Behind Enemy Lines: Sacramento Kings

by atthehive on Nov 19, 2008 5:12 PM CST in Previews Comment 0 comments

The Sac Kings visit New Orleans tonight. As some of you may remember, Sacramento was the site of a beatdown of epic proportions some months prior, the beater being the Kings, and the beatee being the Hornets. That the Hornets not reprise their beatee role, let us all wish. Anyway, Ziller of Sactown Royalty was nice enough to answer a few questions on very short notice.

At the Hive: How many seasons do you expect it will take the Kings to challenge for a playoff spot again? Just looking ahead at the '09 and '10 free agent classes, where would you start the rebuilding process as GM?

Sactown Royalty: It will take the Kings 15 years to earn another playoff spot, but only two years to challenge for one. I'm optimistic that way. I think the team needs to be drafting for overall talent at this point. Depending on how '09 and '10 shake in the trade market, the Kings can adjust from there. I'd rather the team draft Blake Griffin or B.J. Mullens to create a logjam of bigs than pick a guard with high bust potential just because they are targeting a top PG in the trade market. The team's overall talent level needs a boost.

@tH: PER-wise, Jason Thompson has been pretty impressive. What have you liked and disliked about his game thus far?

SR: Thompson has been pretty amazing, given expectations. I think he rushes his jumper a little bit, fouls too much right now going for offensive rebounds, and sometimes takes one dribble too many in the paint. But those are really just quibbles -- he has exceeded all rational expectations as of today.

@th: With the departure of Ron Artest, Kevin Martin has gotten the chance to be "the man" in Sacramento. Up till his recent injury, how would you assess his transition into his new role?

SR: We barely saw Martin play before his ankle got crunched, so we're TBD right now. That said, he's perfect as a top scorer getting 20 FGAs/game. We saw that in the first two weeks, and we'll see it again beginning next week.

Let's get some revenge for Bobby Brown!

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