Sacramento Kings: 2017-18 NBA season preview

Best-case scenario

In a perfect world, this upcoming season for the Kings will be used to lay the groundwork that is needed to usher in a lasting and fruitful era in Sacramento.

The mix of the young but inexperienced players and the veterans that surround them work well together and as a result, a chemistry is developed throughout the entire roster that is needed over the course of a regular season.

That doesn’t exactly guarantee a winning formula per se, but with the team striking a certain cohesion quickly, the Kings could perform beyond the expectations that have been placed on them by the general consensus. Still, the Kings’ chances to shock the world and somehow compete for a playoff spot in an incredibly stacked Western Conference remain slim at best.

Worst-case scenario

As it has been proven for over a decade and more, nothing goes according to plan for the Kings, whether they’re well-founded ones or not.

With that, there’s plenty that could go wrong for the Kings this coming year. Not only could they fail to strike that balance between experience and inexperience, but the plethora of rookies and second-year players collectively struggle to show the promise that many, if not all Kings fans hope to see from them.

In that scenario, it truly would be a lose-lose for the Kings, especially after the goodwill they have started to regain over the spring and summer. If that were to occur, it will only lead to dire questions about whether the Kings are able to properly command a rebuild of this nature, even in the likely chance they could add another valuable lottery selection in next year’s draft.