Golden State Warriors: 2017/18 Pacific Division Preview
By Marc Princi
Sacramento Kings
The next team in this Pacific Division preview is the Warriors’ Northern California rivals, the Sacramento Kings.
More from Warriors News
- 3x champion may come to regret forgoing Golden State Warriors reunion
- Golden State Warriors: History shows USA may need Stephen Curry for more than the Olympics
- Golden State Warriors villain pours on more pain to end USA’s World Cup
- Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry continues philanthropic efforts off the court
- The Dream starting 5 for the Warriors 5 years from now
The Kings will enter their first full season without DeMarcus Cousins, as their young squad goes to war in the West. Veteran Rudy Gay is gone, too, although another veteran in Vince Carter joins the squad.
The Kings are quite an enigmatic team heading into the new season. It’s hard to know what to make of them. They’re a young team that boast a number of prospective stars, including Buddy Hield and rookie De’Aaron Fox.
However, they don’t strike me as a team that will make any noise in the Western Conference. The Kings lack star power at the present, and star power is essential in the West. The Kings were one of nine Western Conference teams in 2017 with an All-Star. That All-Star, Cousins, is now a New Orleans Pelican. It’s hard to make any argument for the Kings finishing inside the top ten teams in the West.
The Warriors will sweep the Kings with ease. It will be a 4-0 whitewash, with NorCal being represented at both, the top and bottom of the WesternConference, by the Warriors and Kings respectively.
Season Prediction:
I predict the Kings will take the place of the Phoenix Suns from last season and finish with a record of 24-58. They’ll also be the Western Conference cellar-dwellers in 15th place come playoff time.