Source: Sacramento Bee

In keeping with the new arena naming rights deal, along with the fact that the Western Conference appears more unpredictable and less intimidating than in seasons past, let's just get it out there.

The 2012-13 Kings can be sleepers.

The franchise that hasn't sniffed the NBA postseason in six years, that until last season seemed to forget that the main purpose of pro sports is to entertain the folks who buy the tickets and pay all those cable bills, has a chance to tweak the memories.

For a number of reasons, this is a season the Kings can delight and awaken their audience, becoming the NBA's next small-market team (see Utah Jazz) or even Northern California's latest club (see the A's) to make fools of all the experts and make the playoff chase infinitely more compelling. They can be decent. They even have a chance to morph from a team in constant crisis to a team with an identity, to a team on the rise at Sleep Train Arena.

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