Kings’ rankings roundup: All roads lead up for Sacramento

For the first time this season, the Kings have risen in all six national power rankings sampled here. But it’s important to note, the Kings are no higher than 17th (except Yahoo, but more on that later) in any of them.

So what does this all mean? It means the Kings are slowly earning some respect, grudging or otherwise, by such outlets as ESPN, CBS Sports and others. So is the glass half full or half empty? It’s most likely half full. But it’s filled with light beer, and it’s room temperature, so there is room for improvement.

Yahoo ranked the Kings fourth, just behind the Warriors. But hold off on celebrating. Yahoo dubs its rankings ‘Most Interesting’ so a top-five there doesn’t mean the same thing as a top-five in the other polls.

Worth noting, though, is in a week of such widespread Kings ascendancy, the Warriors were replaced by the Spurs in five of the polls.

The Bee’s Jason Jones, apparently immune to the Kings’ fever that swept the national polls, ranked the Kings 20th, down two spots from last week.

The polls:

NBA.com: 17th, up from 20th. From the site: “The Kings dropped another game to a bad team (New Orleans) last week, but Rudy Gay’s game-winner (against Utah) gave them their first victory on the second night of a back-to-back, and they followed that up by putting an end to the Clippers’ 10-game winning streak on Saturday.”

NBC Sports: 19th, up from 20th. From the site: “As I said on the PBT Podcast that dropped Monday talking All-Stars, I would have DeMarcus Cousins in for sure as a West reserve. He’s earned it.”

ESPN: 20th, up from 22nd. From the site: “The Kings are a .500 squad, at 16-16, when DeMarcus Cousins is in uniform. They’re also only one game out of a playoff spot in the West … .”

CBS Sports: 18th, up from 19th. From the site: “They lost to the Pelicans and beat the Clippers … in the same week. It does not get more #Kangz than that. They are what is referred to in political theory as “an unstable actor.”

SI.com: 19th, up from 20th. From the site: “Despite all the jokes, when the Kings decide to compete, they can be pretty tough. It’s exciting that Boogie Cousins has carried them this far, but also bizarre to think they could actually crack the postseason this year.”

Yahoo: 4th, up from 14th last week. The site’s rankings are called ‘Most Interesting.’ So a team’s inclusion can be for its lofty achievements (see the No. 1 San Antonio Spurs) or miserable failures (see the No. 29 Phoenix Suns). You decide what Yahoo had in mind. From the site: It’s possible that Sacramento will end up in the postseason, the goal that owner Vivek Ranadive and the front office put forward this offseason when they assembled the team with little regard for long-term viability. Does that mean the Kings are good? Will we have to congratulate them on their success? Is up down?”

Compiled by Jeff Caraska

This story was originally published January 18, 2016 at 3:49 PM with the headline "Kings’ rankings roundup: All roads lead up for Sacramento."