Game #1: Kings vs. Rockets Preview

Day 1 ish...

What: Kings (0-0) vs. Houston Rockets (1-0)

When: 7:00pm PT

Where: Golden 1 Center (Sacramento, CA)

How to Watch: NBC Sports California

How to Listen: KHTK Sports 1140

It's that time of the year again, Kings fans! Merry Christmas! Sacramento Kings basketball is officially back tonight and it starts off with a huge test: The Houston Rockets. The Rockets are coming off of a 1-point win last night in Oakland against the defending NBA champs, the Golden State Warriors.

The new-look Rockets

Houston had a pretty big offseason, acquiring one of the league's best point guards in Chris Paul via trade. With that trade, however, came a hefty price tag. The Rockets sent out Sam Dekker, Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, a 2018 first round pick, three more bench players as well as cash considerations. A very expensive price, but a price Houston was willing to pay in order to compete with the Warriors at the top of the immensely deep Western Conference. Has it paid off? It’s still far to early to tell as they’ve only played one regular season game, but that one regular season game’s opponent? The Golden State Warriors.

The new-look Kings

The Sacramento Kings also have a new look this year. After going full rebuild mode in February after trading franchise player DeMarcus Cousins, everything is looking up for the team. With an average age of 25.5, the Kings are one of the youngest teams in the entire league. In fact, there are only 9 teams who are slightly younger. The young team is lead by vets Garrett Temple and Kosta Koufos, who return to the team for another season. The Kings went out in free agency and picked up 3 more NBA veterans: George Hill, Zach Randolph and Vince Carter. Yes, that Vince Carter. Everyone else on the roster (not including two-way players Jack Cooley and JaKarr Sampson) has no more than 2 years experience in the NBA. 2015 first round draft pick, Willie Cauley-Stein is the oldest of the young core. This will be Willie’s 3rd season playing in the NBA. Of that young core, we will see Buddy Hield, Malachi Richardson, Georgios Papagiannis, and Skal Labissiere return to the squad. There are five new faces that will not only be good, maybe even great players in the league someday, but will also impact this team. De’Aaron Fox, Justin Jackson, Harry Giles, and Frank Mason were all drafted by the Kings this past offseason. The squad will also finally get to see Serbian player Bogdan Bogdanovic this season, who was drafted in 2015 by the Phoenix Suns and whose rights were traded to the Kings in 2016. This will mark Bogdanovic’s first season in the NBA.

Editor’s prediction: The Kings will have a great year and will have many fun moments. Wins though, will come sporadically for this young squad that is still learning and will continue to learn. The Kings will lose this game in entertaining fashion 110-92.