose of Baron and basically Ellis as well). I don't think Houston will do well this year. Tmac and YAo are always injured and Artest will not lead them to anything. If they stay healthy they will do very well, I am just putting all my chips on the fact that they will not be healthy (mostly Tmac and Yao, not too mention Artest misses quite a bit of games as well). Wouldn't suprise me to see the Nugs miss the playoffs as well. AI and Melo tandem just doesn't work for whatever reason, they lose their best defender and try to make up for it with Balkman and Andersen? I don't think so. Phoenix looked terrible after the Shaq trade.

So I can see us finishing 9th and winning 40 games:

1) New Orleans
2) LAL
3) Utah
4) San Antonio
5) Phoenix
6) Dallas
7) Portland
8) LAC

Houston no makin playoff this year. Kings get their lottery pick and Houston's !!!!

[Smills91]

I think 30 is a pretty reasonable number give or take 3-4 wins. But I like 30.

[KingInExile]

I'm going with 60

[ICMTM]

73 FTW

28 is what I see unless something changes from the preseason.

[RIPskaterdude]

I'm going with 60

60 losses then?

[Dustin5566]

29, and will get the #2 pick in the draft behind OKC

[Inc]

I say 25 because we are gonna trade Brad and Salmons at the deadline and tank (not really, but we will suck)

[Sac Fan in Clipper town]

I think 22-60, as we will be worse than under the Lukenbill days.

Wonder if Petrie has his next coach ready?

[RIPskaterdude]

29, and will get the #2 pick in the draft behind OKC

Do you think we'll have the 2nd worst record in the league or just get lucky and land in the top 3? I'm not sure if 29 wins = 2nd worst record in the league.

[cdt3]

I agree we are upgraded from last year. Hawes and Williams looks much more comfortable this year better, Hawes will be mcuh improved in his sophmore year. Miller is always consistant 15pts/10reb/4ast/1blk, and Theus has convinced him playing at a lighter weight will keep him healthier as he gets older which was why he no injuries the past year and he will be the veteran leader. Petrie's formula for success comes from big guys who pass + lots of shooters + good def in the paint = lots of wins. Last year we were bad rebounding, no def in the paint (Artest was a natural SF not PF) and we won 38 games. Hawes is a better passer than Moore so that is an improvement. We are loaded with shooters so we are improved there. The defense in the paint will be improved with Miller-Hawes and Williams-Thompson look much better on defense. Hawes will likely have 1.5 blocks and is the Kings best defending big guy. Williams will get a lot of playing time against big scoring bigs and can score if given the minutes. Hawes footwork is fantastic so his scoring will be icing on his all around game. Thompson can also do a little of everything we'll see what else he brings to the table possibly clutch? Greene will play a little of everything. We are 6 deep with guards and will not be bothered with any injuries, even Beno. Artest is the only loss, Garcia and Salmons easily pick up his load on both sides of the ball. I do not see a Hawes-Miller frontline not getting to .500. They will not make the playoffs because of the depth of the west but there aren't many dominant teams really only the Lakers, but we match up well against them. The only thing will be how long Theus takes to say no thanks to Mikki since he does absolutely nothing to improve this team's weaknesses paint def, reb and toughness. I counted a negative 36 point swing for the Kings game when Mikki was on the court 30 minutes in the game against the Rockets. I know the Maloofs get angry everytime they see Mikki and Thomas sitting on the bench burning $12mil a year. But they are really 11th and 12th men and bring nothing to the Kings except depth in case of Miller's injury. Please don't go Knickowners on us Maloofs forcing them ahead of better young big guys, this is a better team than you think. Please just accept them on the bench. A Miller-Moore frontline would put down are red carpet for the NBA, just like last year. I see this team as improved and 41 wins is possible (maybe even playoffs?) if we go with the Miller-Hawes combo even though there will be a lot of ups and downs. If we have game closer we could win more, right now I don't see anyone standing up in that role but wouldn't rule it out. If we are not getting wins and not competitive I am even comfortable trading Miller because of the quality of the young big guys.

[Cruel_Ruin]

I originally said 40 wins before preseason started, but that was based mostly on my belief that Jason Thompson was ready to contribute from the getgo. From preseason, it's clear he has a ways to go, so I'll revise my prediction to 36 wins.

I also disagree with the notion that saying we would win more games this year than last year is the same as saying the team is better without Ron than it is with him. We had some serious issues going on last year, with all of the injuries, Beno coming in without training camp, Bibby being traded midseason, Garcia being squeezed in and out of the rotation, Salmons being a stud starter for 41 games and being garbage off the bench in the other half, all the off-court drama and trade rumors... just lots of issues. This year we should have none of that except maybe injuries, since Beno has been here for the training camp and Salmons is full time starter, Garcia being cemented in the rotation, Hawes and Martin showing huge signs of improvement and no more Ron Artest roller coaster.