As further proof you can relate anything to the NBA, beating the Sacramento Kings is a lot like shoveling my driveway. It takes a little more than two hours and can be painful at times, but it has to be done.

“It’s not going to be a good road trip if we don’t win tonight,” said Paul Pierce, according to A. Sherrod Blakely. A win tonight would take the Celtics to 3-1 on the trip, while a loss would drop the Celtics to 2-2 and cancel out the win versus the Lakers. But these aren’t the same Tyreke Evans-less Sacramento Kings who Boston torched 119-95 on January 12. The new-look Kings have beaten the Lakers and Hornets in their last two outings, and — if you count a win at Portland and a five-point loss to Charlotte — these Kings have now won three of their last four games.

Even better, for Kings fans, DeMarcus Cousins is solidifying himself as a valid choice for Rookie of the Year (you know, if Blake Griffin runs into a season-ending injury tomorrow). Rarely does a player so big, so talented, enter the NBA. Rarely does such a big, talented player also enter the NBA with such a reputation as an immature asshole, but I digress. Cousins reminds Pierce of Chris Webber, because of his skill level with the ball in his hands. To compare the two is to forget Webber’s explosive athleticism, but still: With Cousins on board for the future (as long as he stays on the good side), the Kings have a nice building block. If Evans ever reestablishes his former role as LeBron Lite, these Kings might have something — something fun, something exciting, something worthy of League Pass Fever.

Nonetheless, no matter how improved these Kings are, the Celtics should win. They will win, if they bring 100% focus. But it’s these games, the ones against lesser opponents, the ones on the road, which have caused the Celtics trouble.

“We don’t want a letdown,’’ Rajon Rondo told the Boston Globe. “We want to go into Sacramento and try to finish off this road trip right.’’

Cheers to that. You know, if Rondo’s hopes come to fruition.

The season is approaching (but not quickly enough), so that means it’s NBA preview time. Starting with the league’s worst team and working our way to the top, we’ll preview one team per day. 

Pure talent.

Sacramento Kings

Last year’s record: 25-57
Head Coach: Paul Westphal
Projected Starters: Tyreke Evans, Francisco Garcia, Omri Casspi, Carl Landry/Jason Thompson, DeMarcus Cousins

Outlook:

I had a spirited debate with one of my friends the other day, and oddly enough it was actually about the Sacramento Kings. He said their future was bleak; the Western Conference is too loaded with talented young teams (he listed the Thunder, Blazers and Grizzlies). I said their future was bright; Tyreke Evans screams “superstar in the making” and DeMarcus Cousins could (could, with a few question marks attached) become the NBA’s biggest low-post threat. If you fast forward a few years, let those two mature and surround them with skilled role players, the Kings should be a contender. But for now? They’re still going to lose a whole lot of games. (Note: Back to my conversation, the Grizzlies??? If Rudy Gay’s your best player, you’re not going to win anything meanwhile.)

X-Factor:

Tyreke Evans’s improvement. Question: What if Evans makes the leap sooner than we all expect and becomes a 25 and 7 guy next year? Answer: Then the Kings might win 30 games. They will go as far as Evans takes them, but his supporting cast needs work. And lots of it.

By the way, about Evans? Some players have an All-Star ceiling. Evans’s is even higher.

Biggest Question Mark:

DeMarcus Cousins. Really, was there any other choice? When Fran Fraschilla says a player ”is either going to get a general manager fired or get him executive of the year,” naming him his team’s biggest question mark is pretty much automatic. I think it’s an unwritten rule that you can’t read or write about Cousins without mentioning attitude problems. 

At Kentucky, he once sat out a mandatory conditioning test. He registered 16.4% body fat at the NBA Draft combine. (For comparison’s sake, only six other players at the combine had a body fat percentage in double figures.) After Cousins worked out for one team, its GM told Sports Illustrated that Cousins “looked like he didn’t even want to be on the court when he went through drills.” Teammate Daniel Orton said Cousins is “unpredictable,” and that watching him get out of hand is “kind of like watching a kid throw a temper tantrum.”

And still, Cousins could be Rookie of the Year. The power of natural talent.

Most important newcomer:

Antoine Wright. He gives them a smooth hand off the bench, someone who can score buckets  at will and hound the opponent’s best player.

Just kidding, guys. It’s Cousins. You sick of hearing about him yet? Good, because I’m sick of writing about him. Instead, I’ll leave you with this:

Key loss:

Umm, Spencer Hawes? Needless to say, the Kings won’t shed any tears over the players they lost.

Most compelling storyline:

With mounds of cap space and two young studs, the Kings finally have a future worth discussing. But how long will it take that future to become the present?

Player to watch:

Omri Casspi. Watching him last year, I fell head over heels. For those of you who haven’t seen Caspi play basketball (which means anyone who isn’t addicted enough to buy League Pass), he’s all hustle, heart and attitude, a player teams can win with. He’s also part of one of the corniest announcing calls ever. Casspi hit a bank shot and the Kings announcer shouted in joy, “Casspi off the glass-pi!” He’s a poet and he doesn’t even make sense.

Descriptive movie quote:

“Ooh that boy’s a fine piece of work all right. He’s a fine piece of ass though, too. “ – Juanita, Billy Madison

To DeMarcus Cousins. He still needs a lot of work, but Cousins is — for lack of a better description – one fine piece of ass.

Projected Record – 24-58. The future will come, but not yet.

We normally do just one highlight reel a day, but this video was too good not to post right away.

The Elite 24, along with NBA stars Brandon Jennings, Tyreke Evans, and John Wall, got together last night for some late-night hoops at the Hangar Athletic Xchange (HAX) in Hawthorne, CA. Ballislife.com was able to tape the pick up games, which you won’t want to miss. Look out for Austin Rivers crossing up John Wall just past the one-minute mark.

The Boost Mobile Elite 24 is a basketball event featuring the nation’s 24 best high school basketball players. The event will be held at the Venice Beach Courts in Los Angeles on Friday and Saturday. The slam-dunk contest is Friday at 8 PM ET, while the game is on Saturday at 7:30 ET. Both will be televised on ESPNU. Among the participants are Doc Rivers’s son Austin, and Dennis Johnson’s nephew, Nick Johnson. For the complete roster, click here.

(h/t @MrMichaelLee)

Because it’s the offseason, and news is slow, Dime Magazine came out with the  NBA’s 5 best Pentrating Point Guards list. Naturally, Boston Celtics stud point guard Rajon Rondo made the list. In no particular order, the list also includes Tyreke Evans, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, and Deron Williams.  Here’s what Sean Sweeney had to say about Rondo: (Dimemag.com) Read more »

Not going to lie, I got into a car accident today. I was in bumper-to-bumper traffic and looked down to try to change my iPod to a little Britney Spears. Bam! Smacked dead into some guy’s bumper. The damn car shouldn’t have been standing there, but all I could think was “Oops, I did it again.” I mean, I couldn’t believe I’d lost all my senses. That’s just so typically me. But watching Tyreke Evans speed more than 100 mph brought me back to good spirits. At least there are SOME drivers worse than me out there. Tyreke’s simply not that innocent. Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.

One of the cuts?

With the United States looking to trim its roster down from 19 players to 15 for a training camp in NYC, three of the four cuts are expected to be Tyreke Evans, O.J. Mayo and Gerald Wallace. (Fanhouse)

It’s not looking good for Tyreke Evans, O.J. Mayo and Gerald Wallace.

Sources close to the situation told FanHouse on Tuesday they’re expected to be among the cuts when Team USA on Wednesday reveals the 15 out of 19 remaining players who will be invited to New York for the Aug. 10-16 training camp in preparation for next month’s World Championship in Turkey. As to who might be the fourth cut, sources said that was still being debated.

Could that fourth player be Rajon Rondo? Perhaps. Danny Granger and Eric Gordon were both considered to be on the bubble and both have reportedly survived the first cut. I don’t have to tell you this, but every player that makes it pushes Rondo one step closer to getting snipped. One other player who could get cut is JaVale McGee, but Coach K and Jerry Colangelo are reportedly thinking about bringing all three centers to NYC.