Kings Report – 11/20

Welcome back to Sacramento Kings Cope! At this point—right in the middle of a six-game losing streak, with every familiar voice around the team telling us that we are likely in a rebuild, and oh by the way, it’s going to take at least two years and will probably take a lot longer—the only thing left to do is look for silver linings, however small they may be. My other options aren’t appealing. I could spend every column criticizing the team, the front office, and the players—which, let’s be honest, would be extremely easy right now (hello Dennis Schröder shooting 1-for-19 over a three-game stretch last week). But constant negativity really isn’t my style, and it would get depressing fast. Or I could stop writing altogether.

But that’s also not in me. I’m not giving up on this team just because they are, in fact, TERRIBLE (I’m also a die-hard Raiders fan, so clearly I’ve built up a tolerance for pain.) Instead, let’s cope! So what do we have this week? The Kings kept pace with the Minnesota Timberwolves last Friday, for three quarters of the game at least. In that time, Russell Westbrook got his second triple-double as a King, Keon Ellis got four steals, and Domantas Sabonis got 34 points with 11 rebounds. Zach LaVine can be fun to watch when he catches fire from the three-point line, which he did both times we played Minnesota this season. Good news, third-year player and fan favorite, Keegan Murray, should be available to make his season debut this Thursday against the Memphis Grizzlies after recovering from surgery to repair a torn thumb ligament. I can’t wait to see Murray back out on the court.

If the team is truly rebuilding, then at some point we’ll get to see the young players take on bigger roles—and won’t that be fun? Watching the vets play for 35 minutes a night and lose by 20 isn’t exactly inspiring. And rebuilds come with roster changes, so there’s always the fun of waiting to see who’s coming or going. Maybe in a few years we’ll be the new Detroit Pistons; the franchise that finished no better than 13th in the East for five straight seasons, including three dead-last finishes… and now somehow sits in first place. If they can climb out of the gutter after all that, maybe there’s hope for us, too. Until then, the cope will continue.

The Kings will continue their five-game road trip. They will have played Oklahoma City on Wednesday, November 19th, and then the next night, November 20th, Keegan Murray will make his debut in Memphis against the Grizzlies. They will then travel to Denver to play the Nuggets on Saturday, November 22nd, before coming back home to play the Minnesota Timberwolves again on Monday, November 24th, and the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, November 26th.

Remember, any team can win on any given day, and all this losing will just mean the wins will feel even better! At least that’s what I’m telling myself… Go Kings!