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Year in review, Offseason dilemmas.

This approaching 2016 offseason has been a looming storm cloud, hanging over the Kings franchise all year long. When the new GM KLEMMELO took over, the roster was full of expiring contracts and a whole lot of depth unevenly stacked at the PG/SG position in particular. Quality players off the bench that comprised the second unit that just didnâ€™t quite make sense, who were exposed for their numerous weaknesses matching up against the better teams in the league.

Brooks, Bayless, C. Lee, Clarkson, Leonard, Kaun and Bullock rounded out the reserves; Lots of fire power but not a whole lot of movement, defence or rebounding.

The hole left by Lopez' departure at the centre position was one of the main talking points within the franchise. Was David Lee going to be playing big minutes as an undersized centre with any rim protection virtually non existent? What other options did they have? Not a whole lot reallyâ€¦ A young and inexperienced â€œstretch 5â€ type 7-footer in Meyers Leonard? A 31 year old â€œrookieâ€ in Sasha Kaun who was hoping that the transition from the euro leagues to NLL wasnâ€™t going to be too drastic? These questions needed to be answered and the new GM made the move early on to ship David Lee and his sub par contract for a more viable option. In comes Veteran sharpshooter Channing Frye, with legitimate perimeter scoring and rebounding... It would have to do. For now.

The Kings got off to a good start but seemed to get figured out too easily, then grinding to a sudden halt, overwhelmed by the more experienced sides. The general rule of thumb is If you canâ€™t win the game on the glass then you donâ€™t stand much of a chance. The starting Centre spot was still an issue, cue the Bulls split second decision to throw in the towel on the seasons efforts and start moving assets looking to the future. It seemed like the deal was done in the matter of hours, Frye/Leonard and the Kings 2016 1st moved for defensive anchor Andrew Bogut. â€œThatâ€™s how the West was won!â€ was Tweeted by players and owners alike. Not quite. Bogut definitely came in and made a positive impact with 11.7RPG and 8.8PPG over 58 games with the Kings and didnâ€™t see any drop in offensive numbers/efficiency playing along side Conley, Love and Klay. This however didnâ€™t seem to convert in the win column, and so the dilemmas continued...

The Bench was still the glaring issue. They had no real option off the bench for a serviceable back up small forward to provide quality minutes replacing Brewer. With three PGâ€™s competing for minutes the GM took advantage of an unfortunate Knee injury to the Lakers starting Guard Jarrett Jack. Contacting the Lakers head office enquiring about a straight swap involving Mike Scott and Aaron Brooks. Scott was a glorified towel waver on the Lakers line up, so it was an easy decision for both parties involved. A series of small deals over the next few weeks saw Miles Plumlee being picked up for points off the Spurs, Jerryd Bayless for young up and coming rebounding big in Dwight Powell and prospect rookie big man Cristiano Felicio. Now all of a sudden the roster made a bit more sense, at least in regards to the guys riding the pine at tip off. Clarkson was putting in a strong case for 6th man of the year, Powell and Plumlee played well together bringing rebounding and shot blocking and Scott provided spacing and size.

Cue the worst possible news the Kings fan base could hearâ€¦ Mike Conley goes down indefinitely with no real time table provided. Just as the Kings were trying to find some consistency with all the new pieces acquired, the backbone of the 2nd unit in Clarkson was plucked from his role and shoved into being one of the leaders on this struggling franchise. "Clarkson unleashedâ€ was what banners and signs read waving in the stands. 20.2PPG, 7.6APG, 4.3RPG with 1.1SPG, shooting 49% from the field in just 33.9 minutes a game. Monster stats for the youngster, gaining a serious cult following as the saviour of the Kings 2015-2016 season. Although when he had to come off? There was nothing, such a familiar hole that the Kings found themselves back inâ€¦ A hasty move to desperately pick up a solid back up PG within the last few weeks of the season, saw the Kings again dealing with Division Rivals the LA Lakers, shipping Courtney Lee for veteran Raymond Felton. Coming from a team that rotated their backcourt aggressively, Felton just didnâ€™t seem to ever be utilised properly. Which was further enforced with numbers of 11PPG, 2.2 APG shooting lights out with splits of 51/40/90 in just over 15 minutes a game since coming to the Kings. Exactly what the Kings needed. It was left to be seen wether the Kings â€œall inâ€ type move completed at the trade deadline; to send most improved front runner and defensive wing Corey Brewer along with a package of picks and prospects for a more offensively geared wing in Jeff Green even Helped the Kings in the long run. With untimely periods of rest for Kevin Love late in the season, could this inconsistent side with a rookie GM at the wheel and down an All-Star in Conley; a true leader of this group, pull it all together and make something of this season after all?

It was well documented that the Kings new GM was metaphorically "handed the keys to a high performance and durable super car, and nearly drove it off a cliffâ€. That statement resinated with the Kings faithful and collectively there was a sense of urgency and motivation spawned from that, heading into the final stretch of the season. Some costly losses to mediocre teams saw the Kings plummet in the tightly contested Western conference; looking in from outside the top 8, leading into the final week of the regular season. Then relying on a solid close out getting two much needed wins but capped off by a heart breaking loss to the Spurs, decided at the foul line in the dying seconds then saw the Kings finals berth teetering. Maybe in the end there was also a lot of luck involved in getting over the line. With the sides competing for the 8th spot being the feisty Wolves and the Phoenix Suns falling short against tougher opposition.

It came down to the last game of the season, with the wolves falling to the Sixers, thus cementing the Kings 8th seed and obvious first round match up with the defending champs the LA Lakers. The league predictions went a little something like this.. â€œGet out your broomsâ€¦ Who are Lakers playing next again?â€¦ Sweeps all round!â€â€¦ Now no one was expecting the Kings to even slow down the Lakers let alone beat them. Then going back to Sacramentoâ€™s home floor the league was in collective shock, was this even real? The champs were in a 2 game hole, dropping both games at home now heading back to Sacramento. All of a sudden one of the biggest upsets in recent years seemed to be actually attainable. But like true champions the Lakers made some minor adjustments and just came out and straight up destroyed the Kings 4 games in a row, sending them packing and licking their wounds in a crushing as well as embarrassing 1st round defeat.

Lessons learnt of course with steady progression being the name of the game here. Looking forward, big name FA Mike Conley is rumoured to be expecting a max extension and is currently involved in talks to keep him here in Sacramento. Head office are confident that he will re-sign and continue to be the face of this franchise for years to come. Other notable names include restricted free agents Powell, Clarkson and Plumlee who are all expected to return as well. That being said the Kings will be looking to fill 8-10 roster spots so without knowing what will happen with players like Felton and Green, its certain that come October this Kings roster might be almost completely overhauled. Its to be noted that there have been insider reports of a Kevin Love deal that is almost imminent, in an attempt to bring in multiple assets after his somewhat lack lustre performances through out the regular season... More importantly the Playoffs; where he was needed most. It's not so much a reflection on the calibre of player that he is, but more so wether he fits within the revamped direction this franchise is now heading towards.

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