Kings Getting Lapped in Western Conference Race

The hope of many in Sacramento last night was that the Kings either jump into the top spots or that an Eastern Conference team win the lottery, but unlike the Mavericks, luck was not on the Kings side.

Sacramento is in a precarious situation where they are in danger of falling to the bottom of the Western Conference. Not only among teams that are already in front of them in with teams such as the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors, but also the teams behind them in the Spurs and Mavericks.

The Oklahoma City Thunder look primed to be among the top of the conference for years, the Houston Rockets are in one of the best positions to build a contender for years to come in the league, and the Los Angeles Lakers always seem to find a way to stay relevant.

Even the Portland Trail Blazers look to have an exciting few years in front of them with young, athletic players.

The Kings are about to get lapped by almost everyone in the conference.

That wouldn't be a problem if they were entering a rebuild, but if Sacramento is trying to compete, and especially if they are looking to compete for years to come, it's hard to envision a path that sees them doing that successfully in the current landscape of the conference.

Thankfully, there are still a few teams in the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns who are in just as precarious of positions as the Kings, but the list of teams in the Kings boat is much much smaller than the teams with bright futures.

This summer is sure to bring a lot of change for Sacramento, but if they aren't careful, they could get stuck in the middle ground of good enough to compete for a postseason birth but not good enough to compete in the playoffs. It's a place that all Kings fans are familiar with, and somewhere they should try and get out of as soon as possible; but that's easier said than done.