Sacramento will have even its fans surprised by this latest power ranking, which doesn't place the Kings at the bottom.
The Sacramento Kings land at the bottom of nearly every power ranking. However, one outlet handed the franchise a stunning placement.
The Athletic has spent the last three power rankings plugging Sacramento at the bottom of its standings. But this time Law Murray and the national outlet were modest.
The Kings don't sit at No. 30 this time -- as that title belongs to the Indiana Pacers. However, Sacramento isn't sitting at No. 29 either.
Where do the Kings land? No. 26 overall...which places them as the first team in the outlet's "basement floor" tier.
So why the jump from four spots? Murray helped explain the reasoning Monday.
"The Kings have the worst record, but they got a couple of wins against teams that aren’t even in the bottom tier with them, so I’ll acknowledge that," Murray wrote.
He's referring to the Memphis Grizzlies game that saw Sacramento end its franchise record 16-game slide. Plus the upset over the Dallas Mavericks which saw two breakout performers.
"Of course, the Kings went to Houston and Los Angeles and got buried, but this Kings team isn’t built to do much outside of seeing how hard Precious Achiuwa and Nique Clifford can play," Murray said.
Both stepped up big with Achiuwa dropping 29 points versus Dallas and Clifford hitting 26 against the Lakers on Sunday.
Even more wild is how the Utah Jazz, owning four more victories over the Kings and previously trouncing them 121-93 back on Feb. 11, ranks lower than Sacramento. The Jazz's No. 27 ranking makes them the worst team in the Western Conference per The Athletic.
"It’s been more than two years since the Jazz won more than two games in a row. Two years! And the Jazz just keep losing players," Murray explained. "We all saw the unfortunate Vince Williams’ knee injury. But before that, it was determined that Jusuf Nurkić was getting season-ending nose surgery. At least Mo Bamba is back."
As for why the Pacers sit at the bottom?
"There are a lot of intriguing games on Indiana’s schedule. Too bad that none of them are coming with any hint that Ivica Zubac is getting out of the cold tub. Wins are going to be rare for the Pacers for the rest of the season. Whether or not it is worth it will come down to the May 10 lottery," Murray said.
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