A Royal Pain
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Sacramento Kings Snubbed Again, This Time By ESPN

By Anthony Cardenas

DALLAS, TEXAS - MARCH 26: De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings reacts against the Dallas Mavericks in the second half at American Airlines Center on March 26, 2019 in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
DALLAS, TEXAS - MARCH 26: De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings reacts against the Dallas Mavericks in the second half at American Airlines Center on March 26, 2019 in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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After a year of unexpected and exponential progress, the national media still won’t recognize the potential of the Sacramento Kings.

Another day, another ESPN ranking. This time, the sports media conglomerate released their power rankings for the upcoming season, and the Sacramento Kings have yet another post for the bulletin board.

Coming in to last season, the Kings were ranked as the second-worst team in the league, ahead of nobody except the Atlanta Hawks. “There’s not a lot to be excited about this season,” wrote ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuc on the eve of training camp 2018.

You’d think that ESPN would have learned their lesson in underestimating the Kings.

Sacramento finished the 2018-’19 season with a #16 ranking and had 75-1 odds to win the 2020 NBA Championship before the free agent frenzy over the summer.

Today, they find themselves ranked #18 in the NBA, though their title odds have been cut in half and now sit at 150-1. The Kings are ranked higher than both the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves, but ended up falling behind both the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans.

Mavericks and Pelicans? Really?

While we here at A Royal Pain firmly believe that rankings like this are purposely skewed in order to create controversy and generate views, being ranked behind the Mavs and Pelicans is asinine. Sure, the Mavericks have potential superstar Luka Doncic and a hungry Kristaps Porzingis, but not much else. Their bench is rail thin and their starting lineup outside of Doncic and KP is underwhelming.

The Pelicans are a young, unproven team that has yet to play a minute of basketball together. Sure, there is a new video of Lonzo Ball throwing Zion Williamson an alley-oop, and they could make a formidable duo in the near future. But being ranked above a Sacramento Kings team that already has chemistry and a deep bench absurd.

Final Thoughts

The ranking is yet another slight that the Kings will certainly use as motivation for the upcoming season. The team already has plenty of bulletin board material to work with, including the NBA’s decision to give Sacramento just one nationally televised game for the year.

Next. Kings Can Beat Warrior Next Season. dark

This year’s team is hungry and has the talent to compete in the wild Western Conference. The season starts in 20 days.

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