Sacramento Kings: Starting Rotation Carousel makes Fantasy Owners Spin

It seems like no Sacramento player is immune to the Westphal doghouse.  A week after moving Beno Udrih into a reserve role, Kings head coach Paul Westphal benched Carl Landry last Saturday in favor of Jason Thompson.  To make matters worse, it has been reported that  DeMarcus Cousins was kicked out of practice by Westphal on Monday.

Some coaches move starters into a reserve role in order for them to provide a spark off the bench and to be fresh to close out games (e.g. Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich bringing Manu Ginobili off the bench from 2007 – 2009).  Not Westphal. When he designates a former starter and key contributor to a reserve role, their minutes and production decrease substantially.  This is especially frustrating to fantasy players that own King players since there is no consistent starting lineup in Sacramento.  DeMarcus Cousins has been the only player to actually get some decent minutes off the bench, but that will likely change as it appears that he is now in Westphal’s doghouse.

Let’s take a look at the Kings’ starting lineup a week into the season:

C – DeMarcus Cousins

PF – Carl Landry

SF – Omri Casspi

SG – Beno Udrih

PG – Tyreke Evans

With this starting five, they actually won three out of the first four games of the 2010-11 season. At the end of the fifth week, check out the starters:

C – Samuel Dalembert

PF – Jason Thompson

SF – Donte Greene

SG – Luther Head

PG – Tyreke Evans

After five weeks, Tyreke Evans is the only remaining starter in the Kings’ lineup.

On the November 27^th game versus the Bulls, Jason Thompson finished the game with 18 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and one block, while shooting 50% from the field and knocking down 86 percent of his free throws.  Easily his best line of the season, but don’t get too excited about Thompson just yet. On November 17^th, he started his first game of the season, only to return to his reserve role in the proceeding four contests.  Also, keep in mind that his move into the starting lineup is a result of a disciplinary action against Carl Landry after he missed a shootaround practice.  If  Thompson produces a few mediocre lines, expect Westphal to reinsert Landry into the starting lineup.

Sacramento has only four wins this season and faces some tough teams this week that include the Lakers, Mavericks, and Pacers.  The Lakers are the champs, the Mavs are 13 and 4, and the Pacers are fresh off a solid win against the Lakers in L.A.  The Kings will likely lose the next three games, causing Westphal to alter the starting lineup once again.

From a fantasy perspective, Tyreke Evans is the only safe play right now.  The starters from that opening week, Landry, Cousins, Udrih and Omri Casspi are all more talented than their counterparts that are currently starting (Thompson, Dalembert, Luther Head, and Greene).  But based on the coaching decisions through the first five weeks, you should continue to see inconsistent minutes and production from all Sacramento players not named Tyreke Evans.

Written by Win My Fantasy League Senior Writer Justin Hasan (J-Has)

Comment below or e-mail him at JHas@WinMyFantasyLeague.com