Los Angeles Lakers: Ranking prospective first-round opponents

1. Sacramento Kings

The Kings (28-36) are another young, inexperienced team that needs to marinate a little longer before giving the Lakers a serious challenge in the postseason.

The only players in Sacramento’s regular rotation with significant playoff experience are starting forward Harrison Barnes (with the Golden State Warriors) and backup guards Cory Joseph (Spurs) and Kent Bazemore (Atlanta Hawks).

The bulk of the team’s core would be making their playoff debut if the Kings made a run and grabbed the No. 8 seed. That’s just the kind of team that a LeBron and Davis-led Lakers would feast on.

Backcourt tandem De’Aaron Fox (20.4 points, 6.8 assists) and Buddy Hield (19.8 points, 39.5 3-point percentage) can light it up against any team in the league, and the Kings have a few shooters who can stretch L.A.’s defense.

The Lakers have gone 2-0 against the Kings this season. It may be encouraging for Sacramento that one of those games was decided by just two points, and that was with Fox out of the lineup. That came back in November, though.

More recently, L.A. cruised past the Kings in Sacramento when LeBron scored just 15 points and the Kings were mostly healthy.

Kings’ head coach Luke Walton does have the benefit of knowing some of the Lakers well, having coached L.A. from 2016-19. But at the same time, those Lakers also know Walton’s tendencies and what to expect from him.

The Kings have potential, but they’re just not there yet. The Lakers would be fine with using them as a tune-up for their championship chase.