When I look at the Raptors or the 76ers, I see what they did last year and the talented players on the roster, therefore I can understand people having fairly high expectations for the team. But when you’re the Sacramento Kings and you’ve been in the lottery the last few years and you traded away one of your best defenders in the off season in Ron Artest, what are you really expecting for the season? Additionally, factor in Kevin Martin’s ankle injury that has caused him to miss pretty much the last five weeks, and you’re looking at a team that’s — let’s face it — not very good. I guess from an outsider’s perspective, the move was surprising given the timing. It even surprised Theus:

“I had no idea [in advance]. We were just coming off our best win [over the Lakers] the past two years. We’ve had a lot of injuries. … Everyone knew we were rebuilding and the projection was for 20-25 wins.”

Yup, injuries and projections of 20-25 wins. That’s about where the Kings were. And it’s really tough to win without a weapon like Martin in the lineup. I guess there really must have been a lot of problems going on behind the scenes because I can’t understand the rationale from a sheer basketball standpoint. The loss to the Knicks was embarrassing, but it’s not like the Kings haven’t been competitive in most of their games. Seriously, given that roster, what are you really expecting the team and coach to do? Unlike the P.J. Carlesimo and Eddie Jordan firings, I can’t understand this one.

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