Mavs Rival Watch: Kings 'Sleeper' Contender in Western Conference?

Although the Dallas Mavericks avoided the NBA Play-In Tournament before making their run to the NBA Finals as a No. 5 seed, the race in the Western Conference toward the end of the regular season wasn't easy.

Dallas had to go 16-4 in its final 20 games to secure the No. 5 seed in the West, and arguably the most significant part of that run happened at the end of March against the Sacramento Kings.

With the West standing air-tight, the Mavs played back-to-back games in Sacramento against the Kings on March 26 and 29. Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and the rest of the crew outdueled De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, winning the first matchup 132-96 and the second one 107-103.

After receiving 35-year-old DeMar DeRozan from the Chicago Bulls in a sign-and-trade this summer, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith believes the Kings now have enough to be a "sleeper" pick in the West.

"You know who I think the potential sleeper (team) is?" Smith asked on his podcast. "The Sacramento Kings."

In a way, Smith has a point, as in-house experience gained could be even bigger for Sacramento than the arrival of DeRozan. Despite losing 15 games last season where they had double-digit leads, the Kings still won 46 games. Experiencing something like that and learning to have better composure with leads could help the Kings secure a playoff spot this coming season.

Related: Mavs' Klay Thompson on Joining Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving: 'We Can Win A Championship’

As good as Sacramento figures to be, though, it's hard to see them being better than Dallas. The Mavs now have a star trio of Doncic, Irving, and Klay Thompson, surrounded by several 3-and-D wings and rim-running centers, which creates an offense that will give opposing defenses nightmares this season.

Mavs-Kings games should be fun, as they usually are. We just can't see Sacramento being a real threat to poentially dethrown the reigning Western Conference champions.