Western Conference

[king125]

I know we still FA but where do you see the Kings based on the moves of the last week.

1. Lakers-same team, should be #1
2. Dallas-regular season superstars, mostly same team. if Dirk stays they go #2
3. OKC-maybe a reach? I dont think so. cant beat chemistry or Durant. dark horse to win the western conference
4. Houston-Yao will be back, I see this team being really tough this year.
5. Denver-good team, great coach (if he feels ok and recovers), but this lineup doesn't get any better and shouldn't be as good as last year IMO
6. Portland-always good, not really good enough
7. Spurs-getting old but still experienced enough to win a bunch of games.
8. ????? Utah will lose Boozer and will not be as good. Same as Amare in PHX. New Orleans should be better with Paul healthy. Memphis will be better I think. Clippers/Griffin? Kings?

I still think we are out of the playoffs but I do see us at .500 or better. If we make a smart move in FA or a nice trade and get a nice 2 guard, we could battle for #8.

any thoughts?

[RIPskaterdude]

Gotta wait for FA to be over, and see what happens with injures (if Yao/Oden recover), but I think OKC and Portland will be a top 5 team this year. If the Suns lose Amare, and the Jazz lose Boozer (without replacing either), I think they'll fight for the 8th seed...but don't count out Memphis just yet.

[wiltchamberlain]

Yeah it is far too early for this, we need to know how free agency shakes out first.

[City of Trees]

on nba tv tonight kenny smith said save the tape, with a week left the kings will be the 9th seed fighting for a playoff spot... DA shook us off as a better team that wont win a lot of games... i say we finish 8- 10

[RIPskaterdude]

If we can add a decent PG off the bench, then I could see us as high as #9, but realistically, anything over 35 wins next year would be a great season.

[KF10]

If we get into the 40 win mark next season, I would literally crap my pants.

[villatrynity154]

10-12...memphis is better than us right now and so is a healthy new orleans those 2 teams right there and utah and phoenix battling the 8th seed that's eleven teams better than us....i see us finishing 10-12, regardless of how much better we prove to be than last season, the western conference is just too loaded for us to make a significant rise in the ranks just yet. again we'll determine progress in the form of wins...i say 35 gms is not an unrealistic mark for this season.

[_SRV_]

It's time to start testing, the core is supposedly there, cap space for fixes here and there will be next year, let's wait for the players to show what they're worth.
Regarding top 5, I agree, the rest is really up for graps, SA might break down, Portland lost their GM, and was never really elite, PHX seems to be losing Amare.

[Dustin5566]

62-20

We are going to own everyone

[Wolfay]

If we can add a decent PG off the bench, then I could see us as high as #9, but realistically, anything over 35 wins next year would be a great season.

This. I see probably around 35 wins, but it wouldn't surprise me if we flirted with .500 at points during the season. I have no doubt that Cousins, Dalembert, and the continued development of our guys will significantly improve us.

[KF10]

I think Westphal said it best somewhere that if we had a better FT% and lessened our TOs, this team would easily been a 30+ winning team.

[RekeHavoc]

We're going to be so much better next year, I foresee a Thunder like leap in terms of wins. Tyreke, Casspi, Greene, JT, Mandry, etc. will all get better. Spencer was pretty much a no show last year for 70% of the games and played great in like 30% of them. So we should have more consistency, defense, and rebounding from the center spot with the addition of Cousins and Dalembert. 3-4 blockers per game, 15-20 rebounds, 15 points or so, etc. It will actually be a strength for us, and last year we were outplaying people like at the guard spots or the 2/3 spots, but guys like Gasol and Bynum hurt us, or Duncan hurt us, and we couldn't defend the middle. Casspi and Greene are both going to work hard and get better, and Greene has serious star potential while Casspi is really able to fill it up also and needs to work on getting stronger and his defense. Tyreke is going to keep getting better. Landry is going to fit in more and have a more well defined role. We'll probably add some 3 point shooting too and be on our way to being a complete team that just needs improvement from the young players.

[wolfdog]

Teams are getting older in the Western conference, and teams are losing players. AKA Pheonix and Jazz, we will be fighting for that last spot with the new depth we have at 4 and 5.

[SacTown Kings]

#1 Lakers they just are loaded with talent (even if phil leaves a monkey could coach that team to the finals)

#2 Dallas (Dirk isn't going anywhere even if he opts out)

#3 Portland (they are big, deep, and have Roy)

#4 OKC (they just keep getting better and better, and Durant is amazing)

#5 San Antonio (Duncan isn't as dominate and their window is starting to close but they are always one of the better teams, Pop always has his team running like a well oiled machine)

#6 Denver (eh it's difficult at this point to pick teams so imma just go with Denver at #6)

#7 Houston (still a big question about Yao and how he and Martin play together, I wouldn't be suprised if they don't make the playoffs)

#8 New Orleans (only if Paul is still on the team if not they are cellar dwellers)

Boozer is gone and I don't think Dwill, a broken AK47, Milsap and Okur is enough to get into the playoffs even with Sloan as the coach, Boozer did a lot of scoring for them)

Amare is gone and no way Nash, JRich, Barbosa, and a 50 year old Hill make the playoffs

Memphis has talent but I refuse to believe that a team with Zach Randolph in a contract year will make the playoffs, he might put up 30pts and 20 reb but I don't see em making the top 8.

LAC definetly have talent but it's the Clips we are talking about. They can sign Lebron and still not make the playoffs because well thats their nature. Always has been always will lol.

We only have a shot if some of the teams above end up with their star players injured.

Minny and GS have no chance in hell.

[SacKingZZZ]

It could go one of two ways. We are way better because our interior defense is now close to an elite level in terms of shotblocking and rebounding. We have 3 legit interior scorers in Evans, Landry, and Cousins and our toughness level is much higher.

Or....The paint is too clogged allowing teams to zone us to death and causing us to fall rapidly on the offensive end even though we are much better defensively. No matter how great you are on defense, you still have to be able to knock down shots. If this is the case I see us winning only a few more games but still being better than last year.

My personal belief is that this team is significantly better next year. Playoffs? I don't know, but at least in the mix for a good chunk of the season. Might be a rough start howver.

[wolfdog]

I am not too worried about the paint being jammed, for starters Cousins wasn't used to his full since he can hit the outside shot and will do that for us. Also Tyreke should have a slightly better jumpshot, I hope, and all our rookies will have a year under them which cost us games(rookie mistakes). Really I will be disappointed with the team if we don't make it, since there are many declining teams this year that will let the kings win more games and give us a better chance overall of making it.

[YC42Balla]

If we get into the 40 win mark next season, I would literally crap my pants.

And I'll be their right beside you, crappin' mine as well!!

[dub010]

Im really excited to see how things shake out in the West this year.

Cant see the Kings winning more that 32-36 games this year.

[longfellow44]

My full guess is the kings end up around 35-38 wins this season. Our team is dramatically improved defensively, we are much better on the interior and should get a lot of easy buckets that way. That being said unless we pick up an elite shooter our team will struggle when teams clog the lane, tyreke will still get his but our team will struggle as a whole. If we pick up a reddick or a morrow type guy we will be in excellent shape as teams will get punished for clogging the lane. Casspi, Udrih, Greene, and Garcia should do ok at this but an elite shooter will really make opposing defenses pay.

[KM44]

Good year next year, but not even close to playoffs. I would be shocked if we get above 10, but I don't think we'll be lower than 12.