Kings pick just got much closer to #1.

[Moranis]

How exactly did Sacramento's odds get worse?  The Lakers were better than them last year.  If anything this puts Cleveland in contention to be worse than the Kings.   

[celticsclay]

How exactly did Sacramento's odds get worse?  The Lakers were better than them last year.  If anything this puts Cleveland in contention to be worse than the Kings.   

I think it is probably a wash if not slightly good for the pick. The Lakers tried to win as many games as possible last year cause they didn't own their pick. So they won quite a few games in the second half of the season against the hard tankers. If they had struck out on Leonard and Lebron there was a chance they rolled with the just the young guys again and wouldn't be very good. There is also the fact the Kings play LA 4 times and Cleveland twice. Could be a two or 3 game swing there.

Related bad news for us Moranis, the Cavs odds are now 500-1

[Moranis]

How exactly did Sacramento's odds get worse?  The Lakers were better than them last year.  If anything this puts Cleveland in contention to be worse than the Kings.   

I think it is probably a wash if not slightly good for the pick. The Lakers tried to win as many games as possible last year cause they didn't own their pick. So they won quite a few games in the second half of the season against the hard tankers. If they had struck out on Leonard and Lebron there was a chance they rolled with the just the young guys again and wouldn't be very good. There is also the fact the Kings play LA 4 times and Cleveland twice. Could be a two or 3 game swing there.

Related bad news for us Moranis, the Cavs odds are now 500-1

Sure the Lakers could have possibly been worse than the Kings, but they were better last year and have better (or at least further along) young talent and they were going to do something with the cap space, even if it was just 2nd tier players on 1 year deals. 

Right now Cleveland is still better than Sacramento, but they could certainly decide to tank and trade Love, Korver, etc. and let Hood walk in free agency.  They are stuck with some of their big contracts, but most of them are just role players and role players don't win very many games on their own. 

At the end of last season and thus far this off season, I just don't think the Kings are a bottom 5 team.  There are still plenty of teams, that at least on paper, are still worse then them.

[Big333223]

The West is brutal. Just look at the bottom teams.

Phoenix was the worst but they're bringing in Ayton and Bridges, Booker and Jackson are a year older, TJ Warren is pretty good, they signed Trevor Ariza, a champion mentor. They'll be better.

Memphis won't be tanking as hard as they were last year, they'll try to make a run at it if they can be a little bit healthy. Dallas is bringing in Doncic and Deandre Jordan to go with Dennis Smith and Harrison Barnes. The Lakers will be better. The Clippers won 42 games last season, are they much worse? Who in the West would you bet on to be worse than Sacramento next season?

[ETNCeltics]

How exactly did Sacramento's odds get worse?  The Lakers were better than them last year.  If anything this puts Cleveland in contention to be worse than the Kings.   

League rule requires that CLE always win the lottery when they have a bad season.

[celticsclay]

How exactly did Sacramento's odds get worse?  The Lakers were better than them last year.  If anything this puts Cleveland in contention to be worse than the Kings.   

I think it is probably a wash if not slightly good for the pick. The Lakers tried to win as many games as possible last year cause they didn't own their pick. So they won quite a few games in the second half of the season against the hard tankers. If they had struck out on Leonard and Lebron there was a chance they rolled with the just the young guys again and wouldn't be very good. There is also the fact the Kings play LA 4 times and Cleveland twice. Could be a two or 3 game swing there.

Related bad news for us Moranis, the Cavs odds are now 500-1

Sure the Lakers could have possibly been worse than the Kings, but they were better last year and have better (or at least further along) young talent and they were going to do something with the cap space, even if it was just 2nd tier players on 1 year deals. 

Right now Cleveland is still better than Sacramento, but they could certainly decide to tank and trade Love, Korver, etc. and let Hood walk in free agency.  They are stuck with some of their big contracts, but most of them are just role players and role players don't win very many games on their own. 

At the end of last season and thus far this off season, I just don't think the Kings are a bottom 5 team.  There are still plenty of teams, that at least on paper, are still worse then them.

I haven't seen it yet, but I am guessing the Kings will be in the lowest 4 for win projections by vegas for next year.

[green_bballers13]

How exactly did Sacramento's odds get worse?  The Lakers were better than them last year.  If anything this puts Cleveland in contention to be worse than the Kings.   

I think it is probably a wash if not slightly good for the pick. The Lakers tried to win as many games as possible last year cause they didn't own their pick. So they won quite a few games in the second half of the season against the hard tankers. If they had struck out on Leonard and Lebron there was a chance they rolled with the just the young guys again and wouldn't be very good. There is also the fact the Kings play LA 4 times and Cleveland twice. Could be a two or 3 game swing there.

Related bad news for us Moranis, the Cavs odds are now 500-1

Sure the Lakers could have possibly been worse than the Kings, but they were better last year and have better (or at least further along) young talent and they were going to do something with the cap space, even if it was just 2nd tier players on 1 year deals. 

Right now Cleveland is still better than Sacramento, but they could certainly decide to tank and trade Love, Korver, etc. and let Hood walk in free agency.  They are stuck with some of their big contracts, but most of them are just role players and role players don't win very many games on their own. 

At the end of last season and thus far this off season, I just don't think the Kings are a bottom 5 team.  There are still plenty of teams, that at least on paper, are still worse then them.

What does plenty mean?

I looked at the list of teams. Here are teams that have less talent on paper:

-ORL
-ATL
-maybe CHI

I think SAC is the 3rd/4th worst team on paper as of July 2.

[konkmv]

Cleveland... will tank hard.. will trade love for a first rounder

[Eddie20]

How exactly did Sacramento's odds get worse?  The Lakers were better than them last year.  If anything this puts Cleveland in contention to be worse than the Kings.   

Last season the Kings and Lakers split the regular season 2-2. Two losses are key when it comes to seeding.

Teams that had a worst record than Sacramento-
Suns (added Ayton, Bridges, and Ariza)
Grizzlies (added Jackson and should have Gasol and Conley back)
Dallas (added Doncic and Jordan)

The only teams I see clearly worse than Sacramento is Atlanta and New York (if Porizingis is out for the majority of the season). I think Kings are on par with the Magic and Bulls, but those teams play in the EC, which will give them the benefit of a few extra wins.

[slamtheking]

How exactly did Sacramento's odds get worse?  The Lakers were better than them last year.  If anything this puts Cleveland in contention to be worse than the Kings.   

Last season the Kings and Lakers split the regular season 2-2. Two losses are key when it comes to seeding.

Teams that had a worst record than Sacramento-
Suns (added Ayton, Bridges, and Ariza)
Grizzlies (added Jackson and should have Gasol and Conley back)
Dallas (added Doncic and Jordan)

The only teams I see clearly worse than Sacramento is Atlanta and New York (if Porizingis is out for the majority of the season). I think Kings are on par with the Magic and Bulls, but those teams play in the EC, which will give them the benefit of a few extra wins.

agreed.  the teams at the bottom have improved more than the Kings did this offseason (so far).  Kings will have a bottom 5 record.  biggest concern for us is that they end up with the top pick (stays with Philly), not that it's outside the top 5. 

[konkmv]

Kings will not tank... so I see them from 3 to 8...

[wiley]

Kings will not tank... so I see them from 3 to 8...

They will not tank. They are tanked.

Will be one of three worst teams...

[slamtheking]

Kings will not tank... so I see them from 3 to 8...

whether they choose to tank or not isn't really relevant in their case because they're pretty bad.  it's not like they have the option to be good.

[Moranis]

How exactly did Sacramento's odds get worse?  The Lakers were better than them last year.  If anything this puts Cleveland in contention to be worse than the Kings.   

Last season the Kings and Lakers split the regular season 2-2. Two losses are key when it comes to seeding.

Teams that had a worst record than Sacramento-
Suns (added Ayton, Bridges, and Ariza)
Grizzlies (added Jackson and should have Gasol and Conley back)
Dallas (added Doncic and Jordan)

The only teams I see clearly worse than Sacramento is Atlanta and New York (if Porizingis is out for the majority of the season). I think Kings are on par with the Magic and Bulls, but those teams play in the EC, which will give them the benefit of a few extra wins.

Suns also lost Len, Ennis, and Payton.  Obviously Ariza is a nice veteran presence and Ayton (and to a lesser extent Bridges) is a great prospect, but the Suns are going to be terrible.  They have no PG on the roster and other than Ariza have no credible defenders (and he is getting old).  They are a mismatch of players and I just don't like how they currently fit together.  I just don't see them being better than the Kings, who probably will have the rookie of the year in Bagley, who have a much more cohesive backcourt with Fox and Hield, and I like the fit with WCS, Bogdanovic, and Bagley.  Who knows if they get anything from Giles or if Ska and Jackson continue to develop. 

Dallas is going to be a mess again.  Doncic is NBA ready as rookies go, but still a rookie, but I'm not sure Smith and Doncic is really a good fit.  Jordan is a shell of himself and one of the worst offensive players in league history.  The Mavericks are going to be awful. 

Now if Conley and Gasol are back and healthy the Grizzlies should be better than the Kings, but they are very thin and lack depth so any injury set back and they will once again be a bottom 5 team. 

The Bulls, Nets, Knicks, Magic, and Hawks could all pretty easily be worse than the Kings, though as you say they are in the East so who knows.  I also think there is a real chance that both Cleveland and Charlotte throw in the towel and tank.  Charlotte, especially, has to do something with Walker before he leaves next summer and they get nothing for him. 

[celticsclay]

How exactly did Sacramento's odds get worse?  The Lakers were better than them last year.  If anything this puts Cleveland in contention to be worse than the Kings.   

Last season the Kings and Lakers split the regular season 2-2. Two losses are key when it comes to seeding.

Teams that had a worst record than Sacramento-
Suns (added Ayton, Bridges, and Ariza)
Grizzlies (added Jackson and should have Gasol and Conley back)
Dallas (added Doncic and Jordan)

The only teams I see clearly worse than Sacramento is Atlanta and New York (if Porizingis is out for the majority of the season). I think Kings are on par with the Magic and Bulls, but those teams play in the EC, which will give them the benefit of a few extra wins.

Suns also lost Len, Ennis, and Payton.  Obviously Ariza is a nice veteran presence and Ayton (and to a lesser extent Bridges) is a great prospect, but the Suns are going to be terrible.  They have no PG on the roster and other than Ariza have no credible defenders (and he is getting old).  They are a mismatch of players and I just don't like how they currently fit together.  I just don't see them being better than the Kings, who probably will have the rookie of the year in Bagley, who have a much more cohesive backcourt with Fox and Hield, and I like the fit with WCS, Bogdanovic, and Bagley.  Who knows if they get anything from Giles or if Ska and Jackson continue to develop. 

Dallas is going to be a mess again.  Doncic is NBA ready as rookies go, but still a rookie, but I'm not sure Smith and Doncic is really a good fit.  Jordan is a shell of himself and one of the worst offensive players in league history.  The Mavericks are going to be awful. 

Now if Conley and Gasol are back and healthy the Grizzlies should be better than the Kings, but they are very thin and lack depth so any injury set back and they will once again be a bottom 5 team. 

The Bulls, Nets, Knicks, Magic, and Hawks could all pretty easily be worse than the Kings, though as you say they are in the East so who knows.  I also think there is a real chance that both Cleveland and Charlotte throw in the towel and tank.  Charlotte, especially, has to do something with Walker before he leaves next summer and they get nothing for him.

I don't really get how you can say Dallas will be awful and in the same ballpark as Sacramento. Their centers last year are not even worth mentioning and at worst they got an average starting center. That is a massive upgrade. Doncic will win them a few games. And yes Memphis could be bad if their two best players get injured again, but so could every team in the NBA. This post really reeks of envisioning the worst possible situation for every other lottery team and the best possible outcome for the kings.