Sacramento Kings: No need to be fazed in brutal West

While other Western Conference teams dominate the headlines, the Sacramento Kings fly under the radar and build their own foundation.

The Sacramento Kings are that kid in high school who’s quietly getting the job done, but doesn’t have the glamour and charm like the popular kids.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers continue be the jocks of the NBA. Win or lose, the spotlight is on them. The camera is never far from them. Now, with the Lakers acquiring Anthony Davis to pair him with LeBron James, the Lakers’ popularity soars to yet another level.

Despite the fact that the Lakers still have so many holes to fill, this new-look team has already been declared as the betting title favorite going into next season.

The Kings don’t need to be fazed by the hype surrounding the Lakers or any other Western Conference team that makes a big move this offseason. That’s because the Kings have their own foundation in the making and it’s definitely one to be proud of.

The 12-win improvement the Kings made last year should be a good indicator of where they’re going. Still, the so-called experts will not bring that up. Instead, they will once again predict the Kings to miss the playoffs.

But that’s okay.

The young Kings have what it takes to silence the doubters. That’s what they did last season when they made a playoff push and that’s what they will do again next season as they take the next step in their evolution.

While the media sets up shop in the Lakers’ corner, Kings guard De’Aaron Fox will be leading his team to a playoff push again and making his case for an All-Star selection.

The third-year guard, with averages of 14.6 points and 5.9 assists per game over his first two years, will continue to remind the Lakers that they made a mistake in passing him up.

Fox’s running mate, Buddy Hield, is just as motivated to silence talking heads such as Skip Bayless, who boldly declared Hield would crumble under pressure in Sacramento after being traded for DeMarcus Cousins.

Three years later, Hield is coming off a career year in which he averaged 20.7 points per game, shooting 45 percent from the field. Still, many people outside of Sacramento are not fully aware of Hield’s capability. Expect that to change as the Kings continue to climb up the ladder in the West.

Whether it’s Fox, Hield, Marvin Bagley III or Harry Giles III, the Kings’ roster is full of young players who have been overlooked and hungry to take the next step in their journey.

Sacramento obviously faces a tall task as it tries to make the playoffs in the stacked Western Conference. It would be ridiculous to guarantee the Kings will make the playoffs next season, but it would be even more silly to think this young team doesn’t have enough to get there.

More importantly, the Kings have positioned themselves for long-term success. While other teams trade their future for short-term success, the Kings have opted for patience and player development.

In the end, it doesn’t really matter what Vegas says. It doesn’t matter what the experts predict. It just matters that Sacramento has the pieces in place that will make its team a perennial contender for years to come.