Sacramento Kings: 3 players facing the most pressure in 2018-19

SAN ANTONIO, TX - APRIL 9: Willie Cauley-Stein #00 of the Sacramento Kings dunks against the San Antonio Spurs on April 9, 2018 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photos by Mark Sobhani/NBAE via Getty Images) /

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2. Skal Labissiere

When the Kings traded DeMarcus Cousins in 2017, Skal Labissiere was supposed to be the next man up. He had big shoes to fill, but Kings fans believed that Labissiere is capable of living up to the expectations. For a while, Labissiere seemed to be en route to meeting those expectations.

Labissiere made an immediate splash after the Cousins trade, recording a career-high 32 points in a game against the Phoenix Suns. With a strong finish to his rookie year, Labissiere gave Kings fans reason for optimism heading into his second year.

That second year, however, didn’t go as expected. Labissiere only played 20.7 minutes a night in his second year, averaging 8.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

In his third year, Labissiere has to prove to head coach Dave Joerger that he deserves more minutes. Labissiere can’t afford another year where he gets benched in favor of Zach Randolph.

Hopefully, Labissiere is using the summer to getting stronger so he can put up resistance against NBA centers. Otherwise, he may not see the court much in the upcoming season.

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