The Ringer’s Howard Beck explains why the Kings aren’t backsliding

Howard Beck recently put together a piece for The Ringer asking the question, can the Sacramento Kings escape the NBA’s maddening middle?

Before the 2023-24 season started, Beck joined Deuce & Mo, saying on their podcast that he feared fans would expect the Kings to make the next jump after breaking a 16-season playoff drought.

And, he told The Drive Guys, that’s exactly what happened. The Kings dipped slightly compared to last year, but the Western Conference was healthier, sliding from the third seed last year to ninth and a play-in exit this year.

“I’m not often right in October about what’s going to happen but one you could see coming. If people are disappointed, I get it. I’m sure Kings fans have a strange mix of feelings about this season, but they were pretty much the same team, give or take a couple of wins, and yeah, there’s a bunch of frustrating losses along the way to bad teams and blown twenty-point leads, I get all of that but they’re not backsliding. They might backslide relative to the rest of the league getting better but those things are fluid,” Beck told Sactown Sports.

Additional topics discussed include:

• The importance of Keegan Murray taking another leap in his game
• What’s the ideal timeline for the Sacramento Kings and can De’Aaron Fox be “the guy”?
• There are plenty of teams in the West that will age out
• The Nuggets and Bucks are the best examples of being patient in the league
• Are any teams currently atop the Western Conference pretenders?
• Can Sacramento improve its offense with Domantas Sabonis as its centerpiece?
• Sixth Man of the Year voting process
• How big would it be for the Kings to lose Malik Monk?

Click here to watch and listen to the full interview with Howard Beck.

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