The Sacramento Kings may need to raise their expectations

On Wednesday, the Sacramento Kings prized free agent addition DeMar DeRozan joined ESPN (in part) to promote his new memoir ("Above the Noise: My Story of Chasing Calm"). During his appearance, DeRozan was asked what his boldest take was for this upcoming season, and he responded by saying this.

Why Only The Conference Finals?

As someone who spends a lot of time thinking about the Kings, this quote took me by surprise. Why is DeRozan only saying that the team will make the Western Conference Finals? And why wouldn't he be predicting that the team will be going to/winning the NBA Finals?

Listen, I get what DeRozan is saying. Most folks see the Kings as a team that will be happy to finish in the top six in the Western Conference. To people outside of Sacramento, the Kings will be lucky to win a playoff series, let alone two. So, to those individuals, DeRozan's take is quite bold.

However, as someone who is on the inside of the operation, you would like to see some higher expectations. After all, athletes are supposed to be irrationally confident. That's what pushes them to chase their dreams of the NBA in the first place!

I'm not the only one who sees it this way. A quick look at the comments below the tweet shows that DeRozan's "boldness" caught many eyes.

The flip side of this is that DeRozan has been in the league for a decade and a half. He's one of the most respected veterans in the sport, and his years of sage wisdom have put a cap on the bounds of his imagination.

Regardless, if the Kings do end up making it to the Western Conference Finals, DeRozan will likely have played a much bigger role in that adventure than you and I. So, how much can we really judge him for his comments?