Game #1: Kings @ Suns Preview

It's time...

What: Kings @ Phoenix Suns

When: 7 P.M. PT

Where: Talking Stick Resort Arena

How to Watch: CSN California

ARE YOU READY FOR KINGS BASKETBALL?????? The endless wait of the offseason is finally over. In addition to the new downtown arena, the Kings also have plenty of new faces on the roster as well as a new head coach. Their first matchup of the season will be in Phoenix against a Suns team that is undergoing similar changes. Let's take a look at what tonight's game will bring.

The New Guys

Five offseason free agent acquisitions will be on the Opening Night roster along with new head coach Dave Joerger. One of the big mysteries, as is usually the case with this team in October, is who will be in the starting lineup to start the season. Arron Afflalo has likely locked down the starting shooting guard spot and Ty Lawson should be the starter at point guard while Darren Collison serves his eight-game suspension. So that means two new guys will presumably slide right into the starting five. Meanwhile, returners Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins in all likelihood will be the starting small forward and center respectively. That leaves the power forward spot as the big mystery. Joerger mixed and matched Kosta Koufos, newcomer Anthony Tolliver and Willie Cauley-Stein at the position during the preseason. I'm curious to see who will claim the spot. The only player who I don't think fits at all next to Boogie is Koufos. It certainly will be an interesting development. The other two (old?) new guys, Matt Barnes and Garrett Temple, likely will be coming off the bench.

Game Within the Game

The key matchup for tonight will be between Sacramento's shooting guards and Suns shooting guard Devin Booker. The second-year player from Kentucky is one of the NBA's most promising young talents and is already an exceptional long-range shooter. It will be up to the combination of Arron Afflalo, Ben McLemore and Garrett Temple to contain Booker and not allow him to go off the way he did in Sacramento last March (video above).

An Early Look at the Culture

After two years of dealing with a toxic environment flush with head coach/GM beefs and head coach/player beefs, the Kings will be looking to change things from within in order to build a better on-court product. For the first time during Vivek Ranadive's tenure as owner of the franchise, he has a general manager and head coach who are on the same page. Vlade Divac and Dave Joerger have vowed to work together to get this team back to the playoffs. Sure, it's only the first game of the season and there were some really rough patches that we saw during the preseason with this team. But with the addition of solid veteran locker room presences, the culture change should be a smoother transition than the last couple of times it was attempted. Hopefully we will see early progress in the demeanor of the players and on the defensive side of the ball.