Tristan Thompson is one of the newest members of the Kings and plans on establishing himself as one of the veteran leaders on the team.
The power forward/center is ready to take on a fiery leadership role, and his personality has already begun to resonate with Sacramento's young squad.
“Just being myself," Thompson told media Wednesday. "With my personality and my aura and what I bring to the table, I'm a people’s person. How my character is, teammates always love it, so it’s easy for me to adjust to a new situation. It’s been going great, I think the guys like me, we’re having a good time. S--ts and giggles, shooting the s--t. I’m going to light a fire under their ass.”
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Once that fire is lit, Thompson's goal for his new squad includes a top 10 offense and a fast-paced brand of basketball.
“We want to play fast," Thompson said. "Last year we finished 12th in offense, we want to finish top 10 this year.
"In order to do that, you gotta get up and down, push the ball quick. With Alvin Gentry as the associate head coach and what he was able to do in Phoenix and being from that era of scoring and getting the ball up in four seconds, that’s what we want to play. We have too many athletic guys, young guys, athletic wings, athletic guards, athletic bigs to get up and down. We have to use that to our advantage.”
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Throughout his previous nine seasons as both an assistant and head coach, Gentry's teams have finished in the top 10 in pace all nine seasons.
Safe to say the Kings -- who were already among the top 10 in pace last season (100.0) -- have a chance to leap even further up the list.
If veteran leaders such as Thompson are able to light a fire under this Kings squad, they could be in store for a fun season.