Unfortunately the Kings won't be making the playoffs this year.... bummer, I know. But hey, we always have the lottery and then the draft to look forward to, right? With about 15 more games to go for most teams, it may be a good time to start looking at the race that actually matters to us: "the ping-pong ball race." Now, this post has nothing to do with tanking; it's all about being informed about the other teams we're 'competing' with for those damn balls.

After the jump, I'm listing the teams we're close to record wise and their upcoming schedule. I also hope to update this post after games to get a better picture of where we stand as the end of the season draws near.

First we have 2 teams that are pretty much set with their lottery postioning. The Nets are 7-60 and WILL finish with the league's worst record. After them we have the Minnesota Timberwolves that barring a miracle (or a GS collapse) will finish with the second worst record in the L. They are at 14-54 right now and will probably not win that many more games.

03/28 update: I'm deleting Golden State and Washington (20 and 21 wins respectively) because I don't think they're catching the Kings. The bottom four seem to be set: Jersey, Minny, GS, and Wash.

So let's look at the lottery race for the other teams and let's start with our beloved Kings

Record: 24-51

Upcoming schedule:

5 home, 2 road (strenght of schedule .503)

@ Minny

vs. Portland

vs. San Antonio

vs. Clippers

vs. Dallas

vs. Houston

@ Lakers

Prediction: 29-53 (progress FTW!)

Now, lets look at our ping-pong balls competitors

Indiana

Pacers

Record: 28-47

Upcoming schedule:

5 home, 2 road (strength of schedule = .496)

vs. Miami

vs. Houston

vs. Knicks

@ Cleveland

vs. New Jersey

vs. Orlando

@ Washington

Prediction: 29-53

Detroit

Pistons

Record: 23-50

Upcoming schedule:

4 home, 5 road (strength of schedule = .496)

vs. Miami

vs. Phoenix

@ Atlanta

@ Philly

vs Atlanta

@ Miami

@ Charlotte

vs. Toronto

@ Minny

Prediction: 29-53

Philadelphia

76ers

Record: 26-48

Upcoming schedule:

4 home, 4 road (strength of schedule = .491)

@ Charlotte

vs. Toronto

vs. Detroit

@ Miami

vs. Milwaukee

@ Memphis

vs. Miami

@ Orlando

Prediction: 28-54

New York

Knicks

Record: 26-47

Upcoming schedule:

3 home, 6 road (strength of schedule = .490)

@ Portland

@ Golden State

@ Clippers

vs. Boston

@ Indiana

@ Orlando

vs. Miami

vs. Washington

@ Toronto

Prediction: 28-54

and last but certainly not least

Los Angeles

Clippers

Record: 27-46

Upcoming schedule:

5 home, 4 road (strength of schedule = .504)

@ Milwaukee

@ Toronto

@ Denver

vs. Knicks

vs. Portland

@ Sacramento

vs. Golden State

vs. Dallas

vs. Lakers

Prediction: 30-52

So there it is. These are the teams we may want to follow closely and start rooting for in the coming weeks. Let's hope they win as much as possible so that 'lottery-wise' the Kings can get a better seed and hopefully a higher pick. (Let's also hope my predictions are off because that would mean a 8th-10th in the lottery). I'll try updating this as time permits. If we want to keep the post up until the end of the season let's get some rec's and move it to the top of the page.

Note: If anyone finds an error anywhere in the record or in the upcoming schedule part, please let me know so that I can adjust accordingly.