Predicting The Sacramento Kings Depth Chart

Ti Windisch

Feb 5, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (15) high fives guard Darren Collison (7) after being fouled by the Dallas Mavericks during the first quarter at Sleep Train Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Many of the great questions we’ve been trying to tackle about the next season for the Sacramento Kings have to do with the team’s rotation. Things like where Rudy Gay will play, who’ll be the starter at point guard and which two of Sacramento’s three big men are going to start have all of us stumped right now.

Point Guard Rotation

Starter: Rajon Rondo – 30 MPG

Darren Collison – 15 MPG

Seth Curry – 3 MPG

This is a fairly straight forward position to start with. I see Collison and Curry both getting a few more minutes each at the other guard spot, but Rondo definitely holds down the point guard position in his time with the Kings.

He’s the better fit for the starting five and having him play lots of minutes with the rest of my anticipated starting five is the best option for the entire team. Rondo plays great defense and is one of the best distributors in NBA history–it’s time for him to prove it again in Sacramento.

Like I wrote yesterday, Collison is going to be a great sixth man for the Kings this season. He may get more minutes at the expense of Curry, but I just feel as though it’ll be hard to deny Seth some minutes–he can really shoot the ball, which is always useful on any NBA team.

I don’t see David Stockton seeing steady minutes at the NBA level yet this season–honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up on the Reno Bighorns for parts of the season. He would’ve had an opportunity had Rajon Rondo not come to town, but this position is stacked with players better than Stockton is at the moment, leaving him without a spot.

The one thing that could really throw off these projections is injury troubles. Rondo has missed a ton of games in the last few seasons, and obviously everybody gets their playing time bumped up if he misses significant stretches of games. If that were to happen, Stockton would have a shot at the third point guard spot and we’d be seeing a lot more Seth Curry–not that I mind.

Next: Shooting Guards

Dec 21, 2014; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Ben McLemore (23) after scoring a basket against Sacramento Kings forward Carl Landry (24) during the first quarter at Sleep Train Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Shooting Guard Rotation:

Starter: Ben McLemore – 32 MPG

Darren Collison – 6 MPG

Marco Belinelli – 6 MPG

Seth Curry – 4 MPG

Collison and Curry continue to split backup minutes at the shooting guard spot. I see them being at either depending on which starting guard is in–if it’s Rondo they’ll be at shooting guard, if it’s McLemore they’ll be at the point. Marco Belinelli steals some minutes here as well, considering there’re two solid small forwards who will eat a lot of minutes there.

Ben McLemore is the obvious choice to start here, and I don’t see Collison or Belinelli giving him any trouble for the job. Little Mac has gotten steadily better as his career has gone on and hopefully this season will be yet another example of that.

The starting job at shooting guard is his to lose, and I don’t think he will. His durability helps a lot–he’s yet to miss an NBA game in his two years in the Association. Being that reliable makes it a ton harder to lose your spot, as does the raw talent McLemore possesses. Don’t expect to see anybody sneak up on him just yet.

One thing that makes this exercise both fun and challenging is that a lot of players on this Sacramento Kings depth chart don’t have solidified positions. I would be surprised if we didn’t see a lot of different and funky lineups from George Karl during games–basketball is becoming position-less and this Kings roster is proof.

Next: Small Forwards

Mar 20, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Rudy Gay (8) drives in against Charlotte Hornets center Al Jefferson (25) during the fourth quarter at Sleep Train Arena. The Sacramento Kings defeated the Charlotte Hornets 101-91. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Small Forward Rotation

Starter: Rudy Gay – 28 MPG

Omri Casspi – 15 MPG

Marco Belinelli – 5 MPG

This is where things really got tricky. I love Caron Butler and think he has valuable minutes left in the tank–I just have no idea where they’ll come from. The savvy veteran will have to work his magic to get himself in the rotation. I suppose these are the great problems of having a deep team.

Belinelli only ending up with eleven minutes per game feels wrong, but aside from cutting Curry’s time to get him more looks at shooting guard (which may well happen, although I wish it wouldn’t) I don’t see any good time to take from another player to give to him.

Belinelli suffers from not being a complete player on offense and being a turnstile on defense–I don’t see any way he adds more to this team than Casspi or Collison, making him the third option on both of his positions. Belinelli hasn’t averaged less than 20 minutes per game for half a decade, so maybe I’m tripping and he’s got way more time coming his way.

Gay has more minutes coming, by the way. I just got done making his All-Star case for this season, I’m certainly not going to project him at under 30 minutes per game. With that being said, let’s see this crazy fun mesh of players at power forward.

Next: Power Forward

Mar 28, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Willie Cauley-Stein (15) guards Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Jerian Grant (22) during the first half in the finals of the midwest regional of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Power Forward Rotation

Starter: Willie Cauley-Stein – 26 MPG

Omri Casspi – 10 MPG

Rudy Gay – 6 MPG

Duje Dukan – 4 MPG

Kosta Koufos – 2 MPG

This is where things start to get crazy. A lot of people expect Karl to start Kosta Koufos alongside DeMarcus Cousins–I don’t agree. Both Koufos and Cousins are far more effective on offense around the basket–neither does a lot of scoring from mid-range or farther.

Willie Cauley-Stein isn’t great at any phase of offense, but one area of his that’s been noted as strong at this point is his shooting. If he can develop a solid mid-range stroke, he would fit perfectly next to either of Sacramento’s more traditional centers.

As far as backups, I see Casspi and Gay finding some extra minutes here due to their skill level–both are talented players, and Casspi gets the bonus of being absolutely perfect for Karl’s offensive system, meaning he should find himself playing time all over the place.

Finally, just so Gay and Casspi don’t get too fatigued I would imagine the young Duje Dukan getting some minutes here. Maybe Eric Moreland will steal some of those now that he’s back in Sacramento, but his perimeter shooting should find him a rotation spot somewhere.

Next: Center

April 3, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (15) looks on during the fourth quarter against the New Orleans Pelicans at Sleep Train Arena. The Pelicans defeated the Kings 101-95. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Center Rotation

Starter: DeMarcus Cousins – 34 MPG

Kosta Koufos – 14 MPG

As I said on the power forward slide, I see these two guys as pure centers and only getting significant playing time as such. I should note that for Boogie this is more of an offense-only position–when he shares the floor with Cauley-Stein he might end up playing power forward on defense.

That’s not a knock on Cousins, who’s actually a terrific defender. But Cauley-Stein is a generational defensive talent and should end up being one of the best rim protectors in the NBA, as evidenced by this nasty block from his college days.

One common problem I can see people having with this rotation is the lack of minutes for Koufos. He’s getting paid fairly well, so isn’t 16 minutes a game too low for him? Historically, it actually isn’t. For his career he’s averaged just over 15 minutes per game and the last two seasons he hasn’t managed to crack 17 MPG. He plays well, just not often.

Now I can already tell that this article is going to start some pretty good discussion. I’ve seen quite a few great comments below some pieces here lately, and I think I’m going to start participating a lot more on our comments section, so let’s debate my rotations without simply calling me an idiot (although I often am one) and see if we can’t come to a conclusion about the Sacramento Kings depth chart.

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Ti Windisch