The Chicago Bulls' outstanding start to the season has been well-documented; a start that included an impressive 19-straight wins before the Heat ended the streak. The Bulls have a healthy Derrick Rose and a quality compliment of talent like Jimmy Butler, Joakim Noah, Pau Gasol, and international arrival Nikola Mirotic. They have opened a 4-game lead on 2nd place Cleveland in the standings and are in prime position to secure home court come playoff time, if not the #1 seed.
In the Western Conference, there was no clear favorite that was distinguishing itself after the first month of the year. There still isn't, but three teams have done well enough in December to distance themselves from the rest of the West. The West has seen a pair of expected contenders in the Clippers and Grizzlies fall off this year, leaving OKC, Houston, and San Antonio to fight amongst themselves for the Western crown. In a conference notorious for having the more difficult path to the NBA Finals, this year's crop of teams in the West lacks the number of contenders that it usually boasts. Teams in the middle such as the Blazers, Clippers, Warriors, and Mavericks may need to consider making a trade if they want to climb into the discussion with the Thunder, Rockets, and Spurs.
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Kings fans have raised their expectations this season thanks to the team's strong start at .500. In truth, nobody was expecting the Kings to be a legitimate playoff contender after suffering through a 28-win season last year and a decade of poor basketball. At the start of the season, a 35-win season would be considered a productive year for a team that could develop their young talent like McLemore, watch Cousins take a step into stardom, and start changing the culture in Sacramento. But the team is certainly on pace to exceed those expectations and are currently sitting in the 8th and final playoff chair in the Western Conference. Their playoff chances are better than expected as well due to poor seasons for teams like Memphis, Phoenix, and New Orleans.
But with relative success and increased expectations comes increased scrutiny and overreaction. As currently constructed, the Kings have more than enough offensive firepower with Cousins and Gay supported by a 16.5 PPG season from Reggie Jackson and an efficient-shooting Ben McLemore. The recent addition of Jerryd Bayless has added more bench scoring next to Carl Landry as well. But on nights when the opposing defense steps up or the Kings' offense goes cold, it is almost a guaranteed loss and likely a blowout. If the offense dies like it did against the Celtics (77-96) on the 31st and in both games against OKC (95-127, 88-114), ugly losses are a certainty. Sacramento undeniably lacks any consistent defensive effort and usually relies on John Henson and a much-improved Demarcus Cousins (1.3 SPG, 1.8 BPG) to bail out the team on that end of the floor. On a team full of scorers, the Kings arguably have only one defense-first player on the roster in Henson. The wing players for Sacramento, especially the reserves, are a large downgrade defensively. Rudy Gay isn't elite defensively and Ben McLemore is still developing his defense after a poor rookie year, but they are miles ahead of their backups. The McLemore/Stauskas dropoff is the most noticeable, and a large portion of the high scoring performances the Kings have allowed have come from 2-guards. Recent examples include 27 to Gerald Green, 26 to Jeremy Lamb, 30 to Rodney Stuckey, and 26 to Demar Derozan. With the exception of Derozan, those aren't exactly superstar scorers. Those are players who found openings against their matchup and got into a rhythm.
Impatient fans obviously grow frustrated with this lack of consistency defensively, but it is probably not practical for the Kings to trade for remedies to their defensive deficiencies immediately. Legitimate defense stoppers have a large price tag around the league, and trading for one would likely require the Kings to give up young talent like McLemore, Stauskas, or Henson. McLemore and Henson are performing very well and it is far too early to give up on a rookie like Stauskas. If the Kings' offense can do enough to make the playoffs, great. If not, the team will still have exceeded their preseason expectations and probably put together a productive year. There is no reason to panic and start selling potential just for a low playoff seed and 1st round exit. Don't expect a franchise-changing trade to go down this year in Sacramento. Trades on the level of the Bucks deal earlier in the month is the kind of move we should expect the team to make, if they even make another deal this season.
