The Kings are No. 3 in the West. Yes, those Kings

What a time to still be alive.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

King Charles I; Gerrit van Honthorst; 1628

Folks …

The Sacramento Kings have also slid into the No. 3 slot in the West, percentage points ahead of New Orleans. If the season ended today, that’d be weird because we’re only halfway through the season. But if it did, the Kings would have home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs against … uh, the Golden State Warriors. Welp.

The potential for a Kings-Warriors playoff series is actually madly intriguing, even though I absolutely hate it as someone who would like to see good things for the Kings. Not just are the Kings and Warriors geographically near, but the two franchises have actually never made the postseason in the same season since the Kings moved to NorCal in 1985-86. Not once! The Warriors missed the playoffs in the two season in which the Kings made the tourney prior to C-Webb era. The Warriors were in Basketball Hell during the Kings’ golden run, which ended before the We Believe! Warriors rose. The Kings haven’t made the playoffs since.

So not only could both Northern California teams make the playoffs in the same season for the first time ever, they might actually face each other in the first round.

While we’re here and feeling good talking about April when it comes to the Kings, the Warriors are definitely the opponent Sacramento least wants to face that is actually in play. The Mavericks would probably be second on that list, followed by the Pelicans and Suns (assuming Devin Booker is healthy and they make a trade, which seems inevitable). A potential series with the Clippers also fills me with heartburn. But there’s a chance the Kings could claim the No. 3 seed and face Utah, Oklahoma City or Minnesota, or maybe even Portland. In those cases the Kings would, dare I say, go into the first round of the playoffs favored to win. What a world!

We’re getting ahead of ourselves here, but the Sacramento Kings are currently No. 3 in the Western Conference, and we’re darn near the trade deadline. Let imaginations run wild.